Kittychan: Hi all! This is my very first Inu-Yasha fic, so I wanted to do this prequel to the series!

Hinochan: Wheee! Inu-Yasha! Inu-Yasha! Inu-Yasha! Inu-Yasha!!

Kittychan: Hinochan? Are you okay?

Hinochan: No! I was just getting ready to make Inu-Yasha TOUCH THE STOVE!!!

Inu-Yasha: 'leans over to Kittychan' what on earth is she talking about?

Kittychan: No idea, but go with it. 'hops over to Hinochan who is running in circles'

Hinochan: Yay! Touch the Stove has returned!

Kittychan: Whee! Oh! Gess what evweebody! I don't own any of the Inu- Yasha characters... except Kenshi! 'giggles weirdly, stares off into space, grabbs her own ears abnd rubs them, still staring off into space' 'twitch twitch' Tweeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaak! Tweeeeaaaaaaak!!

Inu-Yasha: You'd better read the story before the insanity gets to you too.

The creature leapt stealthily from tree to tree, not wanting to risk being seen or caught. This mission was far too important for hindrances such as these. It was impossible to tell if he was human or animal, but at first glance, he didn't look like someone you would want to meet alone in the dark.

He landed in a thick cluster of bushes and crouched low, shielding his bright eyes from the sun, staring intently at the shrine he knew to hold the Sacred Shikon Jewel. He silently surveyed the scene making sure that no witnesses were near. Ever sniffing for the scent of any being, human or not. Nothing was on the wind as of now, and the creature made ready to launch himself at the unprotected building.

At least, it seemed unprotected.

He stopped as the scent of a human caught his sensitive nose. He looked to the edge of the small shrine as the sound of light and graceful footsteps on the soft grass reached his ears. They twitched a bit as a young girl in her late teens, perhaps a year or two younger than him, entered his line of sight. She was wearing long flowing robes that caught the wind and billowed with each step she took, making her look even more like an apparition than her pale skin suggested. By her scent, he knew she was human, but had he not his acute sense of smell, he would have guessed otherwise.

He was somewhat in awe at her appearance, but it wasn't enough to deter him from the mission he was on.I mustn't allow myself to be distracted. This mission is too important! He crouched lower, allowing energy to build up in his ankles and callused feet, ready to attack. His energy drained out of his legs when another scent caught his nose. His eyes wandered to the sky as the sound of a crow echoed all around him. The black bird streaked across the sky toward the girl and the shrine. It's eyes glowed red, an obvious sign that it was not mortal.

The boy looked back to the girl who was walking away from where the crow was launching its attack. She suddenly stopped, causing him to only wonder farther as to what she was doing. She stood there, motionless except for putting her right hand on her left shoulder and waiting. Before he could realize what had happened, she had spun around, fitted the arrow into her bow, and let it impale itself into the birds neck. He cringed slightly as the crow dropped from the sky and landed about twenty feet in front of the girl, about the same distance from him. He stared at the arrow for a long moment, wondering about it's odd phosphorescence. It glowed with a gentle lavender light that radiated a power of its own. Apparently this was no ordinary girl.

She's going to be tough to get by. But... I know I can do it. But not now. I have to ready myself if I am to take her on. He turned back to the girl, only to find her looking straight at the crow. She casually walked up to it and preceded to unceremoniously kick it straight into the bushes, right where he was sitting. It smacked him head on in the face before plopping limply to the ground. He looked at it a bit nervously, imagining the mangled corpse was his own. Yes, he'd definitely have to work to get that jewel. But not now. He would gather his strength and return later. He got up and turned to run.

The girl kicked the wretched crow from the shrine's property. The beast. She watched as the crow flew into the bushes, yet heard it hit something solid. She stared at the spot for a while before seeing a wisp of red and white disappear into the darkness of the forest. She shrugged it off, but kept her guard up as she continued her watch.

"Mistress Kikyo!" cried a man as he ran up to the shrine. The tall slender girl turned and squinted in the falling evening light to see him. "You may rest now. We will take it from here." He motioned to himself and around ten other men who came up behind him.

"Thank you Kenshi-kun. I will see you later on." Kikyo bowed a greeting and left for her house. She arrived at the small hut and entered through the cloth doorway.

"Tosan! Kasaan! Kaede! I'm back!" she called wearily, yet happily into the small house.

"Ah. Kikyo, my daughter. Have ye been relieved?" asked her aged father as he entered the main room.

"Yes. I will be home later. I am going to meditate for now. I will see you soon." Kikyo kissed her father before putting her bow and arrows away and heading out once again.

Kikyo wandered about, having a final destination yet not a set path. She finally reached the tree that she had always stayed in. Every day, she would come here to think, and it was her one place of refuge. However, today was different. There was someone in her tree! She couldn't make out the details of their body, only that they were sleeping. She silently scaled the tree and reached the thick branch the newcomer was resting on. She gained her balance and carefully inched her way toward the slumbering form. Kikyo could now tell clearly that it was a male, apparently human. He had long silver hair, almost reaching to his hips. He wore a long, flowing baggy robe. It might have been red, but in the darkness she couldn't tell for certain. She made her way closer, balancing on what little of the branch he was not occupying. She could see that he was lazily flung over the branch, his hair half covering his head.

The moonlight struck his youthful face, causing it to almost to glow. I wonder who this stranger is? she thought, allowing herself to gaze at his face for a moment. Whoever he is, he is certainly good-looking. Kikyo cautiously nudged the boy with her foot...

And he sprang up into a crouching position, instantly alert. His orange eyes, strangely attentive, glared at her maliciously, and a deep canine growl issued from his throat. Then a strange change came over his face. The boy seemed to already know Kikyo, for he appeared to lose some of his oddly animalistic qualities. For a moment their eyes locked, and they held each other's gaze. Then he sprang down with inhuman agility and was gone before Kikyo could bat an eye.

Kikyo jumped down after him. "Wait!" she called after the boy, but to no avail. "I would like speak with you! Please?" After standing there motionless for several minutes, she finally realized that he was not coming back. Kikyo sighed and bent her steps homeward. She'd never be able to get any meditating done with this good-looking stranger on her mind.

Kikyo's younger sister Kaede was waiting to greet her as she entered her house. "I thought you were meditating, Kikyo-san," the girl said.

"I was, Kaede, but something happened that is distracting me to no end. Do you think you can help me?" Kikyo asked her.

"What is this thing you speak of, Onesan? I will be more than happy to help ye, if indeed I am able," responded Kaede.

"You know much about identifying specific demons, little sister. In fact, you have made a special study of the subject, have you not?"

"Yes, it is true. I am able to identify many demons now by only their description."

"Good. What do you know, then, of a demon whose shape is that of a man, but has the ears, fangs, claws, and instincts of an animal?"

Kaede's face grew puzzled. "That sounds like no demon I have ever heard of, Sister. He has the body of a man, and also the behaviors of an animal, you say?"

Kikyo nodded eagerly. "Yes, he walks upright like a person, but has greater speed and agility than any demon I have ever encountered."

"Are you certain that it was in fact a demon?" Kaede wondered.

"Do not question me, Kaede! I should hope that I would know a demon when I come in contact with it," Kikyo scolded angrily.

Kaede immediately fell prostrate on the ground, cowering. "I beg your pardon, Kikyo-sama. I should not have doubted your skills. Please forgive me."

"You are forgiven, sister. I, too, am sorry. I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that. It's just that I am impatient to find out more about this new demon."

"Well, it may not have been entirely a demon." The younger girl got up and ran to fetch one of her many scrolls. "Perhaps it was only half demon. A hybrid. I have read of such creatures. However, to the best of my knowledge, none actually exist outside of the words written on scrolls."

"But if it was only half demon, what was the other half?" questioned the priestess Kikyo.

"You said he had the shape of a man?"

"Yes, Kaede."

Kaede perused the scroll she held until she found the passage she was looking for. Then she looked up at Kikyo in surprise. "He may have been half human!"

"Half human? Fascinating! Is there anything about these half-breeds in your scrolls, sister?" Kikyo demanded.

"Only that none have existed outside of tales." She read farther, then her head shot up. "Kikyo! There is documentation that one of these half human, half demon beings actually lived!"

"Really? What is there about him?"

"Well, his mother was a human and his father was a dog demon. Both were very powerful. They were both killed soon after the birth of this hybrid, and by all accounts so was the child. Onesan, there is no possible way that you could have seen this creature. He was the only one of his kind, and he died with his parents."

"But I am absolutely sure that I saw him," Kikyo insisted. Then she let out a deep sigh. "Well, does it say what name his parents gave him?"

"Yes, but I see no point. He is not the being you saw, Kikyo. He couldn't be."

Kikyo rolled her eyes. "Just indulge me, sister. What was this half-demon's name?"

Kaede gave a defeated sigh. "It says here that his name was Inu-Yasha."

Kikyo's eyes assumed a thoughtful expression. "Hmm. Dog demon. Interesting name. Reflecting exactly what he is. Well, almost. An intriguing name." She smiled. "And a fitting name indeed." She turned to Kaede, her eyes blazing. "Sister, I am going to prove that this Inu-Yasha does exist, and that he was the person in the tree!"

A week had gone by, and still Kikyo had seen neither hide nor hair of Inu- Yasha. Kaede still held firm to her belief that Kikyo's eyes had been playing tricks on her. Kikyo was determined to find him and prove to her that she knew what she was talking about. Rumor had spread throughout the village that there was supposedly a demon on the loose. People were more wary about where they allowed the children. However Kikyo didn't see a reason to all this. She had only seen him one and a half times (the glimpse she had at his back doesn't count as a full sighting), and they were all scared to death about it. She was even beginning to doubt that she had actually seen a half demon, but she had definitely seen something rare. However, this doubt didn't deter her from continuing her search.

Kikyo wandered about the woods. She was in some way searching for this "Inu-Yasha". Her mind was wandering, but was still somewhat focused on the hybrid. Her thoughts were interrupted by some sound coming from the clearing up ahead. She cautiously inched her way over to the clearing, not bothering to reach for her bow and arrows. She crouched low in the bushes and just as she'd hoped, there was this "figment of her imagination". Inu- Yasha was jumping, and tumbling all around the clearing. He slashed the air with his razor sharp claws and a pointed stick she assumed was a substitute for a sword. It wasn't until he turned in her direction that she got a good look at him. Indeed his shiny silver hair reached to his hips and two small white dog ears peeked out from behind his bangs on the top of his head. His keen orange eyes narrowed at an invisible opponent and his fangs bared to go with the familiar deep canine growl that was constantly emitting from his throat. He was certainly well built, Kikyo could tell that even though he wore very baggy robes, and no shoes were worn on his feet. His grip on the stick was frightening in itself. His strong hands gripped the stick almost to the point of crushing it. The claws that tipped his fingers were making indentations in the bark.

Kikyo eyed him in awe. She had seen many demons in the past, but none like him. The demons she had met before were always out of control with their desire for the jewel, raged and vengeful. But Inu-Yasha was controlled and though he had a frown on his face, it was one more of concentration than of anger. Kikyo was distracted enough that she didn't notice the small creature crawling onto her hand. She eventually noticed the tickling sensation and looked down to find a spider slowly crawling onto her hand. She picked up her hand and swept it away then turned back to the half- breed. She had to suppress a gasp when she found him looking straight at the bush she was hiding in. The pointed stick was aimed directly at her. He knew she was there.

He approached the bushes with almost a cat-like curiosity, yet the angry air of an enraged canine. He slowly, yet swiftly, slipped the sharp stick into the bushes, catching Kikyo right under the chin. Close enough to touch, but not enough to cut her. He put pressure on the bottom of her chin, forcing her to stand up or get hurt. Kikyo stood up with her hands slightly raised in a somewhat submissive way. As soon as she was in plain view of the creature, he narrowed his eyes a bit. He said nothing, but another low growl was heard. Apparently he was trying to intimidate her.

Kikyo found herself almost speechless, she had never been in this situation before, but she soon gathered her scattered wits, and did her best to say something, anything. "I just happened to walk by and heard you and I just wanted to see who you were. I mean you no harm." She answered, somewhat slowly, not sure of what his reaction would be. Inu-Yasha still did and said nothing. He stood there, still as a statue, holding the stick to her neck. The growling ceased, but the angry look on his face remained. Kikyo was feeling rather awkward at the moment and tried again to see if he would answer. "Inu-Yasha, I am simply curious about you and what I've heard. You have no need to fear me. I merely have heard of you, and wanted to prove to my own eyes that you existed." Inu-Yasha seemed to be taken aback when she mentioned his name, however, he still made no effort to respond verbally. Kikyo began to doubt if he could speak plain Japanese. "Can you speak? Do you understand what I'm saying?" she asked slowly, as if she were speaking to a child.

Good grief!! Inu-Yasha turned and ran from the spot, disappearing before the stick even hit the ground. Kikyo looked after him and sighed a bit.

"Wait until Kaede hears about this! He does exist. She'll never believe it, but I can at least tell her that I saw him plain as day!" With this new invigoration filling her body, she took off in the direction of home.
Hinochan: 'tweaking Inu-Yasha's ears' Hi! How are yoo? Did yoo like the first chapter? Well, stay tuned because many more are to come.

Kittychan: Tweeeeeaaaaaak! Tweeeeeaaaaak!!

Inu-Yasha: 'pushes Hinochan out of the way and looks to the ceiling' Take me now, Lord!

Read and Review!!! :P