Author's Note: I would like to apologize for the long wait on the updates for the chapters of my stories. The wifi at my house has been a pain to deal with so I had to wait until I got back to school. So there will be updates soon. Oh and one more thing,I did a little a research on rip tides so I do not take credit for that information.
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'I wonder where are we going?' Hiromi silently ponders to herself while she travels closely behind Meifeng. They gradually ascend a set of steep stone staircase.
"Your training will primarily take place here." Her voice breaks her pupil away from her inner most thoughts.
The brunette peered up to behold an immaculate Chinese Shrine completed with the golden plaque lions at the entrance and a large golden Prayer Bell along with a wooden coin collector.
"This is where you live?" The ruby eyed girl curiously questions as the silver haired woman purposely advances forward toward the prayer bell and the coin collector.
The grey eyed woman promptly halts at the bottom step, faces Hiromi, and instructs her, "Admit the truth."
She confusingly quirks an eyebrow up at her after she listens to the order from her instructor, "How will you know whether or not I'm telling the truth?"
"Qi flows through every living thing that exists on this world as spiritual energy, sort of like a life force. Right now your Sahasrara point is clouded, which means that your consciousness is being blocked." Meifeng explains to her while she demonstrates with her hands.
"In order for you to fulfill your purpose, this point must be completely clear of any and all distractions." She adds in as she points her index finger a little above the brunette's forehead.
"Go ahead and admit the truth." The silver haired woman repeats her instruction to the girl, who diverts her sights away from the woman and toward the prayer bell.
'Admit the truth…' Hiromi continuously cycles Meifeng's statement through her thoughts as she merely narrows her sights in on the golden bell.
"To answer your question on how will I know if you are being truthful or not is not up to me." She then quickluspeaks up to mention, "Remember that it is not my truth but rather it's your truth."
"...oh and do complete the entire ritual of ringing the bell and dropping coins in the box after declaring your truth." The silver haired woman reminds her pupil right before she ambles down the side of the shrine.
'Declare my truth…huh?' The brunette inwardly repeats to herself as she watches her teacher disappears within the wooden shrine.
The ruby eyed girl peers over toward the enormous bell, which reminds her of the shrines back home in Japan. 'I at least thought that there would be a Buddha statue around since it is China.'
A golden gleam suddenly captures her focus and sure enough there was a statue of Buddha, who rests his laurels on top of a lotus flower.
'Okay think Hiromi…what is your truth?' Hiromi wonders to herself before she closes her eyes as a mean to concentrate on her thoughts.
As millions of thoughts randomly pass through her head, she could not seem to accurately pinpoint what her exact truth is.
'I admit that I do miss home and my parents.' The brunette started off as she recalled all of the experiences she had while she was in Japan.
'It was always good to know that after we traveled the entire globe that that place will always be home.' The girl happily considers as a wide smile stretches across her face.
'We?' Her consciousness merely repeats the plural pronoun "we" instead of the singular form of the pronoun "I".
'We as in you know Kai, Max, Rei, and Takao…' Hiromi mentally lists off the close knit group of friends that she always have at her side.
'Takao is someone special to you, isn't he?' Her inner voice specifically inquiries about the bluenette after she utters his name.
A scoff emitted from her mouth as the memories that was shared between the two started to flash before her eyes.
'There were times where I wanted to strangle that idiot!' The brunette angrily weighs as she clenches one of her fists that start to shake.
However it ceases once she considers, '...but then there were times where he would show a kind almost gentle side to him.'
A breeze slightly shifts the bell to the left, which prompts the teen to open her eyes. Hiromi then extends her hands outward and clutches the rope within her grasps.
"I want to find out who I am as a person and confess my feelings for Takao Kinoyama!" She confidently declares her truth while she constantly yanks the thick burlap rope back and forth.
To her surprise, the bell starts to ring with each tug of the rope before Meifeng slides one of the doors to the shrine open.
She pokes her head out of the door, smiles at her brunette disciple, and recites, "Wherever you go, go with all your heart."
A blush materializes on the brunette's face after she confesses her feelings about Takao Kinoyama and her deepest secret to a complete and total stranger.
"A job well done Hiromi! Your Sahasrara is now as clear as crystal glass." The silver haired woman cheerfully congratulates her pupil for her accomplishment.
"Now...let's start with the real challenge shall we?" The grey eyed woman suddenly poses to the younger girl with the same smile on her face.
A confuse expression quickly surfaces on her face, which causes her to question, "What do you mean the real challenge?"
"You thought that that was your challenge?" Meifeng curiously inquiries after she studies the expression on Hiromi's face.
She then bursts out in a fit of chuckles at the ruby eyed girl before she wipes away a tear of joy with the side of her index finger.
"You have quite the imagination, Hiromi Tachibana." She simply comments after she ceases her laughter.
Hiromi was finding herself smiling at the statement while producing some coins from her purse and dropping them in the collection box.
The silver haired woman quickly guides her pupil to the next destination of her journey.
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'She's a very determined soul.' Lanying inwardly notes as she peeps through her telescope and spots her disciple on the far end of the island.
She continuously surveys the waters in case of a sudden change in tides or any unforeseen rip currents.
Audrey briefly paused in order to catch her breath since she used up too much energy for the first trip. 'I think I underestimated the length…'
Her green eyes repeatedly peer up to gauge the distance once again before she feels some of her strength slowly return back to her.
'You got this Audrey!' Her inner voice confidently proclaims as she feels her body sprints forward and leaps in to the murky water.
The purple haired woman peeks in to the telescope once again and develops a sensation that the flow of currents begin to alter from the usual calm waters.
'Something's not right…' The charcoal eyed woman contemplates to herself as she resumes her dutiful watch over her student.
The blonde swims until her body feels a sudden shift in the currents before she starts to instinctively react to the change.
'A rip tide…' Her brain instantly registers once she halts and begins to tread her legs underneath the water.
'…just remember the time when you were a lifeguard at the beach,' Audrey reminds herself before she reflects on her time back home.
"Alright listen up! Today is a very important lesson so pay close attention! I guarantee you it will save not only your life but the other beachgoers." A man clad in a white t-shirt with the red cross symbol on his right chest along with red board shorts and blue swim shoes barked at the trainees in front of him.
"Rip currents are very common occurrence, especially after a break in a wave, on the beach. That's because the wind and waves push toward the shore. They tend to be stronger when the surf is rough, if a hurricane is far offshore, or even when the tide is low."
"If you happen to be stationed near the pier or along the jetties then rip currents mostly occur there. The water may appear calm on the surface but that's the illusion! The strong flow of the water actually suppresses the incoming waves."
"So what do you do?" Audrey and the other lifeguards rotated their heads in the direction of the question before they returned their focus on to the instructor.
"A rip is similar to a treadmill that the swimmer has to try and step off on. If they try to swim back to the shore then they risk exhaustion, which leads to drowning. However, if they remain calm and just swim parallel to shore then they will break out of the current." He described to them in laymen terms after he noticed the puzzled expression on their faces.
"How will you know when you escaped the rip current?" Another one of them inquired as they repeated the same head action as beforehand.
"Another good question, have you ever wondered how the floaties make it back to shore?" The instructor posed to the group while he pointed toward the shoreline covered with brightly colored floaties.
The group simultaneously casted their eyes to the shoreline and responded in unison with "Yes sir,"
"That's because that is where a wave just broke." He divulged to the group once their concentration returned back to him as expressions of awe surface on the future beach lifeguards' faces.
"Now if it's a strong rip then the swimmer should calmly float or tread water to conserve energy until it loses its strength. They should then swim diagonal instead of parallel away from the rip and back to the shore." The instructor wrapped up the lecture portion of the rip currents.
"Are you guys and gals ready to test out your knowledge?" He loudly declared to the group as they unknowingly exchanged looks among each other.
'Alright then, just as we were told...' Audrey inwardly says as she treads the water and floats along the current until it's strength subside after a couple of minutes.
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Takao remained totally secluded from the outside world and the people in it as he rested his bottom on the floor with a plate of food in his hand.
The only other presence that accompany him in the room was his partner and his bey spirit, Dragoon. Yet, even still its presence was not enough to fill the physical void of companionship.
The bluenette casted his gaze over toward a picture frame that contained a photo image of a group of friends he managed to acquire from his travels all over the globe.
His eyes roam over the familiar faces until he settles his sights on the brunette girl with ruby red eyes in front right next to him.
'I miss her.' Takao honestly admits before he diverts his gaze to the food in front of him when he develops a sudden loss of appetite. It was quite a rare feat for a voracious eater, such as himself.
He rises to his feet, covers the short distance in a couple of strides, picks up the picture, and contemplates to himself, 'What was so important that made you up and leave without a word to me about it?'
The bluenette settles the picture frame face down instead of upright since his precious sanity could no longer take those red eyes on him.
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Hiromi suddenly develops an odd sensation that slowly creeps up the entire length of her spine. This peculiar feeling instantly prompts her to inwardly question, 'What was that?'
"Hiromi," Meifeng called out to her pupil once she noticed that her attention was diverted elsewhere after they arrived at the location of her real challenge.
Hr ruby red eyes travel toward her silver haired instructor with an obscure expression unknowingly present on her face.
"Yes?" The brunette questions.
Her eyes slowly observes the change of location and register that her teacher stands next to a set of various length of bamboo shoots and a wooden plank.
The grey eyed woman narrows her sights onto the younger girl in front of her when she asks, "Are you alright?"
'Should I tell her?' Hiromi mentally ponders to herself.
Her consciousness was speedily opting to forgo the idea of revealing her deepest concerns to a complete total stranger.
A false smile materializes on the brunette's face, when she replies with "I'm fine. So what's next?"
Meifeng critically studies her disciple before she bends over and scoops up the wooden board within her grasp.
"The task is to successfully balance yourself on this wooden plank while on these shoots of bamboo." She explains the challenge to the ruby eyed girl.
The silver haired woman purposely places the board on top of the shortest bamboo shoots.
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Author's Note:
04.27.17 Major editing revisions
