Mystics and Martial Arts [IC]

[Elderand]

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee265/Elrendil/valley_by_xiaoxinart-d3fpi5y_zpsy7nh7ehi.jpg

Outside the the vale the winter solstice was fast approaching and yet whithin the mystical valley perpetual spring was the decree of fate. The ancient enchantment woven over the valley by mages of old hummed low with power to mystic senses of those that could perceive such things. To all the land was peaceful and pleasently warm, a cool breeze washing over the landscape once in a while.

Temple courtyard

The morning meditation and communal practice of forms amongst the students, under the supervision of one of the junior monk of the temple, had just finished, the students where heading off to further their studies, two clear groups amongst them: those who came to the vale to perfect their mystical craft were heading toward the west wing of the main temple to study and practice in the library. The others, practiconer of the sun source of martial arts taught here were instead marching toward the training hall to east for further instructions.

To hibiki, this usualy being assigned to work with the children of the vale, thos whose practice had not yet lead to the channeling of their inner spirit.
Today however she was accosted by one of the monks.

"The venerable master has requested that you find your way to the gate of sanctified body. There are new pupils to be ushered inside. Pupil Long will accompany you." The monk motions to old man Tian Long. While the temple train people of old age it is unusual for one so old to be amongst the students.

The gate to the south was the entrypoint to the temple itself, at the bottom of a flight of 647 stairs that were supposed to each represent one step toward purification of the soul.

At the bottom of the steps

For the last two weeks Jasper had been made to wait, after a long and harduous journey he had reached the mystical vale but instead of being accepted right away for training of his abilities he was told to wait at the gate with merely cryptic word for all explanation "One who wishes to master time must first understand it." Judging by the fact that inhabitants of the village at the foot of the hill had been given him scraps of food and water and had not once looked at him with questioning look but had merely walked on their way this was not an unusual situation.

Now however a young very energetic boy was fast approaching.

Suzaku had found his way to Shambala Vale after a long journey and like all wo first came to the Vale had first been greeted by the a small dirt road leading through farms and went on toward a small village at the foot of a hill on which sat perched the temple. Now, after guidance from some friendly villager, he was making his way toward what they called the "gate of sanctified body" where he sees a young man apparently waiting.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Jasper could admit it. This was kinda irksome.

He was here to train, to learn, to further develop his skills at fighting and magic. Patience was less of a virtue than many thought, when your entire life was leading up to one massive deadline. (But then, wasn't everyone's? Hmm...) Nonetheless, he waited without complaint, less out of personal willpower and more out of concern that every complaint he made would add to the duration of his wait. While his upbringing had left him with little exposure to popular culture, resulting in an appalling lack of genre-savvy, some of his mother's old stories of the monastery made him suspect such a "lesson".

But Jasper was no child content to take a break. He had a destiny to fulfill. Just because the monks had not yet seen fit to offer him training did not mean he could not continue training himself.

His days over the past two weeks had blurred into a steady routine. He would wake up just as the sky was beginning to brighten, bathe and clean his clothes in one of the rivers, and practice his forms until the sun was high, unassisted by magic. He would eat, and return to his practice, now with magic, until the sun began to set. He would eat another meal, and practice his spells alone, allowing his body to rest, until the moon was high. Once he had exhausted his energy, he would meditate for a couple hours, and then take rest.

He was, thus, in the middle of his purely physical exercises when the young boy approached. He halted his katas respectfully and gave a nod of greeting, assuming the boy was one of the villagers. They had been providing him with food and drink over the past two weeks, and he would offer no insult to one of their number by ignoring him, however young he may be.

[NineOfSpades]

When the monk came to speak with her, Hibiki was laying on the ground, pinned under three children who were each less than half her size, and laughing as they tickled at her more sensitive spots. This was not an unusual situation for her to find herself in, seeing as how their training drills usually included some manner of sparring exercies. The Vale may be sheltered from many things, but not even it could keep children from playing, and such sparring matches would often devolve into friendly roughhousing. Given that she was the biggest target, Hibiki was used to being mobbed by her classmates, and rarely offered resistance. Indeed, the girl enjoyed these playful moments, which helped to brake up the often somber atmosphere of quite contemption. On this perticular morning, Hibiki was sporting a rather prominent black eye, a minor battle injury from one of the earlier training drills that had taken place two days prior and was still healing. When anyone asked, she simply insisted it was nothing. Better than acknowleding one of her classmates had gotten in what she refused to call anything other than 'a lucky shot'. For 5th graders, these kids could pack a mean punch.

At the monks instructing, Hibiki sprung to her feet, brushing the dirt from her training uniform, before bowing to the teacher overseeing the lesson, and then to the monk who had delivered the message. "New students? Well I'm always happy to help welcome them in"

Pausing only to help clean up the traing equipment, Hibiki began making her way down the slopes and towards the gate. As she did, she could not help from rubbing at her eye, which was still irritated even though the injury itself was healing as it should. Nor could she help from dwelling on the events that had transpired around it. In truth, it wasn't a lucky shot that earned her this shiner. The child who hit her, a kid no more than ten years old, was simply progressing faster than she was. Six months ago, Hibiki wouldn't have minded as much. She'd learned a lot in that time, and knew full well she had far more yet to learn. But it was disheartening, being able to measure the progress of the kids she trained with, to see their improvements day to day, only to compare it to her own achievements and find that every time, she was failing to show any change.

Though her feet carried her towards the Gate, Hibiki was unable to shake the feeling that she was standing still.

[Macros]

Suzaku wasn't sure what to think. On one hand, he finally got his wish : he was out of the monastery of the Fifty-Five Visions, presumably for good. It was funny, in a way ; after his escape's failure, he had been so sure the monks were going to lock him up in a cave, or something ; instead they sent him here. They didn't explain their reasons, as usual (when do they ever, really?), but the simple fact of being able to leave was enough to satisfy the young boy. Yet it was becoming obvious that this Shambala's Vale was yet another frickin' monastery. Had he just traded his old prison for a new one? Suzaku was sorely tempted to just make a run for it.

... though last time I did that, I ended up lost and starving until they found me. Urgh.

He probably would still have attempted it if he had been led to the place with an escort. Yet, in a surprising show of trust, his old tutors simply gave him a general direction, leaving it up to him to find the reclusive Shambala's Vale monastery. For the young boy, that was akin to a challenge, and while it had been a long and often tiring journey, the simple fact of being outside looking for an almost mythical place had been kind of fun. Plus it was something entirely new. If he was to be honest, the place was rather beautiful, and had a certain quality that helped him feel more at peace. Even Shinatsuhiko and Narukami seemed satisfied with the place, the two spirits quietly observing their new environment. Plus, the people had been really friendly so far, which was a nice change of pace.

He finally arrived in front of what the nice farmer called the Gate of Sanctified Body, and was in for his first nasty surprise.

Gah. Giant stairs. What is it with monks and giant stairs?
Well, many monasteries are built on top of the mountain. But maybe you'd like to climb instead?

Ignoring Narukami's sarcastic voice, and stubbornly holding on the thought that he could just fly up there anyway, Suzaku noticed he wasn't alone here. A man, not as old as the monks he was used to deal with, but certainly older than him, was exercising here, practicing some sort of martial art. He seemed quite different from the locals, though ; maybe he was one of the teacher here? He answered the nod by a rather akward salute, not entirely sure how to adress the teenager.

"Hem... Heya! Are you... living here? Well, not here here, I mean the monastery. Oh, and I'm Suzaku by the way. Nice to meet you?"

[The_Admiral]

Bowing respectfully at the monk, Tian Long, makes his way towards the gate silently alongside Hibiki, he was recovering, slowly, and he was fine with it, taking each victory at a time. He no longer needed a walking stick to move properly in human form for one. However, the fellow student he was walking with, seemed troubled,

Sighing, he asks, "Miss Hibiki, is something troubling you?" walking measuredly alongside her.

[NineOfSpades]

Hibiki didn't really know much about Tian, including whether or not Tian was his surname, or if she should be calling him Tian Long. The Vale was such a melting pot of different cultures that she never felt certain which nomenclature to use. But rose by any other name and all that, she still knew very little about the man himself. Like her, he seemed to spend most of his time working with the junior students. She'd never asked about the reasoning for that, since it felt like it would be rude. It wasn't as if she would have appriciated someone coming up and asking why she was assigned to the kiddie-classes. But he seemed a warm enough sort of guy, and like most of the monks here, had this natural air of wisdom which followed wherever he went.

"I'm fine, except maybe for a few aches and pains" Hibiki answered, deflecting the conversation away from her insecurities. "I'm starting to think there's some secret to sleeping comfortably on a bed of straw, since I seem to wind up rolling onto the floor most nights" she joked, momentarily breaking off the conversation to sidestep a group of initiates who were jogging across the training yard. "Not that I'm going complain" She added, once the runners had passed. Hibiki usually followed up any such comments with that disclaimer of a statement. She didn't want to seem ungrateful for being allowed to stay, and wasn't going to cast doubts on her commitment over something as trivial as how soft her bed was. "I haven't heard anything about these new students. Any idea what their like?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Jasper," he responded. "And I am seeking training at the monastery, yes."

He considered for a moment. It seemed...almost impossible. This boy was far too young. How could he have even found the Vale, let alone survived the journey to it? Nonetheless...he did not have the mein of the villagers, either. "Have you...also come to seek training here?" he asked.

[The_Admiral]

He maintained his calm expression as Hibiki deflected, if she didn't want to volunteer the information, it wasn't his right to press furthur, he instead chuckled, replying "I think I'm the wrong person to ask, give me any surface and I can fall asleep and no, preconceptions never meets reality." As they reached the stairs, slowly and patiently walking down them

[Macros]

The young boy thought about the question. Was it training he was here for?

"Hum... maybe? The monks told me to find Shambala's Vale and to stay there for a while. Muttered something about 'their problem now' and 'finally some peace'. That was a bit rude, really."

Truth be told, Suzaku was beginning to think that he might actually miss his old tutors. They were incredibly boring, absolutely infuriating and could not utter a sentence without using a metaphor or a hidden meaning, but they were... family? Or something like that? Still, being able to go out and see new places was a nice change of pace.

"Is that why you're here? Oooooh, that's what you were doing right now, training, I mean? Ah, sorry to bother you, I'll... watch? Or something."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Jasper raised one eyebrow at the youth's words. That...he could be honest, he wasn't entirely sure what to do with that.

Fortunately, Suzaku gave him an out. Now, a more polite man might have waved off any concern at the interruption and continued conversing.

But social niceties were hardly near the top of Jasper's priority list. He simply nodded to the boy, and returned to his forms.

[Macros]

Suzaku sat on the ground and watched the teenager quietly going through his forms... for all of thirty seconds. Which was the time he needed to get bored of it all. Unfortunately for Jasper, that meant he was the only distracting element around here ; his previous promise of not bothering him quickly forgotten, Suzaku started badgering his peer of seemingly random questions.

"Ooh, that's a strange move. Is that what they teach here? Have you met the teachers, by the way? Unless you're a teacher? Because if you are, you really should tell people, I wasn't ready to start! Hmm, no, teachers are old guys. I mean, you're old, but they're older, you know? Nope, can't be a teacher, no way. Maybe. Are you?"

There seemed to be no end in sight for his babbling.

[Elderand]

Turning a bend down the stairs, Hibiki and Tien Long comes into sight of Suzaku and Jasper just as the boy unleashes a flurry of questions. Too far to easily overhear them but close enough that both groups can notice the other.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Jasper tried to ignore the distraction, but the youth kept talking, and did not seem particularly inclined to stop. "I am not a teacher," he confirmed. "I am a prospective student."

When the old man and young woman approached from the monastery, he ceased his practice and turned to face them, bowing formally but not speaking.

[Macros]

Suzaku akwardly mimicked the salute, though not the silence.

"Woops. Didn't see you there. Are you the teachers?"

[The_Admiral]

"despite appearances, no. Unfortunately I am not a teacher, there is no need to bow to a fellow student, what may I call you? he replies to them, chucking lightly as he leant on his cane, seemingly for support.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Jasper blinked once as the old man said he was a student. That...seemed a bit discouraging. Did most of the students here not graduate until they reached his age? He was on something of a time limit, here... "Jasper," he answered.

[Macros]

Suzaku seemed to share Jasper's surprise, eyeing the newcomer with a curious expression. After a small hesitation, the young boy simply blurted out what he had in mind.

"You're a student? But, you're, like, really old!"
Now you're just being rude. And there's no age to stop learning.

Slightly blushing at the spirit admonition, the kid offered a sheepish apology to the elder man.

"Ah, sorry. My name's Suzaku."

[The_Admiral]

"......that I am, hello, Suzaku, Jasper, come, follow, you seem impatient...." he replies, half chuckling as. He begins a slow walk up the stairs.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Jasper nodded, following along and resisting the urge to either say or mouth "finally". Barely.

[Elderand]

The ascent back up the stairs leading to the monastery is a long and harduous one, even for mysticly empowered peoples. Finally you all reach the deserted temple courtyard. The faint sound of intensive physical training can be heard coming from the training halls to the east, silence from the library on the west and to the north the main temple itself await.

Before any explanation can be given as to the accomodations or training regimen the Wengyal sisters approaches. the twin girls are scowling, unhappy with having been given the task of a lowly messenger.

"The venerable one has asked..." "that you bring the new students to him old man."

The two sisters have a habit of finishing each other phrases.

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[The_Admiral]

With that same dammed irritatingly mysterious smile, Long replied, "His request is acknowledged " he proceeded to gently knock their heads with his walking stick adding, "You should take more pride in your duties." sounding almost like a parent as he begins guiding the new arrivals towards the temple.


He had to pull around gods to parties, parties! :P Also ancient chinese conception of duty to superiors and all that.

[Macros]

"Wait wait wait. Students can actually poke teachers with sticks here? Eeeeeeeh."

Things were definitely looking up there! Coming to this place was beginning to look like the right move, after all.

Careful, young one. You have a maniacal smile on your face right now.
Huh? What's wrong with my smile?

[Quellian-dyrae]

"I think they might be students too," Jasper said quietly, giving the kid a kinda odd look. What's wrong with his smile?

"The Venerable One is the, ah...headmaster here, I assume?" he asked.

[The_Admiral]

".....yes, I do belive that is the closest equivilant word." he replied, as he led them in the direction of the Venerable One.

[Elderand]

From courtyard to temple hall.

The bronze doors of the main temple open with a light touch to the main temple hall. Monks are lined up on each side, slowly spining enormous stone wheels while in silent prayer and contemplation. A double row of candles lead up a set of wooden stairs before brancing out east and west. Further north lies the entrance to the venerable one chambers.
Some might think the emple and it's monks are dedicated to budhism but a simple look at the prayer wheels reveal not the usual sutras and mantras but instead softly glowing occult symbols.

The smaller door to the north open to the outside of the temple, a rocky outcropping overlooking a sudden drop carved into the hill by a waterfall. At the edeg of the outcropping bloom a solitary cherry tree under which a very old man sit, facing you, eyes closed.

[The_Admiral]

Long shushes the two, walking up to a respectful distance from the venerable one, hands on his walking stick he waits for the man to finish his meditation.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Jasper nodded and crossed his arms, standing silently. After the weeks spent waiting at the bottom of the stairs, a few more minutes did not seem so terrible a delay.