Chapter 3: The Other Side

She gaped in amazement as she saw the shrine replaced with a forest scene. Turning her head she looked all around. Nothing was left of the little shack. She lifted her whole body out of the well and slung her legs over. The well itself didn't look quite as old as before. And the scene around her was just amazing. A forest as far as you could see. Even the air smelled different. Cleaner somehow.

She put her background on the ground, leaned over and started shuffling through it. She pulled out of cellphone and turned it on. She watched as the lights turned on and looked at the full battery bar as is searched for a signal. Then she heard the negative bing, saying there was no signal to be found.

"Shit..." she muttered, and turned the phone off and shoved it back into her bag. She looked around, and saw no one. She took off her school shoes pulled out the worn jeans she had in her bag, and pulled them on under her skirt. Then she slid the skirt off. Then she took the uniform shirt off, happy she had worn a tank top underneath. She pulled out a blue shirt from her bag and pulled it on over the tank top. Then she pulled out her sneakers the slid them on, and shoved all her school clothes back into her bag. Feeling much better in some normal clothes, she put her bag back over her shoulder. She stood up and looked around, and then picked a random direction and started walking. She picked her way through the trees, looking for any sign of... well, anything. She walked for about 10 minutes and then she heard noises.

"Damn it Kagome! Would you hurry up!" It was a male voice, and he sounded pissed. Mori stopped and crotched behind a tree.

"Essh! I'm coming! Not everyone can walk as fast as you, you know!" Mori peaked around the tree, and looked in the direction of the voices. She waited, and soon saw some other people walking threw the trees.

The only normal looking one was Kagome is her school uniform. There was a man dressed in purple and black carrying a staff. Near him was a girl in some kind of black and pink ninja outfit with what seemed like a giant boomerang over her shoulder. There was also a man with long silver hair in some kind of red outfit, and she couldn't see his face. She did a double take, and realized on top of his head were doglike ears. Yeah, I think I hit my head a little too hard... and sat down on the ground as they walked away.

She put her head in her hands and rubbed her temples, and tried to think of what to do next.

Well, you got yourself into the mess. What do you do now?

It was night time. Mori had followed downwind of the odd group for several hours. She didn't know why, but she didn't want them to see her just yet. For one, she wanted to figure out what the hell was going on. And second, she had the feeling that she wasn't supposed to be here.

The group had settled down a camp in a clearing. Someone had started a fire, and everyone had gathered around it and eat food that Kagome had taken out of her backpack. The smells of the food reminded Mori that she hadn't eaten since lunch, and her stomach growled so loud she was surprised that the people in the camp didn't hear it. She had found half a candy bar in a pocket in her bag from the day before. She scarfed it down in seconds.

She was too far away to hear anything from the group. Obviously they were heading somewhere. Mori sat and tried to think of what to do next. Go back to that well? Walk up and talk to Kagome? Or sleep and hope she wakes up in a hospital for a bad bump on the head?

Well, she was too hyped up and confused to just sit there, so she decided to go back to the well. Luckily she hadn't traveled too far, and it was relatively easy to pick her way back in the moonlight. Even the moon seemed brighter here. She came to the clearing and the well, and she walked up to it and looked down. The moon was bright, but not the bright. Mori wrinkled her nose at the thought of climbing down a black pit. She reached into her backpack and once again brought out her cellphone. She turned it on, and turned the face outward, so the dim blue light lit a small area in front of her.

This time she made sure her bag was secure on her shoulder, and started climbing down. She reached the bottom and shone the cellphone light over the walls of the well. She looked for... something. Trap doors, writing, anything. She moved her hands over the walls looking for things her eyes couldn't see, and once again found nothing. She kicked around the dust on the floor, and still found nothing.

Well, I feel down the well the last time... might as well try it again, she thought.

So she dropped her back in the far corner, and started to climb up the vine. She climbed until she was high up, but no too high up, so she wouldn't break anything when she fell. She gave a last look around with her cellphone, and then closed it and tucked it in her pocket. The she leaned back from the rope and let herself drop. She closed her eyes... and hit the ground with a thud. She sat up and gasped because the wind had been knocked out of her.

Well THAT didn't work.

She sat there and mulled over the situation. Well, she could either wait here or go ask Kagome what was going on. She had no idea how to address the situation, but there was nothing else to do.

Mori took her phone back out of her pocket, and went and found her backpack in the corner. She climbed back up the vine and out of the well. Tired now, she sat down and laid back against the well. I'll just rest for a moment she thought as she closed her eyes. And with that, she fell asleep in the middle of the woods next to the old well.