CHAPTER ONE
x.
He was still waiting. It had been three long days since the monk had passed this spot, heading toward a secluded monastery in the mountains. He should be returning from his purifications soon.
It had taken him months to track down the monk and his comrades, especially the half-demon Inuyasha. For some reason, the group rarely stayed in one place, but roamed around without any visible pattern. What was more, they rarely stayed more than a day or two in one place before pushing on to the next village or demonic lair...
Then his scarlet eyes widened. A human male was coming down the path, with a straw rain hat pulled over his face. He might be the monk -- he was wearing long dark clothing. It could easily be a monk's habit the man was wearing... if only he would look up, so his face would be revealed...
x.
"Three days," Miroku murmured. "Three days at a cleansing retreat...."
The handsome monk sighed wearily, leaning on his staff for a moment. Three days spent with only other monks, trying to purify his spirit. Kaede had suggested it, since Kagome had a math test on the other side of the well and the group was stranded there for the moment. Inuyasha acidly had said that his spirit could use some purifying. And somehow Miroku had found himself being ushered off to the mountain monastery.
It wasn't as easy as it sounded. It shamed him to admit it, but he spent most of the retreat waiting to return to the village. He missed being around women -- beautiful young ones. In particular, he missed being around Sango all the time. It was strange how keenly he felt her absence, whenever they spent more than a day apart....
And now, on top of it all, it was raining on him. Miroku sighed wearily. Perhaps walking in this rain is for my thoughts during that retreat, he thought. Or I just have terribly bad luck.
Suddenly he heard a snapping noise in the underbrush. He tilted up the straw hat to see better. But there was no one there that he could see.
Miroku's eyes narrowed, and he gripped his staff tighter. There were bandits out in the mountains who often took travellers unawares, and left them either dead or stripped of their valuables. Except for a string of coppers, Miroku didn't have anything valuable on him. And he didn't like the idea of being killed by a disappointed footpad.
"Who's there?" he called.
There was another rustle. Miroku moved a step closer, raising his staff higher. "Who is there?" he repeated. "If you back away now, I won't harm you."
There was another sharp rustle, and the sound of something scurrying away. Miroku rapidly slashed apart the bushes -- and saw only a tangle of twigs, old birds' nests and leaves. He frowned, poking at the ground. It was packed down in places, as if someone had been standing there. And the shaft of his staff caught on something stuck in the loose twigs.
"What the-" Miroku muttered. He tugged his stick loose, and something glittering came with it, still tangled around the staff. It was a small golden pendant on a chain of some sort, with a pale stone in the middle. It seemed to be quite finely crafted. Miroku was a fair judge of such things -- having, in the past, cleaned out such valuables from manors -- and he was impressed by the delicacy of its craftmanship.
"Quite strange," he murmured, slipping it into his robe. "But this will make a fine gift for Sango."
Feeling a bit better, he turned and began walking briskly down the muddy road that led to Kaede's village. The rain had died away a little, and the sun was beginning to shine once more through the thick haze of clouds. Ah yes, Miroku thought benevolently. In a few hours, it will be simply beautiful...
From a distance, another person watched the monk as he departed, then began to follow at a distance. He smiled slightly, relieved that he had found a member of Inuyasha's band of followers -- one who could lead him to the half-demon himself.
TO BE CONTINUED