This has been completely reedited from the first time I wrote it. Namely, it was too boring and dull and did not meet my expectations. It was also my first chapter on this site. Now, I am much more experienced. The summary has been changed as well. One thing that does not change however, is my thanks to Kitty008 for helping me get the first chapter submitted to the site!! Thanks a bunch!!

I hope it's better now and please enjoy. : )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha but I do own any original characters that I may create and this plotline.

"Come on, Kagome," the hanyou, or half-demon, whined. "It doesn't take that long to get your stuff ready."

"If you wouldn't be so impatient, Inuyasha," Kagome huffed, stuffing yet another item into her already overstuffed backpack, "you'd know it's called, 'being prepared'. The best travelers do this."

Inuyasha bit back a retort and waited impatiently. They had been sitting in front of the hut for the past hour waiting for Kagome to be "prepared". Everyone was getting rather tired of it.

"Finished yet, Kagome?" A dark-haired woman peered into the hut. She saw her friend trying to fit a huge plastic bag into the backpack. "You know, you might want to give that bag some room to breathe."

"I assume she isn't finished yet, Sango?" a blue-robed man asked his companion. He had a staff in one hand.

"No, Miroku, not yet." Sango stepped back from the hut to strap a huge boomerang onto her back. "But judging from the size of that backpack and how full it is already, I do think we'll be going soon, though."

"Even the others are impatient," Inuyasha grumbled, his hand resting on the hilt of an old sword.

"Fine, then! I'm finished!! Happy now?" Kagome strapped her backpack onto her back and hefted it up. "Ooh. It's heavy."

"Well, it's too late now," Inuyasha said firmly. "We're going."

"It better not be another rumor," a small boy with a tail said. "It's getting tiring chasing after each and every rumor of the Shikon jewel."

"Still, it's best to be sure," Sango said. "You can't be sure what's true and what isn't."

"True. With Naraku still on the loose and jewel fragments scattered about, we need to get our hands on every single one," Miroku pointed out. "Come on, Kirara."

A two-tailed feline with red eyes meowed and jumped onto Sango's shoulder.

"You make it sound like we're the bad guys," Inuyasha said.

"Are we?" The others stared at him. "Just joking."

"Why am I the one--" Inuyasha grunted as he swung a huge fang through the air. "--who always has to do the dirty work?!"

"You can do it, Inuyasha!!" Kagome encouraged him. "Waste that youkai!!"

"Are you even sane?" Inuyasha called back.

"What the--?!" Kagome cried indignantly. "Of course I'm sane!!"

"Doesn't seem like it." Inuyasha jumped up into the air and swung down the sword, cutting the ferocious centipede he was battling into half. "Ha! Sango, now!!"

"Huh? Oh yeah." Sango readied her boomerang and threw it, crying out, "Hiraikotsu!!"

The boomerang flew towards the centipede, completely annihilating it as it did so. It joined the graveyard of centipedes that Inuyasha had already destroyed with his huge fang.

"Great job!!" Shippo cheered.

"Nothing compared to Naraku," Inuyasha said. His sword suddenly blazed up in yellow light and turned into a dull, rusty, old sword. He sheathed it. "Let's just go. There are obviously no jewel shards here."

The friends turned to go but stopped when cheering was heard. They saw a group of villagers celebrating the demise of youkai that Inuyasha had destroyed.

"Great job!!" an old man cheered. He stepped forward and said, "Those youkai have been plaguing my village for ages and have eaten several villagers already. How can we repay you?"

"No need," Inuyasha started but was cut off by Miroku.

"Perhaps some supplies to tide us over on our journey," Miroku suggested. He ignored Inuyasha's glare.

"Do you think we should let him?" Sango whispered to Kagome.

"Why not?" Kagome whispered back. "As long as he doesn't put the stuff in my backpack it's fine."

"Instead of supplies why not a feast?"

"Huh?" Kagome and Sango blinked at the reception this request seemed to get. "A feast?"

Ten minutes later they were all seated in a huge house with plenty of food before them.

"How did it get to this?" Inuyasha mumbled, picking up his chopsticks. He started attacking a fish. "I mean, one moment Miroku is asking for supplies and then the guy ups it up to a feast."

"Consider ourselves lucky, I suppose," Kagome said, taking a bite from some rice. "This isn't bad."

"It's delicious!" Shippo declared, wolfing down his food in five seconds flat.

Miroku consumed his at a much more leisurely pace. "Let's just enjoy this and start out again later."

"Why not stay the night?" the old man, who was the head of the village, suggested.

"I really must decline," Miroku said nobly.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and muttered, "Sure. I bet you're aching to lie down under a roof and this noble act is just a facade for your monkly nature."

Miroku gave him an injured glance which Inuyasha returned with a steadfast stare. The monk sighed, shook his head, and continued his meal. Sango glanced at this exchange in amusement.

Two hours later, the group was ready to head out. Miroku had again declined the head man's kind invitation to stay the night and they were ready to travel again.

"Where's the rumor anyway?" Inuyasha asked.

"That was the rumor," Kagome replied. Shippo was riding on her shoulder.

"Just our luck," Inuyasha grumbled. "Those centipedes weren't even enough to give me a workout. Heck, even that mangy wolf is better than that."

"If you say that, next thing you know Koga'll be here and sniffing Kagome up," Shippo warned.

"Hey!!" Kagome exclaimed indignantly.

"I'm sure he didn't mean anything, Kagome," Sango said, smiling.

Kagome stopped and took a breath. Then she said, "I sense something. It's coming..." She searched for a moment before pointing into the woods. "...it's coming from over there."

"Everything ready?" a dark voice rasped.

A shadowy figure lurked in the shadows. A brief red light flashed.

"Good. Prepare to head out. She must not escape. I have waited too long." A loud shriek wrenched the foggy air and the dark, writhing shape laughed. "Soon, my dear, soon, you shall be at our mercy." A dark chuckle came. "And how I will enjoy that moment."

Please tell me how I did by reviewing!! It may not be very long but it's a prologue so it isn't necessary. The real action will start in the next chapter. I might reedit the third chapter a bit if I can.