InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Piper's Well ❯ Storytime ( Prologue )

Author's Note: This is my first fanfic, so please be gentle when you review. Or at least semi-gentle. Be honest, not brutal. Unless honesty is brutality... yikes. That's a scary thought. ^^;;

 

Before I start, I just want to make a few things clear:

 

Kikyo (or at least references to her) will be in the first couple of chapters, and later on in the story, but she really is just part of a sub-plot. I feel bad for her, but I'm not real fond of her. (I'm even less fond of how stupid Inuyasha gets when she's around.)

 

I'm not writing this story just to bash a few characters. Except, perhaps, Naraku. After all, who doesn't hate that creep?

 

 

This an Inu/Kag fic. However, I'm warning you ahead of time, I've got no experience whatsoever when it comes to romance, (I've never even held anybody's hand) so there's a large possibility that any and all fluff will really stink. -_-;; (I hope not, though.)

 

This story doesn't take place in our world, or the feudal era. It takes place in an entirely different world, with different gods and powers and… other stuff. There will be similarities between our world and theirs, but that'll only be because it's convenient for me. ^_~ (Does that make this fic an AU? I'm still confused on that part.)

 

Now that that's all cleared up, on with the first chappy of my first fic! ^_^ Hope you enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Piper's Well

By NewSalemWitch

Prologue: Storytime

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Long ago,” Kaede began, “there was a princess who was born in this very land. She was beautiful from the moment she entered this world, and her beauty only grew with age. Not only was she pretty, but she was intelligent, surpassing all other children her age. But there was one thing that she lacked: life. She had a chilliness to her that distanced her from everyone around her. But this princess, Kikyo, was heir to the throne. In order to be a good queen, she would need to learn to live, or her subjects would never follow her.

“Then one day, her parents announced that there was another child coming. When she was born, something changed in Princess Kikyo. Do you know what that was, little Kagome?”

A five-year-old girl sitting at Kaede's feet shook her head excitedly, hanging on to the woman's every word. “What happened, Kaede, what happened?” she squealed.

“Hush, child, and I'll tell you.”

Kagome ducked her head and mumbled an apology. Kaede chuckled. “Now, where was I? Ah yes. When the little princess was born, something in Princess Kikyo

changed drastically.” The priestess paused dramatically. “She began to live.

Somehow, in some way, that little baby princess got past her icy outer defenses. As the little princess grew, those same defenses did nothing but melt, slowly but surely.”

“And they all lived happily ever after!” Kagome grinned and stood up. “Let's go play now.”

Kaede sighed. “Kagome, I'm not done telling the story.”

Kagome frowned. “But they're happy.”

“Kagome, come here.” The old woman gestured for the girl to come sit in her lap. After she was comfortably settled down, Kaede continued. “This is a special story, child. It doesn't have an ending yet.”

Kagome frowned in confusion. “All stories have endings.”

Kaede smiled and shook her head. “Not this one, child. It hasn't happened yet.”

Kagome's frowned remained until she began to understand what her surrogate-grandmother had said. Her eyes slowly became larger than saucers. “…Hasn't… it hasn't happened yet?” she breathed, hardly daring to believe it. “Does that mean--”

Kaede chuckled. “This story is true, darling child. This really happened. It doesn't have an ending yet because the story isn't over yet.”

“What happened?” Kagome demanded. “Tell me the rest of the story!”

Kaede gave her a Look, and she bowed her head. “S'rry, Kaede. Would you please tell the rest of the story?”

“Yes, I will. What happened last?”

Kagome thought for a moment. “Kikyo's little sister turned her nice.”

Kaede nodded thoughtfully, then continued with the tale. “Well, they grew together quite nicely and happily for several years. When Kikyo was about ten years old… let's see, the two sisters were about seven years apart, so her little sister would be about three… but in any case, when Crown Princess Kikyo was about ten years old, she got her first suitor. He was a kind and well-mannered gentleman, charming and funny. She was quite lovestruck.”

Kagome grinned. “And they fell in love and got married, right?”

“No, child, remember, this story hasn't ended yet. The point where it has been left off at is actually quite mysterious, and even a little sad.”

Kagome's smile vanished as if she'd been told her puppy died. ((A/N: No pun intended, I swear. ^^;)) “It doesn't have a happy ending?” she asked tearfully. “But why?”

“Because it really happened,” Kaede patiently explained. “Things that happen in real life don't always end with `and they lived happily ever after.'”

“Well that's stupid.” Kagome crossed her arms over her chest, pouting fiercely.

“I know it is, sweetheart,” Kaede gave her a hug. “But that's how it is.”

“Should I ask you to tell me the rest?” came Kagome's muffled voice.

Kaede drew back and studied her adopted granddaughter. “You don't want to hear the rest?”

Kagome shrugged and frowned. “I dunno. I don't like sad stories. They make me wanna cry.”

“First of all, you need to speak clearly and with proper grammar. Secondly,” Kaede said, “I'm not going to make you sit through a story you don't want to.”

Kagome spent several long moments, biting her lip with a furrowed brow. Finally she sighed. “Okay. I'd like to hear the rest of the story, even if it is sad. But don't blame me if I start crying, okay?”

“I'll not do anything but wipe your eyes and give you a much needed hug.” Kagome looked at her pointedly, and Kaede chuckled. “Very well, I'll continue now. As I was saying, at the age of ten Crown Princess Kikyo met her first suitor, and became quite taken with him. His name was Prince Onigumo. He was witty, charming and handsome.”

“He was perfect,” Kagome sighed happily, momentarily forgetting that this story didn't have a happy ending.

“Indeed, they seemed to be a match made in Paradise. He was also a well-respected prince from a neighboring kingdom. But alas, little Kagome, it was not meant to be.”

“What happened?” Kagome tugged on the front of Kaede's yukata urgently.

Kaede's face changed then. It went from the look of a peaceful grandmother to a sad and bitter old woman. “Kaede? What happened?”

“He took her aside one day and said that he wished to marry her, but when she said she didn't want to be married yet, he struck her across the face and viciously told her she'd regret her decision. She would be his. Sooner or later, he'd get her.

“Now—when she told him that she'd tell her parents about his behavior, he laughed and told her that she wouldn't dare. She was offended to think that he would even try to stop her and demanded to know why he was laughing. Do you know what he said?”

Kagome, eyes wide, shook her head.

“He said he'd kill Princess Kikyo's little sister if she told anyone.”

Kagome gaped. “No! He didn't!”

Kaede nodded seriously. “He did.”

“The nerve of him! What'd she do?”

“At first Princess Kikyo didn't believe him,” Kaede said. “But then he snapped his fingers, and a woman appeared dragging the little princess behind her. Kikyo's sister tried to run to her, but the woman held her back. The little princess wasn't crying, though. She looked nervous, but she wasn't crying. She had complete faith in her older sister. She believed that Kikyo would come out on top, just like she always did. But that poor girl saw something no one should have to witness. Kikyo, her heroine and protectress, bowed her head in defeat and agreed that she would not speak of this to anyone, so long as her sister was kept out of harm's way.”

Kagome gaped. “She just—she just—she just— let him win?”

“Of course not, child,” Kaede smacked her lightly. “This is Crown Princess Kikyo we're speaking of. She would never just roll over and let Prince Onigumo—or anyone else for that matter-- win without a fight. As it was, she made sure her sister was locked safely in her rooms, then warded it so even if the door was unlocked, no one but her would be able to get in and out.”

“What's a ward?”

“Warding is the process of creating a barrier,” Kaede explained. “You know what a barrier is, correct?”

Kagome nodded. “It's when you use your powers to make a strong wall.”

“So warding is what you're doing while you're making a barrier.”

“Oh. Okay, keep going!”

“Very well. Princess Kikyo and her sister spent the night huddled together in Kikyo's bedroom. The little princess may be simply been drawing comfort and courage from her older sister, but Kikyo was wracking her mind for a solution to their dilemma. She refused to jepordize her sister's life, but nor would she allow herself to become chained to a man such as Onigumo. Finally, as dawn began to break, Kikyo rose and left her room to go speak with the head priestess in the castle. Perhaps she would be able to help. The priestess was quite close to Kikyo, seeing as how she'd been the one to train the princess--”

“What was her name?”

Kaede blanched. “What was who's name?”

Kagome eyed her surrogate grandmother. “The head priestess.”

Said grandmother fidgeted uncomfortably. “Er… Actually, it was Kaede… quite the coincidence, don't you think?”

Kagome grinned wildly. “Really? Wow! Wait `till Sango hears about this!”

Kaede paled. “I don't think Sango would be particularly interested in something as trivial as this. She's got her training to do, remember? She'll be receiving her first true weapon soon.”

Kagome pouted. “Good point. I'll wait till after she gets her first true weapon.”

Kaede silently prayed to any deity that might be listening for Kagome to forget about that part in the next five minutes. “Well, in any case, Kaede and Kikyo were well acquainted due to the fact that Kaede was the one who taught Princess Kikyo how to control her spiritual powers, and Kikyo trusted her judgment.”

Kagome frowned. “It didn't work out that way, did it?” Obviously she had remembered there was an unhappy ending.

Kaede sighed and shook her head sadly. “No, she didn't. On her way to her parent's rooms, she was intercepted by Onigumo.”

“Oh, no,” Kagome moaned into the palms of her hands. “He had her sister again, didn't he?”

“No, actually, he didn't.”

Kagome looked up, surprised. “He didn't?”

“No, he didn't,” Kaede repeated. “Kikyo had put a barrier up around the room Ka— er, her sister was in, remember? Because of that, Onigumo couldn't directly and physically harm Kikyo's little sister, but he could still curse her. So that's what he did. He brewed up an illness and sent it to the little princess right in front of Kikyo. It hit her almost instantly, and you could hear her scream all the way to the other end of the castle. It caused her a great deal of pain, and she became delirious with fever. But because of the barrier Princess Kikyo had erected, no one could come to the little girl's aid. Naturally, Kikyo tried to leave and go help her sister, but Onigumo refused to let her go, saying that she had broken her word and would have to pay the price.”

“So she just died?” Kagome asked in a hushed voice.

Kaede shook her head. “No, Princess Kikyo threw away her dignity—and her life-- in order to preserve her sister's life. She begged Onigumo to remove the spell, saying that she'd do anything he wanted. She told him she'd marry him, and even pretend to be happy until the day she died, so long as he'd just leave her sister alone. But Onigumo had decided that Kikyo was not worth marrying. She was too spirited and intelligent.” Kaede paused and blew into a hanky. “So he told Princess Kikyo that if she died, her sister would get better. If she did not die, others would become infected and die as well.”

“Oh, no.” Kagome said sadly. She sniffed and tried to blink the tears away. “What did she do?”

Kaede looked ready to cry, which was somewhat disconcerting for Kagome. “She killed herself.” She opened her mouth as if to say more, but didn't.

“She… killed herself?” Kagome was just as close to tears as Kaede. “Kaede…” And she found herself enveloped in a bear hug. She cuddled close to the only family she knew, breathing in the sandalwood smell of her yukata.

After a few minutes of drawing comfort from one another, Kaede sat up and wiped her eyes gingerly. “There's still a bit left,” she said, still sounding stuffy. “Would you like to hear it?”

Kagome nodded and wiped her own eyes. “Yes, please.”

Kaede took a few calming breaths then continued speaking. “After Princess Kikyo sacrificed herself, the ward she'd placed on her sister's rooms disappeared, and the little princess stumbled out, screaming and crying about how Kikyo was going to kill herself. Somehow, she'd seen the whole exchange between Kikyo and Onigumo while she was asleep. Word of that and Princess Kikyo's suicide swept through the capitol like wildfire, and it was quickly agreed that the youngest— and now the only— child of King Toshiro and Queen Sakura should be hidden away from malevolent eyes. It was agreed that the head priestess would take the little princess away and raise her in a rural village out in the country. She would not contact anyone who could possibly recognize her or her charge, and would stay there until the little princess was old enough to inherit the throne.”

“And so they're still out there?” Kagome's voice was still wobbly.

Kaede nodded. “The odd thing is, though, that the morning after they arrived at their new home, the little princess awoke with her memory gone. Apparently, her own mind had hidden all those horrible things from her, so she could continue to live in peace. So if someone came up to her and asked her to tell them about her life in the capitol, she wouldn't be able to if she tried.”

“No one would be able to kidnap her, because even she wouldn't know if she was the right girl. Right?”

“Very perceptive of you, dear heart.” Kaede stood and motioned that Kagome do the same. “Come now, we've got to see if Beniha has recovered from her fever yet. If not, we can give her some of the chamomile you found last fortnight.”

Kagome took Kaede's hand and blinked as they stepped outside into the sunlight. “So that's it? That's how it ends?”

Kaede chuckled. “For now, youngling.”

 

A/N: Happy fifteenth birthday to me! ^_^ Please R&R, I haven't written stories for a while now, and I'd like to know if I can still write at all. So go press that little blue button down there! ^_^

 

 

 

10