"What does it mean to have power?" he asked. "Do you think it makes you special? Important?" His back was facing her and his long, sleek white hair was pulled into a ponytail. A dark, heavy cloak clung to his shoulders like death. It shifted slightly and a spectral arm, as red as the desert sunset appeared. It closed into a fist and a raven cawed menacingly.
He turned to face her then. He was a powerful man and he radiated authority and raw power. "Or is it simply to show you how weak you really are?" and before any sound escaped her lips, the spectral arm seized her by the throat. Talons dug into her skin.
Taliyah bolted upright and felt desperately for the blood on her throat that was surely there. But when her hands pulled back, the only moisture she found was sweat. She looked around then. She was laying on a hard wooden floor in her sleep sack. The colors of it reminding her of home. Her sliding door was open to the outside and fresh morning air streamed into her room carrying on it smells of spring and life. Her master sat just outside, legs crossed and back straight, facing away from her.
"You are still letting the trauma of your past dominate your sub-conscience, young one," Master Yasuo said and she crawled over to him gingerly.
"I don't know how it can not," she said when she sat next to him. The morning sun on her bare legs felt nice, but being covered in sweat, the breeze made her shiver. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.
"It is difficult, but not impossible. But you will never have peace until you let the past be what it was and let it go."
"That is easy for you to say," she grumbled into her knees stubbornly. Her cheeks colored and she glanced at her master, but his eyes remained shut and his body still. She breathed a sigh of relief when he spoke again.
"You would do well to let go of that stubborness as well."
She glared at him then. When he didn't respond, she stood and walked away, grumbling about certain know it all's and how she wouldn't have to be so stubborn if he would just-
The low rumble in her stomach pulled her from her thoughts and she moved to the peach tree just a few feet away. She reached for a ripe one but it was just out of reach of her eager fingertips. She willed the earth beneath her to rise slightly but instead it bucked underneath her, throwing her to the side like a pebble in the waves. She landed hard on her back and groaned. She opened her eyes slowly and squinted in the sun. Soon, a silhouette of Yasuo blocked the sun from her vision and crossed his arms.
"The earth can sense your turmoil and frustrations. If you continue to let anger and pain into your thoughts, then you will lose the small amount of control you have. I don't tell you these things because I like to hear myself speak, I tell you these things because they are important to learn."
He extended a hand and she took it, her cheeks burning from embarrassment and shame. "Then what would you have me do?" she asked harshly.
"Well, if you actually did your meditation and breathing exercises, that would be a start."
Taliyah gave a heavy sigh as response. After a moment she spoke, "I know that they will help. And sometimes they do. But sometimes…. When I close my eyes…. I see Noxians. And when I try to breathe deep, I feel like it's my last breath. And I know it doesn't make sense, and logically I know that they aren't here, and I know they can't hurt me anymore... "
"But it haunts you," Yasuo said. He lifted her face up and wiped a tear that began to roll down her cheek. She nodded. "Listen to me Taliyah. What the Noxians did to you was horrible. No human being should be subjected to what you were, especially at such a young age. But the more you let it affect you, the more you let these emotions take out of you, the more power you give them."
She closed her eyes and sighed again. "I know and I will not let them win."
"What you are feeling is valid, Taliyah. These emotions have purpose. But this is not it." His sword flashed then, and the peach that Taliyah attempted to grab started to fall but Yasuo caught it on the flat part of his sword. He flicked his wrist and Taliyah caught it out of the air. "They can give you purpose and direction. They can give you motivation or they can take it away." His sword flashed again and another peach dropped but this time, it was into his hand.
"Bad things have happened to you, and they will happen to you again. That's not negotiable. What is, is how you deal with it."
"Thank you master, for your patience and your wisdom," Taliyah said, bowing slightly.
"And thank you, Taliyah. For the company," Yasuo replied, before holding up his peach and taking a bite from it. Taliyah took a bite of hers and felt the flesh break under her teeth. Juice began to cover her chin and she raised a hand to catch it but it was hopeless. Soon her hands and face were covered and she could feel the juice start to mingle with the sweat on her neck.
"Go get cleaned up and we will run through your exercises. I want to see progress today, Taliyah," Yasuo said.
"Yes master," Taliyah said, clasping her sticky hands together and properly bending at the waist. Her hair, the color of warm sandstone, fell in her face and she grinned sheepishly before hurrying to her wash basin.
She brushed her teeth with salt and carefully, so as not to waste any precious water she scrubbed the juice off of her face and neck. She pulled on fresh clothes and was almost done pulling her boots on when she stumbled back outside.
She ran across the courtyard, past the peach tree, and down some grey stone stairs to what looked like a stage. It was flat, and round stretching far around her. One side had stone ledges, climbing up like stairs back up towards the home she and Yasuo were staying. These ledges were split into three main sections, separated by smaller, easier to climb stairs and small waterways, creating small waterfalls into a lazy stream around the edge of the large, circular stage. At the other side, the water dropped into a large pond about 10 meters below, and fed into another one about 8 meters below that. The sound of so much water moving was still so foreign to Taliyah and sometimes, when she was most troubled, she would sit at the edge of the small cliff and just listen to the water. It was almost like magic at reminding her how fortunate she is to be alive and to be able to continue to learn. She had already seen so much, and hurt so much, but nothing would stop her from returning home when she was strong enough to control herself and her powers. She would use these experiences, the good and the bad, to lead her people to safety and prosperity.
She looked up at the clear sky and breathed deeply. The air in Ionia was so different from Noxus and even more different from the dry air of home. It held more life, more promise. She missed her home, but she did enjoy wearing her hair longer, just past her shoulders now, and not feel the heat and punishment of the harsh sun. Here, the sun and the air was inviting.
The air whipped her hair around her face and pulled it towards the ledges. She turned and found Yasuo sitting in a meditation position again.
"Begin," he said, his eyes remaining closed and his hands on his knees, his back ramrod straight. Taliyah scurried over to the middle of the stage quickly, not wanting to bring more shame upon herself in front of her master.
She closed her eyes and flinched when she saw glowing red behind her eyelids. She breathed in through her nose, and out of her mouth and soon, the only thing that she saw was infinity stretched in front of her. It was gray like the desert sky with a full moon and with nothing distracting her sight, she focused all of her energy to feeling the rock under her boots. It was cobblestone, part of a large mountain before pulled out, shaped and placed here. It told of plays, of stories, of songs. It spoke of sorrow, of joy, of contentment.
She rose her arms gracefully and brought them around to her front, palms down like she was forcing the air to compress into the ground. She held there for a moment before entwing them, ending with one in front and the other underneath her elbow, both of her hands making giant C's. She began walking in a circle, facing the center of the stage as if facing an invisible opponent. She rotated, facing her master and slid her leg out until she was crouched low, she bent herself almost in half over her outstretched leg before placing on hand on the ground and sending the other toward the sun. She held that pose until her muscles screamed in protest and she breathed out, releasing the form and pulling herself up until she was circling her invisible advisary again.
She did this and other poses for hours, her freshly washed face soon sheened with sweat again. Her hair clung to her face and in a pose where her hands and feet were both flat on the ground as she was bent backward, sweat from her forehead made a small puddle in the ground. Her elbows quivered, begging for release until she heard the most beautiful words in the world.
"You have done well, you may release."
Her legs bent first and she laid on the ground, her breath coming in ragged gasps, her chest raising and falling faster than it should have. She looked over and found her master in the same position as when she started, the only thing that had changed was the light that was cast on him from early morning to late afternoon.
"Why do you do this Taliyah?" he asked and the words that come out of her mouth are memorized.
"To know my limits and to stretch beyond them."
"What does this have to do with the earth beneath your feet?"
"When I am in control of myself in muscle and spirit, I can control the Earth and by extension, my destiny."
"What is your goal in life Taliyah," Yasuo asked, finally opening his eyes.
Taliyah looked at him quizzically. This was a new question, one which he had not instructed her on the answer. Her breaths were slowing but her muscles still screamed.
"I… I want to return to Shurima. I want to lead my tribe to safety and prosperity. I want my family to be proud of me. I want them to see all of the work that I have done and trust me to handle their fears and woes."
Yasuo looked at her for a moment before he cocked his head slightly. "You have this amazing gift, and you don't even want it."
"I didn't say-"
He held up a hand, "No, you didn't say that. But what if someone were to offer to take it away from you? No pain, no hassle. Would you do it?"
"I-" she sat up then. "I… I don't know."
"You see this power as something to be conquered. You see it as a barrier between you and your family. You seek to master it so that it won't prevent you from living your life like a normal person."
"Of course I want to be a normal person," she said and glared at him.
"Magic or not Taliyah, you are anything but normal. Your powers are just a part of you as a whole. They should be just as important to you as an arm or a leg. Until you start to see them as such, you will always be at odds with it. I want you to reflect on that tomorrow, we will not do any additional exercises."
Taliyah sighed, "Yes master."
He stood and walked up the stone stairs as she glared at his back. When he disappeared over the edge of the stone auditorium she sighed and stood as well. She began to follow him when words pounded in her head like hammers. What is power? Something to be conquered… She stopped and felt anger and shame creep through her neck and cheeks until it rivaled the worst sunburn she had as a child. The puddle from her sweat was still there, growing smaller with each second.
He is wrong. This is not a limb of mine. This is a curse, bestowed upon me by the Great Weaver for sins unknown. But I am Shuriman. I am strong and I will beat this trial, just like I have beat all of the others. And I will go home.
She moved into the center of the stage again and did her poses until the only one watching were the stars. She moved until her limbs failed her and she collapsed. Her muscles screamed and refused to obey her when she willed them to move. The silence around her began to fill with cruel voices and images. Useless desert rat. Waste of food. I've sneezed and moved more earth than this bag of bones.
She brought her knees to her chest to cover the hole in her heart and the tears mixed with her sweat, turning the dust below her into mud. Is it simply something to show you how weak you really are?
And then the dark finally claimed her.