Chapter 4: The Bone Eater's Well
"Are we there yet?" Alice complained from atop Inuyasha's back.
"For the hundredth time… No!" Inuyasha yelled back irritably, "How many more times do I have to say it before it stinks in your head?!"
"Sorry but it seems like this is taking forever!" the girl grumbled.
Both were making good pace, slaying the occasional demon or two on the path to Kaede's village, when Alice's shoulder started to affect her so much that Inuyasha had to carry her the rest of the way. Alice sighed. The rest of the journey seemed to go by painfully slow seeing as her shoulder wound wasn't getting any better. She was about to ask Inuyasha if he could pick up the pace when she saw what appeared to be a building through the trees.
"Finally, we've arrived," Inuyasha exhaled as he lowered Alice off his back, "This is Kaede's village."
"Well it's about time," Alice said as she got off Inuyasha's back and dusted her kimono off, "Now where is this Kagome you were talking about?"
Inuyasha's answer came to deaf ears as Alice stared in horror as she realized she didn't recognize the place at all. A man leading a horse walked by the two in front of a wooden shop that sold what looked to be herbs and the girl looked on in disbelief.
"Impossible, a horse? Why would there be a horse?" Alice trailed off as she stared at the man and his horse.
"Yeah what of it? Don't tell me you've never seen one before?" Inuyasha replied, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
"Of course I've seen a horse before baka!" Alice snapped at him, "It's just… Weird hairstyles, kimonos, and horses? Is this really Japan?"
"What are you talking about? I told you, you're from the present! Didn't you listen to me?" Inuyasha replied in frustration, "Keh, never mind, if you don't hurry up I'll just leave you behind."
"Oh so now you want to just leave me here? So much for helping me," she yelled at him.
Inuyasha glared at her and replied angrily, "What are you talking about? I've helped you plenty, and all you've done is complained!"
Alice glared back at Inuyasha, "Then why did you save me in the first place dog breath?"
"Dog breath?! As if! You couldn't last two minutes on your own out there!" he yelled back angrily.
"Wanna bet?" Alice yelled with as much anger in her voice as Inuyasha.
Passing villagers stopped for a moment to look at the two fighting before sighing, as if they expected this, and resumed walking while the two just stood there glaring at each other until a voice called "Inuyasha!"
The two looked towards the sound of the voice to see a girl with raven black hair and chocolate brown eyes running towards them.
"Hey Inuyasha! Where have you been? There was a demon outside of the village and we could've really used your help in slaying it. So much for being there when we need you," the newcomer sighed with a little disappointment clearly present in her voice.
"If you're talking about those pesky little demons, then I already took care of them," Inuyasha replied to the girl.
"Yeah, only with my help!" Alice but in.
"It's not like I needed it in the first place!" Inuyasha yelled back.
"As if!" Alice snapped as they both glared at each other with anger and irritation flashing in both of their eyes, leaving the girl behind Inuyasha speechless.
"Hey, who are you?" the girl asked Alice.
Alice stopped glaring at Inuyasha and stared at the girl and saw she wore a uniform similar to what she saw other middle students where. Finally, a break from all these kimonos she thought with a sigh of relief.
"Oh this is just Alice, I found her about to be beaten by one of those puny demons when I stepped in and saved her," Inuyasha replied smugly to the girl.
"What?! I didn't need your help at all!" Alice snapped, "I could've easily handled things there!"
Not waiting for Inuyasha to reply, she turned to the girl and asked, "Where are we? What's with the weird clothes? Why are there horses around here? Is this Japan?"
"Please calm down," the girl said in reply, "My name's Kagome Higurashi. I'm in 9th grade and this is Inuyasha."
"Unfortunately I know that," Alice grumbled.
"Well that at least simplifies things," Kagome said cheerfully, "But onto answering your question, you're in Feudal Era."
"Feudal Era? You can't be serious! That means I've gone back in time almost 500 years ago!" Alice said, feeling her panic start to rise.
"Exactly, I think you transported here from the present somehow," Kagome answered calmly.
"Ugh, this doesn't make any sense… I fell through a hole in the shed out back of my shrine and popped up in a forest 500 years ago? I must be dreaming," Alice moaned in disbelief.
"Calm down," Kagome repeated as she put her hands on Alice's shoulders, trying to comfort her, "Alice, was it? I know all of this is sudden and doesn't make much sense but believe me, this is all real. You need to…"
The girl's instruction was cut short as she gasped at the sight of blood on Alice's kimono.
"Oh no, you're injured! What happened?! Never mind that, we need to get this treated right away!" Kagome yelled as she took Alice's hand and ran with her towards the center of the village.
"What? No, I'm fine really," Alice tried to reassure Kagome but saw that her efforts were getting her nowhere.
As Kagome lead her deeper into the village, Alice found out that she was headed towards a small house on the top of a hill.
"Almost there!" Kagome reassured as they began to climb the stairs of the hill leading to the house.
When the two entered the house Alice saw that no one was there, but there were remains of food in some bowls around a pit that had a huge pot in the middle of it. She watched as Kagome ran over to a yellow bag and pulled out some bandages.
"Here, this will fix you up in no time," she said happily.
"Thanks, I guess… I can handle the rest if you don't mind," Alice replied.
Kagome then nodded and walked out of the house leaving Alice to bandage her wound.
Ahh! That hurt the injured thought as she looked at the wound and began rinsing it with some water Kagome had given her. After she finished bandaging her wound, Alice got up and walked out of the house to see that Inuyasha had caught up and was talking to Kagome.
"Do you feel better now?" Kagome asked Alice as she walked out of the hut.
"Yeah, luckily it wasn't all that deep," she replied.
"Keh, so much for being able to handle things," Inuyasha teased.
Alice glared at him, but before she could reply, Kagome spoke up, "Oh come on Inuyasha, it was probably her first time ever seeing a demon."
"Yeah, but she had her powers to protect her so she doesn't have any excuse for messing up back there!" he replied in frustration.
"Powers? What do you mean?" Kagome asked curiously as she looked over at Alice who had a mixed look of shock and anger on her face.
"Inuyasha…" Alice said icily, "Did you happen to forget something, like I don't know… A promise not to tell anyone about a certain something?! Hmmm?"
She glared at Inuyasha with such fierceness that the boy backed up behind Kagome. "Oops" was all Inuyasha could say before Alice exploded.
"You liar! Ugh! I can't believe I actually told you! What, it hasn't been even an hour before you go blabbering about my powers to others! At this rate everyone will know by sundown!" Alice yelled at Inuyasha, who was still behind Kagome.
She was about to yell at Inuyasha more when Kagome interrupted, "It's okay! I won't tell anyone about your powers without your approval."
Alice was still mad but made herself calm down. Anger won't solve anything. It will just make things worse she told herself.
"Okay, but you must swear you won't tell anyone like dog breath over there," she said as she glared at Inuyasha who was avoiding her eyes.
"Well now what? I need to find a way back home. Do you have any ideas?" she asked Kagome hoping that she would know the answer.
"That's obvious!" Inuyasha said after finally regaining himself, "Just go back through the well."
"What? The well?" Alice asked feeling confused.
"That's right! Near this village is a well called the Bone Eater's Well. The well connects our time with the past and if you jump through it you should be transported back into our time. I use it all the time to get here" Kagome explained.
"Really? That's great! I can finally go home and if I'm lucky enough I'll be home in time for the festival!" Alice stated excitedly, "Let's go!" Not waiting for a reply, she ran off towards the outskirts of the village.
"Hey wait up! You don't even know where you're going!" she heard Kagome yell, and a few minutes later she saw the girl riding Inuyasha's back as they ran beside her.
Letting the two take the lead, Alice couldn't help but feeling excited about going home. Finally! I thought I'd never get back she thought with a sigh of relief. The girl looked around the woods they were running to and saw a huge tree standing up taller than the rest of the nearby trees.
"Wow that's a huge tree," Alice called to Kagome.
"Yeah, that's the Goshinboku tree. That's where I first met Inuyasha, but he was sealed to the tree at the time before I removed the arrow that sealed him," Kagome explained.
"Wow, that's pretty cool," Alice replied as they passed the tree where she could just make out a scar near the center of the tree, "Was that where Inuyasha was sealed?"
"Yep, exactly. That scar is even visible in our time. When we get back I'll show you," Kagome said while Alice laughed.
"I can't wait. How much further until we get to the well?" she asked her.
"Not much. We should be getting there just about now," Kagome answered as they entered a huge clearing.
"Wow…" Alice murmured as she slowed down and looked around the sunlight clearing. Her eyes caught something and she quickly realized it was the well. "Is that it? The thing looks ancient. Are you sure it works?" she asked doubtfully.
Kagome nodded, "Yes it works or else I wouldn't be here right now would I?"
Alice laughed and continued on, "So why is it called the Bone Eater's Well anyway?"
"That's easy," Inuyasha replied, "They used to toss dead demons into the well after they were defeated."
"Hey don't say that, you'll scare her!" Kagome scolded Inuyasha.
"Keh, they were dead anyway. Its not like they'll come back to life or something," he replied.
"Still, now isn't the best time to be saying things like that. Ugh, you're so insensitive," Kagome sighed.
"Kagome it's okay, I'll be fine. I don't think I'll be scared off by dead demons that easily, especially after all that I've been through so far. So, do I just jump in or what?" Alice inquired.
"Yeah, if you jump in it should take you right back to the present, safe and sound," Kagome replied.
The girl nodded as the group walked towards the ancient well. She then proceeded to get on top of the well's wall and when she looked down into the dark depths of the well she couldn't help but feel a little scared. No, I've come too far to give up now she told herself. Alice looked back at Inuyasha and Kagome and couldn't deny that she was going to miss the two of them.
"Well I guess this is goodbye. Thanks for everything," she said to the two.
"No problem," Kagome replied as she smiled at Alice, "Glad we could help."
Alice smiled back and she turned her attention towards the well. "Okay one, two… th… thr… Ugh" Alice yelled in frustration, "Why can't I jump?"
"Keh! You just need a little push," Inuyasha stated as he ran up to Alice.
"What?!" the girl replied only to feel him push her off the ledge and into the well. Alice screamed in surprise as she fell into the darkness.
Alice felt like she was falling forever until she hit the ground hard.
"Ow!" she yelled out in pain.
"Hey! What did you do that for Inuyasha?" Alice heard Kagome's voice say, "Alice?! Are you okay down there?"
"I think so," Alice grumbled as she looked up to see the two.
"What was that for Inuyasha? You could've at least given me a warning or something," she yelled up at him.
"I couldn't help it!" Inuyasha defended, trying to hide a smile that was painfully obvious on his face.
"What if she got hurt?" Kagome asked him.
"Shut up! I was only trying to help," Inuyasha answered.
"What?! How was that helping?" Kagome argued.
"Excuse me, I don't mean to be butting into this conversation but can you help me get out of here?" Alice said impatiently.
Both Kagome and Inuyasha sighed as they helped her climb up and out of the well. Once out, Alice sighed and dusted off her kimono, "Now what? The well didn't work."
"Hmm… I don't know. I thought you'd be able to go through the well but obviously I was wrong," Kagome answered.
"Yeah…" Alice said sadly, "Now how am I going to get home?"
"Don't give up! I'm sure there's another way to get you back to our time," Kagome commented reassuringly.
But Alice couldn't help but feel that she would be stuck in this world for the rest of her life. Why did this happen? Was all she could think as she dropped down on her knees in defeat and hit the ground in frustration so hard that it made her hand bleed.
Poor Alice... Trapped in a strange world the one day she wished to be home the most
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