***
Previously:
"Jaken," he snipped.
The imp shuffled forward.
"Y-Yes, milord?"
"Tea."
The imp blinked at him for a moment, and Kintsuke's hand paused on the cast iron handle, puzzled.
"Er...sire?"
"Can you not see their cups are empty?"
Jaken looked, finding Kintsuke's, indeed, empty, but Rekkonji's only half-so. The imp said nothing, however, and as Kintsuke relinquished the pot to straighten herself in a poised manner, Jaken glowered livid virulence at the floor and assumed the task she had attempted. While Kintsuke and Rekkonji cast awkward glances here and there, Sesshoumaru simply closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth and flavor of the liquid in his own cup.
Perhaps now, Kintsuke would understand his opinion of her.
***
Sesshoumaru remained with Rekkonji for the next couple of days, drawing out strategy, and they both found great amusement and revelation in the Warmaster's test of the half-breed, a simple sparring match to assess her abilities so as to better incorporate them into the plans.
"Hold nothing back,"
Kintsuke didn't even try to hide her scowl of reservation.
"Are...You sure?"
Rekkonji's firm nod helped her push aside her doubts for the moment. If he wanted to see what she was made of, then he was going to find out. On a plateau, a bit further down the face of the mountain, the four of them set up; Sesshoumaru and Jaken to the side to observe, and Kintsuke and Rekkonji at an appropriate distance across from each other.
They bowed respectfully, Rekkonji's a bit shallower than Kintsuke's, but she didn't mind; he was still deserving of the deference.
He was just as quick as she remembered, coming at her with his favored polearm weapon. While her twin tonfa gave her a bit of an advantage, they prevented her from being able to grapple without abandoning them, and this caused her several issues at the beginning of the fight.
She could block all day, dodge and dance out of the way, but finding an opening proved challenging. Finally, she tucked one of her tonfa away and just grabbed the polearm as Rekkonji gave a thrust. He felt the sparking of her youki and abandoned the weapon a moment before her ravenous green and black flames consumed it, leaving only the warped and melting weapon head to clatter to the earth.
To the side, Sesshoumaru's brow twitched with interest.
The battle continued in such a manner, Kintsuke managing an answer for whatever Rekkonji threw at her, at least for a time. He slipped up, however, allowed her too close, and as her claws raked across his face, splattering his blood across the rocks, the tone of the fight shifted.
Deep in his chest, Rekkonji growled, and Sesshoumaru took quickly to the air to be out of the way as the two combatants clashed again. From there, he watched Rekkonji display every reason he had been the Inu no Taishou's Warmaster for so long, and Kintsuke, in turn, justify all of Sesshoumaru's patience and allowance with her.
It wasn't enough to deflect and dodge, however, and soon enough, the old Jackal drew blood of his own, shredding through Kintsuke's hakama and crushing her cuirass. As his claws buried in her exposed belly, she gripped his hair firmly and ignited them both in her green and black flames. Rekkonji's snarls of pain pleased her, and as he ripped out of her grasp, she gave chase, using the length and angles of her single tonfa, to maintain contact with a part of him.
Finally, he'd had enough, grabbing her by a mass of hair and flinging her across the plateau. His eyes lined with red as he healed the cracked and peeling flesh where her flames had kissed him, but he could not repair the scorched and tattered ends of his clothes.
Kintsuke recovered from her tumble, inspecting the gouge Rekkonji had left in her belly for a moment before her shimmering white flames ignited there, licking out from the wound at the surrounding skin as they stitched her back together faster than her natural healing ever could have done. It took its toll, though, sapping her reserve youki, and Rekkonji found his strategy for success through it.
He took his time, gauging his strikes and timing to be the most devastating, and her shimmering fire responded as he expected it would. Soon enough, she was out of energy to heal, Rekkonji's superior speed and stamina allowing him to dive in, inflict his wounds, and dodge away again before she could burn him.
Once or twice, she anticipated his lunge, igniting a burst of her damaging green or protective purple, but he had the patience to wear her down until, finally, she fell to his onslaught.
She wasn't out for long, thankfully, waking to the sounds of Sesshoumaru and Rekkonji's discussion. They paused as she pulled her aching body to her feet again, Rekkonji tossing her haori over once she was stable. Still low on energy, she had difficulty fighting off the cold as well as the males could and shuddered even as she tucked herself into the black cloth.
"Not bad, Kitsuke."
Rekkonji's tone was some-what approving as he continued to heal the wounds she'd managed to inflict on him. Sesshoumaru said nothing at all.
Back in Rekkonji's home, they settled in again for tea and soup. A quick glance from Sesshoumaru ensured the imp was mindful of their needs, their cups never seeming to empty. Although still dedicated to his master, Jaken could not dismiss the indignant humiliation he felt in being forced to service something as repulsive as the half-breed female, and he could find nothing to justify his master's consideration for the thing. Not wishing to suffer his master's reprimand; however, he kept his mouth shut and his mind quiet.
The current conversation came to an end, and Sesshoumaru let the silence fall for a moment before initiating one of his own, glancing at Kintsuke as she sipped her soup.
"Those white flames..."
His trailing tone conveyed his silent question.
She rested her hands in her lap, still cradling the bowl, and took a moment before answering. "They're a different application of the core ability I possess. The details are something of a long story."
"Have you developed other applications?"
"In addition to the green and purple, you mean?"
Sesshoumaru gave a slight nod.
"Yes, a few. I am currently working on another."
Rekkonji rose a brow.
"Similar to the ones Zheng had?"
She nodded.
"Exactly those. Assuming one can see the prism, adapting the different shades and their attributes into the flames is just a matter of practice."
"Prism?"
It was Sesshoumaru's turn to question again.
Kintsuke sighed slightly and did her best to explain, building on the analogy of light through crystal and the males seemed to understand. At their questioning, she explained about the five basic hues, -green, for destroying; purple, for deflecting and protection; blue, for negating poisons and miasma; white, for healing; and pink, for barriers-, and her attempted mastery of the last one.
Sesshoumaru was all but a statue as he listened, meditating on the details of Kintsuke's power and allowing Rekkonji to continue asking the questions he himself had.
"Out of curiosity..." The Warmaster examined his cup as he spoke. "How did you end up tangled in Zheng's schemes in the first place? You could have left Shanghai at any time."
Kintsuke blinked down at the soup that had gone cold in her lap.
"...No, I couldn't."
Rekkonji tilted his head in silent question, and she sighed again.
"It...It's complicated."
Sensing the intense curiosity and seemingly endless patience from her audience, she chose to start from the beginning.
"I'd like to say it began with Zheng, but really it started with Daiyufan, his hanyou daughter; my mother. None of his previous children could see the prism, so he thought to try having a half-breed. When he found she couldn't produce any flames at all, he kept her hidden in the fortress. Needless to say, she didn't appreciate that."
She set her cup to the side for Jaken to grudgingly refill.
"When she found a way to escape, she fled to the island, hoping he would forget about her. He was not so generous. I don't know why he gave chase, but with my father's help, she avoided being found here."
Rekkonji stroked his goatee.
"So that is what brought him here..."
Kitsuke nodded and continued.
"Eventually, he gave up and went back to Shanghai. He had Shoucheng, a full-blood, who inherited the flames, but none of the hues. She wanted to find a way to change that. I don't know how she got the idea that Daiyufan's eyes would grant her the ability, but that thought brought her here. To me."
She took a moment to retrieve her cup.
"And?" Rekkonji urged.
"We met, we 'talked,' and she tried to kill me. Before she died, I gathered enough information to lead me to Zheng. I figured I could convince him to help me train my fire. He did agree, but with conditions. I could either remain in Shanghai as his heir or seek out a female likely to produce a suitable replacement. I decided to remain as his heir, but to also seek a female. Once she had the child, I would be released from the agreement."
Rekkonji narrowed his eyes slightly.
"A dangerous gamble."
Kintsuke nodded.
"I didn't realize just how dangerous it was until later on. I should have known something was very wrong when Shu-ting started producing the hued flames and he still would not release me."
Sesshoumaru finally spoke.
"Why did you not simply escape?"
Kintsuke stared into her tea.
"I had begun sensing the other pups were in danger somehow. Raising them was my responsibility. I couldn't bring myself to abandon them."
Rekkonji canted his head.
"Is that why they were in Zheng's quarters with the Lady Consort and Shu-Ting?"
A smile slowly split across Kintsuke's face.
"Imagine the look on his face had he lived long enough to realize."
Rekkonji grinned and laughed at Kintsuke's shamelessness. After a moment of silence, Sesshoumaru spoke again.
"What is a Bifang?"
"A bird creature native to the continent that feeds on fire. Zheng planned to let it eat me and the other pups. To be honest, Rekkonji is the only reason any of us are still alive."
She offered the old Warmaster a grateful expression, but he scrutinized her.
"It ran you clean through. How did you not drown?"
Kintsuke's hand ghosted over her belly.
"The white flames aren't affected by water, it seems. They can form a protective cocoon of sorts, and it held me until I was healed. My mastery over them was still tenuous at the time. I expect Zheng's would have restored him much faster than mine did."
"Are they stronger now?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Reliably so."
Sesshoumaru hid the slight smile pulling at his lips behind his cup. He continued to listen as Rekkonji interrogated her about the happenings at Mount Hachioka. Some of the details were different from what he'd overheard but proved Kintsuke was still as cunning and tenacious as ever. He allowed it to please him to the core. How much more would he accomplish, now that his hanyou had returned to his side?