A Breath of Fresh Air [FINISHED]

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah awoke from his silent sleep, with the chirping of the birds and the sunlight of the new day piercing through the darkness of his closed eyelids acting as his alarm clock. He blinked continuously to get his eyes used to the sunlight once again. The fogginess of his morning vision slowly drifted away as he was greeted by green grass, blue skies and white clouds. Rajah inhaled the morning scent, which was to his liking. It was his morning cup of coffee; one whiff of the aroma sent him into an euphoric state of well being and happiness, ready for the day granted to him by beings unkown.

Rajah sat up and rested his left hand on his left knee. As much as he wanted to stay in this paradise he found, he knew he had to continue on with his journey. With a sigh of reality escaping his lungs, he went down to the stream to fill a small container with the water before taking one last drink of the nectar with his bare paws.

He wiped his mouth and stood up, detatching a small bag from the right of his hip. Inside it was a brown hooded cloak, a pair of brown gloves, a pair of brown boots and a white long-sleeved pauper's shirt. He placed the articles of clothing on as he walked into the tree-filled forest ahead.

All that was left was his brown hooded cloak. Once this piece was on, he could parade amongst the humans under the guise of one of them.

Lately, whenever Rajah encounted friendly humans, such as villagers or farmers, they ran away in fear because of his appearance. But one friendly tailor in a village he visited quite a while ago offered him a bag of clothing to make him more accepted into the world filled with beings that feared what they didn't understand. Rajah was indeed grateful, especially when the man refused payment for the clothing.

But as Rajah was about to place the hood, he heard a footstep coming from behind him. His ears twitched in response to the noise like they always did. The fear that he could have been discovered by someone before his guise was complete overtook his emotions instantly. He quickly grabbed the reigns of his hood, just in case he was mistaken. He glanced over to his right, his breathing quickly putting on weight with each breath he took.

"A-Anyone there?" he asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

His clothes were in ribbons, and his face showed signs of mild exhaustion, but Zeshin hadn't been this happy in some time. He had just completing the first of what he hoped to be many training sessions with his sifu Issac. As the pair continued to walk, the cuts in Zeshin's arms and back continued to heal themselves, the slights of the incisions becoming nothing ore than scrapes. Zeshin cleared away the brush along with Issac,each taking care to not slash to close to the other. Eventually they reached a small clearing, indicating they would be exiting the forest soon when Zeshin heard the sound of walking ahead of them.

The youth stopped and looked back to Issac who pointed his sword in front of them as a voice called out, in mild worry asking who was there. "Um... me, and a friend. Exactly who are you... if you don't mind me asking. I'm Zeshin and this is my sifu Issac." Zeshin said, focusing his eyes forward, his vision pircing through the small envelopes of space in front of him to see a hooded figure, who's magic was similar to Issac's, but was more like Zeshin small new friend Haku.

[Issac Verro]

Issac was pleased with the way the first session went, walking behind Zeshin to regain his breath, trying not to show any signs of weakness to his student. As he removed the shrubbery in front of himself, he stopped to pause as he and both Zeshin heard a noise from in front of them. Stopping, Issac simply pointed his sword in the direction of the noise which became a voice, looking at Zeshin after he addressed the voice that he and Issac were there as well.

"Whoever that is... should just come out, a mop, a beer, and a bed await me back at the tavern." Issac said lazily, plopping on the ground, sitting and using his force magic to cushion his insides and gain his breath back. "Zeshin, see who it is would ya?" Issac said, closing his eyes to rest as his pupil moved forward to see he had called out to them.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah took the time after asking if anyone was there to place his hood on his head. It wasn't long before his call was answered by a boy with blue hair. He turned around to get a better look at him, facing him fully. He was a peculiar looking human; the others he met were too scared to get to know him. That told Rajah that either his disguise was working, or he knew what he was and showed no fear toward it. Maybe there were others other than his people in India that accepted him.

Rajah smiled in the insides of his darkened hood as the blue-haired young one continued to speak. He was a child of curiosity; that much was certain. He was somewhat honored for the young one to even ask his name. And the fact that he was quick to call himself a friend toward a stranger he probably never met made his heart warm. For a minute, he almost felt embarrassed to be covering up his face. But, he left the hood on, just in case he startled easily.

"Zeshin," he said out loud, seeming to understand the name. "What a special name for someone as yourself."

Although Rajah found it rude to do this unannounced, he allowed his eyes to glow green, allowing his spirit energy to flow through his vision. Through his spirit magic, he could easily see that there was more to this boy than met the eye. His aura alone was unlike other humans he ran across. After his eyes returned to normal, he focused on Zeshin's second half of the question.

"My name is Rajah, young one," he said as he placed his gloved right hand on his heart. It was soon after that he heard the boy introduce his sifu. Before his travels to China, he was unaware that the word meant "teacher." But when he saw the being Zeshin called "Issac" sitting behind him, he was shocked at his appearance. Only because he had the look of a dog, but the build of a human, just like Rajah.

Now normally whenever Rajah was aware that his disguise was working, he wouldn't come out of it just as easily. But seeing that there was another being present that was somewhat like himself forced Rajah to take off his hood, exposing his face to the young one named Zeshin as he walked toward the sitting Issac.

"You..." he said with amazement in his voice as he pointed toward the sitting dog. "You're... like me. But... but how?"

Once Rajah was close enough to touch the Issac being, he bent down to come in complete eye contact with him. Their faces weren't even a foot apart he was that close to him, looking; staring in amazement and excitement. He took off his gloves to reveal his paws and touched one of Issac's with both of his. He blinked one time as he accidentally called upon his spirit powers. His eyes once again glowed green as he continued to hold Issac's hand, seeing the tiredness within his spirit itself.

"You're weak," Rajah said in a mixture of concern and amazement. As he let go of Issac's hand, he instantly reached for his side to grab the container of water. He placed it in his paw as his eyes returned from green to brown.

"Here," he said to the sifu in question. "This is water. You need this more than a swag of alcohol."

Rajah was completely excited over the fact that there was another being out there like him. Although he didn't resemble his tiger form, just the fact that this Issac exists gave him hope of finding his own origins. He looked back at the boy named Zeshin with a smile on his face.

"How did you meet him?" he asked gleefully.

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

Zeshin nodded as the stranger revealed himself to be someone named Rajah, coming forth to make conversation with both Zeshin and Issac. Upon further inspection of Issac, Zeshin noticed a look of concern on the hooded face of the stranger in front of them, but it would seem that Rajah was surprised by something completely normal to Zeshin, the existance of animal people like both Issac and Haku, of member of that said race of people Rajah revealed himself to be throwing of his hood. Rajah had walked past Zeshin look at Issac, touch the tired Inu-jin's hand and then reaching for a vial of liquid, expressing some concern for Issac's current condition.

"I met Issac not to far from here I think, or at least that was the first time I saw him. I met him at me and my mother's tavern, Karrasi, on the other side of the river in Laytor. Why do you look so surprised? You mean you've never seen anyone as shabby as Issac before? Zeshin said, chuckling to himself at Issac's expense. "Besides, this place is kinda dull, what where you doing around here?" Zeshin asked Rajah, reaching down to pick up a rock that glistened in the pale light from between the branches of the trees. Zeshin couldn't help but to notice that Rajah resembled Haku more than any other Jin he had meet, being a tiger or larger cat, and Zeshin began to woner where exactly did Rajah come from.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah shook his head, still looking at the blue-haired young one named Zeshin responding to the question he asked about ever seeing another being such as himself before.

"Never," he answered honestly. "I knew in my heart that there were others like me, but lately I have been in doubt if I would ever find any."

Issac aside, Rajah was pleased that there were other humans other than the ones in India that were not frightened by his appearance. But the fact that Zeshin was being tutored by a being like himself only told him that he was used to seeing others like himself all over the place. He looked back at Issac and made sure the water was in his paws before backing away slowly, still somewhat in awe at his presence. He stood up as he heard Zeshin's second question. He chuckled lightly as a smile appeared on his face as he looked at the boy again.

A child of curiosity indeed.

"I must apologize for trying to deceive you with these clothes," he said as he started to take them off to reveal his blue outfit underneath. "Most of the humans I have run across are too frightened of me to get a chance to know me."

By the time all of his disguise clothing was off, Rajah sat down facing Zeshin with his legs folded, his sleeveless blue exercise robe and short pants on, along with his wrist gauntlets that he wore during his training sessions of his martial arts and tai-chi. He looked at the boy with the same smile he showed towards him before, seemingly ready to answer his question.

"I am on a personal journey, young one," he told him, "to find out where I came from."

He once again looked at the sitting Issac, once again wearing a look of concern on his face.

"Please, Mr. Issac," he said formally. "Drink the water. You will feel much better afterwards; I promise you..."

[Issac Verro]

Issac was rather offset by the intimacy of the stranger's approach, grabbing his hand as he was seated on the ground. But upon listening to Rajah's story, Issac relaxed himself, using his magic to cushion the blow done to him by Zeshin. As his pupil did most of the talking, Issac listened to their conversation, smiling a bit as his internals gave way to the cushioning of his magic, allowing him to smile at the awkward Jin and his tales of dealing with humans.

"It's all in your approach, the fur-less one's are too easy to scare, and if you approach them in a awkward manner they act accordingly." Issac said casually, offering his input to one of Rajah's comments. Issac then looked at the Tora-Jin as he sat in front of him, taking the water he offered and returned it with a nod of thanks. Issac being partial to most manner of liquids guzzled down the water, using it to aid the process of cushioning his chest and other abdominal muscles, as the pain had subsided with the movement and fullness of the water. "Many thanks, I guess..." Issac said belching as he handed Rajah back the container.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah smiled at Issac as he grabbed the container from his paw. But upon looking at how he carried himself and hearing the words used in his vocabulary, it was true that while the two were definitely the same, they clearly came from two different backgrounds. Nevertheless, Rajah was still gladdened to be around someone like himself.

Plus, there was something about this boy...

Rajah placed the empty water container and attached it to his hip once again as he nodded at Issac's declaration of thanks.

"The pleasure is mine, Issac; I assure you," he told him. "You are the first one that I have met to share my characteristics, so my apologies if my advances were not to your liking." His smile widened as he closed his eyes. "And I shall take your advice about my approach toward humans here to heart."

He stared at Zeshin out the corner of his eye, his smile withdrawing a bit, yet still showing a sign of warmth.

"Im from the country of India," he told the boy and the overhearing Issac. "The people did not show fear when I first arrived, so I am a bit naive about other humans outside the country. I've been traveling for weeks, trying to find out my own origins and if there were any others out there like me."

Rajah then realized that he just insulted Issac unintentionally. His ears folded back as he lowered his head and stared at Issac embarrassingly. "N-no offense, Mr. Issac."

He stared back at Zeshin. "Well it wasn't until my travels to China until I found out that my surname was of Japanese descent. So, that is where I am currently headed. Hopefully I can find more answers to my origins."

Rajah placed his arms on his knees with his palms facing each other, continuing his warm smile toward the blue-haired young one.

"So I take it that you are training to become a fighter, young one?" he asked Zeshin with a look of concern. "A boy your age should be having fun and enjoying life; not training to become a warrior..."

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

Zeshin looked at Rajah with a puzzled face. He wondered to himself for a moment on the exact reason why he did indeed train,a s it seemed to be recurring question asked to him by all those he sought to teach him anything about swordsmanship. Now he was asked the question by someone he didn't know, and was unsure as to how he would answer.

"I don't know... to be stronger I guess. I mean... I want to be stronger, and this seems like a good way to pass the time in my otherwise boring life. But I can't say I'm training just for myself, I want to protect the things I hold dear, my friends... my mother..." Zeshin said, scratching his head in his typical nervous manner. Looking back at Issac turned back to Rajah. "Oh and by the way... there are plenty of people like you... and they don't smell as bad as old flea back, they're actually kinda nice like you." Zeshin said, chuckling at Issac as he spoke to Rajah.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

If Rajah didn't have any fur on his face, Zeshin and Isaac could have easily seen the blush that graced his cheeks then and there. He embarrassingly retreated his stare from Zeshin's face as he looked at his lap and smiled.

He, Rajah thought to himself. He called me nice...

With a swallow and a small clearing of his throat, Rajah looked back at Zeshin, keeping his smile as he stood up to face him.

"You are a very noble person, Zeshin," Rajah returned with one of his own compliments. "To want to make yourself stronger to protect those you love is the most selfless thing to accomplish."

Rajah walked about a couple yards away from Zeshin with his arms behind his back. As he stopped, he peered at Zeshin over his shoulder, another smile gracing his face.

"So," he said as he turned around to face the blue-haired young one. "Can you show me what you've learned?"

[Issac Verro]

Picking up a small stone, the now reinvigorated Issac tossed it at the back of Zeshin's head. "Yeah loud mouth, show him something. Hopefully its should be good as your jokes about me are funny." Issac said, standing to his feet as he dusted of his usual shabby robes. Walking over to Rajah, Issac handed him the glass container, assuming it to be precious. "Thanks for the drink friend, it hit the spot." Issac said, as his droppy mouth formed a smile. Issac was eager to see if Zeshin had learned anything from there training session several hours ago. "Well... draw your blade and stopped fiddling with you hair kid." Issac said, lightly shoving Zeshin into Rajah's general direction.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah chuckled as the two feuded between each other. From what he observed and what he experienced himself, the relationship between a teacher and his student was so stern and strict. But while observing Issac and Zeshin, the way they interacted with each other was almost as if they were the closest and best of friends.

Something that Rajah lacked for a long time.

Rajah placed his attention back at Zeshin, now about a few feet in front of him thanks to his tutor's shove. He released one of his paws from behind his back and smiled at him.

"Normally I would oppose to such display of force like this," Rajah informed the two. "But it is definitely a rare find to run across someone like yourself who wishes to become stronger not for himself, but for others."

Rajah raised his freed paw and straightened it out so that his palm was open and facing it's masters face.

"And me being the person that I am," he said warmly, "I cannot ignore such selflessness."

Rajah cleared his throat, retaining a serious look in his eyes, yet keeping his smile.

"Now then," he said. "Draw your weapon as your sifu instructed and come at me with everything you have. But be careful; you should never take an unarmed opponent for granted. Are you ready to begin?"

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

Zeshin's laughter was cut short as the rock crashed into the back of his head, causing his head to jerk forward. As he turned to face his master with mild contempt, he saw Issac's facing smiling as he stood up and walked over to where he and Rajah both stood. Zeshin turned back to talk to Rajah, and felt the forceful hand of Issac on his back, propelling him forward right in front of Rajah. From there, the young man had his master's voice in hear ear, partly instructing him to display his skills to Rajah. His message laced a small amount of goading, telling him to draw his blade.

Zeshin was then eager to draw his sword, planting the tip into the earth to hold the sword upright as he removed the ribbons that made up his short sleeved tunic. Balling the ruined shirt up, Zeshin tossed the rags in the air and removed his sword from the ground. Pointing it towards the sky, Zeshin focused his energies through the blade, the shirt erupted into flames, falling to the ground as ashes. Standing there bare chested, all of Zeshin's minor wounds were healed and he clutched his sword close to his chest, "Okay, ready..." Zeshin said with a smile on his face, eager to show off his talent to his master and new found friend.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah was indeed eager to see what awaited Zeshin's swordplay. His smile stayed in tact, even when he saw him remove his battle-worn attire. But when he saw Zeshin channel fire magic through his sword to set it on fire as he threw it in the sky, Rajah's face slowy went from a friendly smile to a gaping awe. His paw even lowered a bit as he took the time to take in what he just saw. But the smile soon returned in the form of revelation.

"I see," he said as he watched the flaming shirt fall to the ground. "So that's what I sensed from you earlier."

Rajah looked at Zeshin more closely; almost as if he were peering into the very essence of his soul. His brown eyes started to turn into a darker shade of the color as he concentrated on the thought in his head.

Or, he thought to himself, is it... something more...?

Bringing himself back to the here and now, Rajah smiled as he raised his paw back to eye level.

"Well," he spoke to Zeshin. "It seems that surprises keep getting the best of both of us, young one."

He then signaled Zeshin with his paw to come forward. "Now come."

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

Zeshin began to size up his opponent, and despite Rajah's gentle demeanor, he was rather large, being a Tora-jin after all, so his stance was one that had him firmly planted in the earth, well grounded and equally balanced. "He stands so still... like he doesn't have to move... gotta change that..." Zeshin thought to himself, carefully inspecting Rajah, whose large hand extending called out to Zeshin to begin the display of skill. Tapping his sword on the back of his boots, Zeshin tested the spring in his legs, which was still present even after his training session with Issac earlier.

Shifting his grasp on his sword to the handle of the blade, Zeshin bounced twice before springing forward, holding his sword with one hand blade away from his body, its tip pointed at the ground below his fist. Heading toward the side of Rajah's frame from which he had his arm extended, Zeshin darted to the exposed side of Rajah, raising his blade and arching down, using his free arm to balance himself from the strike.

[Issac Verro]

Issac watched as Zeshin carefully viewed his opponent, looking for any and all weakness to exploit. Silently approving, Issac continued to watch, stone faced as his pupil attached in a rather unorthodox manner. "Doesn't he know his blade work is less effective swinging that way, unless..." Issac said to himself, trailing off as he pondered exactly what it was that Zeshin was up to.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah continued to smile seriously as he watched Zeshin's approach, making sure to retract the claws on both of his paws before taking any action. He didn't need his spirit energy to see that it would be out of instinct for the blue-haired young one to attack the left side of his body; it was the most exposed aspect of himself. But it was then that Rajah could tell that while his reasons for this training were of good intentions, he was still just a child. And children are sometimes too excited to display their talents that they miss any warnings their adult predecessors give them before hand.

But Rajah couldn't help but see the look of determination in his eyes. They were so full of hope and motivation that it almost made Rajah forget of Zeshin's shown attack on the left side of his lower body. His eyes still a color of dark chocolate, Rajah side-flipped over the sword, still keeping both of his arms in their original places.

When he landed, Rajah performed a 360 degree spin behind Zeshin. With his exposed hand still in place, he jabbed his de-clawed paws quickly yet efficiently in the middle of Zeshin's exposed back; a pressure point he learned about when he trained in the Varma Kalai martial art back at home that would leave the victim in a motion-frozen paralysis for at least two and a half minutes.

Rajah chuckled a bit as his smile turned a bit more playful. He looked at the ground he stood at before his flip and saw that two stalagmites grew from when he broke physical contact with the earth. In a single fluid hand movement, he caused the spiked earth back down to its original form and continued to pay attention to the blue-haired young one.

"That was fun," he said as his tail wagged to go along with his playful smile. "We'll have to do this more sometime." Then pointed at him and raised an eyebrow. "But I did warn you never to take an unarmed opponent for granted."

Rajah placed his paw on Zeshin's left shoulder as he looked at him warmly. He squeezed gently, the shoulder being the release point of the attack, allowing the victim control of their body again. As he let go of Zeshin's shoulder, he looked at Issac with the same smile on his face.

"Did you teach him that form?" he asked as his eyes went back to their regular shade of brown.

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

Despite his size, Rajah proved to be much faster than Zeshin anticipated, landing a clean blow on his back, causing Zeshin to stumble forward. Planting his sword in the earth to brace himself, Zeshin leaned onto his weapon with one hand, and then he felt the small of his back grow tense, his face wincing in mild pain. Then, seconds after the initial contact of Rajah's strike, it was as if Zeshin's tight muscles began to loosen themselves, the point of impact now nothing more than a slight ache or cramp, his Draconic nature coming to his aid unbeknown to Zeshin himself.

Soon as Rajah placed his paw onto the young man's shoulder, feeling a bit of tension from the light grip of the Tora-Jin's hand, he reached to grab Rajah's wrist with his hand and shifted his weight to smash against his side in an attempt to knock him off balance. Pushing off from his grounded position with considerable force, Zeshin the pulled his sword with him and swung the blade in Rajah's direction, bringing the weapon around to attack with it's blunt side.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah felt something grab the wrist of the hand he placed on Zeshin's shoulder. Confused, he looked to see what it was, only to discover that it was Zeshin himself, evidently not through displaying his talents to him. He felt him bombard his side when he let go of his wrist, chuckling lightly to himself after feeling the impact.

He's determined, he thought to himself. I haven't seen determination in a long time..

Rajah tried to find his balance again after the sudden ram, but couldn't get his legs to work together at the same time. It was when he saw Zeshin release his blade from the earth when he knew what was about to happen. Still trying to find a sense of balance in his legs, he unseathed his claws as he saw Zeshin start to swing his sword toward him.

He immediately directed all of his weight to the leg that was in the air, making the left side of his body head to the ground. By the time his left foot planted itself into the earth, Rajah twirled in a 130 degree spin and caught the blade coming toward him within the clutches of his claws. By that time, his right foot found it's roots immediately behind his left and his left elbow facing the blue-haired young one's face. He smiled at the boy whole hearted.

"Come on," he said playfully. "You can do better than that."

[Issac Verro]

Issac continued to view that spar form the side, surprised both by Zeshin in battle ingenuity as well as Rajah's reflexes for his size. "He did say he was a monk didn't he... hmm... his moves are rigid enough to show it." Issac said in his mind, chuckling to himself as Rajah's paw made contact with Zeshin's back. "Paralyzing strike... lot of god it'll do against the kid." Issac continued his inner jests, as he was proven right soon enough, Zeshin's resiliency aided him to quickly counterattack Rajah.

Issac then removed a small glass bottle with a cork top from his robes inner sleeve, removing the cork with a twist. Placing the open bottle near his nose, Issac breathed in the aromatic liquid, sighing in pleasure as he took a small sip, licking his lips before placing his thumb over the open to to close it until he sampled it again. Watching their exchange, Issac focused on Rajah, who seemed to know his way around fighting unarmed, taking Zeshin's blow and using the leverage to grab the sword. "He's good, real good... but taunting the kid might not be so good." Issac said in a low voice, taking another shallow sip of the liquid.