Snippet #2142729

Shadow smiled at Sereinia and simply said "yes" to her as he too then looked up at the skies above.

The next morning Shadow made good on his promise and guided Sereinia and Mayumi back to Cre' Est. The trip was uneventful but still entertaining to a fault, what with Shadow asking questions about almost everything they passed along the way and curiously approaching and examining certain things such as passing horse drawn carriages, statues along the sides of the roads, and other random objects they passed. His curiosity knew almost no bounds and it was as if a child were now accompanying Sereinia and Mayumi as he curiously and almost aimlessly wandered from their path along the way from time to time to investigate things he'd always taken for granted and never given any thought to before.

Upon arrival with the Capitol City on the horizon, Shadow led them around the city and slightly north to a small rocky outcrop among the vegetation of the forest. Within the rocks was a hidden chamber leading slightly below the surface of the earth and into a large cavern. The expanse was approximately four hundred feet from left to right and another six hundred feet deep before hitting its wall. This single massive cavern was all natural and undisturbed, save for a few weapon racks Shadow had put there as well as a few other amenities. Shadow and Mayumi's training began that day and lasted for three months.

During that time Shadow intensified her strength and endurance training for the first month and a half, carving decent sized rocks into items similar to dumbbells for her to hold during sparring and forms training to weigh her down and wear down her muscles. He tied larger rocks about the size of a large watermelon to her ankles via a chain to slow down her legs and stop her from being able to kick at all. In between sparring rounds she was made to do isometrics and active workout routines to change the training on the day and change the way the muscles were forced to react to the weight they now carried. When the first month and a half was over and Shadow was satisfied with her progress, Mayumi began training in a completely different manner and Shadow nearly negated sparring and weight training altogether save for one or two rounds to test progress.

This second month was used to bind Mayumi's hands behind her back and blindfold her, forcing her to use not only her ears but her sense of touch in ways that she hadn't before in order to detect Shadow's light footsteps and body heat as he moved about. It took almost a week for Mayumi to get used to it, but eventually she did and her body began to adjust to the new sensations around it. Sensing Shadow's body heat within a distance of about five feet. Being able to hear his silent breaths and feel his footsteps through the dirt that they trained on. If she could detect his footsteps through the dirt she could easily do so through rock or anything else that was harder or more compact than soft soil due to the nature of the pressure waves through them.

The final three weeks before the Festival were spent meditating and recounting what they had gone through, and when it was complete Shadow gave Mayumi one final test the day before the festival. Shadow bound her hands behind her back and blindfolded her once again, this time forcing her to spar with him. Shadow's attacks came in at about one quarter speed to start the match, but gradually picked up speed and intensity as she continued to prove her training had paid off by gracefully leaning, bobbing, weaving and rolling to avoid them. Eventually Shadow landed a hit when he picked up intensity to about four fifths of his natural speed and that was when the match ended. He cut the bindings and let her remove the blindfold as they bowed to each other as Master and student once again before leaving their training grounds for good and joining Sereinia in the city to prepare for the festival.

The day came and went, and with the advent of nightfall came a new air for everyone all over the world as they all waited for and experienced the coming of the new century at midnight.

It was only ten o'clock or so right now as Shadow, Sereinia and Mayumi entered the city streets dressed in their new festival garb. Shadow's new outfit was similar to his last but instead of a glittered surface it was more decorated with what appeared to be stars lining his body and creating a small cascade of white and light blue against a black background. Shadow himself actually kind of thought he looked alright in such an outfit, but still didn't like how restrictive it was.

That aside, Shadow was slightly concerned because Taira had contacted him and told him there was an Assassin presence within this city. It was unlikely they were going to target Shadow, but undoubtedly they were here for the life of someone important. Shadow decided though that this time they were to be left alone so that Taira as well could enjoy this special night. She took him up on the offer and dressed up herself in a beautiful black (for lack of a creative word for the RP) kimono with pink blossoms running along the bottom and the sleeves. She looked wonderful, and she left Shadow and the others shortly after their meeting to go enjoy the festival on her own.

Shadow, in the mean time, walked about the edge looking for that one fish game he had played at the previous festival. He had quite a knack for it and found it amusing to toy with arrogant and otherwise cocky owners who thought he could never succeed at catching the fish in their tanks. He had a bit of trouble locating it, but when he finally found the game he immediately got in line and waited patiently for his turn to take a stab at catching a fish. The little girl in front of him failed miserably and splashed the poi straight down into the water and breaking it. The man laughed at her a little bit and said "better luck next time" which more than ticked Shadow off.

Shadow knelt down next to the girl and offered to pay for her next attempt which amused the man who owned the fish as Shadow took the poi in his hand and brought the little girl's hand to his own as they held it together. Shadow helped her line up the poi, and then when all was quiet Shadow lashed the poi forward making sure to keep the girl's arm in consideration as a fish was launched from the tank into the air and into the bowl in Shadow's left hand. The girl gleefully cheered with joy as the man's mouth dropped and cheers came from the crowd behind them. The girl thanked Shadow with a bow and a little hug before turning to show the fish to her parents as they walked away. Shadow smiled and looked at the man behind the tank.

"My turn." He said confidently.

The man renewed his facade of calm and confidence as he allowed Shadow to pay for his turn. Shadow lined up four bowls on the side of the tank, promising two fish for each bowl which would leave three left in the tank when he was finished. The man laughed out loud and several whispers were exchanged by those that watched as Shadow lined up his poi and prepared to strike the water once more. Shadow waited for almost a minute, angering the man behind the tank but finally lashed out several times. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight. Each time he slashed at the water with the poi a fish flew into the air and landed into one of Shadow's four bowl, filling each of them with two fish before he set the poi, still in tact, down next to the tank and picked up his bowls and walked away. More whispers went through the crowd about someone who'd done something similar before in Triveila which told Shadow that perhaps some of the same people from that festival were here as well.

Shadow set the bowls down on edge of a fountain where other fish were swimming and pushed them over, sending the fish into the water as they happily swam about their new home with the others.

Shadow sat down on the edge of the fountain and looked up at the sky above, wondering what Sereinia and Mayumi were doing at the moment while he was out having fun messing with cocky game owners.