Disclaimer: I own none of the included characters worth mentioning. Any incidentals are mine, but they're generic 'NPC' types.

Writing this, I've realised that it might not be obvious who Nazuna is. She's the girl from the beginning of volume five, the Kumogashira arc. She, Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippou defeated the Kumogashira's "hive mind", which had taken the form of a priest in order to lure Inuyasha's Shikon shards to it. She doesn't have any special powers or fighting skill, but she's as stubborn and determined as Inuyasha.

I realise that my chapters are quite short, but mostly what I'm doing at the moment is trying to get what I can down onto paper before it leaves me, which gives the structure… they seem logical places to end, so I leave them as they are rather than trying to merge the instalments into longer chapters.

Sorry this took so long to get back out again. I couldn't find my backup copy (it's on a floppy), so… heh. Here it is again. Kaze no Rei; Chapter 3. The song is 'Events at Mount Hakurei' from the third OST.

Chapter III: Awakening. (Hakureizan no Ihen).

There is a man, sitting in a room. He has long; greasy black hair that reaches to his waist, hanging loose except for some, which is gathered into a ponytail. He has curved, human ears, and handsome features. His eyes flicker strangely, as though two natures are at war within them. One moment they are perfect teal, human eyes with strange hue. The next they are angular crimson, the pupils bleeding to white. He is concentrating on something, and in one upturned palm lays a perfect, spherical jewel, one quarter of which is missing, leaving jagged edges. He watches the jewel's curved side, tilting it, and stares deeply into the reflection of his eyes there, which have finally settled on the red. A wicked smile curves his lavender-painted lips.

Nazuna stirred, groaning. Something had… no… what was missing? There was something… but she could not remember. She decided to start at basics. Her name was Nazuna, she was angry, and something was missing. That was a start. Who were her parents? She did not know. Who was she? She did not know past her name. Where was she? In danger. That fact registered strongly. Forcing her eyes to open, she looked around. She was in a dismal room, laying on a futon against one wall. Sitting up, she put a hand to her head, rubbing her temples to ease her headache.

"Hurts like hell, don't it?" A voice… familiar, but beyond her grasp. Female, strong, dark, and sultry, a voice completely at odds with her coarse language and slaughter of the Japanese tongue.

"Who?" Nazuna looked up, and saw the hunched figure of a woman sitting with her back resting against the doorframe. A name welled up in her mind…"Kagura…" she murmured under her breath.

"Hoh? So you do have some things in that head of yours. Shit. I was hoping this would be easy…" Had she been more awake, Nazuna would have noticed the slight twist to the Wind-user's words. As it is, she took them at face value.

"What would? Who are you? Do you know what's happened to me?"

"Yeah. You're new. That's about it… just another spawn of Naraku, in for the haul, long or short. Wake up and smell the fucking ashes, little sister." Nazuna looked at the woman more carefully, and Kagura turned her head, still toying with her fan with her hands, and looked straight into Nazuna's eyes.

'Shit. She hasn't changed at all. What's that bastard thinking, bringing a mortal into this mess?' I swore to myself, staring into my 'sister's' coal eyes. Naraku wanted her convinced she was a Bunshin like the rest of us, well. Shove Naraku. 'The moment I can get her somewhere private, I'll tell her the truth… for all the good it'll do her…' I decided. I realised that I was making a lot of concessions for this mortal girl… perhaps it was simply that she was a kindred spirit. Strong-willed and individual, forced into this against her heart. I noticed that there was a rebellious fire in those black orbs as they met my crimson ones, and forced myself to smirk.

"Don't even bother… I know what's going through your mind. 'what's going on?' 'Who the hell does she think she is?' 'Like hell I'll do what some asshole tells me to do.' Right?" I saw her pause, shocked, and retreat slightly. I was being harsh, but I needed to get across to her that this was not a safe place to talk of anything but what Naraku told us to talk of.

"But... you… I know you? Don't I?" She seemed confused, and I felt a moment of panic when I saw the look of one seeking a mother's comfort in her eyes.

"In a way… You were grown in the same vat I was. Maybe part of me ended up getting mixed in with your hell-brew of a womb. Would explain how you knew my name. Most of us are only born knowing our own and our Father-Master's. Hell. It's stuffy in here. Lets head outside somewhere and I'll tell you the rest." Standing, I slipped my fan inside my sleeve and nudged the door open with my foot. Nazuna didn't need a hand up – I hoped she was realising that any help she needed, she'd have to manage for herself.

Nazuna struggled to her feet, and moved towards the door to follow the wind-user. She was about to step past it when her eyes registered the fact that Kagura had stopped in front of her, and moved to one side, revealing a small girl wearing a white shift. Her skin was unhealthily pale, her hair pure white, and her eyes bottomless-deep pits. In the crook of one arm, she held a circular mirror with an ornate silver setting. In the other arm were a sword – a short-bladed single-handed weapon with a slight curve to its edge – and a jewel box.

"Nazuna…" The girl's voice was a whisper, and she made no sound as she drifted closer on bare feet. "I have brought your weapons…" And she presented the sword to the dark-haired human. Nazuna reached out and touched the weapon's lacquered sheath, something stirring within her as she caressed it before taking the weapon and slipping it through the sash that held her tunic closed. "The sword is Hano Maneshi-Kogoe…" Kanna whispered, and held out the jewel-box. Nazuna took it from her unresisting fingers, and opened it to reveal a gold ring, set with a green jade stone. Taking the ring from its velvet nest, she slipped it onto the middle finger of her right hand, knowing somehow that was its natural resting place. "The ring is Kino Chikara…" the white girl finished, before turning on the spot and walking away, fading into the darkness within seconds.

"Well. Looks like He's decided to grace you with some pretty powerful equipment… I guess that means we're meant to go to the training ground, if he's already given it to you. I don't suppose sword-skills are one of the things your mysterious mind has gifted you with?" Kagura asked, with a tinge of sarcasm. Nazuna searched her fragmentary memory, and shook her head. Still, she felt some kind of bond with the blade, so perhaps when it was in her hand it would tell her its secrets. Kagura just shrugged and carried on walking, leading Nazuna to an open-roofed courtyard with several weapons racks around the outside under a covered walkway. The floor was hard-packed earth. Several roughly humanoid training dummies were at points around the room, but they weren't going to use them, Nazuna realised, as Kagura walked to the middle of the room and turned, slipping her fan from her sleeve and meeting her eyes.

"I said I'd finish explaining, so here I go. I don't know what he has in store for you, but it'll probably killing or weakening his enemies. That asshole'll use you up without hesitation, leaving you to die if things go badly for him. That's if he even accompanies you. Weakness is forbidden, and he'll not hesitate to remove those of us who are no longer useful to him. Our lives… they aren't a blessing; they're a curse."

End C3.