Chapter Text
He was running through the forest, making barely a sound as the wind rushed past his face. A voice called out his name, angry and hateful. He spun around just in time to see the twisting glare of spiritual power, which curled through the air and struck his chest with a jolt of pure agony. He stumbled back, back against a tree, the arrow pinning him there and sealing his fate. The figure stood across the clearing, obscured by the fog descending over his vision. Familiar scent, priestess robes… Kikyo. Her eyes burned into his, full of love and hatred and an emotion he couldn’t identify. He tried to call out to her, but the pain in his chest blossomed into something inescapable, tearing the air from his lungs and causing every muscle in his body to scream.
Inuyasha woke with a gasp, almost falling off the branch he was perched on. He braced himself for a moment as the phantom pain dissipated, though the sour fear lingered on. A dream… It was only a dream. Brought back ugly memories, though. He pressed a hand against his chest, against the patch of skin where the arrow had struck. There wasn’t so much as a mark left by Kikyo’s arrow, probably something to do with the spiritual powers or the fifty years it’d had to heal. He should be happy about that – one less reminder, after all. Instead, it itched under his skin. The lack of visible signs had turned the whole experience into some wordless, intangible fear without proof of it ever existing. He shuddered and jumped down to sit by the fire.
Demons didn’t feel the cold, not really, but he still huddled close to chase the chill from his bones. He tried to calm his pounding heart, to brush away the weakness. It didn’t work. It wasn’t the first time he’d dreamt about her, but it was usually glimpses and a faint scent. Never the nightmare of their parting. Never the horror of betrayal.
Once staring moodily into the flames got boring, he chanced a look over at Miroku. The monk was still asleep, thankfully unaware of his vulnerability. He slept sitting upright, his back leaning against a tree with his head tipped forward. Despite his staff close at hand, the human’s usual serene expression was replaced by something a little softer, open and honest. He looked even younger than normal, and it sent a twist through Inuyasha’s gut. He supposed Miroku really was pretty young, even for a human.
How did a monk learn so much about fighting and demons and survival? How did he build the habit of sleeping upright, with his back covered and his weapon in his hands? Most demons barely put that much thought into their survivals, especially the weak ones that really needed it, but this creature seemed to have everything planned out. Miroku was a surprising human – interesting, too. Inuyasha felt his lips quirk into something approaching a smile. Despite everything, the monk was also a good friend.
A pang came from his chest and the smile dropped from his face. He’d thought the same of another human, once, too, and look how that turned out. Icy fingers ran up his spine and he shivered, hunching into himself and moving even closer to the fire. It was nice that he could trust Miroku in battle and all, and yeah, having someone else know about the new moon would probably come in handy, but that was it. They were working together for their mission, and that was the extent of it.
He glanced at Miroku and saw the monk’s brows furrow slightly before violet eyes were looking back at him. Inuyasha blinked, watching the familiar gaze change rapidly from sleepy to alert, then recognition, then concern.
“Inuyasha?” the monk asked, voice quiet and rough with sleep. “Is everything alright?”
Inuyasha huffed and looked back at the fire, grumbling “Don’t worry about it.”
To his utter consternation, that seemed to have the opposite of the desired effect. Miroku stretched slightly then shuffled over to sit beside him. “Did something happen?”
“Leave it alone,” Inuyasha muttered, the beginnings of a warning growl in his voice.
“Your ears are droopy,” Miroku observed sleepily, blinking slowly and repeatedly.
Inuyasha didn’t know why he snapped, but he did. He shot to his feet, hands curled and claws ready. “Back off, will you? Just drop it!”
To his credit, Miroku didn’t so much as flinch. He just nodded with that stupidly calm look on his face and stood to go back to his tree. But then the wind picked up, and both Miroku and Inuyasha’s eyes snapped to the sky. Something was travelling through the air far above them, a black dot against the crescent moon.
“What is that?” Miroku asked, straining his senses. “A demon?”
Inuyasha frowned as the faint smell of fresh blood carried on the breeze, mixed with demon stink. It smelled like human blood. Wait- His heart froze. He recognized that scent. He turned and grabbed Miroku’s wrist, kicking dirt over the fire until it was more or less out and then pulled the monk along after him. Miroku had the good sense not to question, just followed along after him through the forest. They kept up a steady, urgent pace until they reached the treeline, at which point Inuyasha crouched town and tugged Miroku towards his back. Miroku climbed on instantly, but not without giving the hanyou a quizzical look. Once Inuyasha was launching them forward in giant leaps, Miroku finally had to ask.
“Mind sharing what’s going on?”
Inuyasha growled and ignored him. Miroku contented himself with hanging on tightly and keeping his senses open to any danger. He was only mildly surprised when he saw Myoga tied to a strand of Inuyasha’s hair, sleeping soundly. They kept close to the river that they’d been following for the past few days, shooting past the boat they’d left, Nazuna’s village, and the path to the temple. As Inuyasha altered their path slightly, Miroku realized that they were heading back to Kaede’s village. He hoped nothing had happened. It was already fairly close to dawn when they set off, and the sun was shining by the time the familiar huts came into view. Miroku caught sight of Kaede just as they approached the old miko’s hut, and he called out a greeting.
“You’re back!” she exclaimed, and there was something haunted in her expression.
“What happened?” Miroku asked, taking in the bandages around her head and the sling on her arm.
“What, you still alive?” Inuyasha drawled as Miroku climbed off his back. “Trust a stubborn old goat like you to refuse to give injuries time to heal.”
Kaede looked like she had some thoughts regarding that particular observation, but she didn’t get the chance to voice them.
“Inuyasha! Miroku!” a familiar screech stole their attention as a ginger blur burst from Kaede’s hut.
“Good to see you, too, Shippo,” Miroku chuckled, hugging the fox which clung to his face.
“Oh, it was awful!” the kit wailed without prompting. “You guys were gone forever, and even though granny was taking care of me, I was so bored. But then last night this demon came and it was so scary- I mean, I wasn’t scared, but many of the villagers were, and granny Kaede was attacked, and-”
The rest of Shippo’s story was lost somewhere in Miroku’s shoulder as he hugged him tight, while the monk shared a knowing look with Kaede. She gestured to the shrine, and Miroku and Inuyasha followed her lead. Shippo was directed to stay in the hut for now. He was vocally unhappy about this, but Kaede masterfully calmed him down by saying that she needed him to finish sorting the herbs they’d collected earlier so that she could start cooking some food as soon as they got back. Miroku hid his smile behind a cough at both Shippo’s renewed enthusiasm, and how quickly Kaede had stepped into the role of caretaker for him.
The smile faded as Miroku got a closer look at her injuries. The side of her face was covered in a nasty bruise, and it looked as though the arm in the sling couldn’t move much at all. Miroku insisted on helping her up the stairs towards the shrine. Inuyasha followed behind, close enough to catch Kaede if she fell but far enough behind to maintain the illusion of aloofness.
“It is a serious matter, indeed,” Kaede murmured, her voice tight and carefully controlled. “And one which we must address with utmost haste.”
“Swallow your pride and take it easy,” Inuyasha grumbled, eyeing the old woman. “Whatever the hell is going on, you’re not gonna be any good if you drop dead today.”
Miroku smiled again, suddenly realizing why they had come back to the village so quickly. He caught Kaede’s pleased look and knew she understood.
“Just a little further,” he urged, hiding the smile in his voice as they neared the torii which marked the gateway to the shrine.
Except, the torii was currently in four pieces, scattered across the steps with the ends of the red wood sliced neatly by some kind of weapon. Miroku glanced back at Inuyasha and shared a concerned look.
Once they mounted the stairs, the damage was worse than he could have anticipated. The shrine had collapsed, slumped forward and in on itself as the front wall had shattered. A gaping hole even bigger than the shrine had been punched into the ground before it, forming a crater that had icy hands reaching up Miroku’s spine. The grave marker he had noticed on his first day in the village, the one that had been tinged with lingering spiritual power, was no more than crumbled dust littering one side of the crater.
Miroku knelt down at its edge, pressing his fingers into the cracked earth. The faintest hints of youki had been left in the rocky soil, but not nearly enough to explain such a powerful attack. The fissures which reached out in all directions and burrowed under the shrine and shot through the cliff behind them.
“What happened here?” he breathed.
“The specter, Urasue,” Kaede muttered. “She desecrated my sister Kikyo’s gravesite. She took earth from the site and the urn with Kikyo’s ashes. I was virtually powerless to stop the assault.”
“Urasue?” Myoga’s voice startled all of them as he jumped onto Kaede’s shoulder. “She is infamous amongst demons. Her skills lie in creating reanimated beings from the remains of her victims.” He glanced up at Kaede. “I can’t imagine that whatever power can be drawn from the ashes of a priestess would be used for good.”
Kaede shook her head. “My sister had unusually strong spiritual power, even for a priestess. Who knows to what end that could be exploited by the demon.”
All three of them looked over as Inuyasha turned and pointedly walked away.
“Inuyasha?” Kaede asked.
“You’re on your own!” the hanyou growled, standing at the top of the stairs with his back to them. “Apparently you’ve forgotten that Kikyo betrayed me. I am not so lucky.”
Kaede sighed and looked away. “Forgive me.”
Miroku glanced between them in confusion. He tried to think back on everything he’d learned about Kikyo – the powerful High Priestess who bound Inuyasha to a tree and sealed away the Shikon Jewel for fifty years as her dying act. The priestess who Inuyasha claimed not to care about, yet who caused him to run off when he learned of her death. He had no clear image of her character, and doubted that either Inuyasha or Kaede would have an unbiased opinion.
As Inuyasha stalked away, Miroku watched him go with growing unease. Kaede’s reaction told him just as much as Inuyasha’s. The old miko wasn’t one to back down over nothing. It wasn’t just something they had to figure out for Kaede’s sake – for Inuyasha, whatever took place with Kikyo was utterly unresolved. They needed to address it.
~*~
Inuyasha sank down against the tree trunk, legs shaking too much to even jump to the safety of the branches. He tried to stop the pounding of his heart, the breaths which ripped from his chest like he’d been running for his life. Kikyo. Wave after wave of emotion hit him, feelings he’d been trying to avoid since he awoke. That day… That day he had been so sure, so utterly convinced of what he wanted- And she ripped that away from him. She’d never loved him, only manipulated him. And he fell for it, like the stupid, worthless fool he was. So he had lashed out. And she had killed him, in effect if not in practice. And now the last traces of her body had been stolen, her remains to be used in some demon’s evil scheme.
He couldn’t.
That demon – Urasue, Kaede had called her – has been carrying more than the scent of miko blood. He’d caught scent of Kikyo’s ashes, but also fresh soil. Soil from the gravesite. He didn’t know what she was planning, but the little he knew about youkai plots involving human remains were never good. He couldn’t let Kikyo’s body be disrespected like that, he couldn’t-
But why should he care?
He’d meant nothing to her, even if the opposite wasn’t true. He didn’t owe her anything. It didn’t concern him.
He didn’t care.
Right on cue, the jingling of a staff signalled his impending caring. Miroku was probably going to come up with some grand speech on how they couldn’t let an innocent woman – though Kikyo had been nothing of the kind – fall into the evil clutches of a demon. How Kaede had been injured and they needed to avenge her. How Urasue was a threat that needed to be dealt with.
Inuyasha drew his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, feeling his ears lie flat against his head. He waited for the monk to approach with a growing sense of dread. He’d already noticed that he couldn’t seem to say no to Miroku – not with anything important, anyway. It scared him. He didn’t want Miroku’s soft voice and charming smile to convince him to do this. He couldn’t.
Miroku took in the flattened ears, the curled posture, and the cautious amber eyes which peered up at him through silver hair. He sighed and took a seat next to his companion. “What do you need?”
Inuyasha stared at him in utter bewilderment and, when no further explanation seemed to be forthcoming, croaked out a “What?”
“You’re hurting, and I want to help,” Miroku said quietly, eyes passing over the village, neutral and undemanding. “Just tell me what I can do.”
Inuyasha eyed him warily. “You’re not going to tell me we have to go after Urasue?”
Miroku sighed. “While I admit the thought had crossed my mind, I’m not going to ask that you fight a demon for the sake of your enemy. That being said, I can’t allow Urasue to complete whatever she has planned. I’ll go after her alone.”
“Like hell you will!” Inuyasha growled. “You can’t manage to stay in one piece even when I’m there to protect you! You really think I’m going to let you go off and-”
“Inuyasha,” Miroku interrupted gently. “It’s alright. For Kaede, everything occurred fifty years ago and she still doesn’t want to force you to do this. I can’t imagine what you must be feeling right now.”
Inuyasha stared hard at the ground, soundly ignoring the burning in his eyes. “It wasn’t fifty years ago – not for me. I just…” He growled in frustration, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “I can’t deal with this right now.”
Miroku very carefully pressed their upper arms together. He felt Inuyasha lean into him in response and let out a breath. He watched Kaede approach, sure that Inuyasha could hear her as well. He greeted her nevertheless, letting her know that she could say what needed to be said.
“I have reconsidered,” the old miko sighed, leading her saddled horse over to them. “Myoga here has informed me of Urasue’s methods, and I cannot allow her to complete her goal. I shall recover my sister’s ashes with my own strength. Inuyasha, do me the kindness of telling me in which direction Urasue was last travelling?”
“You two are so fucking unbelievable,” Inuyasha sighed, pushing to his feet. “You tryin’ to get yourself killed?”
“I’m going,” Kaede said decisively. “I shall deal with the consequences when I arrive.”
“I’m afraid I must agree with Inuyasha,” Miroku piped in. “You’re in no condition to travel. I shall go.”
“You’re wasting your breath tryin’ to stop her,” Inuyasha drawled, crossing his arms. “She’s as stubborn as an ox – you’ll never talk her out of it.” He brushed past both of them and took the horse’s reins. “Come on, granny. We’ll lay Kikyo’s remains to rest again.”
“Inuyasha…” Kaede seemed at a loss for words, discarding several before landing on “Thank you.”
“We need to tell Shippo that he’s going to stay here,” Miroku murmured as he and Kaede followed Inuyasha and the horse. “And there’s someone I want to call before we get too far.”
Shippo, as it turned out, was not keen on the idea of Miroku, Inuyasha, Myoga, and Kaede all leaving on a dazzling rescue mission without him. Inuyasha tried to block most of it from his memory as soon as it happened, but there was a fair amount of yelling, and maybe a little crying, too. The justification that he was a child was apparently not an acceptable one. Bribes didn’t work. Threats, once Inuyasha had enough of the shouting, didn’t work either.
In the end, Miroku spent far too long kneeling in front of Shippo, telling him gently but frankly that none of them could fight properly if they were worried about him getting killed. It was for everyone’s safety that he stay behind. After exacting a promise that they’d return unharmed – for which Miroku exchanged a promise that Shippo would stay in the village and not follow them – they finally set out from the village.
“You know you can’t really promise that, right?” Inuyasha asked from where he sat on the back of Kaede’s horse, facing the monk who trailed after them. “You can’t promise that we won’t get hurt – we get hurt all the time!”
Miroku shrugged. “A promise means I’ll do whatever I can to make it true. If the promise breaks, then we have bigger things to worry about.”
Inuyasha wrinkled his nose at the slight guilt oozing from the monk and rolled his eyes. Stupid humans and their weird morals. As they made their way towards the edge of town, Inuyasha stiffened at the youki presence which came from above. He reached for his sword, glancing around nervously. Miroku instantly held up a hand to stop him.
“Don’t worry,” he smiled. “It’s a friend.”
Inuyasha shot him an incredulous look. “That’s why you didn’t want to bring a horse for yourself? You’re bringing a demon?”
Kaede glanced over her shoulder. “What’s this, now?”
A shadow fell over them and Miroku rushed to steady Kaede’s nervous horse. “Everyone,” he announced dramatically, “Meet Hachiemon.”
The giant, bright yellow log of a demon transformed as he dropped down, revealing the stout, round body of a raccoon dog. He plucked a leaf from the fur on his head and stuffed it into his ornate robes.
“Hachi!” Miroku greeted. “Good to see you again, old friend!”
“This better not be for anything dangerous,” the tanuki grumbled, crossing his arms and eyeing Inuyasha suspiciously. “I don’t want to get involved in anything.”
“Nothing overly dangerous,” Miroku assured, even as Inuyasha shot him an incredulous look. “I just need you to get me to and from our destination. I won’t require you to fight.”
They made quick introductions, and Kaede gave Miroku a long glare in response to yet another demon being added to their entourage. Miroku shrugged – Myoga wasn’t his fault, and Kaede couldn’t claim not to have fallen for Shippo. Hachi would be fine, so long as he didn’t eat anything he wasn’t supposed to or back out at the first sign of danger. The tanuki transformed back into his larger travelling form and Miroku climbed onto his back. With his new ride, they made much faster progress away from the village.
“Master,” a quiet voice said from right beside Inuyasha’s ear, and he almost jumped out of his skin.
“Myoga, what the fuck?” he snapped angrily.
“Quiet, Master,” the old flea urged. “I must speak with you, privately.”
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and glanced at Kaede’s back. He knew as well as Myoga that humans’ hearing was ridiculously bad, especially the old ones, but Inuyasha doubted that even Kaede would miss a conversation happening on the back of the horse she was riding. Inuyasha easily stepped off the moving animal and fell into pace behind it. He didn’t have to look up to wave off Miroku’s questioning glance. Kaede didn’t even bother looking back at him.
“What do you want?” Inuyasha asked, harsher than he’d been intending.
“Master, I can’t help but wonder at your motives,” Myoga said quietly. “I know that Urasue poses a threat, but she’s unlikely to come after us now that she’s gotten what she wanted from the human village. Why not let someone else deal with her?”
“Someone else?” Inuyasha echoed flatly. “Like these two idiot humans and whatever demons they can snag?”
“I suppose you have a point,” Myoga conceded. “Still, why did you say that you would recover the remains of that woman? Surely you can’t be-”
“Shut up or I’ll make you shut up,” Inuyasha growled, low and dangerous. “You don’t get to question me, Myoga. I’m doing this, and I’m not explaining myself to you, or anyone else. If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to fuck off right now.”
He couldn’t make eye contact with the flea, not while he was on his shoulder, but he could feel the hurt look being sent at him anyways. Myoga shuffled a little, and then jumped from Inuyasha’s robes onto the back of Kaede’s horse and onto the old woman’s shoulder. Inuyasha grumbled to himself and glared at the ground. Stupid flea. Everyone just needed to leave him the hell alone!
Miroku made sure not to glance down at Inuyasha too often, in case his companion noticed his attention, but he couldn’t help but feel concerned. He couldn’t catch the conversation that had happened below him, but the uncharacteristically harsh tone that Inuyasha had taken was enough. Furthermore, he’d felt the muscles of Hachi’s back tighten underneath him during the exchange, though the tanuki hadn’t said a word.
Inuyasha was still hunched and tense, kicking rocks off the road with enough force to break some of them – with his bare feet, no less – but at least the murderous expression on his face had faded into distant contemplation. Miroku couldn’t help a relieved breath when Inuyasha wordlessly jumped back onto Kaede’s horse and settled back down for the ride.
For most of the afternoon, as they covered the ground that he and Inuyasha had travelled just that morning, Inuyasha stayed put on the horse. He occasionally lifted his nose to sniff the air, but the majority of the time, he just sat there, his hands folded together inside his sleeves and ears flicked back. He was unnervingly quiet all the while. It was only as the sun began to disappear into the horizon, and the terrain around them changed to cliff-lined ravines, that Inuyasha jumped up to Hachi’s back.
“So what’s with the badger?” he asked without preamble.
“Tanuki,” Miroku corrected easily. “He’s an old friend, but also…essentially my servant, I suppose, just as Myoga is yours.”
“I object to the comparison,” the flea muttered just loud enough for Miroku to hear from Kaede’s shoulder before promptly going back to sleep. Hachi rumbled disapprovingly, but Miroku could tell that he was still nervous around Inuyasha, so his usual complaints were absent.
“How the hell did you convince a demon to help you?” Inuyasha asked.
“Nothing too exciting,” Miroku shrugged. “I saved his life once, he saved mine many times after that.”
Inuyasha didn’t bother with a response. He sniffed Miroku once, and seemed to find his scent acceptable, because he dropped back to the ground and climbed onto the horse once more. They continued on in silence.
By the time the sun had set, it was obvious to everyone that Kaede could go no further. The narrow, rocky path that they’d been following through the cliffs had forced the old miko to hold on tightly to her horse, and the others could see how much her shoulder was bothering her. Inuyasha had to help her from her horse and Miroku forced her to rest while he built a fire from branches scavenged by Hachi. Inuyasha came back with six fish which they roasted over the fire.
They were just preparing to dig in when Inuyasha’s eyes snapped up to the cliffs above him. First, he bristled. Then he blanched. Then he got really, really angry. Miroku barely had time to jump to his feet before the hanyou leapt up the rocky incline and landed back down beside him, holding a squirming Shippo by the tail.
“I can’t believe you!” Inuyasha growled, dumping the kit by the fire and plopping back into his seat with a huff.
“Shippo!” Miroku chided sternly. “You promised to stay in the village!”
“It is very rude to break a promise to your elders,” Kaede chimed in, giving the kit her best dour glare.
“But I was worried!” Shippo wailed, curling a hand around Miroku’s sleeve. “The demon last night was so scary, and I knew you idiots – not you, granny – wouldn’t be able to handle it alone, and- Why is there a tanuki?”
“This is Hachi,” Miroku sighed, rubbing his closed eyes with his fingers to try and combat his growing headache. “He’s going to take you back to the village.”
“What?” Shippo squawked indignantly.
“And how do you expect me to keep him there?” Hachi asked blandly, subtly reaching for a fish.
“I’ll just come back!” Shippo growled in what was probably supposed to be an intimidating way. “Whatever you do to keep me there, I’ll find some way to come back, and then I’ll be out here all alone!”
“Just let him stay,” Inuyasha sighed, not bothering to open his eyes. “We can stick him on Hachi if there’s any real danger.”
“He shouldn’t get anywhere near the danger to begin with!” Miroku argued, but the hanyou just growled softly and didn’t answer.
“I cannot think of a way to force him to stay behind,” Kaede grumbled, eyeing the fox. “Not without sealing him away with sutras, which would require one of us to return with him to do so. This would require us to delay our attack further, which we cannot do, or one of us to fight on a night of no sleep. At this stage, it would be safer for us all to let him stay.”
“His fox magic may also come in handy,” Myoga piped up from Kaede’s shoulder, and though he obviously wanted to say more, he simply closed his eyes again as though going back to sleep.
Miroku wanted to object, mostly on principle that if they let Shippo have this one thing, they’d lose the small amount of authority they still had over him. In the end, though, he had to concede that it was the best solution. Shippo beamed when he finally nodded his agreement, and the little fox instantly started chattering away to Hachi.
The tanuki didn’t seem to know what to do with the kit’s energy, and largely ignored him in favour of inhaling two of the fish. Shippo didn’t seem to mind – or notice – as he proceeded to tell Hachi all about the adventures he’d had since he started travelling with the group. Miroku and Kaede shared a glance as they ate. As adorable as the fox was, his presence certainly complicated matters.
Once Kaede was asleep in her blankets and Shippo, Myoga, and Hachi were curled up by the fire, Miroku turned to Inuyasha. “You alright?”
“Get some sleep,” Inuyasha muttered. “We’ve got a big battle tomorrow.”
Miroku glanced over at the dark recesses of the barren cliffs around them. “So soon?”
“I can smell the remains. They’re not far off.”
Miroku regarded his companion carefully. Was he there solely because he wanted to protect the humans he considered too fragile to handle Urasue on their own? Was it loyalty, or something else that was forcing him forward when he clearly didn’t want to be there? Whatever his relationship with Kikyo had been, it was clearly more than hatred. There was so much hurt in his eyes, too much to mean anything other than betrayal. And that’s what Inuyasha had said as well – that Kikyo betrayed him. Miroku lay down, but he doubted that much sleep would find him that night.
~*~
The next morning, all of them were quiet. They drank quickly from a small stream of water running down the cliffs, and Miroku helped Kaede to change her bandages before they set off. He and Shippo rode on Hachi, but Inuyasha resumed his protective stance on the back of Kaede’s horse, while Myoga stayed silently on her shoulder.
“We must retrieve Kikyo’s remains quickly,” the miko muttered, almost to herself. “Lest Urasue use them to some evil end. I fear that trouble lies in the path ahead.”
“Oh, good – that’s just what we need,” Inuyasha drawled. “Why the hell didn’t you just scatter her ashes in the river, if you knew something like this might happen?”
“Have you no regard for the gravesites of humans?” Kaede chided. “Even after her demise, Kikyo’s spirit continues to encourage the villagers to overcome their obstacles and have the strength to carry on. Her grave was a place of reassurance, a haven to encourage my people to brace themselves against the storms of life.”
Miroku watched the conversation from above. Inuyasha’s posture was closed off, but his eyes were far away. He had been in love with Kikyo, that much was increasingly obvious by the soft expression which lingered around the hurt – an expression that Miroku had never seen before on Inuyasha’s face. Kikyo held a place in the hanyou’s heart that no one – not himself or Kaede or Shippo – could touch. And yet Kikyo shot and bound him to a tree. Did she not return his feelings? Was it something that simple?
“And what’re you gawking at?” Inuyasha grumbled, shooting a glare at Miroku, who quickly retreated to hide on Hachi’s back.
They made their way through the cliffs as the day slipped by. Inuyasha’s nose picked up the smell of smoke late in the morning, an odd scent mixed with herbs and remains. He urged Kaede to move the horse faster. They moved through a small patch of forest, nearing the mountain where Inuyasha knew Urasue was hiding. Odd clay figures began littering the forest floor, just a few at first, but then more and more. They were shaped vaguely like humans, but thick and unsculpted, nothing but plain terracotta clay. Hachi broke through the treeline and Miroku jumped off his back as the tanuki transformed.
“You felt it, too?” Inuyasha asked, jumping off Kaede’s horse to walk beside the monk.
“There’s something not right here,” Miroku agreed, gripping his staff tighter and fingering his mala beads.
“What are they?” Shippo asked from his perch on Kaede’s shoulder. “Mummies? Clay statues? How creepy.”
“They appear to have some kind of unusual properties,” Myoga added from his perch on the bow in the kit’s hair. “Possibly Urasue’s work. I’d keep my eye on them if I were you.”
They broke through the treeline to find a long, swinging wooden bridge suspended over a deep ravine. On the other side, more cliffs and ravines wound around the mountain, from which a wisp of smoke travelled through the air.
“Something tells me that’s the place,” Inuyasha quipped, taking a deep sniff of the air.
“Oh great,” Shippo grumbled. “We gotta cross this rickety old bridge?”
“You don’t,” Miroku said decidedly. “You and Hachi are going to stay here and look after Kaede’s horse.”
“Good plan, master!” Hachi agreed instantly, already plonking himself down next to the horse.
Miroku took it as a sign of how nervous Shippo was that he agreed to stay back with little further persuasion. As Kaede gathered her items from the horse, Miroku took the opportunity to threaten Hachi a little, just to ensure that he’d look after Shippo.
“If anything happens to us,” he warned. “Or if we’re not back by nightfall, take him and Myoga and get out of here.”
“I thought the flea was going with you?” Hachi asked, glancing at where Myoga was back on Kaede’s shoulder.
“Trust me,” Miroku sighed. “If there’s danger, he’ll find you.”
They made it halfway across the bridge before they noticed the clay figures standing at its far end. Inuyasha stopped first, blinking in confusion and wondering how the hell they manage to sneak up on him. Miroku, busy glancing back at Shippo and Hachi, walked right into him. The clay figures cracked and burst like some horrific cocoon, revealing the empty eyes and intricate details of earthen clay soldiers. The figures stepped from their shells and lifted swords and spears.
“Must be Urasue’s soldiers,” Inuyasha muttered, drawing Tessaiga.
A shout from behind made them all spin around. Shippo and Hachi ran for them across the bridge, several more soldiers marching haltingly after them.
“Savemesavemesaveme-” Hachi spewed out, pushing past Kaede and taking shelter behind Miroku’s legs.
“I got these ones!” Miroku called to Inuyasha, moving back to stand in front of Kaede. “You focus on those!”
Inuyasha nodded and ran at the soldiers, easily shattering them apart with his claws as he shouted “Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!” He heard the wind tunnel flare into life and the bridge swayed dangerously with the force of it. He reached the end of the bridge and spun around. Kaede shattered the soldiers with her bow, catching the few he’d simply knocked to the ground in his haste. Miroku had easily cleaned up most of the soldiers from behind, though he was being careful not to suck in the bridge as well.
Inuyasha smirked as another wave appeared at both ends of the bridge. Yeah, there were lots of them, but they were hardly a real threat. He wished all his enemies were that weak!
“Inuyasha, look out!” Miroku warned as a few of the soldiers began reaching for their bows and arrows.
He closed his wind tunnel, satisfied that the few soldiers remaining on his side could easily be taken down with his staff. There was an uncomfortable feeling building inside him that always came when he sucked in too much, a kind of stretched fullness that was somehow hollow at the same time. He hated it, but thankfully it would be gone by the end of the day.
He smashed the closest soldiers with his staff and glanced back at Shippo and Hachi, who had taken cover behind Kaede. They were safe, and Inuyasha could take care of himself. He almost relaxed. Instead, something caught his eye up in the air. An old woman youkai, hovering above the bridge with a scythe leaning across her shoulders. His heart sank. He opened his mouth to warn the others as she dove, but the cry was stuck in his throat.
Urasue slammed down on the bridge right in front of Inuyasha, cutting it cleanly in two with her scythe. Inuyasha jumped back, already feeling the bridge begin to fall. He spun around, reaching out to grab the tattered ends of the rope but his fingers met nothing but air. His eyes widened and he gasped, panic blanking out everything else from his mind for an instant before his instincts kicked in. He used his youki to slow the fall as much as possible, but even then, he wasn’t sure if it would be enough. Even if it was, what about the others…?
Miroku clung to the bridge, reaching out to catch Shippo. He almost had the kit when a wrinkled hand grabbed his arm and yanked him roughly into the air. He cried out wordlessly as all of his companions fell into the ravine, a pit so deep that clouds obscured the bottom.
“Focus on your own death, monk,” Urasue cackled in his ear, wrapping an arm around his waist as she flew them to the mountain. “After all my hard work- I have plans in store for you. For you and that delicious young soul of yours.”
~*~
