I don't own Inuyasha, breath of fire, or any of the copyrighted characters used, this work is not for the motive of profit and is entirely fan written.

Scent of Fire

Chapter 1

The sound of birds chirping filled the air around an old stone well, long since over grown by plants and devoid of all water. A groan from the well caused the birds who were previously perching on the side of the well to scatter to the wind.

A voice could be heard coming from inside the well "oww oww oww, stupid cat... huh, why is it so bright?"

An arm appears over the edge of the well, followed by a head of aqua blue hair. "I knew something was weird when I heard those birds... but this can't be the same well I fell into..." climbing the rest of the way over the wall of the well the blue haired boy looks around the forest clearing "Outside? And either i'm in a park or im not in the city anymore..."

Off a distance into the forest a rustling sound could be heard, becoming louder as the source of the sound came closer to the wells clearing. Oh great! Now somethings coming, better to be careful than sorry as they say, guess i should hide or something Thought the boy who appeared to be in is mid teens as he started towards the opposing side of the clearing.

Before making it more than three steps the rustling sound increased in tempo.

A terrifying howl emanated from the forest as a shadowy figure burst from the foilage toward the blue haired teen.

"oh Shit!" blurted the boy as he dove to his right and rolled to his feet to face what had attacked him. Expecting to see a large cat that had escaped a zoo or something like that the boy was clearly shocked to see what looked like a cross between a bear and a snake, a long ten foot snake body ending in a large torso with arms twice as thick as his own, the face however looked like neither a snake or a bear.

"Oh, faster prey than I am used to, well I guess I should at least give you the honor of knowing my name, you earned the right to know the name of the one who shall end your life" said a face which mostly resembled a human male, the difference's being that it was narrowed and longer than normal, as well the eyes were larger with red iris' and no eyelids, the pale complexion almost blending with the inch long fangs immerging from the mouth as the creature spoke "I am called Mousa and you have the bad luck to have become my next meal"

Making another lung for the boy Mousa pushed its clawed hand forward toward its prey, only to tear the boys black pants as he rolled to the side once again.
"I am already impressed with your performance, so stop moving and die already!" spouted Mousa as he turned to face his prey again. Instead all he saw was an empty clearing, the birds from before had been the only sound and now the clearing was silent "hmm, my ears would not lie, I know you are still here, hiding will not save your life human" boasted Mousa as he slithered along the clearing.

THUMP THUMP

Spinning back towards the well Mousa straightened up "Ah! There you are, that is a strong heart you have human, too bad it betrayed you" THUMP THUMP "hehehehe, It seems logical now that you would return to the inside of the well" THUMP THUMP "But it is just one more mistake you have made, no where to escape to" THUMP THUMP "really, that heart of yours is quite loud, i'd almost think another human could hear it from here"THUMP THUMP

Snapping its tail straight Mousa launched up ten feet above the well and dove down toward the oppening "Now accept your fate human!"

My throat! My throat is burning! My chest hurts, whats happening! What is that thing! AGG MY THROAT IS ON FIRE!!!

The opening of the well poured out fire in an enormous blast upward, completely engulfing Mousa, the last thing he saw was a pair of golden eyes and the thought rang through his head but he's not a youkai...

"Kaede-sama! There was a large explosion near the bone eater well! Do you think it is because of that youkai we heard earlier!?" asked a panicking middle aged man as he approached a bent old woman.

"It is possible, though we can't know for sure, but if there was an explosion we should investigate, to make sure the fire isn't spreading to the forest" replied the old woman as she straightened to reveal a face decorated by an eye patch covering her left eye. "It would be easier if Inuyasha and Kagome were not still traveling."

"What would be easier babaa?" asked a boy in his late teens, with white hair and furry white ears dressed in red robes, standing near by as a girl in an outfit that looks like it was inspired by medival sailers uniform is seen running up the hill behind him.

Scowling the girl opened her mouth and in a clear careful tone said "SIT!" Almost as if a direct result of her command the boy crashed to the ground face first. "We were in the middle of an important discussion and you just take any excuse that pops up to take off and ignore me! oh. Kaede, sorry what was that you were talking about?"

"oh, Kagome, there was a large explosion in the direction of the bone eater well, I was about to go investigate, but perhaps it would be better if you and Inuyasha did so instead, since I assume you will be returning to your country soon it would be along your way to check the area" replied Kaede as she glanced at the boy with white ears, known as Inuyasha.

Looking oblivious the girl Kagome said "How did you know I was going to go back home so soon? Well, tell shippou and the others that I'll be back in a few days. Coming Inuyasha?"

Grumbling under his breath Inuyasha followed Kagome toward the smoke rising from the forest.

It hurts! What happened!? My chest, it felt like it was going to burst and my throat was burning... and that snake Mousa! He was diving towards me and then... what? Sitting up the boy winced as he held his chest, attempting to stand just caused him to start coughing and collapse onto his knees I feel like I ran for a whole day and then ate hot coals, what happened!? And where did that Mousa thing go... was i just dreaming?

After struggling for a few minutes the boy gained his feet and looked around, finding himself in the well he attempted to climb out of the well again, but couldn't even get off the ground he felt so weak. Falling away from the wall the boy landed painfully on his back, resulting in a cloud of soot to rise into the air around him. Ashes? But... there weren't any ashes earlier... and there is such a strong smell of smoke, I'd better find a way out of this well fast. Working his way to his feet the boy was about to try to climb the wall again when he heard footsteps

"What happened? There is a bunch of ash on the ground, like it came of the well and was blown around a bit." That sounded like a girl, hopefully it isn't another one of those snake things

"It smells like a youkai came into the clearing but didn't leave... the smell just fades at the well.. its hard to tell anything else, that oily smell of smoke is blocking out any other smells" Hmm, and that ones a boy... maybe I should call for help, I'll die if I don't get out of this smokey well..

"Hey! Is someone out there!?"

"Inuyasha, theres someone in the well! We'll help you out hold on a second"

"umm... Thank you for helping me out, it was so smokey in there... and I really winded myself when I fell in, I might of been in trouble if you two didn't come by...but... um..." The blue haired boy trailed off as he stared at the white ears sticking out of Inuyasha's hair

"OH! Don't worry, he's a really good guy, he won't attack you, RIGHT Inuyasha" said Kagome as she glared at Inuyasha.

Leaning close to Kagome Inuyasha whispered "Kagome, he's wearing weird clothes like yours, and not only that, I can't smell him! I can smell you, and the left over smell from that youkai, but I can't smell this guy, it just smells like there is just us and a fire..."

"Um... maybe I should get going, I should be trying to find my way back to the shrine..." said the boy as he started to get up.

"Shrine? Wait... did you come here through the well in the Higurashi shrine!?" said Kagome as she bolted up to her feet, afraid someone outside of her family had found out about the wells magic.

"Yeah, do you know how to get back there? Pops will probably be upset if im not there in the morning"asked the boy, looking more relaxed than he had been all day.

"Pops? Um what did you say your name was again?" oh crap, how did this guy come through the well? It'll be bad if this gets out "and please, don't tell anyone about the well!"pleaded Kagome

"Its a secret that there is a well there? And I was recently adobted by old man Higurashi, my name is Ryu Higurashi" Bowing deeply Ryu missed Kagomes reaction entirely.

Taking a step back Kagome staggered with her mouth wide open "WHAT!? My grandfather adopted you!? How long ago did that happen!?"

"Oh? So you're Kagome then? He adopted me about 2 weeks ago" replied Ryu as he straightened up "so this is where you have been, they keep telling me about you, but get quiet when it comes to where you are... about that... um where ARE we?" looking around the clearing "I'm SURE I fell into the well, so how did I end up in a forest... and there was a weird snake thing earlier..."

"Snake thing?" asked Kagome in a confused tone. "you mean like a rattlesnake or something?"

"No, it... you probably aren't going to believe me" Ryu paused and looked again at Inuyashas ears "then again... well when I came out of the well, this really long snake with a human torso showed up and tried to kill me, it said its name was Mousa"

'A youkai attacked him!?' Thought Kagome with a stunned expression on her face 'That explains the explosion, but how did he survive?' "Um... and you just fell back in the well and it left? Where is it now?"

"Maybe I was just dreaming, it dove into the well after me and my throat was starting to hurt. I think I passed out after that... When I came to it was gone" Said Ryu while looking down at his feet, a little embarrased to be claiming to be attacked by a monster.

Inuyasha stood up suddenly "It was real, I can still smell the youkai, but the smell vanishes at the well. What aren't you telling us, I don't really trust you" Taking a step forward Inuyasha was stopped by Kagomes outstretched hand.

Kagome closed her eyes and started talking calmly"Inuyasha! Stop being to paranoid about EVERYONE we meet. I'll take him through the well and see if he's telling the truth, you go back to the village and...huh?" Opening her eyes Kagome saw red cloth disappear over the edge of the well. "Inuyasha!" running over to the well Kagome jumped over the edge and back into her own time.

"Now we're in the shrine again! Whats with that well?" asked Ryu as Inuyasha dragged him over the wall of the well and toward the main house "let go, I can walk on my own"

"Until I check your story I'm not letting you wonder off" growled Inuyasha annoyedly 'He must of been in that soot for a while, I still only smell the scent of fire...'