My left hand's fingers trail along the rigid cliff surface as we make our way round its base following a steep road to the other side. We're a good distance up where the wind blows a chilly breeze causing goosebumps to tickle my skin. The jewel bounces safely under my new white haori, on top of my breasts, a constant reminder of our goals for the journey.
It has been a few days since our last battle and I have yet to sense the jewel shards. Parts of me wishes we had stayed at Kaede's so that I may have had time to heal but a larger part of me is happy we've continued on adventure because now Inuyasha doesn't have much alone time to think. Though, there are still times I catch him staring up at the sky with distant eyes.
Glancing over my shoulder, I notice Inuyasha is staring forward, his eyes straight and concentrated with Shippo at his side. The little fox demon keeps close to Inuyasha, his eyes occasionally skipping over to the edge of the road where a large dip falls down to the forest below. It'd be a rough tumble if one of us happen to misstep.
Below my bare feet there is a soft rumble that gets heavier with ever second. Little pebbles and dirt start to bounce in place the stronger the vibration gets. Confused, I glance around my surroundings only to find what is causing the distress when I look up. Above is a massive orange ball with gigantic eyes, and a sharp toothy mouth, sliding down towards us from the mountain top at incredible speeds.
"I have come for ye!" The massive ball shouts with a nasally voice that reminds me of a certain flea demon.
Behind me, Inuyasha growls loudly and Shippo cries out a yelp, but it is too late for them. The roll orange ball comes sliding far too fast for them to leap out of the way and smacks right into them, tumbling them off the cliff side with such veracity.
Unstable from the sudden vibration of the mountain, my knees give in and I fall to my kneecaps. I crawl to the edge of the cliff to find Inuyasha battling the orange blob yards down against the mountain slope with Shippo clutching for dear life on an edge nearby.
"What the hell was that thing?" I question, "Kick its ass, Inuyasha!"
There is a tug on the back of my white haori that lifts me up from the ground, and suddenly, I am eye to eye and in the arms of a young human man. He is wearing a black and purple robe with a wooden staff with golden rings on top. The metal jingles together as he pulls me closer to his chest with a gentle smile on his face.
"Who the hell are you?!" I panic.
"You have no reason to doubt my intentions. I am a simple monk. Fear not, young priestess." His voice is soft, and smooth, unlike Inuyasha's. His hands grip around my sides tightly, forcing my arms together against my chest. "A monk who desired a jewel, and got himself a young woman in the process."
Coming from the edge of the cliff is a loud roar, and then, Inuyasha flying over us and lands feet behind us. My eyes follow him as he comes to grab the hilt of his sword, his own eyes remain locked on mine as I start to struggle in the monk's arms.
It doesn't take much, at the very start of my movements the monk let's go and I land awkwardly on my legs and butt. The young monk steps a few feet away from me, leaving me between the two men as I rub my lower back.
Inuyasha rounds me and places himself between the monk and I. His hand still at the hilt of Tetsusaiga, but before he can pull the blade out in full glory, the monk turns his back on us and bolts down the trail in the direction we were heading.
"Are you okay, Keara?" Inuyasha asks, releasing the hilt and twisting towards me.
Scanning my body to make sure everything is okay, I only come to realize now that I've been pickpocketed. My hands search my chest relentlessly to find the jewel gone and my heart beating fast. Standing up quickly to my feet, my eyes wide I stare up at Inuyasha, "He has the jewel!"
"What do you think they are?" A villager whispers to another.
"Two of them are demons, but why is a priestess with them?" Another questions.
The entire village is staring at us with bewilderment. Inuyasha leans down to the dirt road once again and takes a long sniff. We've been at this for some time now, following the trail of scent that the monk left until we reached this small merchant village. It is one of the few more modern looking villages I've seen so far with decently built wooden and screen buildings. It'd be a nice place to rest for the night if we weren't hunting for the jewel thief.
While Inuyasha sniffs the air and ground, Shippo watches him diligently, waiting for an answer to arise. I'm focused elsewhere, my eyes scanning every building for any sight of the jewel. I've heard no whispers calling for help so I assume the jewel doesn't feel threatened. The monk must not have it to gain strength but for some other reason.
"He was here I can smell him!" Inuyasha hisses, sitting up for a second. His ears twitch and he sniffs the air again. "Do you see anything?" He asks me.
My eyes narrow, and I focus even harder on each building hoping that the faintest shine will come showing through and I am about to lose hope when I see a glitter of purplish pink light illuminating from an inn to our right.
"There!" I point, eyes averting back to normal.
Say no more. Inuyasha is on his feet in milliseconds, bursting through the inn's reed doors and pushing pass the innkeepers inside. Unlike Inuyasha, Shippo and I keep up to pace with one another and avoid running into any innocent bystanders as we follow Inuyasha down the hall and to a sliding door. He rips it open and growls ferociously.
There, sitting with his back towards the open porch that lets out to the backyard garden, is the monk with two girls on either side of him. His eyes dark blue eyes are wide with surprised at our unsettling entrance. The rest of the girls in the room, whom are there to entertain, all squeal and scream, rushing out the backway of the porch to get away from us.
This seems to un-bother the monk. He gets up to his feet and approaches us quickly, pushing Inuyasha to the side and grasping both my hands in his. This is when I notice that one hand remains covered from the purple sheet of the robe tied around his middle finger of his right hand along with a wrap of prayer beads that twist around his palm.
"I'm so glad you're here. It's too good to be true. You're a real sight for sore eyes!" He smiles largely, nodding as he speaks.
"Hey!" Inuyasha yells at our side, a low rumbling growl follows up after his words, "get your damn hands off her!" He cracks his fingers, thrusting his claws for the back of the monk's head, but the young man is quick on his feet, quicker than even I thought he could be. He ducks out of the way just in time for the claws to just barely miss the top of my head, and leaps back where he once was sitting. A good distance away from Inuyasha's deadly blows. Reaching for his staff on the ground, he brings it up to his side and gets into a ready position.
"I should have figured…" The monk starts.
Inuyasha interrupts, "Yeah, you should have! But I guess not all of us are blessed with good looks and brains." Lifting his claws back up to his face, they pop as he clenches them. "Don't suppose you'd be interested in handing over that jewel fragment you stole from us?"
The monk lifts the jewel from underneath his robe, twisting it in between his fingers as he glares at Inuyasha with a wicked grin. "A gem such as this does not belong in the hands of a demon."
Letting out another growl, Inuyasha leaps forward with his hand stretched at his side ready to attack. But again, the young man is swift on his feet and leaps off the porch and into the garden, racing to get out of the way by running around the building.
Shippo and I look at one another as Inuyasha too, disappears around the building following the monk. We both roll our eyes and casually take the route we took to come into the inn. Outside where we first were scouting the area for the monk, the young man and Inuyasha stand feet from each other in the middle of the dirt road.
Inuyasha is nearest to us, he has the Tetsusaiga fully transformed and resting on his right shoulder as he stares angrily back at the monk several feet ahead of him. All around them are villagers scattered watching them with wide eyes and their mouths gawking.
"You are no monk!" Inuyasha snaps.
"I go by the name Miroku. And yes, I am a monk who works to aid the common man." The monk exclaims with a prideful smile.
The crowd around us starts to thicken as more people come to watch the two brawl. "Beware!" Shouts one, "A monk is about to slay the demon!" Yells another.
"Aid the common man? You're nothing but a sleazy robber. Now give us back our shard of the Shikon jewel! We went to a lot of trouble to get it and we're not going to lose it now!"
"Trust me, it's in better hands with me, Inuyasha." Miroku fingers the jewel once again, another wicked grin as he says Inuyasha name, grows on his face.
"So, you knew who I was all along? Doesn't matter!" Inuyasha leans into a ready position and then spurts forward towards the monk, "Enough talking! Let me at you!"
He swings once, and Miroku blocks with his staff. The gold metal clings together, chiming loudly from their collision. Another swing, and the monk dodges with ease. Another and another! Though capable of blocking Inuyasha's swings, the monk is being pushed back from the brute strength. His heel catches a pile of sticks behind him, tumbling his once steady body onto the ground.
With another swing, the sword hits the staff in the right spot to send it flying off behind Inuyasha and out of reach of the monk's hands. Inuyasha brings the tip of the blade down inches from Miroku's face.
"I'll have the jewel shard back now. Unless you'd rather die, that is!"
Miroku scowls up at him and for a brief second, all I see is purple as he leaps back and out of Inuyasha's range. He twists on his feet and again, sprints off down the road. He looks back at us all, and shouts, "Villagers, take heed! For your own safety, distance yourselves from this place!"
"Whatever," Inuyasha spits out before following him. They fade down the trail out of the town, leaving us all behind with wonder.
Sighing to ourselves, Shippo and I chase after them yet again. However, at our sides we begin to notice pebbles, sticks and dirt start to rise from the ground and fly ahead of us like they are being sucked up by a large vacuum. Soon, my hair flushes forward, blocking my view. I struggle to push it out of the way as I come up behind Inuyasha who is also at a struggle. With his blade pierced deep into the dirt, he holds on tight as the force of the vacuum grows stronger the closer we come.
Horses and chickens ahead of us start to be pulled in towards what I can see now, is the monk. His right hand is up, the cloth fluttering around his palm and within that, is a black hole that is miraculously sucking up the world in front of it.
Shippo leaps to my right, just in time to grab onto the side of a building that is contorting towards the hole but I am unable to escape in time. My feet start to drag without my control. My hands flail about as I try to grab onto anything nearby but I am unable.
As I make way to the boys, my feet start to lift off the ground as well as my entire body. My heart beats quick in my chest and my eyes dart for that hole. Throwing out my left hand, my fingers just barely grasp Inuyasha's sleeve.
"Keara!" He yells, but the sound of the world twisting and breaking muffles him out to just a whisper. His left hand releases Tetsusaiga to grasp my wrist but the rest of my body is horizontal as it waves in the wind like a flag.
My eyes plead for Inuyasha to hold on, as my fingers clench pathetically to his wrist as well, but we are slipping slowly. The sheer force of Miroku's pull is unbelievable and even out does Inuyasha's strength. Soon our fingers link together as he tries his best to not let go.
"Inuyasha…" I mutter, but I am not even sure he can hear me. Little parts of me are not afraid still – but other parts are. My heart beats so quickly in my chest, but my mind is at ease.
Our fingers are forcibly released and I am thrusted backwards. The sound of the world cracking and twisting comes to a halt and all that is left is the whizzing sound of the wind as I slam into something hard against my back.
"Keara!" I hear Inuyasha call for me.
The clouds pass by in the sky like nothing has happened, my head rests on something hard but warm. Rolling to my side, I notice I've landed on the monk whose body is sprawled out on the ground. His right hand that was causing all this damage is now covered with the prayer beads and no longer looks like there is a black hole amidst the palm.
He must have stopped on his own accord…. Meaning he has some moral to him.
"Are you alright, Keara?!" Inuyasha comes running up behind me and I turn back to him with a smile. But as I shift to look up at the half demon something like a spider crawls along my back side. A lightning shock rolls up my spine and my eyes glare quickly down at the monk who pretends to still be unconscious.
Snatching his left hand from behind me, I lift it up quickly to my lips and bite down in between his thumb and pointer finger. He leans up so quickly with a cry that it frightens Inuyasha to step back a foot in surprise.
Throwing his hand back towards him, I growl to myself as I stand and walk behind Inuyasha.
"That's what you get, monk!" Inuyasha says with a coy smile.
Miroku holds his left hand close, caressing it like a hurt child.
The night sky turns the clouds multiple beautiful colors. Purples, pinks, oranges, yellows and reds blossom through the clouds as we all sit by a tree with a few boulders nearby. Up on the branch, Shippo sits, watching us from above as he nibbles down a roll I gave him to eat.
Inuyasha sits close to my side, his back partially turned towards the monk while his front is facing me. Ever since I was touched, Inuyasha has been closely at my side, his eyes at constant glare at the monk.
Miroku sighs as he begins to tell us his side of the story as to why he's in search of the shards. "My purpose is to find and eliminate a terrible demon by the name of Naraku. It was this same demon who left me with this cursed hole in my right hand. He is very wicked and is thought to devour people, but other…. I know little of him. But my grandfather battled Naraku long ago, in his youth. Their battled ensued for years, and each time Naraku appeared before my grandfather, he took the form of a different human. The last time we appeared before my grandfather, he took on the form of a beautiful woman. My grandfather had great spiritual powers, but unfortunately, as fate would have it. Naraku pierced my grandfather's right hand with his sacred religious seals and managed to escape.
Naraku told him that the abyssal hole is cursed and shall be passed down from father to child so as long as Naraku lives. Each generation is cursed until no one remains.
Each year the hole in my hand becomes bigger, and the wind ever more powerful. Unless I defeat Naraku, I, myself will eventually be devoured by the hole."
"So, in other words, it would kill you?" Inuyasha mutters.
"Yes. And I am prepared to accept that fate, if such is truly my destiny. But in the meantime, I must continue trying to stop Naraku. The sacred jewel of the four souls vanished fifty years ago, and is now scattered into many tiny chards. Knowing Naraku, he is certain to attempt to gather fragments in order to strengthen his own power. I'm sure of it. I know, because Naraku once came close to getting the jewel fifty years ago. In doing so, he slew the priestess protecting it."
Kikyo, my eyes flash over to Inuyasha whose already up on his feet, hands clenching at his sides and a surprised look on his face. He's concluded it as well.
"You say, he killed a priestess?" he asks urgently.
"That's right."
Inuyasha grabs Miroku by the front of his purple robe and lifts him off the ground with both hands tightly holding him up. His face is mere inches from the monk's with a rush of angry emotions clustering his visage.
"You say this Naraku takes on all kinds of different forms, right?! What does he look like now?" He shouts in his face, his fists slightly shaking him as he speaks.
"Calm down. If I had that information, I would have slain him long ago myself." Miroku replies seriously.
With that answer, Inuyasha releases him slowly and steps to the side. A fist raises as it shakes and quivers with his rage. Looking down, the jewel against my chest glimmers in the dying sunlight, I gently grasp it between two fingers and roll the tiny shard. It's quiet now – not beckoning orders for me to come get it but instead, resting. Miroku was kind enough to give it back to me after we've decided to give him a chance to explain himself and since then, I haven't let it out of my sight much.
"Sooner or later, we're sure to run into Naraku as long as we pursue the shards as well," turning my eyes back up at the boys, I continue, "we should search for the shards together. The more people, the easier it will be to eliminate the demons who already have them, the faster a chance we may have in finding Naraku."
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt." Miroku smiles back at me.
"Yeah, yeah, fine just keep your hands off of Keara." Inuyasha snarls.
"My, I thought you were only a companion, but it seems you have feelings for Keara." Miroku chuckles to himself.
"What?! No! She's…"
"Nobody got time for this. Let's get going before it gets dark." I reply with the roll of my eyes. Inuyasha has no feelings for me – not like that – and I don't need to hear it. The memory of how sad, hollow and lost he looked after losing Kikyo again was enough to convince me that there is no other woman in his life…
But for some reason…my heart aches knowing this.