Post by Xuan Shui on May 11, 2017 9:47:12 GMT
[Repost from old board] [Ignore all of the [indents]]
Xuan stood over the nebulous lake behind the Shui manner, staring into it's night-sky filled surface. No matter how many times he saw the stars and nebulae as well as the beautiful blackness of space, it was always the most amazing thing he had ever seen. It was midday and the skies were gloomy with the threat of rain. Though Xuan didn't necessarily mind; he loved the rain and the slow days that followed.
[indent]"Oh yeah. I've got to meet with Daiyu at her shop later today..." He mused loudly, vowing to finish his training before the clouds broke and it started raining. But for now it seemed content to just be gray and brooding, but dry nonetheless.
[indent]"Supposed to storm today." A deep voice said to Xuan's right. Not bothering to jump, he looked over at his father and smiled. It was kind of Shui tradition to just materialize somewhere. So it wasn't exactly a surprise.
[indent]Liúxīng Shui cut an imposing figure, standing several feet taller than his son, though the rest of the physical resemblances were uncanny; despite the galaxy-filled sclera in his father's eyes. Signifying he was also watching over events in Wudang, maybe even communicating with Genbu-sama himself. Liuxing put his hand on top of Xuan's head and joined him in admiring the lake. "Been here all night again?" He motioned his hand, ruffling Xuan's long black hair, which mirrored his own. Xuan shook his head until his father's hand fell back to his side. "Yeah... After the Kechibi attack was finished, I realized I could have done a lot better. Saved more people. Gotten there faster." Xuan looked down at his bloodied knuckles before kneeling down to wash them off in the heavenly waters of the lake. Despite how it looked, it served it's purpose as water too, which was nice. The cold embrace of the void water felt good on his sore hands as he slowly motioned them in small circles.
[indent]A soft grunt escaped Liuxing's throat at Xuan's statement. "Your resolve is admirable, but don't train for the past. It is already done. You have already surpassed any Shui in living memory by gaining basic use of the Ten no Mizu at Genin, Xuan. Everything that happened at the festival was simply what happened. It is not tragedy. It simply is... He trailed off suddenly and Xuan looked over his shoulder to see why. Liuxing was smiling down at his son, causing Xuan to meet his grin and let out a small chuckle. "If you've been here all night and you're already this calm... You learned something new, didn't you?"
[indent]"Mayyybe.~" Xuan said mischievously as he stood up and made the Tiger seal, a splash of Celestial Water dropped to the ground where Xuan had been previously. He immediatley reappeared behind his father, lunging into what would become a solidly made kick. But as he fell upon his father, Liuxing simply hooked out his left arm and clotheslined Xuan in the throat so hard that he cut a backflip before landing on his face in the grass. "Ooph..."
[indent]Xuan sat up, rubbing his aching throat and face. He both loved and hated that everyone in his family refused to cut anyone, even Shui children, any slack when it came to fighting. Even play fighting. But sometimes it felt a little unnecessarily cruel... "That's fantastic, Xuan! Liuxing exclaimed as if he hadn't just almost collapsed his son's windpipe with the exhausted effort of scratching a stray itch. Xuan coughed and smiled proudly nonetheless. "I figured all that speed training would lead to the Ten Mizu Shunshin pretty early on. So now you've got that and the Black Lotus entry?" Xuan nodded fervently and Liuxing laughed heartily, clearly amused. "You're gonna love the true version of that teleport when you get older, then."
[indent]Liuxing helped Xuan to his feet and dusted him off. "Oh yeah... Sutātensō. Starshift. Liuxing nodded as Xuan got the name correct, but he cocked his head at Xuan's interest. "That's my favorite. But Grandpa Shen said if I tried it now, I would actually die." Liuxing laughed yet again. It was a pleasant sound. Xuan coudn't help but smile, too. Even if he wasn't sure why. "Listen to dad, then. He's right. Though I don't think you were tempted to try this early. You're way too smart for that. Because yes, you actually would die. Undoubtedly. That's why we have to teach those things on Wudang itself. It takes a few tries, and dying on Wudang is certainly a lot less permanent than here. Just remember to never abuse your Kekkai Genkai or use it lightly." He laughed, more softly than the previous times. But his meaning was clear. Xuan wasn't simple enough to even try it anyway, so he didn't have to worry.
[indent]Liuxang looked solemn all of a sudden and Xuan waited for the bad news. Every time his face got all screwy like that, he knew his dad was going to be serious. "Speaking of Wudang. The real reason I found you today, Xuan... We were thinking of starting to groom you to meet us on Wudang for a bit. Maybe do some training. It would probably be shortly after you reach the Chunin rank, maybe a bit sooner if you keep developing your Kekkai Genkai at this same rate. Liuxing rubbed the back of his head nervously.
[indent]"But... ah... That means that... well... Remember a long time ago when you wanted to train with Shen, and your mother said that she would only allow it if sh-
[indent]"Ohgodsno!"
Xuan yelled in panic, clutching at Liuxing's black robes as he debated just making a run for it. "I am so sorry, my son. She is on her way." The moment turned from serious to a comedic parody, as they both weren't entirely serious. But Xuan was actually panicking, though his dad had an annoying half-smile on his face. Betraying the immense amount of amusement he was getting out of this.
[indent]The voice echoed from Xuan's left side, out over the celestial lake. He felt a chill run down his spine as he slowly turned his head towards the sound and he saw her standing in the lake's center with her arms cross and a giant smile across her face. "Hey, sweetie! He's all yours!" He blew a kiss to his wife, Xingyun Shui, then looked at Xuan, who stared up at him with giant green eyes, the pain of betrayal showing on their placid surface. He shrugged, unapologetic, then a Celestial Portal opened in the ground below his feet, and Liuxing sank through, immediately closing the portal as the top of his head disappeared. Xuan fell to his knees and beat at the ground where the portal had appeared.
[indent]"YOU JUST TOLD ME NOT TO USE MY BLOODLINE LIGHTLY AND YOU USED IT TO LEAVE YOUR SON TO DIE!"
[indent]"...Don't be so dramatic. It's just training." The soft, whispered voice held no kindess. And even worse, it was right in his ear. He turned and there she was. But he didn't even have time to greet her, as she kicked him hard in the ribs and sent him flying out over the lake. Skipping across the surface like a carelessly tossed stone. Xuan was rolling to his feet atop the water, using the basic water walking skill that all shinobi were prominent with. He cursed under his breath. His mother was great most of the time, same with his dad. But they were both a little... eccentric in their methods. They were both firm believers in treating every training session the same way, regardless of who or what it was. And having access to Wudang meant they never had to hold back; Because killing someone in Wudang was temporary. As their spirit form would just come back in a few days. Even sooner if they were strong.
[indent]Xuan rubbed his aching ribs and glared at his mother. "I can't even go to Wudang yet. I tried! If we're going to train, you've got to treat me like a mortal, damn it! Otherwise I won't really learn anything!" His mother nonchalantly walked onto the water's surface; Xuan was unclear if she had heard his words and chose to ignore them. Because in the blink of an eye she was beneath him, jumping out of the blackness of the water at his feet and shooting up with immense speed and power to clock him beneath the jaw, a heavenly uppercut that sent him flying high into the air.
"Three things." She had appeared at his side in the air, using Starshift like it was nothing. To my parents, Starshift -is- nothing... he silently reminded himself.
[indent]"One, I'm going to show you part of Wudang today." She dropped a hammerkick down onto his stomach and sent him flying back down. Crashing into the lake with a splash of celestial water. He climbed back above it, coughing out normal water, which joined the main pool and then turned back into it's Celestial Form.
[indent]"Two. Best way to make it to Wudang is to be kind of close to the Spiritual Realm anyway, but you know that. Thus the ass-kicking." She was already behind him again, Xuan knew that fighting someone who could hold their own with the strongest shinobi in the world was fruitless, but instinct took over and he pressed his right fist into the open palm of his left hand and threw out an elbow behind him. His mother caught it and flipped him onto his back onto the water's surface as if it were made of solid ground.
[indent]"Three. Your stamina is shit, so this lesson will be double-helpful. As you know, you having the Ten no Mizu so young is unheard of, so all standard procedures for your training are going out of the window. But Genbu-sama has given us a few ideas of where to start. Love you!" She had both of Xuan's arms pinned at an X against his chest with her left hand. She punched him in the face with her right. His head sank into the water and then floated back up and she punched it again. He coughed out water and waited for a third punch. When he didn't come he decided to try and get some words out of his bloodied mouth.
[indent]"I get that. BUT MAYBE FILL ME IN BEFOREHAND. We had a lovely breakfast this morning and yet there was no mention of 'Oh by the way son, we're gonna beat you senseless as a family this afternoon.'" Xingyun laughed and pulled him up to his feet, a glimpse into the kindhearted mother she generally was. Though she eccentric, as only Shui women could be, she wasn't a psychopath like half of the Shui women ended up being. Xingyun was competitive, a little brutish, crazy strong, but not crazy crazy. Not like Ling, one of the Shui royal twins, his sister. Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he wiped his bloodied face against his black sleeve.
[indent]"It's less fun that way, though. I finally get to train our little house genius! You knew it would be brutal, so I figured you would avoid me! Plus, surprises are a way to work on controlling your emotions, Xuan. Tao can't be reached if you keep loosing them like arrows from a bow. So we aim to provoke the young monks. It's okay to feel, but don't let them affect anything on this plane." She wasn't entirely wrong. But getting stronger was definitely a good price to pay. He had heard the horror stories from his siblings, but they always turned out fine. Though they were a little older than Xuan. Stronger, too.
[indent]Xuan and his mother met back in the center of the lake. Though Xuan could barely stand, he refused to fall. He had blood leaking down into his eyes and couldn't even remember being hit in the forehead. But honestly, his family was like this. Fighting in the most awesome ways possible in order to help each other. To make sure everyone can look after themselves in a way that no other clan could muster. Then afterwards they were close and normal. There was never any malicious intent and certainly never any damage that couldn't be undone. These were Master Martial Artists and some of the strongest people in the world, of course they were sure in their methods. But he figured to an outsider that it would seem rather harsh, though it was all entirely love that started these fights. His own grandfather had put Xuan in the hospital more times than he could count.
[indent]'But the bones always heal up stronger, afterwards! Hehehehe...' He heard his grandfather's words echo in his head and despite his bloodied and swollen face, he smiled. He punched into his open palm. "Alright. I get it!"
[indent]"I know you do. Now, you should be able to slip through the veil!" Xingyun made handseals and shouted;
An orb of Celestial Water washed over the entire area and suddenly it was as black as night in a perfect circle where the lake had stood in the normal plane. He looked down, and apparently he was still standing on the celestial waters of the lake, though it was hard to tell because it blended so perfectly well with the actual image of the Northern Heavens all around him. It looked like Celestial Water. Black skies, nebulae, galaxies, etc. But he could breathe here, so he couldn't have entered an actual portal into space, or else he'd be dead by now. Plus, there was a translucent mountain with what seemed to be a black monastery dotted along it's ridges floating extremely far off behind his mother. So that must mean...
"M-mom... Am... Am I in Wudang?" Tears welled up in his eyes.
"Sort of. That's Wudang Mountain back there. We are in a pocket dimension that I created for training purposes. I put you in a time-space bubble to ease your entry into Wudang itself, so we're a bit on the edge of the Spirit world itself here. Though time isn't moving outside. How do you feel? Not emotionally, because I know this place is awesome as hell, but physically? Do you feel... fadey and non-existence-y?"
[indent]Xuan looked down at his body and realized he had become translucent. Holding up his hand, he could see through it as if he were a ghost. But looking at his mother, she was semi-translucent, though far less so than Xuan. "How... would I even know what that would feel like?"
Xingyun shrugged. "I dunno. I always imagined it would feel like a light tingle? Or maybe like when your foot is asleep?"
"SO YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!" He pointed an accusatory finger towards his mother.
"WELL IT DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T FADED AND DIED SO IT'S FINE, GEEZ!" She threw her hands up in disbelief and Xuan could only stare, mouth agape that he could've just stopped existing for no reason. And she thought she was the one under fire in this conversation. People who reach Tao really do forget about this trivialities of mortal life, don't they?
[indent]They both huffed and crossed their arms. "So anyway... What you're in now is your Spiritual Self. You know; 'blahblahblah, physical self, spiritual self, chakra self', all that stuff. The spiritual self is what forms as you begin your path along the Tao. You're still relatively new, so you're just a bit faded here. Moving might be a little harder, but it will be a lot easier to use Ten no Mizu related things here. Even if they're things you never used before, try them here. They may not transfer over to the real world, but getting the motions and knowledge down here are paramount for the future. Because once your Spiritual Self becomes stronger, if you can do something in Wudang, then you can do it on the mortal plane, too. But you're the first person to be able to get here so young and at such a frail Spiritual State, so I'm not sure what will transfer over or not. Best thing is to try as much as possible. You can work on both your physical and spiritual selves on either plane, with one just being more dominant. Working on anything here can benefit your physical self more and more than simply doing it alone on the Mortal Plane. It is important to find balance now that the threshold has been crossed.
One more thing; If you die here, which I'm sure you know; You'll just get slammed back into your physical body down on that Plane. You'll have to reform your Spiritual Self with meditation and Spiritwork, or Shenwork. Your Spirit is like a muscle, and dying here is like tearing that muscle. But you won't get to come back here until it's had enough rest. So it really just depends on your constitution and Spiritwork. Your father and I can come back immediately, your brother takes about a day, your sisters take two. But I know Shen told you all of this already.
I'm assuming you understand, because I'm coming at you now!"
"Yeah, but-
It didn't matter, she was on him. Kicks and punches, though she seemed to be taking it pretty easy so Xuan could get acclimated to this new realm. Moving was harder here. It was almost like he could feel it working against his actual muscles in the real world? Oh, yeah. That is what's happening. Doing Spiritual Exercises in the Physical Body made your Spiritual Self stronger in this plane, and doing Physical Work in the Spiritual Plane makes your physical body a little stronger, too. Balance between the two could be achieved. Xuan remembered from his lessons with his Grandfather Shen as well as his mother's rather simple re-explanation.
[indent]Xuan smiled with determination as he redirected his mother's fists and dodged her long legs, his body quickly becoming used to moving in this plane. It wasn't as hard as he had imagined it would be. He started to reach his own full movement speed as his mother gradually increased the speed of her blows until she surpassed the speeds he was capable of on the Mortal Plane and decked him with a right fist to the side of the head that sent him sprawling. But he barely felt it as he shot back to his feet before he was even finished flying backwards from the force of the hit, sliding backwards with his hand atop the water for stability. His mother looked at him with a hint of surprise, but he didn't understand why.
[indent]She quickly buried the expression under a blank one and made handseals.
[indent]A giant portal opened up in the sky above them both, a portal the size of the lake below them! And then suddenly hundreds of meteors about twice the size of Xuan's height began to rain down upon the area. Causing giant splashes of celestial water as they crashed into the lake around him. Wasting no time, Xuan began hopping upon the falling meteors. Happening so quickly that he couldn't even think about a plan, he was simply focused on not getting hit by the crushing power and making his way back to where his mother stood.
[indent]The meteors stopped abruptly and Xuan jumped from the final one as his mother came into his vision. He made handseals and slammed his fists together, yelling nothing in particular as his fists erupted with Celestial Water, coating his arms in the black water that surrounded them both. "Black Lotus: Heavenly Fists! His mother looked up and reflexively moved to redirect Xuan's fists in the way that any Kung Fu master would know, but Xuan's arm went through his mother's hand and he felt immense pride as his fist met with her chin.
[indent]Xingyun's head didn't even move, which said a lot for her strength, but she stared at her son with extremely wide eyes. She then burst out of view, using the Starshift technique roughly twenty times and laughing as she wailed retaliation on Xuan's poor frame. Punches and kicks that knocked him this way and that. After a while, he kind of went numb to it and allowed himself to be tossed and beaten around. It felt like thirty Kung Fu masters were surrounding him and striking every single inch of his body. Why'd she look so surprised, though? Xuan's numb and swollen spiritual body wondered dimly as she finished the assault, reappearing with a clone of herself at her side to deliver twin roundhouse kicks to his chest.
[indent]The clone appeared behind Xuan as he flew and gripped him tightly, pinning his arms to the side. "Get... OFF!" Unbidden, an orb of Celestial Water formed over his entire right hand and spun wildly into a triangular drill-shape. He could practically feel the vacuum of space from the drill, sucking in the air around it as he shoved it into the clone's stomach. Sure enough, the Celestial Drill had been a spiraling portal linked to the Void. To the Northern Heavens. The simple water clone was sucked into the spiraling vortex of the drill on Xuan's hand until nothing was left but a few stray bubbles of water in the air. "...Whoa, cool!" He looked back at his hand, the spiraling drill quickly faded back into his normal hand with a liquid-motion, the Celestial Water for the Black Lotus opening that he had created before reforming as if nothing had happened.
[indent]Stars blossomed behind his eyes. And not the Shui space/time awesome stars. The kind that showed up when your insanely strong mom punches you in the back of the head with enough force to level a village, or that's how it felt at least. Xuan rolled against the water's surface, as it seemed to be a common theme of this 'training', though he shot to his feet, uncaring about the pain in his head. "Did you see that thing? You were right about it being easier here! The Ten no Mizu that was already on my hand became a spiraling drill that sucked up your clone or something?!"
Xingyun nodded and slipped back into a fighting stance. "Uh... Yeah... We'll talk about that later; it's kind of important. But look. You're fading." Sure enough, Xuan was noticeably more translucent than he had been a few moments ago. And now that he was sitting still, he was starting to feel all of the painful hits across his entire body. With the adrenaline fading, he was beginning to realize just how much of a strain he had put on his body. His Heavenly Fists turned to normal water and dropped into the lake as he lost control.
[indent]"Just Taijutsu for the next stretch, alright? I'll go super easy, and we will just do First Form exercise for a few hours. Just focus on holding your Spiritual Form together." Xuan nodded and slid into a fighting stance similar to his mother's, and she leapt at him. They clashed in a flurry of feet and hands. Xuan working substantially harder to increase his longevity in a fight while also trying to maintain his form in this world. He now knew what it felt like to fade out of existence. Huh. Actually is kind of tingly. Though without any chakra drain, the chore became monumentally easier. For the next six hours in Wudang, while time stood still outside of their bubble, Xuan and his mother traded basic blows in more of an endurance exercise than an all out brawl as it had been before. First Form was a Kung Fu exercise taught to every initiate of Martial Arts in the Lantern Village, which was more of a dance between two parties. Each move known by the other, they were parried and accepted purposefully, back and forth. Ebbing and flowing between each other. Xuan lost track of the hours.
After their six hour dance, Xuan was barely even visible in this realm anymore. He dropped to the surface of the water, panting. It was an effort to even stay afloat of the water now. "...I am trying to stand, but it is taking everything I have to simply exist. I can't even move my fingers, and I am putting every... ounce of my will into doing... so..."
"Xuan, stop. Seriously. We've got to get you back to the real world before you get stuck in between, okay?" She knealt beside her son and put a hand to his forehead.
"Okay, drop the dimension jutsu thing then?" Xuan wanted to look up at her, but he couldn't move his head.
"Doesn't work like that, sweetie. If I drop the jutsu now, you'll get launched into the Void because you can't move back and forth on your own yet."
"Okay so wh- His mother flipped him over and without warning, punched, hard, completely through his chest with an open palm. No portals involved.
[indent]It was hard to grasp, but Xuan felt himself die as his heart was virtually ejected from his chest by his mother, though the only sensation he had afterwards was an insane sense of vertigo and then being slammed back into his Physical Body as if he were dreaming about falling, jolted awake by the sensation of landing on the ground. But instead, the falling was death on the Spiritual Plane, and the 'ground' was his body.
[indent]Xuan opened his eyes and saw the gray, cloudy sky. Much the same as it had been before, though it felt like an eternity since he was standing calmly on the edge of the Celestial Lake. He motioned to sit up, and he noticed he was on the grass next to the lake. His mother's jutsu had been dropped and he was back in the mortal plane. He surely felt everything that had happened to him there, though. He kind of wanted to die again, but for real this time if it meant the pounding across his entire self would stop. Xuan ran a hand through his long black hair and it came back matted with blood. Oh yeah. I got my ass kicked -before- being transported, too. So both of my 'selves' are wrecked. Great. Though the blood in his various wounds had not even scabbed over yet, he had forgotten that no time had passed at all since his journey to Wudang. At least I'm heading to the Southern District later anyway. I can get some bandages from Daiyu.
[indent]"Xuan..." His mother approched him as he leaned over the side of the lake to wash his face off with the Celestial Waters.
[indent]"Yes?" Xuan turned around, smiling despite the pain coursing through his body. He knew it had been a great lesson, and was eternally grateful for the experience. "Thank you so much for showing me Wudang, mom. I mean. I know it hurts and I got my face kicked in and stuff, but I'll be stronger after this, right?" A soft smile reached his mother's face as she pulled him into a tight hug. He pulled away and looked at her suspiciously. "What?"
[indent]"About those original strategies Genbu-sama put together with us to test you... Well, it was just a simple lie. When I told you that using the Ten no Mizu would be easier in Wudang. That was the lie. It actually takes most proficient Kekkai Genkai users several years before they can even do anything with it Wudang. Even if they use a Pocket Dimension to stop time outside and train for those years, which is usually the case. That's why the jutsu is called the Emissary Dimension. It's almost a rite of passage to reach Wudang, and then step into that dimension and train to use the Ten no Mizu for a few years in the In-Between state so they don't lose any actual time on the real world or Wudang." She talked whilst pacing in front of Xuan, throwing her hands up and down as she spoke. "We've all done that. Literally everyone who can reach Wudang. That's why your siblings came back after a few minutes and embraced you like they hadn't seen you in years. Because that's how long it was to them in that pocket dimension. Though, to be fair, they didn't age inside of the Dimension anyway, so you would have never known without someone telling you.
[indent]It's just what we do. We don't tell anyone beforehand because it's kind of daunting to the outsider, as you can understand. It's confusing unless you live it. But that's the thing... You just... did it. And not only did you use a jutsu you were familiar with. You made a new one too... On the spot. I didn't want to say anything while we were there because I didn't want it to trip you up. But... damn. Do you know how you made that drill, at least?" She shook her head in disbelief.
[indent]Xuan himself was amazed by so much new information, that he kind of felt numb to it and shook his head. Only sticking to the things he could answer. He didn't know how to address the rest, or what it meant exactly. "N-no... I don't know. The clone was hurting me and I couldn't think of anything so my head was spinning, and then it just happened in a flash. I thought it was useful." To his comfort, his mother laughed. "Well it's a pretty basic technique, honestly. From an artistic standpoint, I mean. If you had practiced that in the Real World I'm sure you could have done it in a day or so. The only thing that's substantial about it is that you could do it in Wudang. Like the Planes didn't even effect you at all. It's great and I don't think it's ever happened to anyone else before. But you're still you. Which is great news. The only anomaly is being unaffected by the Wudang side of things. There's nothing else extraordinary so far, so it seems we'll be able to train you like any other Shui now! Just a little earlier!" Xingyun jumped and clapped her hands with excitement and Xuan sighed with relief. So he was mostly normal, but his bloodline was just maturing a little early? That's not so weird. He could deal with mostly normal.
[indent]"You'll be okay to head out and meet the Phoenix girl, right? I've gotta go tell your father and grandfather and of course Genbu-sama! As if they weren't watching already, hahah! You know how I love bragging. Xuan nodded and laughed, and his mom joined him for a bit before kissing him on his bloody forehead and dropping down into a portal like his father had earlier today. "Oh yeah, don't forget to name your jutsu!~" She offhandedly mentioned as she finished disappearing. Leaving Xuan alone at the edge of the lake. Today felt surreal, but now that he was alone; the pain was really starting to set in. She could have teleported me to the medicine shop, at least...
[indent]Xuan stood, resolving to not worry about the new jutsu name or anything else until he could be certain he wouldn't die of blood loss. As the sky finally opened and rain began to pour down, he stepped over a forming puddle to get a look at his face. He already had two black eyes and multiple busted regions on his face. And the entire thing was blood-red, coated in his own life-fluid. Greeeeat... He turned and started limping his way down to the South.
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[indent]
All of the Lights in the Sky are Stars
Xuan stood over the nebulous lake behind the Shui manner, staring into it's night-sky filled surface. No matter how many times he saw the stars and nebulae as well as the beautiful blackness of space, it was always the most amazing thing he had ever seen. It was midday and the skies were gloomy with the threat of rain. Though Xuan didn't necessarily mind; he loved the rain and the slow days that followed.
[indent]"Oh yeah. I've got to meet with Daiyu at her shop later today..." He mused loudly, vowing to finish his training before the clouds broke and it started raining. But for now it seemed content to just be gray and brooding, but dry nonetheless.
[indent]"Supposed to storm today." A deep voice said to Xuan's right. Not bothering to jump, he looked over at his father and smiled. It was kind of Shui tradition to just materialize somewhere. So it wasn't exactly a surprise.
[indent]Liúxīng Shui cut an imposing figure, standing several feet taller than his son, though the rest of the physical resemblances were uncanny; despite the galaxy-filled sclera in his father's eyes. Signifying he was also watching over events in Wudang, maybe even communicating with Genbu-sama himself. Liuxing put his hand on top of Xuan's head and joined him in admiring the lake. "Been here all night again?" He motioned his hand, ruffling Xuan's long black hair, which mirrored his own. Xuan shook his head until his father's hand fell back to his side. "Yeah... After the Kechibi attack was finished, I realized I could have done a lot better. Saved more people. Gotten there faster." Xuan looked down at his bloodied knuckles before kneeling down to wash them off in the heavenly waters of the lake. Despite how it looked, it served it's purpose as water too, which was nice. The cold embrace of the void water felt good on his sore hands as he slowly motioned them in small circles.
[indent]A soft grunt escaped Liuxing's throat at Xuan's statement. "Your resolve is admirable, but don't train for the past. It is already done. You have already surpassed any Shui in living memory by gaining basic use of the Ten no Mizu at Genin, Xuan. Everything that happened at the festival was simply what happened. It is not tragedy. It simply is... He trailed off suddenly and Xuan looked over his shoulder to see why. Liuxing was smiling down at his son, causing Xuan to meet his grin and let out a small chuckle. "If you've been here all night and you're already this calm... You learned something new, didn't you?"
[indent]"Mayyybe.~" Xuan said mischievously as he stood up and made the Tiger seal, a splash of Celestial Water dropped to the ground where Xuan had been previously. He immediatley reappeared behind his father, lunging into what would become a solidly made kick. But as he fell upon his father, Liuxing simply hooked out his left arm and clotheslined Xuan in the throat so hard that he cut a backflip before landing on his face in the grass. "Ooph..."
[indent]Xuan sat up, rubbing his aching throat and face. He both loved and hated that everyone in his family refused to cut anyone, even Shui children, any slack when it came to fighting. Even play fighting. But sometimes it felt a little unnecessarily cruel... "That's fantastic, Xuan! Liuxing exclaimed as if he hadn't just almost collapsed his son's windpipe with the exhausted effort of scratching a stray itch. Xuan coughed and smiled proudly nonetheless. "I figured all that speed training would lead to the Ten Mizu Shunshin pretty early on. So now you've got that and the Black Lotus entry?" Xuan nodded fervently and Liuxing laughed heartily, clearly amused. "You're gonna love the true version of that teleport when you get older, then."
[indent]Liuxing helped Xuan to his feet and dusted him off. "Oh yeah... Sutātensō. Starshift. Liuxing nodded as Xuan got the name correct, but he cocked his head at Xuan's interest. "That's my favorite. But Grandpa Shen said if I tried it now, I would actually die." Liuxing laughed yet again. It was a pleasant sound. Xuan coudn't help but smile, too. Even if he wasn't sure why. "Listen to dad, then. He's right. Though I don't think you were tempted to try this early. You're way too smart for that. Because yes, you actually would die. Undoubtedly. That's why we have to teach those things on Wudang itself. It takes a few tries, and dying on Wudang is certainly a lot less permanent than here. Just remember to never abuse your Kekkai Genkai or use it lightly." He laughed, more softly than the previous times. But his meaning was clear. Xuan wasn't simple enough to even try it anyway, so he didn't have to worry.
[indent]Liuxang looked solemn all of a sudden and Xuan waited for the bad news. Every time his face got all screwy like that, he knew his dad was going to be serious. "Speaking of Wudang. The real reason I found you today, Xuan... We were thinking of starting to groom you to meet us on Wudang for a bit. Maybe do some training. It would probably be shortly after you reach the Chunin rank, maybe a bit sooner if you keep developing your Kekkai Genkai at this same rate. Liuxing rubbed the back of his head nervously.
[indent]"But... ah... That means that... well... Remember a long time ago when you wanted to train with Shen, and your mother said that she would only allow it if sh-
[indent]"Ohgodsno!"
Xuan yelled in panic, clutching at Liuxing's black robes as he debated just making a run for it. "I am so sorry, my son. She is on her way." The moment turned from serious to a comedic parody, as they both weren't entirely serious. But Xuan was actually panicking, though his dad had an annoying half-smile on his face. Betraying the immense amount of amusement he was getting out of this.
"YO!!!"
[indent]The voice echoed from Xuan's left side, out over the celestial lake. He felt a chill run down his spine as he slowly turned his head towards the sound and he saw her standing in the lake's center with her arms cross and a giant smile across her face. "Hey, sweetie! He's all yours!" He blew a kiss to his wife, Xingyun Shui, then looked at Xuan, who stared up at him with giant green eyes, the pain of betrayal showing on their placid surface. He shrugged, unapologetic, then a Celestial Portal opened in the ground below his feet, and Liuxing sank through, immediately closing the portal as the top of his head disappeared. Xuan fell to his knees and beat at the ground where the portal had appeared.
[indent]"YOU JUST TOLD ME NOT TO USE MY BLOODLINE LIGHTLY AND YOU USED IT TO LEAVE YOUR SON TO DIE!"
"...I thought it would be funny..."
Xuan heard his father's voice as an ethereal whisper on the wind."...It really was, too..."
[indent]"...Don't be so dramatic. It's just training." The soft, whispered voice held no kindess. And even worse, it was right in his ear. He turned and there she was. But he didn't even have time to greet her, as she kicked him hard in the ribs and sent him flying out over the lake. Skipping across the surface like a carelessly tossed stone. Xuan was rolling to his feet atop the water, using the basic water walking skill that all shinobi were prominent with. He cursed under his breath. His mother was great most of the time, same with his dad. But they were both a little... eccentric in their methods. They were both firm believers in treating every training session the same way, regardless of who or what it was. And having access to Wudang meant they never had to hold back; Because killing someone in Wudang was temporary. As their spirit form would just come back in a few days. Even sooner if they were strong.
[indent]Xuan rubbed his aching ribs and glared at his mother. "I can't even go to Wudang yet. I tried! If we're going to train, you've got to treat me like a mortal, damn it! Otherwise I won't really learn anything!" His mother nonchalantly walked onto the water's surface; Xuan was unclear if she had heard his words and chose to ignore them. Because in the blink of an eye she was beneath him, jumping out of the blackness of the water at his feet and shooting up with immense speed and power to clock him beneath the jaw, a heavenly uppercut that sent him flying high into the air.
"Three things." She had appeared at his side in the air, using Starshift like it was nothing. To my parents, Starshift -is- nothing... he silently reminded himself.
[indent]"One, I'm going to show you part of Wudang today." She dropped a hammerkick down onto his stomach and sent him flying back down. Crashing into the lake with a splash of celestial water. He climbed back above it, coughing out normal water, which joined the main pool and then turned back into it's Celestial Form.
[indent]"Two. Best way to make it to Wudang is to be kind of close to the Spiritual Realm anyway, but you know that. Thus the ass-kicking." She was already behind him again, Xuan knew that fighting someone who could hold their own with the strongest shinobi in the world was fruitless, but instinct took over and he pressed his right fist into the open palm of his left hand and threw out an elbow behind him. His mother caught it and flipped him onto his back onto the water's surface as if it were made of solid ground.
[indent]"Three. Your stamina is shit, so this lesson will be double-helpful. As you know, you having the Ten no Mizu so young is unheard of, so all standard procedures for your training are going out of the window. But Genbu-sama has given us a few ideas of where to start. Love you!" She had both of Xuan's arms pinned at an X against his chest with her left hand. She punched him in the face with her right. His head sank into the water and then floated back up and she punched it again. He coughed out water and waited for a third punch. When he didn't come he decided to try and get some words out of his bloodied mouth.
[indent]"I get that. BUT MAYBE FILL ME IN BEFOREHAND. We had a lovely breakfast this morning and yet there was no mention of 'Oh by the way son, we're gonna beat you senseless as a family this afternoon.'" Xingyun laughed and pulled him up to his feet, a glimpse into the kindhearted mother she generally was. Though she eccentric, as only Shui women could be, she wasn't a psychopath like half of the Shui women ended up being. Xingyun was competitive, a little brutish, crazy strong, but not crazy crazy. Not like Ling, one of the Shui royal twins, his sister. Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he wiped his bloodied face against his black sleeve.
[indent]"It's less fun that way, though. I finally get to train our little house genius! You knew it would be brutal, so I figured you would avoid me! Plus, surprises are a way to work on controlling your emotions, Xuan. Tao can't be reached if you keep loosing them like arrows from a bow. So we aim to provoke the young monks. It's okay to feel, but don't let them affect anything on this plane." She wasn't entirely wrong. But getting stronger was definitely a good price to pay. He had heard the horror stories from his siblings, but they always turned out fine. Though they were a little older than Xuan. Stronger, too.
[indent]Xuan and his mother met back in the center of the lake. Though Xuan could barely stand, he refused to fall. He had blood leaking down into his eyes and couldn't even remember being hit in the forehead. But honestly, his family was like this. Fighting in the most awesome ways possible in order to help each other. To make sure everyone can look after themselves in a way that no other clan could muster. Then afterwards they were close and normal. There was never any malicious intent and certainly never any damage that couldn't be undone. These were Master Martial Artists and some of the strongest people in the world, of course they were sure in their methods. But he figured to an outsider that it would seem rather harsh, though it was all entirely love that started these fights. His own grandfather had put Xuan in the hospital more times than he could count.
[indent]'But the bones always heal up stronger, afterwards! Hehehehe...' He heard his grandfather's words echo in his head and despite his bloodied and swollen face, he smiled. He punched into his open palm. "Alright. I get it!"
[indent]"I know you do. Now, you should be able to slip through the veil!" Xingyun made handseals and shouted;
"Ten no Mizu! Wudang Emissary Dimension!"
An orb of Celestial Water washed over the entire area and suddenly it was as black as night in a perfect circle where the lake had stood in the normal plane. He looked down, and apparently he was still standing on the celestial waters of the lake, though it was hard to tell because it blended so perfectly well with the actual image of the Northern Heavens all around him. It looked like Celestial Water. Black skies, nebulae, galaxies, etc. But he could breathe here, so he couldn't have entered an actual portal into space, or else he'd be dead by now. Plus, there was a translucent mountain with what seemed to be a black monastery dotted along it's ridges floating extremely far off behind his mother. So that must mean...
"M-mom... Am... Am I in Wudang?" Tears welled up in his eyes.
"Sort of. That's Wudang Mountain back there. We are in a pocket dimension that I created for training purposes. I put you in a time-space bubble to ease your entry into Wudang itself, so we're a bit on the edge of the Spirit world itself here. Though time isn't moving outside. How do you feel? Not emotionally, because I know this place is awesome as hell, but physically? Do you feel... fadey and non-existence-y?"
[indent]Xuan looked down at his body and realized he had become translucent. Holding up his hand, he could see through it as if he were a ghost. But looking at his mother, she was semi-translucent, though far less so than Xuan. "How... would I even know what that would feel like?"
Xingyun shrugged. "I dunno. I always imagined it would feel like a light tingle? Or maybe like when your foot is asleep?"
"SO YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!" He pointed an accusatory finger towards his mother.
"WELL IT DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T FADED AND DIED SO IT'S FINE, GEEZ!" She threw her hands up in disbelief and Xuan could only stare, mouth agape that he could've just stopped existing for no reason. And she thought she was the one under fire in this conversation. People who reach Tao really do forget about this trivialities of mortal life, don't they?
[indent]They both huffed and crossed their arms. "So anyway... What you're in now is your Spiritual Self. You know; 'blahblahblah, physical self, spiritual self, chakra self', all that stuff. The spiritual self is what forms as you begin your path along the Tao. You're still relatively new, so you're just a bit faded here. Moving might be a little harder, but it will be a lot easier to use Ten no Mizu related things here. Even if they're things you never used before, try them here. They may not transfer over to the real world, but getting the motions and knowledge down here are paramount for the future. Because once your Spiritual Self becomes stronger, if you can do something in Wudang, then you can do it on the mortal plane, too. But you're the first person to be able to get here so young and at such a frail Spiritual State, so I'm not sure what will transfer over or not. Best thing is to try as much as possible. You can work on both your physical and spiritual selves on either plane, with one just being more dominant. Working on anything here can benefit your physical self more and more than simply doing it alone on the Mortal Plane. It is important to find balance now that the threshold has been crossed.
One more thing; If you die here, which I'm sure you know; You'll just get slammed back into your physical body down on that Plane. You'll have to reform your Spiritual Self with meditation and Spiritwork, or Shenwork. Your Spirit is like a muscle, and dying here is like tearing that muscle. But you won't get to come back here until it's had enough rest. So it really just depends on your constitution and Spiritwork. Your father and I can come back immediately, your brother takes about a day, your sisters take two. But I know Shen told you all of this already.
I'm assuming you understand, because I'm coming at you now!"
"Yeah, but-
It didn't matter, she was on him. Kicks and punches, though she seemed to be taking it pretty easy so Xuan could get acclimated to this new realm. Moving was harder here. It was almost like he could feel it working against his actual muscles in the real world? Oh, yeah. That is what's happening. Doing Spiritual Exercises in the Physical Body made your Spiritual Self stronger in this plane, and doing Physical Work in the Spiritual Plane makes your physical body a little stronger, too. Balance between the two could be achieved. Xuan remembered from his lessons with his Grandfather Shen as well as his mother's rather simple re-explanation.
[indent]Xuan smiled with determination as he redirected his mother's fists and dodged her long legs, his body quickly becoming used to moving in this plane. It wasn't as hard as he had imagined it would be. He started to reach his own full movement speed as his mother gradually increased the speed of her blows until she surpassed the speeds he was capable of on the Mortal Plane and decked him with a right fist to the side of the head that sent him sprawling. But he barely felt it as he shot back to his feet before he was even finished flying backwards from the force of the hit, sliding backwards with his hand atop the water for stability. His mother looked at him with a hint of surprise, but he didn't understand why.
[indent]She quickly buried the expression under a blank one and made handseals.
"Ten no Mizu! Meteor Shower!"
[indent]A giant portal opened up in the sky above them both, a portal the size of the lake below them! And then suddenly hundreds of meteors about twice the size of Xuan's height began to rain down upon the area. Causing giant splashes of celestial water as they crashed into the lake around him. Wasting no time, Xuan began hopping upon the falling meteors. Happening so quickly that he couldn't even think about a plan, he was simply focused on not getting hit by the crushing power and making his way back to where his mother stood.
[indent]The meteors stopped abruptly and Xuan jumped from the final one as his mother came into his vision. He made handseals and slammed his fists together, yelling nothing in particular as his fists erupted with Celestial Water, coating his arms in the black water that surrounded them both. "Black Lotus: Heavenly Fists! His mother looked up and reflexively moved to redirect Xuan's fists in the way that any Kung Fu master would know, but Xuan's arm went through his mother's hand and he felt immense pride as his fist met with her chin.
[indent]Xingyun's head didn't even move, which said a lot for her strength, but she stared at her son with extremely wide eyes. She then burst out of view, using the Starshift technique roughly twenty times and laughing as she wailed retaliation on Xuan's poor frame. Punches and kicks that knocked him this way and that. After a while, he kind of went numb to it and allowed himself to be tossed and beaten around. It felt like thirty Kung Fu masters were surrounding him and striking every single inch of his body. Why'd she look so surprised, though? Xuan's numb and swollen spiritual body wondered dimly as she finished the assault, reappearing with a clone of herself at her side to deliver twin roundhouse kicks to his chest.
[indent]The clone appeared behind Xuan as he flew and gripped him tightly, pinning his arms to the side. "Get... OFF!" Unbidden, an orb of Celestial Water formed over his entire right hand and spun wildly into a triangular drill-shape. He could practically feel the vacuum of space from the drill, sucking in the air around it as he shoved it into the clone's stomach. Sure enough, the Celestial Drill had been a spiraling portal linked to the Void. To the Northern Heavens. The simple water clone was sucked into the spiraling vortex of the drill on Xuan's hand until nothing was left but a few stray bubbles of water in the air. "...Whoa, cool!" He looked back at his hand, the spiraling drill quickly faded back into his normal hand with a liquid-motion, the Celestial Water for the Black Lotus opening that he had created before reforming as if nothing had happened.
[indent]Stars blossomed behind his eyes. And not the Shui space/time awesome stars. The kind that showed up when your insanely strong mom punches you in the back of the head with enough force to level a village, or that's how it felt at least. Xuan rolled against the water's surface, as it seemed to be a common theme of this 'training', though he shot to his feet, uncaring about the pain in his head. "Did you see that thing? You were right about it being easier here! The Ten no Mizu that was already on my hand became a spiraling drill that sucked up your clone or something?!"
Xingyun nodded and slipped back into a fighting stance. "Uh... Yeah... We'll talk about that later; it's kind of important. But look. You're fading." Sure enough, Xuan was noticeably more translucent than he had been a few moments ago. And now that he was sitting still, he was starting to feel all of the painful hits across his entire body. With the adrenaline fading, he was beginning to realize just how much of a strain he had put on his body. His Heavenly Fists turned to normal water and dropped into the lake as he lost control.
[indent]"Just Taijutsu for the next stretch, alright? I'll go super easy, and we will just do First Form exercise for a few hours. Just focus on holding your Spiritual Form together." Xuan nodded and slid into a fighting stance similar to his mother's, and she leapt at him. They clashed in a flurry of feet and hands. Xuan working substantially harder to increase his longevity in a fight while also trying to maintain his form in this world. He now knew what it felt like to fade out of existence. Huh. Actually is kind of tingly. Though without any chakra drain, the chore became monumentally easier. For the next six hours in Wudang, while time stood still outside of their bubble, Xuan and his mother traded basic blows in more of an endurance exercise than an all out brawl as it had been before. First Form was a Kung Fu exercise taught to every initiate of Martial Arts in the Lantern Village, which was more of a dance between two parties. Each move known by the other, they were parried and accepted purposefully, back and forth. Ebbing and flowing between each other. Xuan lost track of the hours.
After their six hour dance, Xuan was barely even visible in this realm anymore. He dropped to the surface of the water, panting. It was an effort to even stay afloat of the water now. "...I am trying to stand, but it is taking everything I have to simply exist. I can't even move my fingers, and I am putting every... ounce of my will into doing... so..."
"Xuan, stop. Seriously. We've got to get you back to the real world before you get stuck in between, okay?" She knealt beside her son and put a hand to his forehead.
"Okay, drop the dimension jutsu thing then?" Xuan wanted to look up at her, but he couldn't move his head.
"Doesn't work like that, sweetie. If I drop the jutsu now, you'll get launched into the Void because you can't move back and forth on your own yet."
"Okay so wh- His mother flipped him over and without warning, punched, hard, completely through his chest with an open palm. No portals involved.
[indent]It was hard to grasp, but Xuan felt himself die as his heart was virtually ejected from his chest by his mother, though the only sensation he had afterwards was an insane sense of vertigo and then being slammed back into his Physical Body as if he were dreaming about falling, jolted awake by the sensation of landing on the ground. But instead, the falling was death on the Spiritual Plane, and the 'ground' was his body.
[indent]Xuan opened his eyes and saw the gray, cloudy sky. Much the same as it had been before, though it felt like an eternity since he was standing calmly on the edge of the Celestial Lake. He motioned to sit up, and he noticed he was on the grass next to the lake. His mother's jutsu had been dropped and he was back in the mortal plane. He surely felt everything that had happened to him there, though. He kind of wanted to die again, but for real this time if it meant the pounding across his entire self would stop. Xuan ran a hand through his long black hair and it came back matted with blood. Oh yeah. I got my ass kicked -before- being transported, too. So both of my 'selves' are wrecked. Great. Though the blood in his various wounds had not even scabbed over yet, he had forgotten that no time had passed at all since his journey to Wudang. At least I'm heading to the Southern District later anyway. I can get some bandages from Daiyu.
[indent]"Xuan..." His mother approched him as he leaned over the side of the lake to wash his face off with the Celestial Waters.
[indent]"Yes?" Xuan turned around, smiling despite the pain coursing through his body. He knew it had been a great lesson, and was eternally grateful for the experience. "Thank you so much for showing me Wudang, mom. I mean. I know it hurts and I got my face kicked in and stuff, but I'll be stronger after this, right?" A soft smile reached his mother's face as she pulled him into a tight hug. He pulled away and looked at her suspiciously. "What?"
[indent]"About those original strategies Genbu-sama put together with us to test you... Well, it was just a simple lie. When I told you that using the Ten no Mizu would be easier in Wudang. That was the lie. It actually takes most proficient Kekkai Genkai users several years before they can even do anything with it Wudang. Even if they use a Pocket Dimension to stop time outside and train for those years, which is usually the case. That's why the jutsu is called the Emissary Dimension. It's almost a rite of passage to reach Wudang, and then step into that dimension and train to use the Ten no Mizu for a few years in the In-Between state so they don't lose any actual time on the real world or Wudang." She talked whilst pacing in front of Xuan, throwing her hands up and down as she spoke. "We've all done that. Literally everyone who can reach Wudang. That's why your siblings came back after a few minutes and embraced you like they hadn't seen you in years. Because that's how long it was to them in that pocket dimension. Though, to be fair, they didn't age inside of the Dimension anyway, so you would have never known without someone telling you.
[indent]It's just what we do. We don't tell anyone beforehand because it's kind of daunting to the outsider, as you can understand. It's confusing unless you live it. But that's the thing... You just... did it. And not only did you use a jutsu you were familiar with. You made a new one too... On the spot. I didn't want to say anything while we were there because I didn't want it to trip you up. But... damn. Do you know how you made that drill, at least?" She shook her head in disbelief.
[indent]Xuan himself was amazed by so much new information, that he kind of felt numb to it and shook his head. Only sticking to the things he could answer. He didn't know how to address the rest, or what it meant exactly. "N-no... I don't know. The clone was hurting me and I couldn't think of anything so my head was spinning, and then it just happened in a flash. I thought it was useful." To his comfort, his mother laughed. "Well it's a pretty basic technique, honestly. From an artistic standpoint, I mean. If you had practiced that in the Real World I'm sure you could have done it in a day or so. The only thing that's substantial about it is that you could do it in Wudang. Like the Planes didn't even effect you at all. It's great and I don't think it's ever happened to anyone else before. But you're still you. Which is great news. The only anomaly is being unaffected by the Wudang side of things. There's nothing else extraordinary so far, so it seems we'll be able to train you like any other Shui now! Just a little earlier!" Xingyun jumped and clapped her hands with excitement and Xuan sighed with relief. So he was mostly normal, but his bloodline was just maturing a little early? That's not so weird. He could deal with mostly normal.
[indent]"You'll be okay to head out and meet the Phoenix girl, right? I've gotta go tell your father and grandfather and of course Genbu-sama! As if they weren't watching already, hahah! You know how I love bragging. Xuan nodded and laughed, and his mom joined him for a bit before kissing him on his bloody forehead and dropping down into a portal like his father had earlier today. "Oh yeah, don't forget to name your jutsu!~" She offhandedly mentioned as she finished disappearing. Leaving Xuan alone at the edge of the lake. Today felt surreal, but now that he was alone; the pain was really starting to set in. She could have teleported me to the medicine shop, at least...
[indent]Xuan stood, resolving to not worry about the new jutsu name or anything else until he could be certain he wouldn't die of blood loss. As the sky finally opened and rain began to pour down, he stepped over a forming puddle to get a look at his face. He already had two black eyes and multiple busted regions on his face. And the entire thing was blood-red, coated in his own life-fluid. Greeeeat... He turned and started limping his way down to the South.
[indent]
