Reversed Roles

Chapter Two – Through The Well

September 27/2006

By Crow Skywalker

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Disclaimer – I don't own Inuyasha or the characters in this fanfic, nor do I claim to. I am in no way making money off of this, just bowing the characters and the plot to entertain myself for a while.

Author's Notes – The beginning of this chapter was totally re-written, but I was pretty satisfied with what I'd written for the remaining of the chapter after Inuyasha crawled out of the well. Spelling mistakes and a few other things were corrected, and a few things changed – like the color of Inuyasha's hair. I realized I couldn't keep it black if I wanted him to "look like Sesshomaru", who had white hair because he just wouldn't be Sesshomaru without it. Inuyasha's hair will change back and forth as he travels through time.

Other Things – This will be Inuyasha/Kagome in the future. There will be Kagome/Sesshomaru references as well. Also, probably some Sango/Miroku thrown in there in future chapters.

Summary - Roles are switched, and Inuyasha releases the hanyou Kagome, who's been sealed to a tree for 50 years. When the Shikon no Tama is broken, they're forced to work together to find the shards before evil does.

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His body felt light, like he was floating in mid air or like he was suspended in water. There were no noises, nothing strange to his sense of touch or smell. However, when he let a small groan escape from his lips and his eyes opened, he was greeted with a strange sight. The air around him, and as far as he could see, was a strange glow of blue, greens, and purples. The air seemed to sparkle and, as he absent mindedly moving his legs, Inuyasha suddenly realized he wasn't touching ground.

Where am I? He wondered, squinting his eyes to get a better look at his surroundings. What is this place? He searched his head, trying to remember how he had ended up in such an odd place. I was in the well, he realized after a moment. He raised his hands to his temples, massaging them in hopes of clearing his fuzzy memory. I was attacked…attacked by some monster!

Suddenly remembering the monster, Inuyasha's head snapped up as his arms fell to his sides and his head whipped in all directions as he tried to catch sight of the beast. He hadn't noticed it before then, but having searched for it, he found it not too far away, its body suspended in the glowing air. It was huge, with the head and upper body of a hideous woman and lower body of rotting bones and flesh that looked almost centipede like.

Eyes widening, Inuyasha frantically pawed at the air as he tried to put some distance between himself and the monster. It seemed to work, though not very well. Once he was out of breath he stopped, glaring at the creature as he let his sore arms rest at his sides. What the fuck is that? He wondered, trying to make some sense out of what was happening to him. There's no such thing as monsters or demons!

The demon, which seemed to somehow sense his thoughts towards it, suddenly moved. It's upper body swung upwards so that it was upright, its boney bug like body curling around it as its eyes opened, narrowing as it found Inuyasha staring at it. Inuyasha flinched as the demon's mouth opened, fangs glinting in the colorful air. "The Shikon no Tama…"

Inuyasha blinked, confused. "What?"

"Give me the Shikon no Tama!" It hissed again, eyes momentarily burning red before the demon 's body uncurled and moved forward.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Inuyasha yelled, struggling to move as he saw the demon coming closer. The Shikon no Tama? What the hell is that? He wondered, desperately trying to get away from the ugly beast that was trying to get to him. I don't have a fucking clue what it's talking about!

He was stopped from his escape as the demon's boney centipede body shot forward, winding around him tightly and pulling him to the demon, which waited with an open mouth of fangs. Wincing, Inuyasha struggled against it, feeling the bones digging into his body. It was so close that if he reached out he could touch it. He could feel the demon's rotting breath on his face and he almost gagged as it grinned down at him, slit eyes gleaming.

"I can sense it," it hissed into his face, its nostrils flaring, "I can smell it! Give it to me!"

Inuyasha fought against it, arms shoving at bone and skin. "I don't have it! Let go!"

"You have it!" It insisted.

Inuyasha growled, somehow managing to free his arms from the demon's hold. They had been pinned to his sides due to the demon's body wrapped around him, and now they were finally free from where they had been trapped moments before. Seeing this, the demon took its chance and lunged in for an attack, mouth open and fangs enlarged so that its hideous face was almost deformed.

"I said let go!" Inuyasha snarled, raising a fist to hit the demon with whatever strength he could call forth. His fist smashed into the demon's face and Inuyasha could swear he heard the sound of something crack. However, there was a sudden burst of pink light and all went dark after that.

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He found himself lying face down on his stomach when he first came to. He could taste dirt in his mouth, and he imagined he was probably covered in the stuff as well. Above him he felt a cool breeze find its way into the well, further awakening him. He moved his head slightly but decided to stop once he felt pain lace up through his body and he found himself clenching his eyes tighter than he already had been.

Waiting for the pain to go away, he attempted once again to get up a few minutes later, a groan emitting from his lips as he moved his arms and clawed at the dirt ground, finally managing to roll over onto his back before opening his eyes.

What happened? He thought groggily, feeling like he had been hit by a train. He stared up the tunnel of bricks and at the clear blue sky overhead. Was it all a dream? Did I somehow hit my head when I fell? Deciding that must have been what had happened, he suddenly remembered his little sister. She must have been really worried about him by now.

"Rin?" He called, his voice shaking. Coughing to clear his throat, he called again. "Rin? Are you up there?" When no answer came, he pulled himself up into a sitting position, cracking his back in the process in hopes of making the movement easier.

Oh my head! He winced, reaching up with one hand while his other helped him sit upright. He touched his head, wondering just how hard he'd hit it. It felt like not only had he been hit by a train, but he'd been trampled by a heard of elephants as well. His headache was almost too much to handle, and he felt pain all over.

When his head finally stopped spinning and he felt like he could move, Inuyasha finally crawled to his knees and used the stone wall to help him to his feet. He held on even once he was standing, afraid that his body might fail him and he'd end up back on the ground at any minute.

"Rin?" He called again. "Rin? Where are you?" There was still no answer, but he didn't care. "I must have hit my head and passed out! I have the strangest dream.." He took a step away from the wall only to stumble and grab hold of the strange plant life that was growing down in the well for support.

"What's this?" He wondered out loud, pulling a leaf off the plant and bringing it close to his face to inspect it. "This wasn't here before…" Looking up once again at the blue sky above him, he finally realized something was wrong. I shouldn't be able to see the sky…where's the roof to the well house?

Really confused now, Inuyasha decided the best thing to do was to get out of the well first and figure things out from there. There were a lot of questions he needed answered, none that could be answered while he was stuck down in a dusty old well. Grabbing hold of some of the vine like plants growing down into the well, he used them to help himself up, digging his shoes into the stones as he went.

Finally reaching the top, he grabbed hold of the edge of the well and hauled himself up, bringing one leg over the side and hauling himself up into a sitting position so that one leg was out of the well and the other was still dangling within. Now with a better view of his surroundings, Inuyasha looked around in confusion.

He was in a clearing filled with healthy flourishing green grass, which was currently rustling in the cool, fresh breeze that was making its way through the clearing. Large trees surrounded the clearing, going on for as far as the eye cold see, and he could see no sign of buildings. Not even his own house, which had seemed to have disappeared since he had fallen into the well.

"Where am I?" He asked quietly, not expecting an answer. He received none, except for the sound of birds and animals within the surrounding forest. Pulling his other leg out of the well so that both feet were planted firmly on the ground, Inuyasha growled in anger. He'd had so many questions, and now it seemed he had even more – and there was no one to answer them!

"I'll just have to figure this out on my own," he told himself.

Standing on his own two legs and dusting himself off, he headed off in a random direction in hopes of finding some answers.

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"I'm going around in circles!" He growled to himself, leaning against a side of a tree tiredly. He'd been wandering around the forest for what seemed like hours now, and so far he was just as lost as he had been to begin with, and with just as much confusion as he'd had when he'd first started off on his own.

Slumping down against the tree, he leaned his head back to look at the sky. "Maybe I'm still dreaming…or I'm not dreaming at all, and that demon killed me. And what was that light?" He frowned. No, that was stupid. There was no such thing as demons, and he hadn't fell through a wall to this…this place! He was still at home, unconscious on the well floor – he was sure of it! None of this was real!

Looking back down from the sky, he listened to the sounds of the forest. Through the rustling of the leaves above, he could hear little animal life. No sound of birds, nothing. Which was strange because he'd heard plenty of animal life when he'd first left the clearing. He tried not to dwell on it too much. It was his dream, after all. None of this was real. But the forest was eerie, and he suddenly wanted to get out of there fast.

Standing, he tried to decide which way he was going to travel next, when something caught his eye. Through the tops of the trees, not too far away, was a familiar sight. Eyes wide, he stumbled forth, trying to decide if it was real or just his imagination playing tricks on him. But as he finally made it to the small clearing, he realized it wasn't his imagination, it was real.

It was the tree that stood near the shrine at home, although it looked slightly different. He was so used to seeing it, he could tell it from anywhere…and this was the tree! Half expecting to see the shrine, he looked around but found nothing. His shoulders slumped, all hope lost. Well, at least he had found something familiar in this strange place.

With a sigh, Inuyasha looked back to the tree. It really was different – younger looking, and wrapped in vines of some sort. Walking a bit closer, he realized something else and almost blinked in surprise. He narrowed his eyes, telling himself that he was seeing things, but it turned out his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Just off the ground, tangled in vines and plant growth, was a girl.

Walking closer to the tree, he peered up to get a better look at her. She was dressed in funny clothes – a long sleeved white shirt, and red pants that looked way too big for her, and Inuyasha realized it was normal garb for priestesses in the past. Her eyes were closed as if she was dead or asleep, but her face was pretty and her skin was smooth and pale. Her beautiful long black hair was blowing slightly in the breeze. Inuyasha was looking at her hair when something caught his eye. At the top of her head were two black triangle shapes, and Inuyasha stared for a moment before he realized they were ears.

That's impossible…people don't have ears like that! Crawling up over a root of the tree, he stood face to face with her and hesitantly reached out to touch the objects on her head. They were soft and warm and Inuyasha decided they were real, and that the girl really did have cat ears of some sort.

But how's that possible? She looks human enough… He let go of the ears, studying the girl's face. He reached a hand out, cupping her cheek. Her face was warm as well and much alive – although it seemed like she wasn't breathing. Is she dead? He wondered, pulling his hand away fast, not wanting to be touching a dead person. But she sure does feel alive…

He finally noticed the sword that pinned her there, and he backed away fast, almost falling off the tree root. Looking at the sword, and then at her face, he decided she really was dead, even though she just looked like she was asleep. No one could survive such a wound – she was definitely dead.

What a shame, he frowned, looking at her face once more. She's so pretty, despite having cat ears. He had another urge to reach out and touch the ears again and mentally scolded himself. You shouldn't be touching her! She's dead! He blushed lightly. I shouldn't be touching her at all! Even if she was alive! He glanced down at her hands, which supported long cat-like claws. She'd tear me to shreds!

But still…she's dead…she won't mind, he told himself, reaching forward once again, looking fascinated with her ears. He lightly touched the right one, feeling the soft fur beneath his fingers. His eyes widened as he felt it twitch under his touch, and he was about to pull away when there was a voice from behind him.

"You there!"

He let go, spinning around on the tree root and, losing his footing, he fell to the ground below. Groaning and spitting grass out of his mouth, he glared up at the man that had made him fall. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to scare the shit out of people?" He spit another blade of grass out of his mouth, "It's not nice."

He suddenly realized that there were more than one of them, and they were all carrying bows, their arrows aimed on him. Raising himself to his knees, he put his hands in the air, wondering what was happening. "Er- don't shoot?"

The lead man shifted his bow, but didn't lower it. "What are you doing in Kagome's Forest?" He asked.

"I was…I…I don't know." He told them truthfully.

"You don't know?" The man spat back sarcastically, aiming his bow and arrow.

"Hey," Another man stepped forward, and Inuyasha's gaze flickered to him, "Don't he look kind of like Sesshomaru? His white hair looks exactly the same!"

Inuyasha blinked, wondering what the man was talking about. He was about to open his mouth and tell him that his hair was black, and not white, when the fact that his hair really was white caught his attention. Startled, and slightly panicked, Inuyasha grabbed at his hair by the fistful and inspected it fully. The man hadn't been lying – Inuyasha's hair was white – when did that happen? Sure, he'd been in too much of a stupor the last few hours to worry about anything other than the fact that he'd fallen in a well and somehow ended up in an entirely different place, but…

The first man bit his lip, his bow lowered as he studied Inuyasha. "Same hair, and the same eye color…though the face isn't exactly the same," he muttered to his comrades. "You could almost pass for his twin," the man narrowed his eyes, "How is that possible? Tell me your name!"

Inuyasha hesitated, still wondering how he'd gone from having black hair to full blown white hair, but answered the man's question none the less. "My name's Inuyasha," he stated, unsure if he should really be telling these strangers anything about himself.

"Inuyasha." The man seemed to think it over, "You look the splitting image of our village's deceased priest, Sesshomaru."

Is that good or bad? Inuyasha wondered. "So does this mean you're not going to kill me now?"

The man seemed to ignore him, turning to the other villagers. "We should take him to the village elder. He'll be able to make sense of this."

Inuyasha was about to open his mouth to tell them he wasn't going anywhere with them, especially not to see some village elder, when the lead man took him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up.

"Come," He said simply, and Inuyasha growled at his back as the villagers started to leave. Though, looking back at the girl pinned to the tree, he suddenly didn't want to be alone in the forest anymore. This was his best chance at getting some of his questions answered.

"Keh." He kicked the ground beneath his feet before following after them. Perhaps the elder would be able to help him.

To Be Continued…