Chapter 2 - strange transformations

Momiji looked up at the top of the well, but it wasn't dark. Strangely enough, he swore that it was sunlight filtering down through the well. Haru sighed and stood up, looking for a way out of the well. He noticed that it was strangely light inside the well. What the hell?
Momiji grabbed onto the vines and began hauling himself out. Haru ignored him and looked around the well. Maybe there was a tunnel, and this well was outside somewhere…? He looked around the small space, but didn't see anything like a tunnel. It was just a dried up old well. Except, there hadn't been vines before. Or sunlight.
Might as well take a look around. Momiji had already disappeared over the edge. “Wow!” he yelled. “Haru, come look! There's a forest up here!”
What? Haru tested one of the vines and began the climb upwards. He poked his head over the edge of the well. Sure enough, there was a forest. He blinked. How the hell had that happened? He pulled himself out of the well, landing nimbly on the grass. Momiji was running around the clearing. Had Momiji ever ran that fast before? As Haru observed him, it seemed like he was halfway… hopping as he ran. Momiji suddenly came to a stand-still, one foot raised in the air, much like a rabbit staring into the headlights of an oncoming car.
“Tohru?” he wondered, sprinting back to the well. Haru peered over the edge. Down in the well, sure enough, was Yuki, Kyou, and Tohru.
“Where are we?” Kyou demanded.
“I don't know,” Haru answered.
“What the hell do you mean you `don't know'?” Kyou yelled. He began the climb upwards. Yuki helped Tohru to her feet.
“Are you all right, Honda-san?” he asked her.
She nodded. “Yes, I think so. But… where are we?”
Kyou jumped over the edge of the well. “What in hell?” he practically screeched.
Yuki resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Momiji, seeing that Tohru was all right, resumed running around in circles and eating candy in typical Momiji fashion. Haru helped Yuki and Tohru over the side of the well. They looked about at the scenery.
“Where… How… Why…” Tohru couldn't seem to decide on what question to ask first. There were so many, after all.
“Momiji, you shouldn't run around like that,” Yuki said.
The bunny froze. “Why not?”
“We don't know this place, and we need to figure out how to get back.”
Momiji pouted. “But I wanted to explore some more!” he whined.
Tohru walked over to Momiji. “Momiji, it may not be safe here, and I'm afraid that my aunt might worry about where we've gone. So, could you help us find out how to go back…”
“I think the important thing right now is finding out where we are,” Yuki said. It was probably true, and it was also a question everyone else wanted answered as well. It seemed that Kyou was most interested in the answer, though, as he had already darted off into the forest when no one was looking, trying to get some clue as to where they were.
“Where is Kyou-kun?” Tohru wondered, looking around the clearing. The others looked as well, but no one saw him anyway.
Yuki glanced to the spot he had last seen Kyou, then into the forest. Sure enough, there was a perfectly clear imprint of his shoe in the dirt. “Tohru, it looks like Kyou wandered off by himself. I'll go get him—“
Tohru was already off—running after Kyou. Yuki ran after her. Haru leaned against the well, considering. The obvious thing to do was to just jump back down the well. It was probably best to wait until the others returned, though. A piercing scream cut through the otherwise silent forest. Haru and Momiji were immediately up and running. Tohru had been the one that had screamed.

Tohru was ahead of Yuki, and had charged randomly through the forest in her blind search for Kyou. That stupid cat! Kyou hadn't left a single trace of his whereabouts, and Tohru had just came after him, calling for him. No doubt, Kyou had answered, but—
Yuki caught sight of Tohru just in time to see her scream. A creature like an centipede, only as big as a tree and just as thick hovered over her. “Honda-san!” Yuki cried. He leaped forward, pushing her out of the way. There was a puff of smoke and Yuki expected to be standing in a pile of his clothes, looking up at Tohru. However, nothing had seemed to change. He had successfully pushed Tohru away and after the smoke cleared, he grabbed her and kept running. The centipede was after them, though. Tohru's ankle caught on a tree root and she fell. Yuki bent to help her, but the centipede thing was drawing near. Kyou leaped out of the underbrush. He looked frightened, but angry, too. Something was threatening Tohru—the one person who could see him as a person instead of just the outcast. She was also his only real friend. And nothing was going to harm Tohru. He made a decision, and took off his prayer beads, shoving them into his pocket. The transformation was quick, and he tore at the centipede. Yuki grabbed Tohru and they ran off, leaving Kyou to fend off the centipede. He probably stood a better chance of not getting hurt in that form than Yuki did.
They met up with Haru and Momiji. They stared at Yuki strangely. “Yuki, what happened?” Haru wondered.
Yuki frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It looks like you almost transformed, but got stuck halfway,” Momiji said, pointing.
Yuki's frown deepened. “What?”
Tohru looked at him and her eyes widened with surprise. “Yuki…”
“What?”
“You… have a tail.”
“Wha…” He looked. Sure enough, there was a furry mousy tail—attached to him. Wonderful. In fact, he had tiny claws, small fangs, and his eye color had changed to coal black. He noticed the claws and stared at them. “How did…”
Haru frowned, an idea forming. He had to know. This was strange. He suddenly hugged Tohru. She yelped in surprise. There was a puff of black and white smoke, and when it cleared… Nothing about Haru had changed. At first glance, anyway. His hair was the same, he didn't have a cow (er, ox) tail, no hooves, no change of eye color. In fact, the only real difference were the little horns growing out of his head.
“Ooo! I wanna hug Tohru!” Momiji lunged at her, wrapping his arms around her. She gave a cry of surprise. Another puff of smoke. Momiji looked as cute as ever. His human ears were gone, and he now had floppy yellow rabbit ears and blunt rabbit claws. He looked utterly adorable.
“Oh, Momiji, you're so cute!” Tohru said. Apparently, everything about the centipede had been forgotten in exchange for the cuteness. While that is a pleasant exchange, it is not always the best one. Except that the threat was gone. Kyou stumbled to them. He looked severely beaten up, but he was otherwise all right. He fell. Tohru rushed to him automatically. There was the puff of smoke and there was Kyou, looking adorable. He had cat-like claws that retracted, an orange kitty tail, kitty ears, slitted pupils, and fangs.
“What the hell?” he demanded, staring at his claws, touching his ears and glaring at his tail. He looked at Yuki, Haru, and Momiji, and was semi-consoled. It wasn't just him.
“Kyou, what happened to that monster?”
Kyou considered demanding if she meant the centipede or his true form, then decided against it. “I think its dead,” he muttered. “Let's get out of here.”
“We could be home by now if you hadn't run off, stupid cat,” Yuki said flatly.
Tohru shrieked, falling backwards, for behind Kyou was some kind of strange creature she didn't understand. Kyou looked behind him and jumped back, pushing Tohru away. The thing—whatever it was—lunged forward, breezing past Kyou, grabbed Tohru and leaped into the air. She was gone—just like that—screaming and struggling.

Now would be a good time to explain what had happened. Naraku had ordered one of demons to kidnap Kagome. Why was something he did not explain. The reason he had chosen this one was that it had impenetrable armor-like scales with only one blind spot. Thus, it should be fairly easy to bypass Inuyasha and kidnap Kagome. Thus, the demon's presence. Except Naraku had merely described Kagome as being dressed strangely and like a tramp, and being female. Thus, the mistake.

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