The four girls had managed to endure their training due to their drive, determination and dedication, which expeditiously brought them one step closer to each of their respective goals.
Now is the perfect time for all of the players to finally convene back at the Gate of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City.
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"Remember to take a deep breath." The raven haired young woman, Archimedes, overhears her teacher instructs her in her typical colorless tone every time she would address her or anyone else for that matter.
She merely nods her head to show that she listens to Akane's instructions.
The teen deeply inhales and leisurely raises the bow window and arrow rest until the head of the arrow levels with her eye level.
'Make sure to pinch the string and nock tightly together.' Archimedes reminds herself of the next step that follows. She then presents her bow and tightly draws back the arrow and the string.
The raven haired girl slowly draws back the arm that she shoots with and briefly pauses while she remembers to, '…draw elbow back until it is parallel to the ground.'
'She is doing well so far.' Akane occasionally repeats.
The powdery white haired woman closely studies each and every movement that her pupil is able to properly execute before she eventually shoots the arrow.
Her obsidian eyes sharply narrow her sights in on one of the targets that she constantly practices on ever since she arrives at China.
'Find your target and fire.'
The woman senses a vibe that surrounds Archimedes once she releases her grip on the arrow and watches as it pierces through the air.
A 'tink' loudlyechoes through the Archery Range before she drops the bow back to her side and faces her teacher.
"You have finally proven yourself to be a fine archer, Archimedes." Akane compliments her student, which earns a small grin on her face.
The raven haired girl unexpectedly bows at the waist and honestly blurts out, "It's because I have an extremely talented teacher. It was an honor to learn about the bow and arrow from you."
A similar smile surfaces on her face at the very sincere compliment from her usually stoic and emotionless student.
"It wouldn't be fair of me to assume all of the credit." The powdery white haired woman speaks up, which prompts Archimedes to straighten up from her current position.
"You pretty much flew through your training within a matter of mere days and for that...you should be proud of yourself." The woman honestly discloses before she gracefully executes a bow at the waist.
Her eyes grew wide at the positive approval that she received from Akane. It felt oddly strange since she was not used to it back home with her dad.
She sharply rotates away from her student and calmly instructs her, "You might want to go ahead and change out of the practice gear. Your training with me has officially ended."
'I wonder what will happen to me now?' The raven haired girl curiously ponders to herself about the future of her training.
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Before their departure, Audrey peeped over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of the small yet stable wooden cabin where she rested her head for the past couple of days.
She surprisingly developed a sense of sadness during her leave from the residence since she grew accustom to the homey emotions that it brought forth. 'I really might miss this place.'
The dirty blonde properly adjusts the shoulder strap of her backpack before she verbally complains, "Are we there yet?"
"We aren't that far away." Lanying mentions while she guides her student through the busy crowd in the Forbidden City.
'So why are we heading back to that place again?' The teen wonders as she peers around at her surroundings when she notices that it was quite familiar.
"You must be anxious to see your friend again." She voices while Audrey continues to glance to her left and right at the people that pass by them.
She briefly halts in her stride, which instantly prompts the purple haired woman to mimic her student.
A pair of charcoal grey eyes quietly watched in awe as the dirty blonde tightly gripped the bookbag straps.
Lanying merely smiled at the growth in Audrey's persona from the very first time that they met.
"Audrey, are you alright?" Her teacher politely inquires about her feelings at the current moment about her previous statement.
"I can't wait to show her…" She utters more to herself before she pops her head up, stares down her teacher and asserts, "…just how much I have grown."
'I swear she reminds me so much of him.' The purple haired woman thinks while she envisions her little brother's spirit manifests right next to the dirty blonde.
The older woman promptly recalled when she took her student to see the cave at night and how she unexpectedly stumbled upon the rare sight of sea turtles.
Lanying reaches her arm out, ruffles her fingers through Audrey's blonde locks, and remarks, "You have made me really proud of you, little sea turtle."
"A sea turtle..." She shockingly repeats as it earns an even wider smile from the woman herself.
Lanying rolls her eyes at her student, which prompts her to retort, "Have you already forgotten that I am a seafaring woman?"
The dirty blonde shakes her head left and right before she listens in on the explanation, "They are one of the Earth's most ancient creatures and have been around since the age of the dinosaur. They are really excellent swimmers but they cannot retract their head or legs back inside of their shell."
The teen confusingly stares at her sensei with an inquisitive expression present on her face when she hears, "You didn't run away from the challenge and weathered the storm. That is why you are a little sea turtle."
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"You've done well to have made it this far Hiromi, you should be extremely proud of yourself." Meifeng honestly congratulates her pupil on all of her hard work.
"Thank you for the help, Meifeng-sensei." Hiromi gratefully thanks her for being her teacher before she bows at the waist and adds, "You were a really a big help to me."
'She is truly a humble girl.' She concludes about her personality while she tidies up the rest of the shrine before their departure time arrives.
"Uhm…Meifeng-sensei," The brunette calls out to the silver haired woman, who slides a shoji door back in to its proper position.
She quickly faces her pupil, surveys her present facial expression, and asks, "Yes, what is Hiromi-san?"
Her ruby eyes briefly cuts away from her sensei's face, which is unusual for a bold individual such as herself.
A blush brightly burns across her cheeks when Hiromi hastily requests, "Do you know what love is? Have you ever been in love before?"
Meifeng dusts her hands off, approaches her, places one of her hands on the younger girl's shoulder, and smiles at her.
"I will answer your questions as we walk. Do you have all of your belongings with you?" She replies to the brunette's question, who nods her head in a "yes" fashion.
"There are, as you might know, different manifestations of love present on this Earth." The silver haired woman explains as she leads the young girl away from the Chinese temple grounds. "You can have family love, love for one's God, or even self-love."
The teenager was about to open her mouth to clarify however Meifeng beats her to the punch, "I do know which form of love that you are particularly asking me about."
"There was one time in my life that I felt the kind of love that left me unable to properly function. I would openly daydream about him and what we could possibly become once the future graces us with her presence."
"What happened?" Hiromi curiously needles about what her teacher chose to do in that particular situation.
"Alas, I was absolutely too timid in my approach to him and painfully watched as he courted other young maidens."
"He went on to marry one of the common girls and had a large happy family with her." The silver haired woman discloses to her pupil and follows up with, "It is no one's fault but my own since I was too much of a coward to admit my feelings to someone who I grew to love."
She remains silent after she listens at how her teacher lost out on love because she was a bashful woman.
"Oh...it seems as if we are the first ones to arrive." The grey eyed woman abruptly assumes upon entrance inside of the Gate of Supreme Harmony.
'I wonder what Audrey has learned during her stay here?'
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"Good job," Lin cheerfully announces along with a round of applause while she leisurely draws closer to her brunette haired student. "You've finally beaten your first score. Congrats!"
The goldenrod blonde physically extends her hand out toward Wenling, which she eagerly reciprocates with a high five.
The forest green eyed teen casually peeps over her shoulder at the difficult course that she easily passes through and utters to herself, "I really did beat my score."
"I think you have passed the second to last hurdle in your journey." The green eyed woman honestly discloses with a very thin smile across her face.
"Please don't say I have to do one last obstacle course?" Wenling verbally complains and visually cringes at the idea of yet another course.
Her teacher simply smiles at her expression before she gently reassures her, "No there will be no more obstacle course from here on out with...me."
The brunette immediately jumps for joy once she finally catches her breath, which causes Lin to suddenly burst in to a fit of chuckles at her student's joyous reaction to the good news.
"Alright calm down now," She suggests so she could calm down the teen's open display of excitement.
Wenling obediently heeds her teacher's advice, faces the goldenrod blonde and demands, "So what is left for me to complete?"
"I can't quite reveal the answer to that yet but you do get to meet the others today." The green eyed woman reveals unaware that it only increases her happiness.
"So what are we waiting for then?" She happily ponders as she clasps the palms of her hands together out of excitement.
Lin crosses her arms in front of her chest, shifts her weight to both of her feet, and suggests, "If you were to gather up your belongings then we can be on our way."
Not even midway through her statement did the brunette sprint ahead in order to complete the task at hand.
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A "whew" emits from Inoue's mouth as she leans back and wipes the beads of sweat off her forehead with her forearm.
She then lifts the sheet of white paper up from the surface of the desk toward the lamp's light and critically studies it for a few more seconds.
'This looks about right.' The orange haired woman mutters to herself before she returns the paper back on the desk and examines her code breaker for the umpteenth time.
'I think I finally cracked this stupid enigma.' The brown eyed beauty happily assumes while she lazily slouches her back against the body of the chair.
A flash of red light captures her sights before a television monitor drops down to the side of her.
'So it seems as if it is time for their last portion of their journey.' Inoue earnestly judges while she closely watches the screen that visually displays the four girls with their respective mentors.
She then releases a deep sigh, jumps to her feet, stretches her tense muscles and senses a strange vibe that mysteriously emits from each one of the girls.
The orange haired woman closely stares at the screen once again before she hastily departs away with a visibly wide smile present on her face.
'I wonder if the girls can feel the change around themselves?' The brown eyed woman inquisitively discloses to herself once she roughly palms the button to raise the hidden door.
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"I see you guys are still training really hard." Grandpa mentions to the brunette after he sets down a tray full of sandwiches and rests his laurel on the raise wooden platform.
"Kai opted to have a light practice up until the start of the tournament." Kenny discloses to Takao's grandfather before he reaches out for one of the sandwiches present on the tray.
He diligently watches the boys, especially his grandson, as they fiercely battle each other with the intent to be the winner of the match.
Kenny speedily presses a few keys on the keyboard while Dizzy records the entire match to save the data on to the hard drive so it can be process later.
"The big day is almost around the corner." Grandpa breaks the silence between the pair as he picks up one of the sandwiches as well.
He simply nods his head at the statement and voices his thoughts, "It explains why Kai has been so hard on the guys lately."
'No wonder he's the leader of this group.'
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Author's Note
07.29.15 Major Revision
04.28.17 Minor editing revisions
