HI! Here's the training chapter, as promised. Now, please. Can we cut back
on the death threats? I've been getting too many.*checks death threats* Oh,
wait! Hey, most of these are from my cousin, so never mind. This chapter
takes place at the same time, but Touya is first and Jin is second. Same
time of day. Now. Enjoy the chapter, everyone! Please review whether you
like or not.
Ice Meet Wind Ch. 7 - The Start of a New Life
"Touya. Touya!" Touya was shaken awake. "Time to get up. Training."
Touya looked out the window of his room. "Sensei, it's not even dawn. Let me sleep." And so he rolled over and tried to go back to the dream he had been having. It had been him fighting someone, someone powerful. He wanted to know who the person was.
"Get up!" Shirikubo lifted the mattress and the half asleep Touya tumbled onto the floor in a heap of blankets and pillows. "I said we'd continue training and we are. Meet me outside in 20 minutes." Shirikubo left the room and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving a very dazed and tired Touya on the floor.
"Why does he do this?" Touya muttered, untangling himself from the blankets and standing up. Dawn was just breaking outside his window, but he didn't notice as he got dressed in his clothing. Touya wore a plain blue karate suit, one Shirikubo bought for him when puberty began to come into play. He could roll the sleeves and pants down to the floor and then some, just in case he ever needed to. Touya smiled to himself at the thought. True, he wasn't very big, but he had the feeling this outfit would always be a little big on him. For the time being, though, it served his purposes just fine. After tying the navy belt around his waist, he exited the room.
Walking down the hall to the kitchen, Touya noticed that Jin and Kyoko were still asleep. "Lucky them." he mumbled as he walked past their doors. Grabbing a quick breakfast of bread and fruit, he headed out the door to start his training for the day.
"You're a bit late," Shirikubo was sitting cross-legged in the snow. One would think he was meditating, but Touya knew better. His master had been listening to his footsteps while he was still in the house. Shirikubo patted the ground beside him. "Sit down, tune your power into the nature of this snow. Just like every morning."
Touya nodded and sat crossed-legged beside his teacher. Needless to say, the snow was really cold. One could almost say that everyday at the end of the exercise, Touya didn't have a butt anymore. But the whole point of meditating in the snow was to increase his resistance to the cold. Everyday, Touya became less aware of the frozen feeling of the start of frostbite in his butt. It was a good thing, as strange as it sounds.
"Now. Close your eyes and imagine the snow around you. Feel the snow, feel every snowflake that makes up the drift. The ice that makes up the snowflake. That is what you want to become; one with your element. Once you are it shall move to your every whim. Now, breathe deeply and hold that sensation for 10 minutes." Shirikubo took a deep breath and held it, easily relaxing into this exercise. Touya, on the other hand, had a little trouble. Just like every morning.
Touya squirmed around, trying to find a comfortable piece of frozen ground to stay put on. After trying several times, he gave up and tried to 'become the flake' as his master had said. Touya had always found that statement amusing and stifled a giggle or two before returning to his task. No matter how hard he tried, he always had problems becoming one with the element. He always managed to get in tune literally five seconds before the exercise was over After much squirming and bumping into his teacher among other things. Today, though, it came much sooner than normal. Only a minute before the exercise was over and he was in tune with the snow. Not a huge chunk of time to meditate by any standard, but a significant improvement when compared to what he was capable of before.
The sensation of being one with the ice was an indescribable feeling. Both warm and cold. Sad yet uplifting. He could see more with his eyes closed than he ever could with them open. Free, yet without wings. He wasn't soaring, he was drifting. Drifting as a snowflake does to the ground. He was constantly drifting, never landing. He could feel him being tossed from air current to air current, never stopping movement. It almost made him sick. And then he felt the snow around him. Every flake of snow that made up the drift. Every crystal that made up the flake itself. He loved it when he finally found the correct concentration for the meditation. He didn't want the sensation to end. He never did. He wanted to be one forever. He was one with the snow and ice. At least, he was, until he heard Shirikubo say, "The exercise is now over. Get up and get ready for the real training."
Sighing, Touya opened his eyes and stood up. Shirikubo was wearing a long white robe and looking much taller than usual. At least, he was in Touya's eyes. But then again, just about everyone was taller to Touya.
"Now, Touya." He stated, bending over and rolling up a snowball, "Today we'll try something new. You're not quite ready to learn how to make your own ice, but you can use this," He tossed the snowball at Touya, who fumbled a bit before grasping it firmly in his hands. "Today I'll show you how to make and fight with a weapon from manipulated snow."
"Say what?" Touya was completely confused. "I though you were going to teach me how to create my own ice and stuff like that!"
"I will, but you must also learn how to defend yourself if you ever find yourself out of spirit energy in a snow barren place. It is very likely to happen." Shirikubo bent over and made another snow-ball for himself. "Now, listen and watch closely. Concentrate on an image of a weapon in your mind. Concentrate on transferring or copying that image in the snow your holding. I am imagining a spear, so I concentrate and transfer it and." Touya watched in amazement as the snowball in his master's hands molded itself into a long spear; a very solid looking spear at that. "Here is your temporary weapon. It uses almost no energy but can only last as long as it is in your hands. Once it leaves your grip, it shall disappear into a pile of snow, as it was before."
"Wow." Touya's eyes were still wide with awe, but awe didn't stop this student from asking questions. Nothing did. "Where'd you learn how to do that?!"
"You learn a lot from travels, and I learned this after watching several Youko do it with plants to ward off offenders. Their energy barely dipped above the maximum level, so I thought; why not try this with ice or snow? After years of work, I got it down. Now I pass on this little tidbit of knowledge to you so you can use it one day in a fight. I hope that day never happens, but still, better safe than sorry, right? Now, Touya. I want you to try."
"What should I try to make?"
"A sword."
"Ok, a sword. Uh, what kind of sword?" Touya's head was full of various types of swords, and it was hard to pick just one to focus on. Swords from plain and simple to extravagant and some which he didn't even know if they existed. It was hard to pick which one would be the best to fight with. Luckily for him, Shirikubo chose for him.
"Try.this one!" Shirikubo remolded the spear into a medium length sword with a handle made out of several spikes. He held it up for Touya to see. "Elegant-looking, yet practical. A perfect sword for a beginner."
"Ok, so I concentrate on it and try and mould it out of the snow." Touya spoke aloud as he performed the steps. The snow in his hands began to change into the sword, and he almost had it, until his concentration wavered slightly. A sharp pang got Touya through the hand and, in surprise, he dropped the sword. In Touya's break in concentration made the sword suddenly lash out in a form similar to an icicle and pierced Touya's hand. He clutched his hand in pain and tried to stop the few drops of blood that leaked through. "Ow! That really hurt." Shirikubo walked over to Touya and quickly closed the wound with his energy. "Thanks. Uh, my sword just turned back into snow." Touya muttered, glancing down at the would-be sword that was laying in front of him.
"I see that." Shirikubo studied the snow-sword that laid on the ground in front of them. "Well, you almost had it until your concentration broke for whatever reason. The would-be sword looks more like a knife. Uh." Shirikubo bent down and poked the 'sword' slightly. In fact, it didn't look anything like a weapon, more like a snow angel. But Shirikubo wasn't about to completely diminish his pupil's confidence. "Sort of."
"Ok, I screwed that one up!" Touya was a bit frustrated. Shirikubo has a tendency to do that. Waver from the subject entirely as to not hurt Touya's feelings as bad as the truth. But Touya knew the truth. "It was my first try."
"And it was better than my first, so be proud! Mine looked like absolutely nothing in particular! You're improving greatly." Shirikubo's voice trailed away. Abruptly, Shirikubo's smile faded off his face. It confused Touya, because it must have been a very bad thought to make Shirikubo's mood change so swiftly. The older ninja surprised Touya when he walked past him and ruffled his hair. Shirikubo walked quickly into the forest, and then beckoned to Touya. "Follow me. We need to talk."
"About what?" Touya followed his master similar of that to a dog and his owner. Though neither of them considered this the case. They were on equal footing for the time being. Until the real training set in.
"About the future for you. And for Jin. There is much to tell you and to discuss with you."
"Can't you tell me now? Right here? Without going into the forest?" Touya disliked the forest very much. Too many memories of his past were hidden in every branch.
"No, because when Kyoko and Jin wake up, they will be coming out here for the first training session. We wouldn't want them to over hear this."
"What?" Touya stopped and stared at his master with large eyes. "Why not?"
"Because we have almost worn out our welcome here. Now that Kyoko has a student, we will just be getting in the way of the training. Therefore, before we become completely despised, I think we should continue with our journey and training in the whole of the Makai."
"You mean leave?!" Touya didn't believe his ears. Leave? Now? "Why should we leave?! I finally found someone around my age who I actually can stand, and we have to leave?!"
And so they entered the forest for a very long walk and talk. So long, in fact, and so deep into the forest that they didn't hear some of Jin's crashes and cries of pain for his entire training.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"WAKE UP JIN!!!!!"
Jin had no choice but to wake up. Not only at the shout, but at the wind getting knocked out of him by a very wide awake wind master. Kyoko was jumping up and down on Jin's bed, not realizing Jin was already awake and getting crushed to death.
"I'm alive!"
"Good!" Kyoko gave a few more jumps on the bed before flopping down on it. "Today training begins!" Kyoko's large eyes were only a few inches from Jin's own. Kyoko was a very upfront kind of guy and liked to see people's reactions when he tells them things. Hence, why he looks at the eyes first above all things. He expected Jin to show some excitement. And with Jin's reaction, his expectations were not diminished in the least; the red-heads large blue eyes got bigger at the very thought.
"YOU MEAN IT!?" Jin screamed, shooting straight up in bed and almost knocking Kyoko to the floor. "I start today?! WHOOOOO!" Jin jumped as high as he could out of the bed and almost crashed into the ceiling. Kyoko watched him with sparkling eyes.
"This one has quite a bit of promise," he whispered to himself as he watched Jin avoid the collision but crash in a heap in the floor. "But there's still work to be done."
"Please tell me you're going to help me not crash as much?" Jin moaned, rolling to a sitting position on the floor. He put his head in his hands. "Now I have a headache."
"I can't promise anything about the no-crashing, that's all in you. But I can teach you how to control your abilities and strengthen them. That good?" Kyoko saw Jin nod into his hands. "Your head still hurt?" Another nod. Kyoko sighed, "I'll get you something for your headache. Meet me in the kitchen in, oh, 10 minutes." Kyoko exited through the door and left Jin alone on the floor with his thoughts and pounding headache. Before Jin even had a chance to stand up, Kyoko burst through the door again. "Hey! You're new clothes are in this bag. They were once mine, but they should fit you." Kyoko threw the bag at Jin and exited through the door yet again.
"Why does he throw things at me?" Jin muttered after the bag hit him on the head. Jin's eyes slowly went from the door to the bag that hit him square on the head. He squeezed his eyes shut and ripped the bag open. Jin wouldn't put it past Kyoko to put some kind of joke bomb in the bag for a good laugh. After a minute of sitting there on the floor with his eyes closed and bag open, Jin carefully opened one eye and then the other. Inside the bag was a light green karate suit with a dark green belt to hold the shirt shut. Jin held the outfit up to his body and discovered that, though the pants were a bit long, he would fit into it perfectly. Quickly taking off his ripped school clothes, Jin pulled the new clothing over his head. He was right, the clothes did fit him just about perfectly. He tied the shirt shut with the belt and walked out the door. "I want food." Jin muttered and made a detour from the door to the kitchen.
After several minutes of rummaging around the cabinets, Jin settled on some day old bread and a weird jam spread for breakfast. "Not much to pick from.Where do they keep the cereal?" Jin was talking to himself with his mouth full, but Kyoko understood him anyway, because he was listening through the door frame of the kitchen.
"What the hell is cereal?" Kyoko ran through the door and plopped right in from of Jin, making the red head choke on his food. "Now, now! You can't be so weak as to choke to death on your own food!" The ninja jumped over the table and hit Jin on the back a few times to un-lodge the food from the red head's throat.
"OW!" Jin was nearly flung into the table by the force of Kyoko's blows. "That hurts! STOP!" he had to scream to get Kyoko's attention.
"Oh, you're alive!" he hugged Jin for what appeared to be no reason at all. "Now you are fully nourished and ready to begin the training that you have agreed to do! Come on!" Kyoko grabbed Jin by the collar and dragged him through the door and out into the snow-covered grounds. Suddenly, barely 5 feet outside the door, Kyoko dropped Jin. "I completely forgot! Here's the stuff for your headache! Open wide!" Kyoko pinched Jin's nose and pulled his mouth open, shoving what appeared to be a small seed in. "Chew it up!"
"I can put things in my own mouth, you know."
"I said, CHEW!" Kyoko grabbed Jin's jaw and made the boy chew by moving his hands apart and together very rapidly. After about a minute of this, Jin swallowed. "You feel better now?"
"Now my mouth hurts." Jin was rubbing his jaw and wincing. Kyoko had really hurt his mouth, Jin didn't know if he'd be able to chew by himself ever again.
"You want me to get something for it?"
"NO!" Jin quickly reached out and grabbed Kyoko's clothes before anymore seeds could be forced into his mouth against his will. "I'll live! Let's begin the training!"
"I knew you'd see things my way!" Kyoko dashed out into the middle of the snow covered yard and turned to face Jin. "To begin, I want you to run as fast as you can out to me and stop before you crash into me."
"But it's only 50 yards, max!"
"I know. Do it." Kyoko's cheery attitude suddenly disappeared. His eyes narrowed as he stared at his pupil. Kyoko can be all fun and games, but when push comes to shove, he's worthy of his Shinobi title. When Jin made no effort to move, Kyoko gave his first command to the boy. "I, your master, am telling you to do it."
Jin gulped. For the first time since he was introduced to Kyoko, the man was scaring him. Swallowing again, Jin bent down into a track starting position. It was just another race, except he had to win this one. He saw the goal, and then pushed off full force.
Kyoko was not expecting this amount of speed to come from a novice. It was less than a second after the boy pushed off that he was actually 5 feet from Kyoko. 'This speed!.' However, just as quickly as Jin was in front of Kyoko, he was past him. 'Stopping is an issue.Easily fixed.Huh?' Jin in fact didn't have trouble stopping; he stopped on a dime. The only problem was the Jin couldn't judge distance when running. The red head stopped an additional 50 yards behind Kyoko.
"Oops." Jin rubbed his head in an embarrassed way and turned to face Kyoko. He didn't expect the expression of shock on Kyoko's face, but it was there just the same. Kyoko was just staring at him and not blinking, his mouth slightly open. "I'm sorry!"
"That.was impressive." Kyoko forced himself to blink. "That fast for an amateur.I'm almost scared to know how high you can jump!" A forced laugh came out of the ninja's mouth.
"You want me to jump to, is that it?" Jin cocked his head to the side and looked up at his master. "I will, if you want me to.I still have lots of energy left."
"Ok, but instead of just jumping, try to hover in the air a bit before coming back down." Kyoko backed far away from Jin. "Just in case of a crash landing, I'll stand over here!" He called out, ducking behind a tree leaving Jin in the field alone. "Go whenever you're ready!"
"Right!" Jin crouched down low to the ground, concentrating his energy into his feet. When he felt there was enough energy to get a decent height, he pushed off again as hard as he could. Jin soared up into the air, as far as he could go. But when it came time to hover, he ran into a slight problem. He couldn't. "Whoa!" Jin tumbled out of the air, doing summersaults until he crashed into the snow-covered ground, a few yards from where Kyoko was hiding.
"Well, obviously you can't do that!" Kyoko came out from behind the trees and offered a hand to Jin, which Jin gladly accepted. "But that is what I'm here for, right? To teach you how to do these things! Do you need more headache seeds?"
"No! No, no!"
"Well, you were no where near close to getting that technique!" Kyoko gave Jin a broad smile, which Jin could not help but return. "That's the spirit! Don't let it get you down! Now, let's try something else!" Kyoko plopped down onto the ground and put his head in his hands. "I got it! Why don't you try to make a tornado?"
"Uh, what?" Jin looked confused. An image of the giant tornado from twister swirled in his head along with the cows.
"A tornado! Like this!" Kyoko put his hands out in front of him and a small tornado appeared in the snow, swirling and picking up the flakes. "You just pretend there is a small ball of air in your hand and you twist it at will into a small funnel of air. It is not difficult, you understand. You try now."
"Ok, a little ball of air right?" Jin held out his hands in front of him like Kyoko had done. He concentrated and could feel a very small ball of air come into his hands. He tried to twist it, but when he did the air went haywire. The little tornado turned into nothing more than a column of air with a lot of issues, to put it mildly. "THAT WAS TERRIBLE!!!!!" Jin flopped onto the ground and stared at the sky, ashamed at his attempt.
"You're right, no denying it," Kyoko chuckled slightly. Soon, he was rolling around in the snow laughing his head of. "S-sorry! That was a decent attempt, but it sucked!"
"Oh, thank you so much for your encouragement." Jin said sarcastically, sitting up and staring at his master rolling around in the snow like a kid. "I take it you are very blunt with your comments."
"Yep!" Kyoko calmed down slightly and sat up to stare at his student. "That's how I am and that's how you should be too! Don't sugar-coat your answers to someone, it can just hurt them worst. Be straight to the point and get the message across. Little lesson for you."
Jin shrugged and blinked. "Surprising, you actually have some good advice under that wacky attitude."
"My best advice is yet to come! You want me to tell you?" Kyoko leaned over to Jin and winked very noticeably. Jin smiled and gave an energetic nod. "Alright! My advice to you is always flush after you just the toilet!"
Jin stared at Kyoko like he was crazy. He stared so long Kyoko was actually sure he might have missed the joke. At least, he did until Jin fell over laughing.
"Good advice! Best I ever heard!!" Jin barely got the words out between the laughter and gasps of air. "Now, seriously! What's your real advice?"
"What are you talking about? That was my real advice!" Jin looked incredulously at Kyoko, and eventually the latter gave in. "Alright. My real advice is know your surroundings before you fight a battle or whatever. Use it all to your advantage."
Jin had calmed down very much so by now, and thought about the advice. It all seemed well and good, except one question came to his mind. "Uh, how do you learn the terrain from the ground?"
"What?!" Kyoko took a twig and hit Jin on the head with it several times. He said every word in time with the twig hitting Jin's head. "What.Do.You.Think.You.Are.In.Training.For?! You.Will.Be.Able.To.Fly!!!"
"Ow! OW!" Jin clutched his head just in time for his hands to be hit by the twig. "Yeow!!!! Stop it!" Kyoko hit Jin a few more times for good measure before stopping completely. "I can't fly, and you know that! I crash and it is painful!!!!"
"Ahhh, yes!" Kyoko put a hand under his chin in a thoughtful manner. "You can't.But I can! Come on!!"
Without warning Kyoko grabbed Jin by the arms. "What are you-?" But Jin didn't have time to finish his sentence. Kyoko lifted Jin up into the air and zoomed off into the sky. "What?!" Jin screamed, looking down and seeing the ground getting farther and farther away. After what seemed like an eternal rocket launch, Kyoko stopped dead in the air.
"Well, here you are. This is the Makai." Kyoko stated, gesturing with his foot because he was holding Jin with his hands. "Directly below us is the Forest of the Makai. Somewhere in there are your ancestors, still locked up in their physical and mental fortress. Over there," Kyoko pointed almost directly ahead of them up in the sky with a foot. "That is the Floating Island of the Ice Maidens. It is a forbidden place for men to go, and is separate from the rest of the Makai. Right below it, as you can see, are the Makai Ice Lands where any Ice Apparition can go. You can barely see the Island and the Ice Lands unless you have far sight."
"I can see them just fine," Jin said, eyes getting wider as he looked around at the new world surrounding him. "Wow.Hey, what's that?" Jin pointed south of the snow-covered hills and valleys. To a small patch of what appeared to be a beach and ocean or something along those lines.
"Ah, you must have far sight if you can see that." Kyoko nodded thoughtfully. "That is the only way to get out of the Makai. It's not an ocean, as you might think. In fact, it's a portal to the Ningenkai, or the Human World as you might call it."
"You mean, I could go home?" Jin asked excitedly. Kyoko noticed that his ears, large as they were, began to twitch slightly at the thought.
"Not that easy, mate." Kyoko was sorry to dampen the boy's spirits, but he couldn't let Jin go running off without knowing the truth. "In order to get through that portal you have to make it through and be accepted into something like a tournament. That is very rare, and happens every so often. And then, even if you are permitted to go, you have to be screened by the Reikai and have a tracking device put on you. You leave your designated area and poof! No more you."
"Oh," Jin's voice was quiet and sad, his ears drooped as well. "No chance then, huh?"
"Yes, no chance." Kyoko suddenly became much brighter than before, in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I'm going to show you the whole of the Makai today! You want to? It's your home now."
"Sure, but how?"
"Like this!!!!!" Kyoko made his body parallel to the ground and seemed to push off the air. Soon, they were zooming off into the distance. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neither group returned home until near sunset on that day. And when they did, one could say that they literally ran into each other. Kyoko dropped Jin from a height of about 10 feet onto Touya.
"Ow! Jin! You're crushing me!" Touya called out. Jin was sitting on his back and it is not necessary to say that it really hurt the smaller apprentice. "Get off!" Touya somehow managed to sit up, knocking Jin off his back in a heap.
"Hey! You're stronger than I thought!" Jin said gleefully, rolling in the snow to a sitting position. "You sure don't look that strong."
"Ow.I'm going to feel that in morning.severely." Touya rubbed his lower back where the red head had been crushing him.
"Of course you are," Shirikubo stated, stepping over both Touya and Jin in one gigantic step. "Got a lot to do in the morning. Kyoko, I take it you haven't been back for long?"
"Nope! Just got back!" Kyoko was hanging upside-down in the air right in front of his friend. "Why you ask?"
"Just wondering if you were back long enough to start dinner. I guess not." Shirikubo sighed, and then entered the house through the kitchen door. "I'll start it, you finish. But I want to talk to you."
"What about the boys?" Kyoko stuck a thumb over his shoulder at the two youngsters throwing snow at each other in mock-rage.
"We talk to them over dinner tonight. Come along and help me out. Unless, of course, you want the food to be uneatable." Shirikubo said slyly.
"What?! Uneatable food?! Not possible! Shiri, I'm cooking!" Kyoko ran through the door into the kitchen, in the process knocking Shirikubo over.
"I knew he'd see things my way." Shirikubo looked over his shoulders at the children playing in the snow. "I really don't want to separate them." All the while Kyoko was making dinner, Shirikubo leaned against the window, watching the kids fight each other with snow. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
All four of them sat at the table later that night, eating dinner and laughing crazily at Kyoko and Jin's eating contest. Winner gets to sleep in the next day. So far, the youngest one was winning, but not by much.
"Go, go, go!" Touya was laughing and clapping as Jin shoved an entire steak into his mouth. "You beat him!"
"Not in this time!" Shirikubo said, bopping Touya on the head with his hand. "Kyoko! Keep eating! Win this one!"
"Ugh, I don't think I can." Kyoko moaned after swallowing the steak and potatoes he had shoved down his throat. "Can't I just forfeit?"
"No!" Shirikubo picked up the plate in front of the wind master and shoved it into his face. "Eat up!"
Jin had stopped eating over on his and Touya's side just to watch them start their own mini food-war. Jin looked over at Touya's surprised look and chuckled. "You look like you've never seen adults act like this."
"I haven't." Then Touya smiled and shook his head. "Good to see they have personality, though."
"It's always good to see that!" Jin said, raising his drink-mug above his head in a mock-drunk manner causing Touya to start laughing again. The two older ninjas stopped their food war to see what was causing this laughter.
"Well, I suppose we best be turning in now!" Kyoko said, stretching and standing up.
"What about the dishes?" Touya asked, looking confusedly from the plates to Kyoko.
"Leave them! We'll clean up in the morning!" Kyoko walked down the hall and turned to his bedroom. "You'll wake up earlier than me, Jin! I still say I won that contest!"
"No you didn't!" Jin put his hands on his hips and tried to look indignant but failed. "I won! You clean up."
"But I'm the master, you are the student." Kyoko said as he walked over to Jin. Suddenly he picked Jin up and threw him into the bedroom where he belonged. Kyoko locked Jin in his room. Suddenly solemn, he turned to look at Shirikubo and Touya. "I'll miss you two, it was fun even if it was only for a few days. Come back once you've graduated." he whispered, shaking Touya's hand and then hugging Shirikubo. "He'll miss you, too, but that can't be helped. I'll tell him after you've left."
'Thank you," Touya muttered, feeling very bad that he was leaving his only friend behind without so much as a goodbye.
"Touya, get your things together. We leave before dawn." Shirikubo whisked into his own respectable room, Kyoko also went into his own room, leaving Touya alone in the hallway. Sighing, he walked into the guest room he had occupied. Looking around, he discovered there was not much to pack, just his travel clothes and other supplies. It took him only a minute to get the things together in a bag. Touya decided it would be best to get some sleep, so he laid down on the bed despite the fact he knew he wouldn't sleep. He just laid there and stared at the ceiling. It seemed dawn came too soon.
One minute he's lying on the bed, the next him and Shirikubo were closing the door to the cabin behind them and walking off into the woods again. Touya couldn't help but wonder what Jin would think once he woke up, but it couldn't be helped.
"Touya, stop looking behind you. Let's go." Shirikubo pushed his student's back slightly to get him moving again. However, Touya looked behind him one last time before finally moving on.
It would be hundreds of years before the two would set eyes on each other again.
Ok, people, here's the deal: I'm grounded off the computer due to grades, so there won't be any updates for a time. Also, I'm in a bit of a depression right now (family life bites right now) so if anyone could review with some bits of encouragement I'd appreciate it very much. Again, there won't be any updates for a while.sorry.
Ice Meet Wind Ch. 7 - The Start of a New Life
"Touya. Touya!" Touya was shaken awake. "Time to get up. Training."
Touya looked out the window of his room. "Sensei, it's not even dawn. Let me sleep." And so he rolled over and tried to go back to the dream he had been having. It had been him fighting someone, someone powerful. He wanted to know who the person was.
"Get up!" Shirikubo lifted the mattress and the half asleep Touya tumbled onto the floor in a heap of blankets and pillows. "I said we'd continue training and we are. Meet me outside in 20 minutes." Shirikubo left the room and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving a very dazed and tired Touya on the floor.
"Why does he do this?" Touya muttered, untangling himself from the blankets and standing up. Dawn was just breaking outside his window, but he didn't notice as he got dressed in his clothing. Touya wore a plain blue karate suit, one Shirikubo bought for him when puberty began to come into play. He could roll the sleeves and pants down to the floor and then some, just in case he ever needed to. Touya smiled to himself at the thought. True, he wasn't very big, but he had the feeling this outfit would always be a little big on him. For the time being, though, it served his purposes just fine. After tying the navy belt around his waist, he exited the room.
Walking down the hall to the kitchen, Touya noticed that Jin and Kyoko were still asleep. "Lucky them." he mumbled as he walked past their doors. Grabbing a quick breakfast of bread and fruit, he headed out the door to start his training for the day.
"You're a bit late," Shirikubo was sitting cross-legged in the snow. One would think he was meditating, but Touya knew better. His master had been listening to his footsteps while he was still in the house. Shirikubo patted the ground beside him. "Sit down, tune your power into the nature of this snow. Just like every morning."
Touya nodded and sat crossed-legged beside his teacher. Needless to say, the snow was really cold. One could almost say that everyday at the end of the exercise, Touya didn't have a butt anymore. But the whole point of meditating in the snow was to increase his resistance to the cold. Everyday, Touya became less aware of the frozen feeling of the start of frostbite in his butt. It was a good thing, as strange as it sounds.
"Now. Close your eyes and imagine the snow around you. Feel the snow, feel every snowflake that makes up the drift. The ice that makes up the snowflake. That is what you want to become; one with your element. Once you are it shall move to your every whim. Now, breathe deeply and hold that sensation for 10 minutes." Shirikubo took a deep breath and held it, easily relaxing into this exercise. Touya, on the other hand, had a little trouble. Just like every morning.
Touya squirmed around, trying to find a comfortable piece of frozen ground to stay put on. After trying several times, he gave up and tried to 'become the flake' as his master had said. Touya had always found that statement amusing and stifled a giggle or two before returning to his task. No matter how hard he tried, he always had problems becoming one with the element. He always managed to get in tune literally five seconds before the exercise was over After much squirming and bumping into his teacher among other things. Today, though, it came much sooner than normal. Only a minute before the exercise was over and he was in tune with the snow. Not a huge chunk of time to meditate by any standard, but a significant improvement when compared to what he was capable of before.
The sensation of being one with the ice was an indescribable feeling. Both warm and cold. Sad yet uplifting. He could see more with his eyes closed than he ever could with them open. Free, yet without wings. He wasn't soaring, he was drifting. Drifting as a snowflake does to the ground. He was constantly drifting, never landing. He could feel him being tossed from air current to air current, never stopping movement. It almost made him sick. And then he felt the snow around him. Every flake of snow that made up the drift. Every crystal that made up the flake itself. He loved it when he finally found the correct concentration for the meditation. He didn't want the sensation to end. He never did. He wanted to be one forever. He was one with the snow and ice. At least, he was, until he heard Shirikubo say, "The exercise is now over. Get up and get ready for the real training."
Sighing, Touya opened his eyes and stood up. Shirikubo was wearing a long white robe and looking much taller than usual. At least, he was in Touya's eyes. But then again, just about everyone was taller to Touya.
"Now, Touya." He stated, bending over and rolling up a snowball, "Today we'll try something new. You're not quite ready to learn how to make your own ice, but you can use this," He tossed the snowball at Touya, who fumbled a bit before grasping it firmly in his hands. "Today I'll show you how to make and fight with a weapon from manipulated snow."
"Say what?" Touya was completely confused. "I though you were going to teach me how to create my own ice and stuff like that!"
"I will, but you must also learn how to defend yourself if you ever find yourself out of spirit energy in a snow barren place. It is very likely to happen." Shirikubo bent over and made another snow-ball for himself. "Now, listen and watch closely. Concentrate on an image of a weapon in your mind. Concentrate on transferring or copying that image in the snow your holding. I am imagining a spear, so I concentrate and transfer it and." Touya watched in amazement as the snowball in his master's hands molded itself into a long spear; a very solid looking spear at that. "Here is your temporary weapon. It uses almost no energy but can only last as long as it is in your hands. Once it leaves your grip, it shall disappear into a pile of snow, as it was before."
"Wow." Touya's eyes were still wide with awe, but awe didn't stop this student from asking questions. Nothing did. "Where'd you learn how to do that?!"
"You learn a lot from travels, and I learned this after watching several Youko do it with plants to ward off offenders. Their energy barely dipped above the maximum level, so I thought; why not try this with ice or snow? After years of work, I got it down. Now I pass on this little tidbit of knowledge to you so you can use it one day in a fight. I hope that day never happens, but still, better safe than sorry, right? Now, Touya. I want you to try."
"What should I try to make?"
"A sword."
"Ok, a sword. Uh, what kind of sword?" Touya's head was full of various types of swords, and it was hard to pick just one to focus on. Swords from plain and simple to extravagant and some which he didn't even know if they existed. It was hard to pick which one would be the best to fight with. Luckily for him, Shirikubo chose for him.
"Try.this one!" Shirikubo remolded the spear into a medium length sword with a handle made out of several spikes. He held it up for Touya to see. "Elegant-looking, yet practical. A perfect sword for a beginner."
"Ok, so I concentrate on it and try and mould it out of the snow." Touya spoke aloud as he performed the steps. The snow in his hands began to change into the sword, and he almost had it, until his concentration wavered slightly. A sharp pang got Touya through the hand and, in surprise, he dropped the sword. In Touya's break in concentration made the sword suddenly lash out in a form similar to an icicle and pierced Touya's hand. He clutched his hand in pain and tried to stop the few drops of blood that leaked through. "Ow! That really hurt." Shirikubo walked over to Touya and quickly closed the wound with his energy. "Thanks. Uh, my sword just turned back into snow." Touya muttered, glancing down at the would-be sword that was laying in front of him.
"I see that." Shirikubo studied the snow-sword that laid on the ground in front of them. "Well, you almost had it until your concentration broke for whatever reason. The would-be sword looks more like a knife. Uh." Shirikubo bent down and poked the 'sword' slightly. In fact, it didn't look anything like a weapon, more like a snow angel. But Shirikubo wasn't about to completely diminish his pupil's confidence. "Sort of."
"Ok, I screwed that one up!" Touya was a bit frustrated. Shirikubo has a tendency to do that. Waver from the subject entirely as to not hurt Touya's feelings as bad as the truth. But Touya knew the truth. "It was my first try."
"And it was better than my first, so be proud! Mine looked like absolutely nothing in particular! You're improving greatly." Shirikubo's voice trailed away. Abruptly, Shirikubo's smile faded off his face. It confused Touya, because it must have been a very bad thought to make Shirikubo's mood change so swiftly. The older ninja surprised Touya when he walked past him and ruffled his hair. Shirikubo walked quickly into the forest, and then beckoned to Touya. "Follow me. We need to talk."
"About what?" Touya followed his master similar of that to a dog and his owner. Though neither of them considered this the case. They were on equal footing for the time being. Until the real training set in.
"About the future for you. And for Jin. There is much to tell you and to discuss with you."
"Can't you tell me now? Right here? Without going into the forest?" Touya disliked the forest very much. Too many memories of his past were hidden in every branch.
"No, because when Kyoko and Jin wake up, they will be coming out here for the first training session. We wouldn't want them to over hear this."
"What?" Touya stopped and stared at his master with large eyes. "Why not?"
"Because we have almost worn out our welcome here. Now that Kyoko has a student, we will just be getting in the way of the training. Therefore, before we become completely despised, I think we should continue with our journey and training in the whole of the Makai."
"You mean leave?!" Touya didn't believe his ears. Leave? Now? "Why should we leave?! I finally found someone around my age who I actually can stand, and we have to leave?!"
And so they entered the forest for a very long walk and talk. So long, in fact, and so deep into the forest that they didn't hear some of Jin's crashes and cries of pain for his entire training.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"WAKE UP JIN!!!!!"
Jin had no choice but to wake up. Not only at the shout, but at the wind getting knocked out of him by a very wide awake wind master. Kyoko was jumping up and down on Jin's bed, not realizing Jin was already awake and getting crushed to death.
"I'm alive!"
"Good!" Kyoko gave a few more jumps on the bed before flopping down on it. "Today training begins!" Kyoko's large eyes were only a few inches from Jin's own. Kyoko was a very upfront kind of guy and liked to see people's reactions when he tells them things. Hence, why he looks at the eyes first above all things. He expected Jin to show some excitement. And with Jin's reaction, his expectations were not diminished in the least; the red-heads large blue eyes got bigger at the very thought.
"YOU MEAN IT!?" Jin screamed, shooting straight up in bed and almost knocking Kyoko to the floor. "I start today?! WHOOOOO!" Jin jumped as high as he could out of the bed and almost crashed into the ceiling. Kyoko watched him with sparkling eyes.
"This one has quite a bit of promise," he whispered to himself as he watched Jin avoid the collision but crash in a heap in the floor. "But there's still work to be done."
"Please tell me you're going to help me not crash as much?" Jin moaned, rolling to a sitting position on the floor. He put his head in his hands. "Now I have a headache."
"I can't promise anything about the no-crashing, that's all in you. But I can teach you how to control your abilities and strengthen them. That good?" Kyoko saw Jin nod into his hands. "Your head still hurt?" Another nod. Kyoko sighed, "I'll get you something for your headache. Meet me in the kitchen in, oh, 10 minutes." Kyoko exited through the door and left Jin alone on the floor with his thoughts and pounding headache. Before Jin even had a chance to stand up, Kyoko burst through the door again. "Hey! You're new clothes are in this bag. They were once mine, but they should fit you." Kyoko threw the bag at Jin and exited through the door yet again.
"Why does he throw things at me?" Jin muttered after the bag hit him on the head. Jin's eyes slowly went from the door to the bag that hit him square on the head. He squeezed his eyes shut and ripped the bag open. Jin wouldn't put it past Kyoko to put some kind of joke bomb in the bag for a good laugh. After a minute of sitting there on the floor with his eyes closed and bag open, Jin carefully opened one eye and then the other. Inside the bag was a light green karate suit with a dark green belt to hold the shirt shut. Jin held the outfit up to his body and discovered that, though the pants were a bit long, he would fit into it perfectly. Quickly taking off his ripped school clothes, Jin pulled the new clothing over his head. He was right, the clothes did fit him just about perfectly. He tied the shirt shut with the belt and walked out the door. "I want food." Jin muttered and made a detour from the door to the kitchen.
After several minutes of rummaging around the cabinets, Jin settled on some day old bread and a weird jam spread for breakfast. "Not much to pick from.Where do they keep the cereal?" Jin was talking to himself with his mouth full, but Kyoko understood him anyway, because he was listening through the door frame of the kitchen.
"What the hell is cereal?" Kyoko ran through the door and plopped right in from of Jin, making the red head choke on his food. "Now, now! You can't be so weak as to choke to death on your own food!" The ninja jumped over the table and hit Jin on the back a few times to un-lodge the food from the red head's throat.
"OW!" Jin was nearly flung into the table by the force of Kyoko's blows. "That hurts! STOP!" he had to scream to get Kyoko's attention.
"Oh, you're alive!" he hugged Jin for what appeared to be no reason at all. "Now you are fully nourished and ready to begin the training that you have agreed to do! Come on!" Kyoko grabbed Jin by the collar and dragged him through the door and out into the snow-covered grounds. Suddenly, barely 5 feet outside the door, Kyoko dropped Jin. "I completely forgot! Here's the stuff for your headache! Open wide!" Kyoko pinched Jin's nose and pulled his mouth open, shoving what appeared to be a small seed in. "Chew it up!"
"I can put things in my own mouth, you know."
"I said, CHEW!" Kyoko grabbed Jin's jaw and made the boy chew by moving his hands apart and together very rapidly. After about a minute of this, Jin swallowed. "You feel better now?"
"Now my mouth hurts." Jin was rubbing his jaw and wincing. Kyoko had really hurt his mouth, Jin didn't know if he'd be able to chew by himself ever again.
"You want me to get something for it?"
"NO!" Jin quickly reached out and grabbed Kyoko's clothes before anymore seeds could be forced into his mouth against his will. "I'll live! Let's begin the training!"
"I knew you'd see things my way!" Kyoko dashed out into the middle of the snow covered yard and turned to face Jin. "To begin, I want you to run as fast as you can out to me and stop before you crash into me."
"But it's only 50 yards, max!"
"I know. Do it." Kyoko's cheery attitude suddenly disappeared. His eyes narrowed as he stared at his pupil. Kyoko can be all fun and games, but when push comes to shove, he's worthy of his Shinobi title. When Jin made no effort to move, Kyoko gave his first command to the boy. "I, your master, am telling you to do it."
Jin gulped. For the first time since he was introduced to Kyoko, the man was scaring him. Swallowing again, Jin bent down into a track starting position. It was just another race, except he had to win this one. He saw the goal, and then pushed off full force.
Kyoko was not expecting this amount of speed to come from a novice. It was less than a second after the boy pushed off that he was actually 5 feet from Kyoko. 'This speed!.' However, just as quickly as Jin was in front of Kyoko, he was past him. 'Stopping is an issue.Easily fixed.Huh?' Jin in fact didn't have trouble stopping; he stopped on a dime. The only problem was the Jin couldn't judge distance when running. The red head stopped an additional 50 yards behind Kyoko.
"Oops." Jin rubbed his head in an embarrassed way and turned to face Kyoko. He didn't expect the expression of shock on Kyoko's face, but it was there just the same. Kyoko was just staring at him and not blinking, his mouth slightly open. "I'm sorry!"
"That.was impressive." Kyoko forced himself to blink. "That fast for an amateur.I'm almost scared to know how high you can jump!" A forced laugh came out of the ninja's mouth.
"You want me to jump to, is that it?" Jin cocked his head to the side and looked up at his master. "I will, if you want me to.I still have lots of energy left."
"Ok, but instead of just jumping, try to hover in the air a bit before coming back down." Kyoko backed far away from Jin. "Just in case of a crash landing, I'll stand over here!" He called out, ducking behind a tree leaving Jin in the field alone. "Go whenever you're ready!"
"Right!" Jin crouched down low to the ground, concentrating his energy into his feet. When he felt there was enough energy to get a decent height, he pushed off again as hard as he could. Jin soared up into the air, as far as he could go. But when it came time to hover, he ran into a slight problem. He couldn't. "Whoa!" Jin tumbled out of the air, doing summersaults until he crashed into the snow-covered ground, a few yards from where Kyoko was hiding.
"Well, obviously you can't do that!" Kyoko came out from behind the trees and offered a hand to Jin, which Jin gladly accepted. "But that is what I'm here for, right? To teach you how to do these things! Do you need more headache seeds?"
"No! No, no!"
"Well, you were no where near close to getting that technique!" Kyoko gave Jin a broad smile, which Jin could not help but return. "That's the spirit! Don't let it get you down! Now, let's try something else!" Kyoko plopped down onto the ground and put his head in his hands. "I got it! Why don't you try to make a tornado?"
"Uh, what?" Jin looked confused. An image of the giant tornado from twister swirled in his head along with the cows.
"A tornado! Like this!" Kyoko put his hands out in front of him and a small tornado appeared in the snow, swirling and picking up the flakes. "You just pretend there is a small ball of air in your hand and you twist it at will into a small funnel of air. It is not difficult, you understand. You try now."
"Ok, a little ball of air right?" Jin held out his hands in front of him like Kyoko had done. He concentrated and could feel a very small ball of air come into his hands. He tried to twist it, but when he did the air went haywire. The little tornado turned into nothing more than a column of air with a lot of issues, to put it mildly. "THAT WAS TERRIBLE!!!!!" Jin flopped onto the ground and stared at the sky, ashamed at his attempt.
"You're right, no denying it," Kyoko chuckled slightly. Soon, he was rolling around in the snow laughing his head of. "S-sorry! That was a decent attempt, but it sucked!"
"Oh, thank you so much for your encouragement." Jin said sarcastically, sitting up and staring at his master rolling around in the snow like a kid. "I take it you are very blunt with your comments."
"Yep!" Kyoko calmed down slightly and sat up to stare at his student. "That's how I am and that's how you should be too! Don't sugar-coat your answers to someone, it can just hurt them worst. Be straight to the point and get the message across. Little lesson for you."
Jin shrugged and blinked. "Surprising, you actually have some good advice under that wacky attitude."
"My best advice is yet to come! You want me to tell you?" Kyoko leaned over to Jin and winked very noticeably. Jin smiled and gave an energetic nod. "Alright! My advice to you is always flush after you just the toilet!"
Jin stared at Kyoko like he was crazy. He stared so long Kyoko was actually sure he might have missed the joke. At least, he did until Jin fell over laughing.
"Good advice! Best I ever heard!!" Jin barely got the words out between the laughter and gasps of air. "Now, seriously! What's your real advice?"
"What are you talking about? That was my real advice!" Jin looked incredulously at Kyoko, and eventually the latter gave in. "Alright. My real advice is know your surroundings before you fight a battle or whatever. Use it all to your advantage."
Jin had calmed down very much so by now, and thought about the advice. It all seemed well and good, except one question came to his mind. "Uh, how do you learn the terrain from the ground?"
"What?!" Kyoko took a twig and hit Jin on the head with it several times. He said every word in time with the twig hitting Jin's head. "What.Do.You.Think.You.Are.In.Training.For?! You.Will.Be.Able.To.Fly!!!"
"Ow! OW!" Jin clutched his head just in time for his hands to be hit by the twig. "Yeow!!!! Stop it!" Kyoko hit Jin a few more times for good measure before stopping completely. "I can't fly, and you know that! I crash and it is painful!!!!"
"Ahhh, yes!" Kyoko put a hand under his chin in a thoughtful manner. "You can't.But I can! Come on!!"
Without warning Kyoko grabbed Jin by the arms. "What are you-?" But Jin didn't have time to finish his sentence. Kyoko lifted Jin up into the air and zoomed off into the sky. "What?!" Jin screamed, looking down and seeing the ground getting farther and farther away. After what seemed like an eternal rocket launch, Kyoko stopped dead in the air.
"Well, here you are. This is the Makai." Kyoko stated, gesturing with his foot because he was holding Jin with his hands. "Directly below us is the Forest of the Makai. Somewhere in there are your ancestors, still locked up in their physical and mental fortress. Over there," Kyoko pointed almost directly ahead of them up in the sky with a foot. "That is the Floating Island of the Ice Maidens. It is a forbidden place for men to go, and is separate from the rest of the Makai. Right below it, as you can see, are the Makai Ice Lands where any Ice Apparition can go. You can barely see the Island and the Ice Lands unless you have far sight."
"I can see them just fine," Jin said, eyes getting wider as he looked around at the new world surrounding him. "Wow.Hey, what's that?" Jin pointed south of the snow-covered hills and valleys. To a small patch of what appeared to be a beach and ocean or something along those lines.
"Ah, you must have far sight if you can see that." Kyoko nodded thoughtfully. "That is the only way to get out of the Makai. It's not an ocean, as you might think. In fact, it's a portal to the Ningenkai, or the Human World as you might call it."
"You mean, I could go home?" Jin asked excitedly. Kyoko noticed that his ears, large as they were, began to twitch slightly at the thought.
"Not that easy, mate." Kyoko was sorry to dampen the boy's spirits, but he couldn't let Jin go running off without knowing the truth. "In order to get through that portal you have to make it through and be accepted into something like a tournament. That is very rare, and happens every so often. And then, even if you are permitted to go, you have to be screened by the Reikai and have a tracking device put on you. You leave your designated area and poof! No more you."
"Oh," Jin's voice was quiet and sad, his ears drooped as well. "No chance then, huh?"
"Yes, no chance." Kyoko suddenly became much brighter than before, in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I'm going to show you the whole of the Makai today! You want to? It's your home now."
"Sure, but how?"
"Like this!!!!!" Kyoko made his body parallel to the ground and seemed to push off the air. Soon, they were zooming off into the distance. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neither group returned home until near sunset on that day. And when they did, one could say that they literally ran into each other. Kyoko dropped Jin from a height of about 10 feet onto Touya.
"Ow! Jin! You're crushing me!" Touya called out. Jin was sitting on his back and it is not necessary to say that it really hurt the smaller apprentice. "Get off!" Touya somehow managed to sit up, knocking Jin off his back in a heap.
"Hey! You're stronger than I thought!" Jin said gleefully, rolling in the snow to a sitting position. "You sure don't look that strong."
"Ow.I'm going to feel that in morning.severely." Touya rubbed his lower back where the red head had been crushing him.
"Of course you are," Shirikubo stated, stepping over both Touya and Jin in one gigantic step. "Got a lot to do in the morning. Kyoko, I take it you haven't been back for long?"
"Nope! Just got back!" Kyoko was hanging upside-down in the air right in front of his friend. "Why you ask?"
"Just wondering if you were back long enough to start dinner. I guess not." Shirikubo sighed, and then entered the house through the kitchen door. "I'll start it, you finish. But I want to talk to you."
"What about the boys?" Kyoko stuck a thumb over his shoulder at the two youngsters throwing snow at each other in mock-rage.
"We talk to them over dinner tonight. Come along and help me out. Unless, of course, you want the food to be uneatable." Shirikubo said slyly.
"What?! Uneatable food?! Not possible! Shiri, I'm cooking!" Kyoko ran through the door into the kitchen, in the process knocking Shirikubo over.
"I knew he'd see things my way." Shirikubo looked over his shoulders at the children playing in the snow. "I really don't want to separate them." All the while Kyoko was making dinner, Shirikubo leaned against the window, watching the kids fight each other with snow. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
All four of them sat at the table later that night, eating dinner and laughing crazily at Kyoko and Jin's eating contest. Winner gets to sleep in the next day. So far, the youngest one was winning, but not by much.
"Go, go, go!" Touya was laughing and clapping as Jin shoved an entire steak into his mouth. "You beat him!"
"Not in this time!" Shirikubo said, bopping Touya on the head with his hand. "Kyoko! Keep eating! Win this one!"
"Ugh, I don't think I can." Kyoko moaned after swallowing the steak and potatoes he had shoved down his throat. "Can't I just forfeit?"
"No!" Shirikubo picked up the plate in front of the wind master and shoved it into his face. "Eat up!"
Jin had stopped eating over on his and Touya's side just to watch them start their own mini food-war. Jin looked over at Touya's surprised look and chuckled. "You look like you've never seen adults act like this."
"I haven't." Then Touya smiled and shook his head. "Good to see they have personality, though."
"It's always good to see that!" Jin said, raising his drink-mug above his head in a mock-drunk manner causing Touya to start laughing again. The two older ninjas stopped their food war to see what was causing this laughter.
"Well, I suppose we best be turning in now!" Kyoko said, stretching and standing up.
"What about the dishes?" Touya asked, looking confusedly from the plates to Kyoko.
"Leave them! We'll clean up in the morning!" Kyoko walked down the hall and turned to his bedroom. "You'll wake up earlier than me, Jin! I still say I won that contest!"
"No you didn't!" Jin put his hands on his hips and tried to look indignant but failed. "I won! You clean up."
"But I'm the master, you are the student." Kyoko said as he walked over to Jin. Suddenly he picked Jin up and threw him into the bedroom where he belonged. Kyoko locked Jin in his room. Suddenly solemn, he turned to look at Shirikubo and Touya. "I'll miss you two, it was fun even if it was only for a few days. Come back once you've graduated." he whispered, shaking Touya's hand and then hugging Shirikubo. "He'll miss you, too, but that can't be helped. I'll tell him after you've left."
'Thank you," Touya muttered, feeling very bad that he was leaving his only friend behind without so much as a goodbye.
"Touya, get your things together. We leave before dawn." Shirikubo whisked into his own respectable room, Kyoko also went into his own room, leaving Touya alone in the hallway. Sighing, he walked into the guest room he had occupied. Looking around, he discovered there was not much to pack, just his travel clothes and other supplies. It took him only a minute to get the things together in a bag. Touya decided it would be best to get some sleep, so he laid down on the bed despite the fact he knew he wouldn't sleep. He just laid there and stared at the ceiling. It seemed dawn came too soon.
One minute he's lying on the bed, the next him and Shirikubo were closing the door to the cabin behind them and walking off into the woods again. Touya couldn't help but wonder what Jin would think once he woke up, but it couldn't be helped.
"Touya, stop looking behind you. Let's go." Shirikubo pushed his student's back slightly to get him moving again. However, Touya looked behind him one last time before finally moving on.
It would be hundreds of years before the two would set eyes on each other again.
Ok, people, here's the deal: I'm grounded off the computer due to grades, so there won't be any updates for a time. Also, I'm in a bit of a depression right now (family life bites right now) so if anyone could review with some bits of encouragement I'd appreciate it very much. Again, there won't be any updates for a while.sorry.