Rift Between The Worlds
It was dark and the crickets chirped eerily. A breeze swept through the grassy plain, stirring up leaves and dust. A lone figure stood, overlooking the sprawling city in front of him.
"Fools," he muttered. "They have yet to realise that my power is beyond their puny existence."
He swept his cloak around him and strode towards the city with an air of menace.
No one saw him as he treaded lightly through the empty streets. A dog barked. A chorus of sad howls echoed through the dimly lit street. A window opened ominously, and a pot plant thudded to the ground outside with a shattering of terracotta. The man did not flinch at the sudden noise, but continued, his long stride covering the distance with inhuman speed. The man reached an arcade, surrounded by shops that sold trinkets and gifts for the city's many tourists. In the centre of this circle, an old abandoned well stood, it's sides playing host to varieties of ivy and fungi. It had obviously not been used in many long years, and was only still there as a reminder of times long past. The man stood and gazed at it, his eyes lingering on the metal grill that prevented children falling in. A sign stood nearby, with colourful letters proclaiming: The Shikon Well. Please do not litter. Some one had vandalised the sign, so the historic inscription was unreadable.
"Hey, you there!" A beam of light focused on the prone figure of the man. A city watchman, wielding a high-beam torch and a truncheon sidled off his bicycle, and tapped the man on the shoulder.
"Why are you up so late?" The Watchman prodded the man again.
"I feel… for so long…" The man seemed unable of speech, for his body shook, and his hands clenched and unclenched with disturbing vigour.
"What's your problem? It's just a well!" the watchman shouted, "Get a move-on!"
The man slowly turned to face the offending watchman.
"Do you seek to stop me?" His voice was barely audible, nothing more than a husky whisper.
The watchman looked baffled, but spoke up again "Well, I am stopping you from standing here all night, so-"
He was unable to continue, for the man's hand fastened itself around his throat.
"Leave me. I am busy." The man flung the watchman at his bicycle. He collided with a sickening crunch, and lay still.
The man drew a long masumune from a hidden sheath. He raised at high above his head and advanced towards the well.
"Now, the time has come. I shall finally control all of this miserable world!" He cried, before bringing it down on the well's protective grating. A blinding flash filled the air, and a sound like ripping paper burst from the now-opened well.
"Well… It is done." The man sheathed his sword, and walked away.
Kikyo's Shrine, Present Day
Kagome woke up with a start. The sun shone in through the partially open window to her hut. Judging by the sun's position, she had slept almost to midday. She hurriedly pulled on her worn Tokyo School uniform, and leapt from her bed.
"It's not like Kaede to let me sleep so late, especially in the harvest season..." she mused, cursing the old woman. Kaede was most probably going to humiliate her in front of Inuyasha for her laziness.
"Well, look who's here, Miss Lazy has woken up at last." She saw Kaede saying, her one eye creased in stern anger. Inuyasha sat in his typical position, smirking and making faces at her.
Kagome frowned, brushing away the image. She shuffled out of her room, yawning widely. She moved through the silent village towards the food storage hut.
"Hopefully someone will have left the door open, and I can grab something to eat…"
Something moved in the edge of her vision. She spun around quickly, expecting a snarling demon. She was about the shriek in fear, when she realised it was one of the village cows.
"What are you doing out of the paddock?" She asked, grabbing by its trailing halter and dragging it with all her might. The cow didn't budge, so she flung down the rope and stomped off to find the villagers.
"Hey! Is anyone here!" she cried, trudging through the mud to the nearest house. She pushed open the gate and noticed that the door was ajar.
"Now that I think about it, all the doors I've seen have been open!" Kagome realised with shock.
"Something's wrong…" she whispered to herself. "Where is everyone?"
Modern Day TokyoAn ordinary man sat in his saggy armchair, watching the evening News. He, along with the rest of the city, was baffled by a sudden surge in unusual occurrences happening around him.
"- and the strange fireworks appearing in the skies around Tokyo have been linked to the strange appearance of a new religious cult. Our correspondent in the Shikon District was fortunate enough to obtain an interview with the leader of this cult. He claimed the incentive behind his order was 'To Prepare the World for the Coming of Demons" and "Train the Young of the Other Existence" What these Cultists are trying to tell us is that soon a rift will open between parallel universes, allowing demons to travel through and destroy us all. In other news..-"
The man downed a beer and squinted at the screen. Nonsense, he thought.
Similar thoughts were being thought by the other citizens of Tokyo. An 11-year old boy sat with his mother, watching eagerly at the footage of mysterious fireworks being let off around the city.
"Are we all going to die, mummy?" the boy asked curiously.
"Not today, sweetie," his mother replied absent-mindedly, as she ruffled his hair.
"-the Cult supporters have rallied in the streets, but seem to have no purpose and seem dazed at the surroundings. Experts believe that the Cult may in fact, date back to Imperial Japan, sometime around-"
The mother switched off the TV.
"Time for bed, honey," she crooned, and escorted him to his room.
Somewhere in TokyoThe villagers huddled together, glancing fearfully at the strange world. The metallic creatures whizzed past them with incredible speed.
"Mistress Kaede!" One called "What are they? Where are we? What happened-.."
Kaede frowned at him until he was silent.
"Know, I do not, but I think this is near where Kagome came from. This…" She gestured at a temple situated on top of a hill.
"-Is almost identical to Kikyo's shrine. The well Kagome fell from, is in there. That is our way back, though I know not how we arrived here thus." Kaede stepped into the path of an oncoming creature. She froze as twin beams of light fell on her, and the creature made no signs of slowing down.
BEEEEEEEEP"GET OFF THE ROAD, YOU OLD HAG!"
She leapt back onto the pavement, narrowly avoiding being collected.
"Care should be taken on these 'roads', my disciples." Kaede said sagely, to the villagers' mirth.
After waiting nearly half an hour, the Villagers found a gap in the traffic. They scuttled across the road, and collapsed in a heap on the other side.
"That was exhilarating!" An old lady breathed excitedly. An old man cheered weakly, and the Villagers nodded.
Slowly the Villagers trundled up the steep hill to the shrine. Numerous people dressed in strange clothes gave them questioning looks, and some even pointed and laughed. Kaede frowned. These people had no respect for the ancient traditions. Several of the Village men were staring openly at a young woman, who wore a skirt that went no further than her knees.
"Shameful…" Kaede muttered. "At least they all dress like Kagome, so this must be the place she came from… If it were not, I know not where we are…"
After a painfully long walk up the hill, Kaede pushed open the Shrine gates. She, with the Villagers plodding behind her, walked deliberately towards the well in the centre of the courtyard.
"Mistress Kaede, where are all the monks and priests?" A Villager asked her quietly, but Kaede ignored her.
"The protective covering of the well… It has been torn off! Someone seeks to cause no good... He still may be here!"
Kaede spun around quickly, drawing her bow and notching an arrow.
"Get behind me!" She cried, and the Villagers knew better than to disobey.
"Who has done this?" She called. "Who seeks to merge Realms?"
"Well, you aren't just a stupid old lady!" A voice sneered from the shadows of one of the Shrines. "You ACTUALLY seem to know what I'm planning!"
Kaede frowned, but did not speak.
"What's the matter, old one? Don't want to speak to me?" The sneering voice laughed.
Kaede raised her bow. "No, I was judging how far away you are, so I would not waste an arrow." Before the voice could continue, she shot the arrow swiftly into the shadows. The arrow landed in the wood with a soft thump.
"Close, but not close enough. Do you truly plan on taking a demon of my power down, with naught but a single arrow! FOOL!" The speaker finally moved into the harsh sunlight. Kaede gasped.
It was in the form of a human, but with bright red eyes, that shone with malicious intent. His body was lean and wiry, but bristled with muscles like cords of steel. It had a young face, wrinkled with a permanent frown and framed by locks of greyish hair.
"Who are you?" Kaede muttered.
"I am, what I am, woman. You need not my name, for you will never see me again. But heed this warning; if I should find you are seeking to close the void I have created, my wrath will be unleashed upon your soul. Farewell" He said quietly, and vanished.
Somewhere in Tokyo...
Inuyasha leapt from tree to tree, surveying the alien landscape. He had awoken after a fitful dream, only to find the village empty and Kagome nowhere to be seen.
"That stupid girl…where could she be?" he growled.
He caught sight of a metallic contraption on which a small child was swinging. He stared in disbelief that at this travesty in his forest.
"Must be a Youkai! How dare he trespass into my sacred grove!" he hissed and leapt onto the metal bar.
The child screamed, falling off the swinging seat, and bumping its head on the ground. Another figure raced over and embraced the child in a hug. The figure turned to face Inuyasha, frowning.
"Shame on you, scaring little children like that!"
"Silence, Demon, or you too shall face a dreadful fate! Hand me that creature, it is no child!"
"Of course it's a child, you freak! What else could he be?"
"Hand me the creature, or I shall slay you both."
The woman pulled out a cylindrical container and pointed it at Inuyasha.
"Take one step closer, and I'll get you! Get back!" She cried nervously.
Inuyasha laughed harshly. "You plan on defeating me with that? It's just a piece of meta-…"
The woman pressed a small button on the top of the container, releasing a stream of liquid bubbles into Inuyasha's eyes.
"AAAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!" Inuyasha screamed, clawing at his face and collapsing onto the ground.
"Police!" the woman hollered, and ran away, dragging her child behind her.
Inuyasha dragged himself to his feet, sniffing miserably and wiping his watering eyes.
"Damn.. Kagome… Where the hell are you!"
(A/N): I hope you are enjoying this story, and it will be continued if you desire it. Cya later, and remember to check out SpasticDjinn and Kai-Dranzer-6's stories!
