Chapter 1

Into the Well

Alyse was looking out the window of the bus. The scenery passed by in a blur, but she could still make out some shops signs. To the other kids on the bus, they would look like just a bunch of characters, but since she could read and speak Japanese, they made perfect sense to her. She even saw a Wal-Mart once as the bus zoomed through Tokyo.

She brushed a bit of her long, brown hair out of her eyes and watched the people as she passed, her boredom steadily increasing. In fact, this didn't change until she heard the teacher at the front of the bus announce: "Go explore and have fun, but meet up at the hotel before seven!"

No problem. Alyce got up and joined the flood of teens as they made their way off the bus. But rather than follow them all to various anime stores and restaurants, something else caught her eye- an old shrine.

She was walking through the shrine when she noticed a strange building. At one point it had been nailed shut, but now the door was swinging open in the wind, creaking slightly. "Okay, that's weird," Alyse thought. Despite her better judgment, she walked into the building. Below her was an old well, one that looked like it hadn't been used for a long time. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she leaned over to look inside.

Her foot slipped in the mud, and she fell inside. As soon as she had hit the bottom, she passed out.

A few hours later, she woke up and, with a moan, she opened her eyes. Her head was aching but she couldn't see anything. It was so dark. What had happened?

Oh that's right, she thought, I fell down that stupid well.

She pushed herself onto her knees and looked up towards the opening. "Dang, that's one heck of a climb." Alyse grabbed onto a strand of ivy and pulled herself up the wall of the well until she made it to the top. And once there her jaw nearly dropped, because instead of being in that old building, she was surrounded by trees.-

A young Kitsune girl sat in a hollow tree, enjoying the honey she had managed to steal from some bees. She was sure they wouldn't miss it- she had smoked them out really well.

Besides, until Kitten Ears gets back, I have to go back to the way I used to live. Which means theft. She licked some of the stray honey off of her fingers, taking care not to get it in her rusty colored hair. From bees or villagers, does it matter? As long as I get something sweet…

Kaida heard a noise suddenly that broke her out of her thoughts. She jumped out to investigate the noise, which seemed to come from the direction of the old well.

"InuYasha said not to go near it…" She told herself. "But… I wanna see what the noise is!" She ran towards the well and hid up in a tree, watching as a strange girl appeared from out of the well. The girl sat on the edge of the well for a long time, looking as if she had just woken up. Kaida heard her mutter: "Okay, so I hit my head when I feel down the well and now I'm in a coma...yeah, seems like a pretty good explination to me. Question is, how do I wake up?" Kaida looked at the girl. "Hmm... I don't know what a 'coma' is, but I don't think she is a demon. She doesn't smell like one." The Kitsune watched as she then pulled a shiny package of something. From where she was sitting she could tell it said 'Snickers' on it. "What? I still have candy in a coma?" The weird girl asked herself. She sat down on a log just below where Kaida hid and set the object beside her. Now Kaida was really curious. She jumped down silently and swiped the shiny 'snickers' thingy while she wasn't looking. Then she scrambled back up the trunk and began to unwrap it. Smells like food… She took a bite. "MMM!" She realized a bit too late just how loud she had been. The girl apparently heard her because she asked; "Whose there?" She looked up. "What the..." The fox looked down and grinned sheepishly. "Uhm... Hi?" She jumped from her perch on the tree branch. "This is pretty good. What is it?" Alyse jumped back. "What are you?" She picked up a fallen branch and held it like a club. Kaida ignored the question and took another bite. "This really is yummy... Do you have more?" Alyse swung the branch at the girl. She dodged it. "What the-" She dropped the candy wrapper to the ground in surprise. "Why did you do that? You coulda hurt me!" "That's the point you idiot!" Alyse swung again, this time hitting the girl in the gut. ""Now answer my question! Who...what are you?" Kaida fell to the ground. "Oof!" She rubbed her tail. "Ow... who are you calling an idiot? I'm a Kitsune, smart one!" Alyse hit her on the head. "A Kitsune? And you're calling me stupid? Kitsunes aren't real! Your just a dork in a costume! And I'll prove it!" She dropped the branch and grabbed Kaida's ears. She began to pull as hard as she could, thinking they were just fake.

But, of course, they weren't. Kaida winced in pain. "Owwww! Jeeze you jerk, let go!" When Alyse had done so, she rubbed her sore ears gently. "My goodness, have you grown up in a barn? Wait… nevermind… I have, so that doesn't work…"

Alyse looked confused. "Huh. They must be attacked pretty tight. But what about the fake tail?" She went to grab Kaida's bushy tail instead.

The Kitsune made fire appear on her hand. "Stop! Don't you dare touch my tail!" Alyse fell to her knees. "Oh my...your hands are on fire!"

Kaida stared at her.

"Quick, we need water or something! Oh! I know!" She grabbed Kaida's hand and slammed them onto the ground. The fire spread from her hands to the grass. Kaida watched the blaze for a second, then sighed. "Idiot…" She snapped and all the fire disappeared. "Now, back to my question- What is this?" she picked up the empty wrapper and held it in front of Alyse once again. "And is there any more of it?" Alyse didn't respond and instead stared at the charred grass. "But...how? I don't, I don't..." Her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted. Kaida rolled her eyes. "Well, it's almost nightfall, and I can't leave her alone out here…" She groaned. "I guess I have to drag her somewhere safer too…" She grabbed the girl's arms and started to pull her away from the area of the well, which was no easy task for a young Kitsune.

But from the shadows loomed a person unseen. Interesting… The person thought as they watched this.