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Name: Nusuma Reta
Age: 15
Appearance:
Abilities: Control of shadows and fire, exceptional wielding of weaponry, psychic abilities, increased speed and agility.
History: Tenma has no recollection of her life before Toguro.

Name: Isabella Jones
Age: Appears 22
Appearance:

*~*Genkai*~*

It was shortly before the rise of the morning sun when Genkai sat with the letter sent to her from Koenma just the morning before. As if it wasn’t troublesome enough that she had to train the humans and, comparatively, young demons; but yet another was to be added to her midst – this one even younger than the others. Though a burden it was, the wrinkled woman knew the reason this child was being sent to endure the cruel brutality of the elder’s training session. Yes, this mere adolescent would one day be charged with the task of facing down evil: looking it in the eyes and slaying it before it had a chance to seep into all three worlds and take hold with the iron fist it was bound to have developed by now. This meant the side of good was already dragging far behind and it would be up to her, the woman that managed to whip the team that won the Dark Tournament into shape, to make up for the ministry’s mistake and to give this girl the upper hand that she was sorely lacking. Yes, once again it was up to her to prepare the world’s saviors for yet another bout in the ring of combat; but this time it was the entire universe at stake and she would not let it fall to darkness. So, with her nerves settled and her mind set on the task ahead of both her and her students, and as the sun rose in a brilliant fiery glow over the jagged horizon of the mountains and forest, the old woman exited to room to awaken the others.

The walk up to the bell was quite the long and steep one, but Genkai always managed without a fuss – even with her rapidly progressing age. There was no pulley, no rope, no tool to assist in the ringing of the bell – that had to be removed upon Yusuke and Kuwabara’s arrival thanks to their ever increasing need for causing mischief – instead the woman leapt into the air and, with a seemingly gentle tap with her foot, cause the large ornate instrument to ring out over the compound and the forest. Flocks of birds could be both seen and heard fluttering from their once peaceful resting places as the sound rippled through the canopy and dissipated into the morning sky. Soon her pupils would assemble for breakfast and it would then that she informed them of their new training companion: though she would conveniently leave out the “losing the world to evil, destruction of all that is good and pure” bit. That was information she could not reveal, mostly for fear of tampering with the prophecy – a crime that could rip apart the entire fabric of time, allowing times and worlds to all fuse together in on chaotic mesh. No, she would have to keep that to herself. After all, it was only suspected that this was the child of prophecy.

*~*Isabella*~*

Before the sun could quite rudely wake the sleeping woman from her quiet slumber, Isabella Jones was awoken by the sharply melodic ring of the temple bell. With a slight start she rose onto her elbows, curious as to why Genkai would have awoken her students at such an unusual hour. However, not one to cause trouble with her terrifying master, her slender feet soon found the cool wooden floor laid beneath her bed. It was only recently that she had been given the luxury of a room separate from the guys. Though she had reasons to wonder why, the demoness wasn’t about to complain about not having to worry about if she was appropriately clothed at all times in her own room. There were countless times were the men had managed to walk in on her changing or something of those sorts. They always forgot to knock.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, the woman quickly grabbed her clothing and slid them over her body: faded black pants with a light off pink accent on the side along with the matching top. With obviously practiced hands, Isabella rushed her hair smooth and into a flawless bun – not a single hair out of place. As she exited her room, she fell into line with the short stream of guys headed to the kitchen to silence their audible stomachs after a heavy night of sleep.

*~*Kurama*~*

The sudden pang of the morning bell violently struck the fox’s ears as his eyes cracked open to peer around the room. Kuwabara laid in only his boxers and a blanket on the floor. Yusuke was on a mattress that had somehow managed to maneuver itself on top of the slumbering Kuwabara. With a slight groan, his head was still throbbing from having to listen to the two boys fight and bicker that past evening, the man lifted his torso and shifted his legs so he was sitting on the edge of his bed. Pale hands rubbed at his emerald in attempt to because fully awake and aware – it wasn’t like Genkai to wake them so early, so he would have to be prepared for whatever came their way. Another groan accompanied his movement to stand as he felt the pang in his legs from yesterday’s training. He had the ever discouraging task of acting as Kuwabara’s moving target as he worked on a Spirit Sword that could bend, move, and lengthen all in unison while attempting to swing the monstrosity at his target’s shoulder. Well, he had managed everything quite well the last time save for the fact that he forgot to swing and struck Kurama in the leg where he wasn’t protected.

Modest was sort of a moot point between the man now that Isabella was out of the room, so no one bothered wasting the energy to hide behind a screen or a door. With constantly quickening grace, as his mind and body begin to finally come alive with the morning, the man dressed himself in typical fashion for his training that day. Finally, as the sun began to peak into the windows and dance across the wooden floors the men exited their room, shortly to be joined by Isabella, to meet in the kitchen for breakfast.

*~* Nusuma*~*

With violent tossing and turning, Nusuma was awakened with a very abrupt and pained visit with her floorboards. Her legs and arms were tangled in the sheet, so she had been unable to catch herself; which meant her shoulder and hip took most of the force. Keeping her eyes closed, the girl slowed her breathing in an attempt to calm her racing heart pounding at the back of her skull. As its pace began to decrease it all came back to her: the dream. Yes, she had been having the same dream every night for almost a year; but every time it became more violent, more confusing. It was an image that she had yet to come to terms with and it was consuming, wasting the few hours of rest that she had. Even worse was that the dream was the same every time, but it somehow continued to get more and more out of hand. Now, she was beginning to feel physiological effects from the dream, like she was actually there instead of it being some piece of her subconscious. If Toguro found out, which it was quite possible that he at least heard her fall even though his bedroom was on the other side of the complex, Nusuma didn’t want to imagine what would happen to her. All she knew is that it wouldn’t be any good.

Finally unraveling herself from the death grip of her sheet, the girl pushed herself off the floor and stood to look out the window. The horizon was just beginning to peak with a red glow, but it wasn’t enough to call it the sunrise. As she walked over to her dresser, Nusuma’s pale slender hands traced along the foot of her bed, the rough wood scratching the skin above. Once freed from the baseboard her hands went to work searching for the clothes she would use to cover her form that day. A pair of pants that went just below her knee, tightening to the area with an elastic band, and a tank top with wide straps – all in black. Her feet would go bare; she hated shoes, and her face without make-up. With a careless hand, the girl used a thin, limp black ribbon to tie back her incredibly long black hair so it would be out of her face for training. It was obvious that she took great care of her hair as the slowly rising sun caught it and shone off the ebony locks. Prepared for the day, Nusuma forged onward to the kitchen in order to stave the ever painful morning hunger.

*~*Group*~*

As the line of students walked in they spotted both Genkai and Hiei. Following suit, they all sat at the table with Hiei, all awaiting Genkai to speak. None of them dared to head for food before this little early morning meeting was said and done. No, there was a weight in the air as the elderly woman looked at them through sagging eyelids. She was stoic, but there was also a tension her shoulders as she grasped her hands behind her back. The boys looked from one to the other while Isabella fiddled with the hem of her shirt in order to keep herself occupied. It almost felt like someone was pushing down on their chests: the anticipation, the small changes recently made, the increase in the intensity of their training, and now the early morning meeting. This didn’t exactly spell foreboding doom; but for a group of men that had already seen so much in such a short amount of time, it didn’t exactly paint pictures of rainbows and butterflies.

*~*Genkai*~*

The old woman was tired, too many times had she had to deal with situations like this. It was always the same: good versus evil for the fate of the worlds. However, it had always been up to the men. Having a couple of women fighting was always a concern. Women are moody, secretive, two-faced, manipulative, and worst of all – they never seem to know what they want. It would be one thing for this new girl, Nessiel, to have to fight this embodiment of evil; but if she were to somehow be swayed into trading sides then the worlds were doomed to forever live in darkness. The shuffling of feet and the scuffing of chairs against the wooden floor brought the woman from her thoughts as she scanned her students. Yes, it would again be left up to these poor souls to bring about protection to the worlds; but this time it would not be on the battlefield.

“Isabella, pay attention!”

The woman’s introduction was short and harsh, but it was more than enough to snap everyone into attention.

“I can see that you’re all worried. Well cut it out! If there was something to worry about then you would know! Today we will be introducing a new student to the group and I want everything to go smoothly. Is that clear? This is not to make any disruptions in our training or anything else for that matter. After all of you have eaten, you will go onto your assigned tasks swiftly and silently: I don’t want any meaningless chatter about this. Isabella, you will go wash the temple – it has been sorely neglected. Yusuke, you will clean the Northern half of the compound and Kuwabara the Southern half. Hiei and Kurama, you will prepare the training arena for today. Set everything up. When all of your tasks are finished, meet at the training grounds. Now go!”

The chairs were suddenly pushed back as everyone snapped into action in order to keep the elder calm, which always made glad that she still had that effect on them. With her hands folded behind her back, the woman left to the clearing in order to meet Nessiel when she arrived.

*~*Group*~*

Just as Genkai had ordered, everyone went to prepare food without a word. Though conversation was highly tempting, they all had enough run ins with the woman to know better than disobeying.

*~* Nusuma*~*

Having finished preparing breakfast for the three of them, Nusuma was finishing setting everything on the counter as Toguro and Lona walked in. After a quick bow to them her feet padded across the wooden floor to retrieve the plates of food. She knew who liked what and how much and when. It had become habit after so many years of living with the same people in the same routine. The girl didn’t mention her dream, she never had, and she didn’t mention her painful wake-up that morning. It was common for them to eat with few words exchanged, but Nusuma was already thinking up an excuse for her noisy entrance into the conscious world. These dreams were something she intended to keep to herself.

*~*Genkai*~*

The sun was finally glowing, resting atop the horizon created by the forest canopy. A shining silver glint appeared with the sun to its back and, surely enough, the form of a dragon demon appeared as well. Her wings were shimmering white and caught the sun with a dancing radiance. Normally someone would be enthralled with such a spectacle; but Genkai wasn’t exactly what one would call normal. The child that now stood before the elderly woman had blonde hair and blue eyes; which was odd with the coloring of her true form. However, there wasn’t supposed to be anything about one of the two chosen children. With a harsh stare the woman looked Nessiel up and down. This girl had a lot to learn and not much time.

“Come with me, Nessiel.”

At that the woman spun on her heels and headed into the forest towards the compound. She was not in the mood for formal greetings – especially since it seemed like the child knew exactly who Genkai was.

*~*Nusuma*~*

Damn it, they had heard her wake up this morning. Mid chew the girl stopped and stared at her plate. Her swallow was sudden and nearly caused her to choke. “It wasn’t a nightmare, just a dream. I tossed and turned enough to put me too close the edge of the mattress anyways. I apologize: it won’t happen again.” Nusuma didn’t want to tell Toguro and Lona about her dream; but she knew that she either gave them enough information to draw their own conclusions or she was about to be bombarded with questions that she wouldn’t be able to avoid, at least not all of them. Unfortunately, it appeared as if Toguro was about to get involved and his word was law. The girl with light sky blue eyes waited in anticipation because her master was about to either make a big decision or an order on her part. All she could do was steel herself for whatever was about to come.

*~*Kurama*~*

Finished with assisting Hiei the fox demon relaxed against the wall. If there was nothing to be worried about then there was no reason to tense himself before training: it was brutal enough as is. His ears perked up as he heard his fellow demon begin to speak. The two had a strange relationship where they were comfortable with one another, almost to the point where Hiei would come to Kurama to talk – though that was rarely the case. However, this also meant that when the fire demon did begin to speak he immediately drew the fox’s attention. This had become quite the peculiar situation. Hiei had grown considerably stronger than in the past and his Jagan was of exceptional ability. It was a big surprise that the newcomer wasn’t of great strength since Kurama had yet to sense them, but the fact that the youkai couldn’t discern what type of demoness she was became a slight concern. It wasn’t something to do with Hiei, it was the girl. This, of course, got the man thinking about what it could possibly be – the primitive demon particularly coming to mind.

“Hiei, how many primitive demons have you come across in the past? If you are not familiar with them that could explain the strange aura you are seeing.”

As usual, he attempted to aid in the situation, though there really wasn’t anything to be fixed. They just needed an explanation was all.

*~*Group*~*

Once finished with the sudden whirlwind of cleaning and scrubbing and sweeping, the rest of the students appeared in the training arena. Isabella was particularly dusty from having to clean the poorly kept temple and she attempted to pat herself down as they awaited their Master’s return with the new student.

*~*Genkai*~*

It wasn’t long before Genkai led the girl to the training arena – a tour would wait until later. Walking into the clearing she was moderately pleased to see all of them standing in waiting for their return. The group was standing a way that they were more or less visible: all of them could be discerned from each other, but there were no strongly defining features that could be seen. “Nessiel, you will get your tour later this evening; but I will not disrupt my current students with your arrival, so you will be joining them now. Listen closely, because I will not repeat myself.” At that she went from left to right introducing everyone simply by their names. “Everyone, this is Nessiel, make sure she keeps pace. Now get going!”

*~*Group*~*

At that everyone began to run towards the woods, Hiei wasn’t allowed to use his inhuman speed for this little excercies. As they ran off Isabella came over and grabbed Nessiel’s wrist to urge her to follow. Once content that they were far enough from Genkai and that the new girl caught on to follow they felt free to finally talk.

*~*Isabella*~*

“Sorry about Master Genkai, Nessiel. She hasn’t been in a very good mood recently. Anyways, I’m Isabella, and what we’re doing right now is just going on a hell run that she makes us do about once a week. We aren’t allowed to use our energy or anything until we reach the cliffs, then we just have to get across and back any way we can. When you’re across there will be a portal that she’ll open for us to return to the compound. After that we get to work on our individual skills, whatever we think we need to improve on, and she will pretty much walk around, correct us, test us, all of that great stuff.”

By then everyone was beginning to breathe heavily and it was a wonder that Isabella had even managed to get that all out.

*~*Nusuma*~*

The girl had been afraid that Toguro would demand to know the details of the dream. “Well…I’ve been having this dream for quite a while now. It grows and gets longer each time it comes: it always has more energy and color and detail and…everything, each time I see it. However, I’m just watching from above…I’m not actually a part of it I suppose, but every time it just feels more real than the time before.”

Nusuma had moved to the back of her chair, twisting her fingers through lockets of hair as she thoughts about the dream. It was always a sign that she had to think deeply about whatever it was the conversation was or that she was concerned about something. However, there wasn’t a descriptive expression on her face to waver in favor of one or the other.

There were only blackened silhouettes in the room, but their roles were obvious. Sitting in chairs side by side were a young man and a young woman. Their fingers were interlaced as they sat by the fireplace, the woman with a book in her hand. Her voice was smooth and warm as it floated through the air. The words weren’t in a tongue that made sense, but it was obvious that she was telling a story to the man and the child that slowly became visible sitting on the rug. It seemed like the shadow was wearing a light dress, which suggested a very young girl. There were crayons and paper scattered in front of the girl as the woman continued on. However, there was a crashing sound in another room that caused the man to shoot up from his chair. The woman set the book down and moved towards the child as the male went to investigate. However, before she could make it to the little girl her attention was drawn to the man being violently thrown back into the room. The woman ran over to look at his wounds as a shining red spilt from his chest. Then the woman’s arm was caught by the hand of an enormous man.

“That is where I am no longer watching and I become the child on the rug, watching everything that is going on.”

As the woman struggles to free herself, calling out a man named Sakyo and the child whose name was Naito, flames sprung up all around. Her mouth was agape as the red danced about, engulfing the room, masking the man who had managed to silence the woman and throw her down next to the man. The form that Nusuma had taken couldn’t breath as her mind screamed for air, for oxygen, and for her parents. Heavy footsteps fell, weighing on her heart, as the massive man approached through the fire; but everything turned red.”

“Then it yet again becomes like I am looking down on the scene.”

The entire world was on fire. In the midst of it all stood a shadowed woman and the silhouette of a massive dragon stood before her. It appears as if their battle had engulfed the entire world; but then appeared a third figure, far larger than either of the two combatants. Only his torso is visible, the rest of him hidden by the horizon as he blocks out the sun. He pins the dragon down as a line of fire links him to the woman.

“That’s when I woke up this morning, which was the first time I ever got far enough to see the figure over the horizon. See, just a silly dream.”

Her voice had grown tired of the matter, but she knew that it was done. She had gone into excruciating detail because she knew anything less was completely unacceptable. However, Nusuma didn’t understand that those were both images of the past and the future: how she had come into Toguro’s care and what was to become of the worlds she held in her hands unknowingly.

*~*Group*~*

Everyone, save for the perpetually sprinting Hiei, were thoroughly out of breath by the time they reached their destination cliffs. At that time there was a sudden spike in energy as each of them prepared their own way across the gorge. Plants began to spring up and make a sort of rope bridge as Kurama approached, Kuwabara held a spirit sword that he would use to pole vault over the chasm, rocks began raising into the air to make a broken bridge as Isabella approached and Yusuke jumped over the canyon and used a dispersed version of his spirit gun to propel himself across. Once they were all at the meeting place they watched the dragon dance up in the sky. It wasn’t everyday that you met a primitive demon, but she was also very young for her kind, which must have put her at a disadvantage. Then, as the portal opened, Isabella called up:

“Nessiel, hurry down or Genkai will leave you behind!”

After another appreciative glance at the beast in the sky Isabella followed the guys through the portal, hoping the new girl would heed her warning.

*~*Nusuma*~*

Toguro’s sudden rise cased the girl’s legs to tense in order to prevent her from following suit. With practiced eyes she followed her Master’s every move, concerned that he seemed too focused on this dream of hers. Tension rose in the air as the man let off energy as he walked away shooting off instructions to Lona. Doing as she was told, Nusuma turned her attention to the chilled food in front of her and, somehow, managed to muddle through it. Unlike both of her masters, the girl had no knowledge of the prophecy. Confusion ran through her mind, which was heavily guarded thanks to her perpetual nights of meditation, as ideas and such spilled forth from her subconscious. She could figure it out, soon enough.

*~*Group*~*

Finally everyone was through the portal as a symphony of heavy breathing finished their task. It was always exhausting, legs screaming for a break as a searing pain burned through their calves. However, the day was just beginning and the elderly woman before them emanated command and attention.

*~*Genkai*~*

It wasn’t long before her students returned, their improvement had been staggering but she would never say so. With impatient eyes she looked over the groups as they gasped for air after their grueling run. Was it cruel? Slightly; but it was also what was best for them. After a short moment the woman finally stopped her scanning as their heaving breaths began to quiet down.

“Nessiel, you will spar with Isabella for me to gage your abilities. The rest of you, go to your individual work – I will be around in time to correct you.”

After that she turned and led Isabella and Nessiel to the sparring circle. Her half lidded eyes followed the two girls as they entered the arena.

*~*Isabella*~*

With her breath finally returning to her, Isabella wasn’t terribly surprised when she was called upon to spar with Nessiel because her abilities were lacking in comparison to the guys. Though it was a sad concept, it was a reality that she trained tirelessly to break. Upon entering the ring she took her side and turned to face the new girl with a smile. “Good luck, Nessiel. You have the opening move.” Isabella understood that Genkai liked the new person to have the starting attack so she could gauge what kind of fighter they were from that one move.

*~*Kurama*~*

The fox demon’s eyes were drawn to the arena during his training out of pure curiosity as to the new comer’s abilities. He calmly moved and manipulated the plants in his hands, turned just so it wasn’t obvious to Genkai that he was more focused on observing than training that particular morning.

*~*Nusuma*~*

Knowing it was best to follow orders and not ask questions, the girl went about finishing her meal and cleaning the dishes – one of her morning chores around the living quarters. Once she was certain the two were finished with the arena and she wouldn’t be getting in the way it was time to head out to the field. The blazing sun struck her exposed shoulders as the girl walked briskly through the wooded area, not wanting to keep her masters waiting. It didn’t take long before she stumbled across the flat open plain that Toguro himself had “de-tree-ed” when she was much younger. Knowing her position, the dark haired girl entered the arena that Lona was preparing to guard. In the time between present and the dark tournament Toguro’s abilities had grown at least ten fold, making him one of the most powerful demons around. This was a fact that Nusuma was naïve of, for he was her Master, her teacher, her sparring partner, and her father figure – though she would never tell him for fear of being reprimanded. Once on her side she offered a bow to her teachers; she was always showing them her respect for them.