Elvensong was a bit nervous. She was going to do something... odd today.

It had been five days since she first fell within that inner world. The place where she’d met her true Kosumosu. The Zanpakuto’s form was that of two beautiful women, twins and opposites. Yet the same as well. Her own fighting spirit.

She had begun to understand the silver-haired twin. The woman carried a sword and moved as a warrior. She was focused, blunt, occasionally brutal... and always a fighter. And she called herself Hoshi.

But there was another. A woman with hair as dark as the moonless night, and skin as pale as the moon. And in her arms she carried a book.

Elven was nervous, but she needed the help. She was not nearly as proficient in the practice of Kidou as she was in the theory of Kidou. And what was theory alone worth to a Shinigami? No... she had to improve. She had to master it. And if her intuition was correct, the dark twin Naito was the key.

The bamboo forest surrounded her again... close and quiet. For some reason, it was easiest for her to find that internal world when she allowed the towering grasses to envelop her. Deep within the forest, she halted, drew her Zanpakuto and focused. She did not swing her sword through her forms... she was not here for that now. She simply drove her consciousness within.

It worked.

Hoshi was standing in a little glen, one of the larger hummocks of grass, flowing through one form after another... the deadly dance of the Zanpakuto in the sunlight flashed and twined through the air with mesmerizing beauty.

But Elven was not here for that. The twins seemed to know this, for Hoshi ignored her for the dance of the blade. Her sister, however, looked up from her book and smiled. Naito sat elegantly on a nearby stump, her book spread out on her knees. The grey eyes seemed to swim upward from a pleasing abstraction to focus on Elven. The beautiful woman smiled, but said nothing.

Elven smiled nervously and said, “Hello again. I... well, I don’t know how to say this, but I need some help.

”Of course you do. And we exist to help you, Elven.” But she said nothing more.

If she is my fighting spirit, then she knows my mind, doesn’t she? Why doesn’t she just... help already?. Thought Elven irritably. But she knew. Cheaply come was cheaply held. If she wasn’t bold enough to ask, demand the help she needed then she had no business on the battlefield.

“Thank you. Forgive me, but I must ask. Your sister carries a sword, but you... you represent the deadly skill of knowledge and the skill of Kidou, don’t you? Elven’s eyes deepened in the intensity of her focus. She needed this answer and was prepared to fight for it. But Naito laughed and nodded.

“Yes, my dear. Of course that’s what I am. She swept that lovely fall of night back from her forehead and pinned Elven with her silver/grey eyes. “And you are right... you WILL be fighting for my help. Fighting harder perhaps than you do with Hoshi for mastery. But that battle lies not in gaining my aid, but in mastering the spells.

Elven bowed her head and said, “Yes, I know. I am grateful for your aid.

“Then let us begin. Said Naito and she opened her book.

~~~~

The frustrating thing was, Naito wouldn’t let her try anything but Byakurai. She didn’t mind the low level of the spell, nor the repetition her guide demanded... it was that, as Naito prodded and cajoled her onward Elven was beginning to realize that there had been lots of holes in her technique. Lackluster applications. Elements that had wasted reiatsu or scattered the focus of the spell. Meh, no wonder she wasn’t taking top marks in Kidou class! Over and over, studying every tiny bloody dang element of this, one of the simplest spells Shinigami mastered.

It made her wonder about every other spell she knew.

But the terrifying prospect of relearning every little thing that she’d believed she already knew began to melt away. She had begun to see how much more power her Byakurai had. And it was coming more quickly. Lightening flashed from her fingers again and again... dazzling her eyes and highlighting the sweat beading her forehead. But she was getting it in a way she never had before.

She didn’t notice Hoshi’s disapproving look. Nor did she notice how tired she’d become. Elven’s little curse, that over-abundance of focus had bedeviled her all her existence, had cropped up again. She cried out, “Byakurai”... extended her finger... watched the spell fly out and stab into the trunk of a tree... and then she slumped over, falling down, out, away... back to her own world, leaving Hoshi and Naito staring at the space where she had been.

“Wasn’t that a little reckless? She could hurt herself if she drains her reiatsu too far.” asked Hoshi.

“Better by far that she do so here and during training. In the battlefield she will HAVE to remember not to overreach herself. She must know her abilities intimately if she is to use them properly. You know this.” replied Naito serenely.

Quieter... more studious... but still, perhaps the darker twin, Naito smiled and went back to her studies while Hoshi took her frustrations out on an innocent tree. She was looking forward to the next training session already.

Approved +2 points in kido mastery

It seemed that Naito had a sense of humor after all. Having walked Elven through a mastery of a level 4 kidou, now she wanted her student to master a level... 1... kidou.

Elven accepted the request with a silent nod and cast the Sai... the most basic of all restraining spells. Naito nodded and indicated she should cast it again.

Elven knew what the dark twin wished of her, having experienced Naito’s idea of training last time. This casting Elven went slower, with more thought... and most of all, more awareness of every element of the spell.

First, you drew your reiatsu within... concentrated it... formed it. Once you had it in a hard little ball gently turning within your gut, you aimed it. And when you cast it out, you carefully chose the amount of reiatsu to devote to your target.

She was beginning to be aware of how important pure control was. Mostly she’d been focused on drawing more power to her Kidou, but that was only a fraction of what an intelligent student trained for. No, placing the spell well increased the effectiveness of it far out of proportion to the energy thrown at the target. So she trained for all sizes... small targeted Sai... larger Sai intended for those hollows who seemed to run to larger, spread out sizes. Again and again she restrained the bush standing in for a target. Sometimes she could capture only a pair of twigs, sometimes she’d have the whole shrub wrapping it’s branches around itself.

The point of it all was control. And Naito had her say whether she’d over or underdone the spell each time. For someone else it might have been boring, but Elven rather liked attaining such mastery, and she kept at the exercise for a long time.

It was several hours in that she found herself huffing with her hands braced on her knees.

Oh dear. “Naito, I think that’s enough for today. Last time I had a hangover for days because I’d overdone it. Elven shot the dark twin a wry look. She knew that Naito had allowed her to make a foolish mistake and drain her reiatsu to the point she’d passed out. Naito let a small, amused smile slip over her lips.

Oh yes, they BOTH knew what Naito had done that day. Well, whatever.

“You’ve done well, continue practicing when you are able, and come see us again soon, Elven. We are always here for you. Naito bowed, and received Elven’s bow in return.

I think this will work out well thought Elven as the bamboo forest materialized around her. I think this will work out very well indeed.

Approved +2 points in kido mastery

(ooc:OK, I tried to do a shorter post this time. Shot for +1. *winks* No favoratism here)

Elven was beginning to notice more about each spell as she worked with Naito. Today she’d made it all the way up to a level 8 spell, a new record for her lessons with her strict taskmistress. The Bakudo was a nicely useful repulsion for physical attacks. Not only did it repel the strike, one of the side-effects was paralysis. Regrettably temporary, but any little bit helps. Even a man with a handful of gravel and a bit of cunning can hold the mountain pass against an army.

Not that many had, but in theory it could happen.

But the fun part of today’s practice was placing the kidou. Hoshi had been drawn into the practice once Naito had been satisfied with the quality of the spell. Now, the swordswoman stalked round and round Elven, letting lose blow after blow. Elven’s job was to anticipate where the blow would land, and raise the spell in time to repel it. In spite of the stinging blows when she missed catching Hoshi’s overly enthusiastic strikes, she relished the practice for fun of the times she DID catch the strike.

Midsection, back, thigh, head... she’d never thought to shift the spell itself in the past, how stupid she’d been. In true battle wasting time with a turn to face your enemy could well be the difference between life and death.

Oh yeah, internalizing her thoughts and training hand in hand with the Kosumosu twins was the best thing she’d ever done!

Approved +1 for kido skill. Indeed it was shorter but not worse for it.

You have reached ten points in kido mastery, well done.

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