Kindred Spirits
An Inu Yasha and Saiyuki fan fiction by Iapetus
Disclaimer: I do not own either series.
Beta Reader: Kenren Taishou
Note to readers: I am now including various aspects of Saiyuki Gaiden in the story.
Thank you to everyone for your reviews! My responses to them can be found in my Live Journal for February 4.
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Chapter 7: Gold
Souta was running as hard as he could, through what seemed to be a forest of chains. They were of all makes and sizes and of all lengths as well. Some were rusted beyond use, while others were as shiny as if they were just finished by a blacksmith. He had got entangled in them several times, but was always able to get free. He had tripped several times, but he had always managed to get up. While shackles were scattered around, seemingly threatening, he ignored them. Someone needs my help, I can feel it, he thought desperately. He wanted to scream out against the injustice he could feel building in his heart. The more he ran towards his goal, the more it seemed to run away. The more he tried to avoid the chains, the thicker they seemed to grow.
Then, suddenly, he found himself in a small alcove, where the chains draped above his head and around him like a room. As he walked on top of chains lying on the ground, he felt as if he had just entered a cage. His attention was immediately drawn to the center of the room, where three men were sitting. All of them looked very different from each other, and yet they were all somehow connected to each other. As he looked closer, he saw that the three of them also had shackles around their wrists. A chain linked the three together, while the ends ran into the endless forest Souta had just come from.
The first man, who only looked a couple of years older than him, seemed to be the most cheerful one in the group. Despite the heavy chains attached to him, he would move his arms around as if they were not there. The chains made an ominous sound every time they rattled, but the young man was oblivious of it. He had chocolate brown hair that seemed to stand up at its own accord. Underneath his hair, Souta saw a band of gold hug the man's forehead like a coronet. As the man opened his eyes from laughing, Souta was amazed at what he saw.
The gold of the coronet could not compare to the gold of the young man's eyes. There was something otherworldly about it, and yet very beautiful at the same time. Eyes like those did not exist in his world – for they were young and old at the same time.
His gaze shifted to look at the rest of the man's body. He only seemed to be wearing a pair of leather pants. Souta arched his eyebrows in slight confusion. Why would he be wearing only pants in a place like this? The chains were cold to the touch, and they could pinch the skin when it came into contact with it the wrong way. Mentally, Souta slapped himself. They probably didn't have a choice in the matter…
Souta then turned to look at the second man. He seemed older, as well as the tallest among his three companions. He was also smiling while he talked, but Souta noticed that this man's eyes and smile seemed a lot less innocent than the first man's.
The tall man's eyes marveled the young swordsman, for they were also beautiful in a haunting way. They are the color of the setting sun, he thought fleetingly.
He mentally sighed to himself. Their poetry unit in his Asian American literature class was beginning to get to him. Although he knew Rika wouldn't mind…
The tall man's hair was a deep shade of red that he had never seen before. He was truly a red head, but Souta had never thought that that particular shade could be natural.
This man was also only wearing a pair of leather pants, and was leaning lazily on his left hand. One leg was bent while the other was straightened. Souta wondered if it was more comfortable to sit like that among the chains that made that floor.
The third man (who was also dressed in only leather pants) seemed to be about the second man's age. He was not as tall as the second man, but Souta knew that he would still be taller than himself. On his left ear were three small metal clasps. They didn't look like earrings, and Souta wondered what they were. This man also had brown hair, but the brown seemed to be slightly darker than the first man's. Most of his hair seemed to be swept forward, as if attempting to cover his right eye. He was the only one of the three to have any kind of glasses, although Souta noticed that it was a monocle. You don't see those every day…
This man's eyes were also vivid, only his was a mystical shade of green. It looked to be the kind that only people with contacts could possess, for it was not a natural shade of green. As he looked closer, though, he saw that it was indeed real. Souta was reminded of forests, and his mind began to drift back to the forest of chains he was now in. He wanted to free the men in the center, even if he couldn't figure out why. He had never seen them before in his life. Then again, maybe he was just drawn to them by their eyes…
The shortest of the three, the first man, suddenly noticed Souta's presence. "Hi!" he called out. "Do you have any food on you?" he questioned, hopeful.
The second man whacked the first on the head. "You stupid monkey! Don't just go asking strangers for food, it's rude!"
"Oww… that hurts, you ero kappa!" the younger man retaliated.
"Maa maa, calm down you two," the third man laughed nervously.
"But I'm hungry!" whined the first man. "And he just isn't any stranger, since he found us here."
There was silence for a moment. The three men turned to look at Souta, curious.
"How did you find us?" the man with red hair asked him.
Souta had to give himself a mental shake to get himself out of his shock. They had noticed him so quickly… and he was frustrated that he couldn't sense their presences. Well, he could sense them, but he couldn't tell what they were. In fact, when he focused on his own power, he couldn't even tell if it was human or not. Weird…
"I – I felt that someone needed my help," Souta answered quickly. It sounded stupid, but it was the truth. He also felt like he couldn't lie to those eyes. They would see through any story he made up.
"See?" the golden-eyed man pointed out, by literally pointing to Souta, "He came to feed us! That's helping!"
The red haired man hit the golden-eyed man again. "What kind of reasoning is that? I don't remember asking for any help."
Souta suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He had figured out that this was the place he needed to be in, but he wasn't sure exactly what to do. He wanted to find a key to free them…
"I'm sorry," he found himself apologizing. "It's just… it's confusing in this forest of chains. I don't know how to make sense of it."
"There's no reason to apologize," the green eyed man said with smile. "I'm just surprised that you yourself do not have chains of your own. Usually those who come here can never leave. And usually," he said with a small smile, "you get these shackles put on you upon arrival." He held up his wrists to display his own shackles and chains.
"Yeah, unless you are born with them on," the red haired man smirked. "Then you don't remember at all."
"Can you maneuver at all? Is that why you are just sitting here?" he questioned, concerned. Wouldn't the chains eventually become tangled up with the rest of the 'forest?' he thought. Their answers proved him wrong.
"Nah, it isn't hard," the golden-eyed man said confidently.
"We're waiting for someone," the green eyed-man said simply.
Kougaiji looked again at the note he had received from General Kiba. It had been crumpled and flattened out several times, yet the demon prince didn't seem to mind. His eyes narrowed as he read the letter's contents again. Had he been conscious earlier that week that maybe this whole mess could have been prevented? He hated throwing his men's lives away, but he hated the fact that no one knew exactly who did it even more. Yes, they had been formless demons, but were they under the control of someone? Who, besides the Sanzo-ikkou, could wipe out half of one of his strongest assassin squads?
Yaone's quiet footsteps approaching from behind brought him back to the present, and he turned to look at her. She had an unreadable expression on her face, which surprised the prince. In her hands appeared to be several different types of herbs and flowers, which increased Kougaiji's curiosity. Even if she did not put all of her herbs away at once, she never came back to report to her lord with plants in her hand. As she walked closer, he noticed something about the plants she held. Something didn't seem right about them…
"Where's Lirin?" he asked, seeing that his little sister was not with his apothecary.
"She is helping Dokugakugi see to the dragons, my lord," she said quietly. "We went to my farthest field from where you were going to be; the journey tired the dragons out."
Kougaiji nodded in approval. "Good. I have a feeling that we are going to need the dragons again soon. Did Koushu give you any trouble about leaving the castle?"
"No, but we did run into Dr. Ni before we left," Yaone seemed to shudder at the memory.
"What did he say?" the prince asked in a serious tone. Sometimes, he felt that dealing with Ni was worse than Koushu. He knew his stepmother's motives, but the scientist remained to be an enigma.
"Nothing. He just stopped walking and watched us pass."
That was odd. Ni Jenyi always had the habit of making "random" comments to him and his friends whenever he saw them. Somehow, Kougaiji liked it less when the man said nothing at all.
"My lord, every time I see him, he somehow reminds me of someone I know," Yaone said slowly. "It is almost as if there is something in his presence…"
Kougaiji raised an eyebrow. "Really? Like who?"
Yaone seemed slightly sheepish suddenly. "I can't remember who, exactly. It is almost as if whenever I am on the verge of figuring it out, something pushes me away from making the last connection. I feel like I'm being teased about it."
Kougaiji didn't know exactly what to think about that. He did not doubt Yaone's intuition, but he did not exactly know what to do with this information. The prince vowed to keep a closer eye on Ni nonetheless.
Eyes shifting towards the plants in her hands, he decided to change subjects. "How was your trip out there?"
Yaone's eyes changed from an uncomfortable expression to one of slight frustration. She pulled one of the herb stems separate from the rest, and held it out to her lord. He examined it closely. It didn't take an expert to see that something was wrong with the plant.
"That particular herb should be twice the size it currently is at this time of the year," she explained. "I know that the minus wave is effecting the land in some areas, but that field is not a part of that. We could feel it in the air as well – something wasn't right. It is almost as if-"
"-something is about to happen," he finished. "I know. I can feel it too." He handed the herb back to Yaone. "Can you still work with them as they are now?"
"Most of them. But as I said before, my stores were already stocked, so it won't cause a problem," she reassured.
The two ceased their conversation as they heard someone approach. Kougaiji decided this would be a good time for them to end their discussion, and looked Yaone in the eye.
"Go help Dokugakugi and Lirin rub down the dragons. There's something I need to check out."
Souta woke with a start. He had been sweating through the frustration of his dream, and had not even realized it. As he gained control over himself again, he began to contemplate his surroundings.
The room was simple, yet homely. It was sparsely decorated, and the young swordsman gathered that it was the guest room. The wood of the walls was left bare, leaving a wall of brown in their wake. Souta found it relaxing to be in a room of such simplicity. A single vase of flowers (lilacs, like the ones that bloomed back at home) sat on the dresser under the window. Propped against it was the only sign that a person was residing there – his wooden sword that had been a gift from Kanzeon Bosatsu herself. Sun streamed through, and Souta desperately tried to figure out what direction he was pointing. Was the sun rising or was it setting? Blinking the light out of his eyes, he rose to get out of bed.
The bed he had slept in was a soft as feathers, and the sheets felt smooth against his skin. He winced at the movement slightly, grabbing his chest. It was bandaged, but the young swordsman had the feeling that his wound from before had almost healed.
How long have I been sleeping? He wondered. He vaguely remembered walking into town, and the girl he had saved taking him into her home to have him healed. But after he had stepped in the door, he had passed out from blood loss, the exertion of fighting four demons at once (when he had at most fought only two at once, and they weren't in human form), as well as the mental stress from all that had happened. There was something not right about those demons. Souta knew that he wasn't in the Era of Warring States now more than ever – the Japanese did not have these kinds of houses or beds during that time. He winced as he finally managed to stand up. They didn't have these kinds of bandages either…
Now that he was finally standing, Souta looked down at himself. He wasn't wearing the faintest traces of his school uniform, but a pair of plain brown pants. They had left him topless for easier access to his bandages, which were the only things that covered his torso. He smirked at the thought of trying to restore his old clothes. It isn't as if they could be saved anyways, he thought. Running through all that brush had torn his uniform up beyond repair. WHY his sister had traveled for over a year in the Sengoku Jidai in her own school uniform he had no idea, but now he had an idea of why she finally decided to stop.
Well, it isn't as if I'd go on some quest in my school uniform anyways, Souta thought. I was simply taken here immediately. I didn't have a choice. His sister had been taken through the well suddenly too, and he could see why she wore her outfit then.
First order of business – find some new clothes, he thought. Preferably ones he could move around in – he hated school uniforms because they always felt like they restrained him too much – but he didn't want to be of any inconvenience the people that took him in anymore than he had already been. He made his way to the door, when it opened.
The girl he had saved, Shuang, stood in the doorway with fresh bandages in her hands. There was another girl behind her, who Souta did not recognize, carrying a bottle and a bowl of water. Both girls were about the same height, but the similarities ended there.
The girl, Shuang, had long since taken off his bloodied and torn school uniform jacket, and now wore a simple blue shirt and a short gray skirt. She wore simple sandals with no socks, and her appearance was over all clean cut. Her hair was a light shade of brown, with seemingly sliver highlights. They shown beautifully in the setting (or was it rising?) sun, for she had let her long hair cascade freely around her shoulders. Her eyes were gray, and seemed to compliment her hair's highlights.
The girl he didn't know had a darker shade of brown hair – almost black in hue – with red highlights. She had it pulled back into a ponytail, but left a tendril on the right side of her face. Her skin was more tanned than Shuang's, and ended up looking slightly copper in the partial sunlight. The girl wore a green tank top and a black skirt that was short, but not as short as Shuang's. She did not wear sandals, but a simple pair of shoes.
They were both pretty, and Souta felt suddenly embarrassed at checking them out. Was that any way to treat the ones who had helped him? No, it was not. He felt self-consious, and even more embarrassed when they blushed in response.
Shuang took the initiative for the two women. "I see that you've gotten your energy back," she smiled softly. "Again, thank you so much for saving me." She bowed, and he bowed in return.
"It isn't a problem. I was just lucky to have heard you scream at that moment," Souta countered. If the goddess had delivered him any earlier or later, there was a good chance he would have not been able to do anything.
"I know you must have just gotten up Mr. Souta, but could you please lie back again?" the woman asked politely. "We need to clean your wound and change your dressings." She moved to the side so he could see the woman he had never seen before better. "This is my best friend Xing Xing. This is her family's house – it was the first one we could get to when we came into town."
Souta bowed to the lady. "Thank you very much for your hospitality," he said formally. "You don't have to call me "Mr." either."
"It's the least we could do, you saved Shuang after all." Souta slowly lied back down on his bed, and let the women begin their work. They did not get far when there was another knock on the door.
"Come in," Xing Xing said casually. Souta didn't like the idea of there being an audience while his wounds were cleaned, but he wasn't in the position to question it either.
Two men walked in, one appeared slightly older than Shuang, and had the same brownish and silvery hair. The second seemed to be the girls' age, and had the same brown-red hair that Xing Xing had. They seemed pleased that he was awake, and bowed towards the invalid. Unable to bow, he waved his hand slightly in greeting.
"I'm Ming Yue," the first man said. "Thank you for saving my younger sister."
"I'm De Wei," the second man continued. "I am Xing Xing's twin brother, and you are currently staying in our house's guest room."
"I'm Higurashi Souta," he introduced himself. Before he could continue, the others begin to talk all around him.
"I can't believe that the Forest Brothers were killed," Xing Xing said in an awed voice.
"Forget that, I can't believe that one person was able to take them all out. We never stood a chance against them," De Wei said in an awed voice.
"I was lucky," Souta tried to lessen his accomplishment, feeling more embarrassed by the minute. "They were all distracted, and I caught them off guard. I'd be in worse shape if they could see me coming."
"We've tried that before, though," Shuang said sadly. "No one came back."
"But you did it with only a wooden sword," De Wei continued. "We've gone up against them with katanas and machetes, and they snapped them in half." Souta didn't know what to say about this. If any of the villagers had any demon slaying experience, they would have already been able to defeat the demon. He winced as Xing Xing cut his bandage off and began to remove it.
"How long have the "Forest Brothers," he said slowly, using the demons' names now, "been bothering you?"
"For about a year," Shuang said slowly. "They used to be civil, and generally kept to themselves inside the forest. We didn't mind that much, since they never bothered anyone. But a year ago…"
"A year ago they went crazy," Ming Yue finished for her. "They first refused to let us use a path that went near their house, killing and eating anyone who did." The four shuddered at the memory. "So, we agreed to stay away from them if they stayed away from us."
"They had been extending their territory slowly for months now, and we weren't able to do anything about it. More people would die, so soon we avoided them all together."
That doesn't explain much to me, Souta thought to himself, frustrated. "Where am I, exactly? I'm afraid I got a bit… lost… and I don't have any idea where I am."
"You're in our town, Sanyurrin. We are one of the more central towns in the Great Forest of Tougenkyou," Xing Xing said shortly.
Tougenkyou? But that was in ancient Mainland China! Souta thought to himself frantically. Not only was he not in the right time, he wasn't in the right place. Had Kanzeon Bosatsu made a mistake? No, the goddess had to know what she was doing – he hoped. Souta willed himself not to show shock to the statement, and Xing Xing continued.
"Demons inhabit the forest now, there is no way we can escape. Once they find out that they Forest Brothers are gone…"
"…I left you without a barrier," Souta realized. Yet they would have all been eaten eventually at the rate they were going…
"Don't worry about it," De Wei said with a smile. "You killed four of the demon bastards. We have four less to worry about now."
Souta bit his tongue as Shuang began to clean his wound. He took a peek at it, and saw that it wasn't deep. In fact, it was already rapidly healing… How the heck is THAT happening? He thought to himself.
"You're lucky you only got that slash," Ming Yue commented. "Boss was legendary for gutting his opponents with that move."
"Boss?" Souta asked, confused.
"That's what the leader always called himself," Shuang clarified. "I couldn't believe how fast you moved!" she said, awed. "It was almost as if you were superhuman!"
Souta blushed at the comment. I'm not THAT good… "I just have experience, that's all."
"What, do you kill demons on a regular basis?" Xing Xing asked, curious. "I know there are squads out there who hunt demons, as well as a few individuals."
All of them were now greatly interested in his response. "Well, I didn't do it on a regular basis, only when they attacked my city. Most of the demons I fought didn't have human shapes either." Ok, so that last part was a lie, but he didn't want to make it sound like he was bragging by saying he took out four demons in humanoid form on his first try. He also decided to neglect the fact that he hadn't fought a demon in several months.
"Where do you come from?" Shuang asked politely.
"Tokyo," Like hell they will know where that is… it wasn't around during Sengoku Jidai, it won't be around now.
"Where's that?" Ming Yue asked.
"East." It was a truthful answer; he'd stick with it.
"It must be really small then, because I never heard of it before," Ming Yue commented. Right. Tokyo is small. Souta grinned. He needed to tell Kagome that one…
"I've heard that demon killers often meet other demon killers while they are out and about," Xing Xing said excitedly. "Have you ever met the Sanzo-ikkou?"
"Sanzo-ikkou?" Wait a minute… are they talking about the Sanzo from the "Journey to the West" legend?
"You don't know who the Sanzo-ikkou are?!" the four suddenly exclaimed.
"Man, Tokyo must REALLY be far to the East, if you haven't heard of them," De Wei laughed.
"Isn't Sanzo a priest?" Souta questioned carefully.
"Yeah, but he travels with three demons and together they kill any demon that crosses them!" Xing Xing said breathlessly. "They show no mercy, according to the rumors. I wish they came through and wiped all the demons out of the forest for us…"
They don't sound like the legend I grew up with. Kanzeon Bosatsu is right; we did screw the legend up royally. But it doesn't sound like they would be exactly like that from what I read in the book… It wasn't only that, but he had a feeling somewhere in his heart that they were not like that. Still, if it is really the time period of "The Journey to the West," then I'm in the seventh century. Damn, I overshot the Sengoku Jidai by about eight centuries…
"No, I haven't met them," Souta assured them. "I'm not a formal demon killer anyways." This time he did hiss as Shuang began to put the solvent on his wound.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, "But the medicine has to go on like this if it is to work properly." Souta watched with amazement as he saw his wound rapidly close, to appear as if the skin had never been broken. Well, that wasn't completely true, the area was still a bit pink, and it ached, even if it was less.
"It makes my skin crawl every time I see that…" Ming Yue said in awe. "No pun intended," he added as an afterthought.
"Me too…" agreed De Wei.
"How did, how did…" he stuttered in disbelief, "How did you do that?"
Shuang smiled. "Before the demons went insane, there was a world famous medicine man that lived in the village close by. This medicine can be kept for years and still remain effective. It is a very expensive and rare medication, but it is our way of thanking you for what you've done." She proceeded to wash his stomach now with the rag from the bowl, wiping up the excess medicine. When his torso was clean, she proceeded to apply the same medication yet again. This time, however, she began to wrap the bandage around his stomach.
"You are technically healed now, and I see that you have most of your energy back," she said quietly. "However, this bandage needs to remain on for at least another day before the pain will completely go away. Until then, it should be a dull ache. Sorry."
Souta waved the apology away. "I can deal with it. I didn't expect to be healed in so short of a time anyways." He noticed that the shadows on his bed were a little bit longer than what they had been before. So the sun was setting… he realized. It made sense now. They would have been significantly more tired had they just woken up.
I'm an idiot, he thought. My mind won't work right when it is tired… Despite having finally woken up, he felt the incredible urge to go back to sleep again.
"Don't worry, we'll let you sleep," Ming Yue said with a laugh. "That medicine ALWAYS makes a person drowsy. It is a part of how it works." With that, the four people took their leave, and let him go to sleep.
A voice was calling out to him. It was so familiar, and brought him to attention. Staring through blank eyes, the Fighting God Crown Prince Nataku appeared to have no change in reaction to this, even if his mind was reeling.
It belongs to someone… someone I know… he pondered. The fighting god focused all of his concentration on the voice that called out to him. He had heard it before, but his mind was too muddy from being catatonic for five hundred years to figure it out at first. The more he concentrated, the more the voice became familiar.
Soon, his actual name stopped being said every time the presence called out to him, but he could still feel the longing. Whoever was calling to him wanted to see him, and to see him badly. The voice sounded as if it was full of pain, as if the guilt from some unseen action were to break his heart.
That isn't like him, Nataku thought fleetingly. He is always so cheerful, so energetic. Sadness doesn't really suit him. Where had that come from? Nataku couldn't remember… his mind wouldn't let him connect the dots to complete the picture. The god had the feeling as if he could just remember who was calling to him, he could wake up. Why had I fallen asleep anyways? He wondered.
The soundless voice grew louder, and images of a young boy in chains started to flash through his mind. His hair was a beautiful shade of brown, and was fell in long strands on his back. A golden coronet bound his forehead, and Nataku could tell that it was a youkai power limiter. So this mysterious boy was a demon…
No… he's not. Nataku remembered. He was a gift from earth to heaven – an earth spirit. Related very closely to a demon, he's bound by the same chains of blood that the demons are. But he is still different…
How had he remembered that? Things were becoming clearer, as if the scenery in front of him was slowly coming into focus. The boy laughed in the memory, and opened his eyes.
Nataku was shocked. The boy had golden eyes – the eyes of a heretic –
They shared the same color eyes. They were both cursed by kami-sama to be considered forever different – forever looked down upon. The image faded, no matter how he tried to hold onto it.
The voice called up to him again, in anguish.
"NATAKU!"
Memories of a different sort filled his mind again. There was a sea of blood, and one figure sat in the center of it.
It was the boy…
The Great Sage Equal to Heaven… Seitan Taisei…
"GOKU!"
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About Nataku knowing Goku's name… that will be explained later. The storyline is going AU for Saiyuki as well, since I started in the middle of it.
Comments and criticisms appreciated. Thanks for reading, see you in the next chapter!
-Iapetus