Before Time Began
Disclaimer: Inu- Yasha and Kagome do not belong to me, as much as I wish for them to. All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi and I am not implying what may or may not happen in the manga, what I write is solely for my enjoyment…*looks around*… oh yeah… and your enjoyment, but it by no means is mine, nor will it ever be *sniffles*… Other characters that I shall use are solely mine, please, if you read this at least be able to tell which characters are Rumiko Takahashi's and which ones are not…
Note: Sigh…this is my first pitiful stab at this, and I shall probably fail miserably, but have no fear one day I shall get it right!… a century is still included in the phrase "one day"… *sulks*
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Prologue:
With a sweep of his robes Miko Jouisdah rose, sighing as he marveled at the work he had finally finished after many years of labor. Wistfully Jouisdah thought of all the hard ships and pains he had undergone to build the well that was sitting in front of him. From the carving of a holy Time Tree, to the labor filled nights and days of digging the well, and then the silent vigil he had kept for seven days and seven nights, to ensure that his miko powers were absorbed into the well. Jouisdah rose to his feet stumbling slightly as gravity fought to bring him back into his meditative form that he had kept for the entire vigil. With one last look Jouisdah turned around to look at the awed towns folk who had silently gathered around him, staring in awe at the well he had created.
"But Mommy, what is it for? There's no water in it." A young child's voice sounded in the clearing, breaking the silence that had settle amongst everyone. The mother, young and almost a child herself, tried to hush her child, but already everyone had diverted their attention to the child.
"Child," Jouisdah finally spoke, his jaws already tiring from the lack of use over the past few weeks, "this is no ordinary well, it is a gateway, a gateway between the worlds, and between time itself. From this well one may travel to the past, or to the future. It shall be called the Bone- Eater's Well, for those of future generations shall never remember, nor phantom the other powers of the well. They will forget the history behind the well, and its glory will fade away, so I tell you all, it is best to forget this well, forget the beginnings, forget." With the last forget worded the whole assembly fell under the Miko's spell and indeed they did forget. All except for the little child, the one little girl, who could not forget.
Chapter 1: Kagome! Don't leave us!
"Idiot!!!! I won't let you leave again!!!" Inu- yasha's voice sounded through the forest, scaring many birds from their roosts in the trees.
"Inu- yasha… SIT!!!!!" Kagome's voice also rose, rivaling the intensity of Inu- yasha's hanyou voice. (A/N a hanyou is a half demon; also Kagome's sit spell is the only thing that can stop Inu- yasha in his tracks).
"Gah!! Why do you want to leave, Idiot!?!?!?!?"
"Sit, Sit, SIT, SIT!!!!!!!!" Kagome shouted yet again before diving feet first into the Bone- Eater's Well.
Present day Tokyo"Mommy I'm home! Hi Sota, hi grandpa!" Kagome's voice sounded through her house, in a quieter tone and intensity that she had used before with Inu- yasha. Her voice sounded much more calmer now that she was back in the world that she was born into, however, she sounded almost wistful at the fact that she was at home.
"Kagome! Did you bring Inu- yasha home with you this time?" Sota, Kagome's younger brother bound into view, grinning frantically as he saw his older sister… Or at least, until he dashed past her to see if there were any more people behind her that is.
"No Sota, of course he isn't here with me!" Kagome's tone of voice told Sota that mentioning Inu- yasha was probably a bad time.
They probably had another fight again, thought Sota to himself, Why do they always fight? I know that they both love each other… Like mommy loved daddy! For a full second Sota looked happy at that thought, before realizing that his dad was dead…and with that thought his face fell flat and he bordered on the edge of tears.
"Oh Sota, I'm sorry," Said Kagome, "I didn't mean to make you cry." She bent down to hug her little brother, not understanding that his tears were not because he could not see his living hero, but rather because he could not see his father.
"Oh, Kagome, you're home honey." A soft voice interrupted the two siblings, as a woman who was very obviously the mother of Kagome walked in with a bundle of groceries. "Honey, you must be tired, here let me go put this bundle down and help you get the bath ready. After that I'll get your favorite food, oden, ready."
"Thank you Mommy, I am going to go put my stuff away first, then I'll be there." Kagome replied as she walked to her room. "Oden, oden, oden…" She chanted as she walked along.
Kagome's grandfather turned to look at Sota, "Those two… they're like a traveling businessman and his wife."
"Yes, they are…" Sota replied in the same tone that his grandfather had said it.
MeanwhileKagome was waltzing around her room picking up what she needed for her bath, "Finally a nice warm bath," she purred aloud. Kagome stopped in her tracks as she realized that she didn't purr, and stared down to see that she was holding her very fluffy, very cute, very bewildered cat in her arms instead of the clothes she had been aiming for. "Now, now cat, why did you move my stuff and jump into my arms? Silly cat!" Kagome said, making the cat, if possible, shocked even more. However, soon, without further incidents Kagome was found by her family to be in the bath singing, or in her room dancing, or in the living room jumping around.
"Eh, Kagome, why are you so happy?" Her grandfather asked.
"Yeah Sis, why are you so happy, you didn't even get angry when I mentioned Inu-yas…" Sota began to say.
"More chips? They're a new brand that I bought, aren't the great?" Kagome's mother interjected into the conversation, stopping Sota in mid-sentence.
"Mom they're really great, but Kag…" Sota attempted to speak again, however, once again, his mother stopped him short.
"I think you should try this oden, it's very good and healthy for you too!" She shouted. Finally, after much intervening on Kagome's mother's part, both Sota and his Grandfather got the meaning.
"Oh, okay, mom I get it, I won't talk about Inu- yasHAAA!!!" Sota's declaration of the name caused his mother to accidentally dump a bowl of water over his head, making him soon forget anything he had been planning on saying.
"Mommy, it's okay, I'm not mad at Inu- yasha anymore, I really am happy this time…not that I wasn't before!" Kagome quickly blurted so her mother wouldn't know how long she had been sad about the unreturned love of Inu- yasha. This time, it was different though, this time, she really didn't care anymore, because after watching Sango and Miroku behave she realized that love was never as perfect as she had thought it would be, and that maybe one day, Inu- yasha would return her love. That day might be tomorrow Kagome jerked upwards, realizing that maybe she should go back to the feudal ages to continue the journey, after all she really did want to see Inu- yasha again.
In the hallway the telephone rang and throughout the entire house everyone could her grandfather picking up the telephone and saying, "no she has a mysterious ailment that causes nodes and she had to go to the hospital again!"
Kagome wondered whether or not she should pick up the phone in response to that message, however, she decided that perhaps she would let this one slip since she had a feeling that she was being missed in the feudal ages. On cue, she sneezed five times in a row without stop, each time you sneeze some one is thinking about you. Kagome thought to herself while picking up her bags with all she needed in the other world. Checking one last time to make sure the Shikon Shards were on her, she strolled through the door, everyone in the house knew where she would be going.
Chapter 2: Inu- yasha, stop moping!
"Feh, who needs that idiot?!" Inu- yasha screamed at his companions. Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kiara and Kaede all stared in bewilderment at Inu- yasha, pausing from what they were originally doing.
"But, Inu- yasha…" Sango attempt to say.
"No buts! I'm not going to go back to get that idiot! If she wants to stay there it's all her choice!!!"
"Ah, but Inu- ya…" Miroku to failed to finish before Inu-yasha started to talk again.
"That idiot, if she wants to stay in her world then let her! She's probably too afraid to come back again!"
A loud resounding smack sounded in the room. Shippou had smacked Inu- yasha hard across his head, and only managed to enrage the dog demon even more.
"Why you little demon! Idiot! Come here you brat! Coward!!!" Inu- yasha shouted as he chased the mischevious little demon around the tiny room of Kaede's house.
Kaede winched each time she heard a crash, coming from this pair of childish demons. She knew that she would have a lot of restocking to do when everyone left. Sighing she decided to restock now, anything to get away from the tension that was building up because Kagome had not yet returned.
"Ah, Kaede grandmother! Let me help you!" Sango fairly flew off the ground, eager also to leave the childish play that was occurring.
"Yes, let me go to!" Miroku said, starting to stand up before stumbling forward, apparently tripped by Inu- yasha and Shippou rolling around on the floor.
Another smack resonated through the house. Miroku, even in such an accident had tried to get fresh with Sango again, and earned himself, in the process, another new hand made welt across his face. "Oh, this accursed hand! On second thought, maybe it would be better if I remained here to watch these two have their little fight." Miroku suggested wisely, pretending that the welt that was rising on his face didn't bother him at all.
However, before anyone could quite leave, Inu- yasha rose up from the ground, dusted himself off with one hand, and then proceeded to hit Shippou as hard as he could, creating lumps on top of the lumps on Shippou's head.
"Wah!! You'll be sorry when Kagome come's back!" The tiny demon screamed, wincing in pain at Inu- yasha's constant abuse to his head. His remark however caused another bout of wrestling with Inu- yasha, who this time rose up, and dusted himself before saying something that shocked everyone, yet again.
"Alright, fools! Stop your whining! I'm going to go get her right now!!" With a look of resolution on his face Inu- yasha marched out the door leaving the party yet again bewildered.
Sango, Kaede, Miroku, and Shippou exchanged glances with each other. Wondering if maybe Inu- yasha had finally cracked and went insane.
"But no one said anything about going to find Kagome- Sama… Did we?" One of them, or maybe all of them, asked aloud. And as far as everyone was concerned no one had said anything about bringing Kagome back… Was it possible, that Inu- yasha was going to reveal his true feelings for Kagome? Would he finally say it aloud? Everyone knew it was true, everyone but Inu- yasha. Maybe he was going to go to the well and tell Kagome tomorrow!
"I suggest…" Miroku started to say to his friends. He was going to suggest going to the well and watching this miracle happen, but when he turned around no one stood behind him, in fact, in the distance he noticed the figures of his friends running to the well, obviously with his idea. Discontent that no one heeded him, even more discontent that they had all left without him, Miroku ran after the figures on the horizon trying to catch up with the steadily vanishing group.
MeanwhileInu-yasha stood in a dense forest, all his warnings telling him to run away. But, he never heeded his warning system anyways, and this time was no different. The childish brat like hanyou moved stealthily in the grass, making almost no noise that could be heard. And in fact behind him he started to hear the sound of something approaching, something, large and dangerous. "Feh, this will be an easy one." He thought to himself as he listened more carefully about where it was going. There! He thought, as his hand, armed with Tetsusaiga, slashed down on the snake demon that had been attempting to sneak up behind him.
"Feh! That was a pathetic demon, oh well, on to get that idiot back here!" He said, almost cheerfully. Inu- yasha, though he did not realize, was walking with a bounce, so unlike his usual gait, he seemed almost happy. That is, until he saw the clearing where the well was, or rather where it should have been. In the place where the well always stood, there was a giant tree towering above all the other trees in the forest.
Not again! Inu- yasha thought to himself, only once before as this happened to the great Bone Eater's Well, and that only happened when that demon's jaki was almost as potent as that of Naraku's! Sighing, and hoping for the best, Inu- yasha ran up to the tree and started to attempt to pull the tree out of the ground, though it did not relent because of its roots set deep into the earth, refusing to be exposed to the air that would pronounce its death.
He was still at it when Miroku, Sango and Shippou came up to him riding on the now transformed Kiara. All three of them gasped in horror as they saw the time tree growing out of the dead wood of the well. All three attuned their senses, yet try as they might, they could sense no jaki, evil or good, in the vicinity, nor could they feel any jaki that would be able to change the well. However, as they had learned the hard way, sometimes things did not appear as they seemed to be, such as the part of Naraku, Ranna, who had no jaki yet was just as demonly as any. All of them jumped off of Kiara and took up their fighting stances.
Miroku stood there his eyes up and his monk staff ready to use in a second. Next to him stood the tense youkai exterminator, Sango, with her own weapon, a giant boomerang like weapon, slung over her shoulder. Shippou stood there a top and string in his hand ready to be fired off at a moments notice. And in front of them all floated Kiara, bearing her deadly teeth and fangs, ready for any challenge that would appear. Inu- yasha, not even noticing this, continued his futile attempts to hack away the tree, only to find, in dismay, that it grew as fast as he cut it, if not faster.
Suddenly, out of the corner of their eyes, the warrior group saw a tiny amount of movement in the grass, it moved at a regular pace and as it came closer towards the group it appeared to be a tiny little flea. A flea that was dressed in clothes, but a flea nonetheless, in fact it was another one of their acquaintances, Myuga, the immortal flea. As he approached they could all hear him muttering into the winds, "They have to be warned, before anything bad can happen, they must be warned!"
Myuga was so intent on his travel that he did not even notice as Miroku, bent down and picked him up, bringing him closer for better inspection. In fact everyone was now gathered around Miroku's hand, staring at the tiny flea advisor, who was also a great, "Coward, you ran away again didn't you?" Inu- yasha remarked, he too had stopped to see Myuga.
"Of course I did not run away, I have absolute faith in you Inu- yasha, that's why I let my guard down knowing you would be alright without my aid. I had some research I had to do, and I found the answers I have been looking for. I have a dire warning about the Bone- Eater's Well… No one must travel through it right now, and luckily there are only two people who can travel through it… That would be you and Kagom… Kagome!!! Where is she!?!?" Myuga screeched at the top of his lungs.
"She went home." Inu- yasha replied blandly, "Once again, you have delievered your message a bit too late." He remarked as he swatted Myuga, crushing him between his palm and Miroku's palm.
"Surely she did not just travel home then!?" Mygua, recovered, started to screech again.
"No, the idiot went home yesterday…" Inu- yasha replied.
"Oh, good, then as long as she does not travel back then all will be well!!!" Myoga looked pleased with himself at this announcement.
"Oh, that's good, but for how long must she stay in her world?" Miroku asked the flea on his hand.
"Ah, well you see…" Myoga started to squirm, "well, because of what has happened… as long as she doesn't travel for oh… maybe a year?… Or until the spell has been abated!!!" He shouted quickly in case Inu- yasha decided to pounce on him again.
"But grandfather…" Sango started to say, "How will Kagome know not to travel? If none of us can go to her and tell her not to travel down the well?"
Myoga squirmed, seemed to think about the question wisely, and promptly leaped off of Miroku's hand. "I think I hear my wife is calling! I must leave! I shall be back before matters run completely out of hand!" Myoga shouted as he bounded away as fast as his legs could carry him.