Of the Skill: Training Kie

Three Days
That almost made Sachi's blood ran cold, and her expression turned into that of a shocked one.

"Judging by the look on your face, you didn't see this coming," he walked back to the table, sitting down. "Well, just for the record, neither did I."

"That...just can't be possible...." Sachi said softly, putting a hand to her forehead. "Wouldn't that require a high degree of power? Only Seireitou would have that..."

Ean tossed her his mask, which she shakily caught. "The lenses have records of charts I recorded when I fought him for the first time. When I almost killed him, his exhertion levels were one percentage point above Seireitou's."

Sachi took a deep breath, calming herself as she studied the readings. "That could only mean that his stamina would be higher...." Her shock slowly faded. "And that would mean, Kie is more stronger than Seireitou? In terms of stamina, at least."

"Kie was raised in a ninja village. To them, stamina is power. which means that if he has more stamina than Seireitou, then he is more powerful than Seiretiou. But that's not the point. He seems to have absolutely no access to any of this," said Ean, explaining the system. "Those eyes have sensors that pick up energy usage. They were going crazy once we got warmed up."

"I'm assuming part of this training involves teaching him to access that energy?" Sachi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It relies almost solely on it," he said, reaching for his mask. "Now, it was very lucky fr you to be here at this time, as you're clan's ability requires a certain amount of chakra control. Coupled with my expertise at his own style, which he needs to be properly trained in anyway, I believe that we can craft him into a leader for the land."

Sachi slowly got off of the couch, tossing Ean back the mask, which he caught. "Very well. But, but how long would this take?"

After donning his mask, Ean thought about it. "I'd say a maximum of three weeks. I hope you're not planning on anything soon," he said, walking to the door.

"Quite a long time....better hope he learns quickly...." The blonde commented.

"Yes..." Ean said, opening the door.

It was now pouring rain, and when he cracked the entrance open, the sound of rain hitting the ground was louder than ever.

"Let us hope." He stepped outside the door, and, in a cloud of snow, he vanished into the rain.

Sachi sighed, glancing over at the raindrops that pounded through the window. Her expression was that of thought and slight grief, as her thoughts drifted to her dead "husband". "Seireitou...it still seemed too early."

She placed a hand to her heart. "You didn't have to do what you did...you didn't have to go that far for peace...but you did anyway." She closed her eyes slightly as she got up, staring over at the window for a moment before heading down the darker hallways of the hospital.

"The past just might come to bite me in the ass, Ean...when I'm not expecting it."

Impression
Sachi was just reaching a fifth door when she heard slight snoring inside. She immediately stopped in her tracks, glancing at it and seeing the door was cracked. Unable to help her curiousity, she leanded over and pushed the door slightly open, just enough for her to see through.

Inside was the sleeping form of Kie. His hair looked messy, and bandages were all around his figure. But he slept soundly, his chest breathing up and down, and no wheezing was heard. Sachi could only stare in slight gawking, as she looked over his figure from afar.

"So this is the boy Ean was talking about.." She thought. "I was expecting some dark-looking or emoish kid, but he looks like an ordinary villager." She glanced sideways. "Then again, he's no ninja. I hope Ean knows what he's doing."

She pushed the door open slightly, and stepped quietly inside. She took a seat next to the bed he lay in, looking over his damage figure to make sure he was OK. Then, once it was confirmed, she folded her arms across her chest, her legs crossing, and her head tilting sideways.

It wasn't long before she too fell asleep, unaware of what might happen once he woke up....

Ean was trying to gain information on Kie.

He knew he came from kirigakure, at least his father was dead, and he had extremely high levels of power.

And since he was on a separate continent from his colleagues, the most he could get was messages from the eighth force.

He needed more than he had. I hope that just a walk in the rain might help...

First Night
It was still raining. The walk didn't help. He still had no idea what he could do.

So, he went back to the clinic.

He found Sachi and Kie asleep, her next to his bed.

He walked over, sitting on the ground next to her chair, trying not to wake her up.

Readings from his seismic sensors revealed a cave to the north of the town. They'd train there after Kie healed, and soon he'd be back on his life's track. But, he did need to find out more about his trainging partners, at least.

Sachi was too much of an emotional mystery, and Kie had not history at all. This may be fun.

He looked up at the boy, and then the blond.

Obviously, the frostier side of his personality had... images... but his sober side punched them out his head. Soon, he felt himself drifitng off to sleep, and just as he realized that it was almost midnight, he drifted off into a dream.

Red.

''That was all what he saw. Even though outlines of the forest were clear, every color of the environment was red. But that wasn't what schocked him.''

''A humanoid figure stood above him, his arm raised in the air as if holding something. Then, as it became slightly clear, it was revealed to be the silhouette of a sword blade, pointed upwards at the crimson sky.''

''He had no time to think, as the figure pulled his arm down, straight upon his head. He heard a sickening crack, before all went black... ''

He suddenly awoke from his dream... no, nightmare, and found that the weather had lightened, and it was morning. He got up, pondering what the dream was about.

Second day
It was just... death. By someone's hand. He had no idea whose it was, but he had seen his death, and it wasn't something he wanted to see. He couldn't even remember what the character looked like, it was just a sihlouette. It was eerie, and, as most dreams happened to be, foreboding and most likely foreshadowing.

"...Ean?" Kie's voice drew him back to his senses. "You look like as if you seen a ghost...."

He stood facing the door for a second.

He tried to recall the dream, the shape of the figure who brought death. He was... supposedly male... used a sword... long hair...

Realization dawned on him. It wasn't the god realization, it was the kind of realization that the thing on your back isn't just a piece of string, it's snake. The ice swordsman tried to maintian his cool. This was grave, and it had a direct effect on what happened from then on...

Ean turned to Kie, his face serious, maybe even worried. "...I'm fine... Kie."

Kie grinned, scratching the back of his head. "Good, I was startin' to think you might faint. Then they'd have to put you in a hospital bed!" He said cheerfully.

Ean forced a smile. "Heheh, yeah, I guess so. You feel any better?" he asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Are you kidding?" Kie replied, working out one of his arms. "I could do backflips now! I feel as good as new!"

Ean genuinely chuckled this time. "Well, I want you to be able to jump off a building and land on your head without getting hurt. You need to rest a bit more," he said, walking over to the sink to get a drink of water. "Doctor said three days, after tomorrow you're out."

Kie sighed in relief, the grin still visible on his face. "That's good to hear...."

Then, suddenly, his eyes widened, and he stared at Ean in shock, shrunken pupils and all. "WAIT, ARE YOU INSANE?!" He comically yelled.

Ean did not reply, instead he walked over to Kie's bed and pointed a finger at his stomach where the swordsman had been run through. "Do you want me to jab you there?" he asked, his eyebrow cocked and his eyes revealing mischief.

The boy slightly recoiled as if he had been slapped. "No, I-i'm fine...."

Ean grinned. He walked over to a window, trying to see what the weather was like. Maybe he should go out to find that cave. "Therein lies my point. Rest until you fully are healed, and then I'll teach you along with the help of miss Urami," he said, looking down at the still sleeping woman in the chair. He then set down his glass, and walked to the door. "Tell Sachi to meet me at the gates of the town when she wakes up, okay?"

Kie looked over at the woman, looking slightly confused. "Isn't she a nurse, or something?" He asked. "I never saw her--"

"Mmmm...." Sachi muttered, shaking her head slightly and sitting slightly straighter. She took one hand and rubbed her head. "That's the last time I'm sleeping in a chair..."

"Oh, well, nevermind then," said Ean, just as he was about to step outside. "And I suppose you never were introduced, huh?"

Kie simply shook his head. "Nope." The blonde simply nodded, still mostly sleepy.

''Geez, Sachi, not much for dignity huh? '' thought Ean. "Well, this is Sachi Urami, of the Leaf's Urami clan," he said, motioning his hand towards the blond woman. "She will be your other instructor for the training."

"Other instructor?" Kie almost burst into laughter. "I mean, the lady's half-asleep! She's probably as instructing as a tiny bug!" He folded his arms across his chest. "She'd probably get two words before she just fai--"

WHAM!

Kie suddenly felt his vision go sideways, as Sachi's elbow slammed into his nose. His confident mood vanished quickly, and he held his face in comical pain. "Owww....."

One of Sachi's narrowed eyes twitched, and she pulled back her arm. "I think that was enough to wake me." She said calmly, pulling herself up from the chair and walked past Ean slowly. "If you'll excuse me..."

Ean moved out of Sachi's way, almost frightened. He turned to Kie, his eyes slightly widened, "... You know, you can be a total moron sometimes..."

"....I-I think she broke my nose...." was Kie's meek reply.

"You want a painkiller for it?" asked Ean, grabbing a nearby bottle from the counter, while walking over to Kie's bed.

Kie scoffed, sniffing a bit. Thankfully, the blood vessels didn't burst. "Just because my nose is a little screwed up doesn't mean I'm helpless...."

Ean suddenly caught Kie's nose between two of his knuckles. "Now, I want you to be very careful around Miss Urami, and you will call her by her last name. Got it?"

Kie's shock was there before he realized it. "Y-yes.....sir....." He stuttered.

"Good," said Ean as he released Kie's face from his grasp. He walked back to the counter, set down the bottle, and went back to the door. "This isn't for my own preference, or for being polite, but for your safety. Miss Urami isn't the type of person to mess with, as you can see."

Kie shook his head, freeing himself from the sudden ache in his nose. "I can see that...." He replied, his voice calmer. He sank back down into the bed he was lying on, staring up at the ceiling.

"Alright. I'm going to go set up our training post, and try to see if Miss Urami hasn't been deterred by your mocking. Try to rest while we're gone, okay?" said Ean, opening the door, taking one step outside while securing his mask.

Kie nodded slightly. "I'll try to...."

Differences
"Good," Ean stepped outside the door, looking up and down the hallway. He just caught her walking into a room, with arm of fresh clothes.

''Geez, she even brought an entirely new outfit. I only bring a single change of threads on top of what I'm wearing, why do girls need to have a different outfit every day?'' he wondered as he walked down to the door, which was locked and closed.

Of course, his frost side created more images, and, after punching them out of his head, he proceeded to wait for his assistant instructor to exit the changing room.

On the inside, Sachi was sitting on the bench, very quick to change. She had slipped off her old clothing and was currently in only her grayish color underwear. Then, she sensed Ean's presence outside of the door, looking over at it.

"Hold on a moment, Ean, this'll just take a minute!" She called out, slipping on a white hakama shirt first.

"I'm waiting, no need to rush," he replied through the door. He waited for a moment, and then said "I've been meaning to ask you, how do you like, or dislike, the boy?"

A sigh came from inside, followed by the sound of more clothes shuffling. "First impression? Hyperactive, arrogant, and possibly ignorant. a.k.a, a brat."

Ean chuckled, heartily, "Heh, that can be hammered out of him. But I hope he's not unteachable to you..."

"If he doesn't get on my nerves too much, he won't be." The clothes shuffling sound stopped, followed by footsteps. "All right, I'm coming out."

Ean stepped away from the doorway, retorting "Well, I just hope neither of you get on my nerves..." The door opened, and out stepped Sachi. She looked over at Ean, raised an eyebrow, and smiled. "I'm sorry, Ean..." She said, a teasing tone in her voice. "It's just that you're more funnier when you're annoyed."

"Hahah, no." he said, adding a fake laugh and placing his almost literally freezing cold hand on the back of her neck.

At contact, Sachi immediately yelped and lost her balance. Unfortunately, she fell straight on top of Ean, and they both fell to the floor in a clumsy manner.

Sachi's eye twitched, as she found her face on the ground. She pushed her arms up, ready to get off both the ground and Ean.

''Oh, very funny. You made me trip over my own....wait a minute....who's that breathing on my che--"''

Suddenly, she realized that Ean's face was not where it should be.

She immediately pushed herself off, a flustered and almost comical look on her face as she looked down at Ean. "U-Uh...are you....OK?"

Ean was on the ground, holding onto the left side of his face, the other in a mad blush. He said quickly and slightly stifled under a small trickle of water, which began to freeze on his face, "Slap me. Now."

Sachi looked at him incredulously for a moment....before shrugging, pulling one hand back, and....

SMACK!

Shards of ice flew off his face with the sheer force she slapped him, and a few residents who could looked out of their doors to see what the loud noise was. Ean was now at least a few feet down where he had been, and he got up, his face still blushing and the right side of it bright red.

"Thank you. Didn't want this to turn into to something I might've been killed for," he said, rubbing his cheek.

"You're welcome." Sachi replied, turning on her heel. Her trademark small smile was on her face. "Come on...before the doctors harass us about good manners."

"Yes, we need to prepare anyway," continued Ean, walking with her down the hall.

"Already prepared...." Sachi replied, her footsteps almost synchronizing with Ean's.

"Oh, so you found my training location, did you?" asked Ean, interested in these preperations she had made.

"You didn't think I was simply sitting around this whole time, did you?" She retorted.

"Okay, fine, I underestimated you," said Ean, holding his hands up. "Sue me. But, I'd really like to hear about these preparations you made..."

"Actually, I didn't." Sachi slightly shrugged. "I simply and accurately guessed."

Ean thought about this. "Liar. Looking at my mask's map system doesn't count as guessing."

Sachi's grin got slightly wider. "Ok, maybe I was a little bit curious..."

"Hmph. Sounds Like I need to get you one of those..." said Ean. "Anyway, did you actually go there?"

"Yeah. It was before I first met up with you. I only had a glimpse of it, though. Being chased didn't help my chances of investigation...."

"Ah, authorities always ruin everything. Well, the cave gets to be about ninety degrees all day, which makes it the perfect place to practice. I could even use some of James' practices on Kie, Mahahahaha," said Ean, adding the evil chuckle at the end for effect.

Sachi looked at him wierdly, raising an eyebrow, then glancing behind her. "You do realize....there are people staring now....right?" She asked calmly, although her tone held slight laughter.

Ean looked around, but at the sight of his eyes they mostly backed off. "And I suppose what I just said sounds extremely awkward..."

"The laugh was...." Sachi rolled her eyes.

Ean dropped his head lower, trying to hide behind his coat collar. "I'm certainly not laughing like that again..." they reached the end of the hallway, into the lobby. "I think that a full visit would be good for this. Why not go there?"

Sachi smiled. "Of course. I'd like to get acquainted."

Ean stepped outside, as did Sachi. "Okay. Now hold still and be quiet," he said while taking Sachi's hand and standing there, closing his eyes in the process.

Sachi immediately caught on, closing her eyes as well. The immature part of her was wondering why Ean was holding her hand, but she shoved it aside like garbage. Ean clearly knew what he was doing.

Suddenly Ean spoke, "Okay, do you think you could stand being transformed into snow without throwing up when we get there?" he said, his eyes still closed.

"I didn't eat much, so I can last." She replied.

"Alrigt, I'm going to trust you on this one..." said Ean. He gripped her hand tightly, and suddenly, without warning, they felt as if they were no more.

The Coldest Realm
Then they were on solid ground again. Ean said "Okay, you can open your eyes now."

Sachi slowly opened her eyes....and her expression changed to that of astonishment. "This place..."

"It's the realm of Jaque de Glaciation." said Ean, moving closer to Sachi.

The realm could not possibly be any kind of earth.

It was a complete whiteout, it was cold, and the outlines of mountains could just barely be seen through the blinding white of the snow falling in insurmountable clouds, pushed by the howling wind that characterized the deathly feeling of the area.

There was a sun, but it was impossible to tell where it was coming from, as the snow blocked it out. there seemed to be no direction, or weight either. it was just existance.

Ean tightened his grip on Sachi's hand, turning to face her. "Can you see past me?" he asked.

Sachi turned her own head to face where Ean was standing and squinted her eyes slightly. But it was way two difficult to see through the blizzard. "No, the snow's too blinding...." She replied, just enough for him to hear.

Ean sighed.

"Okay. You need to stay as close to me as possible. Just feel your way to stay towards me, and we'll be fine." he said.

Scahi's grip tightened slightly on Ean's own. She nodded slightly. "Lead the way..."

Ean took an unsure step, as he could feel where he was going, but could not see it. He had to make sure Sachi didn't stray off into nothing.

After a few meters of movement, thundering footsteps could be heard. Ean quickly and frantically turned, facing a large giant form in the whiteness walking towards them assumedly unable to see them. He pulled Sachi into his arms and stood there, as still as a rock, somehow turning white to mix in with the snow.

''Oh shit... not him...''

Sachi's eyes widened at the sudden pulling of her arm and the contact with Ean's chest. As she felt him wrap his arms around her, she sensed another presence, and knew that this was for possibly good reason.

"Ean?" She managed to whisper. "What is that?"

"Sh!" said Ean, as he shoved her into his chest even more, his eyes even... fearful of that giant.

It eventually passed over, walking into the snowy white, his footsteps still clouding the sounds of the realm.

Ean stared in the direction of the giant's path, making absolute sure he wasn't coming back. He then realized he had been pressing the blond to his figure tightly, and awkwardly and suddenly let go. "U-uh... Ahem... um... sorry...'bout that... " he said, slightly blushing.

But Sachi's hand reached out and grabbed Ean's wrist before he could pull it back completely. She couldn't help but blush and frown slightly.

"Hmph...so you got a little scared and held on to me...and I thought you would be a man about it." She mused, as her hair whipped behind her.

"That was Jaque de Glaciation. He's the bully of the gods, and if either of us had given ourselves away, we'd both be dead as of now. Technically, I'm trespassing on his land..." said, Ean continuing his walk.

Sachi sighed, hand slowly sliding down to Ean's hand once again as she walked. "That just makes me feel a whole lot safer...."

"Since this is the fastest way to travel without tiring out, we had no choice. We'd be too tired by the time we got the training grounds." he said, defending his road.

"I just hope we're near the training grounds." Sachi said, her voice slightly eager. "I don't exactly want to face that thing down..."

Ean looked to Sachi, "That's just it," he said, stopping at a spot he seemed to have known was their stop.

"We can't."

He pulled out his rapier and stabbed the "ground" they were on, and suddenly the snow gave way.

There was now a large hole in the ice, leading down to what seemed to be the area of the training grounds. Ean turned to Sachi, asking "Do you absolutely, completely trust me on this one?"

"If I didn't trust you completely...." Sachi retorted calmly, as she looked downwards toward the hole. "I wouldn't have bothered to come."

"Okay then," said Ean facing the hole. "Don't scream."

He grabbed Sachi and jumped into the hole, leaving them to a free fall through tens of thousands of feet of air, gaining speed and force as they went.

"WOAH!" Sachi's mind screamed, and her own expression went into shock. Her hair continued to whip behind her as she and Ean descended from thousands of feet to what seemed to be their deaths. She felt her heart race with adrenaline, threatening to break from the ribcage.

She soon found herself grinning, for she didn't find it fearful.

She found it exciting.

They were nearing the ground, faster and faster, plummeting like rocks in the ocean.

Ean tried to shout over the roaring of the winds through their ears "Hold on! This is gonna get rough!" he yelled, and, just before they were about to hit the treetops, they disintegrated into snow once more, landing on their feet directly in front of the cave they were trying to find.

"So, how was your first time using a god road?" asked Ean, acting like they hadn't just trespassed on a God's lands, broken a hole in the separation between deities and men and been in a 50,000 foot free fall that could've most likely ended in death.

Sachi placed a hand to her heart, feeling its beat become slower and slower as she regained her calmer side. She herself looked surprised. "I might be insane for saying this, but.... that was thrilling."

Ean looked at her through his mask like she said she might've been. "Well, I'm glad you liked it. Last first timer I brought on one of those trips actually did not take it well..." he said, looking into the cave.

"I'm not surprised about that...." Sachi replied matter-of-factly, looking around. "We just leaped from thousands of feet..."

"from the back yard of a God, remember," said Ean, continuing what Sachi had said. He looked over to the blond and realized they had not yet let go of eachother's hands, and quickly and flusteredly relinquished his grip on Sachi's own.

"Oh!" Sachi blushed slightly. "Sorry, Ean."

Ean stepped to the mouth of the cave, "I-it's okay. I think we should take a look inside, don't you?" He said, changing the subject, albeit his ears a tiny bit red.

"Damn, it's even cold in here!" Sachi thought, folding her arms across her chest as if attempting to keep warm. "Anything to escape that blizzard." She said gratefully.

Ean chuckled, a warm, almost child-like one, "Heheh, don't worry. It's gonna get way warmer as we go deeper. I chose this cave for a purpose, as the mountain that contains it used to be a volcano hundreds of thousands of years ago. The temperatures deeper n the cave are fairly high, like summer, and the crystals down there refract very little light sources into larger, more powerful ones, so it's ideal for training." he explained.

Sachi ran her fingers through her hair. "And we went through all of that just to get to it....you always outdo yourself when it comes to getting into trouble."

Ean stopped in his tracks. He turned slowly, on his heel, to face Sachi, his eyebrow raised to comic levels. "You do realize... That not a single moment has passed since we left in this world?" he inquired.

Sachi looked at Ean quizically, putting her hands on her hips. "Excuse me?" She asked.

"Not a single second has passed since we left the clinic. God realms' time-spaces have absolutely no correlation to the time-space in this world, that's what makes taking that road so convenient," he said in a tone showing this wasn't the first time he had to explain this.

Sachi sighed. "That's typical... are you saying that we could be staying here for like a day, when in reality, no time passes by?" She shrugged slightly. "Well, at least we don't have to rush that much."

Into the Cave
Ean smiled. "Glad you see it my way. C'mon, let's go deeper into the cave, we need to set up there," he said, turning around once again and walking into the darker parts of the grotto, his mask lighting the way for him.

Sachi followed, her footsteps sounding echoes throughout the cave walls. "Gee, thanks. With that light of yours, I can definitely see things your way." She said, smiling.

Ean's eye twitched under the layer of metal. "I can turn it on low, and then I'll have to carry you down there, if you would prefer that," he said, putting his stress on the fact that she'd be humiliated by this act of so-called chivalry.

Sachi's own eye twitched, and scowled. "Oh, no.... I'd have to slice your throat first." She retorted.

"Hey, you're not the only one with a sword down here."

"True. But can you make someone's own body constrict on itself?"

"I can stop it from functioning completely."

"That works, too."

They were making it farther and farther into the cave, to the point where there was Ean's mask, and the temperature was gaining considerably. Ean soon shed his jacket, showing the thin under-armor shirt he wore underneath. "See, it is getting hot down here..." he said.

Sachi blew a gust of air from her mouth, rolling up her sleeves. "Uh...you didn't happen to bring any sunscreen, did you?" She asked.