Another World

Chapter Four: Trail of Blood

        "Draw." Nayumi said.

"What? Where have you been?" Jade asked; ignoring the fact that Nayumi held Katana in her hands.

"I've been resting. Holding Sakura's spell at bay took some effort. Now draw." Nayumi said. Jade looked down at her hip and remembered that she had been carrying Katana around with her for the last week. After Jade showed Sesshomaru her dream, Sakura had vanished. She promised Rin that she would carry the sword around with her, but she hadn't had a use for it yet.

"Are you going to teach me how to use it?" Jade asked; pulling the sword from its sheath.

"Yes, but first let's see what you got." Nayumi said with a smile, then jumped at her.

"Hey! Watch it!" Jade exclaimed as she barely dodged Nayumi's sword.

"You're fast, but dodging isn't going to get you anywhere in a fight. You have to make a move. I usually always try to make the first." Nayumi explained.

"Why are you training me?" Jade asked.

"Because I don't need you getting killed. Having to wait for another rencarnation to kill Sakura would be a pain." Nayumi shrugged.

"That reminds me! Do you know what the marks on my back mean? Sakura said they weren't just for show."  Jade asked.

"Not a clue." Nayumi said; striking out with her sword again. This time she managed to cut Jade's left arm.

"Ow." Jade grunted, but barely flinched.

"When we're done, I'll heal those ribs. You needed to build up a high pain tolerance, so I left them." Nayumi said with a smile.

"Yeah, I didn't expect to still have those. Made passing out even more uncomfortable." Jade said; striking out with her sword.

"Not bad. You have good form." Nayumi said; blocking the blow with easy.

"I better with bows." Jade said.

"Let me see." Nayumi said. The whole scene around them changed. Nayumi had sheathed her sword, and somehow Jade's ended up back on her hip. Now they stood in front of a huge tree with bows in their hands.

"Let me guess, you were a master archer?" Jade sighed.

"I was a descent archer. I preferred close combat." Nayumi shrugged.

"I can tell." Jade muttered.

"Shoot." Nayumi said.

"I thought you were teaching me how to use the sword?" Jade said; pulling the string back and releasing an arrow.

"I will. Make sure when you wake up that you have someone get you a bow. You can use that as protection while I teach you how to weild Katana." Nayumi said; switching the scence back to the first one.

"Whatever." Jade shrugged; unsheathing her sword and jumping at Nayumi.

"You're learning quickly, but you need to know what kind of attack to use with each opponent." Nayumi said; grabbing Jade's blade.

"Are you crazy?" Jade asked as blood trickled down her blade.

"See." Nayumi smiled as she brought her hilt up into Jade's stomach, "Shock works best on you. When I do something crazy, you lose your focus." 

"I'm not use to people being so reckless." Jade said; coughing. 

"That's my point. You need to expect everything. You can't risk being distracted. I'm going easy on you." Nayumi said.