Title: Come Away With Me
Author: Ms. Videl Son
Disclaimer: ...Well, I sure don't own the first two chapters.
Summary: What if the attempted kidnaping had been successful...?
MirKag
Authors Notes: Look, I updated. I guess you could say that I gave
Miroku his second wind...crickets chirp...ahem, seriously,
though, I couldn't come up with a suitable answer to how to keep
InuYasha at bay long enough to get MirKag together, so I had to do a
lot of brainstorming to come up with this. I have, FINALLY, come up
with a suitable explanation...tell me what you think
Oh, just a warning, you probably won't like Miroku much in this
chapter...
Chapter Three: The Winds of Change
"What should we do with her now, Miroku-sama?" the demon minion glanced at his oh-so-holy master, impatiently twitching for instruction.
The young monk was kneeling beside the easily slumbering body of his capture, checking for signs of life. He pressed his ear to her heart – all in the effort of making sure she was well, of course – and, satisfied with the steady beat within her chest, deigned to answer his servant-for-hire. "Take her to the next town and get lodgings. It won't be safe around here for much longer."
"What about her companions?"
Miroku lifted his face away from Kagome's bosom long enough to glance at the unconscious, whimpering fox kit to his left. "Take the child with you," he decided after an extended pause. There was no need for his new companion to suffer the loss of both of her friends.
The raccoon, shuffling to the edge of the gorge, peered deep inside the chasm for any sign of red or silver. "And the mutt...?"
Miroku pulled his upper body away from Kagome completely – suffering the loss of easy, casual touching – and stood, still gazing at her sleeping face. "Let me worry about him," the monk replied with a deadly softness.
"Of course, Miroku-sama," his servant bowed with exaggerated respect. "I'm ready to take the girl and the fox now, but...," the tanuki paused for effect, waiting for his employer to catch his greedy drift.
Miroku closed his eyes with a pained sigh, "But...?"
The tanuki servant continued on in a fearless, all-business manner. "I may need more money to secure lodgings within the village."
Miroku turned his gaze away from Kagome finally and bestowed his partner with an incredulous smirk. "And what, prey tell, happened to the down payment I gave you beforehand?"
The raccoon, his never-failing confidence that rose with the sum of his payment, replied easily, "Expenses."
The self-proclaimed benevolent monk laughed out loud. Not even this pitiful excuse for a partner-in-crime could spend that amount of money so fast. "Very well," Miroku assented, shaking his dark head with bitter humor. He tossed a small bag bulging with coins at the dusty feet of his hired help, reiterating his earlier order, "Here is the rest of your payment. Now, if you would be so kind, please take my esteemed guest and her young companion to safer lodgings. I shall arrive shortly after."
After a quick tally of his earnings, the tanuki saluted his holy benefactor eagerly. "Right away, Miroku-sama!" The demon pressed a leaf to his forehead in the same motion, enabling his birth-given illusionary arts. In an instantanda puff of smoke he was transformed into a large, formless flying bulge ideal for carrying several passengers.
Miroku aided his armless friend by collecting Kagome and her companion and situating them comfortably and securely on the demon's back for the short journey. After making sure that Kagome's shard was tucked safely
beneath her clothing (and her strangely inadequate underclothing), Miroku wished them all a temporary farewell and watched them disappear into the powder-blue distance.
Once the reduced party was nothing more than a speck on the early morning horizon Miroku returned to his initial business, staring coldly into the deep, jagged chasmin search ofsigns of life.
There were none.
Naturally, none could have survived such a fall, not even onewith demonic fortitude. A half-demon would have as little chance as a pure-blooded human at successfully living through such a fall...or the landing, rather.
However, one could never be too safe when their adversary possessed any amount of inhuman blood. Thus, Miroku, in the spirit of being thorough, began his descent into the gorge in search of the bloodied remains of the half-demon InuYasha...
About halfway down, Miroku began suspecting that "arriving shortly after" had been a bit of a hopeful exaggeration. He would be lucky to make it to the next town by a couple hours after sundown, even using Kagome's strange traveling contraption.
The monk's indigo robes were dyed an even darker hue with his abundant perspiration, seeping into the cloth and accentuating the deeper shade within the already dark fabric. With his staff – strapped to his back and out of his way – adding excess weight to his person, Miroku struggled with the descent, all the while wondering if there was even any point to this madness. After all, as he continuously reminded himself, there was no way any mortal creature could have survived such a fall, demon or not.
Buddha have mercy, but, after such a lengthy descent, he didn't care if that brute had survived or not. Miroku was anxious to get into town, have himself a bath, and spend the rest of the evening in the amiable company of a
grieving female.
The monk was nearly ready to start climbing back up the steep, jagged slope when his sandal scraped some very welcome, level earth.
Buddha be praised!
Assuming that InuYasha had even made it to the bottom himself before meeting his death, Miroku's mission was nearly complete. With an ofuda lit by holy fire, Miroku began his search for the body of the odious half-demon. The beads on his right palm jingled against his walking staff in impatient joy.
The bottom of the canyon was no more interesting than the top, comprised of random rock formations in the same sandy brown as the dust of the roadHowever, there was one extra feature inMiroku'spresentenvironment that hadn't been in the previous: the mangled body of InuYasha.
Miroku hadn't been wandering long in the darkness before the flickering light of his spell had caught a glare of red along the cliff face. The monk had been searching the ground below for signs of the hanyou's unfortunate death when a single bead of warm moisture dripped onto the back of his neck. Miroku fell back into a
defensive stance, his golden staff and flaming ofuda held before him as shields, but his anticipation was disappointed by lack of further activity. Instead, the young monk had the fortune of observing a slowly growing puddle of darkly red mud in the same place he had been previously standing. The moisture that had alertedMiroku to the presence of a potential foe fell from above in a slow, steady pattern of drips that collected in a single spot on the cavern floor.
Upon lifting his gaze up the cliffs face, Miroku discovered the source of the bloody precipitation. Several feet above his head on a small, jagged ledge, a clawed hand draped in a heavy crimson sleeve dangled directly above the expanding puddle of blood, limp and listless in its occupation of the rock formation. A curtain of silver hair preceded the hand, confirming any and all suspicions as to the corpse's former identity. The head wasn't visible, except for the hair, but there was much doubt that any other victim that may have fallen into the gorge recently would have had the same shade of silver hair as the half-demon InuYasha
The body – which didn't move, even after a few moments of observation – was sprawled haphazardly on its back, its fluids leaking from open wounds to the dusty ground below. Despite his previous assertions, Miroku was relieved to find InuYasha indeed dead. With this dangerous beast put out of Kagome's misery the world was much safer. After all, the day humans and demons could coexist peacefully would be the day that a woman agreed to bear his child without struggle.
Miroku climbed the few feet separating him from his deceased foe, his fatigued muscles complaining the entire way, and crouched over the torso to get a better view of the damage.
Yep, definitely dead.
The hanyou's eyes were wide open and devoid of life, rolled as far back as his eye sockets would let them. A stalactite had penetrated his chest cavity, barely missing his heart by inches, but it had done the job nonetheless.
"Well, InuYasha," Miroku said cheerfully, smiling at the unmoving corpse. "It's a shame that we had to meet under these circumstances. After all, we have some things in common," he continued conversationally. He settled in for a rest, crouched on hishaunches over his dead adversary with his arms crossed over his chest. The monk's staff was held firm between his crossed arms and his chest, keeping it out of his way while he spoke to his silent conversation partner. "Your lovely companion, Kagome-sama, is certainly a sight to behold, is she not? I mean, there are men who have killed for less."
The dispassionate face of InuYasha remained focused in its mortality.Thehanyou'sbody was slack and listless with the vacancy of his soul and certainly not spirited enough to strike back at his unconcernedtormentor.
"Not to worry, though. Kagome-sama appears to be a strong individual. I am certain that your death will be only a small inconvenience to her in the long run."
The clawed hand out of Miroku's immediate sight twitched as the flow of blood was reversed inward.
"A beautiful girl such as Kagome-sama will have no trouble in finding a comfortable life without you. She seems extremely fertile, perhaps she shall make some very fortunate man a good wife. After, of course, she's obliged me with a son of my own."
The hand drew into itself, forming a fist.
Miroku patted InuYasha congenially on the shoulder. "I shall be certain to take very good care of Kagome-sama. Once I have had my fill of her company, I shall use all of my connections to secure her future. If I am unable to find her a husband, I am certain that any brothel would be willing to have her."
The hand flexed, cracking its knuckles in its impatience for justice. The rest of InuYasha's body was slow to heal, but only a few more moments and this haughty bastard would get what he had coming...
Miroku held his covered hand vertically before his face, muttering a few prayers of safe journey to the afterlife in the name of InuYasha's soul. "May you find peace within the divine presence of the Almighty Buddha and be reincarnated in a more worthy form."
Now!
Miroku was unaware of the instant that he was attacked or of the moment he hit the opposite side of the gorge, but the facts were what they were. The unholy monk slid to the ground without a struggle, his loose muscles betraying his needs for the currentmoment.
"You...bastard!" a sinister voice snarled from whence he'd come. "Who the hell do you think you are!"
Ah, so that's how it had happened. Miroku had never seriously considered InuYasha part cockroach demon before, but now he was beginning to.
"Still...alive...are you?" Miroku struggled for breath, having lost all of his previous store upon impact with the rocky wall.
A set of golden eyes rimmed with red glared at him from across the darkened ravine, promising all sorts of punishment and eventual death. "Keh!" was the intelligible response from the undying hanyou. "Where's Kagome?"
"Your...lovely companion...is safe," Miroku gasped, his breathing coming only slightly easier as he slowly rose from the ground. He clutched at the wall behind him for support as he pulled himself into a crouched position, feeling around for his lost staff. "I had believed you...you dead and...therefore...took it upon...myself...to...," he couldn't continue.
"Keh," InuYasha responded again. In the weak light of Miroku's undying ofuda flame, the monk could see the slouching silhouette of his adversary several feet across from him, still perched above him upon the ledge. The glint of flames caused the half- demon's eyes to glow with a steady rage of hatred for the monk, though he didn't seem intent on moving for the moment.
'Even if he is alive', Miroku thought, deciding it better to save all vocalization for his foe, 'he must be grievously injured. I still have a chance to kill him.'
"Where's Kagome?" the hanyou asked again, growling for emphasis this time.
"Safe," Miroku replied, also in the same fashion. His breathing was coming much easier now, though he believed it best to maintain the facade of weakness for the present moment. The battle would be in his favor if only he could catch InuYasha by surprise...
Miroku could distinctly hear the cracking of InuYasha's knuckles, even from several feet away. "I'm getting sick of you avoiding my question," the rumble within InuYasha's chest grew with each response, warning Miroku to loosen his tongue for the sake of his own life.
"I apologize for not being more helpful," Miroku smirked with triumph as his fingers finally brushed against his smooth, bronzed weapon. "Upon my honor as a holy man, I wish you the best of luck – " he stood and hurled his staff with a singular, fluid movement, catching the half-demon off his guard. " – in the afterlife!"
InuYasha managed to pull his vital organs out of the path of the monk's projectile, but his left arm wasn't nearly so lucky; he was pinned to the rocky wall by his shoulder.
The light of the ofuda was extinguished in the instant of impact, throwing the scene into complete darkness. "Damnit!" InuYasha cursed, pulling the jangling staff from his shoulder without much struggle. Just one more wound to add to his collection, he thought, shifting his keen canine eyes across the scenery. His adversary was human, a stupid human who had given his superhuman foe the upper hand by casting them both into darkness.
InuYasha smirked at his superiority and drew his sword, elighting in the metallic ring it made upon being scraped against the edge of the scabbard. "You really aren't all that bright, are you, human?" he boasted with a cruel laugh. "I can see better in here than you can!"
InuYasha leapt from the ledge to the ground, sniffing for the scent of his foe. Once he caught up with that haughty bastard, InuYasha would MAKE him reveal Kagome's whereabouts. If he still didn't want to cooperate, the hanyou would follow her scent until he found her himself. Simple as that.
InuYasha inhaled deeply, taking in all of the smells available to him – earth, moisture, blood – and attempted to discern anything that might be out of place. Unfortunately, they all seemed to blend together into a weary haze, clouding his senses to the presence of the monk. Crouched on his haunches, InuYasha teetered dangerously on the edge of consciousness for the second time in the span of two hours.
"Perhaps," the monk's voice echoed off the walls of their confined space. "But the incense that fills this cave shall be my equalizer."
With a sharp jab to the back of his cranium, InuYasha was sent tumbling forward onto the dirt in a spell of dizzy unbalance. The half-demon raised his clawed hand to retaliate, turning his torso to swipe at the adversary he hadso clearly underestimated, but found a heel in between his shoulder blades holding him to his position on the ground.
"And to think, I was worried that this scent would be too strong for any use in meditation. At least I have found other uses for it," Miroku smiled congenially, digging into his spine with his sandaled sole. "I had to sacrifice the light which I used to see, but I believe it was worth it, don't you agree?"
Under normal circumstances, InuYasha wouldn't have been nearly docile enough to be held down by a single foot, but the incense which clogged his senses held him to the ground with an unparalleled weight of its own, crushing his chances of retaliation. "You...bastard...," InuYasha coughed, finding it his turn to wheeze with every breath.
"Charming to the last," Miroku laughed softly, loosening the clay beads looped around his wrist. "As I assured you earlier, dear Kagome-sama will be in no danger from me. In fact, I dare say that she'll be far more content in my company than she ever was in yours."
In spite of the overpowering incense, InuYasha managed to push himself up for another attack, but Miroku held him firmly down. "I'll...kill you!" InuYasha vowed, digging his claws into thetightly-packed earth.
"I sincerely doubt your word, my friend," the monk disagreed, inflicting his painful influence on InuYasha's spine once more before removing himself from his prey altogether.
"Keh!"
Miroku began to move away from the struggling hanyou, slowly and carefully unwrapping his right hand, and then seemed to think better of it. Fixing his mild violet gaze on InuYasha, Miroku stopped fiddling with the covering on his arm and, after a few moments pondering, returned to his immobilized foe. "On second thought," he thought aloud, kneeling down beside InuYasha again. "I think I'll take these." He reached out with his uncovered hand and, despite unsuccessful attempts by InuYasha to bite him, removed the bloodied subduing beads from the hanyou's neck. "Kagome-sama will be thankful for a keepsake, I'm sure," the monk smiled.
"Son of a bitch!" InuYasha snapped at the hand grasping his beads, missing his enslavement by the girl who had saved him. "Give them back! I swear to you, you sorry bastard, that I won't rest until I get them back!"
"Ah! A gift from the beauteous Kagome-sama, I presume?" Miroku asked, gazing at the chipped and bloodied necklace with new esteem. "Well then, I shall be certain to return them to her. Fear not."
Finally InuYasha managed to pull together enough coherence for mobility and, in taking advantage of this, sprang forward for another attack on the villainous monk. Miroku was surprised by the lunge, to say the least, and found himself unable to defend himself past rasing his arm to guard his face. InuYasha sank his fangs deep into the monk's forearm, eliciting a scream of pain and a gush of blood from the felled holy man.
"Augh!" Miroku fell backwards onto the dirt, completely under the power of InuYasha, the subjugation beads still clamped in his left fist. The clay fangs dug into his flesh, inflicting more wounds upon his person, and Miroku felt himself weakening under the pain.
He turned his face to the side, away from the snarling and bloody face of InuYasha, and, in the dull vision of one belatedly accustomed to darkness, spotted his only means of salvation...
Crack!
The audible fracturing of InuYasha's skull against the desperate monk's bronzed staff reverberated around the cavern, adding a sickening sound effect to the end of the battle. InuYasha's fangs were ripped from Miroku's flesh almost instantaneously, splattering blood around the immediate area in a crimson wave.
The hanyou landed a couple of feet away, momentarily stunned, as Miroku regained his bearings. InuYasha's own weapon was within his grasp and the monk knew that if he didn't take his opportunity now, here wouldn't be another.
"Die!" he demanded, fully releasing his own demons from the hellhole within his palm by ripping the spell-bound beads from his fist completely. A powerful wind was released, pulling the stunned hanyou into its vortex with an irresistible force.
Overall, the wind was strangely quiet. Perhaps simply because death was silent.
With the resiliency only InuYasha could claim, the half-demon grabbed his own weapon from where it lay prostrate next to him, a rusty old katana that wasn't even sharp enough to cut bread. As soon as its owner touched it, however, it transformed into a formidable sword, larger than any the monk had previously encountered.
Still, no weapon was a match for the Kaze no Kizu.
With a single fruitless swipe of his sword, InuYasha was consumed and the battle declared its inevitable winner.
Miroku wrapped up his bleeding palm, confining the deadly winds for the time being, and slumped to the ground, panting from exertion. He stared at the bloody beads that had belonged to InuYasha and, in an exhaustion induced daze, whispered, "Sleep well."
Much thanks to the lovely and benevolent Chii-Chii-sama for beta-ing this for posting It was a HUGE help. If you would like to see Chiisai-tori's fanfiction, you can go to her personal account on this site and/or check the stories posted on the MonkandMiko page for some of her challenge responses Her most recent posting is in response to the challenge "Gynophobia," and is most certainly worth the read. We promise you, you won't stop laughing for at least a week after reading it...
Megamino Eien