In Keeping Secrets of Silent Serenity
Jul 31, 2013 14:20:44 GMT -7
Post by sainteaon on Jul 31, 2013 14:20:44 GMT -7
"Once more Saito, and remember exhale, and pull back. You'll be exposed after the cut, so regaining balance and avoiding the next cut is a necessity." Hiko spoke as Saito responded, crouching down and pulling his sword, hilt and all out of his belt and gripping it in his left hand. Through the cracks in the leaves trickled sunlight of a day now fading into the quiet of the night time. This was only the beginning of the night though, for this was the final cut. His green eyes fell from the distracting beauty of the Land of Rain to Master Hiko. His thumb pressed against the pommel of his katana, and his vision became tunneled.
It took less than a fraction of a second. Saito stepped forward, drawing his blade at speeds the untrained eye couldn't even comprehend. Hiko rushed Saito like a madman rushing for his death, and silence was interrupted by the loud clang of metal and the weight of Saito's body crushing the underbrush of the woods behind the Tachibana estate. Saito's blade landed somewhere off to the side of him, and a crisp stinging in the cool evening air made its way across his cheek and up his eye to his forehead. The crispness was suddenly and immediately replaced by the warmth of blood seeping from the wound as Saito pulled himself from the ground, picking up his blade, glancing at his reflection only for a moment. Hiko was just inhumanly fast.
"You trust your eyes too much Saito. There is a blind spot in your form, you must also rely on hearing, smell, and touch in combat. In this practice there was no smell, and this engagement is too fast to feel, and so you must hear the location of your opponent, otherwise you leave yourself open." Hiko lectured as Saito sheathed his bladed and nodded through panted breaths at his Master. Silently he wondered if Hiko had had such a hard time learning from his master the ways of the second born. With their practice stopped though it was time to get his wound patched up, and while normally Saito had found himself in the past seeking the family's physicians to tend his wounds, in town the aide to the Village doctor was about Saito's age and he found her very appealing so he walked, his face sliced open down from his family's home.
Outside the woods the sun set on the road, painting the wet landscape orange. Saito wore his purple scarf around his neck, though he was constantly cautious to make sure he didn't drip blood on his favorite keepsake from his younger, yet most recent days of training. His mind flustered as he walked, trying to make sense of his Master's cryptic words. How was someone who had all their senses working fine supposed to improve their other senses to be able to react at speeds so fast the eye couldn't comprehend it? Saito was unsure, yet he knew it was something he'd have to understand before he could even begin to learn his family's Tachibana style of swordsmanship.
It took less than a fraction of a second. Saito stepped forward, drawing his blade at speeds the untrained eye couldn't even comprehend. Hiko rushed Saito like a madman rushing for his death, and silence was interrupted by the loud clang of metal and the weight of Saito's body crushing the underbrush of the woods behind the Tachibana estate. Saito's blade landed somewhere off to the side of him, and a crisp stinging in the cool evening air made its way across his cheek and up his eye to his forehead. The crispness was suddenly and immediately replaced by the warmth of blood seeping from the wound as Saito pulled himself from the ground, picking up his blade, glancing at his reflection only for a moment. Hiko was just inhumanly fast.
"You trust your eyes too much Saito. There is a blind spot in your form, you must also rely on hearing, smell, and touch in combat. In this practice there was no smell, and this engagement is too fast to feel, and so you must hear the location of your opponent, otherwise you leave yourself open." Hiko lectured as Saito sheathed his bladed and nodded through panted breaths at his Master. Silently he wondered if Hiko had had such a hard time learning from his master the ways of the second born. With their practice stopped though it was time to get his wound patched up, and while normally Saito had found himself in the past seeking the family's physicians to tend his wounds, in town the aide to the Village doctor was about Saito's age and he found her very appealing so he walked, his face sliced open down from his family's home.
Outside the woods the sun set on the road, painting the wet landscape orange. Saito wore his purple scarf around his neck, though he was constantly cautious to make sure he didn't drip blood on his favorite keepsake from his younger, yet most recent days of training. His mind flustered as he walked, trying to make sense of his Master's cryptic words. How was someone who had all their senses working fine supposed to improve their other senses to be able to react at speeds so fast the eye couldn't comprehend it? Saito was unsure, yet he knew it was something he'd have to understand before he could even begin to learn his family's Tachibana style of swordsmanship.