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 Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 2:36 am
A slight pop was all the notified the young shinigami of the separation between the two wells of energy at his feet, both growing slightly brighter if for only a fraction of a second before settling back to the previous flashlight-like glow. 'That's good to hear. Just think, if you keep at this pace, you'll be flying along side me in no time.' Her voice sent a shiver down his spine. Her being sentimental was almost more terrifying than her being upset with him. 'You make that sound almost frightening...' He remarked, sounding uninterested in what she had to say. All that mattered right now was the training at hand. Focusing on his right foot he allowed the energy in his left to fade. "Breath. Draw your energy in and direct it to a singular spot. Allow it to consume but one body part. Push and pull, push and pull." The brightness of the light around the sole of his foot followed the pattern of his words, growing brighter before dulling to little more than the flicker of a candle's flame.
'Time to flip, wouldn't you agree?' 'If it so pleases you, though it'd be just as easy to train how I am...' Again he spoke with an unusually calm apathy. With a quick jerk of his leg Lerato did a full backward rotation, landing this time on his right foot, his previous stance completely mirrored. This time his left leg was in the air, left arm holding his calf and his right arm kept him planted on the slippery perch. A few minutes went by without even a trace of light, the forest completely still save for the running of the stream and the slight breeze that managed to cut through the dense wood and the canopy above. 'What are you waiting for?' 'I'm making sure that I'm not going to go tumbling into the damn water. Do you mind? The more you talk, the harder it is for me to concentrate at the matter at hand.' His words were cold, but not yet harsh. 'You'll need to learn to deal with me in your ear incase we ever need to communicate in battle.' 'I understand that, My Queen, but this particular training doesn't have anything to do with you. Right now, I must reach inside myself to cease control of my reiatsu. When the time comes that I need to train further with you, I'll do so.' With that he did his best to block out her voice, calming his mind until it was as serene as the creek below him.
[Post: 5/15]
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Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 8:10 pm
“You can't change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future. Concentrate on the matters at hand and push all else from your mind. Your doubts, your worries, they mean nothing now. Follow your heart, for it is there that the essence of this training lies." His voice came out dull, a monotonous tone softening the edges of his voice. Whether or not his voice had changed because of the calm trance-like state he'd entered, or because all the blood was rushing to his brain, was unable to be told but in any case it gave his voice an ethereal sound. 'Draw upon my powers, boy. Feel the difference when we work together...' 'I've told you already, shunpo isn't about the union of a shinigami and their zanpukato, it's a journey that must be traveled alone. Why can't you understand that?' 'Because one day, Lerato, I will teach you how to move like I do, and when that day comes, you must be ready for such an intense power.'
Placing both hands on the rock he lifted his planted foot into the air until it was parallel with the ground, lowering his other until he had performed a full side splits. 'If I do this, you'd better keep your mouth shut for the rest of this training, got it?' 'Yeah, yeah... I get it...' Her voice seemed to hold an air of menace to it. Slowly he let his own wells of reiatsu open, a bright blue light emitting from his feet like storm beacons on a dark winter night. As more and more energy pooled into his legs he could have sword they were on fire, every fiber of his muscles ablaze with the combined energy of his and his zanpukato. 'Make it stop.' "Make it stop." "Make it stop!" In a flash the energy that had just formed miniature suns under his feet disappeared, the pain making Lerato's arms buckle. Falling forward he landed on the back of his head before rolling into the creek below. 'I guess you really aren't ready yet...' Her tone was more disappointed then anything. 'What did you expect?' He snapped at her, but true to her word she didn't say a word and yet he could feel deep within himself that she hadn't allowed even a fraction of her true power to show itself.
[Post: 6/15]
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Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:49 pm
He muttered under his breath. Reaching up to grab the back of his head he shivered, warm blood dripping through his fingers. Leaning back against the cool rock, which had so recently been his platform, he let the frigid water run over his legs attempting to douse the fire in his lower extremities. "Lerato do this. Lerato do that. I'm sick of this s**t." His tone was low, little more then the crashing of the water below. "I know how to live my life!" He threw his head back and screamed, letting all the frustration that had been simmering deep within to finally boil over, the pain from his newly cracked skull lending it's passion to his words. "No offence my son, but I don't really think you do." Beside him a translucent figure appeared, slowly shifting until it formed a hazy picture of his father. Lerato blinked hard has he watched the blurry apparition speak to him. "What would you know? You aren't even real. You're an illusion brought on by a concussion..." "Really? Look down. You see that ring?" The shinigami didn't need to look down at his necklace to feel its warmth pressed against the shallow of his neck. "I'm always with you, son, and so is that strange bird lady you know. Be kind to her and when you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others, you will see the beauty she brings to your life. You don't need to be afraid any more Lerato. These feelings you have, they're normal and they're a part of what makes you who you are. Anger, Revenge, none of them mean anything unless you let them rule over you.." The elderly man started to fade away as he placed a steady hand on his son's shoulder. "Now get up and keep practicing. All sitting here is going to do is give you a cold."
Lerato jerked away from the mirage's hand as if by doing so he could jerk himself away from the words that had been spoken. He couldn't lie to himself. He had been afraid; fearful of his own hatred and desire for revenge, and worried that his zanpukato would encompass all of his worst traits. "I'll work it out later..." Standing, he turned to face the stone and in a quick motion he swung his legs up into the air until he was performing a hand-stand again, letting his legs fall into a side splits just as he had done before falling. Opening the wells of energy that were locked away inside, Lerato focused on alternating the flow between his feet until each flash of light lasted only fractions of a second long, appearing and disappearing in the time it took to blink. "I will no longer be a man who is at the mercy of my emotions. I will learn to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them. I will be a master of myself who can as easily bring an end to my sorrow as I can invent a pleasure and it starts today!" Lerato spun his hips to the left while pushing off of the rock making his dismount a graceful spin that was made slightly disturbing by the small trickles of blood that still dripped from the back of his head.
[Post: 7/15. Step 2 complete.]
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Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 6:06 pm
Lerato could feel the slow trickle of blood as it seeped through his hair and started to dry to his back. Walking out of the gently flowing river, Lerato couldn't help but imagine a new beginning. From this day forth he would create his own joys, create his own sorrows. From this day on his eyes would reflect the hardness of his soul and warn all others of the dangers they faced while in battle with him. "I will prove to everyone that I am worthy of my title. I will give reason to my arrogance." 'But first you must heed the words of your father and find peace within yourself.' Her voice hummed in the back of his mind. "I'll do it later." 'I'll hold you to that.' Her voice was crystal clear, yet it didn't hold the anger filled over tones that it usually did. Instead Lerato could hear a reserved calm. "You won't need to hold me to anything. I realize that I need to change... It's just harder for some of us than it is for others." With that he walked over to a level section in the forest, devoid of roots, stumps, and loose rocks that could impede his practice.
'As you know the basic principle of shunpo is getting from point A to point B is the least amount of steps...' Yamoto's words echoed around the young shinigami as he readied himself for the second and most important part of his training, the application. 'Alright Lerato, you can do this. Don't fret over something that should come easy to you. Think of it as you would releasing reiatsu through your hands for a kidou and go from there.' Just as he had done when he first started, the boy gathered his energy and forced it down into his feet. "Build and release." Lerato hopped up and down on the balls of his feet as he mentally psyched himself up, "Alright... Go!" In a flash he was gone, only a slight swoosh left in his place. However Lerato hadn't moved forward. No; he had gone straight up into the air, rocketing towards a series of large tree limbs that loomed above. 'How do you stop...' The thought had no sooner entered his mind when he crashed into the mighty wooden bludgeon.
[Post: 8/15]
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Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 10:56 pm
Though Lerato's descent back to the earth couldn't have taken more than a minute or so it felt like a lifetime. With the reminder of his previous failure beating against the back of his head Lerato made sure to lock away the secrets to his mistake for future reference. 'How could I have thrown myself head first into a tree. I'm sure that'll go down in history as one of the biggest screw-ups ever accomplished.' Then he thought about the numerous shinigami that had trained for this very technique and, after weighing the odds, came to the conclusion that there had to be a lot more out there who had done the same thing. "That'll be the first and only time..." Silently rotating in the air, Lerato flipped until he had come around full circle. The young vice captain landed with little more than a dull thud. Inhaling sharply he could smell the rustic scent of damp soil that had risen from the ground. 'Are you alright?' 'I'm fine, just a bump on the head. It's nothing major.' He shook his head, as if by doing so he could shake off the throbbing that now plagued him.
Dropping into a low four-point stance, the shinigami made sure to look at his destination before releasing the bundle of reiatsu that had gathered in the soles of his feet; clearly mapping out his journey so as to save himself the pain of worsening his current head wound. Once he had made sure there wasn't anything that was in his direct path he smiled and shot forward at blinding speed, heading east like a bat out of hell. The feel of the wind against his face and bare chest was some-what intoxicating; reminiscent of his first time wake boarding, but instead of the cool lake water below, all he found was the unforgiving earth. Before he was able to comment on how addicting the rush was The Queen chimed in, 'You don't know the half of it. Give it time and I'll show you what true flight is like...' And though he was sure she had felt his question, she refused to say any more on the matter leaving Lerato to think in silence, the only sound being air as it whistled past his ears.
[Post: 9/15]
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:50 pm
'What ever you say, My Queen.' He laughed, smiling as he flew through the air in large leaps and bounds. Launching forward the shinigami grabbed hold of a near-by vine, swinging upwards in a perfect arc. Lerato could have sworn that the wind that was whooshing past his ears was cleansing his soul of his past. Once he had flipped enough to be parallel with the ground, he gathered his reiatsu into his feet and stood, seemingly floating on air. "I wonder what the first shinigami thought when they looked upon the world from this view..." He pondered aloud. Looking down at the earth he searched for his trainer but found only the top of the canopy. 'It's magnificent, isn't it?' Her voice mimicked the low hum of the birds below. "Indeed it is. It almost makes me want to stay up here forever..." Lerato's voice had started to become distant as he imagined the possibilities of living amongst the clouds. 'Careful Lerato. Your life is on the ground along with your friends. It's fine to vacation in the clouds, as long as you stay rooted to the earth where you belong, understand?' "Yeah, I understand. But it doesn't make the idea of it any less appetizing."
Stepping down in slow leaps the Vice Captain made his way to the ground once more. "Not bad for jumping around, eh Yamoto?" He called as he came through the canopy above, making light scatter the shadows formed from the leaves. "Too bad it takes more than jumping around like a child on crack to perform shunpo, otherwise I'd have it down already." He chuckled, jogging back to his prior starting point. "Just give me a few more minutes and I'm sure I'll be able to give you a run for your money. Hell, who knows. In a few years I might even be able to rival the Red Man himself, eh Teach?" The idea was laughable, but one could dream. 'Remember Lerato, after you've mastered shunpo there is still something I need to teach you. Once you've gotten used to being in the clouds, I'll show you how to truly fly...' Lerato nodded to himself, the left edge of his lips turned up into a cocky smirk. "Then perhaps my dream will become a reality..."
[Post: 10/15. Step 3 Complete.]
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:51 am
Even without looking down Lerato could tell his calves were rippling in anticipation to move, creating an itching sensation as they rubbed against the back of his pants. 'Now comes the hard part. Instead of jumping around like a crazed spider monkey you have to learn to apply what you know to moving in a similar manner to skipping. Build up your reiatsu into a single leg and release it in a forward motion. In theory it should be easy, but now you must also learn to create a uniform layer across the soles of your feet, and to keep your balance while moving, lest you go careening into the trunk of a tree...' Pop. Pop. Crack. He could hear his bones readjusting themselves as he swiveled from side to side. "How am I going to do this..." He questioned himself, looking off into the distance for a clean line that he could attempt to navigate through. 'Easy. You'll stand up, shut up, and get this over with. Stop worrying about whether you'll hurt yourself of not.' "I'm not worried about hurting myself. I'm worried about knocking over a bunch of trees."
Lurching forward, the vice captain took three long strides before focusing his reiatsu into his right foot, releasing it like a cannon. In a flash the man was gone, only to reappear a fraction of a second later with his arms extended. "Holy s**t..." He panted. With only one foot to keep him stable while in the air he had easily veered off path, nearly colliding with a near by tree. Shaking his head he jogged back to his starting place. "I have to at least get three good steps." He growled as he got settled once again. 'Concentrate, Kid. Keep the layer of reiatsu the same throughout the technique or else you'll end up in the trees again.' The shinigami took a few deep breaths before setting off again. Step. Step. Whoosh. So far, so good. Gliding through the air plastered a grin to the lieutenant's face. It felt so much like flying it was incredible. Step. Whoosh. Step. Whoosh. Just when he thought he had gotten the hang of it he came face to face with another tree. "Not bad..."
[Post: 11/15]
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 8:01 pm
"Concentrate. Now that you have the basics down, you have to learn to refine your skill. Efficiency is key. Release your power in a single swift push. Don't let it falter." Once again the shinigami's voice entered a trance like state, speaking instructions without realizing he was doing so. As he set up for his next run he noticed his reiatsu had dropped to a minimum, barely stirring when compared to the wild life that encompassed him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered how he knew all of this. Sure, he had read countless books during his time. It was the only thing to really do when he wasn't needed, but this went beyond the black and white texts that he had engrossed himself in. The knowledge he had been spouting off seemed deeper, more nature, as if it had come from experience rather than from a passage from a book. 'Your starting to figure out what it takes many shinigami years to learn. Listen to your instincts and let them guide you. These movements should come natural to you...'
Step. Whoosh. In a matter of seconds Lerato was soaring through the air, gliding over the currents much in the same way the Queen's pets did on a constant basis. How magical it felt to float through the air, wind whipping his hair back. 'I'm free...' Step. Whoosh. His surroundings seemed little more than a blur of greens, blues, and browns. The less he thought about the actual steps it took to performing shunpo the faster he moved through the air. Perhaps he should have stayed in that peace filled state because moments later he came tumbling to the ground, flipping like a tossed rag doll as he came face to face with the unforgiving terrain below. Looking up from the flat of his now scratched back Lerato let out a long sign, "Single. Swift. Motion." He spoke the words separately, annunciating each one clearly before moving on to the next. "This shouldn't be that hard to figure out." He growled, now becoming frustrated with himself and thoroughly exhausted mentally. "Get your act together..."
[Post: 12/15]
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:42 pm
After a long break to recuperate and gather his thoughts into a coherent stream Lerato pushed himself into an upright position, cradling the sides of his head with his hands. 'You aren't giving up yet, right Lerato?' Her voice, though soft and pleasurable to the ears, came off condescending. "You know, you'd think that after all the time we've been together now, you'd have learned that I don't just quit because of a few bumps and scrapes." He managed to get the words out before he let out a long, tired yawn. "Not to mention, I'm getting pretty good at this. Just chill for a bit and watch. I promise you won't be disappointed." 'I'd better not be.' Laughing lightly he stood up and looked around. He had managed to get a few miles away before he clipping the ground. "Now just to figure out where we are..." 'You got us lost?' "It's not like I intended to. I just lost track of the distance I put behind us... but don't worry, it's not hard to find ones way back." Kneeling on the ground he drew a quick circle and split it into fourths. "Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain. Bakudou #58 Summoning of the Tracking Sparrows. 23, 5, 75, 31.6." Reading the numbers off Lerato smiled. "Not that far off..."
Standing up he spun in the direction he needed to go, launching himself forward like a bat out of hell. Step. Swoosh. Step. Swoosh. In a matter of seconds he was within ear shot of his trainer and, trying to show off, spun himself around so that he could wave as he passed. All would have went well too, had it not been for a lone root that was sticking out of the ground. As it caught the back of Lerato's ankle he knew he had made a fool out of himself. Staggering back he stumbled over a leaf that had been drawn taunt over a small hole until he finally slid on some wet grass and came crashing down next to a hissing snake. Frowning down at the animal he grabbed it just behind the head and proceeded to smash it's head into a tree. "Hiss at me why don't you..." Standing back up and brushing himself off he realized something and began to chuckle. The entire ordeal and created an eerily similar noise to the drum roll after a comedian made an all too obvious joke. "Oh the irony..." He snickered.
[Post: 13/15 Step 4: Complete.]
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 3:55 pm
"Time to give it another go, eh?" With a grin the man set off, taking two steps before releasing another pulse of energy from his left foot. Left to right. Left to right. 'Seems like your finally getting the hang of it.' How many times had her voice come off this soft? As he floated through the air it occurred to him that he had been distancing himself so much lately that he could hardly remember if this had become a regular occurrence or not. "My Queen... what is this game we've been playing? Dancing around the thoughts that put so much tension between us?" For a few seconds he thought he could actually hear her contemplating her response before a light, joyous laughter filled his mind. 'Game? There is no game, Lerato. We're just starting to truly build a relationship, boy. A relationship between a man and his blade, a guardian and his queen. A relationship between companions. We'll get through it. It just takes time and, of course, a bit of blood.' Her laughter, though soft and sweet, was laced with a seriousness that made Lerato's blood run cold.
Whoosh. Step. Whoosh. The air whistled by as Lerato launched from one spot to another until he reached out and grabbed onto a thick green vine. He flew in a wide arc, letting go of his makeshift rope after he had been sent in a semi-circle. 'Having fun?' "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He chuckled, kicking off in the direction of his trainer once again. 'Oh, I think I would. You forget that even the oldest birds had to learn to fly at one point in time.' This was something he couldn't argue with. "So how do you think everyone'll react once they learn of this?" For some reason he couldn't see many people showing as much outward excitement as he was, but hopefully they'd at least be proud of him. 'They are your mentors, Lerato. They will act accordingly. You can't expect them to get giddy every time you accomplish something they knew you were capable of doing in the first place, can you?' He didn't like the admit it, but the Queen was right.
[Post: 14/15]
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 11:38 pm
Whoosh. Step. Whoosh. Some people say that life isn't measured in the amount of breaths we take, but instead in the amount of moments that take our breath away and if this were true Lerato new that his most recent training would definitely be a large chunk. He let his lips turn up into a cheesy grin as the sun warmed his back. 'Captain Shiboo better be ready...' Launching himself again he came to a small hole in the canopy; the same hole that he had made almost a half hour prior. Dropping down onto a branch the vice captain took a moment to gather his thoughts, swinging from one tree limb to another until he was able to drop to the ground without fear of rolling his ankle. Once his feet were firmly on the ground he strolled across the distance that now separated him from completing what he had come here for in the first place. 'Breathe, boy. You're going to give yourself an anxiety attack if you don't learn to calm your nerves.' "Don't worry about it, My Queen. I'm just ready for this to be over with is all. Nothing is going to happen."
"Oi! Yamoto! You finally ready for someone to surpass you?" He joked, with nearly twenty yards separating them. '...I want you to try to get from where we are to where I was a second ago in a single step.' The man's words played back in Lerato's mind like a recording once before he cracked his usual cocky grin. Kicking off with his right foot Lerato whizzed by his teacher, stopping just inches past Yamoto's back. "Is that all I had to show you, or are you going to tell me there's more to this training now?" Chuckling lightly he shot backward, then to the left, forward, right, and back again. "So, shall we wrap this up, or is there something else you wanted to teach me," He inquired, crossing his arms behind his head. He could still feel the dry, caked on blood messing up the back up his hair and staining his bare back. "cause if not I think I'm going to go find a shower to rinse out some of this dirt and s**t."
[Post: 15/15. Step 5: Complete. Shunpo Training: Complete]
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 7:54 pm
Yamoto smiled at Lerato's remarks. "No that's it. It would cruel if it took more than that Lerato. Good job." The captain of squad 5 laughed as he began to collect his things. "Just keep working on it and maybe you will surpass me one day." The captain smiled as he disappeared.
(Short post and APPROVED!!!!)
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