InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tales from Sengoku Jidai ❯ And Down the Well We Go! (Damn Tentacle thingys) ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Tales from Sengoku Jidai

Chapter 1:
And Down the Well We Go
Damn tentacle thingys!

"Hey, Kagome-chan," Kaname smiled, "It took you long enough!"

Kagome laughed sheepishly. "It's been a long time hasn't it, Kaname-chan?"

Kaname looked off into the tree tops, "Yes, it has. We haven't seen
each other since what, third grade. I thought it would be nice to see
one another in the same place we left off. Of course, I'm strange like
that aren't I, oh-normal-one!?" She winked.

"That was a good idea, mom was really surprised when you weren't in the
kitchen. She couldn't figure out why." Kagome sat down beside Kaname's
legs. "I wish you would have given me more warning, though."

"Then it wouldn't have been a surprise, Kagome-chan." Kaname laughed. "I
just have to have my surprises."

"I figured it was something trivial like that. So, how's college?" Kagome
asked. Kaname was supposed to be a highschool senior, like Kagome. Instead
she was a college freshmen having skipped fourth grade and going onto
fifth.

"Boring," She answered, "Pathetically easy. And don't get me started on those
pee-brained professors who think they know everything about anything.
They bother the hell out of me."

"I bet! I can hardly stand my teachers now." Kagome said, resting her
head on her knees. "I wish I had skipped a grade, that way we could go
to the same college and be in the same class."

"You would leave Tokyo and the shrine to go to Kyoto to study with a bunch
of old relics? If it wasn't for my mythology class I would have dropped
out of college by now." She sighed. "Not that my father would ever let
me do such a thing of course."

"Yes, Uncle Mizawa is an education hound." Kagome agreed.

"How's life here?" Kaname interrupted, taking the subject away from her
father. "It seems pretty peaceful."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you what's been going on." Kagome
laughed, thinking of Inu Yasha and everyone back in the past. Today was
Friday, usually she'd be packing for a weekend with Inu Yasha and the
others. "I might not be here tomorrow, that's why I wished you would have
given me some warning."

"I see," Kaname sighed, "So, this isn't a place I could go then, ne?"

"I don't know," Kagome answered truthfully before really seeing the
lack of logic in her words.

"You don't know?!" Kaname laughed, "That's a first! I've never heard anyone
say they don't know why I can't go somewhere. I knew it was a good idea
to come see you."

"Actually, why are you here? Don't you have to go back to school Monday?"
Kagome asked curiously.

"No," She answered, "Classes have been canceled until further notice!
Lucky me, ne?"

"I see, why?"

"There was a major fire in the main building. No one died though, it was
at night when no one was there except a janitor and he got out safely." She
explained. "And now, the whole place is under strict investigation, no one
as the faintest idea as to who started the fire." She sighed and once
again, decided to change the subject, "How's Sota?"

"He's a big strong sixth grader now!" Kagome laughed. "Now that he's in
middle school, he thinks he's mister big guy."

"Haha! Let's head back, you're probably freezing in nothing but your
uniform and slippers. Besides, I think dinner's ready and I'm
starved!!!" Yelling the last word she ran from the tree and down the
path tot he shrine. Stopping she turned back to Kagome and waved, "Oi!
Kagome-chan! I'm hungry, come on!!!"

"She hasn't changed a bit!" Kagome laughed running after her.

* * * *

Dinner was rather interesting with Kaname around. She wasn't a quiet girl
to say the least. She entertained everyone with stories from college and
Kyoto in general. Her face was always smiling, and she was constantly
polite, offering to take up the dishes and help Kagome and Mrs. Higurashi
with dinner. Despite happy appearences, something was bothering Kagome.
The fact that Kaname ever spoke about her father was a fact that nagged
in the back of Kagome's mind. She never said where her father was or
how he was doing. Kagome decided to get to the bottom of this subject
AFTER dinner and away from the rest of the family.

After dinner, the family went into the living room. Instead of using the
over head lighting system, they decided to use the floor lamps instead,
givng the room a warn glow. Sota, Kagome and Kaname sat on the floor in
front of a game of chinese checkers. Kagome was sitting up tensely with her
legs crossed and her eyes constantly watching the board game. Sota was
laying on his side, his concentration constantly broken by a car magazine he
had in front of him. Kaname was streched out lazily on her stomach, every
so often she was stretch her lithe muscles reminding everyone of a cat. In
the end, Kagome won, Sota whined and Kaname just laughed and told Sota he
was being a baby. During all of this, Grandpa was sitting in a comfy old
reclining chair he'd bought last winter snoring. Every time the chair moved
back, the leather would squeak and every time it moved forward it would
groan. Mrs. Higurashi passed her time by knitting a sweater and watching the
evening news report on television.

"I still can't believe I lost." Sota pouted, rolling onto his back.

Kagome quirked her eyebrow at him, "Well, you should have concentrated
on the game instead of that silly car magazine. Maybe, if you had, you
would have won."

Kaname smirked, "You're just angry because you lost to a girl. And let's
not forget the fact that she's your sister!" Kaname winked at Kagome.

Sota glared at Kaname, "I could have beaten her if I wasn't distracted."

"Huh uh," Kagome rolled her eyes, "Riiiiiiiight."

"Oh, don't look so angry, Sota-kun! We're only playing around with you. It's
nothing to get all huffy about!" Kaname said, waving her hand at him in
consolation. "Besides, don't you have a research paper due tomorrow?"

His eyes widened, "OH DAMN! I FORGOT!"

"Watch your mouth, Sota!" Mrs. Higurashi called after her son as he zoomed
up the stairs. Each step practically shook the house.

Kagome and Kaname looked at each other, grins spreading wide on their
faces. Suddenly, without any warning, the two burst out laughing.

* * * *

Kagome changed into an oversized red t-shirt. Yanking it over her head she
could faintly smell Inu Yasha's scent. She'd never washed the shirt since
he'd worn it, and that incident hadn't been too long ago. She'd gone back
in time to visit him about two months past, and she had just bought that
shirt. Well, as usual, they'd been attacked by some demon who wanted the
Shikon no Tama(that was no surprise). Well Inu Yasha's clothes were soaked
in mud, or at least his gi had been. She offered him her shirt, and they'd
walked back together. When she upacked it at home she found that it smelled
distinctly like the Hanyou and decided to keep that scent for as long as
she could.

"Kago-chan," Kaname poked her head in, voice muffled by her tooth brush.

"Um?" Kagome looked up at her, "Do you need something?"

Kaname held up her finger and went back into the bathroom quickly. kagome
heard the water run and then shut off. The girl came back and shut the
door. She was quiet for a long time, then . . .

"Kagome, that shirt smells!"

Kagome sweatdropped and hit the floor, "Gee, thanks."

She chuckled a bit and sat down on her futon on the floor. The white
covers and mat were a bit cold and she shivered a tiny bit. She was
dressed in the gi shirt of her kendo uniform and a pair of boxers. Her
long dark hair was tied up in a pony tail and a pair of slender framed
glasses balanced on her nose. She looked completely different from the
girl who Kagome had seen earlier that evening under the giant tree. More
laid back and relaxed.

Kagome laid back on the bed, lightly bouncing. "Why do you only wear your
glasses at night?"

"Because I need them for reading." Kaname explained. "And I look like a
dork with them on. Either that or a bug of some sort."

Kagome laughed, "No you don't." She stared at her ceiling fan, watching
it swirl around and around on it's axis. Kaname sat cross legged with a
giant book in her lap and a pencil in her hair. Kagome glanced at her and
sighed. "Kaname, can I ask you something?"

"You just did," She joked, "But sure, why not?"

"Why don't you talk about your father anymore?" Kagome said taking a long,
deep breath. "All night long, you avoided the subject, like a plague. I
was just wondering if you were angry at him."

Kaname shut her book and took of her glasses. Her blue eyes met Kagome's
brown, a flame erupting in them. Kagome wasn't sure whether that was meant
for her or not. "Father hasn't been home for a awhile, so I haven't seen
him." Was her vague explanation.

Silence entered the room and pierced through Kagome's heart. She began
wondering if it was a bad idea to ask about her Uncle, Kaname certianly
took it badly. She hoped her cousin wasn't angry with her now, Kagome had
just been curious and concerned.

"I'm going to bed," Kaname said suddenly, "Good night, Kago-chan." She
slipped into the blanket of her futon and turned her back to Kagome.

"Good night, Kana-chan." Kagome muttered flipping off the lights and
crawling into her own warm bed. She didn't know how long she was asleep
before she was jolted awake by a loud rumbling sound. It sounded somewhat
like a roar of a giant beast; she was reminded of Sesshomaru when he
transformed.

"Kaname?!" She whispered harshly into the dark room. She didn't recieve
a reply. She slipped out of bed and turned on the light. Kaname's
futon was empty.

"KAGOME!" Her mother burst into the room, "What is that noise?!"

"I don't know," Kagome said, she felt a rise of panic in her chest. Her
heart thudded madly and sweat began to gather under her nose. "I woke up
to it too, and when I turned on the light, Kaname was gone."

"We have to find her," Her mother said sternly, "Grandfather is already
checking the shrine for demons or poltrigiests. I want you to go to the
well and take your bow. If it gets dangerous, go and fetch your Dogearred
friend."

Kagome obeyed her mother's orders and grabbed her bow from the top self in
her closet. She strapped her arrows to her back and ran from the
room. Outside, a storm clashed above them, threatening rain. Kagome didn't
remember hearing anything about an oncoming storm that night. She
ran all the way to the BoneEater's well. She kicked open the hokora door
and aimed her bow.

Kaname stood in front of the well peering down into it like a statue
in a museum. Her blue eyes were dialated and she seemed to stand with a
limp. As Kagome's mother had guessed, the noise had been coming from the
well. Purple light was shining within it, like it had when Kagome had
first gone in.

"Kaname, what are you doing here?!" Kagome demanded lowering her bow. She
hoisted it over her shoulder and replaced the arrow. Kaname didn't answer
her, she didn't even acknowledge her presence. Her eyes just stared
stoically at the bright purple void.

"Kaname!" She began to shake her cousin, "KANAME!!"

Her eyes blinked with a snap and soon returned to normal, "Ka . . . Kagome?
What am I doing out here?"

"Get out of here Kaname," Kagome ordered.

"What's going on? Why is the well glowing liek that?" She glanced at the
well curiusly. She leaned down into it, ignoring Kagome's protests.

"Kaname, don't! We have to get out of here!! This place is dangerous, if
we stay you could get hurt or worse." Kagome said pulling on her cousin's
arm.

Kaname jerked her wrist out of Kagome's, "Look at that! What is it? It looks
so disgusting!!" Kagome groaned in frustration.

Kagome leaned over next to her cousin. When she peered into the well, she
could see something bubbling. It wasn't liquid, it looked more like dark
flesh. It rose and fell, like something growing. The sounds it made were
creaking and thrashing; along with the strange roaring which had awoken
them. Suddenly, before either girl could move, a giant tentacle like
object rose out of the well and snatched both of them around the waist.
They were pulled violently, struggling through the well. Kagome felt the
intense pressure of the time warp, the tentacle around her was rough
and scratched her in various places, but mostly on her belly. Suddenly, with
a rush she found herself in the deep woods, being pulled through the
trees and bushes. She tried to get away from the snake like creature
around her belly, but it was all futile.

Attempting to scream, Kaname found that she couldn't breath. She couldn't
even think as she was being pulled through a dark forest of some sort. Her
mind was still reeling from whatever was she had gone through. She
remembered going into the well, then being pulled out the opposte direction
and into that dark forest. Her chest and arms were cut badly by thorns
in the bushes and she hit her head on unknown objects more then once. Her
lungs burned for oxygen but when she tried to breath, a pain shot through
her ribs. She only managed little gulps of air to keep her alive and
struggling.

* * * *

"Kaede-baba, hurry! I'm hungry!" Inu-Yasha called from his spot on
the roof. "Old wench," he muttered under his breath.

"Don't yell at me from the roof," Her old voice carried through the
ceiling. "If you're so hungry go pick some fruit or something in the
forest till it's finished."

"Is it my fault you started dinner so late in the evening," He growled
hopping to his feet in a single, back bending jump.

"Actually," She said thoughtfully, "It is. If you had killed off that
demon right away instead of playing with it, we wouldn't be eating at
two in the morning!"

"She's right you know, Inu-Yasha." Miroku said, inside he was calmly sitting
at the small table in the center of the one room house drinking a cup
of sake.

"Feh!"

"Maybe he should cook his own meals from now on," Shippo suggested from
Kaede's shoulder.

"I heard that, Kitsune-brat!"

"Whatcha goin to do about it?!" Shippo snickered.

Inu Yasha's head suddenly appeared upside down at the barred window. His
face contorted in annoyance as he gruffly replyed, "You don't want me
to come in there Kitsune-brat!!!!!!"

"EEEP!" The small kitsune jumped behind Miroku, his face poking out from
Miroku's shoulder. "You're MEAN!"

"Will you two stop fighting," Kaede said calmly.

"You're mean! You're mean! You're mean!" Inu Yasha mimicked Shippo's
voice; it sounded more like a dieing weasel.

"Are you listening to me?"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!!!!!" Shippo yelled back at Inu Yasha.

Inu Yasha stuck his tongue out at Shippo, "Make me, Kitsune-brat!" He
cackled.

"BE QUIET!!" Kaede yelled, banging the spoon continually on the pot. Inu
Yasha 'fehed' and crossed his arms, this resulted in falling from the
roof onto his head. Shippo expertly hid behind Miroku who calmly sipped
his sake.

"That smells delicious Kaede-sama," Miroku smiled.

Sango sighed and rolled her eyes, "You have no sense of timeing do you,
Houshi-sama?"

"Of course I do, Sango-san!" He chuckled a bit. "I always manage to grope
you when you aren't suspecting. . . " He muttered to himself.

"what?" She asked.

"Nothing, Sango dear. Nothing."

Sango glared at him suspcisiouly. She was expecting some sort of grope from
him at any moment, even though they were on opposite sides of the table. She
knew that he'd find a way, if it meant touching a woman in an indecent place
that lecher could find a way. She instinctivly moved back, never keeping
her eyes off Miroku. He glanced up at her, playingg ignorant, "What
are you doing, Sango?"

"Nothing, Houshi-sama. Nothing."

Suddenly, as if on que, Inu Yasha was crawling around, sniffing the air
and ground. His nose was twitching with the familiar scent of Kagome and
another scent of a female. This scent was incredably familiar and made the
bells in his head go off in alarm. Not only that, but his sixth sense had
picked up on something very dangerous to his well being. It was like a dark
shadow had enveloped him.

"What are you doing, Inu Yasha?" Kaede asked. She had been pouring rice
into bowls when she noticed the Hanyou acting rather oddly. It wasn't often
that you saw him sniffing the ground unless danger was nearby or when he
was searching for Kagome.

"I smell Kagome," He answered without looking at the old woman or even
really acknowlogding him. "And someone else." His head shot up and looked
at Shippo, "Shippo, do you sense anything. Anything strange, like an
impending sense of danger?"

"Why would Kagome-sama come this late at night?" Miroku asked inquisitivly.
Sango shrugged and glanced at Shippo, as well as everyone else.

Shippo knew he was serious and closed his eyes so that he could concentrate.
Reaching out with his small ablity of Youkai sense he felt the presence
of danger lingering in the air. He'd never felt anything like this before, it
wasn't like fear, it was a warning to run away. His legs ached to run far,
far away.

"I do," He said truthfully, "I've never felt anything like this before in
my entire life." He looked at the small cat demon who had been laying about
peacefully. Now, Kirara was awake, his ears perked and head moving about
looking for danger. His small nose sniffed the air. "And so does Kirara. Have
you felt anything like this Inu Yasha?"

"Yes, but that was a long time ago," He said standing. For a moment he
closed his eyes and took in a whiff of both scents. Instantly he ran, without
word or signal to any of his comrades to follow. Of course, that didn't
stop them from simultaniusly getting up and ready for action. Within a range
of five seconds all four of them were out the door and into the night.

Kaede sighed and began pour the rice back into the pot, "This is not
my night. An old woman like me should be resting peacefully in her sleep,
not cooking for free loading youkai and preists."

Myouga sighed, "I feel so uncared for. And I think Sango does her part
in the village."

"Did I say anything about fleas and demon exterminators?" She glanced at
the flea on her shoulder.

"Good point."

* * * *

There was no way! Or so Inu Yasha's mind screamed at him. He hadn't had
a feeling of pure dread in a long time, and this one wasn't even over
Kagome. This feeling was the instinct that drove him toward the thoughts
of survival of the fittist. He hated to admit it, but it made him want
to run away. His ego would never let him run away, especially now that
Kagome was here, she might be in danger. And if she was in danger he would
save her and kick whoever's ass that had threatened her. But he couldn't
help the foul feeling in his stomach. He'd felt it only once and the cause
of that feeling was as dead as

He growled at the thought of Naraku as he ran top speed through the sark
woods, occasionally jumping onto branches.

* * * *

A/N
Tee hee! First chapter! Mwhahahaha! Thanks to all of you who read the
prologe and were throughly confused! ^-^ Don't worry, everything will be
cleared up in the next few chapters and the main story line will move
on! Please review! I LOVE commentary. Of course bad ones will be scorned
and hated. Feel free to email me or IM me with ideas!

Kitsune-chan