December 31, 1993
Hikawa Shrine
"Shikon no Tama?" Kurai said.
Kurai had long straight hair with bits of hair framed inward towards her face. There was a split in the middle of her widow's peak and she let a streak of hair on both sides frame her face in front of her shoulders. Her eyes were blue and her skin was pale. Kurai wore the school uniform, a red medium dress, black stockings and brown boots.
"Yes! This jewel will bring happiness and prosperity without fail!" Kaori, her grandmother, said.
Kaori had long hair which she kept tied behind in a long ponytail has grayed and her facial appearance donned various aged creases and wrinkles. Kaori was of short stature with a slightly bigger build that had accumulated with old age. Kaori She wore traditional dress of a miko, which had remained essentially unchanged to this day. Kaori wore a white jacket with sode-kuKurai (cords) through the sleeves and the open shoulders. Strings called muna-himo were attached to each lapel, and were tied in front to keep the garment in place. Kaori wore bright red hakama, which included the small board at the lower back. On her feet, Kaori wore common tabi (socks with a split for the big toe) and rice straw sandals. Kaori wore an iron tsuba (sword guard) as an eye-patch.
Kurai held up a keychain with a mini-plaque of Japanese characters and a purple orb dangling at the bottom. "You're selling this marble thing? Keychain charms are out of style!"
Kaori held a similar chain with a pink orb. "It's no ordinary keychain! The ball at the end is the Shikon no Tama…This shrine's… Huh?"
A fox paw appeared and starts pawing at the orb Kurai was holding, making a noise. Kurai was distracted and teased the fox with the keychain. Kaori glared at them and coughed.
Kaori was serious. "Now heed this, Kurai. The origin of this shrine's Shikon no Tama… Huh?" Kaori saw that Kurai was still playing with the cat, said louder. "The origin of this Shikon no Tama is…"
Kurai clenched the keychain and interrupted in a hopeful voice. "Hey Grams! Remember what day tomorrow is?"
"Oh, how could I forget my dear granddaughter's birthday?" Kaori said.
"A present for me?!" Kurai said, excited.
Kaori handed her a golden pentacle. "The pentacle is an ancient symbol of Earth and feminine power."
"Symbol, Origins? My family has been the caretaker of a shrine for generations." Kurai said, picking up the fox.
Dinnertime
Grams held up a pickle with her chopsticks.
"Now then, the origin of these pickled vegetables is…" Grams said.
Kurai was irritated and interrupted. "They're donations from a shrine-visitor, right?"
"Huh?!" Grams bowed her head in embarrassment.
Nighttime
Courtyard of the shrine
There was a small hut and then a huge tree with charms around it.
"The Goshinboku. The legend of the Hidden Well. Everything has some origin. I've been told the stories countless times. Yet I never paid any attention to them. Until today…when I turned fifteen."
Morning
Students and office workers filled the streets.
"Kurai! Phone call!" Kaori said.
"The review notes? Sure, I'll bring them today. I know!" Kurai hung up and put on her shoes and left the house. "I'm off!" She ran pass the hut. "Huh? Reiko?"
Reiko, Kurai's older sister, stood by the door of the hut with a bowl of chicken. "Sis…"
Reiko had red hair, green eyes, and tanned skin. She wore her hair in a high ponytail with a big bow. Reiko wore the school uniform, a red medium dress, with white socks and black flats
"You're not supposed to be around here." Kurai said.
"But Kit…" Reiko said.
"Did she go into the Hidden Well?" Kurai asked.
Kurai and Reiko went into the hut. They were at the top of a staircase which lead to a square well. The well was covered up with planks and a charm.
"Kit! I think she's at the bottom." Reiko said.
"Why don't you go down?" Kurai said.
"This place gives me the creeps." Reiko said.
Kit ran into the Wellhouse and sat on the shrine, then vanished, and sitting there was a young girl.
"I see I see." The girl said. "Well you're definately old enough now aren't you. I'm tired of pretending to be a fox. I'm a dog after all."
"A dog?" Reiko said. "But Kit...?"
The girl smiled, showing fangs. "The name's Ninako."
And with that she jumped into the Bone Eater's Well and disappeared.
"Hey girl! Are you hurt?" Kurai yelled. "Was she a spirit do you think? Like Grams always talks about?"
"No...she was probably some sort of demon!" Reiko said.
Suddenly a strange, snakelike creature came out of the well and wrapped around both of them, dragging them in.
"Sh-Shikigami!" They both yelled.
"Let me go! You're disgusting!" Reiko struggled.
Kurai shoved her left hand into the Shikigami's face. "She said let go!"
Light came from Kurai's palm which threw Shikigami back, releasing Reiko.
The Shikigami faded away. Reiko and Kurai continued falling. A pink light came from Kurai's tummy. One of its pieces which broke off from the Shikigami still grabbed onto Reiko.
"The Shikon no Tama?" Kurai said. The piece lost its grip on Reiko. "Huh?"
1550
Feudal Japan
Kurai landed gently onto the bottom of the well. She caught her breath and looked at the opening of the well.
"Are we inside the well? Was that a dream?" Kurai said.
Reiko turned around and saw the broken human arm, said in a creeped-out voice. "It wasn't a dream! We gotta get out! Grams!"
There was no answer. Kurai gripped onto the vines growing on the walls of the well and climbed upwards.
A white glowing butterfly fluttered near Kurai and Reiko.
"Huh?" They both said.
The butterfly flew away. Kurai and Reiko reached the ledge of the well. However, it was no longer the interior of the hut anymore. A lush greenery and forest is seen instead. Kurai and Reiko sat on the ledge.
"Where's this? I know I fell into the well at the shrine, but…" Reiko got off the ledge and walked around.
Kurai walked into a forest area, birds are tweeting in the pleasant forest. "Grams… Kit… The shrine is gone. The Goshinboku!"
The Goshinboku was among towering among the other trees. Kurai ran towards it happily.
"What a relief!" Kurai pushed away some bushes. "I'm close to home!"
Kurai stopped in her tracks. She looked at the Goshinboku. A boy was standing there, looking up into the leaves.
"A boy?" Kurai climbed up a root and walked to Inuyasha. "Hey, what're you doing?" Kurai noticed the ears on Inuyasha's head. I want to touch it…
"You shouldn't be doing that." Reiko said, catching up to her.
"Why did you do it?" Inuyasha asked. His eyes were open.
Suddenly a woman dropped down.
Kiana was a priestess with long blonde hair and a blue and white kimono.
"How dare you enter the Forest of Inuyasha!"
The two girls found themselves inhaling a strange sweet scent, and then they blacked out.
Musashi Village Square
Kurai and Reiko woke with their hands and ankles tied up on a straw mat in the village square. The villagers surrounded her.
"Hey! Why are we tied up?!" Reiko said.
"A young girl in strange clothing." One said.
"From a foreign land?" Another said.
"Will there be war again?" A third said.
"Just before rice-planting season? We're so short-handed as it is!" A fourth said.
"Topknots…topknots… All of them have topknots! Where is this place?!" Kurai said.
"Make way for High Priestess Kaede!" Kiana said.
An old woman with an eyepatch in priestess clothes, holding a bundle and a bow, walked toward Reiko and Kurai.
Both girls looked at each other. "GRAMS?!"
Kaede was absolutely identical to their grandmother.
"What on earth is a Grams?" Kaede handed her arrow to Kiana, reached into her bundle for some powder and threw it at Kurai and Reiko. They struggled.
"Hey! What're you doing?!" Reiko said.
"They told me a demon was found in the Dark Forest. I thought some ritual purification was in order." Kaede said.
"Then could she be a foreign spy?" Kiana said.
"Yes, but to spy on what?! We can barely feed ourselves in this village." Kaede said.
Kaede then looked at Kurai and was surprised. She walked closer to Kurai.
"You there. Let me take a good look at your face." Kaede grabbed Kurai's chin and turned her face left and right. "Look clever, girl!"
"You!" Kurai glared at the old woman.
"Such a likeness… to the priestess Midoriko." Kaede said.
"Huh?" Kurai said.
Nighttime, Kaede's hut
Kaede was scooping up some stew for Reiko and Kurai.
"Looks delicious! Thank you!" Kurai drank the stew.
"Forgive us. With so many wars these days, our young ones have become rash. Even if I tell them we've no business with wars, they refuse to listen and only give me more to worry about." Kaede said.
"This, uh… isn't Tokyo, is it?" Reiko said.
""Tokyo"…? Never heard of such a place. Is that your homeland?" Kaede said.
"Yes, well… I'd like to go home soon. Not that I know how, exactly…" Reiko said.
Kaede looked intently at Reiko as Kurai slurped up more stew.
"Forgive Kiana as well." Kaede said. "He was just being overprotective."
"Overprotective of what?" Reiko asked.
"He saw something in you, Reiko. He believes you to be the demoness who helped the priestess seal his friend." Kaede said.
"She's not whoever you think she is." Kurai said.
Kiana entered and glared at Reiko. "You have her face. The woman who helped to seal Inuyasha."
"Right, but I'm not her." Reiko snapped.
Kaede looked incredulously from Reiko to Kurai.
"Fifty years have passed since that day." Kaede said.
A demon burrowed through the grass at a very fast speed. It crashes into a hut and revealed its Shikigami body. It destroyed more huts in the village. The villagers were running. A bell was ringing in the background. Kaede, Reiko and Kurai rushed out of their hut.
"What's going on?!" Kaede said.
"An evil spirit!" Kiana said.
The Shikigami that grabbed Reiko in the well appeared. She held a horse in her mouth. Several villagers fired arrows at her, whom she swiped away with her tail. She flung the horse in Kurai, Reiko and Kaede's direction. They managed to dodge.
"That again!" Reiko said.
"It's after the Shikon no Tama!" Kurai said.
Shikigami swooped down at Kaede and Kurai but missed
"The Shikon no Tama?" Kaede turned to Kurai. "Do you have it?"
"I don't know! I don't know about any Shikon no Tama!" Kurai said.
Kiana used his blade against the Shikigami while she was in midair.
Shikigami spun her body and swiped her spinning tail at Kiana.
"That demon! It's coming after me!" Kurai said.
"Our weapons have no effect!" Kiana said. "My magic isn't working either!"
"We must throw her into the Dry Well!" Kaede said.
"Dry well?" Reiko said.
"The well in the Inuyasha Forest." Kaede said.
"That's the well I climbed out of. Which way is the forest? Where the light is shining?" Kurai said.
"What did you say?!" Kaede said.
The Shikigami swooped down at Kaede and Kiana again. Kurai grabbed Reiko and started running. She jumped into a shallow pond.
"Let it pursue us!" Kurai said.
"That girl! How can an ordinary girl see the foul vapors that rise from the forest?" Kaede said.
Kiana approached with several other villagers and horses. "Priestess Kaede!"
Kaede and Kiana got onto horses.
Kurai and Reiko ran through a lone path, panting heavily. She was running towards a forest which had a psychedelic-colored sky above it.
"Will I be saved?! Will I?" Kurai looked back and saw the Shikigami chasing her. "Sis! Save me! Someone help! Someone help me!"
"You're back...get into some trouble?" Inuyasha said.
The body of the Shikigami threw Kurai into Inuyasha against the tree.
"Damn!" Inuyasha said.
Reiko ran up a slope in the forest.
"Give me the Shikon no Tama!" Shikigami said.
"I don't have any such thing!" Kurai said.
As they ran up the slope, the Shikigami lunged at them, crashing into the ground and sending them flying. Reiko flipped in the air and landed in front of Inuyasha.
"Oww!" Reiko said.
Kurai got off of Inuyasha.
"Hey! Why are you wasting time fighting your own Shikigami?" Inuyasha said.
"Who's wasting time she's gonna kill us!" Kurai said.
"Why are you talking to him?! Pay attention!" Reiko said.
Inuyasha interrupted and looked ahead. "She's coming."
The Shikigami lunged at Kurai from behind, who dodged. A few vines appeared and hit the Shikigami. Kiana appeared. The vines reeled the Shikigami in.
"I'm saved…" Reiko said.
Inuyasha scoffed. "So hopeless!"
"HEY!" Kurai got up in his face. "You take that back!"
Kurai got riled up. Suddenly the Shikigami grabbed her from behind, pulling at her. Kurai in turn pulled at Inuyasha's hair.
"Let go of me!" Kurai said.
"Ouch! You let go of me!" Inuyasha said.
Kaede arrived at the scene.
"Priestess Kaede! It's Inuyasha!" Kiana said.
"Yes I see him..." Kaede said. "But how is it that Inuyasha has been awakened?"
"Give me the Shikon no Tama!" Shikigami said.
"Let me go!" Kurai said.
"The Shikon no Tama?" Inuyasha said.
The Shikigami opened her mouth, revealing all her sharp teeth, about to bite into Kurai.
Kurai raised her hand at the Shikigami. "NI-RU! Leave them alone!"
A force came from Kurai's palm and hit the Shikigami, causing her to let go of Kurai. Kurai fell to the ground. The human arms of the monster dropped off.
"That's right!" Kurai looked at her hand. "Something like this happened in that well…"
Kiana gasped in amazement at Kurai's feat.
"But… why can I do these things?" Kurai said.
A glow appeared at the side of Kurai's torso.
"Something is shining!" Kurai said.
The Shikigami lunged at Kurai again and this time, Kurai was thrown into the air. As she was in midair, the glow exited her body and became a pink orb.
"From within me… Is that the Shikon no Tama?" Kurai said.
Kurai fell to the ground, the orb landing in front of her.
"Give me that Jewel! Hurry!" Inuyasha said.
Before Kurai had time to react, the Shikigami Monster circled her body around the tree and Kurai several times, and squeezed, pressing Reiko onto Inuyasha on the tree. The orb was still on the ground.
"I heard that a half demon brat was after the Shikon no Tama. So you're the one?" Shikigami said.
"A halfdemon? What is he anyway?" Kurai said.
"Don't underestimate me, Shikigami! I can take care of you… if I really get down to business." Inuyasha said.
"You! You're awfully arrogant! Are you strong? Can you protect my sister and me?" Kurai said.
"Huh?" Inuyasha said.
"Well, can you?" Kurai said.
"What can he do, strapped down like that? The Nine Tailed Fox is under a powerful spell." Shikigami bent down to the Shikon no Tama. "Just stay where you are and watch!" Shikigami picked up the jewel with her tongue and swallowed it.
"Damn you!" Inuyasha said.
"It swallowed the Jewel! No! What will happen, Priestess Kaede?!" Kiana said.
The fallen limbs of the Shikigami started glowing and reattached to her.
"Its arms are growing again…!" Reiko said.
The Shikigami shook a little and her skin fell off, revealing a grotesque rotten skeleton like torso and face.
"Rejoice! My power is being restored!" Shikigami said.
The Shikigami tightened her body and Kurai ended up being dragged downwards.
Kurai struggled. "It got me!"
"Hey. You seem to have the powers of a priestess. Can you release me?" Inuyasha said.
"Huh?" Kurai said.
"I'm asking if you can use the Release Rune!" Inuyasha said.
"The rune?" Kurai reached. "this one?"
Kaede got off the horse. "Do not remove it! You must not free Inuyasha!"
"Grams, wake up! Do you want to become fodder for the Shikigami?! Once it completely absorbs the Shikon no Tama, it'll be the end!" Inuyasha turned to Kurai. "Come on! Do you want to die here, too?!"
"I-I don't understand, not any of it…!" Kurai threw out a hand and shouted. "But I know one thing…" Kurai closed her eyes. "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"
"UT-EI!"
Light came from the Shikon no Tama, within the Shikigami, and it a shadow hit Inuyasha, and a white light hit Kurai.
"Inuyasha..." Kiana said.
The shadow that came from Inuyasha faded away and Inuyasha started to pulsate.
Kurai spoke softly and weakly. "In...u...ya...sha?"
Inuyasha started to laugh. The Shikigami tightened her grip on Inuyasha, but Inuyasha broke free, destroying her body, which exploded into pieces. Kurai was thrown off onto the ground.
"You brat!" Shikigami said.
Inuyasha somersaulted to the ground. "Shut up!" Inuyasha brandished his claws. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!"
Inuyasha clawed the demon. The body broke into pieces and landed scattered on the ground.
"Wow… He really is strong…!" Kurai said in disbelief.
One of the Shikigami pieces around Kurai twitched.
"It's still moving!" Reiko said.
Kaede rushed to Reiko with Kiana. "Do you see the flesh that shines? The Shikon no Tama is embedded there! You must remove it, else it will keep rejuvenating!"
"I can't see anything!" Reiko said.
"It's right there!" Kurai pointed.
Kaede gave Kiana a knowing look, then felt for the Jewel in the body piece that Kurai was referring to and picked up the jewel.
Kurai pointed her hand at the demon's flesh, which was still moving. "RA-JE!." Her hand glowed white. The demon was purified.
Kaede gave the jewel to Kurai. Kurai was surprised.
"Why not Reiko?" Kurai said.
"Only you can possess the Jewel. We will discuss this elsewhere. Enemies must not know the truth about you." Kaede said.
"Why was it inside my body? This jewel which can empower such a demon?" Kurai said.
Inuyasha stepped up and crushed one of the bones with his feet threateningly. "Exactly! It isn't safe with you, just give me the Jewel and get it over with!"
"Y-You tricked me?!" Kurai said. "STUPID PUPPY!"