Meditation [Zeshin][FINISHED]

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

All Rajah could do was smile at Zeshin's eagerness. And as hard as he tried to keep his own concentration, the Tora-jin was only glad that the blue-haired young one started to see the possibilities when he started to concentrate his power positively.

Rajah chuckled to himself as he heard Zeshin's excitement over his situation. "Good," he praised. In realization, Rajah noticed the spirit magic residing in his palms. He thought about both the quick revelation of Zeshin's control, then thought about seeing how well he would be able to involve that control in a combatant situation.

So with a clench of his palms, Rajah allowed the spirit magic to engulf his body in the form of a somewhat hazy aura. He had his eyes closed; thinking upon the previous situation he invoked that what he was thinking about doing seemed to echo. But after finally making up his mind, he opened his eyes and smiled at Zeshin; his eyes dimly glowing green from his spirit essence.

"And now that you understand the possibilities," he said, "it is time for you to control it."

Rajah stood up and placed his hands behind his back.

"On your feet, Zeshin," he told him. "It is time for a bit of magical combat."

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

Zeshin watched as the large Tora-jin gracefully stood to his feet, his aura coming off of his body as water flowed from the mouth of a river into a tributary. He then instructed Zeshin to stand and prepare for magical combat, an opportunity Zeshin had waited for for and leaped to his feet, cracking his knuckles and planting his feet into the earth. Zeshin had taken to time to exercise more often in the early morning as he prepared the tavern for the day, and despite the fatigue that plagued him later in the day, he hadn't felt better in a long time, his aura radiating off of him.

"I'm ready to do this..." Zeshin said to himself, his magical energy spilling in every direction, flooding the area with his warm red light. "Okay Rajah, I'm to go whenever you are." Zeshin said in a confident tone, consolidating his energy into himself as he prepared to battle Rajah. Zeshin sought to prevent the mistakes he made in their last conflict, never having participated in a fight without weapons, Zeshin took no chance in laying down without his best effort, even if this was training, Zehsin would give his very best, for that's all he could ever do.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah watched Zeshin as his eagerness to start immediately made itself known on his face. The blue-haired young one immediately stood up and cracked his knuckles as he prepared himself for what Rajah had planned. After sensing his excitement and eagerness thanks to his freely falling spirit magic, once again all the Tora-jin could do was smile.

Rajah removed his arms from behind his back and placed them clasped in front of his waist. Staring at the boy with his glowing green eyes he nodded, silently telling him that he himself was also ready. But he didn't want to continue without instructing a few ground rules first.

"Remember, Zeshin," he started. "Use both your good and bad memories to fuel your magical intake. Whenever your bad memories start to fuel your abilities too greatly, use your good memories to counter it quickly. And since we are on cliff side, please be extra careful where you step; it's a long way down from here."

Rajah unclasped his paws and stood in a martial arts stance, continuing to smile at the boy. "I will let you make the first move."

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

Upon hearing Rajah offer for Zeshin to make the first move, the blue-haired youth wasted no time in preparing his attack. Taking note of Rajah's well disciplined and particular fighting style from their last encounter, zeshin channeled his magic, and began to heat the ground around where Rajah stood, leaving the ground directly underneath Rajah's feet relatively cool. Soon enough, the ground around the usually barefoot Tora-jin was now uncomfortable hot, and Zeshin knew well what his plan of attack would be.

Thinking back to what Rajah had said, Zeshin begin to stack his memories, fueling himself on the more troubling memories as he began to attack Rajah, his channeled magic increasing his speed and strength dramatically as he covered the space between them in a fraction of a second, dashing toward Rajah with one hand extending, shooting a fireball in the direction of the Tora-jin, while comfortably standing on the heated ground, keeping his distance to a foot from Rajah as he had now encased him with a small arena of non heated soil.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah did not need to move; his feet were firmly planted with the earth underneath him. Even as he felt the ground around him start to swelter with Zeshin's heat from his magic, he stayed perfectly still. It was not because the area his feet stood atop of was relatively comfortable; back when he was in India, he trained in discipline and patience by daily walking on heated coals simmering around the heat he felt around him, so the heat was no problem. It was because only in his planted position would the Tora-jin have been able to use both his spirit and earth magics at the same time.

From the looks on the young one's face, Rajah could tell that Zeshin had a plan. With his spirit magic, Rajah could feel Zeshin do exactly as he instructed him to do; feeding his powers with his agitated memories. Once he felt he was at a certain comfort level, the boy ran toward him with an arm extended. He shot a fireball toward Rajah, but the Tora-jin's face stayed emotionless as one of his glowing green eyes turned brown.

With a simple raise of his left arm, the heated ground in front of Rajah raised about ten feet in height. Because of it's heated circumstance, once the fireball hit, the ground blasted into miniature pieces as it hardened into a brown kind of stone. With a fold of his arms, the medium-sized stones started to hover around the Tora-jin as he continued to stare Zeshin down, refusing to say a word; he wanted the boy to read his next movement.

Rajah's left eye glowed green with his spirit magic as his right glowed brown with his equally powerful earth control as the stones as big as a child's playground ball continued to gravitate around their life source. And with a simple nod, the miniature boulders shot themselves toward Zeshin like cannonballs from an ancient naval ship. He stood there, hoping Zeshin would take the appropriate actions as to how to deal with such a situation...

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

Zeshin braced himself as the large boulders flew toward him, the first of rocks crashing into his shoulder knocking him back. Reeling from the pain, Zeshin noticed the part of his shirt had been singed in the collision, as the other small boulder continued to soar toward him. Sensing his magic with the presence of the rocks, Zeshin released a wave of energy at the rocks, causing all of them to exlpode in to dust by igniting his latent magic which still lie with the heated earth.

Regaining his composure within the cloud of dust from the rocks, Zeshin stood firmly, his minor shoulder injury healed before the dust could even settle. Forming heat within his hands, Zeshin began to squeeze together the fiery energy. Soon the force because so great Zeshin was struggling to clasp his open hands together. Looking at Rajah with glowing eyes, Zeshin turned his hands forward and released a simoon of great force, the currnet of heated air burning the sparse foliage to cinders as it flowed closer to Rajah. Pushing more of his magic into the wave, Zeshin began to walk forward, pushing the now super heated air at Rajah, as hand ablaze and the light from his eyes the only thing visible form the other side.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah continued to stand his ground as the boulders flew toward Zeshin. When the first one hit Zeshin, his eyes widened. He was instantly ready to immediately stop and check on the blue-haired young one to see if he was hurt. Then he remembered Issac's words, telling him on the day he met that this was just what Zeshin needed. And with that, he nodded his head in agreement of Issac's advice and kept on with his training.

Unsurprising to Rajah, Zeshin channeled in to his magic to destroy the remaining boulders. The particles that they created formed a dust cloud around the two. Unfolding his arms Rajah pulled the particles out of visions way, but not releasing them just yet. Because once he was able to see, Zeshin used his abilities to heat the air and send it his way, almost like that of a sand storm from the particles that he failed to control.

Frowning in anxiousness, Rajah immediately rose his arms upward, sending the particles of stone and dirt in the way of the fierce fiery wind. Colliding with the heat and the other particles, a cylinder of glass formed as the wind continued to spiral the Tora-jin's way. In the midst of this, Rajah lifted his right paw, summoning the earth underneath his feet to launch him into the air. After a display of acrobatic ability, Rajah called on the ground he stood on as he was in mid-air.

"Use your memories Zeshin!" Rajah's voice echoed due to the spirit magic surrounding him. "And show me everything you have!"

With a mighty thrust of the Tora-jin's paw, Rajah sent the large piece of earth colliding into the tall statuesque cylinder of glass. Shards of glass sprayed across the cliff side with the speed of a preyed animal. And as Rajah's mass started to weigh him back to the ground, he watched as gravity took a hold of him to see Zeshin's next plan of action.

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

Soon as Rajah erected a pillar to stand upon, the earth that was once a storm of sand became glass clear as crystal. Rajah soon caused a large rock to crash into it, send shards of glass all over the area. At the insistence of Rajah's words, Zeshin channeled the memories he had began to stock pile during the training session. Not having the luxury to filter out what thoughts would have been appropriate, Zeshin channeled his anger from their last encounter, and coupled it with his frustration at his lack of progress in training with Peteo to unleash a wave of fire that absorbed and melted the glass that flew toward his, melting it into slag as it hit the ground.

Looking up, Zeshin could see Rajah coming down to the earth, and with swirl of his hands, the young pyrotechnic took the surrounding heat wave and directed it at the falling Tora-Jin, the now super heated air sending a blazing updraft to Rajah, which carried a fierce column of fire underneath it. Zeshin's aura now blazed a violent red and illuminated the darkening area, as the Sun had reached it's zenith after the pair reached the top of the mountain, the day now at dusk. The young man's had energy began to take a life of its own, his once ambient and only colorful aura now as hot as the very flames that flickered between his fingertips.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

In the sky, Rajah could see Zeshin's essence shoot off of him violently through the vision his spiritual energy allowed him to. He was using the training he installed earlier. But from what it seemed, he disregarded the way of evening out the energy by countering his agitated memories with his fond ones. But unfortunately for the Tora-jin, Rajah could not react accordingly in time. For as he was falling back to the cliff-side, the blue-haired young one sent a wicked blast of heated air his way.

"ZESH-" was all he had the opportunity to say before the blaze of fierce wind hit him with full force. It singed his blue training garb and knocked him through the air at least five yards back. He spiraled through the air uncontrollably, unable to successfully call upon his earth magic to ease the unavoidable landing. When it happened, he didn't land on his feet. He landed on his side, bounced off the ground beneath him and continued to roll on the ground at a rather fast rate.

By the time his body did come to a skid to slow down his body started to spin with it, unable to allow the Tora-jin to grasp the element within his grasp to stop. When he did slow down however, the cliff side started to run out. And when he did get a grasp of something to stop himself with, he continued to hold on to it. It was a branch of a bush well rooted on the cliffs edge as the Tora-jin held on tightly with both hands, dangling off the edge of the cliff for dear life.

Rajah's grasp did not let up. Whereas he had never been in a predicament such as this before he tried his hardest not to show worry and fear on his face, even though his heart rate was arguing differently. And his mind was nowhere near the calm he had to be in order to summon his ability over the element that he was counting his life on. He started to worry, and he knew that was not going to help. Worry increases adrenaline and he needed to be calm. But his own stubbornness started to get in the way of even that. So, through both the combination of his stubbornness and his worry over his current predicament, Rajah did the only thing his mind would recognize at the moment.

He cried for help.

"ZESHIN!!!!"

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

Zeshin was ecstatic when he saw his magic connect, letting out a small cheer as his attack successful was, he clenched his fists in satisfaction only to be horrified at what he saw next. His attack had proven to be indeed to fierce, knocking Rajah through the air as the large Tora-Jin screamed Zeshin's name, his fall from the sky hard, as he tumbled to the ground, struggling to regain his footing. Eventually he slid to a cliff, where he went over, and Zeshin swallowed the massive lump in his throat sickened by what he had done to Rajah.

Hearing Rajah yelling for his help, Zeshin bolted to the side of the cliff where Rajah struggled to gain some leverage, his body channeling the latent his around him into both power and speed as he erupted like a rocket upon take off, the ground under where his feet stood now glass indented by the weight of his feet. Arriving a the edge of the cliff Zeshin slammed himself chest first to the ground hastily to extend a hand to Rajah. "HURRY, GRAB MY HAND!" Zeshin said, panicking as his aura tore through the air, the wind hissing from the heat of his extended hand to Rajah as the cliff began to crumble beneath him, gritting his teeth as he reached for Rajah.

Looking down at Rajah, Zeshin noticed his fierce looking hand extending, and he noticed the stone near it cracking and melting from heat coming from it. It was then he realized that it would be a grave mistake to continue his extension to Rajah, unless he could get his magic under control, after which he extended his hand and took deep breaths, focusing on the extended appendage, trying to cool its temperature to be safe enough for Rajah to grab. After a few seconds, the fiery energy around his hand dissipated, his dirt covered fingers were all that were there to grab the paw of his endangered friend.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah continued to hold on to the bush branch on the side of the cliff, trying to calm down the adrenaline and panic so he could focus his attention on controlling the earth around him to get himself out of his current situation. But as he looked around him, the Tora-jin noticed the soil and stone start to harden and brittle before him; as if an intense heat were prematurely corroding the element making up the cliff side.

Once again, Rajah started to worry. His breathing started to pick up and his adrenaline that he had just got under control slowly started to pick up. But something happened that allowed Rajah to try and calm down. He saw Zeshin lying on the cliff side, reaching out for the helpless Tora-jin.

"HURRY! GRAB MY HAND!" Zeshin yelled in a tone just as scared as Rajah's.

Without hesitation, Rajah let go of the bush branch with one of his paws and swung it toward Zeshin's hand. Unfortunately instead of grabbing it, Rajah's paw retreated as he felt Zeshin's heated magic oozing from his outstretched hand. The sudden retreat caused the Tora-jin to slightly lose his grip on the branch with his other paw, causing him to start plummeting.

Quickly, Rajah grabbed the end of the bush branch before his fate was sealed. However, grabbing his life rope that quickly jump-started the crumbling of the cliff-side, mysteriously eroding right in front of him. Focusing on Zeshin's hand -- now cooled to the point of touch from what he sensed with his spirit magic -- and continuing to focus on summoning his earth magic, Rajah pulled himself up the branch to reach for Zeshin's hand, risking the further desolation of the cliff.

With three tugs of the branch, Rajah could once again see Zeshin's frightened face and grabbed his hand, correct in his assumption that it was now cool to the touch. But as he grabbed the hand of his friend, Rajah could start to hear and feel the separation of the cliff-side; the side they both were on.

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

Zeshin felt his heart sink as it appeared if Rajah would plummet to his doom as his hand reeled back from the flames exuding from his hand, relieved only when he saw the Tora-jin reach for another branch and grabbing his hand after it was cooled to a safer temperature. Upon grabbing his friend's massive paw, Zeshin found out that Rajah size was indeed directly proportional to his weight, and even with his budding strength, Rajah was immensely heavy. Straining, Zeshin started to feel the ground scratch against his chest as he started slide toward the edge his smaller, lighter body giving way to the weight of Rajah.

"You weigh a ton you striped dummy!" Zeshin said as he continued to grit his teeth in frustration, his eyes squeezed shut from the strain of holding Rajah from falling. It was then that Zeshin felt the ground underneath him begin to give way. Then, in a rush of both panic induced adrenaline, and anger filled magic, Zeshin's now opened eyes beamed with bright light, as his muscle fibers hardened and his tendons became more pliable. His skin began to scale underneath his clothing atop his hardened musculature and in a phenomenal feet of strength Zeshin heaved Rajah over the top of the cracking cliff, 3 feet away from himself. The earth on the cliff then crumbled under the stress and fractured as Zeshin lie atop of it, the young dragon now on the path to falling to a fate he had just saved Rajah from.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah watched in amazement as Zeshin used what he sensed from their first meeting to heave the Tora-jin out of harms way. However, he was still in a state of mind where he couldn't notice the scales growing on his skin before he tossed him. But as the Tora-jin landed safely, he noticed that his mindset was once again ready to summon his abilities over the earth. Unfortunately, the revelation of this matter came to Rajah as he saw the cliff crumble into pieces, taking the blue-haired young one unwillingly in its fall.

"NO!!" Rajah yelled. Now knowing what to do, the Tora-jin ran toward the separated cliff and dove off, using what he learned about aerodynamics in India to quickly catch up with Zeshin. When he did, he immediately grabbed the boy around the waist, keeping him close out of his protective instinct. As the ground came closer and closer, Rajah's eyes started to turn dark brown.

"HANG ON!!" he yelled. And with a flick of his free wrist, the earth from the mountainside immediately sprang out and formed a continuously forming road underneath Rajah's feet. The determined Tora-jin rode it like a tidal wave with Zeshin in his protection. It twisted and turned to avoid the falling debris from the cliff side, moving rather fast.

However once a boulder collided with the road formed behind them, the lack of earth to continue the feed made the wave of earth cease. Fortunate for them, it decided to cease a few feet above the mild-flowing river they spotted once they reached the mountaintop in the first place. As soon as the two entered the river, Rajah immediately started swimming to shore, still keeping Zeshin close out of his protective instincts. Even as he sat against a tree to catch his breath from their near-death experience, he refused to let go, finding the situation his fault to begin with. However, Rajah wasn't one to keep on a negative experience for long.

"Well then," he said in-between breaths. "I do believe... that's enough training... for one day..."

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

Before Zeshin knew it, he had begun to fall from the cliff, the rocks now no more than pebbles beneath his falling body. Reaching out for anything, to latch on to, Zeshin was caught off guard as Rajah dove after him, helping to cushion their descent to the ground, as the landed in a river. Zeshin remained still as Rajah pulled them both from the water, relived that the worst of it was now over, that was until Rajah sat underneath a tree, still holding onto Zeshin as if he were a baby.

Feeling the crush of the well intentioned, yet heavy handed Rajah, Zeshin squirmed free and spat up a fair amount of water. Hearing his sifu's subtle plea to cease training for the day, Zeshin smiled as the water dripped from his hair and dirtied clothing now muddied from the day of extensive training.

"Yeah... that's it for me..." Zeshin said, sitting back and breathing hard as well, looking up to the sky. Raising his body temperature higher, Zeshin began to dry himself and his clothing, taking notice the mountain had become significantly cooler. Extending his hand, Zeshin shot a ball of fire onto a rather dry tree limb that had found its way to the base of the tree, the fallen branch a blaze near Rajah, providing him with heat and warmth to dry himself. "You're lucky that cliff broke... I was just getting started..." Zeshin said, laughing mildly in the night air.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Once Rajah was able to register that it was safe to let go of Zeshin, he noticed that the blue-haired young one was free from his caring grip, agreeing with his suggestive words as a smile appeared on his face as well. Shivering from the cold of the river and the night air, he watched gleefully as his new friend aided in his warmth by setting fire to a nearby tree limb.

The Tora-jin silently thanked him with a toothless smile, then extended his arms to warm himself. He could already feel his fur drying significantly quickly, and at that moment no other feeling was better. His eyes were brought to Zeshin's attention as he heard him joke about the moments leading to their current location. When he laughed at his own humor, so did Rajah, finding it settling that the young one could make a positive moment from a somewhat bad experience like he always did.

Once the laughter started to die off and his fur and clothes were completely dry, he stared at Zeshin from the other side of the fire with his usual smile.

"Regardless Zeshin," he started as he rested his arm on his raised knee, "you have performed better than I had expected today." A nod of his head added a slight pause in Rajah's words. "I am very proud of you."

Immediately after finishing his statement, the Tora-jin laid on his back, resting his paws on his stomach. He opened his eyes only to be greeted by the countless amounts of stars in the sky. And because of this, he smiled.

"I will never get tired of staring into the night sky," he said softly.

[Zeshin Lak-el Ury]

"Thanks..." Zeshin said to, ecstatic to have received Rajah's approval, content knowing that despite the set back the resulted in them drying their clothes on the rivers edge, his skill was progressing as much as his powers, the amount of control he exercised over his natural element making him more comfortable with displaying his talents in and out of combat. His clothes dry as well Zeshin turned his attention to the sky that Rajah had announced he had so come to admire.

The air night air was crisp and cool, filled with the smell of smoke front their burning wood, Zeshin had long since finished drying himself and now took the moment to bask in the still calm of the early evening alongside Rajah.

"Yeah, sometimes if you stare at it for long enough you feel like your no longer on the ground." Zeshin said staring at the heavens in awe. When alone, after a night's work Zeshin would find himself lost in thought, small voices in the back of his mind calling out to him, his mind able to see, smell, and hear their experiences in his mind, something he thought to nothing but vivid dreams were more real than he gave them credit to. Standing to his feet completely fry now, Zeshin walked over to Rajah, "Let's get back before it gets to late." the youth suggested to Rajah.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah could definitely agree with the young one's words about how he felt about starring into a starry sky. The Tora-jin found it fascinating how much the two had in common. He hadn't been able to become that close to anyone since his trip to China. And he hadn't heard from Rowan in such a long time, that he was afraid he forgot about him. It was like Zeshin was the only friend he made in a long time. But the fact that he was so great to be around made Rajah feel somewhat more at ease about his lack of companions.

He saw Zeshin walk over to the tiger. "Let's get back before it gets too late," he suggested. Rajah smiled both in agreement and just by knowing that meeting this boy was one of the best things that has happened to him lately.

He sat up before using the tree behind him as leverage to stand, using his ability over earth to have the dirt smother the fire. He nodded as he gently rest one of his paws on Zeshin's shoulder.

"That sounds like a great idea," Rajah said. "I need to rest my head anyways."

And so Rajah started to lead the trek back to their quarters, happy with how the day was spent. However now the Tora-jin knew first hand that when training with this young wonder, that maybe he should just stick to meditation...