Warnings: nothing

The Wielder of BlackFire:

The Legend Lives Part II-Rose's Renaissance

Chapter Twenty-One: Flood

"That's it, you're done for today," Genkai said. The older woman was standing in front of a panting and coughing girl dressed in black. Rose shook her head, causing the strands hair that had fallen from her braid to stick to her flushed cheeks.

"No, I want to keep going," the girl said, trying and barely succeeding to clamber to her feet. Her eyes were determined, but her body was on the verge of collapse. Sweat dripped down her face and her body trembled with exhaustion. Normally Genkai would find her valiant. But this... this was not normal.

"Don't be an idiot. To continue would do nothing but put yourself one step closer to death," the master barked.

"It would be no different that before," the American gasped.

"Shut-up. Now go," Genkai, looking down at her with narrowed eyes.

"No," Rose said. Genkai was surprised at her retort. The girl had never defied her before, instead respecting her judgment and following her commands.

"Go take a walk and cool off. We'll continue again tomorrow." And with that, the master left, leaving the quaking girl to fall to her knees, trying to cough away the burning in her abused lungs, only to make its fire intensify. She could hear the thundering of her pulse in her ears, deafening the rest of the world to her. Her arms and legs had long since lost feeling and it was a wonder her knees even held her weight. She fell forward, unconsciously making her arms support her as she gasped. Her hair fell around her face, her loosened braid trailing down her back in a disheveled and matted rope. She coughed again and tasted the metallic tint of blood in her mouth. She took shallow, rapid breaths and eventually the pounding of her head and chest subsided and the coughs lessened. She breathed slowly to keep the body-racking coughs at bay.

An agonizing thirty minutes later she had composed herself and decided to stand. Her first attempt made her head reel and made her realized just how far she had pushed herself. Instead of the usual scream of pain from her strained muscles, they were dead numb and refused her commands of movement. Her arms were much the same as her legs and it was only a miracle that she had been able to continue as long as she had.

Her second attempt was far more productive than the first and she managed to sit up, resting her arms and head on a knee while her other still rested on the floor. She paused before forcefully heaving herself to her feet. The room swayed and blurred before her eyes and she was forced to lean against a wall for support to wait for the room to discontinue its dancing.

"Maybe I will go for a walk," she mumbled under her breath. She stumbled forward but had reformed her gait enough to walk back to her room to freshen up and change.

Rose walked outside the temple an hour later, wallowing in the early summer warmth. The trees expressed their wondrous, earthy scent, perfuming the air with their fragrance. A small breeze ruffled the leaves, lifting stray, unruly locks of hair from her shoulders, free to billow after the restriction of her tight braid and brushed free of knots. She walked into the cool shadows of the near-by forest, listening to the birds flit overhead and squirrels hop from tree to tree, their bushy tails flicking out behind them like cheerful farewells. She walked along a fairly well-beaten path, dry twigs snapping silently beneath her boots so that she walked with hardly a sound. Sunlight filtered down through stray patches in the tree canopy, illuminating the brown path with golden splotches and the green foliage bright emerald rashes.

Rose took a deep breath, ignoring the urge to cough at the slight burn that still dwelled within her lungs. It was peaceful here and she liked it. She walked along slowly, and not just because she was enjoying the scenery. Her legs were still weak, although feeling had slowly returned to them. They ached dully but she refused to let it effect her. Pain was a necessity if you wanted to get stronger. It told you your limits and just how much further you could go before death claimed her. But she had been foolish and ignored that pain, something one should never do. It wasn't until Genkai had left that she had realized just how much pain she had actually ignored.

A squeak ripped her thoughts from her mind like a harsh hand. She paused, but continued when it did not come again.

'Probably just a squirrel,' she thought, shrugging it off. She took in a good look of her surroundings, watching birds fly from perch to perch, feeding off insects or fruit and other small woodland creatures. A sound startled her, but nothing came to her ears. She stopped, knowing that she had indeed heard nothing, but the sound was there. She looked around again, but there was nothing. She scowled and walked on. The forest grew thick quickly, the smooth trunks of the trees standing at rapt attention. The night before had been full of wind and thin branches lay scattered about the forest floor.

A sudden bolt ran through her body, making her stop in mid-step at its ferocity. She glanced around quickly. Something told her that all was not well in this peaceful groove. There, again! What was it?

She registered a sound, this time with her ears. A cry of distress, pain, and fear. She unconsciously walked toward it, being careful to upset nothing as she approached. The trail was barely in view when she came across the old, dead tree. It had been uprooted disrespectfully and its thick roots stood in the air like forbidden stags, mournfully torn from their honored place of burial. The squeak came again, louder this time, but feeble. Without thought, Rose walked around the fallen tree. It wasn't large, no bigger around that she was, and taller by only a few feet. Again, the cry, desperate and pleading. It racked at her being like nothing she had ever known.

Through the screaming protests of her strained and abused arms and legs she knelt, then lifted the tree high and clear with ease and righted it back on its dead roots. At first, she saw nothing, but it didn't take long for the figure to make itself clear. The weasel-like creature stared at her with bright red eyes. Its coat was a light chocolate, dirt and mud soiling and dulling its richness. The creature did not struggle to move away as Rose looked at it, who was surprised that her search had proved fruitful.

"So you're the cute little creature that kept squeaking," she cooed as she stepped forward, removing one of her gloves from her jean pocket and putting it on. It wouldn't do if the creature had rabies.

She approached slowly, murmuring softly to the creature. It shifted uncomfortably, but did not flee. Baffled, the girl crouched beside it, offering her gloved hand.

"What a cute little ermine you are," she said. "Here now, let me help you." The ermine sniffed at her hand before turning away disdainfully. Confused, Rose looked it over. It lay on its said with its right hind leg twisted at a gruesome angle. She cringed at the sight before turning to look into the creature's eyes. They were blank and dull like its coat.

Setting her face into a determined lock, she removed her outer sweater, which was black and covered her green, 'supreme diva' tee. She reached out and quickly grabbed the ermine by the scruff of the neck, being careful not to jar its injured leg. It protested slightly, but stopped when she placed it in the comforting confines of her sweater and wrapped it tightly around the creature.

"Don't worry, Kurama's a healer, he'll fix you up," she whispered, running as quickly as she could back to the temple, ignoring the groans of tired muscles and the burning that was coming back to her chest.

Hiei fftted away from a near-by tree.

"Kurama!" The door of the temple opened, slamming unintentionally against the wall. The kitsune looked up lazily. He had been informed by a certain fire demon that she would be returning.

"Yes? What is it Rose?" he asked, turning from his position on the couch to face her, letting his paper drop to his lap. The bundle in her arms squirmed, burrowing deeper into the sweater's folds. She stepped forward calmly (trying to ignore the bitter burning in her chest and the creaking muscles in her legs), removing part of the sweater to reveal the ermine's injured leg. Kurama stood and examined it carefully.

"Is it bad?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Only if it's left untended," the kitsune said. They were silent. Kuwabara and Yukina were off doing chores in another part of the temple, so the area was deprived of the carrot-tops obnoxious voice. Yusuke walked into the room quietly, yawning after one of his periodic naps. Hiei was in his usual cloud of separation on the other side of the room.

"So you can heal him?" she asked after the moment had passed.

"You heal him," Kurama said.

"That's not funny, Fox," she growled, her voice raspy.

"I didn't intend it to be."

"What do I look like, a magician?" she snapped. He said nothing. She sighed and turned away, rolling her eyes. "Fine, I'll just ask Yukina. She'll be happy to help." Kurama reached out and touched the side of her arm. She stopped, turning and glaring at him.

"It wont hurt to try it," Hiei said gruffly. She glared at him as well before turning back to Kurama.

"Fine," she snapped. "I'll prove it to you." She walked over to the couch and sat down, careful not to upset the creature in her arms. She cooed softly when it squeaked in protest as she placed it on her lap. She removed most of the sweater, letting the brown weasel-like mammal look around with its beady eyes.

"Tell me what to do," she said, running her hands through the ermine's fur, picking dirt and burrs from it. Kurama gave an invisible smile.

"Close your eyes and place your hands on the injury lightly," he explained. She didn't ask questions, although she gave him a uncertain look before complying. "Think of the bone knitting back together and the muscles threading back together," Kurama continued. "Feel its pain and focus on it. Imagine it disappearing."

Rose scrunched her face up in concentration. She might be bodily exhausted, but her focus was unwavering. She would prove to them that she couldn't to it, and maybe they'd get off her back about it.

Suddenly, a feeling struck her, a spark similar to the one she had experienced when walking in the woods. She felt immense pain, dulled only by time. She gasped and gritted her teeth, willing. Willing it to heal, to go away. No more pain, she asked. She tried to think of what Kurama had told her. Mend and go away. No more pain. Fuse the bone. Reattach the muscle.

Something exploded inside her, flooding an empty riverbed within her with the purest of water. A water that was not water, but something with just as much power over the things around it. Strength flooded through her and the pain was suddenly gone, replaced by a soothing warmth.

'Thank you.'

She did not know why the two words ran through her head, but they did, making her release an unconsciously held breath in a sigh as her mind darkened into unconsciousness. The pain was gone.

A/N: Yes! I got this second chapter out within a week of the last! its to make up for the horribly short one I wrote formerly. this one's a little more interesting, I think. again, thank you all so much for staying with me!

Reviews:

Ensatsu-Kokoryu-Ha: agg... did you see naruto last night! the dubbing just wasn't as great as the original, but it never is, I don't think. Although I will say I like Sasuke's and Kakashi's voices. of course, they can never measure up to the Japanese voices, but you can tell the dubbers weren't so stupid as to cheat them out of a voice like their personality. ack! a petition for better dubbing! why wasn't it sent to me! and yeah, I know about the HW thing. I'm a senior too and its like, wtf, this is supposed to be our cruise year! lol, then again, I was the one who asked to crap as much crap into my schedual as possible. I don't want to have to pay for classes in college that I can get for one fifth of the price in HS. so yeah, I decided to take two major college classes with a million and one electives this year. its lame. lol. here's your update, thank you so much!

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