05-20-2008, 05:32 PM
As they neared the clearing Lethe and Virgil huffed airy gusts, a cloud of dust hanging low behind them. Their faces ran with rivulets of sweat. Virgil began speaking.
"First thing's first. Manipulating chi. You're going to need to learn how to fly. It's like jumping but you concentrate energy beneath you and ride it like a cloud."
Virgil's feet left the Earth ever so slow, like a street magician. His eyes open, face calm the master began speaking again.
"Try it. Close your eyes, inhale slowly. Remind yourself that the weight isn't present above or beneath you."
Lethe followed instructions with alacrity, picking up on the technique with haste. Soon he could fly, eyes open, and even spar mid air. Virgil spoke again as they calmed themselves, after they bowed. "Now the wave, then the surprise. Follow my hand motion, prepare to deflect the beam, and listen carefully to pronunciation. Virgil's arms turned backward, shaking with a quiet intensity. As words fell from his lips a blue orb began forming. "Ka me. . ." His palms glowed a brilliant cobalt, a dazzling ki color. "Ha me. . ."
The perfect sphere lept in size to nearly the width of Lethe's midsection, and then, as the final words were spoken, it came barreling toward him. "Ha!"
"Pretend it's a blow. A really strong blow. Press block! Throw it up and away."
Lethe placed left fist on right tri-cep and threw the block into the side of the beam and ki wisps sizzled atop his arm toward his face. There was a pained grimace and a roar and the youth's full ki came into form. Behind a tail burst through his gi and wrapped instinctively around his waist. The beam hurtled off and up toward the clouds.
Virgil began clapping. "Very good. Thought I was going to have to give you a bean on that one. Don't worry about the tail. It's normal for you Saiyans." Lethe looked confused and Virgil said, "Don't mind that. You'll understand when you're back. Now your turn."
Lethe mimicked the peace keeper's posture, position and stance mid-air, speaking the words at a soft bark. "Ka - Me - Ha -" And sure as sunlight the orb took shape in his grasp, pulling his arms forward an inch at a time. The boy pulled them back, feeling a strain in his shoulders. "Me Ha!" And all at once, thrust forward as a sling shot pellet, the beam burst forth.
"Wuh oh." Lethe read on Virgil's lips. The man touched two fingers to his forehead and vanished. The beam tore from Lethe's frame, taking every ounce of strength left with it. The young Saiyan fell nigh dead on the Earth, his facade a mixture of elation and muscle failure. Before sleep could take him Virgil had returned. "Chew this and swallow it kid."
The boy did, noting the protein rich taste like a genetically modified vegetable. "The news is I signed you up in a no holds barred tournament to the death."
"You did what?" Lethe rolled back into a standing postion using chi. His feet had started to disappear at the point, followed by his calves. "Aren't you?" The murky de-materialization had swallowed his hips when Virgil cut him off.
"Crime never sleeps kid. I have faith in you. You'll find me when you're back."
And before Lethe could object he'd vanished.
****
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the Dante's abyss waiting area. If you're missing any appendages don't panic, your DNA is being processed."
"First thing's first. Manipulating chi. You're going to need to learn how to fly. It's like jumping but you concentrate energy beneath you and ride it like a cloud."
Virgil's feet left the Earth ever so slow, like a street magician. His eyes open, face calm the master began speaking again.
"Try it. Close your eyes, inhale slowly. Remind yourself that the weight isn't present above or beneath you."
Lethe followed instructions with alacrity, picking up on the technique with haste. Soon he could fly, eyes open, and even spar mid air. Virgil spoke again as they calmed themselves, after they bowed. "Now the wave, then the surprise. Follow my hand motion, prepare to deflect the beam, and listen carefully to pronunciation. Virgil's arms turned backward, shaking with a quiet intensity. As words fell from his lips a blue orb began forming. "Ka me. . ." His palms glowed a brilliant cobalt, a dazzling ki color. "Ha me. . ."
The perfect sphere lept in size to nearly the width of Lethe's midsection, and then, as the final words were spoken, it came barreling toward him. "Ha!"
"Pretend it's a blow. A really strong blow. Press block! Throw it up and away."
Lethe placed left fist on right tri-cep and threw the block into the side of the beam and ki wisps sizzled atop his arm toward his face. There was a pained grimace and a roar and the youth's full ki came into form. Behind a tail burst through his gi and wrapped instinctively around his waist. The beam hurtled off and up toward the clouds.
Virgil began clapping. "Very good. Thought I was going to have to give you a bean on that one. Don't worry about the tail. It's normal for you Saiyans." Lethe looked confused and Virgil said, "Don't mind that. You'll understand when you're back. Now your turn."
Lethe mimicked the peace keeper's posture, position and stance mid-air, speaking the words at a soft bark. "Ka - Me - Ha -" And sure as sunlight the orb took shape in his grasp, pulling his arms forward an inch at a time. The boy pulled them back, feeling a strain in his shoulders. "Me Ha!" And all at once, thrust forward as a sling shot pellet, the beam burst forth.
"Wuh oh." Lethe read on Virgil's lips. The man touched two fingers to his forehead and vanished. The beam tore from Lethe's frame, taking every ounce of strength left with it. The young Saiyan fell nigh dead on the Earth, his facade a mixture of elation and muscle failure. Before sleep could take him Virgil had returned. "Chew this and swallow it kid."
The boy did, noting the protein rich taste like a genetically modified vegetable. "The news is I signed you up in a no holds barred tournament to the death."
"You did what?" Lethe rolled back into a standing postion using chi. His feet had started to disappear at the point, followed by his calves. "Aren't you?" The murky de-materialization had swallowed his hips when Virgil cut him off.
"Crime never sleeps kid. I have faith in you. You'll find me when you're back."
And before Lethe could object he'd vanished.
****
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the Dante's abyss waiting area. If you're missing any appendages don't panic, your DNA is being processed."