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After she had finished healing Zaruba for him, Kouga had asked her to stay at his mansion so she could rest. He'd told her she could stay for as long as she wanted.

Jabi was on her way back to Kantai the very next day.

She knew Kouga would understand her decision. Not that she had anything against the Golden Knight, or his new Makai Priest, or even Kaoru. But Jabi would be lying to herself if she didn't admit to feeling... something... in the pit of her stomach when seeing Kouga and Kaoru together. Jabi could feel the warmth emanating from Kaoru, could see that Kouga himself was basking in it.

She envied it. She envied them.

The closest she had ever felt that way was when she was teaching Rin - the one she had wanted and sworn to protect - and upon thinking of the child Jabi realized that, surprisingly, she did miss her student.

She had thought of leaving Kantai for good, even if Tsubasa had recanted his request to never see her again in his land. But after visiting Kouga, after encountering the man in the red mask, she'd changed her mind.

She'd be foolish if she were to choose to be alone now.

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After his first experience of using the DAN armour since his encounter with the man in the red mask, Tsubasa had been forced to tell his apprentices what was happening to him. They had been concerned for him but, just as he had trained them to do, understood that they must be prepared for any death at any time. He had reminded them that he could have been killed by a Horror and the outcome would be the same. Now he was going to have to give Rin the same explanation.

The first couple of times he had returned home wounded, Rin hadn't noticed. She was too occupied with her own training and he'd given instructions for others not to come near him while he was resting. Now, he was discovering that with each transformation the effects became worse. When Hyuga and Akatsuki had carried him home three days previously because he couldn't stand, he had managed to convince her that he had been injured by a Horror; but Rin wasn't a fool. She had heard about the curse. He was planning to take her aside at an opportune moment and tell her the truth.

Rin was going to want to know why he hadn't told her before and why he'd tried to hide the extent of his injuries from her. Tsubasa's answer was that until now she hadn't needed to know. She was lucky for any notice of losing her brother, and to have had so many years with him before this happened. Above all else she was a Makai Priestess and it was her duty to be ready for this. There was no need for theatrics. He would explain that he had been marked with the seal of destruction and that now, just as always, she should be prepared for him to die at any given moment.

As he wondered about when to speak to Rin, he thought that perhaps this might have been easier with Jabi there. Jabi hadn't entered his thoughts often since she left Kantai, except for him to observe with satisfaction that he had been right - Rin was warmer towards him and more likely to listen to him now that her mentor wasn't around. Tsubasa was aware that this might not have been the case if he had told her that Jabi was being sent away permanently.

Jabi took her time in journeying back to Kantai.

She had no need to hurry anyway, but more importantly if the man in the red mask was watching her movements and simply waiting for an opportune time to attack her, she had no intention of leading him towards her destination. Jabi had fought well, and had driven away the enemy successfully - but that's all she was able to do: drive him away. She had not killed the man who attempted to coax her into joining his side. Despite her skills, she knew enough to realize she couldn't.

It had been a week since her encounter with the foe, and he hadn't shown himself to her since.

Perhaps it's because she left the threat with Kouga and Kaoru?

She had no proof of anything, of course. Except her gut feeling.

And now, her gut feeling was telling her she wasn't alone in the forest anymore.

She crossed her arms and nonchalantly cocked her head to one side. "You can come out now."

"What?" Tsubasa stepped out from the bushes, recognizing a second too late that the voice was female. He lowered his sword when he saw who was there, "Jabi. We thought you were still with Kouga." He was faintly embarrassed at being caught staking out the forest and it made him irritable. He'd left his apprentices to train alone while he continued his search for the man in the red mask - his reasoning being that with no one to succeed him as DAN, one of the two was likely to be appointed the Makai Knight of Kantai when he was gone.

She was right, then. Jabi wasn't surprised Tsubasa was the first she'd see on her way back to Kantai - he had never faltered in trying to keep it as safe as he possibly could, and if there was anyone who'd know the moment a stranger walked into his land, it was him.

"Not anymore," Jabi replied - even if it was obvious enough. "I've already done what he'd asked me to do, and I saw no reason to linger there."

It was surprising, though, to see that Tsubasa was wandering alone in the forest. "Where's Hyuga and Akatsuki?"

"Training. They could be appointed to full Makai Knights at any moment. They have to be constantly alert." Tsubasa brushed pieces of stray twig and leaf from himself and moved across so he could speak to her properly, "you didn't send word you were coming. Rin will be happy to see you." His lips drew into a thin line at the thought that Rin would now go back to ignoring him, but he wasn't going to make it into an issue.

"Is that so?" Here Jabi adapted a more relaxed pose. "Could you handle it, I wonder? Having two more Makai Knights to impinge on your territory." It was a statement made in jest, of course, a reference to Tsubasa's stubbornness and initial refusal to work with Kouga and Rei five years ago.

"They're my apprentices, why would I resent them?" Once again the idea of a joke went completely above Tsubasa's head, "those decisions haven't been made. Perhaps they'll be moved somewhere, but they're the most highly trained apprentice Knights we have. Most of the others are children." His mind drifted for a moment to Hyuga and Akatsuki, how they would cope if left without him. Akatsuki might try again to ask Rei to be his teacher. Tsubasa wasn't prepared to discuss this at the moment and decided Jabi could find out when he'd spoken to Rin.

Again, she wasn't surprised Tsubasa took her words literally. There's the tiniest shake of her head as she said, "I don't think they're ready to be Knights yet. They're still too much under your shadow." It wasn't a criticism of his skills as a mentor, though perhaps it sounded like it. But she shrugged that off and continued, "Besides, Kantai doesn't yet need another Makai Knight, does it?"

"That's not my decision to make. If anything happens to me or another serving Makai Knight, they need to be ready to replace us." He privately agreed that Hyuga and Akatsuki were not ready to become full Makai Knights. They still made mistakes, they hesitated at what could be crucial moments and they didn't have as much experience as he would have liked them to. He felt he still had so much to teach them, but that was another matter that had been taken out of his hands, "Rin needs to be ready, too."

"She will be." Like she told him the last time they had a conversation, Jabi still had lessons that she needed to teach the child. They were usually reserved in the latter part of a Priestess' training, but with the impending threat on Knights it was imperative that she hastened them. "After all, Makai Knights need Makai Priests. There should never be a division among them... right?"

"No." Tsubasa knew that the Makai Priests had once fought the Horrors themselves, before the Knights were formed. Makai Priests were now invaluable, and a skilled one was almost every bit as deadly as a Makai Knight of similar experience, "Rin is your student. I won't intervene." This was as much acknowledgement of their previous conversation as he was prepared to make.

She nodded to herself, satisfied with that answer. The man in the red mask was indeed deluded if he thought the Makai Knights should be destroyed, and that only the Priests should remain behind. It was a curious ideal to spout at anyone because of how absurd it was; Knights were borne because of the Priests' own limitations in defeating Horrors. To remove them would cause trouble to all - Priests and Humans alike. Wasn't that why Knights were needed, anyway?

Jabi heard his last statement and raised a brow, remembering something from long ago. "You can come and watch us, if you want. I won't mind."

Edited 2012-10-02 14:54 (UTC)

"I think I will." While Jabi was away, Rin had watched or trained with Tsubasa's apprentices several times, so he thought it a fair exchange. He considered them shining examples of discipline and loyalty who could show Rin good habits that she wouldn't lose once Jabi returned, "she has worked hard. She wanted to uphold your standards while you were away." He hoped that watching her train would linger with Rin as a positive memory when he was gone; one that would remind her that Tsubasa had loved her.

"But were they up to yours?" Jabi didn't need Tsubasa's approval, but it was an interesting thought. Rin had been under her care for years, and she was bound to pick up habits that were originally Jabi's, even if they were unintentionally taught. "Do you think Rin is disciplined enough, as a Priestess-in-training?"

Tsubasa was sure that Jabi wanted him to state that he had been wrong and she was right. He wasn't going to own up to anything of the sort but, now that the effects of the curse had begun to take hold, he felt it more important that he put Rin before whatever disagreements he and Jabi might have had. Furthermore, he'd be lying if he said Rin hadn't exceeded his expectations, "I do. She's stubborn in a way that my apprentices aren't, but I will not deny you were an outstanding teacher."

"...I see." Well now, that was surprising. To have Tsubasa say such things... "She's stubborn because you're stubborn. I'm certain she got it from you." That was already a fact that he had to accept as truth, whether he wanted to or not.

Jabi crossed her arms, looked around her. She couldn't sense another's presence with them, but that didn't necessarily mean that they were safe. The man in the red mask had managed to sneak up on her and Zaruba without her knowing, after all. "Anything interesting that happened while I was gone?"

"She has never learned such a thing from me. You're wrong to say so." Tsubasa didn't want to be drawn into another argument about it. He seized upon the change of subject, "nothing has changed here since you left." That was true enough, since he'd been marked with the seal before Jabi's departure, "What news is there of Kouga?"

"He seems fine. Kaoru too - but you haven't met her yet, have you?" Jabi waved that away. "It was Zaruba who wasn't all right - but I've already fixed him." Just like how she was able to fix the Phosphorous Arrow - though Zaruba's came with an unexpected threat.

Speaking of the threat... "I've been approached by a very... interesting individual." Jabi placed a hand on her hip, opting to act as though she wasn't overtly concerned. "He was asking me to join him."

So, something had actually been wrong with Zaruba. It seemed a strange reason for a visit. Kouga had recently been assigned a Makai Priest of his own, who should have been able to take care of it.

"But you chose to come back here." Tsubasa knew that Akatsuki had once tried to leave them and ask Rei to become his teacher instead. He would have thought Jabi was too committed to Rin to do something similar; but that wasn't going to stop her taunting him with it. Perhaps she would take up the opportunity once Rin became a Makai Priestess and was no longer under Jabi's instruction.

"Yes," she said shortly. "Only because he didn't ask me properly." Pause, then, "He attacked me." Jabi was certain her attacker was male. A Makai Priest, who had abilities surpassing an average one - even hers.

"I don't know who he is; his face is covered by a red mask." She didn't tell Kouga any of this, partly because she didn't want to burden him and partly because she'd wanted to come to him when her suspicions of the man's identity were confirmed.

Tsubasa had suspected something like this from the moment Jabi had said she was attacked - so, to his relief, he was able to keep himself from too much visible reaction. The panic he'd felt when he saw the seal branded into his chest was still fresh in his memory. As a Makai Priestess, Jabi was in less danger from the man than a Makai Knight would be and of course she'd survived the encounter. But with her as anyone else, Tsubasa would always be prepared for an unexpected death, "A red mask. Like the man reported to have attacked several Makai Knights." It placed the mysterious assailant within Kouga's territory. If Tsubasa had to name a Makai Knight who might have been able to defeat the man, he would have stated Kouga.

It was just as she had thought. "Several?" Jabi repeated. And then it clicked. "I see. This man in the red mask is doing all he could to ensure that his goals are carried out - either by attacking Makai Knights directly, or trying to turn Makai Priests against them."

Kouga hadn't mentioned any of these to her - and she wondered why that was. Surely he had already received word from other Knights? "Would you know how many he had attacked and killed?"

"I have heard that he has attacked multiple Makai Knights. That's all. No report of anyone dying so far. Obviously, it's hard to confirm anything like this. I don't know how much of it is true." Tsubasa would have thought that Jabi would know more after her time with Kouga. It seemed that either Kouga wasn't telling her something or she wasn't telling Tsubasa, "what does Kouga know about it?"

Her theory made sense. "In other words, a Makai Priest who has fallen to darkness. He has to be cut down. There's no other way." It came with the risk that they would never find a way to defeat the curse; but as far as he was concerned, the law of the Makai Knights and Priests was inflexible.

Yes, a Makai Priest who had fallen to darkness - who lost all hope on the abilities and usefulness of Makai Knights and now saw them as liabilities than allies in the fight against Horrors. Him being in the same forest that she was - which was almost off-limits Knights themselves - were proof of that.

"It won't be that easy," she told him quickly. "Saying it is one thing - but doing it is another. He has abilities that make him a difficult enemy - had I been less skilled, he would have been able to kill me."

Tsubasa took a moment to consider the implications of this. He had seen for himself how easily the man could overpower him. The longer their situation continued, the more Knights were affected by the curse, the less chance they had to defeat him. What made it worse was the difficulty in knowing who or how many had been stricken already, "Yes. I fear you're right - but that doesn't change our duty. We are compelled to defeat him."

Tsubasa hadn't wanted to interfere in any business of Kouga's but felt that the subject should be mentioned. Jabi's discretion was her own, "I believe that if anyone could withstand him, Kouga is our best chance."

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