First Day of Training
Everybody got up early the next day for being in a new place excited them. Koga kept to his word and in the morning Hotaka was waiting for everyone before taking them around the village.
It was a beautiful place surrounded by cliffs where ever they went with ferns and moss growing on them. Tall trees shaded the quaint and humble houses with their small chimneys and happy families.
All the ladies in the group praised the beauty of the valley and enjoyed all of the views.
Hotaka then took them down a small path at the end of the green valley, tall cliffs shaded them from the sun on either side of the path and once they reached the end they were inside another valley. This valley was large and dry with no grass and had a lot of training equipment.
"As you can see, here is where we do a lot of our training." Hotaka told everyone. "There are other smaller valleys connected to this one as well where people can train in different battle styles." He then took them to the other valleys and everyone was impressed especially Kazuki.
"Hey, Hotaka! We should train together soon! You know, like good old times!"
Hotaka turned and smiled heartily at Kazuki and he could tell that Hotaka loved the idea.
"Shouldn't you be heading back to see that old guy Amaya?" Nira said.
Amaya looked up to see the suns position and gasped. "You're right!"
"There's no need. Look." Hotaka said pointing behind them.
Everyone turned to see an old man walking towards them with two swords in his hands.
"I knew you would all be here. Don't worry; I was going to take Amaya to these valleys anyway." Totosai said while handing Tenseiga to Nira, and then gave Amaya Tetsusaiga. "Polished as promised."
They both thanked him and then Amaya went away with Totosai but before they were out of sight Kazuki and Tanaka followed them and asked Totosai if it was alright that they watched Amaya train.
"Do as you will." He replied.
"By the way old man. Tetsusaiga has a new power that you don't know about." Kazuki said.
"What's that?" Totosai asked curiously.
"It has the power of the FireIce demon. Have you heard of that demon before?"
"THE FIREICE DEMON!" Totosai exclaimed. "No I didn't know it had obtained a new power but I have heard of that demon."
"Well... That's the demon that killed dad..."
"Oh... I see." Totosai said then fell silent for a few minutes before changing the subject. "Do you know what the wind scar is Amaya?"
"Oh.. I have heard of it but dad didn't talk about it very much. Isn't it one of the Tetsusaigas first powers?"
"Yes it is, and it's the one I must teach you now."
Amaya and Kazuki looked at each other.
"You know old man that we are in a bit of a hurry and don't have time for Amaya to learn all of Tetsusaigas powers. We just need her to learn how to use the FireIce technique."
"I know that, but learning to use the wind scar is vital!" Totosai said pointing his finger in the air as a sign of urgency.
"Why's that." They replied together.
"You will see." Was all Totosai said in reply. "Ok here we are!"
They arrived at a small valley secluded from the others.
"See that tall rock there, Amaya?" Totosai said pointing to a rock about twenty feet high.
"Yeah."
"I want you to cut it using the wind scar. When you unsheathe the sword hold it for a moment and focus on your target. You will soon see two swirling winds."
"Two... swirling winds?"
"Yes, two, and in the centre where they meet there will be the 'wind scar.' That is where you must cut."
Amaya looked down at her unsheathed Tetsusaiga and back up to the rock with a confused expression on her face. "Okay... Here it goes then."
She raised the sword and held it behind her shoulder for a moment before she saw two gusts of wind battling against each other and right in the centre of these two winds shone a bright thin light. Amaya held her breath and with all her strength she cut into the wind scar perfectly. The strike of her attack split the rock perfectly in two but also collapsed the cliff behind it.
"YOU USED TOO MUCH POWER!" Totosai shrieked as Amayas attack created a path that connected their valley to the one beside it about a mile away.
Tanaka and Kazukis mouths hung open with gobsmacked expressions on their faces.
Even Amaya was taken aback and stood where she was looking shocked.
"Well I guess your first lesson is over..." Totosai said fully relaxed now. "But you need to learn to use less power when using the wind scar. We don't want you destroying a village recklessly." He said walking away.
Back at the village everyone was happily having a banquet that Koga had ordered for them. Even Kaya was stuffing her face with boar meat and eating noisily.
"How was your first day training?" Hotaka asked Amaya hesitantly. He still felt a little embarrassed about what had happened the day before.
"She got it on the first try." Kazuki cut in.
Hotaka stood there wide eyed. "No...way!"
"You guys have always underestimated me!" Amaya huffed. "You know I always bet you guys at everything when we were kids!"
"YOU DID NOT!" Kazuki protested.
"Well... She always bet YOU Kazuki." Hotaka said smiling smugly. "But Amaya never bet ME at anything!"
"HEY! DON'T TAKE HER SIDE HOTAKA!"
Hotaka and Amaya laughed together.
"But that's all in the past anyway." Kazuki said grinning evilly at Hotaka. "I wonder if you would beat me now in a battle!"
Hotaka pointed at Kazuki and said playfully. "Tomorrow at dawn, it is so on!"
"Oh yeah! Bring it Hotaka!" Kazuki said smugly. "I'm going to wipe the floor with you!"
"Hey Amaya." Tanaka whispered into her ear. "We received a letter from your mum. You should read it."
"Wait, what? How did a letter get here so fast?"
"I think Koga sent a messenger bird to Kagome sometime this morning. Sen and Yuko must have told him where you guys live. We should interrupt them as well." He said nodding towards Kazuki and Hotaka who were boasting about their own strength to each other. "Most of all we should find Nira. There's some news in here that she would want to see."
The whole gang was gathered together, even Hotaka, while Yuko proceeded to read the letter.
"Dear Everyone.
I am glad to hear that you are all safe and didn't expect you to run into Kogas tribe! It is so nice to hear from him after all these years!
Also is Nira with you? Sesshomaru is very angry because she has gone missing. I am convinced that she might have followed you so please write back as soon as possible and let us know if she is with you guys. Sesshomaru also seems to have misplaced his sword the Tenseiga...
Not long after you all left Rin went into labour as well and has given birth to a healthy baby girl! They have decided to call her, Airi. She has silver hair and black dog ears and her dark baby eyes are so adorable!
Write back soon and tell us how you all have been! And how was Amayas first day at training? Please give me details!
Love Mum."
"Wow Nira! You're a big sister now!" Kazuki exclaimed.
Niras face spread into a wide grin.
"But you know..." Sen said. "Sesshomaru is probably going to stalk us down and kill us when you tell Kagome that Nira is here with us..."
Nira shrugged her shoulders. "So what?"
Kazuki glared at her. "You're all relaxed because he won't do anything TO YOU... aren't you Nira?"
Nira smiled feeling unconcerned.
"Hey Suzuki, where did you get that funny belt?" Yuko asked suddenly.
"What do you mean?" He replied chewing on a piece of lettuce.
"There." She said pointing to a fluffy orange scarf looking thing dangling behind Suzuki.
"Oh, that's not a belt. It's my tail..."
The 'fluffy orange scarf' lifted into the air of its own accord and Yuko could see that it had a white tip at the end.
"I'm a fox demon." Suzuki said innocently.
