Chapter 8: Training

Fae had been hanging around Ethan a lot since he told her that he would never allow herself any danger. Currently, Fae had been training and meditating. Her training consisted of allowing herself to become angry, but cooling down soon afterward. Her meditating helped her stay calm as long as possible. Throughout this, Fae was starting to get worried about what Ethan had told her earlier, and yet she kept her feelings hidden. Fae had been collecting mold from the nearest pond when Ethan came up behind her.

"Hey Fae! You almost done?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah!" Fae answered, scooping up the last part of the green sludge. Ethan crouched beside her.

"Good job! I didn't think a girl would do this kind of work." Ethan stated.

"Well, if you haven't noticed, I'm a little different." Fae giggled.

"Just a little bit." Ethan too chuckled. Then there came the dreaded silent moment. When Fae looked away after Ethan and her stared at each other, Ethan smiled, but right before he had the chance to say anything, Shippo came running towards them.

"Ethan! Ethan! I got it! I got the powdered roots you asked for!" Shippo exclaimed. Ethan turned to see Shippo's smiling face. Shippo handed him the roots and Ethan inspected it.

"You did a phenomenal job! Both of you! Now come, we have some brewing to do." Ethan then led them back to the hut.

"Ewww! What's that smell?" Shippo held his nose. Fae too could hardly breathe, but Ethan just acted as if nothing were different.

"It's the potion, I think." Fae answered.

"Right you are. It might smell funny, but it sure does work." Ethan said.

"What does it do?" Shippo asked.

"If used correctly, it can cure almost anything, except…" Ethan trailed off.

"Except what?" Fae asked urgently.

"Except I don't know if it will help you, or make you worse." Ethan then paused from his stirring of the concoction.

"Oh boy!" Shippo sighed.

"I think we should test it out." Fae suggested.

"And what do you propose we test it on? Do you know of any creatures around with the same curse you have?" Ethan asked. Fae looked to the ground.

"No, not really." Fae replied sadly. Ethan then poured the purplish, lumpy liquid into a small cup. He walked over to Fae and sat in front of her.

"If anything happens, I will be here for you." Ethan explained.

"What do you mean, 'If anything happens'?" Inuyasha walked into the hut. He suddenly, like a reflex, shot his hand up to cover his nose. "What the hell is that smell!" He barked. He then looked over and noticed that Ethan had been sitting in front of Fae holding some sort of cup. "What are you doing? You can't test Fae like she's some sort of lab rat! She has a curse, and the only way to get rid of it is to kill Naraku!" Inuyasha protested, smacking the cup from Ethan's hands. The purple liquid splashed to the ground.

"And how do you suppose we do that? I recall that you've been trying to accomplish that FOR YEARS! How do we know she won't get worse by then?" Ethan stood up to face Inuyasha.

"It's better than killing her on the spot!" Inuyasha yelled!

"How do you know if that would have killed her?" Ethan bellowed. Inuyasha went quiet. "You see?" Ethan sat back down to serve up another cup of potion. When he turned to hand it to Fae, he turned to see nothing but an empty space. "She's gone!" Ethan said.

"You guys should grow up! You two were upsetting her!" Shippo said with crossed arms.

"Shut up Shippo!" Inuyasha then pounded on Shippo's head, making the small fox demon cry in pain.

"Ow, that hurt! If only Kagome were here!" Shippo whined. Inuyasha then turned to see Ethan gone as well.

"Pfft! As if he could have saved her!" Inuyasha kicked the whole cauldron of potion onto the floor and left the hut.

"No Inuyasha! Why'd you do that? We have been working on that for months now!" Shippo then ran after Inuyasha. Little did any of them know that after they had left, the potion evaporated into a cloud of glitter. Who's to say it was good or bad?

"Fae! Fae!" Fae heard Ethan calling from a long distance away. She had run off to her cave which she had originally come from. She had tried many times to go back, but she never was able to go back home. So she sat in the dark cave, silently crying to herself.

"What if they're right? What if I die before anything? What if I harm one of my friends?" Fae asked aloud. She sobbed. She shook her head to try to shake away the thoughts, but they still subsided. "I just want to go home." She whispered to herself.

"Ah, but you most certainly can go home!" A familiar, yet haunting voice called from inside the cave. Fae shot up from where she sat and stood in a fighting position. "Now, now, now. I come in peace." Out of the darkness slowly emerged the familiar puppet of Naraku.

"Naraku! You bastard! Go to hell!" Fae didn't shoot up in blue flames, but a dark red this time. She didn't pull out a sword either, but an axe. "DIE!" Fae slammed the axe toward the puppet, but it dodged her.

"Now, now! I will not play such an easy opponent. Come, fight me with Inuyasha so you al can watch him die!" Naraku flew past Fae, who soon shot after him, only to fly beside him, at his speed. "Impossible!" Naraku hissed. "There's no way a mortal can beat me!" And right as Fae saw Inuyasha about to meet up with them; she swung her axe at the puppet's head and killed it with one shot. With a shower of light, Fae fell to the ground sweating and panting. Inuyasha came running to her aid.

"Fae! What happened? Did he hurt you?" Inuyasha asked worriedly. Fae shook her head, but fell face down in the dirt. "FAE!" Inuyasha screamed. Fae wasn't unconscious, but she did see Ethan come shortly after. Fae could only remember bits and pieces of the aftermath though.

"What happened!" Ethan yelled in horror.

"She slayed the puppet. It looked as if Naraku was…scared, and he smelled of pure horror." Inuyasha explained.

"We've got to get her back to the hut!" Ethan said, picking her up, but Fae groaned.

"Please…don't!" Fae whined in pain. She felt as if her body were now burning up.

"Fae! But we have to get you to Kaede!" Ethan said drastically.

"O…kay…" Fae slowly sat up, Ethan helping.

"Do you mind if I carry you?" Ethan asked.

"It's not like-"But Ethan held up his hand for silence. Fae smirked and nodded. So Ethan carried Fae bridal style to Kaede, which was a long journey. Inuyasha asked time and time again if he could carry Fae, but half the time Fae was asleep, or so she seemed. On the way, Ethan caught Fae awake.

"Are you okay…I mean…" Ethan stuttered. Fae seemed to giggle, but from pain, it sounded like a cough.

"My body feels like it's burning apart." Fae answered.

"Can you try to meditate like I taught you? It would keep your mind off the pain." Ethan explained. Fae nodded, but replied before closing her eyes.

"I think I may need more training than I thought." She then fell into deep meditation. How was it that a mortal like herself could almost beat Naraku? Was this a test run to show that she purposely can beat Naraku, or is he more powerful than she thinks?

Please review! I think this might be the best chapter yet, but I could be wrong!