Did I Mention how Dumb this is? [Ethar/Open]

[Akane]

There were three things that Honoo Akane definitely didn’t want to deal with on the weekend? Sitting out in the middle of nowhere, doing absolutely nothing, and being stalked by an annoying orange glowing orb that only she could see. And yet, somehow, here she stuck with all three! Damn it!

The Seishin’s stupid training session thing had finally started, much to the teenager’s chagrin. At least she had an excuse to feed her parents so they wouldn’t go prying into this unwanted business of hers. All she had to tell them was that she was going out to a random nature trail in order to stay in top shape for her school’s track team. Technically she was out in nature, probably near a trail of some sort. There had to be something like that near the base of Mt. Paozu, which was the place chosen by her new ‘coach’. So far there hadn’t been much actual running involved though.

”That’s it. Relax your muscles and concentrate on feeling how your ki flows through you,” the Seishin instructed as it slowly floated in circles around her. Akane sat cross-legged atop a large rock with her eyes closed. Her hands were resting loosely on her knees. There wasn’t a single tensed up muscle in her body, which was quite a feat considering how irritating it was to her the invisible orb’s voice as well as how uncomfortable the seat it had chosen for her was. Couldn’t they have brought a cushion or something with them?

It had used some of its weird magic crap on her before they had begun, allowing her to feel her ‘ki’ or whatever he called it. It was strange to say the least. It was almost as if there was a stream within her of some kind flowing right beneath her skin. It had no beginning or end, just going in a constant loop all throughout her. And it was warm... This was some pretty freaky shit.

”Okay. I feel it and stuff. So, like, now what?” Akane asked, still keeping still and continuing to concentrate. She wasn’t happy in the slightest to be out here. However, she figured if she was going to be stuck listening to this annoying little bastard no matter what, she may as well try to make some progress. Maybe then it would get out of her life quicker.

”You’re doing well. Next, close your eyes and hold your hands out in front of you. Place your left hand on top of your right with your palms facing to the sky. Keep focusing on your ki while you do this.” That sounded dumb. What the hell was it supposed to accomplish? Oh well. With a sigh, Akane lightly shut her eyes and positioned her hands as instructed. After a few moments, the ball continued to speak. ”Good. Hold that position. It’s time to take direct control of your ki. Visualize the flow of it and try to force it into your hands and out of your body.”

Right... Whatever. The redhead began to picture the energy within her as an actual stream. That was easy enough. She then imagined an unseen force directly moving the flow of that stream so that it was moving into her wrist, out through her fingertips, and... Woah... Her hands were suddenly feeling nice and toasty warm. ”Well done! You’re a natural at this,” the Seishin praised her. Wait, could that thing hear her thoughts or something? How the hell did it know that she was doing as she was told?

Curious, Akane opened her eyes to see a ball of fire hovering just above the palm of her hand. Fire. She was on fire! ”HOLY SHIT!!!” Akane shrieked, jumping off the rock in a panic and waving her hands in the air to make the flames dissipate. ”What the fuck was that?!” The girl was frantically looking herself over to make sure that she hadn’t been burnt at all. The last thing she needed right now was to toss out more of her clothes. ”There’s no need to panic. That’s what’s supposed to happen. It was simply a physical manifestation of your ki,” the Seishin explained flatly, earning an intense glare from Akane. ”Oh really? Then, like, why not give me some FUCKING WARNING NEXT TIME?!” she huffed, still worked up. ”Seriously! Like, what the hell is wrong with you?!”

”I did not realize that warning was nessecary. This is a basic practice among fighters,” it went on to explain. ”I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m not a fighter. Fucking hell...” the teenager groaned. Well, this was certainly off to a good start. She hesitantly climbed back onto the boulder and sat back down, still glaring up at the Seishin. ”Do you have, like, any other ‘basic practices’ that you didn’t feel like mentioning, jackass?” ”No. Today’s training is all going to be about awareness of your ki and how to materialize it. All you need to do is practice that for now.” With another sigh, Akane closed her eyes again and started to concentrate on her ki flow again, muttering silent obscenities under her breath.

[Ethar Luxun]

Little did the Seishin and Akane know, they were not alone on the mountain afterall.

Barely in earshot, the Noran Duke Ethar Luxun was relaxing on his wooden cabins front porch when he barely heard the voice of a young womans, as well as a energy flare up that was quickly extinguished. Luckily, a normal person with energy sensing abilities would not of caught onto it easily, but Ethar was more attuned and was able to sense the source of the energy quite easily.

"Hmph. Seems like someone else has decided to use the mountain as a getaway for something... And Now Im curious... Doesnt seem to be anyone I recognize." He said to himself, as he got off his chair and took flight into the air. Silently gliding through the air as if he had wings, Ethar flew using his own internal energy towards the energy he was sensing until he saw a girl meditating on a large boulder.

He quiet stopped in a large tree just above her, and wondered what she was doing here. He tried to sense exactly how strong she was, but as he did, he felt something... odd close by to her. He couldnt see anything, but he could feel like something was nearby, he just couldnt figure out what it was.

Finally, He decided to speak up. "Lovely day, isnt it?" He asked, as he stayed up in the tree.

[Akane]

”Perhaps it would be for the best to simply focus on feeling your ki for the moment. Eventually you’ll attune yourself to it and won’t need my assistance for this,” the Seishin continued to instruct now that Akane had calmed down a bit. ”Once you are ready, I would like you to try redirecting your ki and pushing it through your hands again.” Well, at least the little bastard wasn’t impatient. The teenager definitely wasn’t ready to have flames shoot out of the palm of her hand again. She hadn’t gotten burnt or anything from them, but damn!

Akane took a deep breath, focusing on the air entering and escaping her lungs, the movement of her chest, and how it affected the flow of the energy within her. That was the easy part. It was the rest of the exercise that she had to psyche herself up for. Maybe the calming little sounds that nature was providing would help her ease into it. Birds were chirping. Leaves were rustling. Some guy was commenting about the weather. Wait... what?

The teenager’s eyes snapped open. She looked up to see a man standing on a sturdy tree branch, looking down at her. ”Uh... I guess?” Akane answered somewhat hesitantly. Was he a hiker? That seemed reasonable enough, but what was he doing up in a tree? Why did he wait to climb up there before talking to her? And even more curiously, why hadn’t she heard him climb when the trunk was so close?

She tossed a quick glare at the invisible ball of energy that was still floating lazy circles around her. Way to be a douche and not point out that they had company... At least he was staying quiet now that there was someone else in the area for her to talk to. ”Like, at least it’s not raining. That would suck,” Akane continued, still weirded out by how and why there was some random dude in a tree looking down at her. At least her face wasn’t inches away from a fire. That was a plus, she guessed.

[Ethar Luxun]

"Heh, At this time of year, It would be more likely to snow then rain." He said, as he jumped out of the tree... Which he was atleast 50 or so feet in the air, and landed on his feet some ways from the girl, and the other being that he could not visibly see. He landed on his feet like it was nothing at all, even his feet left some good sized indentations in the ground. A normal human being would of at the very least have broken legs, but this guy... He was something else, for sure.

"I couldnt help but hear a voice from my home. I came to see whom it belong to. I also sensed that you have been practicing with your Ki Energy." He said with a smirk on his face. He still had the odd feeling that something was watching him, and it was very close as well, but as he couldnt see anything directly, he thought it was due to being isolated for so long before.

"My name is Ethar by the way." he said, as a leaf landed on his shoulder. He merely flicked it off of him as he looked the girl over. He had never seen anyone with such a vibrant hair colour before in his life, other then some of his other friends. "Might I ask what your name is Miss....?"

[Akane]

Ugh, snow? If it had been snowing, there was no way in hell she would have been out there with her ass planted on a giant rock. Snowy weather was for heaters, oversized comforters, and hot chocolate. Actually, that sounded like a nice idea every without the snow. It sure beat what she was doing now.

Akane watched with a raised eyebrow as the guy straight up jumped from the high branch he had been standing on. He didn’t even flinch when he hit the ground either. Was he supposed to be part cat or something? It was when he started talking about ki that it clicked. Oh god! He was one of those martial arts weirdos, wasn’t he? It didn’t help that he apparently lived out there in the middle of nowhere to drive home the mental image of one of those kung fu hermit type guys. Though, weren’t they supposed to be older than dirt? That was the stereotype, anyway.

”The name’s Akane,” introduced the teenager. She honestly didn’t know what else to say to the guy. He had a weird name and he was what Akane had been desperately trying to avoid becoming ever since she discovered her unnatural strength. Plus, didn’t really want to go into detail about why she was out there training her ki in the first place. It was all a big mess that the teenager liked to try to sweep under the rug as often as possible. ”So... Like... Do you normally watch people from up in the trees or something?” she asked with a shrug of her shoulders. Akane wasn’t a fan of awkward silences, so she preferred to just speak up with whatever entered her mind before letting one descend.

[Ethar Luxun]

"Akane huh? Nice name... Suits you." he said with a smile, as he sat down on another rock as she asked him about watching people from up in trees. This made him laugh a bit, as he replied "Normally? No. This is a first time actually. I figured it would be less frightening then just flying up and saying Hi. Ya know?"

He still couldnt shake the feeling that they werent alone, but even with his heightened senses, and trained ability to sense energies, He couldnt see anything out of the ordinary with this girl. Out of curiosity, He asked "Out of curiosity... Who were you talking to? I have heard some people talk to themselves before... However, you were talking like you were actually speaking with someone." as he gave her a curious look.

He then leaned back against the rock he was sitting on while he watched her. Firey orange hair... unique energy... Ethar knew that there was something interesting with this girl. He hoped that his curiosity wouldnt get him into trouble, but he had a feeling that this girl would probably be an interesting friend to have, if she wanted a friend that is.

[Akane]

”Depends on who you ask,” Akane replied, raising an eyebrow at him. Flying too? Yeah, he was definitely one of those fighting nuts that kept popping up in the news. ”Like, I’d totally rather just be freaked out and have it over with rather than be creeped on without knowing,” she continued with a bit of an awkward smirk. So far so good. She just had to try to play it cool for now despite not really knowing how to proceed. She didn’t want to just tell him off, but he was kind of keeping her from her training that she seriously wanted to get over with.

”Who was I...?” she started to repeat before trailing off. Oh crap! How long had this weirdo been listening in on her? She had only been half joking when she was talking about being creeped on! Forget about if he thought she was crazy or not because he thought she was talking to herself. Ugh, and to think that she was just brushing her mom off as being paranoid when she was warning her about strangers...

”Riiiiiiiiiiiight. Like, I think I’ve totally been ‘training’ long enough for today. Wouldn’t wanna, like, bug you or nothing since you live here and all.” While the teenager was busy trying to awkwardly talk her way out of the situation, she was gradually scooching herself off of the boulder, away from where Ethar had perched himself. ”Akane, I believe-” ”Shut up. I said we’re done,” she said as quietly as she could through gritted teeth.

The girl slipped off of the rock and gave the man a rather stiff wave of her hand. ”So, like, uh... Nice-meeting-you-and-stuff-okay-bye!” With that, she spun around on locked joints and started walking at a brisk pace. Hopefully she was going the right way to eventually hit the nearest town with a train station. She wasn’t exactly paying attention to where she was going. All she knew was that this whole situation smelled like a giant can of ‘nope’ and she didn’t want any part of it. ”I believe that you may be overreacting here,” piped up the Seishin, still floating after her. ”And I said to shut your trap. I’m soooo picking the next training spot,” she retorted, still trying to keep her voice low.

[Ethar Luxun]

Ethar shook his head a bit. This girl seemed to just love using the word 'like' alot, but when she mentioned training and worrying about bugging him, he replied "Not at all. It was either come here to meet you, or fall asleep on my front deck and/or play my flute for a while. You actually gave me something exciting to do today." He said, as Akane suddenly snapped at her 'invisible' friend.

Ethar looked a bit confused for a moment as she started to walk off in a seemingly random direction... one that took her right towards his house.

"So there is someone there isnt there?" He asked as he got off his rock and got to his feet. His arms crossed across his chest as he tried to sense what the strange thing was that he was sensing. He couldnt tell exactly what it was, but there was definitely... 'something' there.

"I knew there was something odd the moment I tried to sense your Ki. You dont happen to have some.... Magical powers, as well.... Would you?" He asked, hoping to get atleast some of his curiosity satisfied.

[Ethar Luxun]

Closing Thread due to lack of Activity from Akane.

Zenie Please.

[Deleted]

Ethar: 357zeni