Feudal Japan 1: Shattered Barriers

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"IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The vicious claw slash ripped through the flesh of the demon horse, cutting it in two. Inuyasha quickly jumped back to avoid getting trampled beneath the enormous hooves of another evil equine.

"Argh! These damned things just keep coming!" The three-eyed beast rushed towards the half-demon, and attempted to bite him. In response, Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga and brought the flat of the blade right up in front of the horse's muzzle, causing a nasty impact. "Grr…hey, Kagome! Is there or is there not a jewel shard on these ugly bastards?!"

Kagome squinted her eyes. "I could've sworn I spotted one earlier…hold on…got it! These guys are just the cannon fodder! It's actually some distance away from them!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Now you tell me, wench…!" He swung his blade at the horse that was in front of him, cleaving it nicely.

"Damn…if Inuyasha wasn't in the way I could use my Wind Tunnel to remove the horses!" said Miroku.

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder to give Miroku an evil look. "Well, EXCUSE me!" he snapped.

Kagome sighed, then suddenly brightened. "I have an idea! Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha cut down another demon and turned again. "What is it now!?"

"Sit, boy!!"

"AAH!" The spell drove the poor half-demon several inches into the dirt, face-first.

"The spell should hold. Miroku, now!!" cried Kagome.

Miroku undid his seal. "Coming right up! WIND TUNNEL!!!!" The vacuum hole unleashed its fury, swallowing up all the demon horses in the space of a few seconds. Miroku closed off the tunnel just as the holding spell on Inuyasha wore off, keeping him out of the hole.


"Damn it…a little WARNING might have been in order, wench!" snarled Inuyasha as he got back into a fighting stance.

"Hey, at least now you've got a clear line to the Shikon shard!" shot back Kagome. "In the trees! Hurry!"

Inuyasha leapt towards the trees, sword at the ready. However, just as he reached them, a giant fist tore out from the trees, knocking Inuyasha backwards. Before he slammed into the ground, the half-demon managed to flip over in midair and land upright. With a scowl, he looked up at what had attacked him as it emerged from the trees: an enormous man-horse looking creature, with hooves for feet, a horse's head, and wearing plenty of armor. It gave off a loud cry that was half a roar and half a neigh.

Shippo ducked behind Kagome. "Yikes! That's one ugly horse…thing!"

Inuyasha scoffed. "Feh, I ain't afraid of some reject from the local stable. Where's the shard?"

Kagome looked the huge demon up and down. "It's in his neck!"

"Good! Then all I've gotta do is cut off that ridiculous-looking head of his, and it'll pop right out!" said Inuyasha as he brought the Tetsusaiga to a ready position. As if taking offense to Inuyasha's remark about its head, the giant horse demon made its call again. This time, however, the roar was accompanied by a visible wave emanating from the throat of the monster, heading right towards Inuyasha.

"Yeah, right," thought Inuyasha with a scoff. He waited for a second or two, and then swiftly leapt into the air, easily clearing the incoming attack. He soared all the way up to just above the head level of the monster before stopping.

"EAT THIS!!!!" As he slowly started to come down, he delivered a hard horizontal slash with Tetsusaiga, aimed right at the spot where the creature's neck met its head. Sure enough, its head was completely removed from its body instantly. Both head and body fell to the ground with a hard thud as Inuyasha also reached the ground. Almost immediately after that, the creature dissolved, and was no more.

"Okay, now where are you…?" said Kagome as she ran over to where the monster had been. She searched around for a bit, then found what she was looking for. The Shikon shard shimmered brightly in the sunlight as Kagome picked it up.

"All right, another shard!" said Shippo, grinning.

"Your senses are as accurate as ever, Kagome," said Miroku.

Inuyasha frowned. "Humph! No applause, please," he grumbled sarcastically.

Kagome turned to him, and smiled. "You did great, Inuyasha. Thanks."

Inuyasha sweatdropped for a second, then recomposed himself. "Uh…whatever, Kagome. Heh, y'know, I'll bet Sango will be pretty cheesed off when she finds out what she missed."

Miroku chuckled. "Yes, I miss her presence, too. Her…fighting skills are always welcome in my eyes."

Inuyasha laughed derisively. "Please! The only thing about her you're missing is her ass, you pervert!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Guys, will you knock it off?! We just got another shard and-what in the…!?" Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently. Kagome's legs buckled and she fell backwards onto the ground, while Miroku and Inuyasha simply braced themselves and rode it out. Miroku had a little bit more trouble than Inuyasha due to the fact that Shippo had jumped up onto his shoulders. After a bit, the tremors ceased as suddenly as they had begun.

"What…was that?" said Kagome, her voice quavering.

Miroku frowned. "I do not know. However, I would much appreciate it if a certain fox would be kind enough to get off me."

Shippo chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that, Miroku."

"That was weird," said Inuyasha. "It felt like an earthquake, but…I can normally tell if one's about to happen. This one even caught me by surprise!" Suddenly, Inuyasha's ears pricked up. He could hear a tiny voice nearby.

"Lord Inuyasha! Lord Inuyasha!"

The half demon turned around. "Myoga? That you?" Sure enough, the little flea leapt up onto his shoulder.

"Yes. Everybody, come close and listen up!" Kagome, Miroku, and Shippo approached.

"What's up, Myoga?" asked Kagome.

Myoga wiped some sweat off his brow. "A lot of trouble, that's what! Please, you've all got to head back to Lady Kaede's!"

Inuyasha frowned. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What exactly is going on?!"

"You'll have to talk to Kaede about that, sir. Sango is already there; we must hurry!"

Inuyasha looked at the rest of the group, and received an unspoken agreement from all of them. "All right, let's go. But it had better be serious, understand?" Myoga only sweatdropped in response.

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"So, what's going on, Kaede?" asked Kagome. The group, now with Sango, was seated inside Kaede's hut.

"Something that I had thought was impossible," said the elderly woman with a sigh. "Through means I have yet to uncover…it appears that the barrier between eras has become fractured."

Sango raised an eyebrow. "Fractured?"

"Yes. I saw it with mine own eyes. I was searching for herbs in the woods nearby, and an earthquake struck, much as the one ye mentioned. After it passed, I hurried back to the village, only to find that none of the buildings were damaged at all."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Okay, so there's been a bunch of weird earthquakes. What's that got to do with the barrier between our time and Kagome's, Grandma?"

Kaede sighed, frowning. "That is not the end of the tale, Inuyasha. A short while later, I was in the same area, and I saw some sort of…what might it be called…perhaps a portal. What I saw in that portal was…well, many of the things I saw fit descriptions of things Kagome has told me of in her era. Counting the earthquake ye were in, I have heard of five more."

Miroku spoke up. "Perhaps it would be prudent to go back to where we were, and see if a portal has formed yet."

Kagome nodded. "I agree. We've gotta find out more about these breaks."

Kaede smiled slightly, but then turned serious again. "I ask that ye be careful if you encounter a portal. I know not what might happen if you get too close."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Eh, what's the worst that could happen? I mean, if it's Kagome's era, won't going through it just take you there?"

"I think she means that it might be a rougher ride than the Bone Eater's Well," said Kagome. "Right?"

Kaede nodded. "That is exactly what I fear. For all I know, the passage may even be lethal."

"Well, the only way to find out for sure is to go," said Miroku.

Inuyasha gave a slight chuckle. "For once, I agree with the monk. You still in, Kagome?"

"Yeah. After all, it IS to my era…"

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The clearing in the forest where the demon had fallen had not changed, much to the irritation of the group. Everything was as it had been. Indeed, only several footprints and an outline of a body pressed into the earth gave away the fact that a battle had taken place recently.

"This is really stupid," grumbled Inuyasha. "We've been waiting for what, an hour? An hour and a half? It ain't coming!"

Sango scowled at him. "It would be more bearable if you would stop complaining, Inuyasha…!"

"What was that?! Don't you start mouthing off at me, you stupid girl!"

Kagome groaned loudly. "Come ON, guys! We've already been through one battle here, and I personally could do without another!"

Inuyasha pounded his fist into the ground, and then stood up. "That's it. You guys can wait all day for the portal if you want, but I've got better things to do. I'm outta here!" He turned around and began to leave. Unfortunately for him, he only made it a few steps, thanks to one simple word.

"SIT!"

"OOF!!!" The ever-aromatic scent of dirt once again filled the half-demon's nostrils.

"Nobody's leaving, Inuyasha!" declared Kagome. "Just have patience and-huh?" The wind started picking up. It was hardly noticeable at first, but it soon accelerated into a steady breeze.

Miroku suddenly stood up. "Everyone! Look over there!" Miroku pointed at some trees a few yards away. They appeared to wobble and distort, and a strange bluish ring of light began forming in front of them.

Kagome stepped backwards a bit. "Uh…that's not normal…"

Inuyasha picked himself off the ground, brushing off his kimono. "You know, Kagome, this is REALLY starting to get on my…what the hell is that!?"

The woods behind the ring wobbled some more, and then slowly began to fade away. In their place, an image of something that only Kagome recognized appeared: a parking lot!

"Wow…Kaede was right," said Kagome. "They DO go to my era…!"

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Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my first Inuyasha fan fiction. ^_^ I've only seen the episodes on Cartoon Network, so I will only use its terminology (that is, attack names and such). This came about as an idea I had shortly after watching the Noh Mask episode. You'll notice a somewhat different chaptering system in this story. It will be chaptered by where the gang goes in the world, instead of a plain number. You'll see why this is later on, I promise. Peace!