Of the Wind
Miroku sat, his back to the sturdy trunk of a tree. He could hear the quiet banter of his friends, low and easy as they prepared for bed. He felt the brush of something soft against his foot, his eyes slipping open to stare at the – now – petite cat demon, watching him with soulful red eyes.
Kilala crooned in the back of her throat, head cocking slowly to the left.
He smiled. "I'm alright – just thinking. Why don't you go make sure the girls are alright?" He allowed the hand clad in prayer beads to reach for the cats face. His fingers stroked her ear gently, and he gave her a nudge. "Go on now; I'm sure Shippo is looking for you." He lowered his voice, "Thank you Kilala, but really. I'm alright."
She hesitated but a moment, before coming to a decision. With a flick of her bushy tails she turned away from the Monk she now called friend, going instead to the woman she called family. She could feel his eyes on her as she ducked under a bush, and wondered just what was bugging Miroku.
Dutifully taking the place reserved for her in the fox kits arms, the cat demon sighed and settled in to sleep.
A flash of red and the quiet rustle of branches alerted Miroku that Inuyasha was above him. The other man said nothing, choosing instead to settle into his spot. Miroku knew that here, Inuyasha could watch everyone as they slept – or in his case, didn't sleep. His gaze settled on the hand in his lap and he frowned, just the slightest bit.
Logically, he knew he was a danger to them all. It would take merely a wish from Naraku, a knick on his part, for his cursed hand to gleefully swallow not only himself, but all of his friends as well. The only one he'd seen unaffected by his wind tunnel thus far, were the demon wasps and her. The sorceress of wind herself.
Kagura.
His hand curled into a fist, fingers pressing into the tekko covering his palm. Worn beads were comfortable and familiar against his flesh, but they did nothing to dispel his unease. He'd always been a sucker for beautiful women, but she wasn't a woman. She was a part of him.
Why was it, that in moments like this, his mind turned to her? When the beautiful Sango slept only a dozen feet away? When that woman bore the mark of Onigumo so fully only her back...In an effort to mull the facts of his life, he had unwittingly invited her into his mind. Was this yet another of Naraku's dirty tricks?
No, Miroku knew that thoughts of Kagura were all him. As his fingers clenched tighter, his frown became deeper. Could one really blame him? The thing he feared most in life, the wind, was nothing but a toy to her. A tool. No, but not quite.
He sighed, irritated. The wind was as much a part of Kagura as it was him.
He forced his eyes shut, tried desperately to clear his mind. As Miroku fell into a restless sleep, only one thought stayed true – if the wind tunnel were to kill him tomorrow, there were only two people who could be able to stop it. And there was only one who would.
He wondered in his last seconds of consciousness, what would happen to the red eyed sorceress once Naraku was dead. Frown still firmly in place, he vowed to them both that he would find out. That he would free them of the wind that so fully tied them to this journey.
ZZZ
Kagura was brooding. It was, Kanna knew, a regular occurrence for the strikingly beautiful demoness. If not in battle – cocky, knowing smile gracing her lips – Kagura could be found settled here, in this very room, eyes focused on nothing as she brooded. And, if Kanna were to admit it to herself, plotting.
Silently, the little void set off in search of Kohaku.
Left alone with her thoughts at last, Kagura allowed her head to tilt back against the wall. She could sense, so clearly, her creator. He sat as always in the centre of their fortress, mind whirling. She could feel the evil crawling through the halls. She was sure that here, in this castle, there had once been happiness.
Now even the sunshine that slid through the windows was bathed in red. Does his reach know no ends? She mused, lips set in a firm line. No, that was just it – Naraku knew not when to quit.
She thought first of the half demons wind scar and second of the monks wind tunnel. One was liberating, the other a heavy burden to be carried on surprisingly capable shoulders.
The first? The half demon Inuyasha was merely a nuisance, with his sword. His wind scar was useless against her without the small priestess's powers and they were at the point now where she felt that the dog wasn't worth a second glance.
The Monk though...
She tried to rein her thoughts in and found herself unable to do so. The Monk was...bothersome. Like her, he held the power of wind, one of the most dangerous creations of mother earth. Like her, he was damned for it.
Naraku had placed a curse on the monk's grandfather. Eventually, the hole in his hand would swallow him and everything nearby. There would be nothing left except for a crater in the earth, one final mark of her master.
Like her, the wind was both his strength, and his curse.
She didn't notice the breeze that had entered the room, paid no mind as it ruffled her hair, and shifted her clothes around her. Why was it that when she was alone, planning Naraku's defeat, the monk Miroku appeared before her?
Because if anyone is as trapped as I am, it's him she realized. Inuyasha and his human girl fought Naraku for the jewel. The slayer...she was a different story entirely. Miroku fought Naraku because he had to.
Enough she told herself, rising suddenly. You are Kagura. Born of Naraku, maybe, but you are Kagura of the Wind. Forget the Monk. If he dies it will be no skin off your back.
But if he lives, he could help to defeat Naraku The treacherous part of her mind whispered. It was the half of her that felt, that followed the dangerous path of human emotion. She grimaced.
No one can save him.
Are you not Kagura, she of the Wind?
"Kagura."
Her head jerked to the side, crimson meeting crimson as her master slid into focus. So deep in thought, she hadn't heard him enter the room. "What?" She hissed.
His lips quirked, showing his amusement. His eyes remained flat. "I wish to speak with you and Kanna. Come." He turned, giving her his back.
She wondered how easy it would be to stab him through the heart, right then and there. Instead, she followed him into the hall. Kanna would be nearby and the little void wouldn't like it if her younger sister slaughtered their master.
Not that it actually would be easy. With Naraku, nothing ever was. Before following him down the hall to the place he developed his own plots, she turned once more to shut the door of her room behind her. And with it, she locked away all thoughts of the Monk Miroku.
Naraku may have held her heart in his hands, but her mind was her own.
ZZZ
Inuyasha hadn't felt like bathing – gross – so Miroku had gone alone. As usual, the women had gone first, the young Shippo joining them in their bathing ritual. Miroku rubbed a bump on the side of his head, lips curving into a lecherous grin. Their oh so familiar bathing ritual. He loved women.
Carefully, he folded his robes and laid them beside his staff on a small cluster of rocks near the springs. Naked as the day he was born, Miroku gratefully settled into the scalding water, eyes slipping shut in bliss. It was the first moment of relaxation he'd had in weeks. The water soothed muscles he hadn't realized were aching, and he fought to keep himself awake even as he began to lazily wash himself with the soaps Kagome had brought him.
The snap of a twig had his eyes flying open. He stared at the forest directly in front of him, brow furrowed. Faintly, Miroku could make out a figure standing in the trees. Ah, to be spied on. Is this what Kagome and Sango feel like? He thought absently, clearing his throat and standing. "Who goes there?"
He hadn't expected her to step from the trees. The wind Sorceress.
Reflex won against surprise, and Miroku found himself in a fighting stance, hand at the ready. "What do you want?" He spat.
Kagura smiled. On her, it wasn't a warm or friendly look. It promised death, pain. A shiver crawled up his spine. "Relax, Monk." The woman's voice was like ice. "If I came to fight, I would have gone after Inuyasha, not you. Your...abilities...are useless against me." Her gaze slid over him from head to where his thighs disappeared into the water. "And you look ridiculous."
Miroku glanced down, feeling crimson climb up his neck at his state of undress. Everything.That wretched woman had seen – could see – everything. He sat quickly, tempted to call for Inuyasha but...no. That would be even more embarrassing.
Miroku cleared his throat once more. "Normally if a pretty woman," because she was pretty, and even born of Naraku, she was a woman. No amount of telling himself otherwise would change it "such as yourself were to appear before me like this, I'd be begging her to bare me a child. Or at the very least, to join me for a while."
"I fear I lack the motherly instincts to properly raise a normal child...let alone a half breed whose father would bare the mark of Naraku." She raised an elegant eyebrow, giving him a bored look. "I also fear I have no want to join you in your bath, Monk. I wouldn't want your scum rubbing off on me."
A light breeze ruffled Miroku's hair and suddenly, he realized why Inuyasha hadn't yet come of his own accord. We're downwind of the group.
"Why are you here Kagura?" He picked up the soap from where he had dropped it, focusing single mindedly on the task of cleaning himself.
Kagura sighed and moved towards the water. She wouldn't bathe with him, but she had walked the last while to keep herself out of Inuyasha's sight. Her feet were sore. Carelessly, she settled on the rock beside his robes, letting her bare feet slide into the water. A small, but soothing luxury. "You're not afraid."
"No, I'm not. You were right in saying if it was a fight you wanted, it was Inuyasha you'd go to. But that doesn't answer my question." It was unnerving, knowing there was someone of the opposite sex watching him bathe. When he had Inuyasha had baths together – that sounded so wrong, even in his own head – they were usually in separate springs entirely. Hidden from sight, only close enough that Miroku's human ears could pick up his friends words. Or one would bathe while the other kept an eye on the girls, still close enough to discuss battle plans and...Man things.
"Inuyasha wants Naraku dead out of revenge." Kagura started. "You want him dead because his death will mean your freedom. The dog may have been tricked, but he isn't stuck. Not anymore. If...anyone is to understand how I feel, it is you. Naraku holds your life in his hand, as he holds my heart." She plucked at the moss growing on the rocks. "He owns and controls us both. The only way to give us both what w want, is for Naraku to die. I've come to realize that there are few people in this world who can kill that loathsome creature."
"And I am one of them?" He questioned, soap long forgotten.
She glanced up, sharply. "No. You cannot kill Naraku, the same as I cannot. Your powers, much like mine, are useless against that one. Your dog and his woman, however..." She snorted, tilting her face to the breeze. "Naraku has puppets and pawns, not allies. None of you stand a chance alone, but...you're not alone."
"You think Inuyasha can kill Naraku, then?"
"I hope Inuyasha can kill him." She caught the Monk's surprised look, and felt she was perhaps revealing too much. "You asked why I was here, Monk."
His head dipped in a nod. "Indeed I did, Kagura."
It bothered her how he said her name. So...calm. "In three days Naraku will strike your group – you will be drawn by the shard of the slayer Kohaku. Kanna and I will be waiting with the boy. You won't sense me until it is too late. When you get there, you must tell Kagome to shoot the mirror again. It is stronger now than it was before." She lifted herself away from the spring, casting Miroku another bored look. "Heed my warning, Monk, and you will be that much closer to Naraku's lair."
"Can't you just tell me where it is?" Miroku left the water as well, scooping his robes up and beginning to dress under watchful eyes. So unnerving.
"He'll be expecting me to do something like that."
"You've made it clear you want him dead?" More surprises.
"I think it is perfectly clear that everyone wants him dead." She tugged a feather loose from her hair, dropping it to the wind. It grew steadily, until it was big enough for her to settle onto.
"How do I know you're not lying, Kagura? That this isn't yet another of Naraku's elaborate traps?" Robes in place, Miroku peeked over his shoulder at the Sorceress slowly floating away.
"You don't know. You're a Monk, Monk. Have a little faith." She replied, voice breathless and taunting as finally, her feather took to the skies.
She flew back to a castle that would never be home, wind as soothing on her face as the water had been on her feet. He returned to friends he could never tell the truth to, smiling as he offered to help Kagome with an archery lesson.
He had the feeling they were going to need it.
ZZZ
Battles came and went, just as their kisses in the dark did.
You smell of dog. Sesshomaru.
Inuyasha fought with him today. You smell of death.
Kohaku. He had a bad dream.
Miroku's heart clenched painfully, twice as hard as it would have normally. Once for him, and once for her.
ZZZ
White. There was a sea of white. Or maybe it was a sea of green, spotted with white? As her vision focused, she realized it wasn't a sea at all. She was in a field of flowers. She let her nose try to sort past her own blood and Naraku's miasma. Overcome by the urge to feel something pure she bent forwards, putting herself as close to the small white flowers as she could, without collapsing completely.
So...alone. Somehow, she had pictured it differently. Of course she had never imagined getting her heart back, only to have it stabbed moments later. She hadn't been as sly as she thought, Kagura supposed. Still. To die here, all alone...Her mind flashed with images of the odd allies she'd made from his enemies over the past few months.
The human boy, Kohaku, and his sister the slayer. The half demon Inuyasha, his brother Sesshomaru. The human girl Kagome and her fox kit. Miroku.
She tilted her face to the sky and asked, as loudly as she could without words, Miroku. Where are you?
The sound of footsteps sent her heart racing. Wildly, her eyes swiveled forward, trying desperately to focus. Awed at the sight in front of her, Kagura could do no more than murmur. "Sesshomaru."
"I followed the scent of miasma." The dog demon said, face and voice blank as he stare down at the wind demon at his feet. His hand itched, twitching towards the Tenseiga. His fingers brushed the handle of his father's fang, and he watched for the imps of the afterlife. They didn't appear. She is a part of Naraku.
She laughed, body slouching, eyes dropping. "Sorry to disappoint."
Despite himself, Sesshomaru spoke again. "I knew it was you."
So...he knew it was me, and yet he came. Knowing I was dying. Not as alone as you thought, huh Kagura? Her heart still ached for the one like her. For Miroku. My Monk of the Wind, Miroku.
Sesshomaru's head tilted a fraction to the side. He could hear voices. The voices of his idiot brother, and the fool's idiot friends. So they're close. His attention was dragged back to Sorceress when her image began to shimmer. She was disintegrating before his very eyes. He ignored the small part of him that flinched at the...injustice of it all. "You're going to go now?"
"Yes." Sesshomaru was not Miroku, but she was no longer alone. For that, Kagura was grateful. She felt herself begin to fall apart, her pain, both physical and emotional, being carried away on the wind. The last thing Kagura saw was the white of Sesshomaru's pants, and there, just past his legs, the purple of her Monk's robes.
Her lips parted to say her farewell, to tell him goodbye. Her body faded before the words could form.
Sesshomaru spared the ground one final look before forcing his legs to carry him forward. He had to get back to Rin.
"Sesshomaru!"
He bit back his irritation at his idiot brother.
"Inuyasha!" The human girl hissed.
Sesshomaru paused.
"Did Kagura...was she suffering?"
As much to reassure the idiot and his company, as well as himself, Sesshomaru spoke. "No. She left with a smile."
Miroku clenched his jaw as a voice whispered to them all, I am the Wind. The free Wind, and a familiar breeze swept the hair from his forehead. His eyes fluttered shut and silently, he cried out for Kagura.
Sango watched him with concerned eyes.
ZZZ
"You know, a long time ago I told myself I would kill Naraku. That I'd free us both of the wind that...tied us to him. I had myself convinced that I could kill him, and that you would be a different person. That we would live normal lives. Before you even came to me that first time, I knew that if you could, you would have saved me from my wind tunnel. Now it's gone." Miroku curled his hand into a fist. Despite not having a wind tunnel, he still wore his beads. It was familiar to him. "And so are you, Kagura." As if to mock him, the wind picked up, tickling against the base of his neck the way her lips sometimes would.
"I never got to thank you for any of it, Kagura." He was walking through the woods, speaking as he moved. "I wonder sometimes, like now, if talking like this to you is futile. Then I notice the little things, and I know it's not." He hesitated in his words, trying to choose them carefully. "I'm sorry."
The path left the woods at last, and led straight to his home. He paused at the small gate surrounding the hut he shared with Sango. He watched his wife gently tie the final knot on the wind chime she was hanging above their front door. As she turned, their eyes met. Sango smiled.
"If anyone comes in, we'll hear them now." She explained in an easy lie. He blinked in surprise as the jade green chime began to sing to them softly. "Miroku?"
Silent, the Monk bent to pick a feather off the ground.
No, it wasn't futile to talk to her. As long as he kept talking, Kagura would talk back.
She was, after all, Kagura of the Wind.