Allies
Disclaimer: I do own a bubble gum machine; I don't own Inuyasha. I do own a coffee cup with a rainbow trout on it (I don't know why); I don't own Inuyasha. I do own 14 pairs of black shoes (again, I don't know why); I don't own Inuyasha.
AN: I'm sorry; there is no excuse for the length it's taken me to update. A lot has been happening the past few months, but that is still no reason for me to leave this fic for so long. I will be available to through fruit, both fresh and rotten, at after this author note. This was a hard chapter for me to get started: I knew where I wanted to go, just not how to get there. I hope this works.
This chapter gives my explanation of the well's magic. It seems like a good one to me, and I never bought that whole "it has something to do with the jewel or Kagome" theory. How would you explain Mistress Centipede or Yura's hair getting through the well then?
I'll try and do more with the Inuyasha and co. plot line next chapter. For being the earliest plot to branch from the main one (I haven't even got the main one started yet), it's the least developed one I have. I promise I'll try to make it more than "Inuyasha does something stupid, gets hurt," but that's just so easy and fun to write.
I don't know if they have Pig Latin in Japanese (I wouldn't think so), but for the sake of the story they do in Kagome's world.
Chapter IV: We Can Work It Out
Sesshoumaru had seen some strange things in his long life, but the sight he had just witnessed had to be at the top of the list. After emerging from a musty old well and sending two of her male companions who were obviously unmagical and apparently unarmed off on their own, his brother's miko had had the audacity to try and trick him, the Lord of the Western Lands, with one of the worst tricks he had ever encountered, only to jump back into the well. To top it off his father's retainer had then showed up and started to talk to the girl as she and her third male companion once again climbed out of the well.
"You really think other demons might be coming?" the miko was asking.
"Undoubtedly," the flea demon replied. "With a blast of magic such as the one just given off anything magically sensitive for miles will have felt it and be curious."
"But if other demons are going to be showing up, and I sent off Grandpa and Hojo..."
"I suggest we hurry, Milady."
And now they were ignoring him! Of all the impudence... The demon lord stepped into their path to make his presence re-known, a growl low in this throat.
"Oh, hello again Sesshoumaru-sama," Kagome said, looking preoccupied and worried. "Sorry about the whole look, seagull,' thing, but I need to go find my Grandfather and Hojo, because soon there'll be other demons around..."
She seemed to think that "other demons" posed more of a threat than he, Lord Sesshoumaru, did. Sesshoumaru had already felt several lesser demons sniffing about, but a brief flare of his own power had sent them scurrying in fear.
"...so if you wouldn't mind moving, please, so we could get to the path..."
Sesshoumaru's growl got louder.
"...or maybe I have a better idea..."
"Tell me again why we're taking a demon lord with us?" Sota asked his sister as she lead the group that now included their Grandpa, Myoga, Hojo, and Sesshoumaru to the village.
"It was the best plan I could come up with. I managed to convince him that all of his questions will be answered once we get back to the village. Plus his presence might keep the other demons away for awhile."
"But what about Inuyasha? I thought you said they didn't get along."
"That won't be a problem," Myoga spoke up from Kagome's shoulder. "He, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo all fell into the well at the same moment you apparently did."
"You mean all four of them are in my time?" Kagome asked.
"Yes, that does appear to be the case."
"Inuyasha, give it up before you hurt yourself," Sango paused and thought about what she had just said. "Again."
"It's got to work one of these time," came the obviously pained voice from the bottom of the well.
"No it doesn't. It didn't work that last 14 times you jumped, and it doesn't look like it's going to work the next 14 either. And you've managed to hit Kagome's bicycle nine of the 14 times you've jumped back up, even after we moved it outside. That shouldn't be physically possible," Shippo pointed out.
"It'll work the next time," said Inuyasha as he readied himself to just back out of the well.
The shard hunters watched as a red and white blur flew out of the well, right past them, and out the door. A loud crash sounded from outside, followed by a worried female voice: "Inuyasha? Are you all right? Why did you just jump onto Kagome's bike?"
Sesshoumaru had no clue how that puny little miko of his brother's had managed to talk him into this. He sat in a small hut that smell of old magic, fresh herbs, and mud, waiting for the flea demon to explain the large wave of magic he had felt earlier. She must have reminded him of Rin, or possess magically enhanced powers of persuasion, to convince him to participate in this situation, the dog demon told himself. Why else had he entered this hut and sat with this group of three human males, two mikos, and a flea demon?
"Hurry up, flea. This Sesshoumaru wishes to know the cause of the burst of magic."
"Right away, Sesshoumaru-sama." At least the flea demon showed him the respect he deserved. The younger miko still had a look of vague preoccupation and worry on her face and was ignoring him now that he was no longer directly threatening her. The older miko, to whom the small hut apparently belonged, sat in the corner and appeared unfazed by the strange group that had taken refuge in her home. The youngest human boy and the old man both just stared at him, the former in awe and the later in fear. And the last human male still occasionally tried to start up a conversation with him, explaining that they all seemed to be suffering from some kind of mass hallucination, though he was beginning to lose conviction.
Myoga cleared his throat, calling the attention of the group to him. "You all must be wonder what exactly happened with the well earlier today. From what I can gather eight people tried to used the well to travel through tim-"
"Myoga!" Kagome hissed, "Ix-nay on the ell-way's ime-tay agic-may when Esshoumaru-say can ear-hay ou-yay."
Myoga, Sesshoumaru, Kaede, and even Kagome's Grandpa all stared at Kagome as if she had spouted a second head.
"Heh, sorry. I forgot they haven't invented Pig Latin yet," Kagome said sheepishly.
"Miko," Sesshoumaru had understood that there was something she didn't want him to know, which made him want to know it, "I suggest you let the flea tell me anything I with to know." He stared at her with eyes like ice. Kagome gulped and nodded meekly.
Myoga gulped as Sesshoumaru's gaze shifted to him, and began, "What you felt earlier, Sesshoumaru-sama, was the discharge of magic as the Bone Eater's Well transported eight people through time, four forwards and four back."
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, "That dry little hole is the Bone Eater's Well of legend?"
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama. Even legends can fall on hard times."
Well, that certainly explained a lot, from the miko's strange clothing and mannerism to why she was attempting to escape him by jumping into a well. Speaking of which... "If that is indeed the Bone Eater's Well, why did the miko not disappear when she entered it?"
"Yeah, why didn't I disappear?" Kagome asked, then turned to Sesshoumaru, "And stop talking about me like I'm not here." The demon lord ignored her.
Myoga returned to his explanation, "To understand why the well isn't working, you need to understand a little of how the well normally works."
"You understand the magic of the well?" Kagome's Grandpa interrupted. "That well has been under my family's care for generations! I know all the stories. I've been studying that well all my life, and I have no clue of it's working. How could a little flea like you-"
"Grandpa, hush," Kagome said, embarrassed. "Please go on, Myoga."
"It has to do with the nature of the well's magic," the flea demon continued. "The Bone Eater's Well is full of potential magic, but contains no active magic of its own. For the well's magic to start it needs a strong source of active magic to activate it, a kick start, if you will. This source of active magic usually takes the form of a highly magical individual, such as a demon or miko."
"Which is why Inuyasha and I can pass through the well, but Sota normally can't!" Kagome exclaimed happily.
"Not exactly," Myoga explained. "While you do possess a large amount of potential magic as a miko, you do not have sufficient training for that magic to be active enough to engage the well's magic. It is the shards of the jewel that you possess that allow you to pass through the well."
"Oh," Kagome said, slightly defeated.
"As I was saying, the active magic is usually, but not always, a person. Highly magical artifacts that are giving off magic actively can also be used, as is the case with the jewel. Do not feel too bad, Kagome. With time and proper training, your own natural magic should be active enough to activate the well on its own."
"Okay. Wait, does that mean the well will start working again?"
"I was just getting to that. While it takes active magic to start it, once the well's own potential magic awakens it takes over and opens the portal in time. While the well does have great amounts of potential magic, transporting people through time requires a large amount of that power. The fact that four of you were going in either direction helped, with the balancing effect taking some of the load off of the well's magic, but it wasn't enough. The well's reserves have been spent; it's currently out of potential magic. Given time its magic will be restored enough to transport a person again, but it will some time before it has enough power to transport eight again."
"So then we wait," Kagome said. "How long will it take the well to rebuild its magic reserves?"
"That would be the problem; I don't know. It may take as little as a week, it may take up to several years."
"Several years?" Sota gasped.
"Yes, and that's still not the worst of it. If too many try to use the well before it's ready its power will be completely expended. The travelers will be lost and the well's magic gone forever."
The four from the future all gulped, even Hojo, who still wasn't sure if he believed all this was happening.
And there you go. Once again I didn't get as far on plot as I planned and it took much longer to get there than I thought it would. At this rate this fic's gonna turn into an epic. I'll be lucky if I even get my main plot started in the next chapter, and it was originally planned to be introduced two chapters ago. And that doesn't even count several subplots I have yet to get started. My goal is to be able to write like Terry Pratchett, with several well-rounded and interconnected plots all weaving in and out of one another beautifully and humorously. Wish me luck.
Please review, even though I don't deserve them for being this late with an update. Once again I and very, very, very sorry. I will now present myself on this platform for your fruit throwing pleasure.
Disclaimer: I do own a bubble gum machine; I don't own Inuyasha. I do own a coffee cup with a rainbow trout on it (I don't know why); I don't own Inuyasha. I do own 14 pairs of black shoes (again, I don't know why); I don't own Inuyasha.
AN: I'm sorry; there is no excuse for the length it's taken me to update. A lot has been happening the past few months, but that is still no reason for me to leave this fic for so long. I will be available to through fruit, both fresh and rotten, at after this author note. This was a hard chapter for me to get started: I knew where I wanted to go, just not how to get there. I hope this works.
This chapter gives my explanation of the well's magic. It seems like a good one to me, and I never bought that whole "it has something to do with the jewel or Kagome" theory. How would you explain Mistress Centipede or Yura's hair getting through the well then?
I'll try and do more with the Inuyasha and co. plot line next chapter. For being the earliest plot to branch from the main one (I haven't even got the main one started yet), it's the least developed one I have. I promise I'll try to make it more than "Inuyasha does something stupid, gets hurt," but that's just so easy and fun to write.
I don't know if they have Pig Latin in Japanese (I wouldn't think so), but for the sake of the story they do in Kagome's world.
Chapter IV: We Can Work It Out
Sesshoumaru had seen some strange things in his long life, but the sight he had just witnessed had to be at the top of the list. After emerging from a musty old well and sending two of her male companions who were obviously unmagical and apparently unarmed off on their own, his brother's miko had had the audacity to try and trick him, the Lord of the Western Lands, with one of the worst tricks he had ever encountered, only to jump back into the well. To top it off his father's retainer had then showed up and started to talk to the girl as she and her third male companion once again climbed out of the well.
"You really think other demons might be coming?" the miko was asking.
"Undoubtedly," the flea demon replied. "With a blast of magic such as the one just given off anything magically sensitive for miles will have felt it and be curious."
"But if other demons are going to be showing up, and I sent off Grandpa and Hojo..."
"I suggest we hurry, Milady."
And now they were ignoring him! Of all the impudence... The demon lord stepped into their path to make his presence re-known, a growl low in this throat.
"Oh, hello again Sesshoumaru-sama," Kagome said, looking preoccupied and worried. "Sorry about the whole look, seagull,' thing, but I need to go find my Grandfather and Hojo, because soon there'll be other demons around..."
She seemed to think that "other demons" posed more of a threat than he, Lord Sesshoumaru, did. Sesshoumaru had already felt several lesser demons sniffing about, but a brief flare of his own power had sent them scurrying in fear.
"...so if you wouldn't mind moving, please, so we could get to the path..."
Sesshoumaru's growl got louder.
"...or maybe I have a better idea..."
"Tell me again why we're taking a demon lord with us?" Sota asked his sister as she lead the group that now included their Grandpa, Myoga, Hojo, and Sesshoumaru to the village.
"It was the best plan I could come up with. I managed to convince him that all of his questions will be answered once we get back to the village. Plus his presence might keep the other demons away for awhile."
"But what about Inuyasha? I thought you said they didn't get along."
"That won't be a problem," Myoga spoke up from Kagome's shoulder. "He, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo all fell into the well at the same moment you apparently did."
"You mean all four of them are in my time?" Kagome asked.
"Yes, that does appear to be the case."
"Inuyasha, give it up before you hurt yourself," Sango paused and thought about what she had just said. "Again."
"It's got to work one of these time," came the obviously pained voice from the bottom of the well.
"No it doesn't. It didn't work that last 14 times you jumped, and it doesn't look like it's going to work the next 14 either. And you've managed to hit Kagome's bicycle nine of the 14 times you've jumped back up, even after we moved it outside. That shouldn't be physically possible," Shippo pointed out.
"It'll work the next time," said Inuyasha as he readied himself to just back out of the well.
The shard hunters watched as a red and white blur flew out of the well, right past them, and out the door. A loud crash sounded from outside, followed by a worried female voice: "Inuyasha? Are you all right? Why did you just jump onto Kagome's bike?"
Sesshoumaru had no clue how that puny little miko of his brother's had managed to talk him into this. He sat in a small hut that smell of old magic, fresh herbs, and mud, waiting for the flea demon to explain the large wave of magic he had felt earlier. She must have reminded him of Rin, or possess magically enhanced powers of persuasion, to convince him to participate in this situation, the dog demon told himself. Why else had he entered this hut and sat with this group of three human males, two mikos, and a flea demon?
"Hurry up, flea. This Sesshoumaru wishes to know the cause of the burst of magic."
"Right away, Sesshoumaru-sama." At least the flea demon showed him the respect he deserved. The younger miko still had a look of vague preoccupation and worry on her face and was ignoring him now that he was no longer directly threatening her. The older miko, to whom the small hut apparently belonged, sat in the corner and appeared unfazed by the strange group that had taken refuge in her home. The youngest human boy and the old man both just stared at him, the former in awe and the later in fear. And the last human male still occasionally tried to start up a conversation with him, explaining that they all seemed to be suffering from some kind of mass hallucination, though he was beginning to lose conviction.
Myoga cleared his throat, calling the attention of the group to him. "You all must be wonder what exactly happened with the well earlier today. From what I can gather eight people tried to used the well to travel through tim-"
"Myoga!" Kagome hissed, "Ix-nay on the ell-way's ime-tay agic-may when Esshoumaru-say can ear-hay ou-yay."
Myoga, Sesshoumaru, Kaede, and even Kagome's Grandpa all stared at Kagome as if she had spouted a second head.
"Heh, sorry. I forgot they haven't invented Pig Latin yet," Kagome said sheepishly.
"Miko," Sesshoumaru had understood that there was something she didn't want him to know, which made him want to know it, "I suggest you let the flea tell me anything I with to know." He stared at her with eyes like ice. Kagome gulped and nodded meekly.
Myoga gulped as Sesshoumaru's gaze shifted to him, and began, "What you felt earlier, Sesshoumaru-sama, was the discharge of magic as the Bone Eater's Well transported eight people through time, four forwards and four back."
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, "That dry little hole is the Bone Eater's Well of legend?"
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama. Even legends can fall on hard times."
Well, that certainly explained a lot, from the miko's strange clothing and mannerism to why she was attempting to escape him by jumping into a well. Speaking of which... "If that is indeed the Bone Eater's Well, why did the miko not disappear when she entered it?"
"Yeah, why didn't I disappear?" Kagome asked, then turned to Sesshoumaru, "And stop talking about me like I'm not here." The demon lord ignored her.
Myoga returned to his explanation, "To understand why the well isn't working, you need to understand a little of how the well normally works."
"You understand the magic of the well?" Kagome's Grandpa interrupted. "That well has been under my family's care for generations! I know all the stories. I've been studying that well all my life, and I have no clue of it's working. How could a little flea like you-"
"Grandpa, hush," Kagome said, embarrassed. "Please go on, Myoga."
"It has to do with the nature of the well's magic," the flea demon continued. "The Bone Eater's Well is full of potential magic, but contains no active magic of its own. For the well's magic to start it needs a strong source of active magic to activate it, a kick start, if you will. This source of active magic usually takes the form of a highly magical individual, such as a demon or miko."
"Which is why Inuyasha and I can pass through the well, but Sota normally can't!" Kagome exclaimed happily.
"Not exactly," Myoga explained. "While you do possess a large amount of potential magic as a miko, you do not have sufficient training for that magic to be active enough to engage the well's magic. It is the shards of the jewel that you possess that allow you to pass through the well."
"Oh," Kagome said, slightly defeated.
"As I was saying, the active magic is usually, but not always, a person. Highly magical artifacts that are giving off magic actively can also be used, as is the case with the jewel. Do not feel too bad, Kagome. With time and proper training, your own natural magic should be active enough to activate the well on its own."
"Okay. Wait, does that mean the well will start working again?"
"I was just getting to that. While it takes active magic to start it, once the well's own potential magic awakens it takes over and opens the portal in time. While the well does have great amounts of potential magic, transporting people through time requires a large amount of that power. The fact that four of you were going in either direction helped, with the balancing effect taking some of the load off of the well's magic, but it wasn't enough. The well's reserves have been spent; it's currently out of potential magic. Given time its magic will be restored enough to transport a person again, but it will some time before it has enough power to transport eight again."
"So then we wait," Kagome said. "How long will it take the well to rebuild its magic reserves?"
"That would be the problem; I don't know. It may take as little as a week, it may take up to several years."
"Several years?" Sota gasped.
"Yes, and that's still not the worst of it. If too many try to use the well before it's ready its power will be completely expended. The travelers will be lost and the well's magic gone forever."
The four from the future all gulped, even Hojo, who still wasn't sure if he believed all this was happening.
And there you go. Once again I didn't get as far on plot as I planned and it took much longer to get there than I thought it would. At this rate this fic's gonna turn into an epic. I'll be lucky if I even get my main plot started in the next chapter, and it was originally planned to be introduced two chapters ago. And that doesn't even count several subplots I have yet to get started. My goal is to be able to write like Terry Pratchett, with several well-rounded and interconnected plots all weaving in and out of one another beautifully and humorously. Wish me luck.
Please review, even though I don't deserve them for being this late with an update. Once again I and very, very, very sorry. I will now present myself on this platform for your fruit throwing pleasure.