Xanthas looked around. Everything looked so serene…green grass, big trees, and flower petals, dancing in the wind, floating aimlessly by. "What is this place? It's so beautiful."

A man with white hair walked up behind him. "Heh. You have to ask where you are? But I'd guess, considering your ugly clothes, you're not from around here."

Xanthas' pupils moved to the corners of his eyes, but he didn't yet turn around. "Who are you to judge what I'm wearing?" he asked, perturbed that anyone would mock his laid-back jeans-and-a-plain-t-shirt style.

"You weren't seriously considering walking around Feudal Japan looking like THAT, were you?" asked a girl's voice.

That turned Xanthas' head. "Feudal Japan?"

He saw a smiling, wide-eyed junior high-aged girl with long, flowing black hair. "Uh-huh. I don't know where you came from, but if you wanna blend into Feudal Japan, you're gonna need some robes instead of those street clothes."

The white-haired man scoffed. "And maybe a scarf to cover up that face. Looks like it'd scare the hair off a full-demon," he said, an ear twitching. His ears were strange, though. They weren't human ears…they were almost like wolf ears. His teeth looked unusually pointy as well, but Xanthas decided not to say anything about it until he knew whether these people were friends or foes.

"Inuyasha, that's not very nice!" frowned the girl. "I'm sorry about him. He's not too good with meeting new people."

"Well, you wouldn't be, either, if new people kept trying to kill YOU."

Xanthas sighed. "Been there, man."

"Hmph. I doubt that. I doubt you've spent the last few months questing to find something precious to you, to try to get what you really want out of life. To try to make yourself whole."

Xanthas turned away. "Yeah. Of course I haven't," he said, eyes migrating toward the ground.

The girl walked up to Xanthas and put her hand on his shoulder. "You've had it rough, too, huh?"

Inuyasha scowled.

The girl looked back at him. "Oh, c'mon, Inuyasha. He's obviously had it pretty bad too."

"I don't trust him, Kagome."

"We don't even know his story!"

"Exactly. We don't know who this guy is, or where he came from. Far as I'm concerned, that makes him a potential enemy. Not that he'd be a threat."

"You know, I really don't appreciate the comments."

"You know, I really don't care. I don't know who you are, but I think you should shut up and move along. Last thing we need is another stupid, weak little freak trying to steal our jewel shards."

Xanthas sighed. "Would it make you feel better if I told you who I am?"

Kagome smiled. "Sure. But first, I'm Kagome, and this is Inuyasha."

"Pleasure. My name is Xanthas…well…that's not really my name, though. It's kinda complicated. My original name was Asher. That was before…before I was turned into a Nobody, thanks to the Heartless."

Inuyasha spat. "Heartless. Scrawny little weaklings couldn't fight their way through a puddle."

"A Heartless took my heart. I was going to turn into a Heartless myself…but for some reason, I was pulled out of the darkness, and emerged as a Nobody. In frustration, I killed the Heartless, but my heart was gone. Now I'm looking for it."

"Say, Inuyasha…do you think maybe we might be able to help him?"

"Kagome, we're not gonna let him use the jewel to wish for his heart back. We don't even have all the shards anyway."

Xanthas shook his head. "I have no need for gems. I only want my heart."

"Well, you won't find it with us. So get outta here before you really tick me off."

"Fine. Take care, Kagome, Inuyasha."

Kagome smiled. "Uh-huh! You, too!"

Inuyasha looked to the side in discontent. "Hmph."

Walking away, when he was out of earshot, Xanthas rolled his eyes. "That guy's got a serious complex."

"HEY! I HEARD THAT!"

Xanthas turned around to see Inuyasha shaking his fist at him. His eyes grew wide. Apparently those wolf ears weren't just for show. Something was seriously strange about this world. He turned back, and continued into the forest.

"Hm. If you ask me, HE's the one with the complex," pouted Inuyasha.

"Oh, Inuyasha, don't be so hard on him. He lost his heart."

"Why shouldn't I be hard on him? If he lost his heart, he can't feel anything anyway. He can't get upset because of what I say. I shouldn't even CARE what I say to him."

Kagome put her nose up in the air and turned her back to Inuyasha. "Hmph."

"Oh, c'mon, Kagome, you know I'm right."

Kagome took a few steps, then uttered the words "Sit, boy."

A helpless look flushed across Inuyasha's face as his body did a pile driver into the ground.

---

Deep within the forest, Xanthas was beginning to regret his choice of path. He jumped back just as his assailant's dagger pierced the air where he'd been standing. He couldn't see the man…he was covered by a baboon skin. An albino baboon skin. Did they have baboons in Feudal Japan? He shook his head. It didn't really matter. He knew he needed to get away from this guy, whoever he was.

"You can't win, boy. Give up, and I'll make your death quick and painless."

"You know, you're really getting on my nerves. Maybe it's time I showed you my Diamond Wind Slash!" Xanthas yelled as he drew the Nothing Blade, and created a whirlwind to blow his assailant away.

The man in the baboon skin simply waved his hand and the whirlwind evaporated. "Fool. You do not know power."

Suddenly, a whoosh was heard, and the baboon-skin cloaked man turned his head to see Xanthas a few feet behind him. "Come over here and say that," he said. He lifted his sword. "Or maybe…You wanna try my Earthquake Fissure!" He positioned his hands as though he was about to stab himself in the stomach, and stabbed the Nothing Blade into the ground.

The cloaked man sensed a disturbance in the ground. He grunted, and jumped into the air. As soon as his feet were off the ground, the ground itself crumbled underneath him, revealing a chasm that went far deeper than visible. Surprised, the man pushed himself off trees, attempting to find a safe place to land. At that moment, Xanthas ripped his blade from the ground. "You're in the air. Sucker."

The Nothing Blade began to blow a bright blue. "LIGHTNING ELEMENT!"

A bolt of unimaginable energy shot from the blade, and hit the man in the baboon skin directly in the chest. Charred and shaking violently, the man fell to the ground, and down into the fissure opened up by the blade. When the man was out of sight, Xanthas saw a light and heard a POOF!

"Hm. That's never done that to anyone before."

Xanthas heard a female voice behind him. "That wasn't anyone, that's why. You just beat a puppet."