InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Behind Ancient Mists ❯ Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of “Inuyasha” by Rumiko Takahashi nor do I own the world as put in place by Saranne Dawson's “Secret's of the Wolf.”

 

A/N: I suppose you could call this a `present-day' story, but really it can't be fully described as such. There will be no well, so the two worlds will co-exist within each other, only the human world without knowledge of it. Think of it like a `world behind a barrier' sort of thing.

 

Also note that `Jiro Nakada' is a made up character of mine, so please don't tell me that he doesn't exist in the manga or anime. Thank you ahead of time.

 

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« Behind Ancient Mists »

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Prologue

 

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Underneath the dim lights of the auditorium, cascaded in rows of greens and reds, a large crowd had gathered. The young girl, Kagome, a mere seventeen of age was among them. Just before her Uncle Jira Nakada's lecture began, just before the lights were dimmed, she saw something most unusual. Daughter to a simple man, a farmer some might say, she was not thought of as the keenest of her siblings, but she had an eye for these sorts of things. As a young child she had been able to discern each of her relatives and their dress and appearance. So, unsurprisingly as the men and women that began arriving late to the `conference' were seated she picked out easily from the lot the local grocer, a few members of the scientific field of Japan as well as her neighbors granddaughter Kira, who she waved at silently. Nothing was out of the ordinary and so her eyes made to search against the crowd until they once again would face her uncle, but they could not. Instead they had become enraptured in a character she had never seen before, which was something unusual indeed.

His height rose starkly above all the others that had past, and even in the lighting she could tell his shoulders were quite broad looking for someone who couldn't possibly be over the age of twenty-one. It was as if he had worked in the stocks his whole life even though his appearance said anything but a workhouse. He was regal if one could say in these times. Japan had not had a royal family since the middle ages and the city a lord in centuries. Still, he held himself like one, with his bright clothing streaking out from his silver hair. Yet, even though he held himself with pride there was also an evident sense that he was attempting to blend in. The notion seemed simply preposterous as anyone not to notice him would have to be blind, yet as she looked around to see if anyone had noticed, Kagome found that no one had … but her. He found a seat away from anyone's wandering eyes and settled comfortably in his seat, facing forward. Feeling the tension that now entered her lungs Kagome swiftly turned back around; she was almost afraid to look back at where he had gone.

Her Uncle Jira, as she loved to call him, began his lecture entitled "Humanity's Undying Mythology," the same way he had presented to her many times before. He led the audience through a series of tales of vampires, zombies, lost continents and vanished peoples; it was stretched in repetition, but not lacking in interest for her.

"As a final point to our assessment of myths and legends, we reach what could be called the pinnacle of these: the legend of the Youkai people. Many historians, both scientific and folklorists like many of you tonight have come to believe that the legend of these people, which gave rise to later myths about werewolves, should be reduced in our minds as nothing but mere legend, or worse fiction.”

Kagome chuckled to herself at his simple play of words. She was sure he had added that tidbit as a result of her. She had always argued with him that the Youkai were just legends, that there was no basis of fact in them. In response he would always tell her that what makes a legend like the Youkai different from the myths of `vampires' were that legends always have their tails stuck in the door of truth. The stories begin from truth one way or another.

"… What little information we do have in relation to the Youkai people is jumbled at best; a clear result of generational recycling. It is for this circumstance that the fact-titioning instead of fict-titioning of these people be done directly, and not from age-old texts, though they may offer some service.”

Kagome as well as many others had become fidgety. She perhaps in excitement, whiles others in uneasiness and disbelief at the entire argument. Either way in the excitement she barely caught herself as she had started to look for the mysterious man.

"What we do know is that the legend arose more than one thousand years ago in the region shown on this map -- the last unexplored part of Japan.”

After the showing of countless maps and charts, as well as photographs taken by the group's photographer who had joined the venture to the surmised location last month, where Uncle Jiro had sworn her to secrecy. She had not known at the time what he was after, but even now she did not know what they had found. All Kagome knew was that he had come back with a smile and a determination to hold this meeting.

"The results, as you all know by now, have given rise to a renewed determination to search for the lost civilization of the Youkai. The following series of slides show some of what we found: the underwater ruins of what may have been one of the largest cities in the world at that time -- and a city far more advanced than any of us would have thought possible.”

He pointed to the image of a delicately painted scroll inscribing both man in what appeared to be daily life with some kind of dog or wolf. Kagome's eye's shot up. This was one piece of information she had not seen.

"The following slides were made to show in greater detail the scenes depicted on some of the embossed items we found. In these bits and pieces we see the legend of the Youkai come to life. Continually the people are depicted side by side in coexistence with some type of wild dog, suggesting that they had tamed the creatures and perhaps kept them as pets. This, we believe, gave rise to the popularity of tales about men who could transform themselves into wolves. Tales that have evolved into the modern werewolf.”

As the tale reached back into the stories of werewolves Kagome smiled and relaxed, as she would have done listening to a bedtime chronicle.

"The Dakku Mountains here, even through the description of `Dark' as the word `Dakku' describes, cannot be accurately depicted in those words or even photographs. You've all seen pictures of them, of course, but it's not viable to capture on film the true nature of these mountains because they are almost always sheltered in mist.”

Jira himself smiled at that moment as he walked away from his notes and slides to talk more directly to his audience.

"Photographs from air and sea have been able to capture, however, various species of plant life not commonly seen as well as rivers that seem to come directly from the sea. With these hopes it may be possible for another expedition to not just the surrounding areas, but to the mountains themselves next summer. "

Kagome felt a buzz of eagerness as she listened to Nakada's words. It wasn't in stone or ink that she herself could become part of the group, but surely the Jiro Nakada would be able to persuade the others of the advantage of having her in their group. All he had to do was tell them and then herself, because she wasn't sure herself.

As his lecture finally ended and he announced it `adjourned', Kagome's mind revisited the face of the man she had seen earlier. When the lights came up again, she twisted in her seat in hopes of finding him again, no longer afraid with the comfort of the light, but found him nowhere in sight. She was sure he hadn't walked out because she was sure she would have noticed. Still, he was nowhere to be seen and as his image hung in her mind, Kagome wondered if her uncle might hold some insight.

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Thus ends the Prologue . . . so please review if you wish (honestly, you don't have to)! ^.^

~Mickey-the-Mouse