Author Note: I simply cannot apologize enough for how long it has taken me! I have been BEYOND busy these last couple months and just haven't had any time to write or even think about writing! But finally here's chapter 2, I do hope it was worth the wait :)

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi is the true mastermind.

...Chapter 2…

~She from a Strange Land~

Black… Everything around was pitch black… and cold. "Where am I…?" Kagome wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt at warmth, but her hands were icy to the touch and only sent cold chills through her body. "What's going on? Why am I here?" Suddenly, a soft blue light illuminated to her left, glowing with slight warmth. The glow was soon accompanied by a deep hum as if it was calling to her. She turned her attention towards the light in time to see it brighten… and come charging at her. "Wha-…?"

Kagome's eyes shot open and she was on her feet in seconds looking around for danger. "A… A bad dream again?" She sighed gratefully and began assessing her situation. Noticing the large stones, her eyes followed them up until they hit smooth mahogany wood. "The well…? But, how on earth did I-?" At once everything came rushing back, making her temples throb with a headache.

"That's right, I fell! I better get Mom, I'm sure she's out of the house by now!" Kagome gathered the breath needed in her lungs to call out to her mother, but the words died in her throat as she finally seemed to notice something that most certainly should not be there. Instead of the roof of the well house with its dusty cobwebs and splintery wood peering back down at her, a cloudless blue sky was framed neatly by the opening of the well.

Dumbfounded beyond words, Kagome simply stood there gaping at the strange sight before her. For the second time in a matter of minutes, the same question escaped her lips. "Wha-? Just where am I?" Deciding to worry about the impossible later, she pushed the currently un-answerable question to the back of her mind and focused on the problem at hand. She needed to get out of this well. Glancing up once again she spotted a crowd of shaggy vines snaking their way down the sides of the well. "Those look strong enough."

Gathering her courage, and her yukata hem, Kagome straightened and extended her arms toward the plant. Coming up just short, she huffed, irritated. "You've got to be kidding me!" She scuffed her foot on the ground and noticed a hollow clop sound as something hit the wooden bottom of her bamboo sandal. "There!" Grabbing a piece of the former well cover, she swung it above her head to knock one of the longer vines loose from the wall. "Ahah!" She cried happily and grasped the creeper now in her reach, tossing the plank back on the ground. Choking the poor plant with a white-knuckle grip, the girl hauled herself toward the sky and plopped down on soft grass to let out a breath of relief. "And here I thought it was supposed to be your sixteenth birthday that was special…" She moaned.

As a humid breeze swirled around her, catching her hair, she closed her eyes and relished in the fresh scent. Sitting up to survey the surroundings before her, Kagome's breath hitched. Not only was she not in the well-house, she wasn't even on her property. As far as the eye could see past the small clearing she occupied, were only trees and what seemed to be a small path cutting through them. "I wonder…" The foliage danced happily as another breeze wisped through and around them, jostling their branches and knocking loose leaves off to carry with it. Suddenly, unfamiliar voices whispering nearby caught her attention.

"I told ye I heard something from inside the well! It must be a demon!" It was an elderly woman's gruff voice that first caught her ears.

"But, Baba, how y'know?" A younger voice asked.

"Why else would she be in the well? And stop calling me Baba ye ill-mannered whelp."

"Well'n stop callin' me a whelp! I jus' passed m' twenty-sixth year, Baba." The young male voice countered. "Mayb' sh' fell in?"

"Foolish boy, that's what she wants you to think! She must be a fox demon disguised as a human woman to trick us and eat us! I've heard tails of those young fox kits fooling young men!" The elder voice squawked. "And ye shall always be a whelp to me, boy."

Kagome's temper flared at the insinuation. She stood and turned on her heel to confront the voices a short distance behind the well. A squat old woman with silvery gray hair and the younger man with tied-back brown hair appeared in her line of sight. "What's all this about demons and foxes pretending to be humans? I'm a human girl, thank you very much!" She puffed angrily and straightened her yukata back around her legs.

The old woman hobbled closer to the well, and Kagome, "Leave us be demon, we have done nothing to ye! We be peaceable people and have no use for yer kind here! We have done nothing to offend ye so just be on yer way girl! If yer even female." she crinkled her nose in disgust and waved a basket of herbs at the young woman, hoping to prove her point and send the "demon" off.

Jaw clenched, Kagome stared down the old hag. 'Peaceable my ass.' Burning at the woman, she skirted the well and stomped closer. "Oh you've done plenty to offend me! Demon this, demon that, I told you I'm human! My name is Kagome, Ka- Go- Me, not girl, and most certainly not demon!" She huffed indignantly.

"If ye be not a demon, then why were ye down the well?" The old woman countered snootily.

Kagome balked. That's just it, she had no idea why she was down the well… at least, not this well. It couldn't possibly be the same well that resided in her home's shrine… could it? 'I can't exactly tell her the reason I'm here may be because of the well… She'd definitely think I was a demon then… Not that she still thinks that anyways.' Kagome thought sarcastically, but sighed in defeat, "I'm… lost." 'That's an understatement…'

"Aye, I don't know of any fox demon village near these parts. And that still doesn't say why ye were down the well!" The old woman leered.

'I give up!' Scrubbing her face with her hand, she addressed the man. "Look, do you know which way to Tokyo from here?"

"Toh-kee-oh?" The boy sounded each syllable like a child, stepping in front of the elderly woman.

"I've never heard of that place, is that where all ye fox demons meet to practice yer witchery?" The woman cut in before the man could answer.

He gave the hag a dirty look but nodded in agreement. " 've never heard of't m'self."

Choosing to ignore the old woman's snide remark, Kagome lapsed into thought. 'Never heard of Tokyo? But how is that possible?' Realization suddenly hit like a ton of bricks. "Perhaps… I'm more lost than I first realized."

"Aye, girl, I told ye I've never heard of your Toh-kee-oh. If ye were so worried about gettin' lost perhaps ye shouldn't have wandered away from it!"

"Hiroko-baba!" The young man finally snapped. "I don' think 'is girl's a demon… If sh' was, wouldn't she've attacked us b'now?"

The old woman who now owned a name gave the man a hard stare. "Believe what ye want, boy. I don't trust a hair on her head. Somethin' isn't right, demon or not."

"Well 'm gonna to take 'er back t' the village an' ask the elder if she c'n help." The man straightened authoritatively and walked past Kagome toward the trail she had noticed earlier, motioning for her to follow.

Pushing back the urge to stick her tongue out at 'Hiroko-baba', she followed the man. 'I wonder if the elder will know something.' Bringing her out of her thoughts she heard the man speak up.

"M' sorry for Baba's actions. Our village's been uneasy lately, with th' fox demon sniffin' around. She'sa worst of 'em. She gets on m' nerves but the wife makes me take 'er t' get herbs 'cause no one else can stand 'er long 'nough." He scratched the back of his head with a roguish grin, showing a missing tooth on his right upper side, and slowed to match Kagome's pace.

"Fox demon? Hiroko-san kept mentioning demons but they don't really exist do they? Is it ok to leave her by herself then?"

The man stopped short and just looked at the girl. "Y' really ain't from 'round here are y'?" He laughed and resumed walking when Kagome shook her head 'no.' "That ol' woman'll be fine, she jus' like'sa make trouble fer the villagers's much's she can. Name's Mako, by th' way. Yers was Kagome wan'nit?"

"Yeah." Kagome answered distractedly as she watched her feet, before asking, "If Hiroko-san thinks I'm a demon… won't the village? Will they really want me to come near them?" 'Or the elder?' She added silently.

Mako put a hand to his chin in thought before grinning and looking back at her. "D'nno."

Kagome just gaped in disbelief. Was this guy nuts? What if they all took her as a demon too? She could not exactly stand up to a whole village. 'What have I gotten myself into…?'

Mako let out a boisterous laugh. "Don' worry so much, girly. I won' let no one hurt'cha."

Kagome just stared at the childish man. However, something deep inside told her she could trust him, so she continued to follow him to the village, but that didn't stop her from thinking he was a few raisins short of a fruit salad.

A tall figured stood from the carcass of the cow he had just killed, eyes now locked on the direction of a clearing not far off. He had chosen to ignore the bright light that shot into the sky, but this he could not. This power that suddenly assaulted his senses, shocking every fiber of his being.

"I want it. This power. I want it for my own." Those emerald green eyes narrowed dangerously as resolve set like stone. "I will have this power."

Coming up on another clearing, Kagome perused the village in its wake. Clear trails could be seen throughout the area where the grass had been worn down to the brown earth underneath from daily use. Small thatch huts decorated the landscape here and there as well as rice fields and other small areas of farmed land. It may not have been home, but it enticed a certain warm feeling... almost as if this was right somehow.

"Makoooooto-san!" Abruptly a young woman, barely older than Kagome herself, came running from one of the many huts with a determined set in her face and stopped right in front of Mako, barely coming to his chin. She had long, dark brown hair tied in a loose bun on the back of her head, just touching the collar of her pale green yukata, and a sweet peach-shaped face. "Where is Hiroko-san and just who is this woman?"

The accusation did not go unnoticed by Kagome when the young woman's eyes locked dead on with hers, but she chose to stay quiet. 'Maybe not so sweet…'

When Mako did not answer, not that the young woman gave him much of a chance, her brown eyes slid dangerously back in his direction. His hands flew up in defense and he took a step back and further away from Kagome.

"S'not watcha think, Setsuko, m'love. You know yer th' only'un f'r me." He grinned. "This girl's just lost 'n Hiroko-baba stayed back 'cause sh' keeps sayin'th girl'sa demon jus' 'cause she's n' th' well. I brought'er ta see if th' elder c'n help 'er." Mako poured. Hoping it would sedate the girl, apparently, his wife.

Setsuko turned back to Kagome and inspected her long and hard, up and down, side to side.

Swallowing hard under the scrutiny, Kagome just stood there feeling like a lioness was sizing her up for a meal. For being the same height as herself, this girl seemed to tower over her in that moment.

Out of the blue, Setsuko thrust her hand out and, grabbing Kagome's hand to pull her along, grinned from ear to ear, much like Mako.

'Yep, definitely his wife.' Kagome chuckled to herself, stunned at the girl's rapid change in attitude.

"Name's Setsuko, what's yours?" She peered back at Kagome expectantly and smiled.

"Kagome." She smiled in return.

Mako finally started breathing again and followed the two girls heading towards what must have been the elder's hut. This hut stood out from the rest, not in the way that it was more ornate or better built than the others, but in fact just the opposite. It was not run down by any means, but it was a simple thatch-roof hut like the others, only slightly smaller and less kept.

At Kagome's quizzical expression, Mako chimed in. "Kazue-sama like'sa make sure we've got r'selves good homes, so sh' doesn't r'lly worry bout 'er own much and refuses help sayin' 't c'ld b' put t' bett'r use on someth'n else." He grinned and held the door flap open.

"Mako, Setsuko. Who is this young girl ye have brought into our village un-announced?" A squat elderly woman, much like Hiroko, appeared in Kagome's line of vision. However, unlike Hiroko, this elderly woman had a kind air to her, and Kagome instantly felt warm and comfortable in her presence.

"Kazue-sama" Mako and Setsuko both said and bowed in unison, Kagome quick to follow.

"Please, sit." Kazue-sama motioned for all three persons to sit around her fire pit and she turned to face them. "I feel as though you have something to tell me?"

"Yes, Kazue-sama." Mako bowed his head once more before continuing and gesturing to Kagome. "Th's girl, Kagome, 's lost. Me n' Hiroko-ba- uh, -san, found 'er in th' well."

Kazue looked curiously at afore-mentioned girl. "Inside the well? What were ye doing in there?"

"I fell down it when I was… fetching something for my grandfather." Kagome answered truthfully. She couldn't understand why but she felt like she did not want to make up stories to this woman. She probably would have seen through her tale anyway, Kazue-sama did not look like someone easily fooled.

"Hm." Kazue nodded, accepting Kagome's answer without further prodding. "And?" She gestured for Mako to finish.

"Well, so me 'n Hiroko-san found 'er in th' well. The ol' hag-"

"Makoto-san!" Setsuko chided, but Mako continued.

"-thought sh's a fox demon! I hafta say I 'greed with 'er at f'rst b't somethin' didn't seem right 'bout the accusation." Mako scratched his head as if he was still confused about why he decided she was not a demon. "But, Hiroko-san kept callin' 'er a demon, n' I tol' her I'd take Kagome back t' the village t' see you. I's hopin' you c'ld help 'er find 'er way home. I don't know where th's Tohkeyo is."

Kazue-sama descended into thought for a bit, "And where is Hiroko-san now?"

A guilty façade glided over Mako's face, "I kinda… left 'er there. I's tired of 'er naggin'!" he defended. "Plus sh' said she wouldn't come w'th Kagome there." He jabbed a finger at the girl next to his wife.

"It is of Hiroko's character to say such a thing." Kazue chuckled.

"Do you think you can help her find her way home, m'Lady?" Setsuko asked hopefully.

"I know not child. What village do ye come from?" Kazue turned her attentions to Kagome.

Not fully understanding the situation herself, she had no idea what to tell the village elder. Her mouth flapped open and shut much like a fish before she finally grappled words to use. "I- My village is very far away, I'm afraid I don't know how far. It's completely by accident that I wound up here." Again, Kagome felt she could not lie to this woman. "I don't even know where to start to find my way home."

Suddenly a loud crash and yelling outside interrupting the conversation.

Mako flew to his feet and peered outside. "It's th' fox demon ag'n!" Grabbing a spear from a weapon's rack by the door of Kazue's hut, he charged outside.

"Makoto-san!" Setsuko cried as she went outside the door followed by Kazue and Kagome. "It's not just the fox demon! The forest demons are attacking too!"

Kagome stood there dumbfounded by what she saw. Everywhere she looked there was a skirmish between humans and… 'Demons!?'

End Note: I had to make a few last minute edits I failed to catch before posting yesterday, I apologize for spamming your inboxes :) You will be happy to know, however, I am already working on chapter 3, inspiration has struck and I shall not stop until it Passes! Unless I get hungry. hehe. Please do me the honor of reviews and helpful criticism. -Snapps ;)