Ki initiation

"Master your disciple Kenichi places his life on this request," Kenichi started sitting opposite Akisame. "Please give me a vacation."

Akisame remained silent for moments then said, "Why?"

"Rest! I just want to rest!" Kenichi started screaming. "The reason doesn't matter, I have been three weeks without a day of rest! Ohma also wants to do some forest hiking- he told me!"

"Very well, then. Let's go on a vacation!"

"I knew you would say that- wait- did you just agree?!"

"I am not so cruel. Everyone needs a break sometimes."

*************************

Unexpectedly all went according to Kenichi's plan, the whole dojo decided to go as a group and even Honoka tagged along but wouldn't have caused many problems. All went merrily until the day of the trip when they reached the dock. The ship they were to travel on turned out to be designed like a pedal boat, Kenichi's leg and Ohma's agave up less than halfway to the place even after taking some breaks and help from the masters. Sakaki and Akisame had to take over after that and they finally reached the island that doesn't exist on any map, Horinji island. And while the masters toppled Kenichi's hopes revealing a new type of training on the island, the Elder took off with Ohma towards the heart of the island.

"How did you discover this island?" Ohma asked walking beside the elder.

"I fell asleep while taking a swim," He replied, "and when I woke up I found myself was drifted to this island. When I scoured the island I found the remains of a dilapidated Dojo with the sign board with Furijini etched on it.... this island turned out to be one of Furinji Clan's lost dojo, headed by one of my ancestors."

"Seriously?" Ohma asked raising his brow.

"Seriously...."

They remained silent for a moment and kept walking then Ohma said, "This doesn't make sense - you just drifted to this secret island which coincidently has remains of an old Furinji dojo."

"Nonsense," Hayato said. "It makes perfect sense. It's just a sense we don't yet grasp."

"You think so?"

"My boy, all things are ordered and explicable. Even Chaos harkens to the beat of unseen principles. There is no true 'RANDOMNESS'. Merely spontaneous whimsy! Flowers wilt, waters flow, chaotic valves implode, and Korean pop music sucks. But never for no reason."

"Huh," Ohma uttered, "this is a surprising outlook. I always thought you looked at the world with more--- well artistic wonder. Since you have that collection of old eastern style paintings in your room."

The elder laughed. "Order and wonder go hand in hand. Whether decoding chaos or indulging in its whimsy, the world around us is a ceaseless den of darkness and delight. Just there is joy in understanding a facet of it, there is equal joy in knowing there is more to discover. The quest goes ever on and whether windmill or giant, my legs strike forward."

"Well..." Ohma shrugged his shoulders. "How did you settle down in Ryozanpaku with that kind of attitude? It must feel quite cramped?"

"Cramped? No- No." Elder snickered. "The earth beneath trust to the planet heart, dear boy. It's air and heaven stretched past out reckoning, windows to a fathomless beyond."

"Not the answer I expected."

"Little boy, even in the smallest of spaces entire worlds may exist. If not in one's surrounding then behind another one's eye. It is only cramped if you lack vision. Anyway, we are here."

They stopped their walk. Ohma found himself standing beneath a giant tree that dwarfed every other greenery around it.

"This is the centre of the life of this island. This Ancient One." The Elder touched the rough bark which spanned ten meters. "It has lived for more than a thousand years, witness hundreds of initiation, now it will witness one more. Normally this is the second most important step in one's life as a martial artist."

"Then what's the most important step?" Ohma asked.

"To have the wish to learn and the will to reach this stage is the important step."

With that, the Elder placed a palm on Ohma's back. "Follow my voice and don't let your wander. Close your eyes and stand straight."

Ohma followed the instructions.

"Do you feel the wind?" The Elder asked.

"Yes," Ohma replied.

"It mocks you, it flows around you, making the twigs on trees sway. Now feel the sunlight, the light, the heat, the energy that powers this forest. Do you feel it?"

"I do."

"Don't let this feeling vanish and open your eyes."

When Ohma opened his eyes he found himself standing in cool deep woods, surrounded by tall trunks reaching high, their swaying leaves covered branches swaying in wind, shading the ancient ground letting only a bit of warmth of the golden sunlight peek through, the cricketing sounds of insects, then his eyes moved to the giant tree. The ancient one, so large, its body reaching heaven, so high its branches look as though it could reach into space and grab the sun. Everything was somehow interconnected by factors Ohma couldn't comprehend. An invisible vitality that permeated the land.

"Destroy that focus, stop looking at that flame or that single opponent. Preoccupied with a single leaf... you won't see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree... you'll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety... effortlessly. That is what it means to truly 'see'."

"To see is the first step of my inner circulation technique, Life-Giving breath of the Ancient Breath. Don't let this feeling vanish and sit in your meditative position."

Ohma did as said, all the while Hayato's hand didn't leave his back.

"Don't let this feeling vanish and close your eyes. Visualize that nourishing vitality as tiny motes of white light and let them fill the darkness in your mind like fireflies. Fill the entire land, as much as you can feel with them. Do you see them?"

Ohma didn't reply but the elder took his face as yes.

"Now comes the hard part. Place a part of the focus in tanden."

(A/N: Tanden is area lower abdominal area.)

"Then take a deep breath and suck in the light with the air. Fill your lungs and fill your stomach."

Ohma did and the motes entered his body as warmth spread through with them. It was the warmth of a good soak in the bathtub after a tiring day.

"Filter out the air and keep the light inside with the exhale. Keep repeating the process until your body is filled with light, from head to toe. Change from slow deep breaths to fast deep breaths and stop when it's done."

Ohma followed as before and in a few minutes filled his body with light. Then he held his breath after an exhale.

"If you feel vibrations spreading across the body and your body's temperature changing, it's okay. Now take the deepest breath you could take and exhale hard while pushing all the light in your body into the tanden. If you feel a calm flow of energy in the tanden then change the white light into blue and if you feel a raging flow, then change the colour into red."

Ohma breathed slow and hard through his nostrils, air filled his lungs and his stomach full. Then exhale, squeezing his lungs and stomach. Pushing the light into his tanden.

"Now tell me the colour."

Ohma's lips parted. "It's both blue and red."

Red and Blue lights exploded from his tanden and enveloped each half of his body, one like a hot raging flame and the other a cold heavy tsunami.