Immortal Connection by ShadowsWeaver1

The Well

Immortal Connection

Chapter 1: The Well

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The shadows cast by the old wood of the Shrine were deep. They made it look like night even though outside the old walls the sun was shining. It was a little ironic, she thought to herself as she descended the stairs. To everyone else, this was nothing more than a hut, a decrepit old shack on the sprawling grounds of the Shrine. To everyone else except her. Because she knew: this place was the Shrine. This old shack and the secret it guarded was the reason the temple had been built. There was magic here, old magic, something made of the earth and the powers beyond. With the ancient tree standing always sentinel, the old well concealed behind the innocent barriers of age-worn wood was hidden in plain sight.

She stepped closer to the well, but not so close as to see down into its dark depths. She knew well enough what lay there. The blue of her eyes darkened as she looked upon it, memories flooding her thoughts, those both good and bad. She looked upon the old well as something to be cherished, and at the same time, as something to be feared. Because it was both. It was both her saving grace, and her endless suffering.

She knew that her time of battles had past. She knew that she had set right the wrongs that by her hand had been allowed to happen. She knew her journey was over, but she couldn't help but wish she could just find one more reason, one more excuse to go back, to see the friends she had left behind, to be part of their world again.

She could do it, she knew. She could make the journey. The well would allow her passage as it had before. It would, and yet, she couldn't bring herself to do it. With the battles gone, her friends had gone on to live their lives; peaceful, happy lives that she was so grateful for. All the pain and heartache and chaos caused by the cursed Jewel were gone. They were being given a second chance at long last, a chance at real happiness, and she couldn't stand in the way of that. She wouldn't.

All her returning would serve to do was remind them all again of a debt to be paid. But it was no debt she would suffer upon them. The Jewel had always been her responsibility, her burden to bear. As it was. As it should be. She would not have their lives, now that they were being given a chance to live them, be weighed down by her.

Of course, they would never say such things to her. They would never lead her to believe that they thought her presence was anything more than a joyful thing, something to be celebrated, something to be cherished. But no matter what they did, no matter how welcome they tried to make her feel every time she returned, she couldn't help feeling that she wasn't meant to be there, that somehow she was just out of place. She couldn't help but feel that she didn't belong.

Even Inuyasha, he friend, her champion, her love of so long, even he couldn't make her think these things. He had tried, of course. And she had wanted him to. They had been given their time together once the battles were past, and though she couldn't have been more grateful for the experience, she knew in her heart that that was all it would ever be. She had given him all she had to offer, given it willingly and with all her heart, but in the end, she knew it just wasn't enough. He deserved better.

They all did.

Her fingers trailed along the rim of the old well wistfully. A part of her would always live beyond the magic of that old well. A part of her heart would always be free to roam in those open fields and forests of the land so long ago. She smiled at the thought. It was comforting to know that no matter how the modern world would trap her in barriers of concrete and cold steel that a part of her would always know freedom. Her memories of the past would always be hers. And nothing could ever take that away.

But memories were just that: memories. And she had a life to live. She wouldn't be bound by the trappings of things that were gone and forgotten. She wouldn't be tied to a place and a people that could never have been her own. She had done her duty. She had broken the curse. And now it was time to move on.

One last, longing look at the old well, the portal to her past, and she turned away. She climbed the stairs, each step bringing her closer to daylight, closer to her world. And in the darkness of the old Shrine, she left the shadows of the past behind her.

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He supposed he should have made himself known, supposed he should have done something for her to know he was there, supposed that she would be happy to see him, supposed that he would have in some way felt the same. He supposed, but then, he never did what he was supposed to do. It wasn't so much that he cared one way or the other; it was just that he found it more of a hassle than it was worth.

Besides, her Mortal senses would never detect him. Sometimes he thought she did sense when he was near, but then, sometimes he was so close he could almost touch her and she wouldn't even flinch. So maybe it was just wishful thinking. Maybe he had hoped that she would be in some way more attuned to him after spending so long in his presence. Then again, maybe he was just trying to find a way to see her as something more than the Mortal girl she was. Maybe it would have been easier. Maybe it would have meant that she could have stayed with him for just a while longer.

But no. He knew better. He had known it all along. He had saved her from her fate. He never knew why. But he had. And she had followed him. For so long the girl was a bright light in the grey of his endless years. But it couldn't last. It was never meant to. She was Human, and he was not. She belonged with her own kind. She deserved a life, one that he knew would never be at his side.

Too many times he had put her in danger because of what he was. Too many times. He wouldn't be the cause of her pain. She had suffered too much in her short life. He wouldn't be the one to deny her a chance at happiness. He knew, of course, that she hadn't wanted to go. He knew. But then, he also knew that the girl was fast approaching her maturity. Soon she would no longer be a child, soon the games and innocence of youth would take on meaning that he simply couldn't allow. There was something about the prospect of the girl looking at him with anything but child-like wonder that he just found…disturbing.

So he had left her in the care of her kin. The group of his Halfling brother and the Miko who had taken down the Shikon. He had believed it to be for the best for the girl. He believed it still. She was growing well under the care of the Humans, blossoming into a young woman. As it was. As it was meant to be. And still she smiled, that beautiful, joyful smile that was never darkened by anything.

She was smiling now. She was sitting on the banks of the river outside the settlement, her feet dangling carelessly in the water, moving in short, playful strokes as the currents brushed past. She was leaning back, her weight upon her arms, and looking up at the sky. And still that smile. Carefree and innocent. Beautiful.

"Rin!"

She didn't move from where she was, only tipped her head back further and looked behind to catch a glimpse of the figure coming towards her. Her smile never left her lips, if anything, it grew wider.

"Inuyasha, why do you always yell like that? You know I can hear you."

The boy dropped down to the ground only paces away. His ears twitched and swiveled as he took in his surroundings, but after finding nothing out of place, he let them drop.

Foolish Hanyou. All this time, and you still can't detect your own brother?

"It ain't your hearing that's the problem," the boy admonished. "It's mine. If I had to listen to Sango a second longer about where you've been, I'd have gone deaf!"

But Rin only giggled sweetly to the intended scolding. "I know," she said, "But I couldn't help it. They always get so tense on this day." She paused for a minute to pull her feet from the water. She swung her legs around and brought her knees up, but she didn't move to stand. She was looking at the water when she spoke, and still she was smiling. "They think that because I died that it's a bad thing or something. But it's not, you know? If I hadn't died, I wouldn't have ever really lived."

She looked at the Hanyou boy then, and there was a softness in the chocolate brown of her eyes that betrayed a wisdom beyond her years.

"You understand, don't you?"

Inuyasha's stiff posture sagged as he sighed. Of course the boy knew. He had died himself, or at least close enough. He dropped himself down to a crouch to be closer to the girl.

"It's dangerous out here, Rin," he said instead of answering, "Let me take you back."

But Rin only smiled, her carefree, beautiful smile as she looked at him. "Dangerous for who?" She reached out and brushed her fingers across the hilt of the sword strapped to Inuyasha's side. She, more than anyone, knew the power of his father's fang. Inuyasha caught her hand and pulled it away, but still Rin wasn't deterred. "I just want to be free as I once was," she told him. "I don't want to go back to the village. Not today. Please, Inuyasha."

There would be no denying her. He knew it as well as the Hanyou boy that would soon succumb to the girl's charm, and he just couldn't stand to watch any more. He turned away from the scene and started making his way though the trees.

He supposed he should have been angry, supposed he should have done or said something to stop it, supposed he should have put the Hanyou brat down and beat him bloody for even having the nerve to approach the girl; but then again, he never really did what he was supposed to do.

The girl was fine, that was all that mattered. She was growing up in the company of her kin. Being given the chance at a Mortal life, with all the choices and trials and tribulations that would come along with it. Of course, he was a little disturbed by the fact that the Hanyou brat had been given a chance to get so close to the girl. Something about that just didn't sit right with him.

Where the hell was that Miko that was supposed to be keeping the boy on a leash?

He hadn't sensed her. In fact, this hadn't been the first time. Her presence had been noticeably lacking for some time. The group was fairing well, their lives moving on beyond the battles for the cursed Jewel, their time being spent on other endeavors, their Mortal lives moving on and settling down. But she was not there.

It hadn't been something so traumatic as a death. No. He knew damn well the mongrel brat would have come charging to find him if something had befallen the Miko. After all, he was the only one that had power over death. Strangely enough, he thought he would actually bring her back should it have been necessary. Not so much out of curiosity over testing a Youaki's power against that of a Miko, though that thought had some intriguing aspects; but more to the point that she had earned it. She had fought, as they all had, and she had been the one to stop the dark light of the Shikon. It had been her power, strange and confounding as it was, that had put an end to the war.

So then why was it that she was not being given the chance to rest as the others had? Why was she not with them? Why, when for so long she had been the thing that held the group together, was she nowhere to be found?

Perhaps it was curiosity, but then, perhaps it was something more, but he found himself honing in on the scent of the Miko. His senses shifted. He brought focus to them as he drew up a layer of power to fuel his search. He tasted the air, let it play in his nose as he sorted through a million tiny scents and markers.

It had been some time, he realized. Months, perhaps, perhaps longer, but he could still taste the power of her. She had marked this place so strongly it was difficult even for him to hone in on a track to follow. But it was there. A softness that wasn't the sharp currents of her power. A sweetness that could only be from her blood. A subtle tang of salt and iron mixed with something so uniquely hers that he would never try to give it words.

She had walked this path. His senses were so tuned to it he could almost see it as a living thing, could almost feel the brush of her power as he followed it. It led him out of the trees and into a small clearing. And there, with nothing around it but for the lush grasses blowing softly in the afternoon breeze, stood a lonely little well.

It was curious. The river was too close for this well to have any significance. Not only that, but the elevation of the clearing made it an unusual, if not idiotic, place to have dug a well. Surely, there were other sources of water more accessible. And more, there were no houses anywhere near to it. There were no humans that would have had any need of it. There was just a clearing in the forest, and in it an old, dry, well.

What was even more confounding was the fact that the Miko's trail seemed to have vanished. It led him to that old well, but not beyond. There was her presence, of course, that lingered. Several paths that she had once taken in directions away from the clearing. But there was no trail as strong, or as confusing, as the one that led straight into that old well.

He stepped closer. Curiosity was being quickly replaced by things more guarded. His senses were no longer set to track, but open for warning. There was something not right about all of it, and he would not allow himself to be caught unaware. But still, he moved closer. The answers were there, he knew it in a way that was beyond knowing. And she, she was there as well.

It shouldn't have made any sense, but then again, neither did she. She had always been a mystery. Of course, he hadn't bothered to ask, and frankly didn't care to. It wasn't really relevant anyways. But still, there was something about her, something that kept finding his focus coming back to her, something beyond the perplexing powers she had, something removed from the annoyance she presented every time she interfered in his battles, something strange that he could almost see just before her willfulness or stubbornness or wretched obstinacy would get in the way and conceal it once more.

He took the last step that brought him to the edge of the well. He looked down into its depths, trying to see past the shadows. There was nothing, of course. His senses told him as much. And yet, there was something. It was old. It was powerful. It was something just beyond his senses, but so near that his instincts found a way to pick up on it.

He shouldn't, he knew. He shouldn't temp the fates. He shouldn't play with powers beyond his understanding, or even his recognition. He shouldn't, but then, he never really did what he was supposed to anyways.

He took hold of the rim of the old well and used the leverage to pull himself over. He let himself fall into the dark depths, and even as the power he felt there awoke, even as it surrounded him in a swirl of chaotic energy, he let it take him away.

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"See you tomorrow, Kagome."

"You bet!"

Kagome waved goodbye to Yuka and turned to start making the climb up the long stairway that led to her family home. Every time she made the climb, she had to laugh at the thought of her gym teacher giving her a failing grade. Like she had cheated or something to be so good at the obstacle course. Of course, she might have tried to argue, but then, she might have had to explain how she had managed to become so good with a bow when all her other classmates could hardly shoot in the direction of the target, let alone take the mark from a hundred paces. Still, it was funny to her, if not anyone else. Her mother, of course belonging to the 'else' category. But Miya was quick to get over it, as she was with most things. She was simply glad that Kagome was back with her and far away from her time in the Feudal era.

Kagome understood. She really did. So, she did her best to appear to everyone around her that she was as happy as could be. Even her friends didn't know. They knew she lost something, of course, but then, they just thought it was her 'boyfriend' that she had spent so much time with. They didn't know anything more than that. And, surprisingly enough, it seemed that they didn't really seem to care. They were supportive, of course, but they were so caught up in their own teenage angst and drama that they found it hard to focus on anything else. Kagome was grateful for that.

So, rather than bringing up her own problems, she focused on being a friend instead. She used her gifts of understanding and compassion to help her friends navigate their life choices, to bring them comfort when they needed it, support and a shoulder to cry on, love and an understanding ear. It was almost too easy to make them look past her time away. Almost too easy to make them think she was just another one of them. Almost too easy to pretend that she believed it herself.

Almost.

But then, she had always been the plaything of the Gods. And so, when she felt the surge of magic on the air that ignited her senses, she wasn't in the least bit surprised.

She drew a breath, though she wasn't sure if it was excitement or trepidation that caused her to hold it. The feeling of the portal activating had sent shivers down her spine, but it was more. It brought to life dormant instincts: fight or flight. It made every hair on her body stand on end, a shivering wave that she had come to know so well.

It was exhilarating. Throwing caution to the wind, she dashed up the remaining stairs. She knew only one person could ever traverse the portal. She knew it with all her heart. And if he had come to her, that could only mean one thing: She was needed. The world beyond the well was calling for her once more, and she had never been so happy to answer its call.

She dropped her school bag at the front of the Temple ground, pausing only long enough to flip open a small cubby and pull out her gear. Over the years, she had taken to hiding supplies in the strangest places. But Inuyasha had never been keen on giving her time to collect her things, so she had made sure that there were always some nearby. At the time, she had begrudged the need, now she couldn't have been more grateful.

She threw the pack over her shoulder carelessly and snagged her bow and quiver and made a dash for the well house. She didn't even think to make a stop at home to tell her mother. The woman would figure it out eventually. Probably. But Kagome couldn't think of anything but for greeting her friend and letting him sweep her away again on an amazing adventure.

The closer she got to the Shrine, though, the more her feelings of elation began to ebb away. There was something out of place. Her instincts picked up on it before her mind even began to process what. Her steps grew heavy, hesitant. And, unconsciously, her hand tightened against her bow.

The vibration in the air finally made her pause. It was like the tension before a storm, power lay dormant being called to bear. She could feel it so strongly that it provoked a cold shiver to course through her. But there was more. Something sharp and hard cut across her senses, an elastic band stretched tight before snapping back into place.

She gasped.

A sutra had been broken. One of the charms protecting the Shrine had fallen.

It was wrong. It was all wrong. Inuyasha would never break a seal. He would never have to. Inuyasha carried her charm, his binding let him walk through her magic unscathed. Always and forever the Hanyou boy would be welcome in her life, in her world. Besides, all the charms and sutras in the world would never hold his Hanyou blood. Worse come to worse, he would just walk out of the place Human, shake his head a bit, and in a surge of power be transformed back to himself.

So then, not Inuyasha. It couldn't be. But if not him, then who? Or what?

It didn't matter though. Kagome knew that whatever it was she would face it. It would not find a gracious welcome. She couldn't afford to hold back. And she wouldn't. She was all that stood between that world and her own. And she would never allow it to break through. Never.

She pulled her weapon down and set it, took a deep breath, and set her sights on the door to the old well house. She wouldn't lax her stance just to open it. She had learned long ago that her bow was the only thing keeping her alive. So instead, she lined her shoulder up with the door. One solid thrust and the old hinges gave way. The door buckled and she let fall, setting herself poised to attack. The tension in her bowstring so sharp that nothing would have survived if she were to loose it.

Sunlight poured into the dark space and cast away the shadows. When her eyes took focus, she couldn't help but gasp.

"Sesshomaru."

She whispered his name in absolute fear. She could see him, see the Youkai fighting, straining against the barriers that had been the Shrine's defense. She could see the dangerous wisps of red streaking through the golden shield of his eyes. See how hard his claws were flexing against the binding. She could smell the poison in the air that he was setting loose to fight against it. And in the wild current of his power, she could feel the burn of his fury.

His eyes locked onto her, those demon eyes of hell fire and wrath, and he growled, the sound unbearable, unearthly, something so primal it screamed to eons past of instinct and warning to heed of the danger he was.

"Miko," his words were so cut with the heavy vibration of the beast within him they were hardly words at all, "Release these bindings."

She trembled where she stood, but she held firm.

"I can't," she told him. But it was more. "I won't. Go back through the well, Sesshomaru. You don't belong here."

But her words only served to build on his fury. He was fighting too hard. He was too strong. He was breaking through. She could feel it in every part of her. She knew it wouldn't hold. And she knew as well that there was nothing she would be able to do to stop him if he were to get out.

She couldn't allow that to happen. She couldn't allow a demon to be set loose on her world. She wouldn't. No matter who he was, or what he had been to her in those days so long past, he could never be allowed free in this unsuspecting world.

With every second that ticked past, he was managing to break through more of the seals binding him. She could feel it so distinctly every time one would strain or bend or break. It was getting to the point where he would be able to move, and she knew she had run out of time.

But she couldn't bring herself to fire. She just couldn't. Sesshomaru was never a friend, but he was never an enemy, not really. She could never take the shot. She knew it. And, looking at him, seeing the blaze of fury in his eyes, she knew in some way that he knew it as well. Because he was fighting, but not with all the strength of his will. He was fighting because it angered him that she had bound him at all. He was fighting because he wouldn't allow her to control him.

He was fighting, but he was not fighting her.

Still, it was her choice to make. Not his. This was her home, and she would defend it. So, after letting loose the tension in her bowstring, Kagome quickly shifted her grip. She braced the arrow against the draw and took hold of the sacred wood with both hands. She forced it outwards, projecting away from her a barrier of light. And though she knew it would never be enough to stop him, she knew as well that he had no way to defend against it while he was still being held bound by the ancient spells of the Shrine.

She rushed towards him, pushing every ounce of power and strength she had against his defense. She didn't stop when she felt his resistance, didn't pull back when she felt the burn of his power, didn't give in when she could no longer feel the ground beneath her feet. And even when she knew her attack had been successful, even when she could feel herself being pulled with him down into the depths of the old well, even then she couldn't breathe her relief.

The portal surged around them as their clashing powers battled. The ancient magic took offense. The old power fought against the new. And for the two beings trapped within its pull, the Ancient passed its judgment.

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Wow….it has been so long I would have thought that I wouldn't know how to do this…but it looks like it's quite the opposite. I kind got a little carried away with the descriptions. I think maybe I missed these characters. I suppose it'll come back to me soon enough though. Maybe. *shrugs* Whatever.

There was one thing though about this chapter. As I was writing the bit about Rin…see, I find it a little…disturbing to think of a Sess/Rin pairing. And, really, this is coming from the woman that had Miroku give it to old Kaede for no more reason than he had a raging hard-on and I thought it was hella funny. So that's got to be saying something.

Lol the thought of the day courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Shadow.

Cheers