Insane-san says: Sometimes when I spell my pen-name, I spell SAND instead of SAN. Then I think of insane sand. I think it... goes around suffocating people or something... Now I'm afraid of myself because secretly... Maybe I'm insane-sand? -shudder-

The white door opened as much as it could and I heard it softly thud against the wall.

Standing close next to Inuyasha, I darted my eyes around the room quickly. It was an office of some kind. All I remember was that there was something blue on the floor; I looked too fast to see what, book shelves, blaring candles that lit the room brightly, a desk, a large window,

and a cold-looking man.

I heard a small crick as Inuyasha's fists clenched so tightly a knuckle popped. That made me stir with discomfort. The man looked up and my breath was cut short. His hair was long, straight, and lightsilver, way past his waist. He had dark stripes on each pale cheek. His ears were pointed and his eyebrows were slanted in annoyance the moment he laid golden eyes on us. The resemblance he had to Inuyasha was shocking once you looked at him closely. This man was much more...Elegant-looking than Inuyasha. His eyes were darker and much more cold. He had pale skin and, wearing the right clothes, could have been a king of some country.

He fixed his eyes on me and held his gaze for several minutes. I was too stunned to move.
He was like a prince who just kind of...popped out of a fairy tale.

Inuyasha hated him?

Once his eyes moved slowly back over to Inuyasha, I breathed again.

"Inuyasha," The way he said his name wasn't like I'd heard it said before. It was drawling and cold. It almost couldn't have been his name at all. More like a foreign curse word said in a smoothe, uncaring voice. "So you have returned." He finished, his expression relaxed from it's annoyance.

"Yeah." Inuyasha growled. The man turned around fully from gazing out his large window. "I must assume then, that this is the Chosen?" He said without looking at me. I felt my eyes narrow a little. "What a brilliant guess." Inuyasha said coolly. The man's sleek eyebrows slanted once more.
"Hm. Indeed." He lifted an eyebrow slowly. "Of course, I am surprised that your vocabulary consists of such an elaborate word as brilliant." My jaw flexed and I allowed my mouth to open. Right then, I actually really considered pulling out one of my amazing retorts that I had made up for Inuyasha on our journey to the city. One would've been enough to do the trick amazingly.

But I heard Inuyasha's growl rumbling in his chest and swallowed my words. He was shooting a full body and face look of rage at the icey guy. He tried several times to swallow his growl and speak but every time he opened his mouth, a truely frightening snarl erupted. Finally, he got a hold of himself. "I brought the Chosen, so just get on with it, Sesshoumaru!" He had tried to keep his voice calm but ended up shouting in the end.

Sesshoumaru eyed me with dislike and tensed his jaw muscles. "Very well." He turned from us to walk to the other side of the room. He stood in front of a glass case. I tried to see what was in it but his white suited body was covering it from my view. I heard several clicking and scraping noises before he finally turned around.

He stood before us now with a palm-sized diamond. It was white and just...beautiful. He held it out with hesitance towards me.

"It is my sad, sad duty to give this to you, Chosen One." He said airily. "Accept it with..." He suddenly appeared to be struggling with something. His eyes closed and his eyebrows winced together. He opened his mouth and his fangs glinted. "My blessing."

I reached my hand forward and took the diamond. I cradled it in my palm and brought it close to my face. The dim white light that grew from it began to shine brighter as I held it. It glowed around my face. I smiled.

"At least I know you did not fail us all like I believed without doubt you would and pick the wrong Chosen, Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru's dark yellow eyes flickered in the light of the candles' flames. "If the Chosen Diamond glows, then I am satisfied." He walked towards his desk. I felt curiosity get the best of me and I asked, "Why is it the Chosen Diamond?" I felt air brush against me as Inuyasha's head whipped around to face me. I sort of got the feeling that he really, really didn't want me talking to Sesshourmaru at all.

Sesshomaru's face went blank I couldn't see or feel any emotion coming from him at all. "Just because you are the Chosen does not mean I must waste my breath on your questions for the sake of curing petty ignorance, human." Hot blood smothered my head with embarrassment and anger.

Growling growing in vollume interrupted the shocked silence. "Don't...You...DARE--!"

"Be gone! Now." Sesshoumaru hissed.

Inuyasha didn't take his time in leaving and sped out of the doorway. I followed and closed the door behind me.

By the time I had turned around, Inuyasha was far down the stairs. He was jumping over stairs and cursing in the air all the while. My heart skipped a beat when I saw how alone I was. I started down the stairs, holding the diamond carefully.

It was then that I realized that before we entered the room, Inuyasha wasn't afraid, but dreading what insults he would recieve. Possibly he would even be dreading what Sesshoumaru might call me. He was tense and angry. I would be too if I was told I had to visit that guy again and there was no choice for me to say "No."

"Inuyashaaa! Hey, wait!" I called out in the darkness. I got no reply in the dark silence and a strange panic thumped through me. Since he was probably already out of the door, what if it closed and I couldn't get out? Maybe I'd be stuck in there with Mr. Insult as my only company and everyone else would just forget there ever was a Chosen.

It was strange how I had come to rely on my title so much at that moment, when I really did hate it very much.

I clutched the diamond tightly in my sweaty hand and tried to make it down the stairs in one piece. It was hot and dark and I could barely see a thing. I felt completely alone. Suddenly, I collided with something stiff. I was about to land backwards on the stairs when someone grabbed me tightly by my wrists and pulled me up straight. I was gasping for air and I looked up through the shadows.

It was Inuyasha.

I stared with a kind of disbelief. My eyes searched around his face. He narrowed an eye at my examination.

"Well?" He said flatly. I blinked a few times. "Well, what?" I asked quietly. He ripped his hands away from my wrists and crossed his arms. "Well, as in, I've been waiting here in the dark like an idiot for you, and there you are, comin' down the stairs like a blind turtle." I tried to close my open mouth. "I thought...I just didn't think that you'd..." His face contorted in annoyance. "Listen, we don't have time to just stand here, so come on." He turned and walked down the last few steps. I stumbled after him in stunned silence. He opened the door and we both walked out.

'He was actually waiting there? I never thought he'd do what I asked him to unless I did something like...Kneel at his feet, begging and kissing the floor.' I tripped over my feet as we walked towards the entrance that Kaede left through not long before. "Watch your step you idiot." He said arrogantly. Somehow that made me even more stunned, for some odd reason.

"So," I dared to speak. "Where are we going now?" My voice sounded stupid. Well, at least I thought it did.

Stupid self-consciousness.

"Oh," He sort of shouted. He sounded as though he was surprised at himself for forgetting to fill me in. And this change in him occured...How? "We've gotta go to the central tower." He nodded and quickened his pace a little.

"Central tower?" I echoed. "Yeah," He abruptly turned left. I followed. "We get outta here, an' then we go...to the center of the grounds, I guess. To the central tower." We were almost running now. "It's a fat, tall building that looks like a dungeon for prisoners. I hate how it smells..." I smiled a little. "Do you have complaints for everything Inuyasha?" I asked with some sarcasm.

"Mostly, yeah. So?"

I paused.

"Uhh...Nevermind. That's fine. I wasn't saying it in a bad way or anything." He grunted in reply.

Inuyasha skidded out of the room on the wooden floors, his bare feet making harsh squeaking noises. He hopped on one foot to regain his ballance.Once it was regained, he immediately ran up the hall. I almost fell on my face when he went sliding out of the room. I was relieved to see that he didn't notice. The wood floor stretched out with a long rug that was designed with many red, purple and white patterns. It looked extremely expensive. Everything else went unnoticed by me because we were running. I caught sight of a large golden-framed mirror that I gaped at for a moment before I continued running.

We reached the end of the wide hallway and stopped at a large, detailed wooden door with black hinges and locks and an inky handle. Inuyasha jerked it open and the muscles in his arm flexed. I raised my eyebrows for a moment before lowering them.

"You've got some muscle, Inuyasha." He grinned. "Ah, really? Yeah." Arrogant...

Then his face went serious and his eyes had something that just screamed that something was going to be funny. "You will, too."

I chose not to question that at all and followed him out. He closed the door. From there, we walked. The plot of land we walked on was covered in brown sand. It was surrounded in the castle-like city's walls. Like a circular wall protecting us. I smiled at the grey rocky structures and the gothic windows. The sky was the ceiling above us. It was very peaceful there. I felt like I had gone back in time thousands of years and was in medievel times. In the center of the land was a tall tower. The central tower, I assumed.

Inuyasha was right. It did look like some kind of dungeon. 'I wonder what we're gonna do in there.'

"Ready?" He tossed his head towards me over his shoulder and flashed a smirk. I fingered for my pockets and put my hands in them. When I nodded, he openened the old brown door and we walked inside. The room was of course as wide and circular as the tower itself was. I looked up. It went way up to the tip of the ceiling. There weren't any stairs like I thought there'd be. Covering the wall for about twenty feet were weapons upon weapons. Sickles, swords of shapes and sizes, axes, black arrows, hooks, ivory bows...

I looked back down and saw Inuyasha moving forward; shoulders back, head high. I wondered if he was looking strong like that on purpose. My mind wandered for a moment before the sound of a chair moving backwards shifted my attention.

"By my sword...Inuyasha?" It was a muscular, tall man with a shaved head and a fair ammount of stubble on his face. He looked completely human except for his ears. They were flipped upside down and had pointed tips. Small golden rings hung from each one. His shirt was tight and grey, almost mimicking Inuyasha's exactly besides the color. Torn sleeves and all. His pants were long and black, identical to Inuyasha's. He was about two inches taller than Inuyasha and carried a white sword that was tied to his waist by a blue string. I focused my eyes closer on the string and it seemed to be almost...glowing.

Inuyasha smirked and crossed his arms. The man's mouth was open and he was staring at Inuyasha. "You have...Changed so much, Inuyasha." He said quietly. "You look the same." Inuyasha said as if he wasn't surprised at all. "Still an ugly old man, I see." Inuyasha eyed him up and down with a haughty expression. There was silence.

Then the man burst out laughing. "Come 'ere, you stupid whelp." The man laughed. He walked out from behind his desk and grabbed Inuyasha in a hug. He punched his fist on Inuyasha's back, grinning. Inuyasha remained with his arms crossed and tried to jerk away.

I started laughing and tried to quiet myself. I coughed to make myself stop and Inuyasha was jerking away harder than ever. It wasn't a joke anymore. "Get...GET OFF!" He shouted and shoved the man away. The man laughed for a while. Inuyasha smeared his hands around his shirt as if to get the man's hug off. He kept glancing at me and then shooting his gaze away. Embarrassed, I guessed.

"I...I can't believe it. Inuyasha, this...?" The man took on a whole different look. He was serious and all of the boyishness faded from his face to show his true age. He stared at me with a hard gaze and I couldn't break away. I wanted to seem strong in front of this man with so many weapons on the wall...

"The Chosen One." His voice rumbled. He bowed his head to his chest and then looked back up.
"I am. Or so Inuyasha tells me..." The man looked rather startled like he couldn't believe I spoke or something, maybe it was what I said, but it brought a laugh out of him. He put his fists on his hips and turned to Inuyasha. Inuyasha lowered his head slightly and his ears swiveled around.

"You've done a fine job. You have brought the Chosen and showed everyone what's what, eh, Inuyasha?" He said, smiling. Inuyasha glared at a jagged knife on the wall, mumbling something.
"Well now, Chosen One, would you do me the honor of sitting in an old chair?" He asked me. I nodded and walked towards the small chair that was in front of the man's desk.

"Oh, hold up!" He said. I looked up with a shock and saw him with his calloused hand outstretched. He walked around to the front of his desk to be by me. "I haven't introduced myself to ya, and I don't ever want to seem rude before the Sacred Chosen."

'He's polite for such a tough looking man...' I mused.

"My name's Dens. It means tooth." I nodded, thinking about where his name came from. He continued speaking. "You'd do well to remember that...'cause I just might BITE YA!" He made a motion as if to pounce on me.

Everything happened so fast.

I screamed and threw my right fist forward with all the strength I could muster. I heard an enormous punching sound like some kind of movie sound-effect and saw him get tossed backwards quite a few feet. He landed on his back with a smack and a loud groan.

We all remained in our positions for several minutes. Me, not believeing that I could punch such a strong man back so far, Inuyasha, staring at me in a kind of mixed awe and horror, and Dens, on his back trying to get up, obviously still in pain.

When Dens finally got up, his hand was rubbing his now swelling left eye and his mouth was open and moving.

"I..I am so sorry I startled you, Chosen. Forgive me." He said in a hushed voice. I swallowed and placed a hand over my mouth.

"It's me who should be..Sorry. I had no idea that..." I was grateful to have my hand over my mouth at that time because I was starting to smile. My smile grew and grew. Then I heard Inuyasha make a snorting sound and saw him with his back turned. His whole body was shaking. Dens was still standing there holding his eye. Finally, I could take no more.

I burst out laughing.

I saw Dens face twist and then he joined in. Inuyasha remained with his back turned.

Finally when we stopped, Dens offered me the chair again. Inuyasha was muttering things about how he couldn't believe something or other... Dens sat down in his bigger chair and stared at me through his one good and one swollen eye.

I sighed into the air, glad to be able to sit down for a while.

"So, moving along," Dens started. "I was Inuyasha's master, so-to-speak. I taught him everything I know about fighting. Everything. Right here in this lot." He slammed a fist on the desk. I jumped. "After he completed his years of training, he became a master like me. Or a sensei as he is called. A teacher."

I nodded with a small smile, thinking about the demon boys in the dining hall we walked through.

"I know everything there is to fighting and almost everything there is to know about magic." He said. I nodded quickly. "For what I don't know about magic, Inuyasha doesn't know either. You're going to have to read some books on magic and spell-casters and also learn things on your own." I nodded and watched his grim expression. I was sad to be alone in that subject.

"Well, you'll be training here for quite some time until you get real good. Until that time, you will call me Master Dens or just Master."

I blinked slowly and narrowed my eyes in thought. Me, the Chosen One, call him master?

'Isn't that like bowing to people in a way?' If it got really annoying, I'd tell him I refused. That was all. 'I'm really starting to grow around my superiority...' I thought bitterly. "So," I cleared my throat and looked at him. "When do you start training me?" I asked.

He paused and then threw back his head and laughed. "My sword, Chosen. I'm not going to train you. I'm off the job!" He boomed.

My face was ripped from any expression.

"Inuyasha is the one who's gonna train you. He's your master."

My insides grew cold and I stopped breathing.

My neck cricked quietly as I slowly turned my head towards Inuyasha. He was standing in the shadows at the most left side of the room. His arms were crossed over his chest and his head was tilted to his shoulder. His golden eyes glowed in the darkness.

My gaze was met with a fang-filled grin.

'My life...Is forfeit.'

Insane-san says: Sweet. Another chapter, another day. I was interrupted so many times while writing this it isn't even funny. At all. Yeesh, finally. Reviews please. I enjoy them very much. Thanks for all the reviews so far, dudes! -grin-