Halves of a Whole (2)
Burn Baby Burn

Sharrkan was in his element, and in front of a large crowd, to boot. Times like this made him feel so alive. Grinning widely in triumph, he struck a proud pose in front of the minced Southern sea creature.

"Divide it fairly amongst yourselves!" The master swordsman of Sindria saluted the cheering crowd with a showy flash of his black scimitar.

Yamuraiha shook her head. "Show off."

The genius magician didn't care so much about seizing the glory of the hunt all for herself, but the way Sharrkan flaunted around in his arrogance never failed to irritate her. She would've tolerated him much more, if not actually like him, if he had a good dose of tact and humility. She hopped off of her staff to land nimbly next to Sinbad.

"There you have it," the Sindrian king said. "This woman will be your instructor in magic, Aladdin."

Yamuraiha turned to get a proper look at the three newcomers.

The youngest of them, a blue-haired boy wearing a turban on his head and a flute around his neck, ogled at her with wide eyes and an open mouth. "Oh..."

She reckoned this must be the Magi everyone had been mentioning. Coming face-to-face with such a privileged and powerful individual made a sudden shyness sweep over her. She managed a tiny smile in greeting. "Hello, I'm Yamuraiha. I don't know if I could be much use to you, but please ask me whatever you like."

Aladdin toddled toward her with uneasy steps. Then he threw himself forward with a huge grin. "Hello there!"

She realized with horror that both his body and his words were aimed not at her, but at her bust. Aladdin landed right into her cleavage, evidently in a state of utter euphoria as he fondled her chest.

Sharrkan saw this and stormed over with his hand outstretched. "Hey, what do you think you're-"

Yamuraiha had it. "Cut it out!" She shouted. Her anger flared in the form of magic-induced steam. Aladdin rolled away on the ground like a roll, hot and fresh out of an oven of rage. Sharrkan yelped as he yanked his hand away. She burned him right at the moment he had grabbed Aladdin. Talk about bad timing.

"Yowch! That hurt, you crazy woman!" Sharrkan cried.

No trace of sympathy crossed her face even as he scrunched his eyes shut and cradled his hand.

"That's what you get for trying to grope me."

"Wh-what?"

"You've got some nerve. I didn't think you'd stoop this low, Sharrkan, but every day you amaze me by proving me wrong."

"I was trying to get the little perv off of you," he retorted. "Give me some credit."

Yamuraiha only scowled and turned her nose up. It was obvious she didn't believe him, much to his anger and dismay.

Alibaba went down on his knees to inspect his friend. "Aladdin, are you okay?" The Balbadd prince jerked his hands back. "Aah, hot!"

"I'm soaking wet," Aladdin breathed as he sat up.

"Drama queen. It's just steam, you know." Yamuraiha felt all respect and admiration for the Magi go up in smoke. So much for first impressions. She pulled up her ruffled sleeves and struck her staff against the ground. "And here I was feeling nervous because you're a Magi. You're just a little pervert. You do that again, and I'll boil all the liquid in your body. Got that?"

Aladdin shrank away and quivered with fear. "You look like such a kind and gentle person, but you're really not at all."

"You got that right," Sharrkan said through gritted teeth. It wasn't just his hand that burned. Sharrkan fumed inside, his day ruined by this mishap. He really had meant to help Yamuraiha, but of course she wouldn't see it. She always expected the worst in him. As he turned away, several Sindrians approached him to praise his swordsmanship, but he couldn't bring himself to return a smile and cheer up.

Sharrkan remained in a foul mood even as Maharajan commenced. He decided to partake in what most men would do at a party: drink up the alcohol and pile his spot with beautiful women.

Unfortunately, that did little to lift his mood. Aladdin seemed fine as he ate, smiled and laughed with Alibaba and Morgiana. Sharrkan frowned as he looked down at his hand. It still stung and burned red. Aladdin was a Magi with limitless magoi at his disposal; maybe that was how he had healed from Yamuraiha's outburst so quickly. Sharrkan, with his pitifully minuscule amount of magoi, couldn't say the same for himself.

"Damn, it still hurts," he muttered.

A dark-haired woman overheard and implored him with pouting lips and eyes of coy pity. "Poor Sharrkan, want me to make it feel better?" She reached out to take his hand but he pulled it closer to his chest.

"Another drink or two and I'll be numb enough to forget about it."

He lifted a half-filled goblet to guzzle down its contents, then his heart sunk when he saw Yamuraiha approaching him. There was no telling how things turned out whenever the two came in contact with each other. Most of the time it didn't end well. He was hardly keen on getting his day ruined by her even further. Out of instinct he drew his feet closer together and flitted his good hand over his sword. She stopped two steps across from him and peered down with a frown. Sharrkan expected another verbal whiplash from her. He braced himself for the incoming attack. What she said next took him by surprise.

"Let me see your hand."

He hunched his shoulders and quirked an eyebrow. "What are you gonna do? Roast it some more till I can serve it up for the festival's dinner?"

"Spare me your sass. Just give me your hand."

At her sharp insistent command, he reluctantly did as she asked. The angry light in her eyes dimmed as she took his burned hand into hers. Yamuraiha's touch was surprisingly soft and gentle. He couldn't believe these were the same hands that would yank his hair and claw at his clothes whenever they got into petty fights. Still, the former Heliohaptian prince failed to bite back a wince. She tsked as she turned over his hand and inspected his palm.

"That bad, huh? I guess your low magoi is to blame. Aladdin got his whole body steamed and he seems just fine."

"You don't need to tell me, woman. I already know all that."

"Be quiet and let me help you."

With her free hand Yamuraiha summoned a small ball of water and let it pool over his hand. He sucked in a wary breath, but found the water to be cool and soothing. It glowed bright blue as Yamuraiha imbued it with rejuvenating properties.

The magician didn't lift her eyes as she continued to hold his hand and heal it. "Sharrkan...if you really meant to pull Aladdin off of me, I owe you an apology and my gratitude. I shouldn't have been so quick to burn you too. I'm sorry, and thank you."

Sharrkan hadn't the faintest idea how to respond to that. He struggled to form words, and when opened his mouth to speak, she thrust up a finger to shush him. "If it turns out that you go against the benefit of my doubt and had the same dirty idea, I'll leave it up to whatever god or gods you believe in to strike you down when the time comes. Good night." She released his hand, turned on her heel and promptly marched away.

He stared at his hand, which no longer stung and returned to its usual dark-skinned hue. Then he stared after her with wide eyes. He paid no heed to the women that returned to his spot and pressed themselves against his sides. He had survived yet another day with the woman he loathed and admired all at once.