Sacrifice by Ancient Chinese Proverb

Prologue

Disclaimer: No, I do not own the series Inuyasha...I promise! All I do with it is write fanfiction. Geez. So sue me....Oooh...wait a minute--

Author's Note: This is a story that I've had in my head a while now...although the events aren't exactly planned out entirely yet...but I'll get to writing down the exact outline for it...someday.

Anyway...let's start the story. The beginning is kinda weird, since it's mostly just backgrounds and preparation, but this is the prologue. The real story begins when the real chapters do.

Alright, let's begin!

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The rain started, slowly at first, then picking up into a heavy torrential downpour. The skies that were once clear became buried in dark clouds, casting a large shadow upon everything in sight. The precipitation helped somewhat, he mused, as he continued down the muddied path, leaning on his makeshift walking stick. The end of Tetsusaiga's sheath was becoming cruded with the wet dirt, and if his brother saw its state, he'd without doubt rip him a new one--not that Sesshoumaru had halted the first time. After all, it was his brother's fault he was in this state.

Inuyasha was certain his brother knew what those mikos had done to him, and that virtually guaranteed another battle within the near future. He didn't think Sesshoumaru would particularly care that he was human now--in fact, that most likely assured that their next meeting would almost certainly be his last. At least with his demon blood, Sesshoumaru still held an ounce of respect for him. Now, he had become the one thing that Sesshoumaru loathed the most; they both held no express liking to humans...However, Inuyasha at least was not entirely disgusted by them--at least not the decent ones that saw past his hanyou exterior. Yet he was still proud of his demon heritage, more so than his human side. But now...

"Stupid bitches..." Inuyasha complained, his feet mechanically bringing himself forward. His red haori was cold and saturated, but he was focusing himself on getting to shelter, putting his status of freezing out of mind. Just a little bit longer... he pleaded with his unsteady legs.

It was already bad enough that his brother had nearly killed him, thrashing him with only segment left of his life within him. Thanks to Sesshoumaru, he could no longer rely on his fast healing rate; it'd take him months to recover from his wounds--assuming he even had the proper care.

When has that bastard ever made anything easier for me? He was starting to feel unusually warm and lightheaded, two significant signs that he was about to collapse. Great...Just the fucking thing I need now. To fall and die here in the freezing rain. If I can just get a bit further, I can at least get looked at by the healer of a town or something! He found himself weakening, his vision darkening.

Being human sucked ass.

A growl rising in the back of his throat, he willed himself to continue down the path, determined to get somewhere safer than the narrow shaded route. His eyes almost lit up as he made out the outline of a small village at the end of the trail. Just a couple more steps...

Inuyasha knew he was at his limit, the pain in his body rising, making sure he didn't forget the extent of his injuries as immeasurable relief flooded his senses. The sting was persistent and he felt his knees weakening, bringing him unwillingly to the ground. His violet-hued eyes couldn't help but cast a fleeting look to the huts in the horizon as his body unwillingly succumbed to the sharp pain of his injuries.

Inuyasha let out a curse as he saw black and his face became planted in the dirt.

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She was out in the field, picking herbs under her bamboo umbrella since the shrine's stock had run low recently from the war between providences. Kikyo and the others had been taking care of wounded soldiers for months on end, and luckily the number of people incoming was growing shorter and shorter each passing day.

The war must be nearly over, she thought as she added yet another green stalk to her basket. 'Twas okay with her, a good rest was what she and the rest of the shrine maidens needed. At least from the male population, it would seem.

With that thought, Kikyo sighed. Some of the warriors were incorrigible with their attentions towards her. Although she knew she was not unappealing, most men held high respect for her and dropped subtle hints that she could reject as politely as possible. But the males that only saw her as a servant female (since she tended their wounds without them having asked) were from other providences than she resided.

As being a very talented High Priestess, her reputation was held far and wide, and most of them had backed off once they heard her name. Although others hadn't been that civil. Those were the ones she ordered her 'dear' sister to handle and left Kagome to fend them off by herself.

A brow furrowed as she snapped the plants from their stalks. Kagome wasn't really the best priestess...at all. She had the least control of her holy powers than all the other priestess in the shrine and needed help most of the time. Kikyo suspected that one of the few reasons she was holding her title because it was tradition, and their father's wish. Although he had died a few years after their mother, he always held them to their holy duties. In Kikyo's opinion, Kagome should just quit the order and live like a farmer's wife or something of that sort and leave the shrine to her. She had certainly voiced that opinion to her a majority of times, and Kikyo alleged that her younger sister only carried on out of spite for her, despite how horridly she handled a bow and arrow and how inferiorly to the others she channeled her holy powers.

Her stubbornness made Kikyo give her harder tasks as if to force her to make the decision to give up and realize that being a priestess--especially one linked to the High Priestess' name--was not for her. Kikyo stood, having gathered enough herbs to her liking. Kagome was tenacious, but even she would have a breaking point.

As she turned towards the village, she heard a groan and a thump. The High Priestess moved towards the sound and almost gasped when she saw the figure in the mud. The basket slipped from her fingers as she hurried towards the dark-haired figure. "Are you alright?"

It didn't move or respond to her inquiry.

Robes getting soiled, Kikyo knelt down and turned him over on his back. The man's face was covered in dirt and blood, a sign that he had a previous skirmish--one that obviously had gotten the better of him. He was too heavy...Kikyo knew that she would not be able to carry him by herself. She planted her umbrella in the mud in an attempt to keep him somewhat dry as she ran towards the village for help.

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"Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha yelled from behind Tetsusaiga. His hands held the handle in a tight grip, waiting for his opponent's next attack.

"Half-breed." The tall taiyoukai landed in front of Inuyasha, a look of boredom on his face. "Cease this farce and hand over the sword. I will not tell you to do so again."

"Keh. Not a chance. You think I'm just going to roll over and die?"

"One can merely hope," Sesshoumaru commented as he slashed at Tetsusaiga's blade with poison claws. If he were in a better mood, he would have smirked at his brother's demeanor. Inuyasha was seriously wounded from the battle, but he was always a persistent little hanyou.

The demon lord resisted the urge to scrunch his nose in distaste. The smells all around him were insufferable. Leave it to the hanyou filth to go to a human village. If Inuyasha didn't have the item he was determined to get, Sesshoumaru would never have laid foot inside. The thought made him even more enraged and he increased the intensity of his attacks.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, was barely holding his own against his brother. Having been launched at walls and slashed at repeatedly was beginning to take its effect on him. He had given up long ago trying to minimalize the damage, however he was right to doubt that Sesshoumaru would not allow him to choose the places he fell. Damn inconsiderate bastard, he mused.

The two failed to notice the group of women dressed in red and white robes arrive in the area. The three watched the fight closely, observing the pace and rhythm of the battle. One of them, presumably the leader, reached into her clothing and brought out a scroll encased in red cloth. She looked to one of her comrades, who were wide-eyed with fear. Her brow creased at that sight.

"Do not worry. It is our duty to contain the evil within the village. Do not show them fear." Nodding to herself when she saw the other woman straighten her back with resolve, the leader unwrapped the scroll and unraveled it. "Begin making the barrier," she ordered the other two, who got into said position. Their eyes closed and their heads bowed as they put two fingers under their chin to concentrate their powers. A small, pale blue barrier surrounded them as the leader began to chant the mantra on the page.

As the words flowed from her lips, the barrier changed colors, transforming into a violet wall, and as she added her own holy powers, the barrier quickly increased in size, radius heading towards the demons that were so immersed in combat.

Sesshoumaru noticed first, his honeyed eyes glaring at the group before he leapt into the air, far from the incoming holy onslaught. Inuyasha was not as lucky, however...his back was turned to the mikos and his head rose to watch his brother flee. A half-surprised, half-irritated look crossed his face. "Oi! Sesshoumaru, you fucking bastard! Get your ass back over here!" He crouched into the dirt to ready himself to copy the taiyoukai's jump, when something slammed into him from behind with the force of a hurricane. Inuyasha gasped as his skin felt aflame, air escaping out from his lungs in one colossal rush. Breathing in hurt, he discovered, his nostrils aching from the energy as if it were pure smoke.

The hanyou vaguely felt the sting of his back colliding with a wall seeing as he was more concerned with the sensation of his strength leaving him in a gust. What the fuck happened? His eyes cracked open and he saw a group of women standing a few feet from where he landed. Upon seeing their clothing he knew instantly what was transpiring. Oh...fucking fantastic, he said, attempting to pull himself up. Just when it couldn't get any worse...

Then he noticed two things at once.

His brother landed between him and the mikos, his eyes narrowing at them for interrupting the battle and endangering him--even for the slightest of seconds. "You would seek to purify this Sesshoumaru," he stated coldly. Shit, Inuyasha thought, trying to override the pain in his body and get it to move properly. If I don't stop him, they're dead!

Then he noticed the other thing.

Getting into attack position, he realized that the power display had also retransformed Tetsusaiga, causing it to retract into the harmless, battered looking weapon. The usual feel he got when he tried to activate it failed to rise up. A split second passed before he gasped and looked down.

His hair was black.

That meant...

"SHIT!" He yelled, the situation sinking in and immediately he realized he had a huge problem.

Just how the fuck was he supposed to save the stupid mikos AND himself at the same time if he was a fucking HUMAN?

Granted, the group of cowering females weren't exactly high on his 'friendly' list at the moment, but nonetheless, they did not deserve whatever bloodied death that was running through his half-brother's head right about now. There was no way to get around Sesshoumaru and run them out without him reaching them first. They would become mere smears on the ground. What to do...

Fuck this, Inuyasha said to himself. They had better appreciate me doing this for them...maybe they'll even restore me...IF I do get out of this in one piece...

"Sesshoumaru! Are we going to finish this or not?" he yelled at the taiyoukai's back, holding Tetsusaiga's pitiable form upright.

The demon in question simply cast a look over his shoulder. "With you in that state, Inuyasha? Come now, brother. You look quite pathetic. You should see yourself." Casting a glare at the mikos, he spoke again. "Your point is made, hanyou. I will not sully my flesh with these humans' blood." He turned and began walking away from the group, obviously finished with the ordeal at that time. "I will, however, return to claim what is mine." And with that, the demon disappeared into the distance.

Inuyasha sunk in the dirt, gasping under the weight of the pain. His head turned towards the assembly of lucky priestesses. "Oi! You saw it! I saved you from him! Now heal me."

The two in the back started to back away from him. Their leader just shook her head. "That's impossible. And besides, why would I want to do that? You'd just turn crazy and wreck the entire village, impudent beast!"

Inuyasha's brows rose for a minute, then lowered into a fierce scowl. "What the fuck are you talking about, bitch! HE'S the one who would have killed you all without a second thought!"

"But he came to fight you, did he not?"

His body slumped at that statement. Yes. Sesshoumaru had come for the Tetsusaiga...apparently one of the demon lord's favorite pastimes as of late. But how the fuck was he supposed to know that raggedy-ass bastard was going to show up today?

"So? You were the idiots that nearly got yourselves killed for pissing him off! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

The woman stiffened at his language, but didn't back down. "We're priestesses, that what we do. You two would have wrecked our home if we hadn't intervened." She gave him a once-over before she turned and began stepping away from him. "You should be grateful to us. You're normal now."

"Normal?! What the fuck--" He was interrupted by the booming thunder over his head. And judging by the crowd that was gathering, none of them were going to help him out with his wounds. Giving a painful sigh, he started to move.

This...was just his fucking day.

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A/N: Hmm....well, I was going to write a bit more, but I'm running on 9 pages already. A Prologue shouldn't be too long, right? Guess I'll just cut into the main story next. Kagome will finally make an appearance.

Anyway, tell me what you think of the story so far? Does it have potential?

Seeya next time, guys.

--ACP