Hey guys, Kaz here. Yeah, I'm starting another story. I don't think I'm going to work on my other stories for a while, just because I don't enjoy writing them. I know this idea isn't very original, but I'm writing this for my own pleasure: I don't really care if anyone else likes this right now or not. If they do, great, if not, my world isn't going to go crashing in. Sorry, but your opinions don't have that much of an effect on me. Heh…Oh yeah, I don't own any of Rumiko Takahashi's characters.

DragonQuest
I: The Journey Begins
The sky shone a beautiful azure blue, lit by the intense brightness of the sun. The birds chirped peacefully and the slight breeze swayed the trees, causing radiant leaves to fall all around the scenery. The air was scented with the sweet smell of nature: trees, flowers, grass. It was a warm day, one in which a picnic seems a magnificent idea. The radiant colors of the forest clearing revived Kagome's spirit. She missed this feeling; the feeling of victory, of undeniable optimism. She stood in the clearing, with eyes closed, letting the warmth wash over her. But she knew it was time to go. She had to finish her journey and complete her task. She wou-

"Kagome!"

Kagome winced as she heard her name being called from somewhere in the depths of her mind.

"Kagome!" the voice called again.

Sighing, Kagome took the Virtual Reality helmet from her head and set it on her desk. She unwillingly got up from her chair and padded softly to her door. Casting a longing glance at the VR helmet, she opened her door and peeked her head out.

"Yes?" she called, answering the disembodied voice.

"Can you please take Souta to the park?" her mother asked.

"Sure, Mom, just give me a sec to get ready," she replied begrudgingly. She knew that even if she refused the first time, she's end up having to do it anyway. Walking to her dresser, she cast a glance in the mirror. She had only woken up about half an hour ago and hadn't done anything to fix her appearance. She grabbed a pair of socks and clumsily put them on, having to hop on one foot each time. Then she put on her shoes and quickly pulled a brush through her hair. When she decided that she didn't look too hideous that she'd scare away children, she walked out of her room and down the stairs, where Souta could be found bouncing on the couch, waiting anxiously for his sister.

"Gee, Kagome, you take forever to get ready," he teased as he stood up.

"Can it, squirt," she said, walking to the kitchen and grabbing a slice of toast. "Let's go."

Souta practically ran out the door, leaving Kagome wondering why she had to be the one to take him.

"Come back by noon, okay Kagome?" her mother said sweetly.

"I will, don't worry," she responded as she left the house, closing the door behind her.

"Come on, Kagome!" her brother called from the foot of the stairs.

Kagome quickly jogged down the stairs and had to continue jogging to keep up with Souta. She only half-listened to his ramblings of what he was going to do as soon as he got to the park, and when they finally did arrive at their destination, she was relieved to be free from his incessant talking.

She took a seat at a bench and gazed up at the clouds, imagining the shapes they made and hoping noon would come soon. But she soon grew bored and ended up watching Souta play. She watched him walk up to a familiar boy and start talking together. At least she thought the boy was familiar. It was too early in the morning to tell. It wasn't until a teenager girl her age tapped her on the shoulder that she realized that the boy was Kohaku, her best friend's little brother.

"Kagome, you look like a zombie," Sango said as she finally got her friend's attention.

"Oh! Hey, Sango. Sorry, I'm not all awake yet," Kagome said, shaking her head as if to shake away the tiredness.

"Well it is Saturday, and usually you're still sleeping at this time," Sango laughed.

"Actually I've been awake for at least a half hour now. I was going to play DragonQuest until my mom asked me to take Souta to the park," Kagome said sullenly.

"Ah yes, heroic tales of overcoming challenges, battling hoards of beasts, finding lost treasures, and becoming a legend. The greatest game ever created: DragonQuest," Sango acted out dramatically.

"Also known to others as the game for geeks who can't find their own lives and so must create them," Kagome pointed out.

"Aw, who cares what other people say?"

"The popular kids," Kagome answered.

"That was a rhetorical question."

"Well I answered it anyway, so there." Sango rolled her eyes at her friend, knowing she was kidding around. They both hated the "popular kids". They always acted like they were the greatest beings to ever exist, and yet, somehow, they seemed to fail all their classes at the same time.

By the time noon came around, Kagome had said goodbye to Sango and taken Souta home. Their mom had prepared an exquisite lunch, one fit for kings. After eating her fill, Kagome went upstairs and eagerly put the VR helmet on her head, after locking her door of course. She sat at her computer and clicked the DragonQuest icon, impatiently waiting for it to load. When it finally did, she clicked her character name, MikoInTraining, and waited again for the game to complete the loading process. It finally finished and Kagome was able to play.

First she had to go into town and trade in some items. She had picked up a few useless items on her journey and needed some money to buy better equipment. Walking out of the clearing and onto the path through the forest, she hummed softly to her self, almost hoping to draw more enemies to her. She wanted to level up, and she needed only a few more point to do so. At the moment, she was a level 19 nature magician, with a few levels in archery, and she was so close to being a level 20 that she could barely stand it.

Suddenly, movement caught her eye. She walked on as if she had noticed nothing, hoping the creature would underestimate her. When it didn't show itself, Kagome became impatient and decided that the best way to draw the creature out was to attack it. She unslung her bow from her shoulder and notched an arrow, focusing on any movement in the trees. She heard a rustle a few feet to her left, so, aiming her bow, she let fly the arrow and heard a cry of pain from the creature. 'Got it,' she thought happily. Her expression changed, however, when she saw the creature she hit. It stumbled out onto the path in front of her, the arrow embedded in its leg.

"What'd you do that for, wench?" he yelled, glaring daggers at Kagome.

"Oh! Sorry, I thought you were…uh…something else," she said, curiously eyeing the silver dog ears perched on top of his head. She didn't feel that bad; after all, anybody could've mistaken him for some creature with his golden eyes, dog ears, fangs, claws, and silver hair.

"Keh, watch who you're aiming at next time," he said gruffly as he began to limp away.

"Hey wait," she called, and the boy turned around.

"What?"

"I can heal you," she said, motioning to the wound she inflicted upon him. She received a skeptical expression in response. "Come here, I'll show you."

The boy cautiously limped forward until he was only a few feet away from her. "Now sit down," she commanded.

He did so, and she kneeled next to him. "This might hurt," she warned as she gripped the arrow sticking out of his thigh.

"Hey, wh-OW!" he cried as Kagome pulled the arrow from his leg.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, "But I can't heal you if the arrow's still there." She then placed a hand over his bleeding wound and a purple light enveloped his whole body, the majority of the light focused on his wound. It took only a few seconds until the boy felt no pain at all.

"Is that better?" she asked with a smile when she was done. He stared down at his leg.

"Feh, you're the one who shot me in the first place," he complained.

"Hey, I apologized for that!" Kagome argued. Before he could respond, Kagome decided to change the subject. "I'm Miko," she said, extending a hand.

"InuYoukai," the boy responded, "Just call me Inu."

"Does that mean we're friends now, Inu?" Kagome asked.

"Feh," he responded, crossing his arms over his chest and turning away.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," she said, getting up. Inu followed suit, still not looking at her. "Where are you headed, Inu?"

"Nowhere in particular," he said with a shrug.

"Well I have to go into town. I need to get better equipment," Kagome said.

"I can see that," Inu said with a laugh as he stared down at her shoddy armor and old bow. She rolled her eyes and set off down the path, Inu following a few feet behind.

"So what level are you?" Kagome asked.

"I'm a level 28 warrior," he replied casually. "And you're a level 19 nature magician with 4 levels of archery."

"How do you know that?" she asked confused.

"I just read your stats, duh," he said like she should know.

"Oh yeah," Kagome responded dumbly. She'd forgotten that you could do that. They walked the rest of the way in silence, but a mildly comfortable silence. When they reached the town, the guards opened the large wooden gates and the two companions passed through. Kagome led the way to her favorite shop, one of the only shops that didn't rip people off. She entered quietly, Inu cautiously following behind.

"Kaede?" Kagome called for the old owner of the shop.

"Yes child?" came a voice from the back of the shop.

"I need to buy and sell a few items," she answered.

"Ah, what will ye be needing this time?" Kaede chuckled as she appeared.

Kagome began pulling a few rusty daggers from her pouches, followed by assorted rings and spell parchments, and other weapons. Kaede watched with interest as Kagome pulled the final object from her pouch-a small pink crystal globe.

"I will exchange all of these, all except that piece of treasure," Kaede said, pointing to the small globe, "Ye may need that someday."

"Oh, alright," Kagome said, slipping it back into her pouch, unaware of the astonished look Inu had plastered on his face at the sight of the trinket.

"Now what do ye need in exchange?"

"Well, my bow's getting overused. Do you have any better ones?" Kagome asked, unslinging her bow from her shoulder.

"I may, child. Wait one moment," she said as she disappeared again into the back room. She returned a few moments later with a bow in hand. "I believe ye will find this one to your liking," she said, handing it to Kagome.

Kagome took it and notched an arrow, testing it. She grinned and slowly let go, putting the arrow back in her quiver and pulling the bow over her shoulder. "I like it. Do you have any good armor?"

Kaede chuckled again and pulled a bundle from under the counter. "I've saved these for you. I believe they'll fit you nicely. Do you need any spells or potions?"

Kagome thought a moment before answering, "Maybe a few health and mana potions."

Kaede swiftly pulled three health and mana potions from a shelf and handed them to Kagome. "Does your friend need anything?" she asked, seemingly just noticing his presence. Kagome heard a "Keh" from behind her and smiled.

"No, I think he's fine with what he has."

"Ye have a safe journey, and return when ye can," Kaede said as she hobbled to the back room again.

"We will," Kagome replied as she and Inu left. She couldn't have known then that their journey would be far from safe. On the contrary; it would be riddled with severe dangers, perverted monks, evil hackers, and the adventure of a lifetime.

Yeah, I know this chapter was short, but since it's only the introductory chapter, I'm fine with it. I couldn't think of any cool login names for Kagome or Inuyasha, so they're stuck with MikoInTraining and InuYoukai. Ha, those are such stupid names. But anyway, if you liked it, please review, tell me what you think about it and give me suggestions. I'm always open to suggestions, always. If you didn't like it, review and tell me how much you hated it. Flames are fine with me, I can deal with them. I don't know when I'll update, but hopefully it'll be soon. Bye now.