{The Road Between Souls}
{chapter 3 - ranks of the invincible}
Tsuraiuta poked at the fire, sighing as the cold night air blew at the small makeshift hut she and Sango had constructed while Miroku was out hunting for food.
"Tsuraiuta?" Miroku sat down next to her. "If it's not too much, could you explain all the differences between Dancers, Prophets, and Generals, and all about how they reach that status?"
"I guess," Tsuraiuta said listlessly. "Sango, do you want to hear this?"
"Sure, why not."
Tsuraiuta sighed. "It all began a long, long time ago. An English woman named Mary Reed (a.n.: yes she's related to Clow Reed of CCS) had strong magical powers, but in the strange country she came from, it was considered inappropriate for a woman to practice magic. So she traveled to Japan, where she studied the different kinds of magic. Eventually, she set up a school in eastern Japan called The Acadamy. There, she split magic up into three main classes and two subclasses: a Prophet, one who had strong mindreading and predicting skills, who would serve in the courts to assist rulers in stopping wars before they began.
"The next main class is a General. Generals are more than just simple war leaders. They have the weakest form of magic, but have great physical strength. They use their magic to do things like convert their own spilled blood into unblockable red blades.
"The final main class is Dancer. Dancers are usually women, as Generals are mainly men and Prophets have equal divisions of both. Dancers use Jewels to summon Magics, which are spiritual entities that protect and fight for those who are willing to take care of them and guard them while they are in their defenseless Jewel form. Only a true Dancer can unlock a Magic. It takes a lot of energy to support Magics; so the stronger the Dancer, the more Magics and spells they can have. The weaker Dancers, like Kagura, control only one element, such as wind or fire.
"The two subclasses fall under Prophets and Generals, respectively. A Healer uses magic to cure wounds and exorsize demons and mononoke, while a Theif uses weak elemental and mindreading magic to steal from the rich and give to the poor, so to speak.
"All are trained under Mary Reed, who's still alive, thanks to her magic as a Dancer. There aren't many human students of The Acadamy right now; mainly youkai and oni. Shuuraishi-sama is a General, though a mostly inactive one. Shirobou-sama is both a Prophet and a Healer, a rare occurance, especially in a human. She also plays around with youkai sorcery from time to time. Sesshoumaru-sama could have attended The Acadamy, studying as a Prophet or a General, but chose not to, as Inuyasha-sama chose to not study as a General or a Dancer. He has the potential, and Mary-sensei actually taught him some of the finer points of General magic, but in the end, he decided to stay at the Nishi Oukyuu."
"But didn't you say Dancers were usually women?" Sango asked curiously.
"Usually. There's exceptions to every rule." Tsuraiuta sighed again. "I'm going to go to sleep now. Who's got first watch?"
"Me," Sango muttered.
"Oyasumi nasai. Wake me up in two hours," Miroku said calmly, lying down and curling up halfway.
"Bastard," Sango whispered to herself, referring to Miroku.
"I heard that."
"Damn."
Kagome smiled slightly as she clung to Inuyasha's arm. It felt good to get out of the stuffy palace and explore again. Be free, like she was in the "before slave" era. It would be perfect if the Shikon no Tama wasn't the cause of it. Stupid jewel. Why it was never truly destroyed was a mystery. Why so much was put on the line, simply for a bit of power was the answer to why humans and youkai were considered inferior to gods.
Suddenly, Inuyasha paused. It was dark, so Kagome couldn't read his expressions with a look, but somehow she knew that he was concentrating hard. She heard him sniff audibly.
"Kouga," he said distastefully. "How many times do I have to kick his ass?"
"Please, no unwanted blood this time," Kagome implored, rolling her eyes.
"I'll only try to kill him if he tries to kill me," Inuyasha said, in the sterotypical immature male fashion.
"Grow up, dog-boy."
"You wish."
"That I do," Kagome smiled up at her mate. "But I love you anyway."
"Hn," Inuyasha bent forward and kissed her softly, his tongue gently carressing her mouth. Slowly, he pulled back, grinning like the cat that got the cream. "And you're mine. All mine."
Kagome nuzzled at his neck, her long eyelashes teasing his neck. He giggled slightly. "Ack, stop that! I'm ticklish! Kagome!""Kagome!" Abruptly, Kagome stopped teasing the poor hanyou, and spun around to face the voice.
"Kouga-kun? What are you doing here?"
Kouga grinned, letting his fangs show. "Oh, just this, that, and the other thing. How are you?" he replied casually.
"I'd be better if you gave me the Shikon shards you've stuck in your legs," she retorted coldly.
"Nope. They're mine. Ja ne, Kagome!" And with that, he sped off.
"Oh how I hate that bastard," Inuyasha muttered angrily. "He's still trying to take you from me, you know."
"He is not. Kouga-kun's not very bright, but he's not that stupid."
"You're worth fighting over." Inuyasha explained. "More than worth it. If that idiot loves you a third as much as I do, he'd die just to see you smile."
"Like this?" Kagome's lips turned upward.
"No." Inuyasha said bluntly. "When you really smile, the whole room lights up. Everybody near you feels happy and cheerful. You have this...this way of living life that makes everything worthwhile."
"And you make life worthwhile to me," Kagome whispered. "So we're even."
"We depend on each other," Inuyasha agreed. "I love you...my mate." Kagome smiled then, a true smile.
"Let's just live our lives out day by day...just live for the moments," Kagome murmured.
"And deal with problems as they come," Inuyasha added. "For now, we just need to find a decent place to rest. Unless, of course, you don't mind sleeping up in a tree with me."
"No...but won't we fall off?" Kagome queried, wrinkling her nose at the wicked grin that appeared on her love's face.
"We won't if I hold you very, very close," he snickered.
Kagome swatted him. "You're incorrigable."
"Damn straight."
Dokukon squinted as he tried to figure out what the hell Tsuraiuta had written on the small piece of wood that was supposed to be instructions on making simple wheat noodles. But nooooooooo, the sour puss also had to have horrible handwriting, and it was totally illegible.
"Another day of failure," he sighed out dramatically.
"Oh, shut up," Sesshoumaru exclaimed, entering the kitchen, Rin clinging to him.
"Sesshoumaru-sama? What are you doing in here?"
"Where's that human bitch, what's her name, Kagome?"
"Out travelling with Inuyasha-sama." Dokukon answered, stifling several hundred questions.
"How long will she be gone?" Sesshoumaru asked curtly.
"No idea. Neither of them said."
Sesshoumaru snorted. "Idiots. Come, Rin."
"Haaaaaaaaaaai, Sesshoumaru-sama!"
Dokukon scratched his head. "Now what was that about?"
Goshinki plopped down. "I'm bored," he announced.
"Watch me not care," Kagura announced absenmindedly.
"I wanna go kill something," the huge beast complained.
"Your problem, not mine."
"I wanna eat something. Something that's still living."
"Go hunt a squirrel, you overgrown little idiot."
"Maybe I'll just eat you," he muttered sullenly.
"Try it and I'll kill you."
"Yeah right."
"Shut up both of you," Musou snapped, striding through the palace. "You're giving me a headache."
"Oh, so the widdle baby human's scared of the big bad youkai?" Goshinki drawled.
Musou snorted. "As if, you freaky purple idiot."
"As interesting as this all is, I have more important things to do," Kagura said, standing up and scuffling off into the dark hallway.
"Who bit her ass off?" Musou mused aloud.
"That would be me." Goshinki chuckled.
"Ooo, nice job."
Okay, there it is. Dunno why I called it "ranks of the invincible" but meh. Hrm.
For once, I have nothing to say other than REVIEW.
Hope you had a jolly Christmas and have a merry New Year~!
-Katra Winner