InuYasha Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Glow in the Dark Threads ❯ First Encounter ( Chapter 2 )

Glow in the Dark Threads

by Lonely Soul & Elysium

Chapter 2: First Encounter

A small groan escaped Kagome's lips as the splitting headache she had seemed to get worse by the minute. She slowly opened her groggy eyes, ready to stretch her sore muscles, when she suddenly sat straight up with a surprised gasp. She couldn't believe it. Her eyes were wide open, but all she could see was pitch-black darkness.

Where am I? Am I blind?! She thought to herself as panic slowly started to take a hold of her. The raven-haired girl blinked hard and firmly rubbed her eyes. When she opened them once again, her eyesight was able to adjust to the darkness better, and she noticed very faint beams of light cutting through the darkness. Her blue eyes followed the beams of light upward, and she found herself staring up at the luminous, crescent moon surrounded by twinkling stars and the midnight sky.

Kagome relaxed and sighed with relief. "Okay.. At least I know I'm not blind, but what the heck happened?" She asked herself as she glanced about her surroundings. The air smelled of old dust and dead, decaying plants and maybe even dead animals, and she saw thick vines and a few other green-brownish plants growing along the dirt walls that enclosed themselves around her.

While she tried to remember how she got there, realization all of a sudden hit her... er... kicked her. Literally.

"Ow!" She quickly zipped her head around to see who had kicked her and found a lifeless body lying near her in the corner of the well. She gulped in horror. Is that person dead? She thought with dread. Oh wait, no, they can't be dead since they just kicked me for no reason. Maybe they're asleep? She quietly crept closer to get a clearer view of that person and realized it was a girl with short, dark hair. "Whew," the blue-eyed girl closed her eyes and held her hand close to her chest, "That scared me there for a second. It's just Akane-chan."

Kagome got on her knees and gently nudged Akane's sleeping form. "Akane," she whispered softly. "It's time to wake up."

Akane didn't stir from her deep slumber and kept right on sleeping like a rock. She must have begun having a nightmare because without any warning she began punching and kicking the air around her, almost hitting Kagome a few times.

"Ack!" Kagome shrieked as she dodged another one of Akane's kicks which was too close for comfort. "I better wake her up quick or she'll end up knocking me out!" She practically shook Akane's shoulder to death and yelled loudly in her ear. "Wake up right now, Akane!"

The navy-haired girl jumped up in fright at the loud scream she had received in her ear, and her eyes jerked open with bewilderment. Her martial arts instincts started to kick in and she was about to attack whoever or whatever had scared her like that, but she realized she couldn't see anything at all.

"Oh no! I've gone blind!" Akane cried out loud with terror, completely forgetting that she could probably be in danger, while she wildly moved her hands in front of her, desperately trying to find out if she could see something, anything!

"Akane!" An annoyed voice hissed to her in a strong tone.

Akane froze completely. There was someone else here? A ghost maybe? Oh my gosh.. I'm starting to hear voices... But, wh-what if it's.. a ghost? Okay, get a hold of yourself Akane... You're just imagining things. Don't lis-- She was unexpectedly jolted from her thoughts and her face turned a sick pale caused by fear.

Someone had just grabbed her shoulder.

The shocked girl tightly closed her eyes shut, ready to scream and start punching whatever or whoever was there, but she felt the hand shake her shoulder firmly and heard that same voice call out her name once again.

"Akane! It's just me! Get a hold of yourself!"

This time the voice sounded worried and strangely familiar. Who is that? Akane calmly peered open her eyes and the outline of someone sitting across from her became more visible as her adrenaline gradually slowed down.

"...Kagome?" She warily questioned the person before her, pulling back a strand of hair from her face.

"Yeah, it's me Kagome," the other teenage girl answered, waving her hand slightly in front of Akane's view.

Akane sat up, letting out a sigh of relief and cautiously scanned her surroundings as her puzzled, brown eyes began to focus in the blackness. "Where are we, Kagome? What happened?"

Kagome's eyes looked around too and she immediately replied. "Remember we were trying to get Buyo? We fell into the Bone Eater's Well, and I think we became unconscious for a few hours after that. But.. This is not the same well as the one in Grandpa's shrine." She unconsciously pointed upwards despite the fact that Akane probably couldn't see her finger in the dark. "Look up, see what I mean?"

Instead of seeing the wooden ceiling of the shrine as expected, Akane saw the dark sky filled with shining stars and the glowing moon. "Strange..." Akane whispered to herself and then glanced over at Kagome. "Well, let's get going then," she simply stated.

"Where?" asked the confused Kagome.

"Up there! Where else would we go? We can't just stay here forever..." Akane said while she swiftly picked herself up and dusted herself off. "Besides, it smells funny, and there could be ghosts in here..."

"But, we don't know what's up there! What if there really are demons like Grandpa said?!" Kagome cried out with uneasiness. She never believed Grandpa's stories, but she couldn't help it now, seeing as how they probably ended up in another world. The image of huge demons with big horns on their heads and sharp razor-like teeth biting off her and Akane's heads wasn't too comforting either.

Kagome slightly peered up and found Akane grinning down at her as she was already climbing up the thick, rope-like vines towards the top entrance of the well. "Don't worry Kagome! I may be scared of ghosts, but I'm definitely not scared of a demon! Plus, I'm a marital artist so nothing bad will happen to us, okay?"

The blue-eyed girl hesitated for a moment but finally made her decision. "Alright.. I'm coming. Wait up for me, though," she answered as she grabbed onto a nearby vine and caught up with Akane.

When the two teenage girls finally reached the top of the Bone Eater's Well, they slowly sat on the ledge, their legs dangling freely over the side of the well, as a small look of amazement crossed their faces. The night sky made it hard to see everything clearly, but with help from the dim light provided by the moon, they were able to see that everything was covered with dense, shadowy forest and grass as far as the eye could see. The air around them was eerily quiet and still, but it went unnoticed by the two distracted girls.

Kagome jumped off the ledge and landed softly on the hard ground. Akane soon followed suit and stood beside her. She pushed back her long, black hair behind her shoulder, and her other hand unintentionally grasped the sharp edge of the well.

"Looks like we're not in Tokyo anymore," Akane calmly said. She steadily gazed around her and her eyes absorbed in everything she was able to see, taking note of every detail. She didn't sense any danger, but there was something in the back of her mind that kept nagging at her and telling her that something wasn't quite right here. "Um, Kagome," she started to say, never taking her eyes off the forest surrounding them. "I think it would be a good idea if we started to look around. We might find someone who can help us and tell us where we are."

Kagome looked over, closely eyeing her friend who seemed to be deep in thought. "Yeah, that sounds good," she replied, "but which way should we go?"

The young girl thought for a moment, and then pointed towards a random direction. "That way, I think."

Kagome gulped. The area Akane pointed at seemed to be the darkest part of the forest, and even though she didn't mind going any which way, she didn't think getting lost in a huge forest at night was such a good idea. "Uh.. Okay," she reluctantly responded. "Are you sure?"

Akane nodded a firm yes and began walking into the forest while Kagome walked as close to her as possible. She didn't know where they were headed and wasn't too sure if they should be wandering off to who-knows-where, but that same strange feeling told her this was the right path they had to take so she just followed wherever it led her.

They ended up in a clearing in front of a tree that was strikingly larger then the rest of the trees encircling it and for some odd reason it looked very familiar. Like they had seen it somewhere so many times before. Before they could put their finger on it though, a sudden warm breeze went by lightly rustling the leaves of the trees and gave Akane a slight shiver. Something wasn't right...

Akane survived their surroundings for the hundredth time and opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself when Kagome stepped forward. She watched in confusion as Kagome walked to the other side of the tree almost in a trance. "What is it, Kago..."

That's when a glint of silver caught her eye. It came from behind the tree, the same direction Kagome was headed. She practically ran after her friend to see what she had found and was shocked at what she saw before them. There was someone, who was either very dead or in a deep sleep, which didn't seem likely, pinned to the tree by an arrow and thick vines. Akane stared him up and down with wide eyes, trying to figure what the heck he was. He looked to be around their age, but he definitely was not human. She noticed he wore old, traditional Japanese-style clothing and his long silver hair flowed down the sides of the tree as it moved in the breeze. However, what stood out the most wasn't his hair or clothing, it was his ears. There were dog-ears right on top of his head. For some unknown reason, she got the sudden urge to touch them, but Kagome beat her to it.

"They're... real..." Akane heard Kagome quietly said out loud. She patiently waited her turn, but then she sensed something out of the ordinary. The once breezy air was now dead still and there was not one sound heard throughout the forest. Someone was watching them.

Kagome didn't know what had came over her, but she just had to touch those ears to see how they felt like. It was a little awkward but definitely worth it. When she finished, she became aware of the fact that for the past few minutes, she didn't hear one word from Akane. She instantly turned her head towards the navy-haired girl and found her uneasily observing the forest.

"What's wrong Akane?" Kagome whispered in alarm.

Instead of answering, Akane put her finger in front of her mouth, motioning for Kagome be quite. She slowly got ready in a fighting stance, waiting to attack if they were in danger. There was no sound for a couple of seconds, but then the breaking of a branch came from behind them and she quickly turned around. Suddenly, an arrow came from behind her and zoomed pass her head, piercing a nearby tree. She caught her breath and jumped back around, facing the direction the arrow came from. She couldn't sense anyone's presence, but she knew whoever had shot that arrow was close by. Although, without warning, five arrows shot out of different places, nearly missing her and Kagome as they both screamed out in terror. Akane was about to grab Kagome's arm and start running for dear life when the shouts of men were heard and halted her dead in her tracks.

All ten men bounded into the clearing and surrounded the frighten girls who held onto each other tightly. Nobody moved a muscle until the obvious leader of the men stepped towards the girls and shouted, "What business do y'all have here in the forest of InuYasha!? Answer now, women!"

Kagome wasn't sure if speaking would get them killed or not, so she stood there and didn't dare speak word. Akane on the other hand wasn't about to let themselves get killed by a bunch of wild men, so she spoke loudly and clearly. "We're lost, Sir, and we need to know where we are. Can you please tell us?"

A few mumbles were heard from the group of men who clearly weren't buying the 'We're lost' speech so Kagome took the opportunity to silently whisper into Akane's ear. "I th-think we should escape now while they're too busy talking to each other."

Akane did a quick nod, noticing that Kagome was just as scared as she was, and slowly but surely, they started to back away, keeping their eyes on the men. Yet, as they were about to turn around and start running like crazy, one of the men had caught them escaping and yelled to his fellow men. "Hey! They're tryin' to get away! After 'em!"

Kagome and Akane screamed at the top of their lungs and ran as fast as their legs could take them, but since they were only girls, the men were able to catch up to them quickly and tie their hands behind their backs with brute force.

"Yer comin' with us, girlies!" One of the ugly men holding onto Kagome's arms said to them with a creepy grin. Kagome tried to pry out of his grasp, not wanting to know or find what he meant by that, but there was just too many of them. The next thing she knew, she felt a sharp blow on the back of her neck and for the second time that day, she fell into unconsciousness.

To be continued...

A/N: Okay, we had to stop there or this chapter would have kept going on forever and ever. Y'all might be wondering, When the heck is InuYasha & Ranma gonna appear? Don't worry! They'll be in the next chapter. And sorry for not updating sooner! Thanks to the reviews from these awesome people:

DemonAngel90, Lunarwolf, Ghost Tiger (Kagome & Akane are just friends.), ko-chan , Elayne, and DBZ Lover.

Um.. Hope this chapter was okay, and we're gonna try to update soon. If you have any questions, just ask in your review! Bye bye for now.