Sesshomaru walked along the empty passages of the castle. Everything was cloaked in pre-dawn darkness. Not even the servants stirred at this hour. He glided unhurriedly through the corridors, descending towards the kitchens in the basement. His silver hair cast an eerie glow on the walls as he passed. He wondered where Jaken was now. Ever since the Council meeting when the prophecy was discovered, he had been increasingly disturbed, although there appeared to be nothing accurate to pinpoint his uneasiness on. Being an Inu, it was his nature to be solitary, unlike wolf youkai who liked to live in packs. Being the son of a powerful taiyoukai meant that distrust was instilled in him, practically since birth. Under normal circumstances, he would have set out alone to investigate his vague suspicions and eliminate threats to what he considered as his. However, in this case, he had had to suppress such instincts in favor of a greater one – Rin. His mate must be protected at all costs. He was certainly not going to trust anyone else in that regard, not in this lifetime. The only solution had been to send his long-time retainer, Jaken, in search of …whatever it was there to be found. He had infinite faith in his zealous retainer's power to unearth obscure and hard-to-find things. If anything remained to be found, Jaken would find it. Meanwhile, all he could do was to stay ever-vigilant at his mate's side.

Sesshomaru reached the main door leading down into the kitchens and paused. A discrete sniff assured him of his quarry on the other side of the door. His sharp ears caught the murmur of whispered words. He quietly opened the door and looked into the long room. The huge fire pit at the far end contained some glowing embers. He could also see the huddled shapes of the scullery maids who slept beside it. However, his quarry was beyond this room, in the chamber adjoining it which opened out into the kitchen gardens. He quickly walked towards the connecting doorway and halted just beyond it and looked at the two females shrouded in huge cloaks standing at the top of the steps leading down into the garden. They seemed to be arguing rather furiously, in whispers. Not that that was any impediment to his sharp ears, but a kind consideration nevertheless, for the kitchen maids who would need to toil from sun-up for long hours, to keep the people in the castle well-fed.

"…cannot believe you are making such a fuss for such a ridiculous reason" Rin declared in a loud whisper. "You are going to miss the appointed hour!"

"It is not a ridiculous reason!" Kagura returned, hotly. "Don't you understand the seriousness of the situation? I cannot See anything!"

Rin couldn't help but roll her eyes in irritation. "Even if you could See, there would be nothing to See, on my way back to my bedroom which happens to be in this same castle! There must be a hundred soldiers within its walls, even if anything happened which it won't".

"All those soldiers are asleep!" said Kagura, doggedly returning to the point she had made several times over in the past few minutes. "By the time those idiots heard you, you could be dead!"

"Oh, for the love of…!" Rin sounded exasperated. "Will you just go?"

"This is why I said good-bye last night" grumbled Kagura. "I did not want you to come to see me off because I did not want you walking back to your apartments alone! Don't you remember the prophecy?"

"Hang the prophecy!" declared Rin, now on the verge of losing her temper. "You are my sister! You are going off God knows where, and I have no idea when I will see you again. If I have to walk through a few dark corridors so that I see you before you go, then so be it!"

"But…"

"I shall escort the Queen back. You may leave in peace, Lady Kagura." Sesshomaru decided to make his presence known.

Both Rin and Kagura whirled around at the sound of his voice but only Kagura appeared surprised. Rin looked like she wanted to say, 'what kept you so long'. 'Hn…I wonder if she could detect my presence' thought Sesshomaru but abruptly wrenched his mind away from that path. There was no need to give further fuel to his salivating demon who had been nagging him to claim her for months.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" exclaimed Kagura "What are you doing here?"

"Apparently, seeing you off" he dead-panned. He swore he heard Rin suppress a snort.

"You had better not keep the Monk waiting. Good luck" said Sesshomaru before stepping back into the kitchen, pulling Rin with him. Without giving either woman time to do more than blink, he shut the door, quietly but firmly. He turned and propelled Rin to walk in front of him, but kept a hold on her upper arm.

"That was so rude!" whispered Rin as she stumbled into the main kitchen. Sesshomaru tightened his grip and steadied her as she continued to grumble up at him. "What must Kagura be thinking! I came to say good-bye and practically booted her from the castle. This is her home as well, you know!"

"Hn."

"Can you not say something other than that?" huffed Rin "It's so irritating".

"You were holding her up" said Sesshomaru "I know you do not like her going away like this. But it must be done. I may have been abrupt, but otherwise, the two of you would have remained bickering on that doorstep until Doomsday."

Rin sighed, slowed her pace and almost came to a stand-still. If not for Sesshomaru's gentle pressure on her arm, she might have simply stood there, frozen in her grief at parting from the sister of her heart.

"I hate the thought of Kagura going away" she said, not really noticing where she was going, instinctively trusting that the demon by her side would never lead her astray. "She is my only family. I have never been apart from her."

Sesshomaru scowled on hearing the echo of pain in her voice. His eyes flashed red briefly before he managed to subdue his inner beast who wanted to comfort its mate.

"She is not the only person you have."

With that enigmatic statement, he reached across her and opened the door leading to her personal apartments. Completely thrown by his comment, especially at the underlying tone (almost like a vehement declaration of fealty), Rin was quite surprised to find herself in her rooms. She turned to ask what he meant by that, but Sesshomaru gave her no chance.

"Sleep well, Your Majesty" he said, and executing a short bow, turned and disappeared along the dark corridor.

Grumbling about recalcitrant dog demons, Rin walked into her bedchamber. Throwing off her cloak and robe, she slid underneath the soft blankets in a simple soft-silk gown. Turning on her side, she hugged a pillow and couldn't help but smile. The sorrow of Kagura's leaving had been inexplicable lessened, overshadowed by Sesshomaru's declaration, however oblique it had been. Besides, his actions always spoke louder than words. She had always known that he would never allow her to walk the dark corridors of the castle alone. Even if it had been pure luck that Sesshomaru happened to be in her office when Kagura had come to say good-bye, Rin knew that he would have found out, and he would have come.

Kagura secured her hold on her billowing cloak and walked briskly down the road. She had had to poke awake the guards at the gate to let her out of the castle. But other than that, she had maintained a steady pace out of the First Circle. All the roads in the city wound around the mountain. The main roads of all the circles were interconnected, providing a single access to the road above and below it. In fact, it could be said that there was just one road from the main gate at the foot of the mountain to the castle at the top. The entire city was arranged around this, in ten circles. This might cause the occasional traffic, but mostly, the city had been constructed in this manner as a way of fortification. For instance, huge armies, even if they managed to gain access to the city, would not find it easy to reach the castle at the top along the long winding roads, each with only a single connection to the next one. The Second Circle contained larger homes than the First which was mostly occupied with diplomats and civil servants who worked at the palace. Most of the Second Circle was populated with homes of the nobility with extensive gardens and musical fountains expertly made to fit the curve of the mountainside. Despite its elegance, it exuded a menance in the pre-dawn darkness. Kagura shivered and thought of the bustling castle corridors, always full of people. It was the only home that she had ever known, although she must have come from somewhere. Leaving her home and Rin was wrenching her heart, but she did not know what else to do.

For the past two weeks, she had continuously tried to See anything, but all that the exercise had granted her was a massive headache. Lord Miroku had been kind and tactful while discussing their travel-plans. The man certainly had empathy in spades, probably the reason he was very successful with the ladies. Although, come to think of it, how a holy man became a womanizer, Kagura never understood. Was Miroku really a Monk? After all, he was the one who found the prophecy. What if it was all an elaborate trap to get her out of the way so that enemies can attack Rin? Kagura came to an abrupt stop as the thought occurred to her. She was so upset, she almost turned around when the quarter moon came out from behind a group of clouds, flooding the road with silvery light. She took a deep breath and started walking forward again. She must not forget Sesshomaru. He was always hovering around Rin. The way he turned up out of the blue earlier as she was leaving was a case in point. Even if all this turned out to be a ruse, Kagura knew she could trust Sesshomaru to do everything possible to protect the Queen. So. She should now concentrate on figuring out what was wrong with her. Even if she could not trust Miroku, even if she did not know where she was going or what she could do to restore her Vision, she knew that Rin would be safe. That was what was important. Even if something happened to her, she could live with that as long as her sister was safe.

Miroku was waiting on his doorstep with his housekeeper when Kagura walked out of the early morning mist like a wraith. He caught Nabiki's sharp intake of breath at her appearance. He had to admit that Kagura was extremely beautiful. But it was not her beauty that one noticed first. An aura of power always exuded from her. The flash of her red eyes set her apart as a demon, and the intelligence visible in their fiery depths gave most observers pause. Today, dressed from head to toe in an unrevealing black cloak with the hood pulled up with just her face visible, power still seemed to roll off her in waves. Why was her Sight broken? Was it even broken or were they all just reacting to that feeling of menace conveyed by the accursed prophecy? Miroku had no answers. He did not even know if his erstwhile mentors could help Kagura. Everything about her was mysterious, both her origins and her powers. But he had not suggested taking her along with him to Bodhidera because he was sure of finding answers. He knew of the strong bond shared between the wind demon and the Queen. He was also aware of how the rest of the noble court treated them both. In the aftermath of the prophecy, something told him he had to try and help Kagura, or at the very least, remove her from the path of the vindictive nobles. Hence his suggestion. He just hoped that Kagura understood his motives as well as the possibility of never finding any answers at the monastery.

"I hope I did not keep you waiting for long, Lord Miroku" said Kagura by way of greeting.

"Not at all, Lady Kagura" replied Miroku. "Do you not have any luggage?"

Kagura twitched her cloak aside to show him a small bag with a long strap that she had strung across her shoulders underneath her cloak.

"Oh" mused Miroku. "And here I thought most ladies needed at least a trunk or two."

"I am not most ladies."

"Right" said Miroku with a sheepish chuckle. "This is Nabiki. She takes care of me and mine." He waved to the silent figure beside him.

Kagura observed the middle-aged human woman and inclined her head slightly. Nabiki dropped a short curtsey and retreated back into the house saying, "Safe travels my Lord, my Lady."

"If all goes well, I shall see you in two weeks' time" Miroku raised a hand in farewell and turned to Kagura. "Come on, then. I dropped my bags off with the gatekeeper of the Tenth, yesterday. We can probably hitch a ride south."

"Hitch a ride?" asked Kagura as she fell in beside Miroku who set a brisk pace towards the next Circle.

Being a mountain city, most of the essential supplies had to be brought into the city from other towns and villages. There would always be carts and wagons coming and leaving the city in all directions throughout the day. While it would be easy for someone of Miroku's status to order a well-sprung carriage or even have a couple superb horses readied for the journey, the horses would have to be changed constantly which would be difficult once they left the city. Besides, most demons did not like travelling in carriages or horses for long. He thought that Kagura, being a wind demon would be even less thrilled to be in a confined space. On the whole, he felt it would be better to hitch a ride out of the city and later, continue travelling by foot. He may be human, but he knew that he could run quite fast and manage to keep up with demons.

"Yes" said Miroku. "There will be plenty of wagons or carts leaving the city at dawn. I'm sure one of them will allow us to catch a ride out of the city, at the right price of course. Afterwards, I thought to continue on foot."

Kagura frowned.

"Our own horses or carriage might become bothersome, especially once we leave the city proper" he continued hurriedly. "We will have to change horses or give the animals a respite. Either one would cause a long delay. This way, we can easily reach the monastery in 3 to 4 days' time."

"Three to four days?" exclaimed Kagura

"Er…yes. Less, if we are lucky" said Miroku "Bodhidera is situated in the Akaishi Mountain Range, towards the south-west."

Kagura eyed him appraisingly.

"I will not hold you back much" said Miroku "My training allows me to keep up with most demons."

"How much luggage do you have?" asked Kagura, rather abruptly.

"Er…" Miroku frowned perplexedly. "I too have a small bag much like yours, as well as a small case of my papers."

"How small?"

"Pardon?"

"Could you carry the case on your lap, along with your bag?" asked Kagura.

"Er…I guess so" replied Miroku. "Why?"

"Then leave our transportation to me" said Kagura enigmatically.

"Pardon?" Miroku blinked.

Kagura sighed and increased her pace. "Come along, Monk. If you think I am going to traipse around the countryside for 4 days to reach your monastery, you have another think coming!" she declared.

Miroku hurried to catch up with her. Kagura's cloak billowed out behind her as she set a furious pace to the Tenth Circle and the main gates of the city. Being the lowest circle, the huge wall encircling it had a rampart on top which was always patrolled by four soldiers between the two main gates. The third gate was for the exclusive use of the monarch. The previous king had always used it to go on hunting trips with his nobles. He had met his untimely death at just one such hunt, and his body had been carried back through that gate. Perhaps that was why, but Queen Rin preferred to use the main gate. The third gate remained largely unused these days. Legend said there had been a fourth gate as well, but it had to be walled up because a lake in the surrounding forest flooded every year and caused damage to the gates which had to be rebuilt every time. Being an incident that occurred so far back in history, few people remained who even remembered the location of the fourth gate.

Kagura looked up at the lightening sky. There was a slight pink visible at the horizon, but the sun was still an hour or so away. She took a deep breath of the bracing morning air and wished she were setting out on one of several picnics she had enjoyed with Rin when the old queen had been alive. She would order a hamper from the kitchens, and accompanied by a few soldiers, take her and Rin to some lonely glade in the nearby forest where they would play for hours before sitting down to a most delicious meal. Kagura sighed as she remembered the nostalgia of those days. They were long gone. Rin was far too busy and her life was far too much at risk to attempt something like that now, and the queen was dead. She had been the only mother-figure in Kagura's life. For all purposes, she had been her mother. The queen had always referred to her as daughter, at least away from the King and other nobles. However, she had always treated her as a daughter which was far more important, in Kagura's book. She still missed the queen. And she was sure Rin did too, but neither of them had the luxury to reminisce about such things. And now, here she was, setting off on her own, to try and fix something that shouldn't need fixing. Kagura sighed and pushed the melancholy drift of her thoughts to the back of her mind. She had a duty to Rin. If this was what was required for her to fulfill it, then so be it. She would not complain or be sad any more. She would not rest until she had an answer.

As they reached the lower circles, Kagura and Miroku met up with several people, carts, wagons and horses. Markets had already opened on several streets, and vendors displayed freshly baked loaves of bread, fresh fruit and vegetables. One street was full of dinghy cafes and road-side stands that sold deliciously hot noodle soup. The mouth-watering aroma set Miroku's stomach rumbling. But he restrained himself, fearing Kagura's rebuke. He had (apparently) messed up the transportation issue. He had no desire to invite further wrath on his head. On reaching the Tenth Circle, he took the lead, walking towards the main gate, next to which was the watchman's house. Hachi hailed from a village near the monastery and had accompanied him to the Fountain City when he had first arrived here as an apprentice to the then-librarian of the castle. Hachi was a huge man, well-known in the village for his brawn. But only a few realized that his behemoth body hid a kind heart. He had married a gentle woman and settled down as watchman at the main gate of the city. As they walked up, he saw his friend waiting for them at his doorstep with his luggage. He raised his hand in salute and turned to Kagura, only to see her scowling at Hachi.

"This is Hachi" said Miroku as he came to a stop before the watchman. "He hails from near the monastery."

"Morning, my Lady" said Hachi, with a small bow. Turning back to Miroku he said, "There is a regular from Honcho who is due to depart from the city at 6. He would be a good bet for your first stage."

Miroku shook his head ruefully, "There's been a change of plans."

"Huh? What?"

"I don't know" said Miroku, turning to look at Kagura who frowned at him.

"Is there any place I can get a cup of tea?" she asked. "I hate going without my morning tea."

Miroku blinked and Hachi scratched his head in confusion.

"You are welcome to share a small repast with us, if it pleases you Lady" said a soft voice behind Hachi.

Everyone turned around to look at a small pretty woman holding forth a tray laden with warm bread, a slice of cheese and a jug of steaming tea.

"M'wife, Keiko" mumbled Hachi, by way of introduction. She looked positively tiny beside her huge husband.

"Thank you" said Kagura, sincerely grateful to this strange woman. "I am in your debt."

"It's only tea" said Keiko with a smile.

"Exactly" said Kagura and smiled back.

Meanwhile, the men blinked at this sudden female rapport as Keiko set down her burden on a bench set against the outer wall of their house and handed Kagura a steaming cup of tea. Miroku watched her sip from it with obvious pleasure and remembered running into her behind the kitchen drinking tea, on the day that he found the fateful prophecy. She had even offered him some. Smiling, he too accepted the cup Keiko handed to him and drank gratefully. Directing Hachi to refill the cups as required she bustled inside. In a few minutes, she came back bearing a small cloth bag filled with two fresh loaves and some more cheese. She pressed this into Kagura's hands who suddenly looked uncertain. She caught Miroku's eye who smiled and thanked Keiko profusely. She waved this away and went back inside, blushing prettily.

"Now, now, you rascal!" mock-admonished Hachi. "Stop eyeing my wife, will you!" He turned to Kagura and said, "You will need to have a firm hold on him, my Lady. The man has a roving hand." He laughed while Miroku sighed and rolled his eyes. But there was affection in the glance that he bestowed on the other man which made Kagura smile as well.

"Well, Lady Kagura" said Miroku, "Here we are, luggage and all. How are we going?"

Kagura put down her cup and thanked Hachi, causing him to blush as well. "Kindly convey my thanks to your esteemed wife as well."

Turning to Miroku, she said, "Let us get clear of the city walls first."

Seeing Miroku hesitate, she continued with a smile, "Here I am, trusting you to take me into the unknown. Won't you return the favor and trust that I will get us there?"

Miroku smiled back, and nodded. He took his bag and satchel from Hachi, and followed the wind demon out of the city.

"Safe travels!" yelled Hachi after them as they joined the throng at the gate.

Once free of the gate, they followed the road south for some time before Kagura led them off the path into the forest. She seemed to know where she was going, so Miroku followed silently. The trees were not very thick or too close, so it was easy going. Kagura led them into a small clearing, barely wide enough for three people. Stopping, she pulled down the hood of her cloak. Her hair was in its usual bun adorned with a pale green feather. She plucked this and held it in front of her mouth and blew gently on it. Miroku watched in amazement as the leaf grew in size, enough to support two grown people. It came to rest gently hovering in the air, a few inches off the ground in front of Kagura. She stepped on it and gestured for Miroku to follow suit. She sat in front, facing the stem of the leaf and arranged her cloak comfortably around her. Feeling like he was in a dream, Miroku stepped gingerly onto the leaf. He felt it dip slightly underneath his weight, much like a canoe would dip when you stepped in it. He sat down behind Kagura and placed his bag and satchel on his lap. He felt the giant leaf vibrate a little, as though in excitement. He gulped and wished there was something to hold on to. Somehow, he did not think Kagura would appreciate it if he grabbed hold of her.

"Hold on to the sides if you wish" said Kagura, almost as though reading his thoughts. "It will not let you fall, regardless."

The leaf shot up in the air and rose above the tree tops, apparently of its own free will. Miroku could not help the strangled yelp that escaped him and grabbed either side of the leaf. Kagura turned around and grinned at him.

"It takes a little getting-used-to. Shall I continue above the south road?"

"Um…yeah. Okay" replied Miroku feebly. 'I'm never trusting a demon in transportation ever again!' he thought somewhat wildly.