For all his occasional fantasies of embarking on some adventure or another alone with Sango, Miroku had never thought it would happen anything like this. His daydreams tended to involve a lot more flirtatious banter, among other activities, and a lot less racing across the darkening countryside in the hopes of saving a friend's life. With this thought firmly in mind, he fought to maintain focus on the task at hand: tracking down the source of the evil aura, the supposed dark miko.
There was no telling just how quickly Kagome's condition would deteriorate, but he knew he and Sango needed to act fast. Unfortunately, the urgency of the situation only made it more difficult for him to concentrate.
He was sorely out of practice when it came to this type of work. Probably, he supposed, because he usually did everything he could to avoid such work. Indeed, in some ways he was still avoiding such work—the slightest distraction threatened constantly to entice him away from his task. The wind, the height, the danger, his proximity to Sango…
One by one he set them aside, as he had been trained, until finally, fleetingly, there it was. He could tell not just which way the aura was coming from, he could tell exactly how strong it was, and how far away. Whoever or whatever was the source, it was strong enough to be truly intimidating; Miroku honestly wasn't sure what he could do to counter it.
He had to hope that an opportunity would present itself. As much as he didn't like it, for Kagome's sake, he had to try.
"That way!" he called to Sango, leaning into her to reach over her shoulder so he could point where she would see.
In spite of the close contact, Sango was all business. She guided Kirara into a smooth, arcing descent, heading for the distant spot he had indicated. It was a place where the forest grew even thicker than usual, which meant they had no way of seeing from a distance who or what might be waiting for them there.
Kirara dropped steadily lower as she approached the spot Miroku had indicated, doubtless looking for a gap between the trees into which she might slip. She didn't make it far. Producing an unearthly yowl, she reared back and nearly dislodged both her passengers.
Only Sango's strength and quick reflexes kept them in place. Without her to cling to, Miroku would have fallen as Kirara flailed in anguish. Somehow managing to keep both of them astride Kirara, and that apparently by main strength, Sango exclaimed, "What?!"
"There's a barrier here," Miroku told her, reaching the only plausible conclusion. Beneath them, Kirara righted herself and pulled up higher, drifting over the top of the barrier. They suffered no ill effects at this distance, but Miroku could sense the strength of its malice quite clearly even from here. Someone didn't want anyone getting too close. "A strong one."
"Is the source of the aura down there?"
"It seems that way."
Kirara circled back around, but they were too high up to see anything, or anyone, that might be the source of the barrier or aura.
"Kirara can't touch the barrier," Sango pointed out. "And I'm not sure I want to risk it, either. Can you find a way through?"
He didn't have to try it to know how that would go. "No, my power would be no match for whatever is causing this," he admitted, though the failure was beyond frustrating. They had come all this way only to find they were not up to the task. "Unless we can find an entrance, there is nothing we can do here."
Below, Kirara rumbled an unhappy echo to his own disappointment.
"Houshi-sama, down there…" Sango murmured suddenly.
He followed her gaze down and realized with a start that they were not the only ones who had come to investigate the barrier. Down below stood a solitary figure clad in the distinctive red and white costume of a miko. She stood firm on a hilltop just beyond the barrier's reach, a longbow at the ready in her hand. Given the current situation, this could be only one person: Kikyou.
He muttered her name and abruptly felt the icy spear of her gaze on him, as if speaking her name had drawn her attention. He didn't fear Kikyou, precisely, but her presence was always unnerving. There was just something about a woman who had died, yet walked the land as if she lived…
"Why is she here?" Sango wondered aloud, disrupting his uneasy thoughts.
Miroku could only wish he knew. Yet even without any details, he knew this couldn't be a good sign. Wherever they ran into Kikyou, trouble quickly followed. And this time they were already on trouble's trail.
While they watched from above, helpless to interfere, Kikyou strode forward and passed through the barrier.
"She went inside," Sango gasped. "What do you think she means to do?"
"Could it be that she came here to destroy the source of the evil?" Miroku mused. It wouldn't surprise him. Kikyou's fate always seemed intertwined with Inuyasha's, and with Kagome's.
"Do you really think that's why?"
He would have shrugged, if Sango could see it. "I guess we'll have to wait and see."
As if they had any other choice.