Inupunzel
Disclaimer: I don't own any Inuyasha characters.
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Chapter 5: The Monk
Clink, clang, tinkle, clink. The small chiming sounds of a priest's staff rang out over the hills in time with the casual steps of a lone traveler. He was dressed in black and purple, and carried little with him apart from the staff. As he walked, he grumbled to himself under his breath. "I shouldn't have listened to those gossiping busy-bodies after all," he muttered. "What kind of princess would live way out in the middle of nowhere? There's no sign of any tower, and this path looks like it hasn't been traveled in ages!" He sighed and contemplated turning around, but decided to keep going at least until he could see around the next bend. After all, if there really was a sad, beautiful princess who lived by herself in a tower out here, and had never had contact with anyone besides the priestess who raised her, well, how could Miroku resist going to see her? Surely such a sheltered princess would be gullible enough...ahem, lonely enough, to welcome a visit from him! And who was Miroku to resist helping a lovely young maiden who needed him? So he plodded on just a little further.
The next bend was successfully navigated, and Miroku sighed in disappointment. He turned to head back the way he'd come, but had only taken the first step when something caught his eye. There was a small road leading off through the trees. It was little more than a trail, really. The double ruts indicated it had been used by carts or other wheeled vehicles in the past, but it was so little-used that the tracks were overgrown and nearly impossible to spot. With an interested hum, Miroku hurried to follow the path.
At last his efforts bore fruit as the trail eventually brought him in view of a tower. Cautiously he approached the secluded building. He'd really rather not bump into the aforementioned priestess. She was likely old, and even worse, likely of the sort of mindset that would have her running him off rather than welcoming him in to meet her beautiful young charge. Happily there was no sign of the priestess, and Miroku set about investigating the tower. There was a decided lack of doors into this tower. How remarkably odd! It lent the whole situation an air of mystery that was beginning to catch his attention even beyond the idea of a pretty girl. He could see a window at the very top of the tower, and there was some sort of rope hanging from it, suggesting one could enter by climbing up. The rope was positively filthy, being covered in dirt, old leaves, and tangles of burrs. Miroku gagged at the thought of touching it, and continued searching for a door. Alas, it appeared the rope was his only option. Gathering his courage and keeping a firm grip on his stomach, Miroku gave the rope a good tug to make sure it was firm. It held well, and he began to climb. The rope was a little cleaner further up from the ground, and halfway up he realized it was made of many fine, shiny silver strands braided together. It almost looked like...hair? Huh, a sweet silver-haired princess, perhaps? Although, was he really interested in a princess that would let her hair get in the condition he saw down below? Ugh. If he weren't already mostly there, he might just have spared himself the effort. "Oh well," he thought to himself as he reached the edge of the windowsill. "I guess since I'm already up here I might as well say hello. I could still be pleasantly surprised," and he pulled himself up and through the window into the tower.
He found himself in a large room furnished as a single-room habitation, with a bed on one side, and kitchen paraphernalia on the other. The room had obvious signs of habitation, from a fresh partially-eaten apple on the table, to the rumpled unmade state of the bed, to the general lack of dust. The hair rope thing he'd been climbing continued on into the room, looping about over practically everything. The princess was not immediately vizable, but the sound of light footsteps from behind a door near the back reassured Miroku that she would soon appear. He hastily straightened his robes and put on his most charming smile to greet her.
The door opened with a faint creak. A figure appeared, but she was turned back looking at something in the room behind her, and the long masses of her hair blocked most of his view. Miroku took a step forward, and the figure whirled around. "Kik..." a low harsh voice began to say, and finally Miroku could see the person's face. They stared at each other for a long moment.
"Aaaaaahhhh!" screamed Miroku as he jumped back in surprise and pointed at the person.
"Aaaaahhh!" screamed the person, also jumping back and (rudely) pointing at Miroku.
"You're not a princess!" accused Miroku.
"And you're not a priestess!" returned the other.
"You're not even a girl!" continued Miroku.
"Neither are you!" the person quickly replied.
Miroku let his arm drop and took a better look at the person. A masculine stance, a strong jaw, a somewhat refined nose … golden eyes with a sharp look, and … triangular ears perched on top of his head. Miroku's eyes grew large as realization hit him. "YOU!" he cried. "You're a demon! You must have heard about the princess too, and came her to devour her. Where is she? What have you done with her? You'd better hope she's unharmed. If you've already consumed her, I won't forgive you!" Miroku ignored the look of confusion on the demon's face and brought his staff around, swinging towards the demon's ribs.
The demon nimbly evaded the blow and backed up, hands in the air. "What do you mean, 'Where is she?'" he demanded as he continued to avoid Miroku's staff. "If you're talking about Kikyo, she hardly ever comes here, you'd have better luck finding her in town!"
The priestess Kikyo? She was actually quite a famous priestess, particularly renown for her exploits in demon hunting. "You have a lot of guts, demon, going after someone under the protection of Lady Kikyo," Miroku answered. "Now, where is the princess!"
"What princess?!" prevaricated the demon.
"The one under Lady Kikyo's care, the one who lives in this tower!" Miroku snapped, taking a swing at the demon's head.
"The one who lives in this tower?" said the demon. "There's no princess who lives here. I'm the only one who lives here. I've lived here my whole life! I think I'd know if there was a princess running around the place."
The matter-of-fact manner that statement was delivered in caused Miroku to pause. The demon gave a small huff and crossed his arms. "No princess would live in a crummy tower like this anyways," he grumbled. "What kind of fairy tales have you been listening to?"
Miroku was beginning to get the feeling that perhaps the villagers with their princess stories might have been a little short on facts and a little long on imagination. Still, he wasn't quite ready to admit a mistake. "Your whole life, you say? This is an odd place for a demon to spend his life. Can you prove it?" he challenged.
The demon gestured towards the window with a grumbled "See for yourself." Miroku turned so he could view the window while still keeping the demon in the corner of his eye. "Kikyo stuck that arrow through my hair and trapped me here. I couldn't leave even if I wanted to."
There was indeed an arrow stuck into the windowsill, piercing the hair-rope and anchoring it into place. Now that he was thinking about it, he could sense the aura of a priestess's power coming from the arrow. Miroku's gaze followed the path of the hair, and found that it did indeed end rooted to the demon's head. Miroku narrowed his eyes at the demon for a long moment. Finally he gave a deep sigh and slumped. "So there was never any princess after all," he conceded. "Sorry to have disturbed you," he said morosely. With that, he walked to the window, grabbed the hair rope, and slid more than climbed down to the ground. With another heartfelt sigh, he plodded off.
"What a weirdo," Inuyasha muttered as he watched the man disappear.
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Two months later, the weirdo was back. Inuyasha waited, feeling irritated as the man laboriously climbed up his hair. Finally the man crested the window, where he paused, eying Inuyasha's folded arms, tapping foot, and scowling face. Then with a cheerful smile he hauled himself the rest of the way into the room. "What are you doing here again?" Inuyasha burst out.
"Well," the man replied, "I see you weren't lying about living here."
"You came back just for that?" asked Inuyasha incredulously.
The man nodded. "Yes, that, and, after thinking things over, I have a few questions about you."
"Keh, whatever," scoffed Inuyasha. "Weirdo." He moved further into the room and flopped to a seat on his bed.
"No, no," rejoined the man. "You're the one who's weird. What I want to know is why Lady Kikyo decided to trap you here. She's well-known for her intolerance of demons. If she had the upper hand, why didn't she just kill you?" The man's expression turned shrewd. "What secret are you hiding that she decided to keep you around?"
"How should I know what that crazy lady is thinking?" Inuyasha retorted. "If there's some special secret, nobody's told me."
"Surely you must have some idea?" the busy-body pressed. "Haven't your demon senses told you anything?"
Inuyasha felt his ears press back against his head, and he looked away. "Half-demon," he muttered.
"What was that?" the man asked.
Inuyasha felt his anger rising. He stood up and faced the man. "I said, I'm a half-demon!" He didn't like the surprised look on the man's face. "Why'd you come back here? Don't you know that demons are dangerous? Shouldn't you be afraid of me?" he demanded. "Quit being stupid and run away already!"
Instead of heeding Inuyasha's warning, the man actually relaxed. A look of comprehension passed over his face. "You said last time that you'd lived here your whole life," he recollected.
"Yeah, so what?" Inuyasha responded.
"Is Lady Kikyo the one who raised you?" he guessed.
Inuyasha felt a different sort of anger now. "Keh, if you can call it that." He turned around again, not liking where this conversation was going and not wanting to see what emotion might show on the man's face.
"I see," mused the man. "And I take it you haven't had contact with many other people?"
"Try none," Inuyasha growled. "Kikyo trapped me here so I couldn't have contact with anyone else. Said it was 'too dangerous for me and for them.'"
"Well!" said the man, clapping his hands once. "It's a good thing for you that I happened along, then! I happen to be a monk of no small ability, so a bit of demon blood doesn't worry me." Inuyasha turned back to look at the man with wide eyes. "My name is Miroku," said the monk, and he offered a small bow.
Inuyasha took a long moment to wrap his head around what was happening. Finally he mumbled out his name. "Inuyasha."
Miroku's expectant expression dissolved into a grin. "Congratulations, Inuyasha! You've just made your first friend."
Inuyasha found himself hesitantly smiling back.
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Author's note: I apologize for the long delay. Life got kinda rough there for a bit, and I started wondering if I'd ever even have the time and motivation to write again. This fic owes its continuance to Duesal Bladesinger, who gave me some great encouragement right as I was ready to give up and delete it all. I think I would have regretted that, so, thank you Duesal, and I'm sorry it still took me so long to update. Here's hoping I can continue on and finish this fic up in a timely manner now.
Next chapter: The Fox
