Chapter Two
Kagome awoke early the next morning, as she usually did. Her brother had often wondered that such a grim character was a morning person, and, because Souta was the only person who Kagome did not feel she had a grudge against, she would just shake her head and go about her morning calisthenics, instead of reacting as she would to any body else, which was glaring murderously at them and possibly hitting them.
Buyo cleaned himself while she went about her exercises and stretches. Fifteen minutes of leg stretches, butterflies and backbends later, she brushed her hair, applied her mascara, and dressed herself.
She felt she might actually go to school today, so instead of wearing black cargo pants, she wore a calf length green skirt -not exactly uniform code thigh length, but the teachers knew better than to argue over it- black boots, and her strange adaptation of the uniform sailor top. She had cut the sleeves off, displaying her impressive biceps, and had chosen to secure the collar with a heavy chain instead of a scarf.
Ready to face the world, she made sure to pack the specific gi and weapon for each of the fighting styles she practiced into a satchel, intending also to go to her practices. She slung the bag over her back and walked out the door.
Buyo twined around here ankles as she paused in the door to don her long coat. In the blink of an eye Buyo shot off across the courtyard, hackles raised. Kagome sighed, excepting the inevitable; she would have to go retrieve him, as he was not an outside cat.
She saw a flicker of white as he disappeared inside the shrine her grandfather kept. Heading in that direction, she allowed herself a brief moment of annoyance at the feline; she had a strict schedule of moping she had to keep to damn it!
But as soon as she thought it she felt guilty, Buyo was her only friend, the only friend she allowed herself, anyway. He watched her cry, saw her getting dressed and listened to her darkest secrets, and she knew he would never tell a soul. It was a comforting thought, even if it was a bit strange; after all, who was he going to tell?
As she asked herself this question she came upon the door to the shrine her cat had disappeared into. The door was slightly ajar, and she could tell it was dark inside; unfortunately, it appeared that her grand father had neglected to update the shrine with electricity, as she found to her dismay upon entering and finding no light switch.
She moved carefully through the shrine, allowing her eyes time to adjust to the dim light. After a few moments she could see well enough to find Buyo; he was standing stock still, growling at a low structure in the center of the little building.
Curious, she felt her way to the structure and peered down at it; wondering what could possibly get the normally laid back cat to react so fiercely.
Upon reflection this had probably not been the smartest thing to do. No sooner had she leaned over, peering down into the darkness of what was apparently a well, than there was a blinding flash of light and she was falling into a blue mist. She tried to move, tried to reach up and cling for the edge, but found her movement restricted by what appeared to be many arms. Desperately she looked up; only to se a mournful looking cat fade into the mist.
The fall seemed to take forever, and no time at all. Franticly she struggled against her bonds, trying to free herself so she could brace for the fall. A raspy voice sounded in her ear
"I'm going to enjoy killing you." The voice chuckled
"After all it's not every day the shikon jewel falls into my lap."
Kagome paused in her struggle, puzzled. Shikon jewel? That was the same stone from the story last night! Kagome wondered if she were still dreaming, for it would certainly explain quite a bit, when a sharp pain lanced through her side.
Suddenly the blue mist was illuminated by a soft light, and a beautiful gem appeared, spilling out of her wound. Distantly she thought it was odd that she should bleed in such a manner, but was reassured a moment later when her familiar red blood began to creep from the wound as well.
Both Kagome and her captor watched, entranced, as the shining jewel almost seemed to float above them. Then the creature grasping her loosed one of it's arms to reach out for it, and almost instinctually Kagome lashed out; freeing one of her arms to grasp desperately at the stone; it had come out of her wound so it stood to reason that it was hers, and she was not going to let anything, not even a creature that looked like a cross between a woman and a centipede, have it.
Her hand found the jewel and a thrill of triumph rushed through her. Her fist around it seemed to shine with power, and the centipede creature gaped in surprise and fear as she struck at one of its many arms. To Kagome's shock and subsequent delight, the arm disintegrated as her fist holding the jewel sliced through it with the ease of a razor sharp katana.
At the loss of one of its arms, the creature that Kagome had unconsciously dubbed mistress centipede let go of her as if burned. Kagome turned, attempting to get a better look at it, when all sensation of movement stopped; it was like riding a fast elevator going down that slowed suddenly as it reached the desired floor; almost a feeling of weightlessness.
And then her feet were touching ground, the centipede creature flew up and out of the well, and she was wondering what the hell had just happened.
Warily she stood and dusted herself off, wondering dazedly when the white rabbit would show up. Right then it would not have surprised her if she met a creature with horns and a pitchfork; as surely mistress centipede had been a demon of hell as well.
It was dark at the bottom of the well; in fact, the only light she could see was coming from her hand. She opened her fist and in it she found the perfectly spherical jewel, what she could only assume was the shikon jewel.
It was entrancing to look at; it shown with an ethereal light, glittering in the darkness like a pearl, it was gossamer pink, and despite her aversion to the color, she could not help but admire its beauty. It was a perfect thing, and she was somewhat amazed that it had come out of her side.
The thought of her wound brought the stinging pain to her mind, she had not actually felt it consciously until that moment. She looked at it, twisting to examine it, and, in the nature of such wounds, as soon as she saw the slightly raged puncture staining her white blouse red with blood, the pain increased ten fold.
She hissed with pain as she pulled the wet fabric away from the wound; it was not long, maybe an inch in length, but it was deep, and from the feel of things she imagined there was a bit of muscle damage as well.
"Just great." She muttered. As if it wasn't bad enough that she was stuck at the bottom of the well, she had to climb out with muscle damage.
Shedding her coat for a moment, she stripped herself of her blood stained shirt and tied it around her waist as a makeshift bandage. She was about to put her long trench coat back on as a means to protect her modesty when she spotted her satchel just a foot behind her. She quickly unzipped it, and finding her green swords hakama to be the best choice, drew it out.
Shrugging into the hakama, and tucking the shikon jewel into the pocket of her trench coat, she surveyed her surroundings; Four dirt walls, three feet of walking space, and no ladder. She frowned; the walls were high enough that she couldn't see much light filtering down from the dim shed the well was stored in, but the were plenty of roots and hand holds.
Retrieving her coat and storing it in her satchel she shouldered the bag and set to the task of climbing out. She grasped a sturdy looking root and hauled herself up a foot before trying to get a foot hold, and was promptly hindered by her skirt.
Cursing her luck, her clothes, and any god that happened to be listening, she dropped back down to the ground and changed into her black gi trousers.
Thus attired, she set about her task once again; this time finding the only impediment to her ascension to be the wound in her side.
She gritted her teeth and did not let it slow her down, the sooner she was out of this well, the sooner it could be taken care of, and the sooner she could commit herself to a mental ward for a nice long vacation. In fact the more she thought about it, the more she became sure that this entire ordeal was just a hallucination, and that the wound in her side was just a figment of her imagination, grinding pain not-with-standing.
She gritted her teeth as dirt rained down on her from above and settled in her hair; just a few more feet and she would be free. Then she could go and happily spend the rest of her life in a white padded room and devote her time to the fine art of drooling out of the side of her mouth.
But then she thought 'what if I want to punch something?' After all, straight jackets were so terribly restrictive; what if the man who thought he was invisible decided to steal her spagettioh's? She wouldn't be able to kick his ass if she was wearing a straight jacket, would she?
As she reached the wooden rim of the well, she decided it would be better for everyone if she just pretended the entire affair had never happened. She wouldn't tell anyone anything about her hallucination, that way she could just carry on living like she had been, and wouldn't have to worry about straight jackets.
But then, as she hauled herself out of the well at last, and found herself not in her grandfathers little shrine, but in a heavily wooded area instead, she reconsidered that last thought. She was obviously hallucinating, she didn't know what kind of drug she was on, or were she had gotten it, but it must be good stuff, the vision was so real that she could actually hear the birds chattering in the trees.
Yep, she thought I've lost it. No use whining about it now, if I'm insane I might as well enjoy the ride. And so she set about exploring this world that was apparently a figment of her imagination.
The first thing she noticed was that it was sunset, almost dark, and there was an eerie pall that hung over the woods. It was a strange sensation, it was not scary exactly, but it twisted her insides into a knot, making her feel inexplicably tense. It was a terrible feeling, but one that she was well acquainted with; it was the same feeling she got when thinking about the shadowy corners of her mind.
Wishing for a light, she tried her best to ignore the creeping suspicion that she was not hallucinating. She looked around her in the rapidly growing dark, looking for anything that might be of use in figuring out were she was. It was then that she saw the only other distinguishing feature in the landscape; a large tree that seemed familiar somehow, more so than just the sense that it was a tree like the trees she had seen all her life. Admittedly, being a city girl, she didn't know much about trees, but she was fairly certain that you didn't see a lot of trees with people pinned to them.
Doing the only thing that seemed at all productive, she moved to investigate it. Upon closer inspection she found that the person was a woman; she was wearing the red and white garb of the old Shinto priestesses. Thick vines had grown up around her, appearing to cradle the shrine maiden against the trunk, but Kagome didn't think that was what had put her there; she was guessing that the arrow had done that.
A long shafted arrow protruded from the miko's breast, and Kagome stood on one of the trees great roots to get a closer look at the arrow, thinking thoughts of cults and ritualistic sacrifices. What on earth was this poor woman doing pinned to the tree? What kind of sick people had killed her in such a fashion?
She touched the arrow, looking for any identifying marks or clues that would tell her who had murdered the woman. As soon as she touched the arrow, however, it felt like she was being pulled a great distance. It was a wrenching sensation that made her want to vomit, and then-
She ran, panic and fury warring with each other in her mind; around her the flames roared into the sky, burning the village she had sworn to protect. A weak voice called out to her but she ignored it, because she had to find him.
She had trusted him, and now he had betrayed her, as she should have known he would. The taste of bile caught in her throat, choking her with the irony of it all. She had her bow in her hand, an arrow knocked, charged and ready. She would find him, and take back what was hers.
She had been such a fool to trust him, and now people were dying because of her folly, well no more, she would end him, once and for all.
She ran to the forest, were she knew he would run to. He was waiting for her. But it was not him, she realized; he was different, but no matter, he had to die- what ever the cost.
He stepped from behind a tree; arms crossed insolently, the jewel dangling from his claws
She brought her bow up instantly, aiming for his traitorous heart. She hesitated a moment as a tear swept down her cheek, and then fired.
Her breath caught in her throat as he caught the arrow with a contemptuous flick of his wrist. He appeared to ignore the scorch of burning flesh as the arrow attempted to purify him.
Then suddenly he was right in front of her, claw to her throat and arrow still in hand. Her breath burst from her body as he slammed her into a tree, holding her up by her neck.
She struggled to breathe as he held the arrow before her eyes, hand smoking. She watched in horror as he corrupted the purity of the arrow, enveloping it in black flame, and then with a sneer, ran the tainted arrow through her heart.
Freed from the grip of the vision, Kagome collapsed to the ground, hand clutching convulsively around the arrow shaft. She curled up on the ground suppressing the urge to weep; the feeling of hate and betrayal had been so strong it had been debilitating.
She was curled around the arrow, holding it so tightly she thought it would snap. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the pain of the memory.
Breath shuddering, she struggled to regain use of her senses, it felt like a losing battle, but little by little, she regained the use of her cognitive functions.
She was considering the possibility of trying to go to sleep right there to see if she would wake up in her own bed when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Screaming, she scrambled away, hands digging into the mulch on the forest floor, looking up to see-
She paused for a moment, blinking to clear her eyes, for there, looking down at her with a concerned expression, Kagome saw her own face.