[Flashback]Unexpected Students(Hex)

[Hatot]

Hatot sat there, observing Hex as his eyes narrowed to an oncoming breeze that brought with it, the smell of Hex’s heard training as sweat and dirt filled the air. To anyone, Hatot just looked like the casual observer at that point. In reality, however, he was already practicing what he discovered. He used Hex as his observation point, focusing in on her and her movements as he began to drive all other things out. Radris still echoed in his mind, the sounds of his scream and chuckling causing a distraction at first, but he too began to slip from Hatot’s mindset as he narrowed his eyes even further still.

His breathing slowed as lights began to dance like fire around the corners of his field of vision, creeping in ever so slowly before fading away quickly. A quick exhale was released as he found himself suddenly breathing a little heavier, as though he had just gotten through with a run. He found it odd, but in the end, just chalked such up to his recent injuries. Once again he began to concentrate, focusing his eyes even more this time as he shut out the distractions around him. Sweat began to form at his brow as the flashes of color once again began to ebb at the corners of his vision, the color rolling further and further over his normal vision.

Once again it stopped, his vision returning to normal as Hatot let out another exhale, this time almost feeling as though he had been holding his breath to his limit. He took in slow deep breaths, not letting too much noise slip away from his lips so Hex could continue her training in peace. Again, he felt fatigue, and it made him curious as to whether Auristics was linked to it. He looked down for a moment, examining his hand as he opened and closed it into a fist. It was already beginning to shake.

His hand slowly rose up to his face, his thumb and finger giving a slow rub to his eyes before he let out a slow exhale once again. He could feel a slight swirl in his head as his brow tightened into a frown for a moment. His hand dropped to his knee then, looking to Hex once again as she continued her practice. “Good,” Hatot then said to her, his voice almost seemed as though it was parched for a moment as he made a few sounds to clear his throat. “Not all strikes need use the tip of your fingers, however. The flat of your palm, the side of your hand between your thumb and index finger outer ridge of your hand is used in a strike named The Hammer’s Impact. Using such strikes to box an opponents ear, force their leg to bend by striking at the back of the knee, or jabbing your hand into their throat like you were going to grab it are all non-lethal means of subduing an opponent. Boxed ears will cause disorientation, force them to drop to a knee, or cause them to choke on their own breath for a brief moment so that other opportunities could be open for you.”

Hatot then motioned towards the practice doll, giving a slow nod. “Practice that strike alone for a few chimes, and feel free to explore other areas along the body that such a strike could be useful for.” Hatot then said, lowering his hand to his knee. “After you’ve gotten some water and a short breather.”

Hatot’s eyes then focused once again, watching Hex as she moved about the camp, doing whatever she chose to do with her momentary break. Once again his eyes began to focus, trying more aggressively to bring out the vision of Auristics. He followed his breathing, his meditation, everything that he had learned so far and tried to implement it to the best of his ability. The short hairs along the back of his neck then began to stand on end as though he felt a charge in the air around him. His normal vision slowly started to melt away, each object replaced by a separate color as auras began dancing around all over his eyes. A quick intake of breath was taken as though he had felt that very energy at the back of his eyes. It was a like a slight itch that couldn’t be scratched, constantly making itself aware as his eyes began to tingle, almost feel like they burned for a slight moment.

He blinked, more color appeared, each item in the area dancing around like a fire of in vibrant greens, yellows and blues. Hex’s Aura stood out most among them all as it seemed like a large inferno dancing in the center of forest set ablaze, each movement bringing about a splash of fire as bits of her aura almost seemed to seemed to move out like a tiny strand of colorful hair adrift underneath water. There was so much, too much. “What is it?” a voice whispered into his mind, one that suddenly caused his heart to skip a beat.

“Is it not beautiful to see?” the voice whispered again, this time making his certain of it. It wasn’t Radris’ voice. It almost sounded like his own, but off somehow.

“What is it I see?” Hatot suddenly found himself whispering back to the voice.

“What is it you don’t? That is the question.” the voice whispered back. “You see everything right now, every normal and ugly thing given beauty. Every beautiful thing given radiance. Wouldn’t you like to see the world like this all the time?”

“But what does it all mean?” Hatot whispered back to the voice, his lips almost moving.

“Does it matter? Do you need to see a portrait painting and know why the individual painted looks happy, sad, or angry?” The voice answered back. “Do you need to see an abstract piece of art and know why the artist chose that shape, or why the waves crush against the shore. Meaning is nothing when simply seeing it all is enough. You should continue to see it all.”

“I…” Hatot’s vision suddenly went back as he then felt the strength of his body leave him. His eyes were pained, and he might have yelled out or slight grunted, had he not felt so exhausted. His body suddenly slumped back, falling to the ground as darkened vision only gave way to blurred vision for moments at a time. He felt like he would pass out at any moment, and that if he did, he could sleep for a very long period of time.

[Hex]

Hex staggered in place, her knees cracking and bending under the weight of her body as she slowly lowered herself to the sandy ground. With arms extended she braced herself against the hot dirt, letting them shake violently as she breathed deeply, trying to slow her heart rate from the extensive physical training. A cloud of dust that had billowed out from under her clung to the damp surface of her skin, giving her a skin tone more true to her Chaktawe heritage than her own lighter complexion. But as she continued to perspire, the dirt ran down her arms like worms that trickled down in search of the earth; a message to her that learning the art of unarmed combat meant stripping away the learned habits of past fights and rebuilding them with new knowledge and experience. The old was seeping away to make room for the new. One look at Hatot told Hex that he was deep in thought and meditation, his facial expressions a mix of wonder and struggle. At first Hex paced slowly around the camp to stretch out the muscles she had just newly shredded, but when her heart rate slowed more she sat cross legged on the ground and pulled her waterskin to her lips, drinking from it lazily and letting dribbles of water cyclone down the sides of her mouth. It was from there that Hex slipped into a meditation, letting her mind shed the flakes of anger, doubt, fear, and arrogance that kept her body from relaxing fully enough to heal itself. Those emotions were toxic for the body and a major benefit of meditation was letting them fall from the psyche to leave the mind clear and healthy. It was in this state of meditation that one could heal the aches and pains of the body and spirit, but it was no easy task and involved concentrated yet relaxed awareness of the body's energy in space, time and beyond. Discovering one's own energy meant opening oneself to the healing properties of breath and awareness, thoughts of healing directed to the muscles that screamed for relief. The deep breathing began; a long inhale that filled the diaphragm and stomach and extended up until the shoulders were raised to make room for the bottom of the lungs to fill with air. With her body held firmly in place but not tense, she held her breath and raised interlocked fingers to the space under her chin on her neck. With breath held in tightly she pulled on both hands and created a sheet of tension concentrating on the area in front of her neck. Holding the breath in for so long increased absorption of oxygen while the pulling of the hands stimulated various glands in the body, many of which directed the healing processes within her. When the agony of holding in air threatened to send her into a sleep she steadily released her hands and rose them above her head, letting out her breath in a slow stream as she stretched her arms up, arching them down and then resting them on her folded legs. Similarly, when her breath was pushed completely out by her clenching abdominals, she held the breath out and pumped her arms back and forth in front of her, pointing her fingers out with every stretch and curling them into fist with every bend of her arms. The meditation and slow breathing brought on sensations similar to drowning; it was frightening to take in such little amounts of air over a long period of time. But the exercise was beneficial for breathing, stamina, focus and even muscle recovery. The agony was well rewarded. The quiet time Hex and Hatot shared buzzed between them as they both fell into their internal dialogues. A stirring from Hatot nudged Hex out of her trance, bringing her down from her soaring above the clouds. The Hammers Impact. A series of unpredictable movements that defended, offended, and confused an attacker if done right. Hex went back to the target dummy, going from one hypothetical situation to the next, brainstorming any possible combo of attacks from an opponent. In one movement she forced her hand outward and smacked the top of the shoulder, leaving just a small moment for the attacker to become distracted by the odd move and turn their head. A split second later she pushed the back of her hand into the jaw of the dummy, propelling her knuckles up and forcing the heavy head in the opposite direction. With time she would gain more accuracy as a move like that could break a neck if enough force was applied to the right sensitive spot under the jaw. Hex bent back and twisted until she faced the ground, a move to avoid a swinging fist. The action was deliberate, meant to make the opponent think her front was vulnerable and kick upwards. The side of her stiff palm struck at the knee region of the leg, her back arched in such a way to protect her arms and her legs braced low to center her balance and move without falling. She did fall then, after all it was practice. But she picked herself up again and grunted through another stream of exercises, using every part of her hands and arms to strike and pound away at the heavy target. Dust exploded from the canvas weave of the torso before being flushed away by the sharp exhales and shouts of Hex as she flung herself into the target at deliberate angles. A wave of exhaustion hit Hex suddenly, sending her to the desert floor in a cloud of dust and sunlight. Through gasps for breath, Hex lifted her heavy head and looked to Hatot who seemed to be teetering on consciousness. Out of curiosity and concern, Hex lept across the space between them until their faces were close. She felt various places on his skin, testing his temperature and trying to coerce him into opening his eyes. Despite her hard training moments before, adrenaline pumped through her veins and threw her nerves on edge, activating the part of her that hungered to heal and fix the woes of others. She could feel the tingling sensation of her gnosis mark scratching at her like a cat trying to escape out a window.

[Hatot]

Hatot’s eyes remained closed for a moment, exhaustion settling over him. He felt like he would black out at any moment, were it not for the small, warm hands suddenly pressing gently along his flesh. He then began to feel something else: Pain. His head began to ache like his skull had been split open, his eyes felt like needle were being slowly shoved into them. The pain from his shoulder and leg seemed to be non-existent now in comparison.

A grunt escaped his lips as his exhale suddenly stopped, his whole body freezing for a moment as he began to cope with the pain. Pain, once again he could feel Radris trying to claw his way to the surface and he could, and how Hatot so wished to escape that pain, to crawl deep within and let Radris deal with it all, but the warm flesh still pressing against his brow reminded him that it simply wasn’t an option.

Slow hisses escaped his lips as he tried to breath through the pain as the feeling of each heartbeat pounded his head as though someone was swinging a hammer along the walls of his brain. His eyes slowly opened just a sliver, immediately closing as even the dimmest of lights caused his eyes to feel as though electricity was being sent through them. Again he opened his eyes, slowly this time as the darkness began to fade from his sight, giving way to first blurred vision. Blurred to clear.

Deep breaths were given as he slowly tried to sit himself up, only to fall to his back again, most of his strength sapped from his body. Again another wave of pain entered his head and eyes. “It hurts,” he whispered out, “why does it hurt so much?”

Hatot slowly reached up, his hand shaking slightly as he began to rub his eyes. Pulling his and back slightly, he looked to his finger tips, feeling his heart suddenly skip a beat. He saw a shade of purple coating his fingertips as his blue skin mixed with the color of red blood. It was almost miniscule, but the fact that it was there caused a small sense of nervousness in him. “Is this common with Auristics when first starting out?” Hatot then asked Hex, looking over towards her.

[Hex]

"All new Aurists react differently to this process. Auristics stretches your mind much like your muscles would tear after being worked hard. There are ways to combat the pain until your body and soul realigns and grows accustomed to this new state of consciousness." Hex raised her fists to her face, letting her thumbs jut out towards her face. "Feel here" she touched the underside of her brow just above her eye with her two thumbs, spreading her elbows so that he could see her positioning. "There is a cave here in the face, closer to the nose.. yes you've got it. Now press.. hard!" Hex curled her thumbs up into the two small indentations of her skull under her eyebrows and held them there for almost a full chime. The pain was excruciating to the point of near numbness - but that was the goal. "Your body is working hard to understand all of the new information its been given. Repeat this when you have a painful headache and it should take some pain away. But know this, while that may give you some relief now it won't for long. You will need to eat, rest and meditate. Then I will have you read the aura of some small things. That will be your next lesson."

[Hatot]

Hatot continued to rub bloody tears from his eyes, listening to Hex as she explained how Auristics worked for beginners. It didn’t surprise him to find how taxing it would be, like a new practice, something new being exercised. There would always be pain at the start until the body got used to it, Hatot just had to realize his limits, but at the same time, he felt an urge to continue, even then, despite the risk involved. It was almost as if the risk were nothing and a tiny part of him insisted that he could take the brunt. That urge made him feel a little unnerved.

His attention to what Hex was saying, however, distracted him from such thoughts, as he watched her slowly raise her hands, pressing her thumbs along the crevices she mentioned. It was a temporary relief, but enough that would stall the pain long enough for him to get what his body needed to recover. Hatot gave a slow nod, which only reaffirmed the splitting pain he felt in his head. His thumbs then slowly slipped up to where Hex had pointed out, applying pressure for a moment before immediately withdrawing from it, exhaling a pained protest over the feeling for a moment. He wasn’t a big fan of pain, and as much as he experienced right now, he was surprise that he hadn’t retreated inside allowing Radris free reign.

He took a couple of slow breaths, letting the major throb of the pain pass for a moment before reaching his thumbs up to press along the crevices near his brow once again. Again pain wracked him as he began echoing out pained moans, almost giving out a low toned growl as his teeth gritted. Eventually, the pain began to fade, slowly giving way to numbness. As that numbness soon spread, relieving the pain he felt in his head, his breaths soon became exhales of relief, quick exhales following slow inhales. His hands eventually dropped then as he laid along his back once again. “Yes, that’s much better.” Hatot then said in between breaths.

His chest rose and fell with each heavy breath he took then, reveling in his temporary relief from the pain. His hand slowly reached out, pointing towards the sack of food he had brought for their time here. “Food, rest and meditation. Food sounds like a good thing to start with.” Hatot then said as he looked to Hex. “Looks like you could use as much of the first two as I do. So let’s say we place any further training for today on hold, and concentrate on recovering?”

[Hex]

A vibe of excitement washed over Hex as she watched Radris attempt to claw his way out of Hatot. Radris frightened her, but to the point of bizarre ecstasy. She craved to look upon his aura with her senses again, to feel his power, to swallow his rage, to drink him like ice on a desert plane. There was nothing tangible she could obtain from focusing on his aura, but to look upon the magnificence of Radris' evil - he was the most beautiful demon she had ever seen. In no way were these thoughts good for her and she ached for him, even while she remained still and quiet. Her emotions were swelling and with it her energetic vibrations. She had to keep them at bay, she didn't want Hatot to feel her more 'impure intentions'. But Hex was patient; she would taste Radris eventually. The pair sat in silence, eating dried meat and drinking hot tea, soaking up the rare event of a tranquil moment in the Sea of Grass.

[Hatot]

Hatot hadn’t even realized it before he started eating, but he was hungry, more hungry than he thought he would be. Before Hatot had realized, he had gone through half of the rations he had bought for their trip, and a slow frown crossed over his features over such. “It would appear another trip to Riverfall will be in order the moment I can move with more ease.” Hatot then mentioned, slowly closing the bag up as he looked over to Hex. “I think for tonight, however, I will get some rest as you suggested.”

Hatot grunted slightly then, as he began dragging his way towards his tent, moving slowly, so slowly when compared to when Hex first saw him, facing those slavers. A bit of frustration seemed to radiate over him when he was in such a state, but he didn’t complain in the end, even if it looked like he was about to over a slight helplessness. He paused at the tent’s entrance, looking back at Hex. “You are progressing along in your own learning of open handed fighting, but still,” Hatot said as he looked at Hex with a sense of seriousness in his eyes, “should a danger present itself that you feel is more than your ability can handle while I’m in this state, run. Do not concern yourself with defending me or worrying about my fate in the end, make sure that you continue to live. There will be no point in both of us dying should such a situation present itself.”

Without another word, Hatot soon slipped between the flaps of the front of his tent, the tips of his feet poking out of the end as they shifted a little here and there before becoming motionless. A battle with a Glassbeak, sever injury, suppressing Radris back into the depths of his body, learning that even he had the ability to perform even a little magic and the limits therein. As large and mighty as Hatot may have seemed at times, even he could be worn down, brought to a point of complete and utter exhaustion where even closing his eyes would cause him to sleep in mere moments.

[Hex]

Morning woke in the belly of a fog, spreading a light over all the exposed fragments of earth that turned their face upwards to the cresting sun. Dawn always pushed Hex out of bed, nudging her to open her eyes to the wild terrain of Cyphrus. The first order of business after emptying the bladder was soaking herself in the frigid river water not too far from their camp. The landscape had a numbing sort of haze over it from the quiet dawn and Hex breathed in the clean air mindfully, taking deep and long breathes in preparation for her morning meditation. Upon returning to the campsite, Hex fed some fuel into the fire and set the metal mug of water for her tea on the fire pit to boil. In the meantime, she meandered to the other side of the fire and stretched her body parts, bending over, twisting, and folding onto herself to relieve the muscle and joint tension from her sleep. A light massage of her abdomen and legs stimulated digestion and she continued to breathe in several positions to work out the kinks she felt. A series of meditative breathing exercises took up the following chimes of her morning, but when she was done she got to work on collecting objects that had distinctive tastes, textures and characteristics. What she came up with was a group of four items for him to use his auristics on (identifying objects with auristics). Once she had readied her supplies and eaten her breakfast she simply sat and enjoyed the sun's increasing heat while waiting for Hatot to emerge from his tent.

[Hatot]

Hatot’s eyes slowly began to flutter open, and once again he was reminded of the sharp aches and pains his wounds left on him. The headache was gone at least, but in no way as Hatot anywhere near his full ability physically, yet. He slowly lifted his head as he began to slowly roll the foot of his wounded leg. Twinges of pain rolled along his body as stiffening muscles began to be slowly loosened. Point in fact, almost every movement he made brought about a new sense of pain. A grunt was soon exhaled as he slowly sat up, pausing in his upright position for a moment as he took a couple of deep breaths.

He rolled his body over to his side, slipping his good hand along the ground to support his upper body weight as his soon came to his knees. Another grunt of pain was released as he brought his good leg forward, some of his weight shifting to his bad leg for a moment before his foot was braced along the ground and pushing the rest of his body off the ground. Short, heavy limping steps were taken then as he edged his way out of the tent. His gaze fell to Hex upon exiting the tent, her form sat near the fire enjoying the serenity of the quiet morning. A crisp, soft breeze brushed along his skin as he stood there for a moment, taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes. The cool of the breeze seemed to help with the pain, although not much. More subtle, short limps were taken after a quick exhale as Hatot inched his way to the fire as well. His frame slowly crouched down, his good hand once again reaching to the ground to support his upper weight as he settled along the ground in a seated position, his wounded leg stretching outwardly.

A slow nod was given to Hex in greeting before he began taking deep breaths in through his nose and exhaling them from his mouth. His eyes closed, as his senses began to drift, outside influences and distractions fading away. Hatot’s vision was dark at first, but before long swirls of colors and imagined sounds soon brought him to a seated position next to the mighty waterfall that stood near his home city of Riverfall. His body was healed in this setting, and there was no pain. A rattling of metal soon echoed behind him as blackness revealed more. A large cage sat about ten feet behind him, inside the cage sat Radris, a disgruntled look on his face as chains bound his ankles, waist, wrists and neck, anchored to the floor of the locked cage. The wounds that Hatot bore in reality, Radris wore proudly in their meditative world. His hands gripped the bars of the cage he sat in, rattling the door back and forth for a moment as he bared his teeth at Hatot.

Hatot ignored Radris, trying his best to push his screaming voice from his head. There was very little he could do other than that. For as much as he hated it, Radris would be with him until the day he died. All he could do until then, was try his best to keep him at bay. He had spent what had seemed like mere minutes, sitting there in front of the waterfall, but as he let himself slip away from that world, and once again opened his eyes to the pain of reality, he realized that at least two bells had passed. His hand slowly reached up to his shoulder, gripping it slightly as a slight irritation rose within it on top of the pain. “Good morning.” Hatot then said with a slight grunt in his voice.

[Hex]

Hex blinked slowly out of her meditation, coming to when Hatot stirred next to her after a long period of sitting silently. She caught his eye and saw the pain, the struggling, the physical wear and tear that took hold of his body. Retrieved from her bag were the three items she had picked earlier, and she brought them over to him, standing with a pouch and her cloak in front of him. The items were laid out with Hatot asked to look away and close his eyes so as not to see what they are with his eyes. Lined up one by one, the items were laid out in front of him and then covered with the cloak. Hex sat beside Hatot then, telling him to keep his eyes closed and begin the meditative breathing she suggested for use when attempting to generate auristic djed. "Open your mind to the objects beneath this cloak. Do not try to read them in the utmost detail. Instead focus on extracting a tiny vibration from the items to learn a single trait about each of them. You will only be able to focus on one object at a time, but I brought you many so that you can practice reading different ones."