Before There Were Fairy Tales...
by Faehime
Chapter One: A Time Before Remembering...
"Kagome!"
Light seared through the darkness, pooling harshly out from the open door. A dark figure darted carelessly from the house, escaping into the elements as cries of worry chased after her. Heedless of the calls, the small figure hastened forward into the stormy night, intent on her goal.
She was running away.
With each sharp slap of her sandals, the young girl pulled further away from the solemn faces and reddened eyes of her family; from the strained whispers and pitying glances; from the harsh reality that was now laying 6 feet beneath the ground over which she ran. Rain poured from the sky in a violent deluge of ice, hiding the evidence still streaming from her eyes. Kagome could hear her mother's voice calling her, the sound closer than it should be. Pushing herself, the distraught girl quickened her already frantic pace.
'Daddy...'
The thought ripped a sob from her throat as her chest burned painfully. Turning the corner of the shrine, Kagome made a beeline for her hiding place, the one only she knew about now. The cobbled stones were water-slick, and half-way to her goal her feet slid out from under her. Crashing to the ground, mud and debris patterned her black yukata, staining the already saturated fabric to match her bitter-tinted eyes. Scraps on both arms and hands weeped thin lines of blood as she pushed herself up slowly to her knees, eyes focused on her goal.
"D-daddy...please... it hurts..." A torn palm clutched at her chest, where the burning was increasingly consuming her her body with a paralyzing agony. Breathing harshly, Kagome wobbled when she regained her footing, trudging forward determinedly as needles of chilly rain stung the exposed flesh of her face and arms.
The well-house slid open for her easily, welcoming her with it's musky darkness that held some of her fondest memories. This had been their secret place after all, one that even her mother didn't know about. On days when she'd done poorly on a test, or she'd been feeling forgotten because of the new baby, Kagome had often come here to hide away from everybody to nurse her wounds.
But he always found her. Her father would climb down the rickety ladder and hold her tightly as she cried, or tickled her to remind her that she could still laugh despite her sadness. They'd played games in the early mornings and told stories from deep within the shaft of the old well as the moon shone through the wood planks of the structure. In those stolen moments, he was hers, and no one else's. But now...
Now she was trying to escape those memories. Because he was gone, and she was alone in a well-house that echoed with nothing but silence.
Kagome felt more heat cutting down her cold cheeks, and shut her eyes against the bittersweet flashes of times that would never be again. Her legs began shaking as the pain pulsed beneath her hand, radiating through her extremities and stealing her breath away. Stumbling forward, she threw her leg over the edge, noticing that she'd lost one of her sandals at one point as she felt the rung of the ladder beneath her bare toes.
Moving down the familiar wooden bars, she froze half-way down, belatedly remembering that it had rotted apart earlier that month, and her dad had promised to fix it for her as soon as he could. Clinging tighter to the ladder, Kagome allowed her sorrow to consume her as she recalled the reason why he wouldn't be able to keep that promise.
The hollow shriek of tires grinding in protest against the rough asphalt...
An bone-snapping pressure accompanied by the world pitching sharply, over and over and over...
The sickening taste of copper, hot as it washed across her face and in her mouth...
The sensation of drowning in her father's blood as his dark eyes stared lifelessly at her...
Memories assaulted her mercilessly, and her grip loosened with each terrifying image, smell and sensation that asserted itself from that terrible day. If only she hadn't been so insistent that they go to the store to get wood. If only she hadn't pestered him to drive faster. If only she hadn't distracted him at that stop light.
The two words became a mantra straight-stitched to her heart as guilt and regret consumed her young, innocent soul.
"It's my f-fault. I didn't mean it daddy, I-I'm so s-sorry," she whimpered, the tears freely falling her her voice broke on a keening wail. "Please daddy... please don't be dead."
Searching the darkness for the bottom of the well, Kagome tried to blink away the water clouding her already hindered vision. Shifting her hold to get a better grip, her sandal-shod foot slipped, and as she fell into the darkness with a sharp gasp, she couldn't help but wish...
~O~
The soft chirping of insects penetrated the fog in her head, and Kagome's eye fluttered open. Lifting her head, she peered into the darkness around dazedly.
"Did I fall asleep in the well?"
With a grunt, the brown-eyed girl stood, a hand pressed against the side of her head as pain pierced through her temple. Feeling wetness, she quickly pulled her fingers away only to see them coated in a dark liquid.
"When did I..." Kagome began, trembling at the sight of her own blood as she tried to remember how she came to be at the bottom of the well. Something glinted from between her fingers, and looking at the ground she realized she was staring at a small puddle. Taking in the mud at the base of the shaft and all over her, she felt her confusion increase dramatically.
'How did the rain get inside the well-house? Wait-- rain...'
Memories of her flight from her own home to her secret hiding place rushed through her, and the girl recalled slipping from the ladder. Having answered the question of how she'd hit her head, Kagome frowned thoughtfully at the cold mud clinging spitefully to her feet as she moved to the wall. There was still the matter of why there was mud and water in the bottom of a dry well, but she dismissed the mystery for another time. Right now, she needed to get out of the well and back to the house.
"I'll have to explain to mama how I got hurt," she murmured dejectedly to herself as her eyes sought the bottom rungs of the ladder. She wasn't relishing the thought of sharing her hiding place, and as she tried to formulate a convincing lie Kagome failed to notice that the ladder was nowhere in sight at first. After a few more minutes of searching fruitlessly, she finally realized that not only was there no familiar ladder but there was no roof! She could clearly see the moon glowing innocuously down from the star-freckled sky, illuminating more than it had intended to the poor, heart-sick girl.
Collapsing as her legs went numb with shock, she could only stare in disbelief. Had the storm been worse than she thought? Had the well-house been destroyed? If the storm had gotten that bad, then what about the shrine? And...
"The house... oh no!" Fear driving her, Kagome rushed to the walls once more, small fingers digging at the rough wooden planks as she tried to find a way to climb out of the well. Splinters and scraps soon decorated her hands, and desperation began to claw at her insides.
"Mama! Souta! Grandpa!" Her screams echoed around her as horrible scenarios began to play in her mind's eye. The destroyed remains of her house spread across the shrine grounds; her family buried, trapt beneath the debris, dying or already dead. Her little brother's favorite teddy bear covered in blood, laying inches from a small, cold hand...
"Mama!!!"
Tears once more burned paths down her cheeks as her fingers scrambled for purchase, heedless of the skin being torn from her hands. Her once favored hiding place had become her prison, an obstacle between her and what remained of her family.
'I can't lose them too...' her thoughts whimpered urgently. Triumph washed over her as she found anchoring in the vines lacing down the walls. Pulling, her muscles protested as she began to climb upwards at an agonizingly slow pace. Biting her lip in concentration, Kagome ignored the pain in her arms and shoulders, continuing her upward ascent with a grunt of determination.
"I'm... coming, everyone," she muttered breathlessly, one small, bloody hand finally gripping the lip of the well. Panting with effort, the young girl managed to heave her upper body onto the edge. Shoving her knee beneath her, she used the last of her flagging energy to shove herself over the side, tumbling gracelessly onto the grass-cushioned ground.
Body shaking with exhaustion and stress, Kagome crawled to her feet, bracing herself against the well as she tried to catch her breath. Eyes firmly on her feet, she suddenly didn't want to look up, didn't want to see the damage the storm had cause. Swallowing her trepidation, she finally looked up, prepared for the worst, prepared to to see the rest of her world destroyed, taken from her as her father had been.
But there was nothing. No shrine, no house, no debris strewn about by the merciless storm.
No family.
"Where... where did it all go?"
As the adrenaline seeped from her veins, Kagome felt exhaustion overtaking her shock, and she could only stare about herself in disbelief. At length, she forced her legs to move forward, carrying her towards the only other familiar landmark she could see- Goshinboku. Her steps were faltering, but still she continued, wracking her brain to make sense of her situation.
"There was no ladder or well-house, and it doesn't even look like there has ever been a shrine in this area," she listed, absently pushing through the foliage impeding her path. Stepping gingerly around protruding roots, she approached the sacred tree she'd known for ten, long years, brows furrowed in concentration.
Something was off about Goshinboku, but what she didn't know. Circling the tree, she allowed her abused fingers lightly over the unmarred bark, searching for some clue of what had changed. As she considered what could possibly be wrong about the ancient oak, her fingers completed their invisible path over the rough, unblemished bark and everything inside Kagome clicked.
'It's not something that's wrong... it's something that's not wrong!'
Eyes wide wide with her epiphany, the young girl reached her hand up to brush under the spot where there should have been a large scar, evidenced by smooth bark-less wood marred with a deep but small gouge. As she continued to stare uncertainly, all the discrepancies began to fall into place and in the wake of the obvious came an echo of the moment after she fell from the ladder.
I wish I could go back and make things right...
"I... did I wish myself here?" Wonder dripped from her voice, and relief squeezed her heart as she realized something else. "Then... that means everyone's okay. I just have to go back!"
Turning abruptly, she hastened back the way she came, ignoring the branches and vines that tangled in her hair and caught at her feet. She tripped once or twice, but immediately rolled back to her feet, hope and excitement renewing her strength.
'If I came to the past through the well, then I should be able to get back the same way!'
Lungs burning as she exerted her already spent body, Kagome broke the treeline only to skid abruptly to a halt. Two things quickly made themselves apparent to the suddenly frozen girl. First, the well she'd just struggled out of was utterly gone. Secondly, standing next to where it had only moments before stood was an armored figure... staring straight at her.
The absence of what she had been sure was the way home overshadowed the presence of the stranger, and with trembling knees she walked forward, closing the distance between the where the well had stood and herself. Her eyes never left the empty patch of ground where a wooden structure should have been, and when she drew even with the tall, imposing figure she couldn't be bothered to spare the individual a single glance.
The silence drew out, wind rustling through the tall grass as Kagome's eyes burned fiercely. No tears came this time though, and with a dry sob she clenched her fists inf frustration as her predicament settled on her shoulders.
'I'm... I'm stuck here without the well. What am I going to do?'
"Who are you small one?"
A calloused hand tilted her chin up suddenly, and she immediately took notice of her unknown companion. Long black hair framed a pale face adorned by four small marks on a smooth forehead. Brown, detached eyes seemed to be measuring her, searching her own face for the answer she had yet to give the armor-clad woman. Kagome hesitated, seeing the sword at the strange woman's hip and suddenly understanding just how very alone she was.
The woman must have noticed the fear in her eyes, for she slowly knelt, bringing her face down to the young girl's level and placed a hand on each of her shoulders. Something in her face softened, and Kagome's lip wobbled when she said, "Do you need help, small one?"
Nodding, Kagome managed to whisper, "My name is Higurashi Kagome, miss...?"
An approving smile tilted the woman's stern mouth, and she kindly supplied, "I am called Midoriko, Higurashi-chan. I'll help you as best I can, but first I need you to answer a question for me."
Glancing over at the perfectly for square of dirt surrounded by tall grass, the prompted, "Do you by chance know what happened to the Bone-Eater's Well?"
~O~
"So, when you came back to the well, it was gone?"
Kagome nodded, picking listlessly at the hem of her dirty yukata. She'd told Midoriko-sama everything that had happened, along with her theory that she'd somehow arrived in this time from the future. The woman had questioned her about every detail, and now sat across from her deep in thought. For her part, she just wanted to curl up somewhere and go to sleep. Here lid felt heavy and ever so ofter her body shuddered in protest at not being allowed to relax and recover from the events of the day. Midoriko's smooth as cream voice recaptured her attention, and she looked at her inquisitive companion wearily.
"What year was it when you fell in the well, Higurashi-chan?"
Kagome sighed, pulling her knees up and resting her chin on them as she responded, "It's 1992."
"1992... that would mean you've crossed through seven-hundred and forty-five years... But what could have caused such a thing?"
Kagome watched as her eyes drifted back across the field, and shame colored her voice as she admitted, "It's my fault. When I fell I... I made a wish."
Brown eyes lighter than her own cut back to the young girl's face, and she continued, "I wished I could go back and make things right."
Midoriko's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, and her mouth opened, the question evident on her face. Her lips snapped back together just as quickly, and once more Kagome felt as though she was being examined. She couldn't help but wonder if the strong woman would see the darkness eating away at her soul. The sun was setting, and still the ten-year old girl had not slept or eaten, leaving her feeling terribly weak and exposed.
At length, Midoriko spoke, her tone filled with consideration and appraisal. "I think I know someone who can help you, Higurashi-chan. Someone who can keep you safe while you try to figure out how to get back home, and can provide more information than I."
Kagome watched as she stood, reluctantly following her unspoken command to follow as the woman headed for a path she had neglected to notice earlier in her flight.
"Who?" She asked, hope once more rousing her to attention. Midoriko never turned as she answered curtly, her steps confidant and pace brisk.
"The Lady of Setsuna."