If You Need Her
by Scribe Figaro
SESSION FOUR: BREATHE WITH ME
"Was a bug.
Little bug.
Hardly there."
- Randy Newman, "The Time of Your Life"
Inu-taisho, the great youkai lord of the Western Lands, took great pride in his castle. It was nowhere near large enough for a leader of his stature, but he was not one for spending long days in his home, so there was no gain to having a great manor except the possibility of a greater enticement to pillagers. This mattered little, though, since the castle was guarded by loyal members of the dog clan and many wolf-youkai rendered masterless by the continual civil upsets among the various wolf clans, and thus found an honorable existence as retainers of the dog clan.
And even if his retainers did abandon him – and many did, after Inu-taisho's death, some even surviving long enough to find a place in Kouga's clan some hundred or more years afterward – it would not matter still, for the lord was cursed with wanderlust, with questing for knowledge as well as power, seeking out allies both youkai and human, and as age began to claim him, siring an heir with both races.
It was near the end of Inu-taisho's life that he called in his eldest and most loyal retainer, and at that time Kouga was no more than a cub many ri from Inu-taisho's influence, and his beloved sons were separated and nearly as distant.
Sesshoumaru, on a long journey of his own, was scouting the furthest reaches of his father's kingdom, ensuring order and obedience, traveling alone, as he saw none in his father's allegiance with enough worth to be in the young lord's presence. Inu-taisho had tried, once, to send him with his two most loyal samurai, but Sesshoumaru slew both over minor (if not imagined) breaches of etiquette within a matter of hours from the main gate. When news reached the castle, the wives and children of these retainers, so distraught and ashamed that their families had offended the young Sesshoumaru, killed themselves immediately.
Inu-taisho, saddened and angered at his son's impudence, chastised him, removed his right to the lives of his people, and revoked his right to carry a sword – a right he would not reinstill until his death, upon which his servants would assist in Toutousai's work and present Sesshoumaru with his birthright, Tenseiga.
The look on Sesshoumaru's face when given the katana and realizing it cannot kill – most likely realized after Sesshoumaru, in typical disregard for life, attempted to behead the sword-bearer to test the blade and found it impossible – was something that quietly amused Inu-taisho in his final days.
Inu-taisho loved his firstborn, of course, but his unrepentantly haughty demeanor was one that begged for mocking, and it was most unfortunate only his father could get away with such a thing.
His other son was much younger, the hanyou his mother called "Inuyasha." The name was woefully inappropriate, but his mother liked the name so much that he would never correct her.
She was a good woman, and lived well in the village Inu-taisho secured them, surviving very comfortably on the riches he provided. He visited at times, but those were exceptionally rare, as Sesshoumaru vowed to kill the bastard child that soiled his lineage, a vow that his father could not dissuade with either desperate plea or threat of banishment, torture, and death. Sesshoumaru was so convinced that his father was weakened by his fraternization with humans that he considered such threats madness, and would gladly risk both dishonor and death to wipe his family's line clean of the disease of a half-breed.
Thus Inu-taisho found his firstborn unreachable on this and many other issues, and rather than choosing one son to protect and one to perish, he kept them separate and secret, and as each child grew strong outside his presence, their father grew weak.
Of course, this weakness was not well known, not yet. There were rumors, but there were always rumors of one sort or another. Inu-taisho was old, for sure, and like most youkai he was quite mortal. But rumors of decline, of death, of a coup that might wrest the kingdom from its aging Lord - such things were never so much as whispered in this place. And if such things were spoken, Inu-taisho would know, for his closest retainer, personal advisor, and oldest friend, had a tendency to see and hear without being seen and heard.
Myouga, the flea-youkai, who never carried a blade and yet outclassed any shinobi in terms of stealth, surveillance, and trickery, kneeled politely before the pelt-littered enclave that was Inu-taisho's throne.
"My Lord," he intoned, "I have come with haste as requested."
Inu-taisho smiled. "I had no doubt you would. I apologize from calling you from your previous assignment so abruptly, but this matter is quite urgent."
"No apology is necessary, my Lord. I serve at your pleasure always."
Inu-taisho acknowledged this with a nod.
"I have been issued a challenge from a taiyoukai of the mountains, Ryuukotsusei. It is a challenge I must answer, and I expect I shall die in answering it."
"My Lord," Myouga replied. The words were no more than an acknowledgement, but beneath it was the implied plea that he not cast away his life, the plea Myouga would not dare speak aloud.
"You may speak at ease," Inu-taisho said, a smile creeping across his lips. "There is no one here to witness you feign fealty to me."
Myouga lept in the air, waving both pairs of arms in frustration. "My Lord, it is not an act!"
"The thousand years of bite marks may be hidden by my fur, but that does not mean I forget them, Myouga."
Myouga sighed, defeated.
"In that case, I must ask you: why fight this youkai? The mountains hold no treasures, no decent land to farm or trade route to protect. A taiyoukai such as yourself receives so many challenges, and it would be foolish to entertain them regardless of gain or loss."
Inu-taisho clasped his hands together, glad to see Myouga's over-politeness shed. He was a wise creature, but it sometimes took effort to get him in a place where he would be willing to advise without tainting that advice with empty assurances and honorific nonsense.
"I am not the young pup I was when we were first met," he said. "I am nearing my nine hundredth year, and already I feel my strength in decline. A creature such as I cannot abide old age, and if I must die in a pointless battle rather than see my rule usurped when my fangs are too dull to fight and my mind too dull to care – well, then I chose a glorious death."
Myouga fought back a laugh despite his despair. "Your son is so much like you, my Lord."
Inu-taisho smiled at this. "I suppose you are right." The smile slowly faded. "There is another reason as well. The birthright of my children relies on my death, and I cannot think of a better youkai on which to sharpen my fangs than this Ryuukotsusei."
"I suppose there is no point in me dissuading you from this," Myouga muttered. "You are asking me to ensure Toutousai completes his work, then?"
"Such concerns needn't be yours, my friend. My burial, the taking of my fangs, the forging of Tenseiga and Tessaiga, and their deliveries to my children – all arrangements are made. I have called you here to ask you something entirely different, though no less important." He paused, hoping Myouga understood this. "Are you familiar with a bakemono known as Asesu?"
"The name does seem familiar, my Lord."
"He is a demon without form, an evil spirit which possesses men and youkai and controls them utterly. In the next century or two, he will seek out my son, Inuyasha. I want you to set out this very day to collect all information you can on this creature, to devise a means to defeat him, and when the day comes, you must ensure Inuyasha's survival."
"My Lord, surely, he will have Tessaiga by then."
"The sword and its strength will fail him – in fact, they will only harm him. Only wisdom and knowledge made of twice a man's lifetime of study can defeat such a creature, and so I entrust to this task the wisest and most studious ally I have."
"Then I will set out the moment you grant my leave, my Lord."
"There is one last thing, Myouga, and this is most important. There will be a man, a man in black, and he will fall to Asesu. You must let him fall, regardless of who he may be to you at that time."
Myouga narrowed his eyes.
"Such detail, my Lord. It is a strange request, and though I shall follow it to the letter, I am anxious to know how you came to know all this."
"I suppose no answer will satisfy you, not even if I should tell you the things I cannot. I have a companion who holds talent with knowing things that have not yet come to pass. Her prophecies have never turned false, and I trust her when she tells me the danger of this creature, and the best means in which to defeat it."
"And the man in black?"
"It is cryptic, I know, but you will understand when you need to understand it. 'Sacrifice the man in black, and he will be saved.' I feel he may be your friend, so it may be difficult, but his death serves a great purpose, greater than Asesu could ever hope to be, and as reward for his sacrifice he will be reborn. This is all I am free to tell you."
"I will do as you command, my Lord, but I ask you: has she told you of your battle in the mountains?"
"Wise beyond your many years, Myouga. Yes, she told me I will strike him down, and I will die of my wounds, and in my death I will help ensure a long life for my sons."
Myouga nodded, trying to hide the hollowness in his voice as he bid his master farewell for the last time.
"It has been the greatest honor to serve you, my Lord."
- - -
The memory was a fond one, the last Myouga saw of his former master, and the flea-youkai thought of it often. Perhaps his Lord thought he might forget if his wish was given at a less important time. Whatever the case, Myouga did not fail him, spending much of the next century split between studies at various monasteries and protector of his old Lord's grave – not knowing, of course, that it was a false one – while taking time every few years to visit Inuyasha and make sure he was well.
Of course, thanks to Naraku, Myouga failed to protect his new master, and during the 50 years in which Inuyasha was sealed, Myouga abandoned his efforts and spent most of his time at Inu-toshi's false grave.
But Inuyasha was revived, much to his joy, and in the year since then Myouga had been sure to recollect his writings on Asesu and prepare himself for the day in which he would fight Asesu.
Today was that day.
Indeed it hurt to let Miroku die, and Myouga made himself scarce when he realized what would occur, knowing only at the moment Miroku was first possessed that Asesu's time had come, that Miroku was in fact the man who would be sacrificed, and that Myouga would have to leave him to his fate.
His plan was set the evening Miroku died, and before he was ever buried Myouga set forth to search for the soul-stealers of the miko. It took him days to find her, but the perseverance of a flea-youkai who had seen ages and empires rise and collapse was quite legendary, and he did not despair.
Now he sat here, in the thick of the mane of Kikyou's horse, taking a well-deserved snack now and then, and he chuckled to himself as he wondered how Inuyasha would react when he realized that his savior was none other than his loyal servant Myouga. Gentle Myouga! Wise Myouga! He thought him cowardly, his master, but what was cowardly in running from battles a youkai cannot fight, while running directly to battles in which he can?
He was ready. Nearly two hundred years of preparation had made him the perfect warrior, the mind-warrior, who would defeat Asesu, and afterward, seal him. What a human could not do, a human with limited mind and so few years in which to fill it, Myouga would accomplish.
Today was the flea's day.
- - -
She was glad now that she took such a fine steed. She had almost turned it down, for her pride made it difficult to accept the gift from a farmer whose children she nursed from fever. The man told her he had no need for a calvary horse, that a good ox was all he required, but a horse this fine would fetch a half-dozen oxen.
She surmised it belonged to a daimyo, and perhaps had seen fit to run after its master had fallen in battle, afterward wandering the countryside until it came across a farmer willing to let it partake of his crops.
As Kikyou reflected on such a possibility, she began to understand the farmer's unwillingness to keep or sell the mount. Clearly it would have been the worst of things to do business with a death-horse. Such a creature would surely lead its next rider into to bad fortune.
If only the farmer knew how appropriate the steed was for a woman such as she.
As that thought washed over her, nearly drawing a smile over her enigmatic face, she realized that the flea was talking again.
"Kikyou-sama, we are very close. My master's scent is only a few hours old on this road."
A blast of pure dread struck them. The horse spooked, and only through the combined efforts of Myouga speaking into its ear and Kikyou rubbing its neck did the miko prevent herself from being thrown.
Only after that particular danger had passed did Kikyou address the far greater one.
"Inuyasha has beome a full youkai, hasn't he?" she asked, her hands still tight on the reins.
"I'm afraid so, Kikyou-sama."
Kikyou pulled the clay bottle from inside her kimono. With a gentle finger she beckoned a soul-stealer forward. The snakelike demon, already carrying a soul, deposited the tiny ball of life-energy into the bottle.
Kikyou kept the bottle in her left hand as she snapped the reins with her right. Myouga gripped tightly to the horse's mane as she leaned forward. The horse raced down the path, nostrils flaring.
Her voice was determined, severe, and icy.
"I haven't come all this way to fail."