The Wielder of BlackFire:

The Legend Lives Part II-Rose's Renaissance

BY: Black Dragon Diva

Sequel to: The Legend Lives

Summary: There's a new enemy stalking toward the human world, determined to rule both Ningenkai and the Makai. Koenma sends the Spirit Detectives off. To find their old partner. And Old enemy. Problem: She's not who she used to be...

Chapter Twenty Three: Meditation Complications

"You're done here. Get out." Genkai didn't sound pleased, but her voice didn't exactly seem disappointed.

The day was at its very peak, the sun beating down on the mountain mercilessly with thick summer rays of heat. It was airy due to the elevation, but too warm to be entirely comfortable.

Rose nodded as she struggled to catch her breath as she stretched out. The lesson had been, by far, the worst of all that she had received during her stay here, but she didn't feel exhausted. In fact, it was more refreshing, if rather tiring. It was as though she had found some hidden strength in her limbs. It made her feel as though she could climb mountains and tread against the current of a fierce river.

The hardest part of the exercise was not in the physical aspect. No, it was mental, trying to keep those voices at bay as she struggled to concentrate on the lesson at hand. That exhausted her.

However, her day was not complete just yet. She had been instructed the night before, after trying and failing to get the ermine to leave, that she should meditate to help her maintain her focus. It was her hope, that with practice, she could get rid of the persistent little creature.

Speak of the devil, the ermine lifted its head as she pulled the sliding door aside and stepped out into the oppressing sunlight. It had hardly left her side since the day before, and it was almost irritating. As if she didn't have enough damn guards watching her every move, now she had a slinky-shaped shadow too.

The creature bounced up from its resting place outside the door and trotted or galloped after her, coat a glossy chocolate in the light, rippling over muscles like silk. It kept at her heels while she tried to ignore it, at times brushing against her casual linen pants, but otherwise unobtrusive. As long as she ignored the creature, it should leave her alone right? The ermine didn't seem to think so.

Rose took a detour once into the woods, splashing her face with cool water from a small, giggling stream near the clearing where she planned to work. She wiped the moisture away with her sleeve and felt better for the dampening of her hair and skin. The ermine ran a circle around her as she entered the clearing and sat yoga-style.

Meditating was not a new thing for the young woman. In fact, it had been eagerly encouraged among the therapists once she had come to. After Thorn had infested her body. Mostly it was to control the anger and the helplessness of having her world broken to bits, and being left with the shattered remains that lie, sharp as glass and as distorted as fun-house mirrors, around her. There had been so much rage back then. And even now, at times, she could feel it simmering beneath the surface, like a beast in her throat.

The ermine hopped onto her lap, gazing at her face curiously. If she weren't so damn uncomfortable with the voices she'd have asked the damn thing why it wouldn't leave her the hell alone. But for now she just glared and shut her eyes, ignoring it completely.

She took a deep breath, relaxing her muscles both internally and externally. To think of nothing was a difficult thing to do. In the darkness of her own skull the voices seem amplified, echoing off the wall-less space of her mind. But to keep the voices at bay without the distractions of sight and tension was considerably easier and the stress of doing so eased away. She relaxed, letting the darkness and the hushing silence settle and keep her company. The warmth of the sun on her shoulders and hair seeped into her skin and grew stronger; the shade of the lightly bending trees overhead more refreshing. She allowed these opposites to wash over her, pulling them like blankets around her. She took deep, peaceful breaths and allowed her world to fall away into nothingness. Here there were no voices, no stupid guards, none of that dumb 'save the world' crap that she didn't want to be involved in. But she needed to right her past wrongs, she needed to get stronger, to help and to finally go back home where life was simple and easy.

'You should listen to what they have to say.'

A faint voice slid into Rose's protected room, past her guards and under her wards. She struggled to push it away, and failed.

'Do not ignore them. It is easier to listen.'

'Who are you' she asked at last, giving up on forcing the other's conscious away.

'My name is Yasha.'

'What do you want?' she snapped. Whatever this was, it was interrupting her!

'I am here as your guardian, to offer you assistance,' the voice said. Rose froze then bit back her rage. She didn't need any help meditating, thank you very much!

'I don't need help," she said hotly. 'And how did you get in my head anyway?'

'I am a creature of the forest, and so you can hear my thoughts,' it said.

'As if that wasn't obvious enough,' she commented dryly. 'I meant how can you override my barriers?

'Because we have a bond. We have for a long time, I just haven't been around to share it with you,' it, and she was fairly certain it was a male voice, said. She paused, thinking over the words and trying to understand.

'I… you must be the ermine I healed, aren't you?' the brunette asked.

'Yes. If you'll allow me to explain myself, I'll tell you everything you need to know.'

She snorted and said: 'Great, sounds like fun. Let's hear it.'

'I was told by Thorn to keep watch over you,' Yasha began. She could faintly, outside of this reality, feel him settle firmly in her lap. 'I could sense your powers manifesting themselves quietly under your skin. I apologize for being so blunt in drawing out your strength, but it was necessary to ensure it did not burst from your flesh and consume you.'

'Sure, great to know there's more than just a few people who wanna keep me alive.'

'Hm, yes. And now I will be able to teach you to rein in your mental… eccentricities. Thorn instructed me to assist you.'

'Thorn? How come?' Rose asked, suddenly at attention. Personally, she didn't feel like she would need the help, but information on her former personality wasn't something she was willing to just walk away from.

'She knew you would need help. Even she needed help from the Black Blaze to help block out the Voices. However, your brain is already accustomed to Blocking, so it should be easier for you than for her.' There was a curious pause here as Rose absorbed the information, rolling it in her mind.

'You seem to understand that Mistress Thorn was more than just your subconscious mind. Do you know who she was?'

'She was a monster,' Rose spat quietly. Yasha was silent, allowing her words to echo in the soft emptiness of her mind.

'Perhaps we should begin our lesson,' he said abruptly. The girl upon whose lap he sat said nothing. She vowed to herself to strengthen her blocking abilities against Yasha so she could drown him out when it pleased her.

'Sure, whatever.'

It was getting late. The sun was setting and dinner smelled of fresh rich and fish in the kitchen. But not even the tantalizing aroma of Yukina's awesome cooking distracted him from the fact that Yukina set the table for eight, but there were only six people eagerly awaiting the serving of the meal. Genkai had run off to her gaming room (which she had long ago forbidden to Yusuke and the others) to shoot pixilated ninjas and mutant zombie creatures in search of fresh brains. Kuwabara hovered around the kitchen, carefully stepping out of Yukina's way as she maneuvered and tried to make himself as small as possible. Kurama sat on the couch in the other room, reading that damn spiral notebook still more, and Yusuke himself was glaring at the TV, the remote to which he couldn't find to save his life. He was betting it was one of Genkai's tests, and if he found it he would obviously have the time to train and so she'd find something for him to train. He'd rather sit and ... well... think, I guess could be the term for it.

Hiei hadn't been around all day, but that wasn't abnormal. Off training or something. Terrorizing small children and skinning cats maybe, he really didn't care. If he hadn't showed up by now he had probably found some other way to get food. So it wasn't Hiei he was coupling the lateness of the day with. It was actually Rose. Stupid girl, didn't she have any sense to be in before dark? It was getting bloody late. And knowing the Hag they'd probably have to wait for her! Agg...

"Oi, Kurama, Rose is late. Should we go look for her before we eat?" the brunet asked, glancing at him from his cross-legged position on the floor at the casually couch-draped kitsune.

"She's out meditating. We should allow her to take as much time as she needs," Kurama said, eyes reading faster, sometimes sticking on the harder English words. He'd have to get more of that visual translating powder from Koenma. As good as he was as a student, even English gave him trouble, and some of the words he was baffled by. He was suddenly grateful for his Japanese-English dictionary as he searched for the meaning of obtuse. Wasn't that a triangle?

But Kurama could suppose that Yusuke had a point. Rose had been gone for more than what was safe. Not that he had any doubt that Hiei was watching out for her (it had been recommended that with the surging of her Spirit Energy that she should have a constant guard. She didn't know it, but Hiei had silently taken over the job, even before the suggestion.). The fire youkai would ensure that she did what needed to happen and nothing more, or less for that matter.

Yusuke merely sighed and longingly looked into the kitchen as Kurama ignored him for his reading. Where was she? He was hungry.

'The animals will tell you everything you need to know of your surroundings. Listen to them and you will never be lost, nor unguided. Don't let them take over when you lower your gates, but allow select voices to pour in. Good, now remember that they can hear you, just as you can hear them. You can impose your will on them, but it will only make them trust you less and encourage them to fear you. The fear in wild creatures is not something you want,' Yasha said. He was a patient teacher, assisting where he could with Rose's training. Her mind knew the skills necessary for the training, it was a matter of making the young woman conscious of such skills and telling her how best to use them. Of course, measuring Rose's abilities proved a tad bit more difficult than the ermine had thought. Thorn's power had been so neat, organized and controlled. Rose's was wild, thready and thick, strewn with disorder.

Rose was silent through his instruction, internally awed, although she said nothing of this to her current teacher. But he could sense it on her mind. The emotions that could flood her should she let them, the joy of a flight, the satisfaction of a good meal, the fear of prey being chased. It overwhelmed her, but at the same time it lifted her heart, as though she had known this all her life and was being reacquainted with an old friend. She listened and she felt and she knew, it she tried, she could see, she could become.

'We mustn't rush your training. In time, you will see with their eyes, but for now we must work on your blocking. A badly constructed shield will sap your power and leave you vulnerable.'

'I have no time to waste,' Rose said firmly. If Yasha noticed, he said nothing.

'We have time,' was the simple reply. Rose was skeptical of the creature still and his words sounded hollow, like a false promise. She shut down her walls and slowly opened her eyes. The chocolate-hued creature looked at her with small dark eyes. If he had caught her doubt he didn't show it. Then again, she couldn't exactly read the expression on his face.

The voices lay muffled behind her barrier as she stood and stretched stiff and sore muscles. She felt weary as she turned this way and that, struggling to crack her almost painfully stiff back. She sighed as she straightened and didn't protest with Yasha leapt to her shoulder, ignoring him completely as she headed back toward the temple.

The sun hung low in the west, blurred and sleepy against the hilly horizon. It painted the foliage a shimmering gold and lit Rose's hair and the ermine's fur with fire. It was warm and soothing in the sun's fading light and the girl paused to soak it in for a moment. She glanced around her slowly, searching the trees.

'Uneasy?' Yasha asked. She pursed her lips slightly.

'No,' she replied easily, turning back toward the trail. There were not demons this close to the temple, the wards assured it, so it must have been an animal watching her abandon her former resting place.

Hiei ran ahead to return to the temple first.

AN:

wow, it's been a long time since I've updated. I'm REALLY sorry for the delay. I was stupid enough to think that writing a novel for my senior project wouldn't affect my fanfiction writing time. WRONG. Of course it did, so for eight months that's all I did, and I'm not even satisfied with the finished piece! So again I'm really sorry for the delay, I didn't mean it at all! And of course I had to rewrite this chapter from the notebook (which makes me wince, because my writing style back then just... well it kinda sucked) so basically the entire thing was rewritten. No, I haven't edited it, so all mistakes are totally my fault. You can point them out, but I probably wont fix them :P.

Reviews:

Koji Jaganshi: thank you so much for the review! Here's an update!

Ensatsu-Kokoryu-Ha: -exhausted sigh- I am SO sorry for not updating faster. Thanks to you I actually remembered: hey, I haven't updated RR in like, EIGHT MONTHS. No, I am not dead, no I have not forgotten this story, and yes, there are still like 20 chapters to go -dies-. I'm going to try my hardest to finish this before school starts in the fall:P. I'm glad to hear you got accepted to a good school! I'm going to Ohio for my equine studies at Lake Erie and I really can't wait. Parents are good but, bleh, away is better. Just me and my horse! . Thanks again for getting me off my ass enough to type this chapter up. don't you remember when updates were once a week. Those were the days! thank you so much! -bows- PS: feel free to e-mail me any time and tell me to get my ass in gear :P