One Shot Theme # 23 Drunk
Title: Solitary Pursuit
Prompt: Drunk
Author: marishaten
Word count: 1107
Universe: Canon
Rating: K
Summary: Inuyasha goes in search of Kagome.
A/N: Follows That Day, in the Sakura Forest.
Inuyasha was trudging up the snowy Kyoudai Mountain.
It had been three days since Kagome had disappeared from under a sakura tree. She was gone without a trace, as if she had evanesced from the face of the earth. He had no idea where she was, or if she was safe. With every passing moment he was getting sick to the pit of his stomach with worry.
Taking his eyes off the treacherous thin ice he was treading on, he looked skyward to offer a prayer for her safety. Dark and solemn, it looked back at him in silence.
It had been sunny when she was with him last. They were having a nice picnic in the meadows.
Inuyasha paused for breath. He was not tired of climbing - no, far from that, but the air was very thin, as the altitude was high. The incessant rain of snow was further slowing his progress. At times it was so thick that he couldn’t even see ahead of him. The sake he had drunk before setting out on his journey was wearing off slowly, and he was starting to feel the bite of the cold wind that howled around him.
Unable to find Kagome he went, on Miroku’s suggestion, to Mushin for help. The monk had directed him to the Kyoudai Mountain.
“I hope the drunken fool knew what he was talking about,” Inuyasha grumbled as he shook the snow off his robe. His surroundings continued to be bleak and uninhabited, and yet at times he thought he could hear the clear note of a crystal bell. When he could not locate the origin of the sound, he started doubting his own ears.
Plodding through the desolate mountain lowered his spirits. There was nary a soul in sight, only ri after ri of echoing wind. The snow was nipping at his bare feet. There was no guarantee of Kagome even being anywhere near and time was slipping by. Inuyasha almost felt like giving up; only, he had no idea about the way back. For all he knew, he would be wandering in the mountains for all eternity.
At length he came across a large tree with a rope wrapped around its girth. Strips of paper were hanging from it. ‘It is clearly some kind of a holy tree,’ he observed to himself.
Trudging through the snow he approached the tree, immediately becoming aware that he had stepped over something. Yet he couldn’t discern anything with his eyes.
A cold shiver went down his spine. Mushin had mentioned a priestess and a prison. Sure enough, something unseen and malicious was looming in front of him. He could sense it with the animal side of his nature, but it eluded his direct senses. Taking a deep breath he unsheathed the Tessaiga, which broke into cold flames. As he stepped towards the presence, he felt like he was cutting through something.
A barrier?
Who would set up a barrier in the middle of a mountain?
He raised the Tessaiga above his head and brought it down in one, fluid motion. Energy crackled around the sword. Someone laughed.
Surprised, Inuyasha looked around him. A slight distance away, there was a tall, beautiful woman with long hair and pale skin.
“Sorry I laughed,” the woman said as she glided to him. Inuyasha noticed that she did not leave footprints upon the snow. “But you looked so adorable, wet as a drowned puppy… it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a gentleman of the Dog-demon clan.”
“….Eh?”
“Have you come for Kagome?”
Inuyasha stared at the ‘woman’. She seemed suspiciously knowledgeable.
“Seek priestess Houki who lives in the temple at the top of the Kyoudai Mountain,” Mushin had said, “She imprisons young priestesses and uses their bodies for possession.”
Could this woman be priestess Houki?
Inuyasha shook his head. She didn’t smell like a priestess. Or like anything alive, for that matter.
“….Yes.”
“Follow me,” she smiled.
Inuyasha hesitated. What if it was a trick? But as he looked around at the mountain, his footprints already hidden by a blanket of fresh snow, he realized that he didn’t have a choice. He could walk around for a year among the snow and the rocks and still not reach anywhere. At least by following the woman he had a chance of reaching Kagome.
“Lead me by the shortest route possible. No matter how dangerous it will be.”
“You certainly seem impatient,” the woman smiled as she glided through the snow.
“How do you know Kagome?” Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, “Was you the one who abducted her?”
“No,” the woman smiled, “but my daughter did.”
“Oh!” Inuyasha’s hackles were up. So this was a trap all along?
The ‘woman’ glided on, unconcerned.
“I was born of the snow, but I fell in love with a mortal. We were happy for a while, and had a beautiful daughter. But it all ended the day he came to know about my identity. He made me leave him and Houki forever. When Houki came to know about it, she killed her father in a murderous rage. She is slightly unstable, you see.”
Inuyasha swallowed. ‘Please be safe, Kagome.’
“Kagome is safe,” the woman answered, as though she could read his thoughts. “Houki intends to possess her body as she is growing old.”
Inuyasha tried to keep his rising panic in check. ‘I hope I can reach in time.’
The woman smiled as she manoeuvred through jutting rocks tipped with snow.
“Don’t worry. You’re strong, in love, have something to guide you and possess the courage to trust me. The only thing you don’t have is perseverance.”
Inuyasha frowned.
“I have plenty of perseverance, lady. You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
“Will you strive on even if it costs you your life?”
“…Eh?”
The woman rested her eyes upon the Tessaiga.
“Tessaiga, did you hear that? He says he has perseverance. Then she will be fine.”
Her beautiful face, whiter than snow, was shadowed by deep sadness. Tessaiga thrummed quietly in Inuyasha’s hand. The hanyou frowned. How did she know about Tessaiga?
“My beloved did not give me a chance but that girl trusts you, gentleman of the Dog-demon clan. Don’t ever break her trust.”
Her white fingertips struck Inuyasha’s chest lightly. He tottered back a few steps. He tried to regain his balance as he reached for a rock. But his hand only closed around emptiness. He was floating in the air. The scenery around him changed and became dark.
The voice of the woman floated in his ears.
“As you wished, this is the closest route. Don’t give up.”