Moving Forward (Part 1) finished

[tsukare]

The sky was dark with clouds, bringing cold rain from the northern oceans. Spring had beset Vegeta, and the mutated forest was ripe with grass. Ikezu walked out into a small clearing, barely 20 feet in diameter. The ground was covered in grass, the surrounding trees devoid of life at the moment.

He rose up into the sky, crossed his legs and closed his eyes. Breathing in deeply, and exhaling slowly. Allowing his breath fill him with energy. His hands relaxed on his lap as heat began to emanate from them in the form of a ki ball, growing and shrinking with the ebb and flow of his own breath.

The heat warmed Ikezu, calmed his spirit, and made it easier to think. Or in this case not think. He was focusing hard, on not focusing at all, allowing his mind to go free. He thought about his old home Inauria, his parents, his old friends, his new home, his mentor, his new brothers in the SSE, and finally his purpose. What was his purpose? Why did he live?

Well, his purpose was to protect the weak and oppressed, and to defend others against the same fate as his home world. How could he do that? By becoming the best soldier he could, and becoming stronger.

As for why he lived, he lived to fulfill his purpose, to protect the defenseless, to guard the weak against oppression, and to become the strongest he could so he could fulfill his duty in life.

However, he couldn’t do that with a mind set on his old home, no. He needed to let go of the past and embrace the future. The moment he decided this, a rain drop fell on his forehead. Soon another, and then another followed that. The constant barrage distracted him from his thoughts, but suddenly he realized that the best mind is a clear mind. So instead of thinking, he let his thoughts go. His mind clear, he had another epiphany. He needed to let go of his emotions, and allow himself to go forward. He needed to release his own power through meditation. The best way for him to do that was to master the 5 Celestial Katas of the ancient Inaurians. His mother had given him a tome that she saved from their old world which taught them, and Ikezu had memorized the movements but never the purpose of the movements. Now with this new mind set he was ready to try.

As his mind cleared, so did the sky leaving the ground moist and ready for Ikezu’s training. He lowered to the ground standing motionless with his eyes closed.

[tsukare]

Ikezu stood motionless in the clearing, grass pressed down under his feet. The recent rains left the ground moist and cold. Yet none of this mattered. Ikezu was here to train.

His eyes closed focusing only on the wind, his mind empty of all thoughts except an ancient Inaurian Philosophy. ‘Be like water, liquid yet formless. Taking shape but allowing the world to shape you.’ he repeated this to himself in his head repeatedly, meditating on the meaning.

‘Water flows with the ebb and flow of the river, allowing its shape to dictate its current. When placed in a cup it shapes to the cup, when placed in a bowl it shapes to the bowl. However rain from the sky shapes the mountains, and allows the mightiest tree to grow. Without it there is no life, and with it there are endless possibilities. Water is the element of adaptability, always at one with itself. Similarly I must learn to be one with myself, only then will I find peace.’ Ikezu said to himself.

His eyes opened, his lungs filled with air as his hands raised as if lifting a heavy ball to his chest. As he exhaled he slowly lowered his hands, pushing his palms to the floor. He raised his right foot and dropped it to the ground releasing his power, and the droplets of water on the grass flew into the air. His hands reached out to his right as droplets caught his palms, and he scooped the water into his hands and pushed his hands outwards as he stepped and turned to his left, allowing the water to continue the path of his palms falling forwards onto the ground. More water droplets caught his palm and he brought his left foot in and stepped forward with his right foot allowing the water to fall to the opposite side of his hands and then slide from the back of his hand off his fingers into the water.

Turning around he pushed both hands forward, his right hand closed with all his fingertips touching his thumb, and his left hand underneath. A water droplet fell on his right hand and followed its own path down his index finger and into his left hand. As soon as the droplet was in his left hand Ikezu turned his left hand and pushed it away guiding the water onto a new blade of grass. Turning around he repeated this again with his other hand. Allowing a droplet of water to fall on his left hand, following its own path into his right hand where he would guide it to a new blade of grass.

His left hand would than make a half circle above his head catching a drop of water and guiding it around into his right hand, turning his feet in a circle as well. His feet placed firmly on the ground, and his fingertips touching the other hands palm. The water droplet continued its own path, making a constant circle around Ikezu’s hands. The grass around had become the image of a Yin-Yang with Ikezu’s feet where the two circles would be; the symbol of peace and prosperity for which water also symbolized.

All these movements were slow and fluid, following the flowing nature of water after which the Kata was named. Its purpose was to teach inner peace, and self-awareness. Without those two, the Kata is impossible to perfect.

Ikezu had mastered these two concepts, with difficulty.

OOC: PL please.

[Geurin]

500