Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha…

The Path

Chapter 1

Lost

Had she imagined it all…those lights who had for a moment pierced through the darkness of the well, that feeling of falling, of a never-ending chute…had she imagined it?

The ground beneath her was cold and moist. The cold seeped through her thin shirt and induced a shiver, as her mind came to consciousness. It was dark; that much she knew; no light shone upon her, and for some reason this realization ignited a flame of panic.

Where am I?…

She slowly lifted herself off the soil, until she was in a sitting position. Something gently rolled down her cheek, she looked up, only for eyes to encounter a murky light shining above her…Light. A small smile stretched across her lips. Another drop of liquid fell onto her face, she happily identified it as rain.

She hurriedly lifted herself off the ground. She remembered now: she had fallen into the shrine's well. Her hands felt around her until she came in contact with a vine. Her smile lengthened into a grin: she was saved.

She began her ascent out of the well, already imagining the shrine and her mother's worried gaze. She would be back with them in but an instant… She let out a sigh as she reached the end of the well, she quickly breached the barrier between the dark well and her home.

No…something isn't right. This isn't the shrine…

As she looked around her the more she noticed the less than subtle differences between this place and the shrine. Tears sprung into her eyes as the realization hit her; she was lost…

Trees outlined her vision, the ground beneath her was grass, the sky above her was grey, raindrops dropped heavily around her; all these thing, proof she was lost, proof that she was in unknown land. A raindrop ran across her cheek, imitating the route of a stray tear, and…

She ran. She ran as fast as her could for she knew that she had to escape, escape this world that was so foreign to her. Tears leaked her eyes as her feet pounded through the wet ground.

Suddenly, she came to halt before a giant tree. It's roots, she was sure, went for miles on end, it was ancient, it was impressive, it was familiar, it was the…

Goshinboku

Despite the fear and panic that threatened to take over her heart, despite the cold, despite the pain that glazed her mind and heart, despite it all, she managed a smile the familiar tree that was present before her.

She raced towards it, encircling it with her small arms. Goshinboku… She let go, and with a smile walked around the tree inspecting every corner of it. Her smile remained until…

A frown replaced the only sign of distinct happiness on her face. There was a figure on the tree, a figure that had never been there before. Curiosity enticed her to approach it, and as she did it became clear that it was human.

It was a human planted to the tree by an arrow… The fear that had been so close to dissipating before returned with even more force. The emotions that had nestled in her chest since her arrival were finally released in a scream; a scream which held frustration, anger, fear.

She turned her back away from the tree that was so familiar and yet so different and ran. She ran through the darkness, all in an attempt to be rid of this place forever. The rain continued and she slipped and fell, but even as she continued, one fact remained true.

She was lost

Ther is a "minor" problem with this story: I don't really have a plot…

But…if I get reviews I can work on one faster