Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha (unfortunately) or any other characters in the show. Though I do own me-Kariko, and Valen.

Chapter 1: Life can be SOOO Unfair

Ring. Just ring. I sat and mentally counted down the seconds until the bell would ring. 30... The sooner it rings, the sooner I will be to Saturday, when Inuyasha comes on. 25... I know I should be working, but I just can't concentrate. 20... I really need to get a new picture of Inuyasha to put on the cover of my binder. This one is getting torn up. 15... the sketch of Inu I have on my planner is also kinda worn out... I really need to get a new color ink cartridge. 10... I can't wait anymore!!! Hurry up and ring before I hit something...like Rod. 5... I picked up my books and sat on the edge of my seat, ready to run.

Brrriiiinnnggggg... I jumped out of my seat and raced out the door of Mrs. Opperman's math class. I opened my locker and packed my backpack as fast as I could. Yes!!! I thought as I realized that I had no homework. Too bad I still needed my backpack to carry the loads of fan fiction, mainly about Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakasho, I was currently reading.

I definitely -did not- feel like riding the bus. For one, it was a really nice day outside, and I needed the exercise. Also, it takes bus 2, my bus, -forever- to arrive at my school. In fact, I once timed the bus. We get out of school at 3:20, and I get home around 4:10. That's almost an hour. I could have probably gotten to my apartments quicker by walking than taking the bus. Sad, ain't it? Oh, well. Too bad I never got to find out.

After about ten minutes of walking, I heard something. It wasn't very loud, but I have awesome hearing and can pick up almost any sound. There was a forest-type place where I was walking, and that was where the noise had come from. I'm sure that a normal person would have left well enough alone and kept walking, due to the threat of insane psychopathic serial killers. But I, having the curiosity of ten billion cats, had to go investigate.

As I got closer to the trees, something told me to stop, turn around, and just keep walking. Unfortunately, I -never- listen to my instincts, like normal people. Instead, I kept going until I got to the middle of the, uh, forest. What I saw next genuinely shocked me.

A cliff. Nothing strange or unusual about that, right? Just an average, everyday cliff. A very, very, very steep one, I might add. The problem was, it shouldn't have been there. I live in Fairview Heights, Illinois, which is close to St. Louis. And, around my town, there are –no- cliffs, mountains, or even large hills. It's a very boring area geographically. That's why it was strange that there was a cliff. I, of course, -had- to look down. I mean, there was a cliff in the middle of a forest that shouldn't be there that looked down at the ground, which was probably at least two hundred feet below. I can be a little stupid at times. I mean, it never occurred to me that I might fall, because I, like most of my friends, thought I was invincible. So when the wind started to pick up, I thought nothing of it. Who would? It was just a little wind. Then, a HUGE gust of wind hit me. Needless to say, I lost my footing and fell off the cliff.

I closed my eyes and waited to hit the ground which was so many meters below. I was so scared that I couldn't even scream.

Nothing happened. That was the first thing I was aware of when the initial shock of, oh, I don't know, FALLING OFF A CLIFF wore off. Anyway, I knew I should have hit the ground by now. It was a long way away, but I had also been falling for a while. Something was wrong. Though I was –extremely- curious, I didn't want to open my eyes. There were numerous reasons for that, but I don't feel like explaining them all. So, to put it simply, I was so damn afraid of what I would see I was convinced my stomach was about to leave my body via my mouth. Still, deep down, I knew I had to look. So, I opened my eyes. Darkness. That was all I could see. It surrounded me in every direction...except one.

From –my- point of view, it looked like a window. A perfect, round window cut into the middle of the darkness around me. Just one problem- what was a window doing... wherever the hell I am?! Sadly, I was about to find out, because at that very moment, I went through it.

As it turns out, there was no actual widow, just a hole in the darkness. When I looked through it, I quickly shut my eyes again. The ground was there. Perfect. Just get my hopes up, why don't ya? Right when I thought I'd be safe, my hopes came crashing down like a sack of money dropped off the empire state building. –Interesting analogy, huh?- I can't believe the damn ground was there...again. Keyword: again. Oh, well. At least this grass looked softer.

This time, I actually hit the grass. Or something of the sort. At least it was soft, and it broke my fall. I was thankful for that. It didn't feel like bushes or grass, though. In fact, it felt sort of like a person...

Uh-oh.

I, of course, was –very- embarrassed about falling on someone's head. That was all I could think about. I didn't wonder –how- I had fallen from the sky onto someone's head, just if this qualified as the most embarrassing moment of my life. I didn't want to open my eyes. I would rather have dived into a three-inch deep pool full of ravenous alligators than open my eyes. –I have a weird mind, in case you didn't notice- But I knew I had to look sometime, and it might as well be sooner than later.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" –That was me screaming, for all the dumb, moronic people out there- The screaming only lasted about ten seconds, which was a record for me. I usually make all of my screams last at least twenty seconds, to make the people who try to scare me go deaf.

I was looking up into the face of... Sesshoumaru. I was shocked, scared, and disappointed all at once. Shocked because, let's face it, I was looking at the face of an –anime- character. Scared because said anime character just happened to be a –bit- evil. And disappointed because it wasn't Inuyasha. I mean, in all of the fan fics I read, the people falling into other worlds –always- end up falling on or near their crush. My life is SOOO unfair.

"I...this...it can't be happening. I must have been knocked unconscious when I fell, or maybe I'm dead. Wait, there's no cliffs in Fairview, so.. OH! I fell asleep on the bus, and all of this is just a dream. Not a very good dream, but a dream," I rambled, nodding my head. I was –completely- convinced that I was asleep and dreaming.

Sesshoumaru said something, but I didn't hear him. Come on, I'd just come up with an idea that made sense, do you really think I'd waste my time talking to –him-. So I just told him to shut up. –If you've seen any episode of Inuyasha with Sesshoumaru in it, then you'll know that he isn't the type to let anyone, especially someone who just fell on his head, talk to him like that.

"What did you say, human?" Sesshoumaru said in a would-be menacing voice. By would-be, I mean that it –would be- if I wasn't in the middle of a good rant. I answered, though it probably –definitely- wasn't the answer he wanted.

"I said, shut up. I really need to figure out why the hell I'm –dreaming- this. It doesn't make any sense. I mean, when I dream, I'm usually with Inuyasha, not, uh, you. Why can't I be with Inuyasha!?" I exclaimed.

Sesshoumaru just stood there, his face expressionless (what else is new). I had the –crazy- suspicion that the only reason I was alive was either a) he wondered how and why I fell out of the sky onto his head, or b) he wondered who it was who fell out of the sky...you know the rest. Either way, I was so damn lucky he was curious.

"What do you know of my brother?" Sess (Sesshoumaru's way too long to say all the time) asked.

"I know he is –so- cute, and way better than Yusuke," I replied, adding the last part after remembering an argument I'd had with my friend, Tammy. We were always arguing about who's better, Inuyasha or Yusuke. I can't even remember the results. I do know that I argued as hard as I could, and it sometimes ended in physical violence.

"I mean," Sess said, letting the impatience he was feeling go into his voice, "-how- do you know my brother?" Is it me, or is he getting annoyed with me? Nah...who could possibly get annoyed with me I know, ha-ha.

"Oh, I don't know him –personally-, I just watch the show. It's the best!" I was still convinced that this was all just a dream, in case your wondering why in the world I'm talking to Sess like I'm so much better than him. I am, but still...

I started walking around the field we were in. (I like to pace when I'm nervous or thinking seriously) Sess was just standing there, obviously waiting for further explanation. At least, that's what I thought at the time. Then, I noticed him staring at my feet. My shoes weren't trash, but they weren't the best either. And come on, it isn't everyday some one stares at your –feet-. So, naturally, I wondered what was wrong, and looked down.

Before I say what I actually saw, there are a few vital pieces of information I simply must share with you. It was a nice, clear spring day, with a temperature around mid-70's, I'd guess. The sun was shining, and my shoes were perfectly warm.

I was treading on ice. Well, technically I was walking on water, because the water turned to ice whenever my foot touched it. I had taken about ten whole steps on a little pond before I even noticed I what was going on. I'm very observant, aren't I? I would make one kick-ass spy. (That was sarcasm for all the imbeciles out there.)

That's not the best part though. (More sarcasm.) Seeing the ice startled me so much that I, uh, sorta slipped. Hey, my shoes aren't that high quality, and they aren't ice boots. What do you expect? Of course, there happened to be a very hard rock on the ground near the pond, so I –had- to hit my head on it when I fell. Graceful, huh?

-Keia, one of my best friends in the whole world, sat at her computer. She quickly typed the current story she was writing, which I knew had something to do with Kurama, her –boyfriend-. She wrote while she waited. I knew she was waiting because of something very obvious- she kept glancing at the computer

every few seconds and rolling her eyes. Finally, she picked up the phone and dialed. The machine must have picked up.

"Hi, Kariko. It's Keia. I was just calling to see where you were, because you promised that you'd drop off the Yu Yu Hakasho movie I lent you after school. Well, if you get this message, call me back. You know the number. Bye." She hung up.-

-My mom sat in her office, worrying. The clock said 4:15. I should have called before then. Just like Keia, she called my home. That machine answered again, and she heard my voice.

"Hi. You have reached Dawn and Kariko. We're probably home right now, but are just avoiding someone we don't like. Leave a message, though don't make it too long, and if we don't call you back, chances are it's you." My little joke.

"It's mom. I was just wondering what is going on and where you are, since you haven't called me. If you're home, then call me back on my cell phone, because I'm leaving the office right now. See you later."

With that, my mom shut down her computer and prepared to leave. She gathered up extra work and put it in her briefcase. She was going home to find out where I was.-

-The sky is black with layers of clouds. There is no sun, but somehow I can tell it's daytime. Ice covers the ground in all directions, and frozen rain falls from the darkness that is the sky. Someone is standing in the middle of all this cold, oblivious to the world around. This person is wearing a black cloak as dark as the sky.

"What are you doing here, human?" asks a wolf yokai as he walks out of the safety of the forest. I immediately recognize him.

"That's none of your business. And who says I'm human?" the figured inquires in a feminine voice. "Kouga," she adds.

"What? How do you know my name?" the wolf prince asks, a little shocked.

"That is not important. What is important is you. Kouga, you possess strong demonic power. Not as strong as some, but good enough. You have powerful blood."

"So?"

"I need your power," she replies.

Kouga takes a step back. He can sense the evil coming from the demon in front of him. It is definitely a demon who just looks like a human. It is all too apparent that she is dangerous.

The woman laughs. "Isn't this beautiful?" she says, meaning it as a rhetorical question. Slowly and deliberately, she removes the hood of her cloak. All I can see is her raven-black hair streaked with blue cascading down her back. She walks to Kouga, who doesn't move. This is partly because the temperature is so low, and partly because of shock.

"Y...y...you," he finally manages to stutter.

"Yes," she says simply as she touches his arm. Kouga lets out a small gasp as his body temperature drops over eighty degrees. He falls to the ground, instantly dead.

The ice queen, for whatever reason, starts to turn around. I don't know if she hears a noise, or if she can sense I'm standing behind her. It doesn't matter, because I am horrified of what I'll see. I know it will be horrible.

The ice queen is me.