He was cold.
Very, very cold.
And surrounded by darkness.
Voices seemed to come to him as if through water, muffled and confusing. His body felt oddly disjointed, as if he were seperate from himself.
"Can you hear me?" came a soft voice.
He struggled to answer, but couldn't. Nothing seemed to want to work the way it should.
"Can you hear me?" asked the voice again, a soft woman's voice.
He opened his eyes.
He was in a strange, black place. He was very cold, but he wasn't shivering. He felt as if he were lying down, but couldn't feel the ground beneath him. It was a very strange experience, and he didn't like it.
A face appeared before him, a lovely young woman's face. It seemed to glow very softly, her eyes big and deep. His vision cleared, slowly moving into focus.
She stood before him, dressed in faded clothing. She was glowing all over, a soft blue glow.
"You can hear me!" she cried, delighted, "Can you say anything?"
He tried to speak, couldn't.
"Oh keep trying," she urged, "It takes a little while at first. I know you can do it!"
"Where...where...am...I?" he asked. A shudder ran through him; even his words sounded strange to him, almost hollow.
The young woman clapped her hands in glee, "There, you did it! This is wonderful!"
He wavered slightly, but rose to his feet. Or what he thought was his feet.
It was strange, he had no sensation of having a body, but when he looked down at himself, he did. It was akin to being completely numb. He could feel that he was moving, but had no sense of feeling.
"Miroku!"
He turned, startled, to see a young man trussed up in what appeared to be vines and weeds, lying on a ledge near a pool of water. The young man, very dark in features, was looking out over the water, shock and horror on his face.
There was a bundle of...something...floating in the water.
"What..."
"It's ok," the woman said gently, "You won't remember. But they're not important. You're here now. That's what important. We're together here."
He turned back to the young man, frowning. There was something about him...
It was as if he had been struck with a mace. Information struck him almost physically, like a harsh blow.
InuYasha.
He turned back to her, "Why is InuYasha bound?"
She gaped at him in utter astonishment, speechless. She just looked at him, eyes wide, unable to make a coherent thought.
Another physical blow of knowledge.
Miroku. I'm Miroku.
He put a hand to his head, "What have you..."
Subai.
Spirit.
Drowning!
Miroku staggered back from her, his body weak and feeling like it was made of smoke, "You tried to kill me! Subai!"
"No! No! How do you remember!?"
Miroku spun back again, his eyes now focusing more clearly on the bundle in the water, bobbing gently.
Oh Gods, that's me. I'm dead. I drowned.
Panic welled up in his chest, a loose feeling like he was coming apart.
Hearing InuYasha scream his name didn't help.
Miroku mentally shook himself, Calm yourself! Think! You're an unbound spirit! But the link to your body is still there. You're still attached.
Fear and wild terror threatened to overwhelm him.
Miroku pushed aside the fact that he was out of his body. Push aside the fact that he had just drowned.
He pushed aside everything, and pulled a mantra into his mind, centering himself. He had to remain calm.
He looked back to Subai, who was still looking at him, shocked silent.
"You are an evil spirit, fallen into darkness and decay. You left behind any innocence you may have had the moment you willingly lured your grandmother down here. There is no chance of reincarnation for you, Subai.
You are lost."
Sango clung to Kirara's neck as the feline forced her way through the heavy brush. She felt branches tearing and pulling at her, trying to dislodge her, but she clung on with all her might, and Kirara powered her way through. After several feet, she came to a stop, and Sango slid off her back.
Before her was a tangled mess of weeds and long grass, but it looked as if several people had gone through, forcing it back. Sango started towards it, when Kirara took Sango's arm in her mouth.
Blinking, Sango looked back at Kirara, "What is it?"
"Miroku!"
The voice seemed to come from far away, and had a strange, echoy quality to it, but she knew the voice. Blinking, Sango looked at the tangled mess of weeds, "InuYasha?"
"Sango! Watch out for the hole! We're down here!"
"Where!?" she called, pulling her arm out of Kirara's mouth. Sango started inching her way forward, crouched over, holding the stick out before her. A huge black spot seemed to appear in the center of the weeds, and her eyes fought to focus on what it was. It looked like a strange shadow, solid and hard.
She reached out with the stick, and gasped when she realized it was a massive hole. Getting on her knees, Sango leaned over the lip, "InuYasha! Are you down there?"
"Yes! We need help - Miroku..he's not moving!"
"Miroku!?" Sango leaned back, looking over her shoulder at Kirara. The giant feline roared.
"Put aside your confusion," Subai was saying softly, moving towards Miroku, "None of that is important now. All your fears and suffering are over."
Miroku backed up, not wanting to come within reach of Subai. He wasn't sure what hold she might be able to exert on his soul. Dark spirits could do enough damage to whole, physical bodies. If she got ahold of his spiritual one, he might be lost.
"Subai, listen to me. You already have a black spot on your soul from what you did to your grandmother. This will only make it worse for you. Willingly leading someone here, to their...to their death...if you do this you will be sent to hell, do you understand?"
"Why are you talking like this?" Subai said, suddenly angry, "You're not supposed to be so...alert. I wasn't so alert when I died, and neither was my grandmother. We were confused and frightened. It took me a long, long time before I understood what had happened."
"Untie my friend, let him help me-"
"You don't understand," Subai said, angry, "You're dead! Your heart isn't beating! Your lungs are full of water! You can't go back! Stop talking!"
"Listen to me-!"
"Why do you remember who you are?"
Miroku fell silent, before speaking cautiously, "You might say...I've had some training that's prepared my spirit and mind for this."
Subai sounded furious, "You said you weren't a sage!"
"Nor am I."
"Give me your hand."
"If you continue with this action-"
"I don't care about what I've done! I refuse to stay here alone anymore! I don't care about your friends! Just give me your hand!"
Subai lunged at him.
Miroku gave a startled hollar, and jumped backwards, but she clamped her hand on his arm, hard.
Miroku yelped in shock, but Subai screamed in pain. Letting go of his arm, she staggered backwards, holding her hand out before her in shock, as flames seemed to ripple across her palm.
"It hurts!" she screamed, "Why is it hurting!?"
A loud roar rent the air.
Miroku turned in time to see Kirara forcing her way down into the abandoned well. Not able to fit easily, she had literally clawed her way down inside, pulling herself in physically, like a rat pushing down a rathole. Her eyes fixed on Miroku, and then Subai. Kirara opened her mouth, revealing unbelievably long fangs, and she roared in fury.
Subai's eyes focused on Kirara, but then moved down to the feline's feet, where flames danced, fires devouring the dried grass around the edge of the well, and she screamed again.
She turned, running back along the surface of the water, putting as much distance between herself and Kirara, cringing back against the wall.
Kirara pulled her hindquarters in, and hung in mid air. Within seconds, Sango leapt lightly down to land on Kirara's back, and they moved down.
InuYasha looked to where the lifeless form bobbed in the water, "Sango, get him out!"
The demon slayer turned, following InuYasha's gaze, and with a cry, she leapt from Kirara's back, slicing down into the water.
"No!" Subai called, "Leave him! He's mine now!"
Kirara turned, shattering the air with another savage growl.
Subai burst into tears, hiding her face. She seemed terrified of fire.
The giant feline angled down, managing to wedge herself on some rocks near InuYasha. Lowering her head, she nosed him until he flopped over onto his back. Using her teeth, Kirara sliced neatly through the weeds and vines, freeing him.
InuYasha thanked Kirara, staggering over to the edge of the rocky outcropping as Sango swam to him, pulling Miroku as she went. InuYasha's feet and hands tingled horribly as blood rushed back to them.
Sango was crying as she grabbed the edge of the outcropping, "He's not breathing!"
InuYasha knelt down, hooking his hands under Miroku's arms, digging in his feet as he dragged his dead weight up onto the ledge. Sango pulled herself out, dripping, crawling over to them. Miroku's hair was plastered around his face, his skin horribly pale.
InuYasha turned Miroku over onto his stomach, pressing hard on his back, "Come on, Miroku, don't you dare leave us!"
Water gurgled out of Miroku's mouth.
"Miroku, please!" Sango wept.
InuYasha continued to force as much water out of Miroku as he could, cursing loudly at him all the while.
Nothing.
"Turn him over!" Sango commanded through her tears, "Kagome taught me that breathing thing, we'll get him back!"
InuYasha rolled Miroku over onto his back, and Sango put a hand to the back of his neck, tilting his head up. She looked at InuYasha, "Is his heart still beating?"
"I don't..." InuYasha grabbed the front of Miroku's shirt and yanked. Lacings tore, revealing his bare chest. InuYasha put his ear to Miroku's chest for a second, then looked up, voice frantic, "I don't hear anything."
"Ok, like Kagome taught us. I'll breathe, you work the chest."
InuYasha nodded. He placed one hand over the other, lacing his fingers, and started compressing Miroku's chest.
"Come on, Kagome, this is stupid!" he complained loudly.
"It isn't stupid!" Kagome had yelled back, "Look at that picture. This might help someone some day, so pay attention!"
They had been sitting under a tree, months back, looking at some books Kagome had brought over from her world. It looked like two guys were kissing on the cover, and InuYasha felt foolish looking at a book filled with like images.
"How the hell is squeezing someone's chest supposed to bring him back if he's dead?"
"You don't squeeze his chest, you press on his ribs. That forces blood into his heart, and up into his brain. If he's not breathing, that, with mouth-to-mouth, can re-start someone's heart and get them breathing again. It's worth learning."
"I suppose it is useful information to have, InuYasha," Miroku had said, "Knowledge isn't heavy, you know, you can carry a great deal around with you."
"This is stupid."
"Just pay attention!" Kagome had threatened, "Or so help me, I'll "sit" you down so far-"
"Alright, alright! Fine!"
He stood on the surface of the water, watching, a strange, detatched sensation inside him. He knew they were working on him, trying to bring him back. As he watched, he knew he should probably be feeling more...involved than he was. After all, it was him they were working on.
But the longer he stayed there, the less important it really seemed. He wanted to stop Subai from what she was doing...it was horribly wrong...but he didn't seem especially eager to return.
InuYasha's arms were starting to ache. He was pushing on Miroku's chest from his shoulders, as Kagome had explained, but after several minutes, he was shocked to discover just how hard it was getting. His back was starting to hurt, too, from the repetative motions.
Worse, it didn't seem to be working.
Sango was doing the breathing-thing, talking to him in between breaths, and she was starting to cry.
Where's that bitch?! he thought, savagely, I'll kill her for this!
"Miroku...please" Sango started to sob.
InuYasha swallowed hard, "Sango..."
Sudden, stabbing pain shot through Miroku, threatening to tear him apart. He staggered, feeling the agony race up and down his body, like white-hot fire.
Darkness welled up again around him.
"We can't stop," Sango begged InuYasha, "we can't-!
"Sango-"
Beneath them, Miroku suddenly convulsed. Water spewed from his mouth, literally splashing on Sango's face.
"Turn him over!" InuYasha commanded, already starting to roll Miroku.
Sango took his shoulders, moving him along with InuYasha, holding him steady.
Miroku choked and gagged, water pouring from his mouth. He weakly struggled, fighting with his body as he fought to breathe, still fighting to get to a surface that no longer existed.
"You're ok, Miroku!" Sango called to him, trying to reach his frantic thoughts, "You're out! It's ok. It's ok."
Sango's voice broke through to him, and he lay there, shuddering violently as he continued to gag and bring up water. His breathing was ragged and painful. Sango knelt beside him, slipping her arms around his shoulders and chest, holding him against her as he shuddered. She buried her face against his back, and gently rocked him, her shoulders starting to jerk as she sobbed.
Swallowing, InuYasha reached out, and laid a hand on her shoulder for a second, then reached out, touching Miroku's arm. When Miroku, not opening his eyes, moved his own arm and took InuYasha's hand in a near-deathgrip, InuYasha stayed where he was, squeezing back. Affirming his friend...his best friend...was alive, and giving what support he could back.
Miroku's ragged gasps and half-choked coughing echoed around the walls of the well for a few minutes, until he got his breathing under some control. After a little while, he lifted his head, his bangs dripping, and dragged open his eyes.
"Miroku?" InuYasha peered into his face, "How do you feel?"
Miroku's voice was weak, "Let's not have fish for a while, please?"
InuYasha blinked.
Talking hurt too much, it caused him to bend over almost double, coughing. When he did manage to speak, his voice sounded like his vocal cords had been sanded with raw stone. He rasped, "Where did...Subai go?"
"No idea, but when my powers come back, I'm coming back here, and I'm cutting her into so many little pieces-"
"You can't-"
"The hell I can't!" InuYasha hollared, "She almost killed you! She's going to pay for that!"
Miroku smiled weakly, "You can't cut her...into little pieces. She's a -" he broke off into coughing. Sango murmured for him to be silent, but he shook his head and continued, "She's a spirit. Your weapons won't touch her."
Carefully, they eased him up onto Kirara's back, "So what, we're just going to let her get away with this?"
Miroku met InuYasha's eyes, and InuYasha blinked at the intense look in Miroku's eyes.
"Oh no," Miroku almost growled, "We most certainly are not. But I need..." he coughed..."I need some things before we come back."
"Miroku, no," Sango protested, "You need to rest."
"I'll be fine, Sango," he said, and took her hands for a moment, "I'll be fine. This needs to be done before she lures anyone else down here. We need to go back to our hut.
But first, we need to make a detour."
Kagome jumped, grabbing ahold of the edge of the well, pulling herself up out of the wooden construct, grunting. Her backpack weighed a ton, and she scrabbled her feet on the edge, fighting for purchase.
"Why don't you just leave it at the bottom?" complained a voice, "And let me bring it up?"
She looked up into the bright golden eyes of InuYasha, and grinned, "Where's the fun in that?"
"Oh sure, fun," he said, "Breaking a leg is always good for a laugh."
He pulled her up, and picking up the massive yellow backpack, plopped it down on the ground.
She looked at him, "So, were you bored while I was away?"
InuYasha half shrugged, "Not really." He closed his eyes, looking oddly smug.
Kagome studied his face, "You look awfully content. What's up?"
"We had an interesting time while you were gone."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
"Oh you know...met a strange woman, turned out she was an evil spirit."
Kagome blinked, "An evil spirit? What? What do you mean? What happened?"
"I'll tell you when we're back at the village."
A shadow passed over them, and she looked up to see Kirara landing. She walked to Kagome, purring loudly, and head butted her so hard the young woman almost fell over.
InuYasha laughed, "I think she missed you."
The flight back was hectic for Kagome. She drilled InuYasha on what had happened, but he remained adamant, shaking his head.
"It's really Miroku's story to tell. He took the biggest part in everything."
"Is he ok?"
"He's fine. What happened with your test?"
"Oh! I passed! Third best mark in the class!"
Kirara landed with a thump, and Kagome and InuYasha slid off, pulling the huge backpack with her. Kirara morphed down into her little form, and ran into the hut.
"Kagome must be back," she heard Sango say, and the door opened was pushed back. Sango came out, smiling, and hugged Kagome, "Welcome back, sister. How was your test?"
"It went well, I passed. But I'm more concerned about what happened while I was gone. InuYasha said something about an evil spirit? Is everyone ok?"
"Well...if you call Miroku drowning and then being revived ok, then yes, we're all fine."
Kagome gasped, face paling, "He drowned?! What!? Where is he? Is he ok!?"
"He's fine, Kagome. His throat is very sore from all the water, and he has a bit of a cough, but he's fine."
"Where is he?!"
"He's talking to someone in our hut, he'll be out in a minute."
"Are you sure he-"
The door flap was pushed back, and a very little old woman walked out, holding onto a handful of small papers.
"Oh thank you. I didn't know what I was going to do. I lost my family's shrine, and had no idea how to dedicate another one."
"It's perfectly fine," came Miroku's voice, albeit rough and a little hoarse, and he stepped outside behind the old woman, "And I'll be by tonight to make sure you perform the offerings properly."
Kagome gasped, "Miroku!"
He looked up at her, and smiled, his face lighting up, "Ah, Kagome, you're back."
Miroku stood there, beaming at her. His hair was pulled back neatly into a ponytail, his black and purple robes hanging on his lean frame as always. Sandals graced his feet, and his Holy Staff was held in one hand.
Miroku walked down over the steps towards her, "How did your test go?"
Kagome just gaped at him, and then threw herself at him, bursting into tears, "Oh Miroku, you're back!"
She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Miroku laughed, wrapping his arms around her, patting her back gently, his gentle voice warm, "Yes. I am. I should never have been lost in the first place. Welcome back, imouto."
Kagome cried harder.
"Kagome, come on!" InuYasha said, "He's already been soaked through once this week!"
"You're a monk again!" Kagome half cried, half laughed.
"Yes. And I must say, I've missed these beat-up old things."
"What happened? What made you change your mind?"
Miroku smiled down into her face, "When the spirit was talking to me...after I was...ah...temporarily removed from my physical form...I realized I had awoken completely aware of who I was and what had happened. That's rare. And it was only my training, all these years, that had allowed that. Subai, the spirit, was also unable to touch my spirit form. It caused her pain. So I had the protection I needed. So it was that that made me realize there is more to being a monk than just the robes. Even though I had put them aside...I was still a monk. No matter how much I wanted it...I couldn't cast it aside.
And a monk was badly needed at that time."
"What did you do to her?"
"Well..." Miroku looked a little sheepish, "Let's just say that after realizing I was still a monk, I sort of lost my way for a little while. I was angry that Subai had done to this to me, and wanted to put her in her place. She used trust as a weapon, and I found that unforgivable."
"At any rate," InuYasha said, grinning, "He gathered up some holy relics, we all went back, and Miroku put the boots to her, casting her out of the well."
"Then we brought up her grandmother's bones, and gave them a proper burial," Sango said softly.
"Her grandmother was there too?"
"It's a very long story," Miroku laughed, "And I'll tell you once you settle back into the hut. I hope you brought something good to eat with you today, Kagome. I have taken up the robes again, and you passed a difficult test.
I'm in a mood to celebrate."
Kagome grinned.
END
