Ascension of the Spirit

By Banana Rum: Kalliel

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Moggy-Thank you for the compliments! HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

horse-crazy-girl-Whee, I feel so loved. –sings- Compliments!

Kikyo-the-walnut-#1 beta reader…on PLUTO.

Kiyana Va Sala: My heart goes out to you. I am well aware of ficbitches anonymous and their dislikes, though I don't try very hard to conform to all their rules. Though people can't be cheering Sango on to her timely victory, because she lost… I ASSURE you, regardless of whether it's Sesshoumaru or not, no one is going to be the sexual slave of anyone, least of all the AUTHOR. (I hate Mary Sues. Graaayggg.)

And Inuyasha is NOT going to chase after Sango EVER EVER EVER. (Despite what it may seem like by the end of this chapter. I swear it will not happen.) That is just…WRONG.

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

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Disclaimer: There is a reason this is called fanfiction…

Sorry this is late—AGAIN—But I went to another soccer tournament, far, far away from where I live, so…I apologize. I got a yellow card. Whoo! (No one knows what I'm talking about…)

Personally, I was not at all pleased with this chapter in any way whatsoever. It was undesricptive, pointless, and overall hard to write. I wanted to redo it, but it was already late (by what, A WEEK?) and I am beginning to tightrope on my last strings of patience with this story. If you guys weren't there for me, I probably wouldn't have the will to keep writing this. So again, thanks you guys, especially horse-crazy-gurl and moggy, who've been here since the very beginning. If you have any suggestions on how to overlook those kinds of problems in the future, please do tell me in a review.

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Beta read by Kikyo-the-walnut/Zora

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Chapter 6: Dreamer

In the Wilds

Sengoku Jidai

The hanyou coughed, shaking droplets of condensation from his hair in frustration. True, he had won his little skirmish with the slayer boy's sister, but what was it really worth? The feeling of vengeance had passed and vanished into nothingness. He only wished the rain would do the same. With merely the paltry shelter of the thin young boughs high in the canopy, he was decidedly—and unforgivably—wet.

His hakama and kariginu had changed from an eye-catching bright crimson to a dull, muddy hue, color bleeding into earth-drenched muddle. Despite it being an ideal locale for feeding, fowl was scarce now, choosing to hide themselves from the dreary weather as well has his own person. Undoubtedly, every small meal in the vicinity had been notified of his existence, and thus would be wary of any predator in need of a snack.

The exterminating wench's poisons were irritating enough as well, though it had long since worn off.

Sango. That was her name, wasn't it? The rain wasn't her fault. Midoriko wasn't her fault. His inability to stave off a petty taijiya concoction wasn't her fault. But he could pretend it was.

He leaned back, pressing his head into the mushy wetness of the wood. Heavy droplets splashed onto his upturned face as a crow took flight, rattling the branches of its roost.

"Fuck this." He rolled over, dropping to the forest floor on all fours with a muted thud. Standing up and wiping the gritty mud from his hands on the sleeves of his coat, he preceded to wander.

Yeah, that's right. Walk around and admire nature like a fucking invalid. Big Brother and Midoriko were rubbing off on him. The only upside was that he wasn't admiring anything, so he couldn't be too far gone.

Murky dips filled with standing water splashed over as he stomped through, holding any possible consequences at a complete disregard. At least the rain was beginning to let up, vicious pounding in his head lessening to a nigh-undetectable drizzle.

Everything smelled wet. It was all the same, dreary scent. It kind of reminded him a grave-soil.

It was nearing the time to move elsewhere.

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Taiji Village

Sengoku Jidai

"Kagome! Kagome! Kago no naka no tori wa," A ring of small children chorused. "Itsu itsu deyaru!"

One small girl sat in the middle, head buried in her kosode.

"Yoake to banni! Tsuru to kamega subeta!" The group continued to dance and sing, kicking up dust with their sandals that carried over to Sango and Mujina.

The circular procession came to a stand-still.

The girl in the center stood up, eyes screwed tight. There was a momentary pause, filled with nervous shifting and playful giggles. "I…forgot what comes next."

Her peers only laughed harder, pointing fingers and taunting good-naturedly.

"Who do you think is the person behind you, Keri?" Mujina prompted helpfully.

"Uh...Sora?" She opened her eyes. Sora was standing to her side.

"No, it was Ayu!" Sora corrected. "You have to stay in the middle! Keri has to guess again!"

Keri frowned, before brightening as Mujina winked at her.

"Let me play, please." The small group nodded, stepping back to let her join their ranks. They skipped this time, shrill, high voices accompanying Mujina's more subdued tones.

A thin smile played across Sango's lips as the song ended once more, placing Mujina behind Keri. It was an easy guess and soon Mujina was kneeling in the center, eyes closed.

It looked like fun. But there was a displacing feeling in her gut. What about Kohaku? And she still had to prove that that youkai was no better than she. That only luck had contributed to his victory. It maddened her how her mind wouldn't let it go so that she could just forget about that section of her career. But if it was the only way to set her heart at ease, she would have to end it quickly and at a timely date. Today wasn't a bad day to settle the score.

Leaving Mujina and the village children to their games, she rose slowly, and strolled over to the village walls. Casting a nonchalant gaze behind her before scuttling out of the safe haven, she stealthily ran along the edge, unwrapping her furoshiki as she went.

When she was a far enough distance from the outposts, she dropped the bundle, quickly stripping off her kosode to reveal the matte black catsuit beneath. Binding her marbleized coral-patterend armor to her shoulders and knees, she fitted the final piece, holding it in place with her red obi.

Slipping on her boots, Sango fingered the hilt of her wakizashi. She couldn't easily disappear from village duties with her boomerang, so it was all she had.

Drawing a thin piece of corded fabric out of a concealed pocket, she finger-combed her thick brown hair into a high ponytail.

He wouldn't have gone far. She reasoned. No, he certainly wasn't the type to leave a job half finished. Not in the least. He would be wanting to kill her and her father still, so he couldn't just up and leave.

"I thought you'd be back," came the slightly irritating welcome from the trees.

Sango groaned. Why did he have to be the one to sneak up on her? She was hoping it would be the other way around.

"The question is, why would you bother? What did you gain in our last match, huh?"

Sango scowled up at the trees, not exactly sure where his exact location was. "In truth," she paused, drawing out her answer, eyes still sweeping the canopy for his presence. "It was a bit embarrassing…"

The hanyou snickered bitterly in contempt.

"…Thus I've come to repay my debts."

"So I see. Damn, you're a strange one." Then again, everyone he seemed to meet was. "Do the taiji folk really hold such long-term grudges? It's been, what, two weeks already? 'Cause I don't feel like ripping out YOUR appendages right now. It'd be a pity if you wanted to do something like that to me." It was really ticking her off, he could tell. Just a little longer playing this game…

"You're such an idiot." Sango glowered, folding her arms across her chest crossly.

"The second time just about took the edge off of the 'idiot' thing. Since fools die, but I'm not dead, I must be doing something right." He dropped down from a tree directly in Sango's line of vision, smirking.

"You don't truly think like that. No youkai would. No, you CAN'T think like that. And if you have no qualms with me anymore, then you shouldn't have had one to begin with. Not a great enough cause, then."

Snap. "You don't know anything about my reasons. Just fuck off before I feel like killing you again."

"Ah, I see I've hit a tender nerve." Sango grinned evilly, falling in to his game fluidly. "So what happened that so inclined you to attempt fighting a professional demon slayer?"

The hanyou laughed at her statement. "Professional now, are we? You're no more than some bratty kid."

"Neither are you. You can't be very old, even for a youkai. Or are you just beating up on little girls because you can't bring home a victory in your own class?"

Damn. So much for trying to play with things of the upper class. Keh. Back to the old strategy—tried and true. But I don't want to. What a waste. I'd rather eat rats and shit than kill time here. He jumped back into the tree, shaking a handful of auburn and amber leaves down, crowning Sango's peering face with a queenly glow. Then it was gone.

"Don't think you're going to run away." Sango started, jerking her boots out of the mud that she had begun to sink into.

Where in the hells does she come to these strange conclusions? "I wouldn't dream of it." He didn't come back down, though, choosing only to break off a branch above his head and throw it down at Sango.

She stepped out of the way, taking it as a warning rather than an actual attack. If he wasn't going to make the first move, then she would have to.

Unlatching a clip and pulling out what was undoubtedly one of many concealed items, she proceeded to untie the silken drawstrings, knotted together by her mother so long ago. Sango had never thought she would ever find a need for the mochi-seeds in her career—apparently she was proven wrong yet again.

The hanyou watched her with half-closed eyes as she hiked out of his range. Good riddance.

He wasn't completely surprised, however, when she suddenly whirled around, running toward him and his tree like an incapacitated duck—strictly his own perception, but it was close enough.

Throwing down some foul-smelling seed, she pushed off the ground. The seeds transformed into giant mochi, propelling her up into the foliage to face him.

"…The hell?" He somersaulted backwards, dodging a sudden upward motion of her sword as she wordlessly assumed the roll of assassin.

Climbing upward into the highest reaches of the canopy, Sango began to warm to the new battlefield. You couldn't grow lackluster and careless when there was no ground beneath your feet. It reminded her slightly of the odori dancing a daughter of a visiting merchant had tried in vain to instruct her in, only much more fast-paced. There was a flicker of precision and form in both. Suddenly wishing she had managed to bring Hiraikotsu in her hunt, she watched as her target moved further and further out of sight, swerving, ducking, or bulldozing whatever interfered in his course through the woods.

This calls for a change of strategy. Instead of youkai versus taijiya, how about…trickery?

Sango dropped from her perch, screaming as he hit the mud below. Reducing her cried to low moans of feigned pain, she lay in wait for certain unsuspecting individuals. From what she had gathered, if he thought she had slipped in her pursuit of him, he wouldn't hesitate to come and gloat.

"I'm not as stupid as you make me out to be." Casually, he leaned against the very same tree their chase had originated at. With their stampeding around in circles the whole time, it was a wonder there were still trees there. "Only a truly great fool would fall for a trick like that."

"Yet here you are, 'falling for it'." Sango reorted.

"Got nothing better to do."

"Be careful with your leisure time. You never know," Sango paused, heaving herself out of the mud. "It might suddenly SHRED on you!"

"Damn, that was a bad pun," the hanyou sighed, ducking under her swing indolently.

She answered with a swift kick to his shoulder, catching him off guard. Grimacing a little, he tried not to hypothesize how she managed to get her foot up that high.

Looping under her next slash, he chidingly struck her throat, just light enough so only a silk-thread's width cut was formed, bright red blood beading at its edge.

However noncommittal his attack, it served only to coax Sango into a wilder frenzy of anger-driven stabs and swordplay.

What happened the next instant only the gods could be sure of, though they too could have missed it. In any case, somehow the youkai ended up on the ground, backed up against a decomposing stump, sword tip pointed directly at his throat, centimeters away from touching the skin.

Sango looked down at him, eyes betraying no hidden notions of mercy, ready to slit that which was most unguarded at a moment's thought.

The hanyou looked up at her with a 'go ahead and kill me. Like I'll care' leer, staring at his soon-to-be-executioner.

"I can kill you now and it would all be over." Sango stated, gaze unwavering.

"Really now." So what. I don't care. Nothing to live for. Nothing to lose. Maybe. I think. Maybe not. "I'm waiting."

It's not a victory. From somewhere deep in Sango's head, a contradictory statement. He beat you once. You're not any better than him, only just breaking even. You're not superior in any way.

She withdrew her sword, relazing her guard and, wiping moisture off the blade, re-sheathed it.

The hanyou didn't move, regarding the taijiya with a skeptical countenance. After a few moments, though, he scraped up along the rough contours of the tree trunk, stripping small curlicues of bark off and entangling the bits in his hair carelessly.

"Another victory is needed for my mind to be at peace. I can kill you whenever I want, so there's no sense rushing it."

He eyed her quizzically, before taking to the air, muttering something along the lines of, "Crazy bitch."

Sighing, Sango trudged through the mud and grime and back up through the fields, wet grass scrubbing her boots clean, and retreated back to the village.

I can't believe I—

Of all the…

Why did I let him live?

Half formed questions of anger and confusion soared through her head, before she heard Mujina frantically calling her name. It must be time to cook the evening meal already.

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Elsewhere Sengoku Jidai

Don't be a dreamer.

Don't be a follower.

Don't be a cause of death.

Cool, fine-boned hands lifted a raw umber hued hood from the figure before tracing its fingertips along a web of fine tuned destinies. She could control the spirits, bend their will to her wishes. Which would be next?

One spirit from her previous performance lingered still, flailing against her. It's partner had returned to the land of living, but this one would prove useful for one last assignment. A golden crane, delicately arched wings thrashing defiantly.

"Don't be a dreamer, my sweet." Calming the bird with gentle caresses, a vision passed over the web. A young man—youkai—was next to fall into her game. Her livelihood. Her purpose.

"A fun one, then." She giggled, unseeing eyes dancing with glee.

-end chapter six

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Stupid ending rambles:

I am aware that mochi does not grow on a plant and therefore cannot have seeds. However, the mochitsuki is tomorrow and I'm really excited! So many mentionings of mochi is owed solely to that festival (mark your calendars, people!)

As I said earlier, my last threads of patience with Ascension are wearing awfully thin…so here is a bonus section (hopefully better than this chapter. Again, I apologize for it's tardiness and patheticness.) Say hello to…

Super Special #1: DECENSION of the Spirit!

Things that Zora had to cut out of Ascension…together in one place!

Chapter one Coral Daughter: n/a

Chapter 2 Pariah: when Inuyasha is confronting the stupid villagers…

"It speaks!"

"I'm a guy. Not an 'it'."

Zora's reason: Dude. This is not supposed to be a humor chapter.

Chapter 3 Ritual Living:

1. Sango and Mujina are cooking dinner…

"Suddenly, Lewis and Clark popped out from behind a hydrangea bush!"

Zora's reason: Lewis and Clark?

Midoriko is trashing the shouji…

"Suddenly, Lewis and Clark popped out from behind a hydrangea bush and pelted Midoriko with a baker's dozen fluffy, poofy doughnuts."

Zora's reason: Uh…Lewis and Clark again? DOUGHNUTS?

Chapter 4 Childish Intentions: At Kariko's grave…

"Sudden;y, Lewis and Clark popped out from behind a hydrangea bush and started doing the chicken dance with Kariko!"

Zora's reason: Kariko is dead. And NO MORE LEWIS AND CLARK!

Chapter 5 Jealousy: n/a

Chapter 6 Dreamer:

Just random…

" 'Wha ha ha! I have a switch blade' Then Kagome brutally murdered Sango and ran off yelling about her switch blade."

More switch blades…

Switching to a more blade-like story of a switch blade, Sango withdrew her sharp pointy thing.

Section Kalliel was seriously thinking of including before Zora stopped her…(comes right before the mystery person and their web thing)

"The other, however, only circled the forest of pheasants over and over again, each time finding a different path to try. It must have been the seventh time when, all of the sudden, a voice chimed, "What are you doing, mister?"

The youkai jerked in surprise, losing his momentum and crashing into the ground.

"Now what are you doing?" A small yellow bird popped out of a glade and, hopping onto the youkai's head, peered at him with darl, beady eyes.

"…The hell?" He sat upright abruptly, catapulting the fowl into the air.

"Hey! The thing, whatever it was, scampered back and jumped up, pecking him on the head.

"Get away from me." He effortlessly hurled the small animal across the forest.

the following segment I had originally planned to be cut in the first place

"You're mean, dude!"

"Dude?"

"Duude."

"DUDE?!

"DUUUUUUUDE."

"Oh am I? Maybe I want to know why some pheasant in the middle of nowhere can talk."

"I'm youkai, stupid."

"Stupid, now?"

"STUUUUUUUUUUPID."

"Macaroons!"

end obviously cut scene

"Some mysteries are better left unsaid."

"Who are you quoting from now?"

"My friends, Noru and Jaki! By the way, I'm Tora."

"You can't be serious." The hanyou groaned, massaging his temples with his hand (Zora was probably doing that too about now )

Tora twittered on and on, drawing tens upon tens of birds to flock around them. Once or twice, they all broke into a ringing, cawing chorus, clawing at him from all sides.

"So whaddaya want from me?" Anything. ANYTHING to get out of here.

Tora grinned, however a bird can, and cooed plottingly, "See there's a girl. We want her dead."

the rest was cut due to possibility of confusing readers that this might actually be in the story

Zora's reason: What do you think my reason is? Holy shit. He's being manipulated by fat, lumpy chickens? LOTS OF FAT LUMPY CHICKENS? They look like dumplings.

And there you have it, folks. See you in Chapter 7, hopefully by Thursday. It's called 'Asagao'!

Jaa

Kalliel