It had been quite awhile since the incident had occurred and I still was not accustomed to this new body of mine. An unlikely source had carried my lifeless body to some shady facility inside of the country and experimented on me enough to save me from death with the assistance of my lord. But I would forever be scarred after waking up from my comatose state in that lab and seeing that I was barely myself anymore aside from my ears which Lord Byakko had managed to keep for me even though they had shifted to accommodate my new hair. My eyes were also different as they closely resembled those of Aikayume Azusa who I heard had taken over the Toraono Clan from Brother Kuro; they are vixen-like and green as beautiful emeralds glistening in the light. These eyes had been stolen from an Aikayume member as my daughter had decided to sneak into their estate while I was unconscious and murder one of their family members plucking the eyes out before leaving the body for the elders of the clan to locate. They were then transplanted into my eye sockets while I was still out cold and I woke up to them there reminding me every day that I lost to my former apprentice and crush, Azusa. One of these days, I will finally work up the courage to locate her and talk with her about the events leading up to where we were now in life.But for now, I had been summoned to my training grounds in the earlier hours of today as Lord Byakko had given me a vision in my slumber to summon him today for a talk of sorts. Being the great follower that I was, I could not say no to my lord as he had kept me alive countless times and had guided me in my life to where I was today even if there were some bumps in the road that were all caused by my own fault. As soon as I arrived to my training guards, I would bow to my guards who had done their best to keep my home safe and then excuse them from the area as a conversation between lord and descendant must never be heard by others unless the great lord deemed it necessary. As they left, I had to wander what Lord Byakko had in store for me as his physical appearance usually meant a challenge or trial of sorts that I had to accomplish for him which typically brought me towards a life-or-death situation if one was to remember back to my struggle against the mighty carnasaur, who was part human and part creature. That had been a difficult task to accomplish, but I managed to do so and was given the right to summon any of the Feline Court that I met that day.
But I could not reflect on the good times and keep my great lord waiting as I would bite my right thumb, since I had both of my arms again, and go through the proper handseals to summon the celestial creature. With a poof of smoke, the legendary creature would show himself right in front of me with his beautiful snow-white fur and his blue-eyes that reflected right back into my green vixen ones. I knew this was going to be an interesting conversation to say the least, but I also knew that I was going to get a lecture. Like clockwork he would begin talking to me: "Byakko Kyuji, it is good to see that you have adjusted to your body after a few days, but I am still warning you to take better care of yourself! You might have the blessing of me, but you are still a human being and your body cannot endure what mine can. As it currently stands, you have wasted three of your lives in this world and are now sitting on your fourth one...try to use it carefully. You have a family and kids to think about so you need to stop trying to be the hero when it comes to everything."<i></i>
At this point in time, I would have loved to have responded to my lord, but his demeanor had changed quickly and he spoke with anger in his voice that felt like lightning striking a tree and splintering it in half to me: "YOU ARE FORTUNATE TO BE ALIVE IN THE CURRENT STATE THAT YOU ARE IN. BUT DUE TO YOUR CARELESSNESS, YOU HAVE LOST THE EYES OF BYAKKO AND ALLOWED SOMEONE TO EAT THEM! THAT IS A TRUE DISGRACE TO YOUR CLAN AND ME. LUCKILY FOR YOU, I AM GOING TO GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO REDEEM YOURSELF. BUT IN DOING SO, DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME AGAIN OR YOU MAY LOSE CONTACT WITH ME AS I AM GROWING RESTLESS WITH YOU! NOW, THE WAY FOR YOU TO NOT DISAPPOINT ME IS TO PICK UP THE SWORD THAT YOU HAD CRAFTED WITH FEATHERSTEEL GLASS FROM THAT CARNASAUR ABOMINATION AND USE IT RIGHTEOUSLY. PROVE TO ME THAT I AM NOT WASTING OUR TIME HERE, KYUJI."<i></i>
Then after he spoke with anger and annoyance, he went back to his normal volume level to continue: "I have blessed the sword and put a part of my life essence inside of it so I am always with you. It is only a small amount but you might notice the sword glowing much like your former eyes did when you enter combat with it wielded. All that I can say from here is train hard, my descendant, and next time, I hope we can talk on a better note."<i></i> It was at this time that I thought that I would have an opportunity to speak, but he poofed in the same smoke-like fashion as he came and I was left alone in my training grounds. Byakko had proven that I had not been the best descendant and follower with his words, but he knew that I had potential still or he wouldn't have blessed my blade and put a part of him inside of it. I still had a lot to learn as his descendant and follower it would appear.
For the rest of my day and the coming days, I would begin training in the way of my sword once again. It had been so long since I last picked up a sword that I had to retrain myself in the way of swordsmanship that I taught Azusa, but fortunately I was not handicapped with a lack of an arm. But, I still needed to teach this new body of mine how to move fluently with a sword and also how to properly get into position to be able to land a successful strike without falling flat on my face. There would be a lot of sweat, blood, and tears spilled while I trained and there would come times when frustration and thoughts of giving up would enter my mind, but I would shake those "demons" as I had to get better for myself and my lord. If I could just push onward in training and life, Lord Byakko would be proud of me and I would show that I wasn't a failure to him along with proving to my family that I wasn't a liability and could actually be counted on for protecting them. I also could then eventually cross blades with Azusa again in a rematch to show her that her victory against me was a fluke and also eliminate Akkuma as a problem that has been crawling on me for years and years. But for now, I would just need to continually train my heart out and adjust to this body more and more while waiting for the opportunity to speak with these two creatures that dwell in my home country.
[WC: 1313]
[Topic Entered/Left]