Dying to Live
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
Miroku's thighs felt weak like jelly, as he crouched dizzily beside his younger brother-in-law in the forest brush. He could not remember any other time he had felt so terrible going into a battle. Ironically, this was possibly one of the ones he most wanted strength for.
On top of that, he already feared the worst. Maybe it was intuition? But Ginta and Hakkaku's telling of the backstory made him suspect that he may not get Kouga out alive without doing for him what he had done for Sesshomaru. It had pained him to do it, memories of Mushin and Sango's disappointed and hurt faces flashing before his eyes - but against his better judgment, he had securely lashed the scroll of forbidden sutras to his leg under his vestments. He had still included a second scroll of healing mudras he hoped he would have time enough to try first. Again, possibly it was the tiresome symptoms he was experiencing talking, but he wasn't too optimistic those would work though.
"Pstt, you guys awake?" Hakkaku whispered to them. "Listen, it's coming now. "
Beside Miroku, Kohaku shook himself a bit at the wolf demon's calling, and the monk realized the poor kid must have dozed off. The slayer had not slept at all over the past two days to Miroku's knowledge. He tried to ignore a pang of guilt as he forced himself to look ahead, not being as keen of hearing as their demonic companions. Hachi whimpered quietly, probably already able to size up the demon at the sound of its footfall and approaching aura. They were a good distance away, hidden and perched among rocks on a cliff ledge that overlooked a dip in the forested land. This depression in the turf led up to an incline in the cliffside where the cave's mouth opened.
There it emerged a moment later from the cave: an enormous black-furred Inu Daiyoukai in beast form. Red eyes glistened dangerously, as it paused and basked under the dim, crescent moonlight.
"It looks just like the one Rin and I encountered just before winter, though I can't be sure," Kohaku breathed.
Miroku nodded cautiously, not bothering to whisper. His throat felt clogged, and the constant wetness in his lungs worried him. A coughing fit was exactly what they didn't need right now. He focused and willed his chest to relax.
Below them, the dog demon leapt away into the tree line off in the opposite direction. Silently, Hakkaku quickly bounded off through the trees as planned to ensure that the beast was definitely leaving the area. The minutes passed slowly as Hachi, Kohaku, and Miroku waited. At last Hakkaku returned. "Alright guys, this is lucky that the dog went hunting tonight. It went off on the usual trail it takes, no sign of hesitation. If our guesses are right, then Kouga should still be inside the cave. You should have a while to work, but we'll still set up the lookout," he explained in hushed tones.
"Hachi, go with Hakkaku now and set up the lookout from the two points like we planned," Kohaku directed after a moment. At the same time, he noticed Miroku's silence. After the two demons departed, the slayer looked at his brother-in-law who was already rising slowly to head down to the cave.
"I'm getting worried about you," the younger man stated pointedly, placing his hand heavily on the monk's shoulder to stop his movement. Miroku looked over to find the anxiety displayed openly on Kohaku's face now that they were alone. "You know, we can back out of this. I know Kouga is an ally, but we could come back for him when you're better. You aren't looking good."
The monk was very aware of the cold clamminess of his skin and the strain his rapidly increasing respiratory problems were placing on him. He imagined he probably looked awful. Trying to clear his throat as quietly as possible, he swallowed and forced down some of the sticky phlegm in order to respond. His voice sounded worse than he had hoped, but he tried to sound staunch in his conviction, as he fought for the whispered words: "I'll be fine - I've dealt with worse. We're here now - we might not get another chance." With that, he removed Kohaku's grip and gestured for them to start down the cliffside.
Miroku pounded his chest a couple times to clear his lungs, as they ran across the thin clearing and up the rocky steps to a small outcrop of stone to the side of the cave's entrance. He sighed in relief as he managed to quiet his breathing. At the same time, he and Kohaku crowded into the tiny hiding spot. Kohaku gently held his hand to Miroku's chest to indicate to him to stay put. Then, the slayer crept around the corner into the entryway. Gentle cracking sounds emitted softly, as Miroku listened to the lone sound of Kohaku's footfall moving away. There had to be something on the ground going into the cave because he knew his brother-in-law could be far quieter. He tried to take some deep calming breaths while he waited for Kohaku to come back with his assessment. Soon after, he heard the younger man returning, and Kohaku darted back into the outcrop with him.
"Dammit, there are bones all over the floor the whole way," the slayer hissed with irritation. "But I did make it to the end of the entry corridor, which narrows out at one point. I think it's the only way in or out. There's a fire burning in the main cavern from the looks of it. It doesn't seem there's anything immediately hostile in the main area, or it would've already come for me with all that sound from the damned bones. I didn't get a good enough view around the fire to know if Kouga or any other beings might be sleeping or something in there though."
Miroku nodded his understanding, not wanting to risk talking with the way his throat kept clogging. He would need to figure out how to get through the mantras if it came to it, but first they had to be sure of what was lurking in the cave. The monk pulled his fabric-wrapped staff from his back. The metal rings would remain covered and silenced, but he uncapped the end to reveal the blade there as a first line of defense.
Kohaku watched until he was satisfied his brother-in-law was ready. Then they began to creep along the cave's entry corridor. Staying quiet as they could, both men grimaced at the brittle bones that carpeted every step of the way. It was obvious that what inhabited this cave had a horrifying appetite. It was even a little hard to believe that it could be the remains produced by a single demon and Kouga, though Miroku guessed that maybe the possessed wolves occasionally rousted here too. He prayed that they really would have a while before any of them tried to return. The twisty corridor was pretty long, and their chances of a sudden escape looked slim – especially if this was really the only way in or out.
Kohaku again halted Miroku at the end of the corridor where it widened into the larger cavern. He motioned to remind Miroku to flatten against the wall and listen. Slowly, the slayer stepped around the corner and into the open area. Miroku watched the glow of fire dance on the section of the wall he could see and stained his ears in case Kohaku encountered any trouble. For a few moments, only the sound of creepily crackling cartilage resonated until Kohaku reappeared at his side.
"From the description our friends gave, I think I made out that it's just Kouga, nothing else in the cave. Hopefully he's just unconscious - the body looks very bad," Kohaku whispered, looking worried.
"OK, let's get a look," Miroku pushed out the words, though his voice cracked sickly. Kohaku looked hesitant but ushered the monk around into the cavern a moment later.
Kohaku followed closely behind Miroku, as they crept forward around the fire. A broken wooden cangue lay on the ground against the rocky wall. Yet, when they made it fully around the fire, they finally saw Kouga.
The body was shrunken and pieces of dirty furs hung off the frame. Dark, unusually ragged, shoulder-length hair and the limp, brown tail seemed to identify Kouga. Slowly, Miroku and Kohaku approached ready for anything unexpected. The worn body was motionless, and they soon noticed that steel manacles connected to chains anchored in the wall were the only thing that held Kouga up by the wrists and neck. Thickly scabbed and infected dig marks seemed to suggest the wolf demon had possibly fought the restraints previously, but he was in no shape for it now. His body reeked terribly, but Miroku still gently reached out to lift his face. The expression on the face was scarily slack and the skin was loose and wrinkled where it hung on the bone. Kohaku gasped, as Miroku moved in closer to part the eyelids of one eye. The eyeball was rolled down and motionless, but the dull, blue iris confirmed it was definitely Kouga. Next, Miroku withdrew the small dagger he kept at his waist. He used it mainly for cutting up food, so the blade was in decent shape. He held the shiny metal under Kouga's nose until a slight fog appeared.
"He's breathing, though barely," Miroku grated out. He took a look at the metal enclosures around their friend's neck and wrists. The locks looked pretty standard. He cleared his throat a bit and managed a smirk at Kohaku. "Are you as good as Sango at lockpicking?"
"Decent enough," the slayer smiled slightly and leaned in for a look before taking out a small set of tools on a dark metal ring from one of the pockets on his armor. "These don't look too difficult at least - should I pick them now?"
"Yes," Miroku replied. "It wouldn't be ideal, given how fragile he looks, but at least once those are off, we could just snatch him and make a break for it if we had to."
Kohaku started on the first lock while Miroku looked for a space to spread out his texts. The Buddhist kicked at the bones in a spot, but deciding there were too many to clear, he just spread the scrolls out as evenly as he could - no time to be choosy. He recapped the blade end of his staff and also softly laid out the weapon within arm's reach of where he would carry out the rituals.
"Miroku - almost got the one at his neck. Come steady him. I don't know if his weight will be too much on his arms once I get the collar off," Kohaku explained, cringing at the gross, pathetic state of the body, as he moved on to the wrist locks. "He's so weak - it's gotta take some effort to keep somebody teetering on death's doorstep quite like this it would seem… Can't quite guess what the connection between something like this and that dog demon might be."
Miroku carefully cradled their friend's dragged-out body once they had his limbs freed. It actually scared Miroku - how could this be the same freewheeling, loud Kouga who'd hit on Kagome, gone toe-to-toe with Inuyasha, and helped combat Naraku? Whatever this enemy was doing to sap energy from the likes of Kouga and Sesshomaru, leaving only bare husks behind, had to have its root in something dark and powerful. The monk needed to get to work, so they wouldn't come face-to-face with it now when they weren't well-prepared.
Once he had Kouga gently laid out beside his documents, the monk replied softly, trying to save his voice a bit. "Same, I don't know yet either, but pretty sure it is probably going to be hard to revive Kouga, just like it was with Sesshomaru. His affliction is looking unfortunately very similar - it's going to take everything I've got."
Kohaku looked serious but tried to give his brother-in-law an encouraging smile before he turned to go. "OK, you get started then, I'll keep watch and keep my ears open for Hachi's signal in case that thing comes back," he reassured Miroku. Then the slayer moved back to the jog in the entryway's corridor to get a better view of anything that might be coming.
Miroku sighed and sat down cross-legged with the two sets of texts between him and Kouga. He cracked his knuckles, stretched his neck and cleared his throat. Ready as I'll ever be for this, he thought. Then carefully, he began to move his fingers through the mudras and the opening chants as well as he could.