First, let me say that I don't actually watch Inuyasha that often. I kept up with the earlier episodes but really don't know much about the later ones, so forgive me if I leave out characters and don't follow continuity. I just had an itch to write this.
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters other than the ones I made up for this story.
Chapter 1: The Foreigner
The sun was setting behind a small inn in the feudal Japan countryside. The residents were mostly weary travelers who had stopped for a rest. There was one particular group seated at a table, whispering to each other. They appeared to be the samurai of a nearby lord, as they carried swords and wore light armor.
"Did you hear the rumors? They say this demon Naraku can wipe out a whole city with one wave of his hand." One said before taking a sip of sake.
"Come on, that's not true. I heard he was defeated by some half demon." Another samurai said.
"You mean Inuyasha? Isn't he the brother of Sesshomaru? Now that's a demon you don't want to meet." The soldiers continued drinking and conversing. All the while a man sitting at an adjacent table was listening intently while chewing a bit of bread and drinking from gourd.
"What's their deal anyway?" asked a rather tipsy looking samurai.
"You mean you don't know? All of them are after the Shikon jewel shards. Then again, who isn't?" The captain of the group chuckled and finished the last of his drink. "By the way, how's that little package doing?" He looked over at one of his comrades who produced a small wooden box.
"Doing fine. We better not stay long. Our lord wants this as soon as possible, and I don't want to get into any sort of danger." He tucked the box carefully under his arm.
"No one knows what's in it, so we're safe. What's the worst that could happen?" the tipsy samurai asked. Immediately after the samurai finished his question, something came crashing into the inn. All the residents fled and the samurai turned to face the disturbance. There was an ogre, standing over twelve feet tall. It had dark red eyes, long curled horns, and sharp tusks covered in drool. The samurai unsheathed their swords and prepared for battle.
"I can feel it, you have the shard!" The ogre roared. "I must have it!" The ogre lunged and grabbed one of the men with one hand. He screamed and tried to stab the ogre's fingers, but the ogre's skin was too thick. It tossed him against the wall like a toy.
"It knows about the shard! Let's go!" cried the samurai with the wooden box.
"No, it'll just come after us. We're going to kill it." The captain commanded. The samurai all nodded and ran at the monster. They swung their weapons at it, but their effort was futile. The ogre swiped at them, dashing them against the walls. The samurai with the box got the wind knocked out of him and let the box fall out of his hands. It was knocked open and out popped a small pink glowing shard that skidded towards the wall. The ogre set its eyes on the shard and slowly reached out for it. The shard was almost in its grasp when someone placed their foot upon it.
The ogre growled and looked up at the person with the nerve to get in his way. It had been the same man at the bar listening to the soldiers. He wore a foreign outfit, all in black save for a blue sash around his waist. A baggy, button down shirt with rolled up sleeves, loose pants with the ankles tied, and simple black shoes that slipped on over white socks, a rare site in feudal Japan where most commoners had only sandals. Around his wrists were bands made from the simplest cloth.
As for the man himself, he was actually rather young, being around 18. His long, dark brown hair was neatly combed and hung to the sides of his cheerful face, forming what one might say looked like a halo. His light brown eyes tilted down at the jewel shard beneath his shoe. He bent down and picked up the shard, studying it curiously.
"You puny mortal, give me that shard!" The ogre ordered, smashing his enormous fist into a table. The young man only stared at the creature.
"Why should I? I was having a nice drink until you showed up." He spoke with an accent, unlike any found in Japan. The foreigner tossed the shard into the air. The ogre was distracted for a moment and reached out for it, but stopped suddenly when it felt a terrible pain in its ribs. It looked down to see the young man's fist firmly planted into its abdomen. It howled in pain and tried to slash at him with his claws, but the man was too fast. He rolled beneath the ogre's legs and stood behind him before delivering a firm thrust kick to its kidneys. The ogre doubled over and fell on its face, writhing in pain.
"How could a mortal human…without any weapons or magic…?" The foreigner walked up the ogre's back and promptly stomped its head into the floor, silencing it.
"It's Wushu, try it sometime." The boy hopped off the ogre and picked up the jewel shard. All the residents gawked with amazement at the feat he had just performed. Some clapped, others cheered. The captain of the samurai, who had been badly bruised, stepped up to this apparent hero.
"That was incredible. Defeating that ferocious demon with just your bare hands." He spoke with awe. The foreigner simply shrugged.
"Eh, it was easy. By the way, I think you dropped this." He handed the captain the jewel shard, who took it hesitantly.
"You're just going to hand it over? Don't you know that this is a Shikon jewel shard?"
"Oh yeah, I've heard all about what it does. I don't need its powers though. I've got my own strength." The foreigner picked up a bag on the floor holding his belongings. He was about to leave the inn when the owner stopped him.
"Wait, lad. Please, tell us your name so that we may pass on this story." The boy smiled and turned to him.
"My name is…."
"INUYASHA! SIT!" Kagome shouted angrily. Inuyasha's face immediately collided with the dirt road below. "How could you eat all of my food?"
"Hey, it wasn't just me. Shippo ate some too." Inuyasha growled as he stood back up.
"All I had was one ramen pack! I didn't eat all the chips and drink all the soda!" Shippo shouted back, perched on Kagome's shoulder.
"Calm down you three," Sango stepped into the middle of the quarrel. "It's not like it's the end of the world. I mean, we have more food, right Miroku?" Sango looked over at Miroku, who held an empty sack.
"I'm afraid that's a problem. It seems that Kagome's food was everything we had." Miroku sighed and stuffed the empty sack into his pouch. "Looks like we'll have to make a stop and get supplies at the nearest town."
"Good going, glutton." Kagome said, turning her back to Inuyasha. Inuyasha growled in frustration and stormed off down the path.
"I'm sorry, I hadn't eaten anything in two days, okay? Now let's get moving already." Inuyasha motioned for his comrades to follow. "We haven't had any leads on Naraku in a while and I don't want to be slowed down." The rest of the troop gathered up what they had and followed after.
Luckily for them, the nearest town was not too far off. It was after half an hour of walking that they came out of the forest and overlooked the town ahead. However, what interested them most was the crowd of people gathered in the center.
"I wonder what the big deal is." Shippo asked. "Think it could be trouble?"
"Whatever it is, I want to go check it out." Kagome ran ahead of her friends to see what was happening.
"Remember, we're just here to get some food." Inuyasha shout as he ran after. Sango, Kilala, and Miroku tagged behind.
"Do you think it's a demon?" Sango asked. "Kilala isn't picking up any scents."
"Probably not. It may just be some street attraction, or a prank, though I am sensing a strong aura. I can't quite tell what kind though." Miroku and Sango soon caught up with Inuyasha and Kagome. They stood at the edge of the crowd, unable to see what all the excitement was over.
"Excuse me, what's going on here?" Kagome asked an old woman next to her.
"Oh, it's incredible!" the old woman exclaimed. "A band of rogues came to pillage our town, but this man stopped them. I've never seen someone take on so many, and unarmed no less! See for yourself." The old woman made way for Kagome to get closer. She managed to get to the center of the crowd, with Miroku and Sango close behind. Inuyasha shoved his way through, as was his style. What they all saw was interesting, to say the least. In the middle was a pile of several dozen fully armed bandits, all bruised and beaten up and groaning in pain. Kagome raised an eyebrow curiously before noticing a young man in foreign clothes spring out from behind the pile, quickly followed by a mace slamming into the ground where he stood. Following after the foreigner was a goliath of a bandit, standing almost seven feet tall and wearing an extravagant helmet.
"You punk! I'll wipe that smile off your face!" The bandit yelled as he swung the mace again. The foreigner effortlessly hopped over the mace and made his move. He landed on the mace itself, and then ran up it towards the bandit. The bandit was too surprised to stop the foreigner's fists from smashing into the top of his helmet. The helmet split in twain and the bandit was knocked out, earning a huge cheer from the crowd.
The foreigner dusted his hands off and raised his fist in victory.
"Thank you, thank you." He called out to the crowd. "Really, it was nothing." Inuyasha glared at him suspiciously from the crowd. It was the accent that immediately got on his nerves. "So he beat up a bunch of bandits, big deal."
"If he took them all on with just his fists, I'd say that is a big deal." Sango replied.
"So? I could do that, no problem." Inuyasha shouted.
"Yes, but you're a half demon," said Miroku. "And this man is clearly all human. Impressive, all things considered."
"Come on, let's go meet him already." Kagome said to them. The rest of the townspeople were already gathered around the foreigner. They chased off the bandits that were still conscious, making them hobble off down the road. Inuyasha and his friends heard many praises and thanks as they made their way closer.
"Now maybe those bandits will leave us alone!" One woman said.
"Did you see how smashed that one guys armor with that flying kick? That was so awesome!" A young boy said to his friend.
"Oh, I hope he takes me home to his country and marries me!" Cooed a teenage girl.
"This guy sure seems popular." Shippo said, climbing to the top of Kagome's head. Eventually they came face to face with the man who defeated fifty bandits unarmed. He had a big smile on his face, but that smile shrunk when he saw Inuyasha and his comrades. Before they could say anything, the old woman from before came up to him.
"Please, why don't you tell us who you are?" She asked loud enough for everyone to hear. The foreigner smiled and shrugged.
"Well, okay. My name is Chung Xing Sheng, but you can just call me Xing." Some of the townspeople were confused, but all approved. The crowd finally began to disperse, leaving Xing facing Inuyasha's and friends.
"And who might you be?" Xing asked as he placed his hands on his hips and studied these interesting teenagers.
"Oh, we just stopped by to get some supplies," said Kagome. "That was a pretty neat stunt you pulled."
"I'll say! You're pretty good for a human." Shippo stated. Xing leaned in closer to get a good look at the fox demon.
"Wow, are you a demon? The only one I met was way uglier." Xing gave Shippo a smile and chuckled. Inuyasha briskly stepped between Kagome and the newcomer.
"Hey, think I'm ugly?" Inuyasha asked irritably, raising a clenched fist at Xing.
"Don't be so rude!" Kagome scolded. Inuyasha lowered his fist and stepped aside reluctantly. "Please don't mind him."
"Okay, I won't." Xing replied. He couldn't help but notice Kagome's attire. "Those are some weird looking clothes you've got on. I've never seen something like that in any of my travels."
"You have on a rather unique outfit yourself." Miroku quipped. "And you say you've traveled. Where, may I ask, are you from?" Xing turned his head to Miroku, clearly interested in his question.
"I'm from across the western sea, from a land called China. Heard of it?" Inuyasha leaned in close to Kagome.
"Hey, Kagome, what's China?" he whispered.
"Oh, China! I've heard about that country. An empire rules there." Sango stated.
"Yeah, it's a great place." Xing's face beamed with pride. "It's really different around here. I don't have to worry about any bureaucrats."
"Why travel so far? Do you have something to take care of?" Miroku asked. Xing hesitated a moment, unsure of what to say, but did give an answer.
"I, uh, came to Japan to fight demons. I've already fought almost all the warriors in China. When I heard of all the conflict there is in this country, with all the demons and warlords, it seemed like the perfect place to test my skills."
"Heh. Don't worry, you'll find plenty of that." Inuyasha mumbled.
"What's this guy's problem?" Xing asked, pointing to the half demon.
"He's always like that." Kagome said rather nonchalantly. "Oh, we haven't introduced ourselves. My name is Kagome. The monk's name is Miroku, and this is Sango." Kagome motioned to the two of them. "Sango's a demon slayer, and that cute little thing with her is Kilala."
"Don't forget about me." Shippo jumped up and down on Kagome's head. "I'm Shippo." Xing placed his right fist against his left palm and saluted to them.
"It's good to meet you." Xing glanced at Inuyasha, still glaring. "Wait, I still don't know your name."
"That's Inuyasha," said Kagome, tugging his ears. "He's a half demon, see?" Xing's eyes widened with surprise.
"You're Inuyasha? I've heard of you." Xing's expression became very serious as he focused on Inuyasha. The half demon didn't like the look he was getting.
"Oh yeah? What have you heard?" Inuyasha asked.
"I heard you were strong." Xing bent his knees and put his hands forward, in a fighting stance. "Inuyasha, fight me!"
End of Chapter 1
That's it for that chapter. If this gets enough good reception, I might continue it, because I've got a lot of idea for it.