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Author's Note: I apologise to anyone who has been waiting for further stories
of Aihami and her growing Neo-Kido school. I've had quite a busy time and haven't
been writing a lot, for the Times or otherwise. However, there have been quite
a few on the Neo-Kidoka completed so far, and I am currently in the process
of submitting them. If you haven't already read Aihami's
Initiation and A
Student Found, please do go and read them first. If you have, and you have
been waiting for news of Aihami, then by all means read on. =)
Aihami the Aisha sat in quiet meditation in her favourite
clearing, ready to start the day by refreshing herself, body and mind. It was
her favourite time of the day, and it helped prepare her for the lessons in
Neo-Kido that she had to teach.
Her Meekins, Nage, sat patiently beside her,
waiting for her to finish with the daily ritual. He was used to this happening
every morning.
She began by inhaling the cool morning air, feeling
her senses sharpen as the movements regulated. She could hear everything; see
everything that went on around her, each way she perceived the world was heightened.
She sensed movement in the trees behind her, and turned to look.
Sure enough, she could hear footsteps soft on
the jungle floor, and leaves being brushed out of something's path. A minute
or so later a human girl stepped out of the brush.
"Shelleylow," Aihami grinned. Nage squeaked
a welcoming squeak.
The human nodded, grinning back at the Aisha.
Then she remembered her manners and bowed her head briefly. "Greetings, Aihami-Master."
The Aisha smiled. "I forgot that you do practise
Neo-Kido in the human world…"
"Right. But it has another name, there."
"Of course. So what brings you here today?"
"Another abandoned pet… Found him in the Pound yesterday
night. No one seemed to want him. And he's so young, only a week or so out of
its egg." She turned and called into the trees. "Dasher! Where are you with that
Lupe pup?"
A golden Gelert poked her head out of the foliage
near the ground. "You could slow the pace down, Shell," she remonstrated her
owner. "Little thing couldn't keep up. Come on out, Aragon." She stepped daintily
from the shrubbery, and Aihami could see a tiny Lupe cub trotting in her wake.
He was as green as the surrounding undergrowth, barring his pale muzzle, underbelly
and tail tip.
"This is Aragon," Shell said. "Aragon635 if
you want to get technical. Aragon, this is Aihami-Master. She'll take you to
your new home."
"Really?" The Lupe cub's eyes shone with curiosity.
He peered at Aihami. "You're my new owner? But you smell like an Aisha…"
Dasher snorted, trying to keep down a giggling
fit. Her owner nudged her sharply. "She is an Aisha, boy. She's not really your
owner, just your friend. Oh, and she'll be teaching you the art of Neo-Kido."
Aragon looked back at the human girl excitedly.
"Neo-Kido? You mean what you told me about last night? Honest? That's cool!"
The girl smiled. "Now, go with Aihami-Master
and I'm sure you'll have a great life in your new home."
Convinced, the Lupe nodded.
Aihami waved goodbye to the Gelert and her human,
then turned to her newest student. "I assume Shelleylow has told you something
about Neo-Kido?"
"Oh yeah," Aragon agreed, nodding vigorously.
"She told me it's about…um… like…finding your center? And um…using your opponent's
force against him…yeah, that's it. She and the other pets even showed me some
moves… and it looked so great! Am I really gonna learn that?"
"Oh yes," Aihami said, trying not to laugh herself.
"Come on then. Let's go to the training hall where I'll get you kitted out."
As they walked along the jungle path, Aragon
positively bubbled with questions about Neo-Kido. Aihami answered them all,
smiling to herself as she watched him.
Ever since a chance meeting in the outskirts
of the jungle, she and Shelleylow had become fast friends. The girl's four pets
even trained at her training hall for Neo-Kido about once a week.
Shell had also been very eager to help with expanding
Aihami's Neo-Kido school, something that Aihami had set out to do for her old
Master so that the peaceful art would spread throughout Neopia. Every now and
then Shell would make a trip to the Pound to pick out some unwanted pet and
bring him or her to the training hall, both to be housed and have an education
in Neo-Kido, the martial art that both loved. She also provided the training
uniforms and belts, which she had bought at a shop near the Training School
that sold such things. So far Shell had committed six students into her care,
Aragon being the seventh.
Looking at Aragon now, she felt the girl had
made a good choice. He had such vitality and enthusiasm for life, she could
see that much with her trained eye. She was sure that his lifeforce, that mysterious
spring of energy in his body from which vigour poured, was strong.
Still, it wouldn't hurt to have a look for herself.
This was something she did with all her new students anyway so she could see
their specific needs. "Aragon," she said suddenly, "come, sit down. I want to
take a look at you."
Puzzled, the young Lupe did as he was told. "Aihami-Master,"
he inquired, "what do you mean? You can see me just fine…"
"Not that way, Aragon. I want to see… inside
you."
"You can do that?"
"Oh, yes, through my lifeforce. You see, deep
inside you is your lifeforce, the essence that makes you who you are. Everyone
has one, and if we can train the lifeforce, and the energy it produces, learn
to strengthen it and control it, the possibilities are limitless. You can calm
things that are frightened or stressed; I have done that before. I have even
heard tell of Neo-Kidoka who have been able to do miraculous things like see
visions or move things without touching them, all through the power of the lifeforce."
Aragon was visibly intrigued. "Will I be able
to do that someday?"
"You may be able to," Aihami told him gently.
"Now, sit still while I see how strong yours is."
"Will it hurt?"
"Not in the least. Just keep quiet and hold
still."
Obediently, Aragon lay down and made himself
comfortable on the forest floor. Aihami closed her eyes and started her breathing
exercises again, feeling her senses sharpen. As her breathing became rhythmic
and steady, she slipped carefully into that different dimension, seeing things
invisible. It took a much shorter time now that she had been practicing reaching
for this inner sense of sight than it had when she had first discovered it accidentally.
She looked for her own centre first. Yes. There
it was, the shifting, changing pool of energy, glowing a warm, light red of
several shades that kept melting into each other. The bright energy was flowing
out of it, disappearing into the recesses of her body as she watched. It would
take a lot to keep her in this state, but through constant training she had
energy to spare. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the shifting, soft
blue spring of Nage's lifeforce, as active as her own.
Turning her inner eye, she looked at Aragon and
found his lifeforce in a trice. The energy in the pool shone with intense, deep
forest greens specked with bits of pale gold as it moved and flowed erratically.
It positively shimmered with vivacity. She was impressed; it was as she had
hoped. It was strong, and if he learned and trained it proper, there was no
telling what he would be able to do. She found this often true of young creatures,
they had so much life and colour in them. It was sad that some lost this zest
for life as they grew.
In the flash of a Snowbunny's bobtail Aihami
was back into Neopia. Aragon looked at her. "You're finished already? What d'you
think? Is my lifeforce good?"
Aihami cast a benevolent glance at her newest
student. "I think you'll do great. Your lifeforce is perfectly strong."
When they arrived back at the training hall,
a blue Kougra wearing his training uniform bounded out of the door to greet
them on large but quiet paws. Aragon watched him, awed by the sight. The Kougra
was wearing a blue belt with golden tips around his waist. He was obviously
quite experienced in Neo-Kido. And there was something else. Though not overly
muscular, there was an air about him that clearly stated he was really very
strong.
The Kougra stopped before the pair and bowed
respectfully. "Greetings, Aihami-Master." Noticing Aragon, he smiled down at
the young Lupe. "And who might this be?"
"His name is Aragon. I met Shell in the jungle,"
Aihami explained. "He's our newest student. Aragon, this is Marko. He's the
senior student here."
The Kougra's smile turned into a grin. "Hey,
Aragon. It'll be great to have you here." He turned to Aihami. "The class has
been up for ages asking when you were getting back. I had the Uber Dark Faerie
of a time keeping them occupied. You'll have to start class ASAP, or they'll
get restless."
"Right," Aihami agreed. "Aragon, you go with
Marko-Senior and get your training uniform while I go and get the class settled."
The Lupe and the Kougra dashed through the back
entrance. Aihami watched them go.
Marko had had a tough life before he had come
to live with her, and his lifeforce as a result had been swamped by the negative
feelings produced, and had been greatly weakened. However, on their first meeting
she had managed to use her own energy to raze those feelings away and since
then his inner strength had improved. Each time she looked at him with that
inner eye she could see it growing and increasing in power, now a bubbling moving
spring of bright, deep blue energy, giving out a healthy aura the colour of
a twilit sky. Marko had gone from a bad-tempered, uptight Kougra into a good
natured, easygoing one whom all the white-belts loved and admired.
She walked through the front door and into the
training hall. Immediately her six students, all clad in their training uniforms
and white belts leapt towards her, faces eager and excited. A few reached down
to pet Nage companionably.
"It's about time, Master!" Jitterbug, an energetic
little Chia, came up, dancing with impatience to be off.
Emlyn the Shoyru nodded fervently. "We thought
you'd never show up!"
"Can we start class now? Please?" Koura and
Keota, the twin Eyrie kits, looked up imploringly with their bright orange eyes.
"Class, line up and kneel," came Marko's voice
from the other end of the hall.
The white-belts scrambled into their rows, in
order of age while Marko knelt in front of them, just behind Aihami. Nage scampered
to the side so as to be out of the way.
They performed the customary kneeling bows and
suchlike pre-lesson formalities before beginning their warm-up and breathing
exercises. Aragon was introduced to the class and training began. Marko took
the young Lupe aside to teach him the basics first, so he could at least know
the basic postures and how to breakfall before he began on more complex techniques.
Aihami set the more experienced students on a revision of different techniques
that she had taught so far while she checked each one, and now and then took
a peek at Aragon's progress as well. He seemed to be doing beautifully.
After official class was over for the day a few
hours later (for the students could still go to Marko or Aihami during the day
if the needed help with techniques), and the students were released to romp
happily in the grass and ferns around the training hall, she watched him, and
he seemed to be getting along with the rest of the white-belts.
"How'd he shape up?" She turned to Marko as
he plodded across to stand by her.
"He's good," Marko replied with an amused grin.
"His lifeforce is strong."
"I saw," Aihami replied. "I think he'll be a
Master someday, if he keeps his good attitude and stays receptive to teachings.
The same goes for the rest. There are some, Naro-Master told me once, who have
been ruined as Neo-Kidoka because they let their skill get to their heads, and
perform their techniques only to show off their prowess."
Her eyes hardened as she watched the white-belts
play. "I do not want that to happen to any of my students."
To be continued...
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