Screaming water and bloody rock

He closes his eyes. He visualizes the water behind him. Even with his eyes closed, he is able to see it somehow. It's there, he knows it. This point, which seems to only be imagined, is real. He doesn't see from his own eyes but with his whole spirit. Therefore, the art allows him to see outside of the shape he takes in his inner world. And slowly, the water starts to appear everywhere from the point he imagined to his position. But the image of himself is made out of water too. A weird feeling starts to rise inside him. He feels heavier. And as he continues to reveal more images of the water, it seems to him that his whole body is inflating, like a balloon. He feels bigger and heavier, filled by something unknown. And sometimes as he loses concentration this feeling escapes, but quickly comes back. It's like his whole body is a lung. This sensation seems to grow with every new part of the world he starts to visualize. Even if it's uncomfortable, he has to go further until he finally has a real hold on himself. He keeps going and the sensation becomes worse and worse.

Master looks at Kazuki, whose eyes are closed, putting a knee to the ground like he is being crushed by an invisible force, and his body convulsing while standing still. Yet the old man doesn't move. He just keep looking at his student, waiting to see the result of this new exercise.

Kazuki keeps going. And a new effect adds to the others, the feeling of his lungs being filled with water. He feels like he is drowning. All of a sudden, he starts bending over and throwing out water. Master Yi still doesn't move from an inch. It is something he can't interfere with.

"Do not reject it, Kazuki. Whatever it is, it's you. If you're drowning, let the water flood you. Accept it. You shouldn't fear yourself."

Kazuki opens his eyes and turns to his master. Only fear is visible in the young boy's gaze. This moment reminds Kazuki of the nightmare, vomiting liquid in a situation he doesn't understand and unable to do anything against it. Master Yi wants to reassure him. His care for the young boy takes over. He hesitates to take the kid in his arms, but he knows he can't. He returns to discipline. He wants to do something to abridge Kazuki's suffering but he knows how he can help him.

Kazuki gets on his knees, begging for help. The old man seems unfazed. But it's the cry which makes him turn his jacket. The cry of despair, fear and pain of the kid he took care of all this year.

"Master.. Master.. Please.. Help me.. Master.. It hurts, Master.. I can't breathe, Master.."

He wouldn't be able to face Gisei eyes in eyes, nor he could watch his own reflection without him vomiting if he ends up being the one who made Kazuki suffer. He crouches in front of the young boy.

"Listen to my voice, Kazuki. All this water.. makes it disappear around you. Not everything. You see this water you imagined?"

Kazuki quickly nods. The old man takes the young boy's face between his hands. His voice is calm and soft, like a comfortable pillow where Kazuki can rest his head. Somewhere to lean his spirit, to calm it down.

"Good. Close your eyes again. I'm with you. You see the water surrounding you. Imagine a circle around you, without any water. A circle which prevents the water from reaching you."

The young boy tries his best to follow his master's words. It takes some time but after a short moment, he stops throwing up water and the only sounds left are some sobbing. Master Yi gently pat his head.

"Very Good. You've been brave, Kazuki. But you shouldn't fear yourself. Now look and only look. I'll show you how it works."

Kazuki doesn't understand how he could show him this. As far as he experienced it, Master Yi wasn't there. The young boy thinks it's impossible, unless there is a technique that his master didn't use. And then, he wonders why it wasn't used while it would have made this easier. But before he can even ask anything, the old man stands up, goes a bit further from Kazuki and closes his eyes. Kazuki watches in silence the old man, who almost seems like a statut, do what himself couldn't do. And after a short moment, injuries appear on his body. Cuts and scratches appear on his skin. Slowly, they bleed. Kazuki starts to realize what is happening. Images from the nightmare rushes through his mind. He remembers as clearly as if it's happening right in front of him. In horror, he sees the images of the melted face and rotten corpse. His instinct tells him to do something to avoid this event fromh appening again, even if it wasn't real. He runs to his master in order to get him out of this Trans's effect but his stress takes over again and the water starts to agitate again, making it difficult for him to join Master Yi. So from where he is, he starts yelling while he fight against the water to get closer.

"Master! Master! Please stop! Master! I know it hurts! Please, stop! Not again!"

And as he tries to get near his master, a sharp and abrupt "crack" resonates through the infinite world. And after this sounds, it's like everything else stops. The sound of water becomes muffled. The repetitive high-pitched clock sound of the droplets on the water suddenly stopped existing. His eyes widen as he sees something worse. Master Yi's right arm is twisted, broken. In the young boy's head, it means that the rest of the body might follow after. The body was destroyed, like in his nightmare. What he wanted to avoid is happening, right in front of him. Kazuki's scream fills the whole domain.

"MAAASTEEEEEEEEER!!!"

He tries harder to get to his master but the water is constantly pushing him around. His emotions are taking over and there is nothing he can do about it right now. He doesn't have the mental capacity to think clearly through the situation and to calm himself down for the water to stop. He despairs after he hears another "crack". He tries to punch the water around him in order to move and get closer to Master Yi. The process is slow but after a while, he finally reaches his master. There, the old man is heavily bleeding. His arms are broken. The young boy grabs his master and shakes him, with the hope of him waking up and telling that everything is fine. However nothing happens but he keeps trying. His cries are deafened by the constant movement of the water in the world.

"Master! Please, Master ! You're hurting yourself! Stop! Come back!"

And as he tries harder, red liquid splashes on Kazuki's face. The young boy completely stops for a moment. He whips his face with his hands, only to see them becoming red. He looks at the blood and starts shaking. An horrible scream escape from the kid's mouth, only thing able to describe the hopelessness feeling of the situation.

" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! "

He turns to his master. A hold goes through his left shoulder, Kazuki is even able to see the other side from it. Blood drips heavily from it. Kazuki can only look at it with shock and scream again. It's the only thing his brain knows he can do to face this situation.

"Aah.. Aaah.. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH !"

He screams. And another hole appears, in his opposite shoulder. It splashes even more fresh blood on Kazuki and the water around him, tainting it in red. The scarlet liquid follows the flow of water, forming patterns. The water coming in contact with the blood ends up going from red to a deep black.

"No.. No… No.. Master.. Master! Master! Please!"

The kid grabs the old man's clothes and hides his face on it. He slowly starts to cry. And unexpectedly, arms pull him against the old man. The contact is warm and gentle, like the touch of a living being.

"You are shaking. What happened?"

The soft voice of Master Yi arrives in Kazuki's ears and the young slowly calms down. The voice, beyond reason, seems to instinctively calm down Kazuki, to give him the sentiment of security. He thinks that everything is okay. Then he realizes that he just saw Master Yi suffering, injured, but now he is in the old man's arms and his voice doesn't show any pain. He looks up and witnesses what seems to be impossible. The old man, without any injuries or any blood, stands there like nothing happened. His eyes widen in face of his miracle and his mind rushes 100 thoughts to find a logical explanation. It's reflected in the inner world by vortices forming in the water.

"H-how? You.. You were there… your arms.. And.. And. The holes.."

The old man just chuckles and replies with a smile, as if Kazuki's reaction is funny to him.

"Heed my words, Kazuki. You can't hurt yourself unless it's on purpose."

Kazuki starts to understand what happened. It's what would have happened if he kept going with the task of "feeling his inner world". It's part of the process to be "hurt". Yet it's not because he understands it that he doesn't fear it. Kazuki looks at the still agitated water and the vortices going around. His master puts his hands on Kazuki's shoulders, giving him the courage he needs to overcome his fear. His bright smile and confidence seems to be something he can spread to the people around him, therefore Kazuki right now.

"Do it, Kazuki. I know you're capable of doing it. If you accept and know who you are, there is no reason that it'll hurt."

Kazuki puts his gaze on a wave, moving around unnaturally. He is hesitating but the presence of the old man washes his fear away. He closes his eyes and visualizes the wave. From it, he tries to see the other waves. And every little droplet of water is revealed to him, with all the perturbation disturbing their calm and quiet flow. The feeling of heaviness returns. Right after, follows again the feeling of inflation. And then slowly the water fills his lungs once more. He feels like he is drowning. He is instinctively about to stop there. He is coming to the part where he gave up. But this time, he'll go further. He won't back up and he'll finish it, trusting the words of his master.