[Flashback] The Weight of Iron [Pavilion]

[Lu Gavima]

6th of Spring, AV 509

Cool air laced with traces of humidity passed through Lu's nostrils as he inhaled slowly, his eyes closed. The grip of Winter was relinquishing to the melts of Spring, the Misty Peaks even more so with temperature variances. A roiling fog covered most of the City, its sounds of business muffled through the aural barrier. The young Acolyte turned his head slightly to pick out various sounds among the natural white noise. It was a mistake. THWACK. Sharp pain traveled along Lu's shoulder down into his back as his father lashed him with a bamboo switch.

"Focus.", his father said from behind him.

Immediately Lu's posture straightened, the pain receding while remaining as an additional focal point for his meditation. He brought his conscious attention to his center, the rhythmic movements of his chest as breath passed through his lungs.

"Empty yourself. Become the sky. Open yourself."

He could hear his father's measured paces behind him, though it was only an undercurrent of thought. His business was to expand and so that is what the young monk did. Time could not be measured in the silence of introspection. The signal he was accustomed to, his father's spear butt tapping the floor twice, brought him back to the waking world, his eyes fluttering open and adjusting to the sun's light amplified through the fog.

Saying a silent prayer to Zintila, he stood from his lotus position and turned to face his father. The man stood before him, his skyglass Qiang spear firmly gripped in one hand. Lu believed that only Ald'gare Dusk was better with the spear than his father, but whether this was true or not mattered little. Lu had always admired the man before him.

"Horse stance."

Lu pressed his palms together, breathing slowly and centering himself. He spread his legs apart slightly, knees bent as he lowered his center of gravity. His arms tucked in at the elbows at his sides as his eyes pointed forward.

"Strike and hold."

The order given, his right arm pushed forward, the fist at its end curled and pushing with the exhalation of air from the boy's lungs. His arm remained rigid and straight. Almost straight, as the flat of his father's spearhead lifted Lu's arm until it was parallel to the ground from his shoulder.

"Strike and hold, left arm. Keep your right arm extended. Open your palms to the sky."

A mirrored move of the right arm, the left soon stood strong in line with its dominant brother. Once both were in line, the fists uncurled and both palms opened, fingers together. Lu focused on his breathing, his body taut with anticipation to the next instruction. His father looked at his son's form, neither approving or disapproving. He turned and walked to the other side of the round room, placing his spear in a weapon rack with the care a mother would her child. A slight caress of fingers traced over the smooth shape of the skyglass before the older man knelt and removed something from his satchel.

Walking back toward Lu, his hands fell to his sides. In each, four large iron rings hung. Knowing to remain in his form, the boy waited patiently as his father slid a set of four over each hand, letting them hang from Lu's forearms. Their weight was no more than a sack of rice, but the extra weight pulled his arms down a bit, drawing a firm slap from his father palms from beneath to straighten the form. Shantsu took a few steps back and his body lowered into the lotus position of meditation. The man's eyes remained still and clear upon his son's forearms. He said nothing more.

[Lu Gavima]

Time was being measured in small beads of sweat forming on the young monk's brow. The rings were deceptively light, the added weight slowly working its way into the deeper muscles of both his forearms and later into his elbows and biceps. Lu's father was watching him closely, resting in a lotus position, his own arms resting on his knees. To the casual observer, it would seem a formal posture. In reality, his material arms were fixed against his knees. His astral arms were silently extending across the room. Ethereal forearms turned beneath his son's straining forearms. They lightly brushed the flesh of the underside.

"Do you feel my projected arms?"

With a look of quizzical surprise, Lu nodded, his concentration remaining with the growing strain of the iron rings around his forearms. He had been practicing with Projection in its rudimentary forms, but now as a seasoned Acolyte, his use of the Shinya art was increasing both in frequency and intensity. He suspected that this training was meant to be twofold, to strengthen his arms and endurance physically as well as aid in the use of his astral body, a presence he was still becoming accustomed to.

" Become aware of your astral arms, as we have previously practiced. Stretch your fingers and raise your palm at your wrist. The rings remind you to keep your physical forearms straight during this process."

His focus trained in on his clenched fists, opening them in a fan as he watched his light blue energy body separating from the flesh of his material hand. Those of flesh drooped at rest as the astral hands then curled back into fists. His forearms began to waver until the equally sharp rap of astral palms slapped beneath them, snapping them into place. The sensation had a different effect than either of them expected. The forearms dropped forward, the rings bringing them crashing into Lu's knees. His forearms had snapped up. His astral forearms. The wrists had remained with the transition, for whatever reason. Lu could see them.

A casual observer would only see the two men, father and son, facing each other with arms resting on knees. Shantsu could see his son's arms clearly and a brief raise of eyebrows occurred. It may have been the slightest trace of approval, but to Lu it strengthened his resolve tenfold to have his father's approval.

"Stand. Bring your shoulders into the form. Use more ease and care when using your elbows."

Lu nodded as he focused on the joints between focused forearms and hanging upper arms. Watching his elbows, he slowly flexed laterally, seeing them move outward from the flesh, a secondary attention on the biceps.They would come next in the form. His father also stood, his concentration focusing on his own astral arms to make them visible to his son. Breath traveled inward through his nostrils and then exhaled through his mouth in even pieces. The two stared as each other as Lu's astral limbs were awakening.

[Lu Gavima]

If long periods of holding a form with his arms was hard, the next few minutes were impossible. Lu had pushed his astral arms free and they were flexing before him, folding and extending. Shantsu nodded and watched his son carefully at this time.

" Very slowly. Extend. Bend. Extend. Bend. Just as you would with a recently injured limb. Slowly and thoughtfully, Lu."

With each seemingly simple extension and bend, the young monk in training could feel the slight pricks of exhaustion creeping in at the periphery of his existence. His full attention and focus was on the pseudo-physical action occurring before him. His use of these astral limbs was so new that it was easy to push himself. He didn't want to be careful and thoughtful. He wanted the limitless strength that these arms could hold. All he needed was more training. More training. More training.

His father could see the process occurring outside of Lu's tunnel vision. His son was beginning to experience overgiving, the dreaded trade for powers outside the mundane mortal realm. Sweat was pouring from Lu's face and down his chest, circles were forming beneath his arms. His eyes had a glaze about them as he was lost in the action of his Projection. Shantsu wasted no time in extending one of his own Projected limbs to his son's face, a stern slap crossing the cheek with an audible .....

CRACK

The hot flush of blood to Lu's face was as much embarrassment as it was the sting of his father's projected hand. The force and shock of the hit snapped his astral limbs back into his physical arms. The overlapping was sloppy and hasty, causing a burning sensation in his arms that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. Cringing, he dropped to his knees. His father remained where he stood, watching for further signs of overgiving.

"Lu, look at me."

Eyes stinging with tears looked up at the man he would die for before dishonoring. The boy's arms were wobbly and tender, numb in parts to himself, he could barely keep them from shaking. " What happened, Dian?" His father slowly moved his own arms as they reconvened with a practiced ease that had come from years of discipline. "Overgiving. you must always know your limits, Lu. Keep your awareness alive and sharp at all times. Your own body and mind can work against you and before you know it, you are lost. You must pay careful attention with Projection. It is not for show."

Lu nodded with respect, his eyes remaining locked with his father and teacher's. He tried to push himself up into a kneeling position, but his arms were still sluggish and slow to react and respond. Shantsu walked to his satchel and pulled a small bag out, bringing to his son and placing it on the floor before him.

"Taka moss. Mix it with your rice this evening and it will aid you in restoring flexibility and strength to your joints. You are not to practice Projection without my presence until you can handle it better. Understood?"

Lu's fingers lazily fumbled with the bag as if they had been in the cold too long. "Yes, Dian. I will continue practicing my forms and meditating. I do not wish to find myself lost like that in battle."

His father nodded and walked back, picking his satchel and bowing to his son before departing. Lu pushed beyond his normal endurance to manage a fixed bow of respect to his father. As the older Gavima left the room, Lu allowed his body to collapse. The ceiling of the room was all he could see before an unplanned nap settled on him like a warm rain of feathers.

[Aspen]

Character: Lu Skills: Meditation +1, Projection +2 Lore: Stance: Horse, Detaching Astral Arms, Touches of Overgiving, Aftereffects of Overgiving, Taka Moss Helps Joints, Notes: Nice, simple training thread. I liked your descriptions of the astral detachment. If you have any questions or concerns with my grading, drop me a message.