Love of Swords

The dark sky of the ending night is covering the whole wilderness. Its quiet forms like a dome over the domain Yi. Everything seems suspended in time, lifeless. There is not the single sound of an animal or even some wind which caresses the leaves with the purity of nature's work. The sun isn't even showing in the horizon, leaving a dark blue sky dominating the place. Master Yi comes into Kazuki's bedroom and gently shakes his shoulders. 

"Kazuki, wake up. It's time for your training."

The young boy lazily opens his eyes. It's pretty difficult for him. He doesn't have the habit of being woken up so early, and therefore isn't prepared for the current setting. The room is dark. This darkness, he only saw once, during his nightmare. Fearing to be dreaming again, he starts to panic. He tries to run away from the room but Master Yi grabs him. The old man holds the young boy against him. With a warm and calm voice, he chases the fear away. His presence calms down the young boy. 

"Kazuki, calm down. Calm down. It's fine, it's only me. Sorry if I scared you."

Kazuki looks at his master. He doesn't clearly see his face in the dark. He turns his gaze to the window through the old man's arms. The sun is starting to rise, turning the line between the trees and the sky from black to a mix of pink and orange. When the first ray light hits the painted stones of the room, Kazuki looks again at his master. Waking up so early is strange to him and he visibly questions the reason for this change in their habits.

"- Why do you wake me up so early, Master ? It's not even the morning.

- Because your training requires getting up early and working throughout the day. Let's go. I'll bring you downstairs, rest a bit on my shoulders."

Master Yi takes the sleepy Kazuki on his back and goes down the stairs. The young boy immediately closes his eyes but more lightly, accepting with no further delay the invitation to rest by his Master.The old man puts Kazuki in front of the table in the main room, where the breakfast is already waiting for him.

"I already took mine. Don't eat too fast but don't be too long either. I'm going to prepare the training ground. Meet me there once you'll be ready. I left training equipment next to the table with a spare kimono, so you won't have to soil one of yours. I'll be waiting for you at the training ground."

As the old man leaves the room, Kazuki loses interest in the breakfast. The only thing he wants is to sleep peacefully. A lot of things have changed since the incident. Master Yi and him got closer as a family. But there is all this training. The young boy asks himself multiple questions about it. Is it really necessary ? Those two people he saw that night never showed up again. He didn't had any nightmares nor dreams either. And why does it happen to him anyway ? He had done nothing to deserve it. What does the old man know about them ? So many questions, yet no answers. If the old man wanted, he could tell him everything. At least it's what Kazuki is convinced of. In his eyes, Master Yi is all knowing. 

Kazuki sight. If Master Yi didn't tell him everything yet, there must be a reason. He trusts his master and cannot go against his decisions. After all, the old man took care of him like Kazuki is his own son. The young boy finally decides to start eating and drinking. Once done, he starts putting on the kimono and looks at the protections. He saw them in the hut once. They were next to the swords.. swords?

As this word rings in the kid's head, he realizes what the old man will show him today. Swords. Like in the books he reads. He'll use a sword. The weapons that the hero carries. Excited, he tries to figure out how to put on the protections. Not finding how, he runs in a hurry outside with the protection in his hands to join Master Yi on the training ground.

The old man is finishing putting some dummies on the training ground. He wears the same protections as Kazuki. The master sees the students approaching with the protection in his hands.

"You didn't figure out how to put them ? Alright, I'll help you. I'll show you how to put them on later. Next time you'll try by yourself"

Master Yi helps the young boy to put the protection on him. Once done, he grabs a long object and gives it to Kazuki. It's a wooden sword. A bokken. Despites the times which have passed since its last use, it still is in pretty good shape. The surprises that the quality of the object triggered in Kazuki must have been shown on his face, because Master Yi answers to his thoughts.

"- Even without any students, I still took care of the materials present here. It's not because I stopped fighting and I dissolved the clan that I can't teach to someone who wants to learn. Once you arrived, I preserved them with the thought of intention you some day. Now this day has come. And since you are in a position in which learning how to fight is an obligation, it's up to you to use them without any restriction.

- I'll learn how to use a sword ? Really ?"

The old man nods, with a serious expression on his face. This decision he made is definitive and he won't come back on it. He'll teach Kazuki how to use weapons.

"Yes. And you'll be able to manipulate many weapons. But yet you also need to learn how to fight while your hands hold nothing."

Stars appear in Kazuki's eyes. He clearly ignored the part about the training. In his head, he'll be like the heroes of his books. He starts swiping his sword right and left while screaming whatever comes to his mind about swords.

"That's so cool ! I love swords ! Oh, maybe I'll have a giant black sword when I get older ! I'll fight for justice ! And I'll be feared by my enemies ! Boum boum ! Or maybe I could make a lot of swords appear in the sky ! I'll say something like "I am the bone of my sword !" and then I'll just have a thousand blades around me ! Or like I'll get a cool blade with superpowers ! Maybe Art can do this ? Launchien6fires storms or transforms everything I touch into ice ! And it would have a cool name, like.. Slaying moon ! I'll send Art attacks on the bad guys ! Boum ! Boum !"

Master laughs as he watches Kazuki having fun. In reality, he had planned it. He knows that the young boy loves his stories with a hero wielding a sword to fight bad guys. That's why he woke him up early. The time for him to have fun around with the bokken, they would have lost too much time if he had woken up at the usual hour. 

"... I have created many weapons…"

And after an hour, Kazuki suddenly stops. He turns to his master. The kid's face is red, from running around and swinging his swords in the air or against a dummy, but still full of energy. With a big smile, he runs to his master. He grabs the old man's kimono and shakes him it while making a praying face.

"When do we start ? When do we start ? Please please please, I want to learn it !"

The old man smiles and laughs before the reaction of this student. It seems that energy and excitement of the young boy is contagious.

"You're energetic all of a sudden ! Alright, let's go !"

The old man grabs another Bokken and they take position, each in front of a dummy. And they start hitting the dumi, following the old man's explanations. Kazuki learns how to wield a sword with his two hands. He also learns some moves such as an estocade. Some will find it weird, this passion burning inside him,, but he doesn't care much about it. Even more because there is nobody to say anything about it besides himself and the old man. His grip on the handle becomes tighter and stronger so he doesn't lose the weapon for every swing he does on the dummy. His will is insulated in every hit, in every swing, in every move. He wants to become stronger. And he loves it. This new sensation of strength is almost euphoric for him. He can't deny it nor can he hide it. The excitement and the motivation give him a regain of energy every time he feels down, every time he is tired of moving forth and back this bokken. But he doesn't quit. He keeps doing this. And more, and more, he keeps moving that wooden sword forth and back, like the waves on the beach. It causes a lot of pain, and this pain makes him smile. He can't explain it but it tells him that he becomes like he always dreamed, stronger like the heroes in his books. And therefore, to feel this sensation once more, he keeps going.