Lucky

I stood there for a good hour. I just didn't know what to do. The old man never got like that when we were together. I cried for some time. Emotionally I was lost. Of course I loved the old man. He was all I knew. He was home…

Standing up after all this time crying I took notice of my environment. I was in a forest. But it was… different. The smell, the colors. It wasn't the same Forever Forest. I knew it in my bones.

"Where am I?" I asked. But there was no one there to answer me.

I looked for my backpack. It had all I needed to survive. I was originally planning to live in a forest anyway. I took the knife the old man gave me and put it around my waist. It was always good to prepare for an emergency. I found a nice place to rest with a fallen tree. I sat there thinking.

"What should I do?"

I didn't know where I was. I couldn't contact the old man. I was alone. Now truly alone. I did go out in the woods alone for some time but i alway knew the old man would be waiting at the cabin whenever I wanted to go back. He would be there reading whatever book he chose this time. And I would… I would…

I started crying again.

After a long time I decided to light a fire. It was starting to get cold and I was getting hungry. I did bring along some food that would last me around 5 days. It was mostly grains and some vegetables. Stuff I could boil and eat. I started my fire. At this point I was quite a pro, if I do say so myself. I ate my food under the starry sky and decided to focus on the feeling of Ki. I couldn't go long without doing it because I would lose that feeling it gave. I tried to calm my heart. I decided to try and absorb Ki through my breathing. It seemed like the easiest thing to do. I exhale, my heart now calm, I can feel it. That feeling of being alive, sensing the nature around me is more vivid than ever. I take a deep breath, but it isn't just air that comes into my lungs. Ki. It's going with the air. Following its movement. Flowing just like air. When I open my eyes I can see the dawn of the sun. I get up and stretch. I can feel that the amount of Ki in my body went up. But I still don't know how to use it. I feel like a bow (my body) and arrows (the Ki) but without the string, so I can't quite use it. I decided to put that thought behind me. I decided to explore this unfamiliar forest. I get my things and go on my way. While walking I got to a river. Nice. Last night I used some of my drinking water to boil the food. I decided to walk upstream since it's coming from a higher area. Maybe I'll get a privileged view of the forest from there. I keep walking when I come to a waterfall. It's mesmerizing. Coming from well over 100 meters the strength of the waterfall is great. Taking a bath in the water to clean myself, I noticed that there are also lots of fish in this kinda lake area the waterfall created. I think to myself how lucky I am to have brought my fishing rod with me. I explored a little more but there isn't much more to see in the surrounding area. I decided to make this my small settlement for the moment. And so time passed.

One month later.

"Ahhh, that was nice training."

I have been using my Ki technique every day for the past month but I still can't figure out how to use it. It does however make me passively stronger and faster. I did hunt some rabbits in the area but nothing dangerous appeared while I was there. Maybe I'm just that lucky. Grabbing my knife I decided to go for a little hunt. I do have my bow and arrows but I don't like to use it that much. It doesn't feel familiar in my hands, while the knife is almost like an extension of my body.

"Maybe I'll catch a boar this time. I've been wanting to eat one for quite some time now."

Looking through the woods I came across a bunch of deers.

"Jackpot."

I hide myself and wait for one of the deers to come in my direction.

"EEEEHHHHH" the deer with the biggest horn starts to make some noise.

"Did he find me? Maybe they found out my location and he is making the others aware."

"RRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH"

I hear the sound of a growl of what seems to be…

"A wolf…"

I almost screamed. There on the other side is a big wolf trying to hunt one of the deer here. As if looking at where I was looking, all the deer look at the wolf and start running away. In a matter of seconds there are no more deers in the surrounding area. It 's just me.

"I'm so unlucky." i think to myself

The wolf gets aware of my presence and starts to slowly walk to me. I can see that his back left leg is hurt.

"Maybe I can outrun him if he's injured?"

NO. The wolf starts to run in my direction. I panicked and reached for my knife at my waist. When I look up the wolf is right at me with both his claws aiming for my throat. I fell on the ground while holding my knife up and closed my eyes.

"HUUUMMMMM"

I'm scared. Scared to open my eyes. I feel a warm liquid falling on my hands. I open my eyes to see the wolf lying next to me. My knife, still in my hand, is stabbed into the wolf's chest. I killed it. Shaking from the initial shock I got up and brought the wolf to my settlement. I got lucky. That's all I could think about.

At night while cooking the wolf meat and looking at the sky I start to think about the wolf. About the hand on my hand. I have already gotten used to blood. I have killed rabbits before. But my mind couldn't shake off the blood of the wolf. I start thinking about how it died of blood loss. I remember what the old man told me. How we die if we stop either the breathing or the beating of the heart. But i guess that if we lose too much blood we die too. Blood carries the oxygen that we breathe into our cells. I learned that from the books at the old man's cabin. Blood carries oxygen…

"WAIT."

I almost screamed while I got up from my lying position looking at the sky.

"If blood can carry blood… can it also carry Ki?"

I had now finally gotten to a theory for using Ki. Anxious to try it out I get to a sitting position. While gathering Ki I focus on my heart and my breathing. But now I would try to focus on the blood flow. How every heartbeat pumped the blood into every inch of my body. Simultaneously I try to focus on the Ki following this blood movement. I didn't feel anything in the first hour. But remembering the old man's words about talent and training I decided to try more. After some time I got so concentrated that I could hear the blood flow. I could feel it entering and exiting the heart. And then.

'Shuuaaa'

I felt stronger than ever. When the blood left my heart I could now feel it. It left with a little bit of Ki. It went all over my body empowering every cell there was. I felt like i could smash a boulder with my fists.I try to memorize the feeling making it natural. After some time I try to get up while maintaining that Ki flow. But as I try to walk that feeling goes away.

"As I thought. It wouldn't be so easy to use ki after all."