Chapter 7 Through the Well

Author: So sorry about the long wait, I was uhh..grounded. Yep, that's right. I'm not allowed on the computer unless my parents aren't there to tell me so, and with all this homework, working for my confirmation requirements, and my green belt test..I'm swamped. But never fear, because nothing can stop me from writing Bwahahaha! And don't worry, this fic won't be incredibly long, but I will finish it. I'll try to get the next chapter up by like Monday if possible. Wanna know why I am grounded? Nah, Its too pathetic. Just enjoy the fic! I am! ^^

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or anything close to it, and I'm grounded.. I wonder if Kagome gets grounded..?
"Now, the well is really close to this tree here, so we just have to look around." Shippo said.

"Should we split up?" Sasuke offered. Shippo shook his head.

"It shouldn't take long, it can't be far. We should stay together. Besides, there might be demons in this woods." Shippo grinned at Sasuke's angry expression, and then laughed when Miroku yelled out loud.

"Demons!? HEY wait a minute.you are a demon!"

"Right on kid," Shippo said, dodging a monk's fist. When he was a few steps ahead, he stuck out his tongue and sprinted away, Sasuke and Miroku hot on his trail.

"Caught you!" Miroku yelled, tackling him roughly. Shippo pretended to go down, yelling as if in slow motion. Sasuke watched bent over and panting.

"How is it that boys have so much energy?" she asked out loud. Miroku was quick to answer, from his place where he was pinned down under the fox demon.

"Pretty girls give me energy!" he squeaked. Shippo knocked him upside the head (that seems to happen a lot) and they continued a tousle.

"Besides, she isn't even pretty!" Shippo said. Now that was a flat out lie, but Shippo was eager for some sort of reaction.

"You seemed to think I was pretty enough last night." She answered smoothly.

"What happened last night?!" Miroku asked indignantly from Shippo's armpit.

"A lot." said Shippo.

"Nothing" said Sasuke at the very same time.

"You like each other!" Miroku proclaimed loudly. "I'm a monk, I can marry you!"

"You little freak!" Shippo pinned him to the ground again, then rolled over and jumped up, letting him free. Miroku dodged another attack and ran for it into a nearby clearing. Shippo and Sasuke followed at a much slower pace.

"He's such a handful." Shippo muttered. Sasuke looked at him for a moment, then laughed.

"You seem like he's your charge or something." She said.

"He is. His parents were my friends." Sasuke nodded, but didn't say anything. Shippo was responsible for the young monk, and that was that. It didn't matter why, even to her, but she wanted to know more.

"Hey! I found something!" Miroku called. Sasuke and Shippo looked at each other then ran to where the little monk was peering into a beat up, wooden well.

"Well I'll be." Sasuke said. She was not one to believe stories of priestesses and things, but here it was just like Shippo had said.

"This is it." Shippo darted forward.

BAM

A sort of a shimmering shield stopped him. Cursing, the fox demon approached more warily this time, rubbing his head.

"Why won't it let me through?" he wondered aloud. It had let Miroku through, and he didn't even know what the future held in store. Maybe in his naivety the little monk didn't have enough angry energy to be stopped.

"Miroku, don't go down there!" Shippo warned, watching as the young boy looked over into the well. Miroku looked back, disappointed.

"It's dry at the bottom Shippo! What kind of a well is that?"

"A magical one" he said grimly. Now to get through this barrier.He inhaled deeply and cleared his mind, thinking only of how much he missed Kagome and Inu-yasha.

"Ow." He had walked right back into it. Sasuke looked at him curiously and joined Miroku at the edge of the well.

"What the hell?!" Shippo yelled. How could it help that thieving bitch and not him!? Did it not like demons? Why would Kagome try and keep him out?

"It is just a well, Shippo," Sasuke told him when she noticed the beads of sweat on his forehead. She couldn't sense any kind of magical barrier at all, and even if there was one, it hadn't stopped her. Maybe..Shippo was facing a barrier of his mind instead.? She walked back over to him, feet padding softly on the grass, Miroku watching in bored silence. He had hoped for something more exciting than a dried up old well.

"Shippo," Sasuke said softly. The fox demon suddenly opened his green eyes widely and stared at her in shock.

"No!" he said. "Get away!" In his mind, he saw Kagome again, and Inu- yasha. That comforting tone.

"Father!" he called out, tears in his eyes. He knew he was dreaming, watching his father's death in his mind. Manten and Yaten laughed at his pitiful attempts of vengeance, laughed and laughed, and then he was awake, curled up beside Kagome and Sango again, safe between them.

"Shippo," Kagome said softly. "You were calling for you father.are you alright?" Shippo nodded and wiped his tears, glancing up at Inu-yasha's scowl for comfort. They had avenged his father when he couldn't; they had protected him when his mother abandoned him. They helped him through the nightmares and the travels.

"I'm fine Kagome," he managed to squeak. Kagome smiled and yawned, laying back down. Shippo spread himself out on her chest and stared at her as she sleepily addressed Inu-yasha.

"You better not wake me up early." She said. Inu-yasha climbed back up the tree and ignored her. It was his way of agreeing. She fell asleep within moments, and the little fox demon, tired from crying, joined her.

The flash of memory ended, and Shippo swore loudly, sitting up.

"What happened?" he asked. Sasuke and Miroku looked at him warily, neither wanting to explain.

"You fainted, and we dragged you over here."

"I don't faint." He said flatly. Only weaklings fainted. Golden eyes pierced his gaze.

"Well, you did." Miroku piped, dodging a punch from Shippo. Finally he noticed where they all were.

"I made it past the barrier!" he said, jumping up and looking down the well. Dried Earth waited at the bottom, bits of grass littering the surface. His companions sweat-dropped, but didn't bother to correct him.

Just like he had remembered, there were vines making a type of rope to the bottom, as if asking them to descend to their dark depths.

"Well, shall we go?" Sasuke asked, impatient with Shippo's silence. Shippo nodded and, ignoring the vines, leapt to the bottom in one jump. Sasuke helped Miroku get a firm grip, following quickly. When they reached the bottom there was a hesitation, then a shimmering light, then darkness.

"Are we there?" Sasuke whispered. She could sense Shippo's tense presence, and Miroku's fear near her.

"Yes," Miroku said. He said it in a small, shaky voice. "Yes, we aren't in our world anymore!" He grabbed Shippo's hand, anxious. "But why is this world so dark?"

"Because we're at the bottom of the well?" Shippo asked out loud. He was already feeling the walls for a way to climb out, and when he found some scratch marks, proceeded to scale the wall. (a/n: Oooh this reminds me of the ring! That movie scared me!)

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked.

"Getting out of the well. Come on." He didn't even spare her a green eyed glance, just continued up to the top, then, "Fox fire!" and the well was drenched in dreary light.

Miroku climbed up after him, and Sasuke last. When they arrived at the top, the three looked around, disappointed.

It was a well house. Who built houses around wells? Why did they shut up the one that led to their world? Shippo ran up the steps and opened the door to bright sunlight.

Outside the well house was eerily the same as the clearing back home, but eerily different too. The trees were mostly the same, the grass, the hills, but there were steps now, leading up from the well house to a building.

"That's Kagome's house." Shippo said definitely. He led the way, all the way up the stone steps to a pretty red painted door. Sasuke and Miroku followed warily.

KNOCK KNOCK

BARK BARK BARK

"COMING!" A boy opened the door and stared at the three blank faces. "..Hello.?" He squinted at them for a moment, and then gasped.

"You.You're a.! You're a demon!"

Shippo nodded at the youth. He was a little younger than the amazed human boy, but only by a few years. The boy was tall, like Shippo, with short brown hair and brown eyes. The fox demon's sharpness led him to a conclusion.

"You are Kagome's son?" he asked. The boy's eyebrows rose.

"I'm who!?"

"Kagome's son. She's a priestess."

"I think you're mistaken. I'm Souta. The Kagome I know isn't a priestess either, and she isn't my mom, she's my sister. And did you by any chance come up here out of a well?"

Shippo narrowed his eyes.

"Sasuke, Miroku, lets leave.. Miroku.?" The fox demon looked back to find that his two companions were nowhere to be seen. "Miroku!!! Sasuke!!!" Those two happened to get lost at the worst possible times. Now was one of them. He turned on his heel and began to track them. No world was safe for a lone half demon girl and a young, gullible monk, especially one that Shippo was unfamiliar with. The boy called to him from the front door of his building.

"I'll tell her you came by! What's your name?" Shippo glanced over his shoulder briefly, "I'm Shippo the fox demon!" And he was off, tracking the path of Sasuke and Miroku. They couldn't have gotten far in such a short conversation, could they?

****

RING RING

"Hello?"

"Hey sis, you there?"

"Yeah, hi Souta, what's up? You sound worried."

"Yeah, well, some demons came by looking for you."

"From the well?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"What did they look like?"

"One looked like a little boy, one was a red haired guy, and the last one scared me.She looked.. like Inuyasha."

"No!"

"Yep. And the one with red hair talked to me. He said his name was Shippo the Fox demon."

"...."

"You okay sis?"

"Yeah. Where did you say they were? At the shrine?"

"No, they left."

"No!!"

"What? Is that bad?"

"I gotta find them! Souta, stay there in case they come back! I have to find them!"

"Okay, sorry bout that sis."

CLICK

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Author: Comments welcome! ^_^ Thank you! Next chapter should be up by like Monday or so.this is Easter Weekend so things will be crazy at my house!