Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha not do I make a profit from this story

A/N: Help~ I really need to not start new stories when I have other stories I need to finish n But seriously this would not leave me alone ;n; So hopefully this will be a slightly ok nice story? ;w; Also, this is a complete work of fiction, I looked up some things while researching some mythology andwhatnot but I changed a lot of stuff so I hope nothing confused anyone :) Also in this chapter there's a story, and that'll be in italics so it doesn't confuse anyone :) There's going to be a lot of questions that will be answered later on

The children sat patiently around a small fire, their eyes never leaving the form of the old man. One look at him and you could see how feeble and weak he was; it looked as though a puff of wind could knock him down. His back was slightly hunched, his face was heavily lined with wrinkles, and he had only a fringe of grey hair around his balding, mottled scalp.

He looked up from the flames, taking a moment to look each child in the eye, and when he spoke, his voice was quiet, almost winded. It looked as though it took him a lot of energy to speak, and he stopped to take a deep breath after each sentence.

o~O~o

It would be fair to say that not many people would welcome the idea of willingly running into a battlefield with only a slim chance of them surviving. People all had things they wanted to do, things they wanted to live for. Many wanted to go about their daily routines in peace. They didn't want to pick up a sword and run toward their possible demise.

Yoshiro glanced left and right at the many warriors that stood at attention, standing straight and tense, their eyes not daring to look away from the enemy. Most of them had a family. A home to go back to. They all had something to fight for, to protect. They didn't want to sit around and do nothing. They wanted to take action, even if it meant the possibility of them dying.

His gaze hesitantly landed on what the other warriors were looking at - the demons standing proudly atop a hill in front of them. He supposed even they had families, possible homes to go back to. But what did he know about them really? What did anyone know about them?

Nothing. Nothing except that they were different. They had pointed ears, claws and fangs, they had powers.

Although, technically speaking, there were humans that had powers too. Monks and priestesses that had spiritual powers. There were a few of them standing here among the warriors, though not enough in his opinion.

But really, what was the reason for this war that was about to take place? The answer was, in fact, ridiculously simple. It was the differences between their races.

And of course, because of these differences both races had made sure to stay away from each other. The demons mostly lived in the mountains so there were hardly any confrontations.

He wasn't sure when exactly problems seemed to start, but soon demons began to prey on unsuspecting humans, though humans weren't completely innocent either. Many, driven by their fear of the different race sought to hunt them. Groups called demon slayers formed and bloodshed was a regular occurrence now.

Lord Hachiro, who declared war on the demons, had often ignored the troubles his people had with them. It wasn't until his only daughter, princess Izayoi, was kidnapped that he immediately took action against the 'beasts'.

Really there was no evidence that the princess had actually been kidnapped, but no one would even consider that the possibility of her leaving willingly was even possible.

Yoshiro's eyes were drawn to who was obviously the Lord of those demons. The figure stood regal and proud, long silver hair was up in a ponytail, his eyes - a golden color - scanned over each and every one of them.

Yoshiro ignored his attire, and even the..tails? No, what held his attention was the blood that seemed to drip to the ground from a wound that ran behind the demon's armor. He was going to do battle with such a wound? The thought was surprising, and Yoshiro couldn't help but feel respect toward the demon.

He wondered briefly if maybe his Lord was wrong. What if the princess had fell in love with the demon Lord and did indeed leave willingly? Maybe they didn't have to have a war after all..

Yoshiro quickly shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts. As a warrior he swore unwavering loyalty to his Lord and master. He and the other warriors standing stiffly, swords at the ready, were expected to give their lives without hesitation.

This was a war. He had no time to think of anything but surviving.

He and his companions wanted to live.

The demons wanted to live.

But for either side to live it meant the other had to die.

Dark clouds settled over them and Yoshiro's grip on his sword tightened.

And just as the first raindrop hit the ground his Lord could be heard yelling at the top of his lungs: Charge!

o~O~o

Rin paused mid-step as she listened to the end of the story. No, she hadn't sat with the old man and the children. No one really wanted her around. She had only heard the end of the tale, though it didn't really matter; she had heard that story many times when she was a child and would hide behind a bush or a hut to listen in on the stories being passed around.

Ever since Rin could remember, the villagers have been talking about what lied beyond the woods that spread far into the mountains. Whispers, warnings, story tellings all filled her ears. It was nothing entirely new, but lately those whispers have gotten louder, the warnings more urgent, and the story tellings becoming facts.

They talked of things in the woods, things you would probably never imagine to find there. Rustling in the bushes, a evil laugh behind a tree when there's no one around to make it. A flash of red jumping from branch to branch, like a spark from a fire but nothing's burning.

No one really ventured into the woods. Only a few would go in to hunt, but never would they go too far. You see, though she had never sought to see if it were true or not, she had heard no one could ever go too far into the woods.

No, it was not a law or an order that had to be obeyed. If anyone ever attempted to go too far, they would encounter a barrier, some type of force that would prevent you from waking any further. Sure, people had tried to see if the could go around this barrier, but it was not to be.

As the stories go, this barrier was supposedly put there by the Gods themselves after a brutal war between two races took place. There were so many tragedies that finally the barrier was put there to protect humankind from the beings that resided beyond that barrier.

People spoke of these beings as horrible monsters who brought nothing but destruction many years ago.

These stories were told by each family. A mother would tell it to her children, and they would tell it to their children, and so the stories lived on.

Though this time there was one thing that stood out among the rest of the whispers. One thing that spread fear among the elders, unease among the adults, and curiosity among the children.

The demons would return.

Was it wrong that, that thought didn't frighten her at all?