Disclaimer: I own very little.

A/N: Before JSSGS commented in a review to Flee or Fall that I should write an Inuyasha fic, I had never had anything to do with the series. Now, however, I've read most of it, and absolutely fallen in love. However, as my acquitance with the Inuyasha world is still quite fresh, I would appreciate it if you would point out any mistakes I make.

Also, this prologue is dedicated to JSSGS for being so confident I could "do all sorts of weird things with Miroku". Because that's exactly what I plan to do.

Pairings: At first Miroku/Sango and slight Inu/Kagome, later Inu/Miroku and Sesshoumaru/Kouga, as well as minor Ginta/Hakkaku. Yes, as in, they're gay. Deal with it.

Prayer to the Winds

Prologue

The Howl and the Hole

"This is truly useless," grumbled Inuyasha, brushing a branch out of his way. "We'll never find anything."

"Well, then we should get back to the ladies, should we not," said Miroku cheerfully. "I am sure Kagome-sama won't be too disappointed even if we do return emptyhanded. She is such a forgiving character."

At that, Inuyasha paled a bit. Most people would have probably never even noticed the minute change in the tone of his skin, but Miroku was used to reading him. Thus, the houshi knew he had won the argument.

Kagome, Sango, and Shippou were currently staying in Kaede's village, about a day's travel from where Inuyasha and Miroku were. In the meantime the two men were told to search the woods for a particular youkai. This youkai was supposed to possess a magical gem that had the ability to heal Kirara's paw, which had been severely injured in a recent fight against a fierce ogre. The two had protested a bit, of course, but the girls had absolutely refused to give in.

"Sango needs to stay here, caring for Kirara," Kagome had reasoned, "and I will keep her company. Shippou'll be better off with us anyway. It's not like you two couldn't handle a single youkai without us."

So, now they were wandering around, looking for a youkai Inuyasha was coming to believe didn't even exist at the first place. And the hanyou was now beginning to get very frustrated.

That is, until he heard Miroku's yell. "Inuyasha!" the houshi called for him. "There is a mass of youki approaching! Either there is an incredible amount of youkai coming to this place, or an enemy far surpassing the power of even Naraku himself has chosen us as their new target of attack."

"Eh?" Inuyasha turned to look at Miroku, who now looked extremely serious. "I haven't smelled anything... So they must be coming under the wind. Excellent, though. I was getting bored here."

"Well, let us hope you will stay bored, too," Miroku said, gripping his staff. "Since if those youkai are all going to confront us, even with our skills we will have some difficulties with dealing with them all."

"Well, we'll find out soon enough," commented the hanyou, pointing at something behind Miroku's back. "Since the bastards are fucking coming now!" His eyes glowed with excitement.

Truly. An enormous herd of youkai was speeding towards them. Noticing that there were some obviously more powerful ones among them, Inuyasha shouted, "I don't see any saimyoushou here. Suck up the weaker ones, and I will slay the stronger bastards!" With this he drew Tessaiga from its scabbard.

"I shall do that," Miroku promised. He reached for the rosary around his hand with his left hand.

"And if you see any saimyoushou, seal your hand or I'll fucking rip your arm off myself!" roared the hanyou before charging forward. Facing the largest youkai in sight, a strange mixture of an ogre and a tiger, he swung his blade fiercely and yelled, "KAZE NO KIZU!"

The demon was shredded apart, but two others immediately stole its place. With a fierce growl, feeling the excitement of battle rising within his chest, Inuyasha struck again.

For a moment he concentrated on taking down the stronger youkai. Among the noise of the youkai he heard the clashes of Miroku's staff and every now and then a yelled, "Kazaana!" The houshi must have been saving himself from sucking in too much evil aura. Well, that was just better for him.

It took him quite some time to deal with all the larger youkai, which seemed to all actively seek him out. Some of them were obviously poisonous, too -- it was only good he hadn't let Miroku deal with them with his kazaana. At last, however, he had slain the last of the stronger youkai, the lower ones trying to avoid his blade. Heading towards the sound of Miroku's staff, he again bellowed, "KAZE NO KIZU!" Rushing through the youkai, he swung Tessaiga to every direction. He arrived to Miroku just in time to see the houshi stumble.

For a moment time seemed to slow down for Inuyasha. He saw as Miroku stumbled and fell onto his back. The youkai screeched in delight and rushed forward, only Miroku's weakly raised staff there to stop them...

And they were all torn into pieces as Inuyasha stepped between them and Miroku and swung the Tessaiga. "You okay, bouzo?" he snapped sharply. In the inside he still felt frightened. Seeing Miroku so clearly in danger had terrified him, raising the same protective urge within him as the sight of Kagome in danger. Inuyasha didn't know what was the similarity between Kagome and Miroku that caused this, only that there was something. It wasn't a coincidence he had reached Tessaiga's true power while protecting Miroku.

"I'm okay," the human replied, getting back to his feet. "Let us take care of the rest of these creatures, shall we?" Had Inuyasha been paying attention he might have noticed how pale the houshi looked, as well as how he was sweating like under great strain. However, in his excitement about the battle he didn't notice.

They now got rid of the remaining youkai fairly quickly. Miroku sucked in as many demons as he only could without falling over from the evil aura, his staff and Tessaiga handling the rest. At last they stood in the middle of youkai remains and demonic blood, thankfully both uninjured.

"See? We fucking did it!" announced Inuyasha triumphantly. "Guess not even a thousand bloody youkai bastards can take us down, eh, Miroku?" Then, he frowned as he noticed just how exhausted his friend looked. This was most certainly unusual. "Miroku? What's wrong?" he demanded.

A brief, slightly bitter smile crossed the houshi's lips. "Poison," he replied. Then, uncaring about Inuyasha's obvious shock at this comment, he took a staggering step forward and started to fall.

"Miroku!" exclaimed Inuyasha, shocked. He rushed forward just in time to catch the falling form of his friend before he hit the ground. A clattering sound was heard as the houshi's staff fell from his grip.

"Inuyasha..." muttered Miroku, looking only half conscious. Inuyasha silently cursed himself for not noticing anything earlier. His human friend was pale, sweating, and clearly in pain. It should have been obvious!

"Hold on," the hanyou said desperately. "I'll carry you to the village. Kaede'll have you fixed before you know it." He started to arrange the houshi in his arms but was stopped by Miroku's hand on his arm.

"Don't, Inuyasha," the human said quietly. "Just... do not bother. The village is a day's travel hence, like you well know. I, however, will pass any pain in less than an hour. We both know that, my friend."

Inuyasha maybe knew it, but he absolutely refused to acknowledge the truth. "I'll be damned if I don't at least fucking try," he grumbled. It wasn't true. Miroku couldn't die, not like this. He wouldn't let him die.

"No, Inuyasha." Now Miroku's voice was a tad stricter than before. "Do not even try. Moving me as I am now would only make the venom spread, further shortening my already limited time of life. You don't want that, now do you, my friend?" A brief smile crossed his lips at these words.

Now Inuyasha sighed in defeat, knowing very well that his friend was right. So, he laid Miroku on the ground with extreme care, placing the houshi's head in his lap. He still didn't ask why Miroku had continued sucking in the poisonous youkai. Knowing Miroku, he most probably had done it just to keep the lower youkai off Inuyasha's neck. At times Miroku didn't appear to have any sense of self-preservation. In fact, had Inuyasha not known better, he would have thought the houshi was suicidal.

"This is better," Miroku murmured. "I just want to... rest for a while..." He was now sweating even more than before, and his breath was getting strained. All this most certainly did not help Inuyasha's mood.

"You can fight it, Miroku," Inuyasha said desperately, firmly resisting the urge to squeeze the hand he was now holding as hard as he could. "I know you can." Inside, however, he was painfully aware of the truth.

Miroku knew the truth as well, it appeared. "No, Inuyasha," he said quietly, his expression unusually serious. "I am but a human, and therefore I do not have much resistance for a youkai's poison, unlike you."

The houshi was now trembling badly, sweat drops rolling down his face as the poison took its toll on his body. Inuyasha again had to force himself to not crush the human's hand. Instead, he just supported the darkhaired head with his hand, trying to ignore the horrifying coldness.

"Tell the others that I will miss them," said Miroku, his voice still quiet. "And tell Sango... I love her..."

Inuyasha swallowed, lowering his head. "I will tell them," he whispered, "I promise I will."

While the helpless fear was holding the hanyou's heart in a freezing grip, Miroku himself actually managed to smile a bit. "Isn't this improper," he muttered, "for a houshi to die in a hanyou's arms." Inuyasha opened his mouth to protest, to tell that Miroku would not die, but was silenced by a mere shake of the human's head. "There is nothing you can do for me anymore, my dear friend," the houshi said. "For once, I'd say. Thank you... for being here, though..." It was almost as if the last words were forcedly pulled from him.

Inuyasha swallowed again. He tried to tell himself that it was nothing, that Miroku would soon be fine, but deep inside he knew that wasn't true. There was no Myoga to suck the poison away, no Jinenji and his herbs or a healer capable of saving the pained man. As much as Inuyasha wanted to deny it, his best friend was going to die in his arms, and the strained speech reminded of that painful fact.

"Don't speak, Miroku," he pleaded with a voice thick with tears he wouldn't let fall. "Save your strength."

A shivering hand wandered up Inuyasha's chest, resting briefly over the knot on the string that crossed his chest. For a moment they both just watched the hand and the cloth that covered a part of it.

"My curse," muttered Miroku. "Who would have... thought? It didn't kill me... in the end, did it. At least... not directly." Inuyasha didn't reply; he just moved his left hand from holding Miroku's hand to his opposite shoulder, gently supporting the body that the houshi was painfully struggling to hold up now.

The hanyou did want to reply, wanted to say that it wasn't true, that Miroku wouldn't die, but he didn't. Miroku didn't need such lies; he himself did, and he wasn't even the one dying here. Humans' lives were over in the blink of an eye as far as Inuyasha, a practically immortal creature, was concerned, and he'd always wondered how they could accept such a short lifespan. Miroku, however, had for a long time been resigned to the fact that he wouldn't lie even as long as a usual human. He was simply not afraid of death anymore. Inuyasha, however, was afraid -- not of his own death, for that could be face if need be, but of the death of his friend, the best one of the few he ever had.

Now, however, the monk's eyes slid half shut. "I'm so tired..." he muttered, and Inuyasha he didn't mean it only as feeling sleepy. If he'd had Miroku's burdens to carry, he, too, would have been tired of the life itself for a long time already. Miroku, however, had fought on -- and now he no more had to.

It had to be a relief to his friend, the death, Inuyasha decided. After years of uncertainty with an early death looming over his shoulder, the actual end of his life, the knowledge that he wouldn't have to fight anymore, must feel liberating. As long as others weren't endangered, Miroku could actually welcome death.

For a moment now Inuyasha had sensed Miroku's ki slowly fading, a fact he had determinedly tried to ignore. Now, however, alarm bells went on in his head as his friend's life force fell dangerously low.

Miroku was now deadly pale and sweating despite the fact that his body felt icy cold. Still he managed to again summon a smile on his lips. With a very quiet voice, he said, "Sayonara... Inuyasha..."

The hanyou felt oddly numb as he watched Miroku's eyes slowly sliding shut. His sharp ears caught the sound of a faint breath struggling to leave the houshi's chest -- and then even that was away.

For a moment Inuyasha just sat there with Miroku's limp body in his arms, the harsh truth not quite registering in his brain. Then, however, the reality broke through, the reality of Miroku dying. Something inside the inu broke as his pack was torn apart. Overwhelmed by his youkai instincts, Inuyasha threw his head back and howled in pain, thus acknowledging the painful loss of a close pack mate and friend.

That was all he had time to do. He stopped howling to find a herd of youkai rushing towards him. They must have lingered nearby and used his distraction with Miroku on their advantage to get near enough to attack. Well, he'd be damned if he let them win. Growling deep in his throat, he stood up with Tessaiga.

What he hadn't taken into account, however, was that the previous battle had exhausted him. He was not even near to losing to these low youkai despite their number, but he was unable to stay on his footsteps. Slowly the flood of youkai forced him away from Miroku's lifeless body -- only a few steps, yes, but it was enough for his enemies. Using his distance on their advantage, a few of the larger youkai rushed forward and snatched Miroku's body from where it lay on the ground.

Now the sound that crossed Inuyasha's lips was a scream of rage. He dashed towards the offending youkai, not daring to use any special power of Tessaiga in fear of damaging his friend's body. However, those few fateful steps and the other youkai between him and Miroku were enough to let the youkai flee. The hanyou did leap into the air, attempting to follow and get back the corpse that was dear to him, but the youkai were fast and he was exhausted. So, he was left helplessly standing there, watching as his enemies carried away the lifeless body of his friend, most likely to be devoured.

The other youkai left one by one, seemingly no more interested in him, but Inuyasha hardly even noticed that. He just stood there in shock, staring at the spot where Miroku had lain just a moment earlier.

Then another howl was heard echoing over the now otherwise quiet battlefield. However, while the first howl had been purely that of loss and pain, this one was filled with unimaginable rage, hatred, and despair.

"Okaa-san!" called out a child's voice full of fright. "Okaa-san, come here! Look at this!"

A young woman in her twenties immediately turned towards the source of the voice, a boy of about five years of age. "What is it, Kaze?" she asked, her tone slightly worried at the obvious fear on the child's face.

"Look!" The boy held out his right hand. "Something stung my hand, and now there's a hole on it! And it sucks things in!" The boy now lifted his gaze from his hand to his mother, and was startled by the look of pure shock he saw on her face. "...Okaa-san? What is it?"

Slowly, as if in a dream, the woman brought her fingers to the rosary she had wrapped around her arm. Very carefully she took the rosary and slipped it around her son's right arm. The wind she had felt coming from his hand died, but the hole remained. She felt a tear rolling down her cheek, unable to stop it.

"What is it now, okaa-san?" asked the boy, sounding fearful. "Do you know what this hole in my hand is?"

"That 'hole' is a kazaana, Kaze," she told him, fiddling with the beads now around his arm. "And as for what it means... It means, my son, that your outou-san has died."

Chapter 1: Death of a Dream

The rest of Inuyasha's companions learn of Miroku's unfortunate fate. Sango in particular is devastated. Meanwhile we see more of little Kaze and his mother.