InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Small Moments ❯ Finding Miroku ( Chapter 26 )
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By: ladygriddlebone 
Sango refuses to lose another companion to Naraku, even if that companion is Miroku.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.28.2013 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.6K | Visits: 421 | Status: Completed
Sango refuses to lose another companion to Naraku, even if that companion is Miroku.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.28.2013 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.6K | Visits: 421 | Status: Completed
The group was somber as night fell. Inuyasha did not call for a stop, though it was obvious his mood was growing darker and darker, and not even Kagome was willing to argue with him. Not when they had found no sign of their missing companion all day.
For the past few hours, Sango had taken to riding on the back of Kagome's bicycle (no matter how much she distrusted the thing, it was better than more walking) and wondering. Maybe they had been unable to locate Miroku because he did not want to be found. When he left the group, he had to have known they would look for him. The part that mystified her was why he did not want them to find him.
She just couldn't figure it out. He had been traveling with Inuyasha and Kagome up to this point. He'd even stuck around once Sango joined the group, even when things grew awkward. So why leave now? What had changed? Had something happened with the curse in his hand, as Myouga implied?
"Kagome-sama, can you think of any clues? Anything that might have happened?"
Kagome sighed unhappily. "We may have been traveling together, but I still don't really know anything about Miroku-sama."
Shippou's tone was mournful. "Do you think we'll ever see him again?"
Sango knew how he felt. She hated the thought of losing yet another companion, even if she had not been nearly so close to Miroku as she had been to the people of her village that had been taken from her.
"Feh. He just didn't want to rely on us, that's all," Inuyasha grumbled.
The way he said it, it sounded as if he was fed up with searching. Sango didn't know if she should speak up, but fortunately Kagome saved her the necessity of making that decision. "But if Naraku's involved, there might be a trap," she pointed out. "We can't just give up and leave him."
"Well then, where should we look?" Inuyasha snapped.
Sango watched them wordlessly, bracing for the argument that seemed imminent, but Kagome suddenly calmed and pointed to the sky. "Up there. It's Miroku-sama's friend, the tanuki!"
The creature in the sky looked nothing like a tanuki, at least at first. It was enormous, and surrounded by a familiar buzzing of wings.
"Naraku's insects," Sango gasped. Every clue they found seemed to point directly to Naraku. The thought of following Miroku into a trap like the one that had killed her family made Sango's blood run cold. And yet, she knew...
As the insects continued to harass him, there came a burst of smoke and then the tanuki was falling instead of flying. He hit the ground with an impressive thud a few moments later. Insects swarmed around as Inuyasha leaped to the rescue, but as soon as he unsheathed his sword, the insects withdrew to hover in the distance.
"Are you okay?" Kagome asked, abandoning her bike to see to the tanuki.
Shippou immediately followed her while Sango hesitated. "Sango," he asked, pausing halfway to his destination, "are you coming?"
"In a bit."
While Shippou, Kagome, and Inuyasha clustered around the tanuki, Sango slipped off to the first halfway private place she could find and put on her armor. She was certain now that Naraku was involved in whatever had caused Miroku to part company with the rest of them. She knew equally well that, if she asked the tanuki how to find Miroku, she would most likely be doing exactly what Naraku wanted her to do. And she knew, too, that she could not simply let Miroku go to his death in one of Naraku's insidious traps.
She would go after him, and she would save him the way she had been unable to save Father and Kohaku and all the others.
She refused to think of failure even as phantom pain throbbed in the scar on her back.
"Sango," Kagome murmured when she rejoined the group. "You're going to fight, aren't you?"
Since her voice seemed suddenly stuck in her throat, Sango simply gave an affirmative nod.
"Good," Inuyasha said. "Cause the tanuki says he can lead us to Miroku, and we're probably gonna have a hell of a fight on our hands."
"What's happened?"
"We'll talk on the way," Inuyasha replied.
Sango wondered how he thought they were all going to make the journey so quickly, but she had her answer soon enough. When the tanuki transformed for flight, he was large enough to carry them all and even to bring Kagome's bicycle along.
It was a strange feeling to climb onto the tanuki's back and slowly rise off the ground; Sango was only accustomed to flying on Kirara's back, and by now that was almost instinctive. This was just different enough to throw her off balance. But maybe, she thought, it would also help keep her on edge. After all, it was already past nightfall and they had been searching all day, but they still had to get to Miroku and get him out of whatever trouble he had gotten himself into.
Once they were airborne, Sango did not have to ask for the story. The tanuki seemed perfectly happy to repeat himself for her benefit. "Master Miroku's kazaana was torn by a mantis," he said. "Right now he can't use it at all. At least, that's what the monk said before he went all weird. He said that if the kazaana is opened, it will widen through the cut and shorten Miroku's lifespan."
No one had anything to say to that, least of all Sango. Nobody had mentioned Miroku's curse being related to his life, and now all she could think was that she might be too late again. He might already be dead by the time they arrived to rescue him.
When she first heard the buzzing, she thought it must be all in her head, but a glance over her shoulder told her it was all too real. "We're being followed," she said. "It's Naraku's insects... but it doesn't seem like they're trying to attack."
"That's because they're keeping a fucking guard on us," Inuyasha growled.
He was right. The insects never came any closer, as if they were perfectly content to simply follow. "But why?"
No one wanted to guess the answer, so they flew on in silence. Until... "That's it! That's the temple!"
As the tanuki flew lower, something seemed wrong about the temple. The air around it did not feel like the air of a holy place. Instead, it seemed dark and oppressive, as if it might smother them all at any moment. Sango had time to wonder if they had been wrong to trust the tanuki before the swarm of youkai came bursting out of the temple.
"Nobody said anything about a bunch of youkai," Sango murmured, suddenly glad that she had thought to change into her armor earlier. She was apprehensive at first, but once she had a chance to scan the swarm, she realized the massed youkai didn't pose much of a threat. As her father would have said, these were all small fry. There were a lot of them, but they were nothing she or Inuyasha couldn't handle.
"Go right through them, tanuki!" Inuyasha ordered.
The tanuki made a panicked noise, but he kept going full speed ahead at the approaching mass of youkai. Inuyasha stood and drew his sword, easily taking out the first youkai brave enough to come close, but it was plain to see that Inuyasha's strength, impressive as it was, would take too long to get through the youkai horde.
"Kirara, come on," she murmured. Kirara transformed in a flash of flames and a moment later Sango was on her back, Hiraikotsu to hand, the two of them charging into the air alongside the tanuki. "Go on, Inuyasha," she shouted above the rush of the wind. "These are just small fry. Leave them to me!"
While Inuyasha had to get close to strike, Sango could attack from a distance. Her Hiraikotsu was designed for just this sort of thing, and her years of training as a Taijiya had not been for nothing. Sango could take out several youkai with a little luck and a well-aimed throw, and she only had to do it once to convince Inuyasha to leave the mess to her.
She did not have the luxury of watching Inuyasha and the others make their landing at the temple; she had already drawn the attention of the youkai. So she hacked her way methodically through the masses of creatures, trusting to Kirara to help her stay out of the way of any attacks. This was the kind of thing they had always trained for. In a way, it was exhilarating... but her heart wasn't entirely in it.
She hated to be left behind, but time was of the essence and she knew this was the best way to handle the situation. She would have to trust that Inuyasha would save Miroku. And that if Naraku was lurking around somewhere, that they would save a piece of him for her to destroy.
For the past few hours, Sango had taken to riding on the back of Kagome's bicycle (no matter how much she distrusted the thing, it was better than more walking) and wondering. Maybe they had been unable to locate Miroku because he did not want to be found. When he left the group, he had to have known they would look for him. The part that mystified her was why he did not want them to find him.
She just couldn't figure it out. He had been traveling with Inuyasha and Kagome up to this point. He'd even stuck around once Sango joined the group, even when things grew awkward. So why leave now? What had changed? Had something happened with the curse in his hand, as Myouga implied?
"Kagome-sama, can you think of any clues? Anything that might have happened?"
Kagome sighed unhappily. "We may have been traveling together, but I still don't really know anything about Miroku-sama."
Shippou's tone was mournful. "Do you think we'll ever see him again?"
Sango knew how he felt. She hated the thought of losing yet another companion, even if she had not been nearly so close to Miroku as she had been to the people of her village that had been taken from her.
"Feh. He just didn't want to rely on us, that's all," Inuyasha grumbled.
The way he said it, it sounded as if he was fed up with searching. Sango didn't know if she should speak up, but fortunately Kagome saved her the necessity of making that decision. "But if Naraku's involved, there might be a trap," she pointed out. "We can't just give up and leave him."
"Well then, where should we look?" Inuyasha snapped.
Sango watched them wordlessly, bracing for the argument that seemed imminent, but Kagome suddenly calmed and pointed to the sky. "Up there. It's Miroku-sama's friend, the tanuki!"
The creature in the sky looked nothing like a tanuki, at least at first. It was enormous, and surrounded by a familiar buzzing of wings.
"Naraku's insects," Sango gasped. Every clue they found seemed to point directly to Naraku. The thought of following Miroku into a trap like the one that had killed her family made Sango's blood run cold. And yet, she knew...
As the insects continued to harass him, there came a burst of smoke and then the tanuki was falling instead of flying. He hit the ground with an impressive thud a few moments later. Insects swarmed around as Inuyasha leaped to the rescue, but as soon as he unsheathed his sword, the insects withdrew to hover in the distance.
"Are you okay?" Kagome asked, abandoning her bike to see to the tanuki.
Shippou immediately followed her while Sango hesitated. "Sango," he asked, pausing halfway to his destination, "are you coming?"
"In a bit."
While Shippou, Kagome, and Inuyasha clustered around the tanuki, Sango slipped off to the first halfway private place she could find and put on her armor. She was certain now that Naraku was involved in whatever had caused Miroku to part company with the rest of them. She knew equally well that, if she asked the tanuki how to find Miroku, she would most likely be doing exactly what Naraku wanted her to do. And she knew, too, that she could not simply let Miroku go to his death in one of Naraku's insidious traps.
She would go after him, and she would save him the way she had been unable to save Father and Kohaku and all the others.
She refused to think of failure even as phantom pain throbbed in the scar on her back.
"Sango," Kagome murmured when she rejoined the group. "You're going to fight, aren't you?"
Since her voice seemed suddenly stuck in her throat, Sango simply gave an affirmative nod.
"Good," Inuyasha said. "Cause the tanuki says he can lead us to Miroku, and we're probably gonna have a hell of a fight on our hands."
"What's happened?"
"We'll talk on the way," Inuyasha replied.
Sango wondered how he thought they were all going to make the journey so quickly, but she had her answer soon enough. When the tanuki transformed for flight, he was large enough to carry them all and even to bring Kagome's bicycle along.
It was a strange feeling to climb onto the tanuki's back and slowly rise off the ground; Sango was only accustomed to flying on Kirara's back, and by now that was almost instinctive. This was just different enough to throw her off balance. But maybe, she thought, it would also help keep her on edge. After all, it was already past nightfall and they had been searching all day, but they still had to get to Miroku and get him out of whatever trouble he had gotten himself into.
Once they were airborne, Sango did not have to ask for the story. The tanuki seemed perfectly happy to repeat himself for her benefit. "Master Miroku's kazaana was torn by a mantis," he said. "Right now he can't use it at all. At least, that's what the monk said before he went all weird. He said that if the kazaana is opened, it will widen through the cut and shorten Miroku's lifespan."
No one had anything to say to that, least of all Sango. Nobody had mentioned Miroku's curse being related to his life, and now all she could think was that she might be too late again. He might already be dead by the time they arrived to rescue him.
When she first heard the buzzing, she thought it must be all in her head, but a glance over her shoulder told her it was all too real. "We're being followed," she said. "It's Naraku's insects... but it doesn't seem like they're trying to attack."
"That's because they're keeping a fucking guard on us," Inuyasha growled.
He was right. The insects never came any closer, as if they were perfectly content to simply follow. "But why?"
No one wanted to guess the answer, so they flew on in silence. Until... "That's it! That's the temple!"
As the tanuki flew lower, something seemed wrong about the temple. The air around it did not feel like the air of a holy place. Instead, it seemed dark and oppressive, as if it might smother them all at any moment. Sango had time to wonder if they had been wrong to trust the tanuki before the swarm of youkai came bursting out of the temple.
"Nobody said anything about a bunch of youkai," Sango murmured, suddenly glad that she had thought to change into her armor earlier. She was apprehensive at first, but once she had a chance to scan the swarm, she realized the massed youkai didn't pose much of a threat. As her father would have said, these were all small fry. There were a lot of them, but they were nothing she or Inuyasha couldn't handle.
"Go right through them, tanuki!" Inuyasha ordered.
The tanuki made a panicked noise, but he kept going full speed ahead at the approaching mass of youkai. Inuyasha stood and drew his sword, easily taking out the first youkai brave enough to come close, but it was plain to see that Inuyasha's strength, impressive as it was, would take too long to get through the youkai horde.
"Kirara, come on," she murmured. Kirara transformed in a flash of flames and a moment later Sango was on her back, Hiraikotsu to hand, the two of them charging into the air alongside the tanuki. "Go on, Inuyasha," she shouted above the rush of the wind. "These are just small fry. Leave them to me!"
While Inuyasha had to get close to strike, Sango could attack from a distance. Her Hiraikotsu was designed for just this sort of thing, and her years of training as a Taijiya had not been for nothing. Sango could take out several youkai with a little luck and a well-aimed throw, and she only had to do it once to convince Inuyasha to leave the mess to her.
She did not have the luxury of watching Inuyasha and the others make their landing at the temple; she had already drawn the attention of the youkai. So she hacked her way methodically through the masses of creatures, trusting to Kirara to help her stay out of the way of any attacks. This was the kind of thing they had always trained for. In a way, it was exhilarating... but her heart wasn't entirely in it.
She hated to be left behind, but time was of the essence and she knew this was the best way to handle the situation. She would have to trust that Inuyasha would save Miroku. And that if Naraku was lurking around somewhere, that they would save a piece of him for her to destroy.