InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bound to Tomorrow ❯ Timeless ( Chapter 14 )

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*Does a little happy dance!* Splendent Goddess, you nailed it on the head! I love your reviews. They always make me so very giddy. I also figured that Kagome and Sango couldn't think of everything because, heck, they're human. They'd also be under a lot of stress from the attack and subsequent running around, too.

Hinduism/Buddhism Note: As some of you may know, Hinduism pre-dates Buddhism. I wasn't able to determine if anyone in Japan would have known of Buddhism's roots in Hinduism… so I assumed that they wouldn't know that during the Sengoku Period. So that's why Kohaku says that Maro Kandei claimed that his religion is older. When I was considering a religious alternative to immortality for Miroku I went with Hinduism because Buddhism doesn't really allow for a permanent state like that. With that in mind my immortality idea is loosely based on some of the stories surrounding the Hindu sage Markandeya. Hence, the similar name. Also, Sanskrit appears in Buddhism, too. So I'm also making the assumption that at least Miroku can read it.

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Author's Question (If anyone knows about this, this is rather obscure): Also, if Buddhists at any time period would have known about Hinduism, please let me know how and why they would know about it! I don't know if Hinduism is linked to Buddhism the way Judaism is linked to Christianity, and if it is like that then that would slightly alter the way this chapter is written. For example, in most situations Christians generally know that Judaism pre-dates Christianity. They may not follow the same customs and diverge after the Old Testament teachings but they're generally aware of its roots in Judaism. I mean, there aren't many Christian Bibles written that don't include both the Old and New Testaments. So it'd be rather impossible for them not to know about it. I'm not sure if the same thing applies to Buddhists and Hindus. Would a Buddhist naturally be aware of Hinduism or could it be feasibly taught entirely separate from it? I know Kagome would likely be aware of it, but would the Sengoku Period people know about it?

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Following the meeting with Noboru, Miroku had spent the next several days locked away in his room. He poured over each Buddhist scroll and text he owned looking for any clue that might keep he and his family young while they waited for their first clue. Inu Yasha could not bind anyone else to his youkai blood like Kagome. When the miko had become his life-mate she had become his family so that only those of their bloodline could ever share in their eternal youthfulness. The next logical choice from there had been Shippo. Unfortunately, kitsune aged differently from youkai. Their age progressed based on experience learned rather than any specific length of time. He was barely thirteen years old physically. Essentially, Shippo was not “mature” enough to create a life-bond with another human. Even Shippo was not sure exactly when he would reach the right age to perform the rite—it could be hundreds of years. No one bothered considering Sesshoumaru as a candidate and recently the gang had also learned that Kouga would never be an option, either. Word had been sent that he had recently married a youkai named Ayame.

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That was when Miroku had decided to shutter himself up in his room with his texts. Not long after Kagome had disappeared into Kaede's hut to check the late miko's Shinto scripts. Meanwhile, Inu Yasha, and Shippo went about town asking the locals for any legends involving ageless persons. Kohaku disappeared a few days later after telling Sango he was going to check out some leads in other towns.

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Eventually, Kagome emerged and announced that the Shinto scripts emphasized an immortal soul but no examples of an immortal body. A few days after that a dejected Miroku reappeared from his studies and told the gang that Buddhism taught that life could not be extended beyond that which his karmic deeds allowed. It was unlikely that his karma would last any longer than any normal person because his karma may have been what had kept him from being sucked into his air rip years ago. Extended life-span or no; Buddhism did not account for extended youthfulness—and Miroku's family needed both.

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Inu Yasha and Shippo struck out quickly as well. There was a legend among the locals of an elixir of life that had been given to an Emperor. However, the story said that the Emperor had tossed the potion into a volcano where it had burned up. The person who had made the potion brought it from the moon, so there was no way to reproduce it either.

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Miroku then decided to go on a trip to seek the advice of his grandfather Mushin. The elder monk likely had far more information than he did, he reasoned, even if it was a long shot. It was then, just as Miroku was getting ready to leave, that Kohaku returned to Edo.

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The man waltzed into town with a smirk on his face and a scroll in his hand. Haruto caught up with the man first and pounced on him. He switched the scroll to his other hand and scooped the boy up onto his hip.

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“Uncle, you're back! Did you catch lots'a bad guys?” He chirped excitedly.

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Kohaku marveled at the inner durability of children. It had been nearly a month since Edo had been attacked and his sisters were snatched away, yet he found the boy smiling and eager to hear from him.

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“Not, this time, Haruto. This time I was out helping your mommy and daddy look for this special scroll…do you know where they are right now?”

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The little boy bobbed his head excitedly and wriggled to indicate he wanted to be let down. His uncle complied and the child dashed off in the direction of their family home. Kohaku trailed behind, his eyes noting the houses near by sporting fresh wooden doors, thatching, and various other architectural elements rebuilt after the attack. He had a feeling Inu Yasha and Shippo had contributed greatly to the town's quick turn around.

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“Oi kid, welcome back.” A gruff voice called out behind him.

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Speak of the devil. Kohaku thought as he grinned and turned towards the hanyou. He wondered if Inu Yasha would ever see him as anything but the kid he once was.

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“Thanks, old man.” Kohaku smirked when the dog demon wrinkled his nose and scowled; his pointed teeth flashed in the sunlight momentarily.

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Just then Sango appeared with Akahanna in tow. The toddler held two of her mother's fingers in one fist as she bobbed alongside her. Her other hand was lodged in her mouth, sucking on her thumb. On her right, Haruto released the yukata sleeve he had been tugging on to get his mother to move along so that he could bounce back over to Kohaku. His uncle turned his attention towards Sango and when she was a few feet away he tossed the scroll at her. Her hands blurred to intercept the object, catching it as easily as she would a throwing star, meanwhile her face remained completely serene. Kohaku was glad to observe that domestic life had not dulled her hunters' skills.

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“This is what you were looking for?” She asked, turning the scroll in her hand this way and that.

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“Yeah, I think Miroku will be interested in this.” The hunter replied.

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Sango nodded and turned back towards her home, “I see. Will you come inside for some tea?” She glanced at the white-haired hanyou for a moment before adding, “Should Kagome and Inu Yasha join us?”

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Kohaku smiled, “Yes, I think that would be a good idea.”

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Moments later the gang sat around a small table in their living area, sans Shippo. The kitsune had graciously offered to play with the children while the grown-ups dealt with more serious matters. Kagome and Miroku sat side by side at the far end of the table peering at the unrolled scroll before them.

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“I should have brushed up on my classical Sanskrit reading before I left the modern age…” The miko grumbled sarcastically to no one in particular.

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“That's okay I can read it just fine.” Miroku waved a hand at her dismissively. “Just give me a minute or two.”

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Inu Yasha turned his golden eyes on the young hunter, barely contained boredom creeping into his features, “So, kid, what's the deal with the scroll?”

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Kohaku scratched the back of his head absently as he spoke, “Well, I was fairly certain that Miroku wouldn't turn up any information about immortality in Buddhist scripts. Permanence of any form isn't exactly a core tenet of their teachings… but I had heard rumors of one priest who claimed to have learned of a way to eternal youth through different scriptures. His name was Maro Kandei. He was a practitioner of a religion that he claimed pre-dated Buddhism.

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I figured the man Maro Kandei was likely a youkai posing as a deity under a false religion but I decided to check it out anyway. I mean, if he was a demon then I'd probably be doing his town a lot of good to get rid of him. So I started asking around and eventually some townspeople showed me where he lived.

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I worked out that this man wasn't a youkai pretty quickly. He wasn't home at the time and so I went back into town only to find Kandei exorcising a local shrine. After he was finished I spoke to him and he invited me back to his home. There I was able to explain the situation. After I had finished speaking he told me that he believed my intentions were pure and he gave me that scroll. He told me to give it to a Buddhist monk and that he would be able to understand it. So, that's what I did.” Kohaku leaned back in his seat and took a sip from the cup of tea that he had been holding before adding, “I don't get the feeling that Kandei was lying.”

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“He wasn't.” Miroku's hoarse voice brought all eyes back on him.

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“I thought it was just a story at first… but there's a line that keeps coming up in the story… I think it's a sutra. Yes! That's it!” Miroku suddenly leapt to his feet and dashed into another room. Everyone could hear things being moved about in the other room then a pause as Miroku wandered back into the living area, a sheepish smile on his face.

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“Heh, sorry about that… I didn't mean to leave you all hanging.” The monk added as he returned to his seat.

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“What is it, Miroku? What did you find?” Kagome blurted out, wide-eyed.

The monk leaned forward, pressing his elbows to the table as he beckoned them all closer conspiratorially. “What I am about to tell you never leaves this room, understand?”

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Everyone nodded.

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“Good.” He sucked in a deep breath before beginning, “This scroll isn't a story at all… it's directions to make a powerful talisman. When it's combined with this sutra....” He used his index finger to tap at a line of words no one could make out “…It creates a holy object called the Sage's Blessing.”

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Inu Yasha was eager to get to the point of the monk's fussing, “So what does that do?”

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Miroku's dark blue eyes lit up with excitement, “This Blessing allows the wearer to learn for one thousand years. The wearer's body remains the same age that the person was when he first began wearing it so that the mind need not waste those years on the pain of illness and age.”

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Sango gasped and reached out to grip her husband's hand, “That's wonderful! How do we make it?”

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The monk squeezed his wife's fingers affectionately before turning his eyes towards Kagome, “It'll take some time, and I'll need your help, Kagome. Will you help us?”

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The miko smiled gently, “Did you really need to ask? Of course I will.”

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“Thank you so much, Kagome, you don't know how much this means to us…” Miroku was amazed once again by the miko's amazing capacity to care, though he should have known better by now. His gaze turned serious as he straightened up in his seat. “Right then, let's get started.”