Dream

It was a beautiful day, the sun shone like no tomorrow, there were almost no clouds in the sky. overall, the weather was fantastic. there was a village, the houses weren't big. but they were enough for the residents. The village was located in the mountains. the villagers were walking around with carts filled with goods. they also conversed with each other, the village seemed like one big family.

Far away from the village was a cabin, inside this cabin lived a boy with his father. The boy was sleeping in his room until the sun shone on his face, he squinted his eyebrows and slowly opened his maroon eyes, yawned, and slowly got up.

"That dream again..." muttered the boy and stretched a bit before going out of his room.

He stepped out of his room and saw his father, sitting on the floor in front of a small table.

"Good morning dad." the boy greeted his father Anenokoji Masayoshi, who smiled at him and greeted him back.

"Good morning, Tsuki. Sit, let's have breakfast, I made us rice."

Tsuki nodded and sat on the floor, in front of his father, grabbed his chopsticks, and ate. the father-son duo finished their breakfast in silence.

"Dad, can I have a katana?" Tsuki asked suddenly "Hmm? why do you need a katana? I didn't think you were interested in swordsmanship." his father replied while raising an eyebrow.

"Umm... I don't know... I just-" Tsuki stuttered not knowing how to answer his father "Well I could get you a katana..." Tsuki's father trailed off as Tsuki had a glimmer of hope in his eyes "For your birthday!" Masayoshi finished his sentence with a big smile.

"Thanks a lot, dad!" Tsuki thanked his dad and hugged him tightly. "Not a problem, after all, this is the first time you wanted something." Masayoshi responded to his son.

"Oh! I almost forgot! I have a wooden katana, you can practice with it for now, but be careful not to hurt yourself." Masayoshi spoke and got up, and made his way over to a wooden box, opened it, and took out a wooden katana.

He gave it to his son with a smile, Tsuki also smiled back and thanked him, he was really happy with the gift.

"But dad, why do you have this?" Tsuki asked his father.

"Hmm... at your age I was also interested in swordsmanship, but as I grew up it didn't interest me as much anymore." Masayoshi answered his son satisfying his curiosity.

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Tsuki Anenokoji's POV:

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"Dad, can I go outside?" I asked dad, "Of course, but make sure to come back home before evening." I nodded happily and ran outside, I went to the forest near the village and sat down in front of a large tree and leaned on it, my thoughts keep going back to the dream I've been having for 2 months now.

In my dream there was a man who had a katana, he was a samurai... I think? I heard from dad that they were ancient swordsmen, and they were very strong.

The man would then take a stance, and swing his katana when he swung it seemed like the moon itself followed it.

when the man swung his katana, it looked really cool! I paid close attention to him, hoping he would swing it again, but the dream ended and I woke up.

That was 2 months ago, I continued to have that same dream every night, but eventually watching him do the same thing over and over again got boring, the dream wouldn't continue and he didn't show anything different.

I want that dream to continue, I want to see what else he can do, I want to swing a katana just like him!

Maybe... when I learn how to swing my katana and make the cool moons appear... the dream might continue... and I'll see more of that man's swings!

I quickly got up and grabbed my katana, I then imitated the position of the man from my dreams.

The position of his feet, the way he held his sword before slashing, even his facial expression.

'3...2...1...' I counted in my head, and when I finally got to 0, I swung my katana, but surprisingly... nothing happened?! but why? I imitated him perfectly, I did everything he did, except imitate his size... wait... size...age...strength!

I see now! I lack strength! as long as I get stronger I will be able to swing my sword like him! I'll train until my birthday after all my birthday is in 6 months, that should be enough time... right?

Guess I'll have to find out!

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Narrator's POV:

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The young boy, after coming to a realization, quickly got up and did basic workouts like push-ups, sit-ups, some squats, after that he started running around in the forest.

He soon got tired and sat down on the grass, gasping for hair. After a bit of a break, he gathered air in his lungs and got up.

'I guess I'll go home, It's already afternoon, dad said to come back before evening... guess I'll be on my way home!' with those thoughts Tsuki got up and ran home with his katana.

Tsuki got home and opened the door of the cabin and went in. his dad was already done making lunch for the two of them.

"Oh, Tsuki great timing! I just made us lunch, we will be having udon today!" Masayoshi said with a smile and put the bowls of udon on the table. "Cool!" shouted Tsuki obviously excited about lunch. "Haha! I almost forgot how much you love udon... Just like your mother..." Masayoshi spoke with a sad smile.

"Uh... dad can you tell me more about mom? I know I never ask about her these days because you said I was too young to know. and you would tell me when I grew up... am I old enough to know...?" Tsuki didn't know anything about his mother, her appearance, her name, her face, no nothing, he didn't know anything about her.

"...Alright I guess you're old enough to know." Masayoshi sighed took a deep breath and spoke "Your mother... her name was Tsugikuni Niku, she was a warm person, the type that would help anyone regardless of their identity, appearance, religion, and race. she also believed in second chances. I met her when I was hunting in the forest. you are a carbon copy of your mother. I and Niku slowly fell in love without realizing it. the forest was our meeting place, we talked all day, shared our troubles if we had any. Niku was an orphan who didn't have anyone else. I and Niku soon fell in love and got married. years later you were born, Niku... passed away after she gave birth to you." Masayoshi finished reminiscing the past.

"Tsuki don't blame yourself over Niku's death. it was unfortunate, but it was not your fault."

Tsuki nodded got up, went to his room, and laid down on the futon, he stared at the ceiling. he was sad because he wouldn't get the chance to meet his mother. if she had left his father for other reasons he could have looked for her but she had passed, he had no way of seeing her.

Tsuki laid on his futon unmoving for hours, and he soon fell asleep, skipping dinner.

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Tsuki's POV:

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I fell asleep on my futon, but when I opened my eyes, I was no longer home. I was in a familiar forest that I dreamt about, and there was also a familiar man, swinging his katana.

I sat up and stared at him closely, the movement he made when he swung his katana, the location of his fingers on the handle, the way he swung it, I already knew every movement of his but... something... something was missing.

I stared at him even more closely, the air around him... was sucked in like a vacuum through his mouth. the amount of air he inhaled was something the current me could never do. as he inhaled the air through his mouth, he swung the katana, like normal it seemed like the moon followed it. he breathed... and swung his katana...? I see! it was about breathing! his breathing pattern was different from normal! if I could imitate that then I would be able to do what he did!

That's when I realized, what I was missing was breathing! our breathing patterns were completely different.

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Narrator's POV:

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Tsuki in his dream continued watching the man closely, Tsuki didn't blink he didn't want to miss anything.

After some time he woke up and realized it was already morning, he grabbed his katana and immediately ran outside not even having breakfast, his father was awake and saw him running out and shook his head with a smile.

As Tsuki got near the forest he stopped, he placed his hand on his katana like the man in his dreams, he imitated everything perfectly, and breathed the same way the man did, albeit weaker but their breathing pattern was the same.

he got ready and swung his katana horizontally, and surprisingly he did it! Tsuki was overjoyed at his achievement, the reason why he couldn't do it the first time isn't that he was weaker, it's because of the difference in their breathing!

But... Tsuki's happiness didn't last long, because he realized that his technique was different and much weaker. it was a far cry from the original, the reason for this was obvious, the original user has trained for longer and his experience with this technique was much more than Tsuki's.

The boy went back in position and repeated this technique once more, and this time the technique seemed... better.

Tsuki repeated the technique 2 more times, and that's when he got tired, he sat down in front of a tree and leaned on it. he seemed deep in thought.

'I wonder... what the name of this... technique is...' Tsuki thought with a smile and fell asleep from exhaustion.

"Moon Breathing: First Form: Dark Moon, Evening Palace." Tsuki was startled by the sudden voice he heard, and immediately got up and looked around, he was in a different place again, he looked around again, and found the source of the voice. the voice came from the same man in his dreams. the man was still using the same technique, but this time he was also saying the name of his technique.

"Moon breathing... it's so... beautiful." Tsuki muttered to himself and smiled brightly.