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Post by Saizomaru on Aug 9, 2018 8:00:58 GMT -6
Saizomaru PL: 43,000 (Base)
Saizomaru glanced down at her when she spoke. She sounded hesitant as she stopped in her tracks, the android only two paced in front of her. He turned to her, waiting for the girl to say something more. He watched as she glanced down at the ground in front of her, and then she continued.
Saizomaru could only imagine what it was that was said to her. Something to do with her past, no doubt. Perhaps something to do with her family—the reason why that subject seemed to be a sort of sore spot for her, not wanting them to be "involved", as she had put it. But he did not push the subject, nor did he push her to speak. She will come around in due time. Probably.
It didn't take but a few moments for the girl to gather her thoughts before she had responded to the android. The response wasn't as dire as Saizomaru once thought it would have been, but it was still a ache for Kitiana. The thought of untapped power would have been a drive, a spark of determination for anyone—but for her? It seemed more like a troublesome self-inflicted scratch on her esteem.
Blue eyes followed the girl as she made her way towards the tree, striking it with great force, greater than that of most mortal men. But still she cursed herself for not doing any more than what she was prophesised.
A sigh relented from Saizomaru's lips. "Potential," he said with a gentle voice. "Some people have the insight, sometimes a power, to see the potential within someone." He hummed as he made his way over to her. He turned to face her as he leaned back against the trunk of the tree just off to the side where she had struck it. A shift of his gaze glanced over and the mark, seeing slight cracks that could be mistaken for the grain of the bark, then looked back towards Kitiana.
"My father had that sort of power. Every day when we trained he would say that he saw potential in me. At the time I didn't know whether he was being literal or if he just said that as a form of encouragement, from father to son. But as I grew older, trained harder, learned more, I began to understand."
An arm reached out and a metal hand clasped on the girl's shoulder, fingers clenching gently but firm—assurance. "Time spent chasing ghosts for answers is better spent looking inward and finding them yourself. That's what my father told me."
Saizomaru had been in her place once before. Instead of chasing people, he had chased knowledge. He remembered spending long, late nights in the family's study perusing through old books and scrolls and scriptures, trying to figure out what exactly was "power" and how he could obtain it my any means necessary. Then he found himself.
He let his hand drop from her shoulder and smiled. Pushing his back off of the tree he stood up straight, then rolled his shoulders. "Sun is beginning to set. The journey should only take an hour or so to get to the village. Better get going before it gets dark out. No telling what kind of animals will be on the hunt come nightfall."
He walked past her and back on the path. "You coming?"
Kitiana Shinso
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Post by Kitiana Shinso on Aug 12, 2018 8:16:51 GMT -6
Kitiana listened as he spoke, insight, power, potential, none of it mattered if Kitiana couldn't access it. But just so Saizomaru began to speak about his Father, and how he trained him because he saw potential. Whether he was human or not didn't matter, Kitiana thought hard about his words as he spoke. Thinking inwardly about what he said, Just as he said too. Thoughts raced through her head as she tried to grasp something, That's when she heard something... Or thought she had anyway. Looking up Saizomaru didn't seem to have heard it, But she didn't move as he began to move back to the path. Kitiana looked back at the tree, then down at her fist. So many thoughts were racing through her head at this moment, thinking back to what had happened to her instead of what was happening. It was like something or someone else had taken control, She was an entirely different person... but why?
Turning around towards him she nodded, taking one last glance at the tree before starting to move towards him. But even as they walked she was still looking towards the ground, deep in thought about what was happening. That's when it hit her like a ton of bricks, Kitiana quickly moved in front of him and turned to face him "Train me, Just like your Father trained you." She demanded, staring up at him with a certain fire in her eyes that could only be comparable to an uncontrolled wild fire.
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Post by Saizomaru on Aug 12, 2018 14:32:11 GMT -6
Saizomaru PL: 43,000 (Base)
He awaited for her to join him, but Saizomaru took a moment to glance over at her. Something about her was off, more so than her increasing defensiveness. He watched as Kitiana began to look at the tree, to her hand, and back up again. He could see her flux of emotions in her body language—hesitation, contemplation, and confusion.
He began to walk away from her, leaving the girl to her own devices as he made his way down the game path. But the suddenly she had bolted out from seemingly nowhere, standing right in front of him, her eyes glaring up at his own.
Then he saw it. That hesitation and contemplation and confusion had turned to realization and determination.
Saizomaru was taken aback by her request. It wasn't the first time that he was asked to be someone's trainer, their teacher, their master. He looked down at her, his face sober and unreadable. He pondered what to say.
"No." The answer was simple and blunt. Then: "I won't train you as my father trained me. The techniques that I have learned in my training cannot be passed down to anyone outside of my family's bloodline."
He placed a hand on her head, his fingers threading through the girl's hair. He smiled. "But I will train you what you need to know. I guess you can consider yourself my second student. However…"
He let his hand fall from her head back down to his side."You will follow these tenets: First, you will address me formally—teacher, sensei, master, whatever you wish. To know and to give respect is pertinent. Second, you will follow my instructions to the letter when we are training or if I deem that a task will be beneficial to it. Third, the skills that I will teach you will be used only to defend yourself, defend those you care for, or to defend the innocent. At no point will you use your skills to cause harm unto others unless warranted.
And lastly… from this point on, you will not lie to me. To lie to your master is to lie to yourself, and if you cannot have faith in yourself then you cannot expect anyone else to."
He smirked at her. "If you agree to those terms, then I will accept you as my student. Tell me, what was your name again?"
Kitiana Shinso
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Post by Kitiana Shinso on Aug 13, 2018 14:08:19 GMT -6
Kitiana waited, and waited... and waited. For what seemed like an eternity she waited, Staring into Saizomaru's eyes. 'No' That one word... Her heart sank as she was denied, a rush of emotions filled her. Anger, Hatred, Frustration, Impatience, Sadness... So many different emotions all combining themselves like a kaleidoscope. "But I ne-" Kitiana was cut off as he continued, speaking of how his techniques weren't to be passed to anyone outside of his bloodline. To be honest Kitiana didn't care about his techniques, She only really wanted him to train her so she could get stronger and confront Maple on a hopefully more even footing. But that was when he placed a hand on her head, his fingers slowly shifting through her hair. Despite living in the wild, her hair was surprisingly soft to the touch and very well maintained.
But he did agree to train her, His second student in fact. Kitiana didn't much care for his other student in truth, But the emotions that had once flooded into her began to dissipate. That was when he began to go over his rules for if she truly wanted him to train her. The first one was simple, address him as her Teacher. Fair enough, He was going to be training her after all so it made sense. The second was also fairly straight forward, and for Kitiana it again made sense. He was her teacher, so of course she would need to listen to what he said during the training. The third one, as with the first two, was also straightforward and simple for Kitiana to understand. To be honest, she had only ever planned on using this strength to force Maple to talk.
The last one, however, was different from the others, No lying. Kitiana let out a soft sigh as she thought about this, all of the other rules she could easily agree too. But she needed this training, Nothing she did on her own worked. She had punched trees until her hands were bleeding, kicked them until her legs were so sore she couldn't move... And yet nothing came from it. She had only two options, accept and be hopeful... Or decline and risk never being able to confront Maple. "My name... is Kitiana Shinso."
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Post by Saizomaru on Aug 16, 2018 15:39:51 GMT -6
Saizomaru PL: 43,000 (Base)
The android smiled at her response. A part of his was disappointed that the girl had lied to him, but he had already known that. "Kitiana, huh?" He chuckled before taking to paces past her, gazing out into the distance that the game path lead onto. "Good. You didn't look anything like Maple."
He turned to her with a sober face, his expression void of much emotion. "I assume that's who you are looking for, right? Hardly a coincidence that you would take someone else's name if you didn't know of them." He folded his arms across his chest, a finger tapping against the metal crook of his elbow. "Power is what you seek to confront this person. Sorry to say but this Maple that you're looking for is no longer here—as in, no longer in the living realm. At least that's what I gathered from speaking to one of her… colleagues."
He turned away from her once more. "Chasing ghosts is a waste of your time. Seems as though your journey has come to an end. Or maybe… something new. If you still wish to gain power, to gain strength above those who stand against you, then follow."
With that, Saizomaru began to walk away down the path once more.
Kitiana Shinso
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Post by Kitiana Shinso on Aug 17, 2018 11:40:23 GMT -6
Kitiana's heart sank as Saizomaru spoke, didn't look like Maple? So he did know him! However as he turned to her she did not betray this surprise, Instead opting to take a quizzical mask. Kitiana simply nodded to his question, In truth part of the reason was because she was hoping he knew of him. He then went on to semi-repeat what she had said to him, about wanting the strength to confront Maple. However the reason she wanted too was because he knew something, something about her... Something about her heritage. Her Mother knew as well, but her Mother wouldn't tell her. But then he said something that made Kitiana take a step or two back, Maple was dead. Kitiana felt her entire body suddenly become very heavy, even going so far as to stop walking entirely.
One hand slowly rose as her palm flipped to face upwards, staring down at it as Saizomaru both sopke and began to move away. What was the point in getting stronger if the one person that could've told her everything, was gone? The scenario repeated again and again in her head, the words that he spoke and the ones that Saizomaru had just spoke. There had to be more to it right? Kitiana contemplated not following Saizomaru, To just going home and giving up on all of this and returning to her normal life. As much as she wanted to do just that, to return to playing video games and working at the arcade... She couldn't. Deep down she had a yearning, a hunger that needed to be satiated and returning to her normal life just wouldn't do. There had to be someone else who knew more, There had to be a way.
Kitiana slowly rose, brushing off the dirt once more before hurriedly rushing back up to him. "Even... Even if Maple is dead, There has to be someone out there who knows what I am, and I'm not stopping until I find them and learn everything. And if that requires me to gain the strength to force it out of them, so be it."
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Post by Saizomaru on Aug 23, 2018 17:02:34 GMT -6
Saizomaru PL: 43,000 (Base)
The android's eyes glanced to his side when Kitiana had decided to catch up to him, already past the slope and onto a clear path towards the village in the distance. She looked unsure, uncertain, but still maintaining her drive to continue on her own path. He expected no less from someone who would become his student.
"Good," he said. "You will do well to hone your skills if it means you are able to achieve your goals. But remember my tenets—you are not to use the skills and power that I will teach you to harm others unprovoked. I would hate to disown you as my student so quickly."
Saizomaru hummed as he stared out ahead. In the distance he could see a smattering of buildings that peaked from over the top of a far off hill. "I reckon we'll be there in about an hour if we keep this pace. Night will fall in about two, so we don't have any time for random stops."
Juniper Town. It was a small village that used to rely on hunter-gatherers for their food supplies, letting them perform their work in the forests that the two of them were just in. Foraging for fruit, nuts and mushrooms, along with hunting small and medium game, was their livelihood. However, after the hunting prohibition on the area, the village had expanded out to trade with neighbouring towns across both land and see. They do well for themselves, but many prefer the old days, especially the hunters who had lost their jobs.
"Once we get to the village," Saizomaru spoke, "we'll find a hotel or an inn where we can stay. Tomorrow we will begin your training. I hope you're prepared—my regime is not for the weak."
Kitiana Shinso
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Post by Kitiana Shinso on Aug 24, 2018 11:35:53 GMT -6
Kitiana nodded "I know..." She said, lifting one hand as she stared down at it. But when it came down too it, She wasn't so sure of herself. When it came to knowing who or what she really was, and not breaking these tenants... Could she really do it? Who she was, was a question that plagued her for far too long... In truth she wasn't sure if she wouldn't hurt someone unprovoked to find out. But for now she didn't need to worry about that, That was far too much in the future and she simply had to get stronger. Nodding to his statement she looked upwards towards the village, In the morning she'd have to stop being weak. In the morning she had to be strong, Or she'd never find out who she was.
Kitiana's life had changed a lot, She went from a girl who loved to play video games and hang out at the Arcade... To interacting with aliens and running away from home. At least from here things could only get better, Right?
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