Ascension of the Spirit

By Banana Rum: Kalliel

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Kikyo-the-Walnut: I'll Lysol you, I'll Lysol you good…lol.

Horse-crazy-gurl: Take all the time you need—I'll be waiting for the next chapter of 'Mortal Enemies'!

Saphire-eyes91: You don't give yourself enough credit. Have fun munching!

SpikeSmeagleSparklies: Thanks?

Sweet-thing-88: The SPECIAL REVIEWER AWARD is given to her! She reviewed Ascension while I was writing chapter 7, and gave me the inspirational push I needed! Thanks! Hugs and kisses in your general direction.

Thanks for the compliments everyone! Will you be next to win the Special Reviewer Award? Tune in next time!

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Disclaimer: There is a reason this is called fanfiction…

Preliminary notes: Beware of the time break of gigantic proportions between chapter 6 and this one. It is implied that four years have passed. Meaning? Sango has matured into a young woman of sixteen and Inuyasha…damn. He's the same. (Appears about 15 in this story.)

And so Ascension of the Spirit takes on a slightly romantic turn…hopefully.

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Beta read by Kikyo-the-walnut/Zora

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Chapter 7: Asagao

Taiji Village

Sengoku Jidai

Sango yawned, stretching her arms out in the hazy midmorning air. The muscles lining her inner arm and sides smarted, but she continued, welcoming the pain. It felt good to know that her body recognized all her hard work these past few days. Finally, a day of rest had been granted to her. The summer had been not only unusually sticky and humid for this region, but also wonderful weather for breeding insectoid youkai from the vernal pools common in the area.

It had been a long time since she had enjoyed any true freedom, save for the momentary down time between each call to work. Ever since her sixteenth anniversary of birth, her meager lifestyle had taken on more angles than she would have originally thought possible. She and Mujina, though still close friends, no longer gossiped nor played in the streets. In fact, it was rare that they caught sight of each other. Sango had gone on in the art of demon slaying, and Mujina had apprenticed herself to the old herbalist and midwife, Riie. Those paths were not destined to cross frequently. Her duty was to the youkai, and Mujina's was to the sick and frail. Today was almost no different.

If she could beat that damned hanyou again today, as she had the previous month, she could finally claim victory and end this droning battle with him. It had to be today; that or unfathomable shame.

Of course, she had told herself that each month after the victory before, and had always managed to lose. She and Mujina were meeting for lunch this time, so she would have to alter her strategy by a thin margin. As of late, their duels had become more lackluster and practice-like, both parties unconsciously teaching the other about themselves through attacks and choice of weaponry. A strange way to tell the often dreary tale one's past, but to a warrior, its artistry was unmatched. If he was lead to believe that this match was to be another of solely storytelling, she could launch a death-move easily and catch him off guard.

She closed her eyes. There was more to him than initial impressions—so many darkened rooms deep inside it would take a lifetime to light all the candles within. Taking a deep breath, she lugged her oversized boomerang onto her shoulder, steeling herself for the whining protest of her joints wishing to be left alone in soreness. "Chichi-ue, I'm going out to practice with Hiraikotsu for a bit before the midday meal!" She called, looking back into her home before heading out into the village centre.

Her father nodded in acknowledgement, a thin smile playing at the corners of his mouth. That Sango. She was growing up into a suitable daughter, with finely chiseled features and strong, wide shoulders much like his own. She could find a mate of high-caliber easily, and could continue the old traditions with her youkai exterminating expertise. A suitor from a distant province had already asked for his daughter's hand. The young man was the lord of a wealthy area, though it was quite small, and promised only the finest for his wife to be and her family. Yes, yes. Despite earlier years, Matsu was beginning to see that to go on living even after a great tragedy can only sweeten the final outcome.

As for Sango, she had no idea what her father had in store for her. She lived for today, and today only. "Are you ready?" She called out at the edge of the forest. "Hello?" Her greetings were met only by silence. Sure, they usually fought at noon, but where would the hanyou go besides this forest? Not to the village for sure, and their pace had been followed in silently agreed conditions for four years. Was there a reason to suddenly break that pattern? Unless he had fled after his defeat…impossible. He would sooner commit seppuku than turn his back on a challenge—that she knew.

"It's me…" She trailed off, dropping her battle stance and stepping into the chokingly thick atmosphere under the dense foliage. It was hard to imagine it being more sweltering below the shade than out in the sun-drenched fields. She listened intently for any signs of life within the woods, ears met with only the steady sound of her boots meeting dry, hard-packed mud. Once, she heard the faintest rustle, and had practically sprinted in the direction of the noise, only to find a pecking pheasant, which then flew away to avoid her crashing footfalls.

Curiosity gave way to frustration and perhaps the slightest tinge of worry. What if another taijiya had found him? Would he tell them that she knew who he was? What if—

She broke off her internal thought. Had she become so stupid? This was that hanyou she was thinking about. What did it matter whether she never saw him again or not? What indeed. There's something dangerous near you. Sango jumped, instantly wary of her surroundings as a prick of hard-trained reflexes tingled at her neck. There was something. She could hear its breaths…above her? All she could see was leaves and then some. And the leaves, she was positive, were not a threat. Then, something provoked thoughts of climbing the tree. What would she find at the top? And it had been so long since she had sat in the higher boughs of an elm, just peering downwards at the floor and leaning against the trunk lackadaisically.

So, letting the Hiraikotsu slide down her arm and hit the ground with a hollow thump, Sango gripped the jagged places in the bark, using them as handholds to push herself up to the lowest branch. Then, grabbing onto it, she swung up and knelt on it, fighting to maintain an upright position on the thin limb. Up and up she scrambled, brushing spider webs out of her face and shaking fallen leaves from her hair. There was something mesmerizing about the tree, as if she could not cease until she found what she was looking for. Whatever that was.

And then suddenly there was no more to climb. She let her arm, half-raised to grasp another branch already, fall to her side, and gazed at the rolling valley and the cloud of writhing smoke emanating from the Taiji forges. It was beautiful, in a steamy kind of way. Edging to the opposite side of the tree, she craned her neck to see what lay beyond the forest in the other direction. Squinting into the still rising sun's rays, a sudden dazzle-flash of gold swept into her scope, momentarily blinding her. Panicking, Sango groped for a handhold, the bough below her slipping between her legs and she was falling. Falling like in her dreams so long ago, as warm air rushed past her, and leaves brushed teasingly along her sides.

Never had she imagined it would end this way. Losing her balance in a tree she wasn't supposed to climb without good reason, plummeting into the unyielding summer earth below. Then a hand grasped hers, ripping through her flesh with sizeable talons in an attempt to gain a greater hold on her wrist. She screamed in pain as a few drops of her own hot blood splattered into her open mouth and face.

"What in the name of fucking gods do you think you're doing up here?" A familiar voice grunted, hauling the taijiya—inch by scantest inch—up back into safe territory.

"Looking for you." Sang murmured, gasping for breath and rubbing her bloodied wrist.

"…Me?" The hanyou stalled, gazing at her in surprise. Then he turned away. "What the hell would you do that for." It wasn't truly a question aimed at her. A rhetorical statement at best.

"We—ah!" Sango winced as she released the pressure from her cuts and circulation flowed freely into her hand. She clasped her other hand around the wound again. "We have a fight scheduled."

"And that's so important you'd climb up into MY territory and risk losing your neck trying?" He barked. For some reason, it didn't faze her. She ignored him, taking down her ponytail and using the silk cloth to securely bind the gashes.

"I called for you. Why didn't you come? It would have spared me the trouble." She remarked testily in defense.

"I was sleeping." The reply came before he could stop it and rephrase the truth into something less idiotic-sounding. A hot tinge rose in his cheeks. Top three things a youkai should never do: sleep in a place where someone could see you, fall asleep on the job, and admit to doing either of the aforementioned.

A sudden image of the hanyou dreaming graced Sango's mind. What would he look like without that haughty, guarded expression? Or did he sleep with that too? It would be so much sweeter if she could see him without all those walls between her and his deepest secrets…

"Why the hell are you staring at me like that?"

Sango shook her head out of thoughts she then cursed herself for having, and said half-heartedly, "Is the battle still on, then?"

"We can't end the pattern when I was the one who lost the most recent one." He dropped down to the ground, then waited for Sango to do the same. "Don't take all day, princess."

Sango threw a branch down at him, but did not make any move to follow suit.

"Well?"

"I can't get down."

"For the love of—aargh!" The hanyou threw up his hands in disgust, before alighting on the bough next to Sango once more and gripping her dispassionately around the middle.

Sango smelled the pine bark scent of him as he leaned forward to jump, and relished his cooling breath along her sweat-lined neck. What? She mentally slapped herself. Don't think that way, don't think that way…

"Ready?" The hanyou tensed, baring his claws in challenge.

Sango didn't move, turning to face him. "What are we fighting for?"

"It's you who insisted we do. Just remember that and it don't matter."

"Why are you still here? You could have left long ago. Could've found a clan of youkai to live with." Sango's voice was quiet—and quite pretty, actually. It was the tone she used with small children when she was trying to pry information out of them.

The hanyou let out a 'keh'. "Who do you think you're kidding?"

"Well, excuse me for asking then! Forget it!" Sango lashed out, taken aback by his rudeness.

"Fucking bitch."

"You're the one being an idiot! I just asked a simple question!"

"What did we say about the 'idiot' thing last time? Don't you know any other insults?"

"At least I know what I'm talking about, unlike you. Do you even know what half the words that come out of your sorry little mouth mean?" She screamed.

"Bah! Of course I do! How else would I use them?"

"The company you live your life in often rubs off on you. Your vocabulary is gained form those who use the words around you. It doesn't mean you know exactly what every word means."

"Oh, trying to impress me with your superior knowledge now?" He spat sarcastically. "Well I ain't buying it."

"You—idiot." Sango tried to remain furious, but halfway through the word 'idiot' she realized she was saying 'the word' again and drew in a sputtering breath peppered with laughter.

The hanyou paused, dumbfounded. "…The hell?"

Sango forcefully wiped the smile from her face and resumed her angry countenance, but the moment was lost and the argument slipped into a silence of understanding. "Hey, I'm going to the Tama Shrine tomorrow. There's something I want to show you. Come if you want." Sango picked up Hiraikotsu wearily. At this rate, she would be late for lunch with Mujina.

The hanyou shrugged noncommittally and watched the taijiya stroll out of sight. It was hot and sleepy outside, but for some reason, he wanted to run far away from the forest like a madman, with a sense of urging to be reckoned with.

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Elsewhere Sengoku Jidai

"My darling, that's right…Relax…" She cooed, stroking a convulsing snake-whip of ki entangled in her spider's web. "Let it all go. Don't fret."

For some reason, the mutterings of comfort only caused the spirit to struggle more fiercely, waves of fear and hatred rolling off of it in tangible waves. Her voice, too, had not held the gentleness her words suggested.

"You will be mine. Never has a spirit escaped my needs. Never." She crushed a silken cocoon in her bare hands, and blew it onto the spirit. It seemed to caw, and went through a series of spasms as the dust touched it, then was still. Only moments later, it regained it's edge and twisted with a renewed urgency.

Unbeknownst to the soul's holder, a silk thread began to entwine itself around it's users heart and along the paths it walked, unconsciously creating a noose from which it would asphyxiate itself to death with. Every breath, every step, drew it closer to death and the moon lady's desires.

"I want you so much, honey. You cannot escape that."

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Taiji Village

Sengoku Jidai

Meanwhile, an adolescent girl with sharp features and hawkish eyes seethed with impatience and flashed annoyed scathing expressions at anyone who passed by.

She stuck an entire river fish in to her mouth in one swift bite, gulping it down scales and all in frustration.

"Damn you Sango, why did you ditch me?" She yelled up at the sky.

"Why indeed?" Sango smiled down at the seated Mujina before joining her.

"Why were you late?"

"It doesn't really matter, does it? No, I didn't think so."

"Just eat. I made you favorite." Mujina picked up a pair of hashi and grabbed a dumpling out of the furoshiki, holding it up for Sango to eat. Tentatively, Mujina felt for Sango's hand and grabbed it tightly.

"Thanks for showing. Love you, Sango."

-end chapter seven

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Stupid ending rambles:

I am starting to write the partial accompaniment to this story (it's SessKag) as a gift to all my loyal fans, -cue groan from all reviewers- so keep a lookout! A ha ha ha. 'loyal'.

And bear with me people, the pheasants MIGHT actually be a crucial part in the story, so pay attention!

Also, refresher course in Japanese used in the story:

asagao: morning glory (Why this chapter was called that, I'll leave for you to decide. If you really want to know, don't hesitate to ask.)

furoshiki: carrying cloth

That's it, I think.

I actually wrote this chapter all in one sitting. Amazing, ne? Review and tell me what you think?

Jaa

Kalliel