Dragons. The name itself conjures images of huge, winged beasts that breathe fire, fly to blinding heights, and feed on cows and the occasional maiden. This is the picture painted in the dark ages of Europe. However, as time progressed the dragons slowly disappeared and slipped into myth and legend. Despite not being seen anymore, dragons still existed. The few hundred that escaped the medieval kings and knights of the Western lands migrated east for many centuries. Some would hide and others would take up residence in mountains and eventually die of old age. Others still pressed on, hearing word of their Asian brethren, hoped to rejoin them and make a stand for their race.
Tokyo, Japan – Not far from Higurashi Shrine – 1:21 PM Present Day
A young man stood alone in the courtyard of the high school he attended. Shovel in hand he was digging a pit four feet deep and six feet wide. The boy had short brown hair and brown eyes and stood about five feet and seven inches tall.
"Me and my big mouth, I just had to volunteer to dig this stupid mud pit. Why can't they do a normal tug of war? Why do they always have to have a mud pit? Why me???!" the boy spoke to himself quite often, but when he was asked about it by his friends, he said it was perfectly normal to talk to oneself as long as one did not answer oneself.
"Hey kid, what're you doin'?" a voice came from behind. It belonged to taller youth, with long, pitch black hair and blue eyes with broad shoulders and a toned physique.
"Hey Kazuya, I'm digging the pit for the boys versus girls tug of war tomorrow afternoon. You comin'?" the boy replied.
"I don't know, I might." Kazuya said.
"You better come, I do all this work and none of my friends come to appreciate it, pft." The boy snorted.
"You seen Buccha and T.K.?" Kazuya asked as another shovel full of dirt flew.
"I think B's over at T.K.'s or at least he's supposed to be."
"Kay, I'll catch ya later."
"See ya Kazuya." The boy replied as his friend disappeared. A song started to play as the student's phone rang. "Hello?"
"Hey, where're you at?" a voice at the other end asked.
"I'm at the school digging the pit for the tug of war tomorrow."
"Oh. Ok. Well, I'll see you tonight at the bowling alley, right?"
"Sure thing R.J. See you then."
"Bye."
The boy hung the phone up and resumed digging, pulling over a measuring stick every so often to check the depth and width of the pit.
"Choji, Choji #2, R.J., Wiggy, Kyo, and Luke against me, Dozul, Buccha, T.K., Kazuya, and Nokia. God we're gonna get beat." The boy began to contemplate the bowling team situation, when a red dot caught his eye, gleaming in the sunlight. The boy bent over to pick it up, it was larger than it initially appeared. Carefully he removed the dirt and held what appeared to be a hexagonal ruby. It was several inches large too; carefully he slipped it into his pocket.
"Can't let the guys find out about this little gem." At this point the head of the event came by with a portion of the girl's team. The young man gulped, two girls he had a fancy for were among them, a short blonde-haired girl, Ayume, and a tall, long, dark-haired girl, Megumi, were participating. The instructor, although knowing the odds were against the girls, even though all the participants were athletic, some in volleyball and track, others in girls' basketball and softball.
The teacher this year was an American transfer, she was young and pretty, and the subject of many crushes amongst the male students, not that they would admit it. She would suffer the brunt of the humiliation as the girls were doing muddy tug of war, she would be sitting over a dunk tank, all in the name of good fun. The instructor left after checking on the boy's progress and the girls remained to contemplate the inevitable. Ayume, the blonde, approached the pit, now half dug.
"Hi Dom!" she called in to the boy.
"Hey Ayume." Dominic called back, not having heard his own name all afternoon.
"How're you?" she asked
"Oh, you know same old same old." Dom said with a laugh. "So, you're going into this thing tomorrow, eh?"
"Yup." She replied with a smile. "Are you?"
Dominic thought for a second 'Hell no! But if she's going in, I guess it wouldn't be too bad…'
"Me and Megumi are going to be the first victims." She said.
"Well, I don't know, maybe I might, if I can get up early enough."
"You ought to, it'll be fun."
"I guess I could, as long as I get out front, I don't think I could hold off everyone if I was in the back." Ayume laughed Megumi had wandered over and heard them talking.
"So, then you're participating right?" Megumi asked. Dom nodded.
"We'll see you tomorrow." The two said and left. A quick check of the area to be sure no one was around, and he slumped to the ground.
"Good job Dominic ya bone head. What have I gotten myself into???" Dom could hardly refuse the invitation from the two girls; he had never had a girlfriend before, and he hoped that maybe this would work out, and he could ask one or both of them on a date after the event. A part of him wanted to see the two lovely ladies covered in a mud as well.
The afternoon worn on and the mud pit was completed. Dom was exhausted, and figured the insistence he come to the event was Ayume and Megumi's way of getting back at him for digging the pit in the first place. The bowling went as he had predicted, and his team lost although not by much.
The following morning Dominic showed up to the school wearing an old T-shirt and shorts. Ayume and Megumi showed up in bathing suits knowing they were going in first. The teams took their positions, Dom out in front of the boys followed by the rest of his friends and other students. Ayume and Megumi were out first two for the girls, followed in third by Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi.
With a sharp whistle, the tug started, and Dom dug in pulling hard. Ayume couldn't hold her ground and toppled in quickly. Megumi put a stronger fight up but eventually lost. Dominic wasn't much of an endurance boy and was losing ground quickly. He could feel his feet slipping and he could see Ayume and Megumi watching him. Dom lost his nerve and suddenly was pulled in too. With his sudden loss the other guys dug in and quickly won. Ayume and Megumi had wrestled around some with Dom; having built the pit they got their revenge on him for dunking them in the muck.
As the event slowly dispersed, Dom was met by Ayume, after coming out of the showers. Ayume wore a simple white shirt, and shorts and Dominic had changed back into his normal clothes.
"I saw you throw that tug." Ayume began. "I knew you didn't just give out like that, you just wanted to be in a mud pit full of girls didn'tcha?" she joked.
"Ah so you figured me out, did ya?" Dominic replied. "That was fun though."
"Yea it was. You like doing stuff like that?" she asked.
"I guess you could say that." Dom said smiling. He realized that he still had the gem in his pocket. 'I ought to give that to her she'd like that.' Without warning the ground began to shake. Suddenly the ground split in all directions from the still muddy pit. The inside of it collapsed and red light was shooting up everywhere. Ayume screamed and quickly fled. Dominic attempted to follow but the ground at his feet collapsed and all he saw was red.
Kagome Higurashi chewed on the end of her pencil, contemplating the algebra on her desk in front of her. She heard the doorbell ring and the voices of her friends. Quickly she ducked into bed and pulled the covers up. Eri, Yuka and Ayumi came into her room.
"Hi." Kagome feigned a weak greeting.
"Hey, we thought we'd stop by and fill you in on the tug of war." Eri said.
"Yea, we lost again, but it wasn't a total defeat." Ayumi stated.
"No kidding, we got pulled in, but Rukia pulled in Dominic Santiago. What a weakling." Yuka snorted.
"Hojo was there, he was pulling his hardest at the back of the line." Eri mentioned.
"Hojo? At the back?" Kagome said 'Hmph! At least Dominic had the guts to be out front.' She thought.
"Oh yea, that quake that hit earlier, took out the school. We're stuck for at least a month at the one across town." Ayumi told her friend.
"Kay." Kagome replied. The three girls shuffled out and left. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief and got up to finish her homework. That evening she returned to the Feudal Era.
Thunderstorms and rain had made the rice fields a complete muddy mess, from one end of town to the other. Kagome was thankful that Inuyasha ferried her across them and to Kaede's. The night was spent inside the hut catching up and keeping out of the rain.
"These storms are highly unusual; we haven't seen this much in quite some time." Sango said.
"I agree, although they are diminishing in strength each day." Miroku added.
"Inuyasha, did something happen between them?" Kagome whispered.
"Feh, like I know." He snorted.
Kagome gritted her teeth, when it came to human relations Inuyasha was as useful as a calculator without batteries. While the boys slept Kagome pulled Sango aside and spoke with her.
"Sango, are you ok? You and Miroku don't seem to be getting along like you used to."
"I'm ok Kagome. But Miroku seems to act funny around me anymore. He hasn't even felt me up in a week!" this was unusual. The perverted monk always rubbed the slayer's bum whenever he got the chance, but now he had stopped. Kagome thought for a moment.
"Did you guys, you know, do it?" she queried.
"No." Sango replied and looked at her lap, as if she was about to cry.
"I'm sorry Sango." Kagome said. The slayer turned away and got under her covers.
"It's ok Kagome. Goodnight."
'Poor Sango' Kagome thought. She turned in for the night too.
In the night rain poured down and lightning crossed the skies. A troop of powerful beasts walked through Inuyasha Forest, their scales hard as steel, teeth sharper than swords. The four-legged animals stopped; their giant, leathery, wings folded on their back. The beast at the front stopped and swished his tail. The rest of the troop stopped as well. Ahead of them was an open field and the base of a sharp cliff dotted with large caves. At the top of the cliff the forest continued onwards to a well and eventually to Edo. A jerk of the lead animals head motioning his fellow troop members to the caves, large sets of leathery wings tipped by tiny hands and claws unfolded. The creatures, called Dragons, took flight to the cliffs and entered the caves. As they settled in the lead creature spoke.
"Alright listen to me. We must find the other dragons of this land if they still exist. We must align ourselves with them and find the Breath. Garnder, can you give our comrades in this land our location?" His voice was smooth and held a Scottish accent.
"Aye, I can Draco." Garnder replied.
"Then at first light, take flight and find our brothers." The caves light with lightning and rumbled with thunder. "Sleep now and we'll look for food in the morning" Draco commanded, and the dragons folded their feet under themselves, their long, spiky tails curled around their bodies, and they then slept.