Sowing Seeds of Experience. [OPEN/TRAINING]

[Guyviroth]

The training field within the confines of the shinobi academy always made Helios feel... at ease. At rest. More importantly, at home. The trees that surrounded him gave him the feel of secrecy as he practiced, the flowing grass in the gentle breeze mimiced his mind, body and soul as he prepared for his training, the sky brightened to an ice blue as he sat, meditating within the training field.

His eyes were closed for some time. Images began to race in his mind, but no matter how quick they flashed and how many there were, his could see each painted portrait clearly and vividly. One image was simply him, stood in the same field he was now, but older, stronger, skin of blood red and dark chakra around him, two swords fastened at the waist. One was his chokuto, but the other was a katana of intricate design. Another picture showed him outside of an unknown village, buildings destroyed and charred ash littered the floor like sand. Timber burning and skies blackened with smoke, blotting out whatever light of hope that place ever did, and within the destruction he stood, contempt of his power.

His eyes shot open. What Helios saw was simply him with the power he saught after, and what he could do with them. It was his destiny to become strong, if not for himself, then as a tool for whatever village or organisation he would work for. Standing up slowly, his body began to seethe with energy, chakra visibly flowing slowly along his body and it began to feel lighter, yet stronger. Gripping his sword, he quickly dashed forwards, striking out at a nearby tree first with a Diagonal Cut, then with teo Front Thrusts. He was starting to adapt to the Kaimon, able to unleash a few attacks at a time while under its influence.

[Guyviroth]

The bark of the tree maintains its structural integrity, but at the same time the slashes upon its hardened, darkened bark would show that it has seen so much punishment in such a short frame of time. The entirety of the trunk was shown with several punctures, a few even piercing all the way through the wood through sheer power itself. In some areas some could see charring and burns, more than likely from either the friction of the sword rapidly heating up from the punctures in the wood, or simply from Helios' own chakra as it rapidly powers up. Though, judging from Helios' lack of mastery over the eight gates, was probably due to the friction from the steel sliding across timber.

The kenjutsu specialist was only focused upon striking the log. Flashes of imagery of people began to veil over his eyes, as more and more personas became apparent to him. None of them he could recognize, but in his mind he knew that each one had to die. Each one would spill their blood in his presence, and with each kill he accomplished, each person he murdered he felt... nothing. No remorse. No regret. No care of what was left of them. These persons would vary in appearance; men as old as their thirties in anbu gear would appear before him; women who bore aprons and long flowing hair that were clearly not trained fighters; children only his age, perhaps younger, with headbands across their foreheads with various village emblems emblazoned upon the steel; the elderly, hunched over with a walking stick, long clothed robes looking sickly in their cheeks; no matter who appeared before him, he would see their bodies carved as his sword hit the bark of the tree.

'Who are these people,' Helios' mind began to wander sparingly as his arms kept swinging, stabbing, slicing at the unwavering tower of timber in front of him. It seemed like whatever he was acting out upon was merely being co-ordinated by his muscle memory and subconscious. He was no longer in a state of perception, of calm, of knowing what he was doing himself. The only thing he was set upon was questioning his own thoughts, and his own mindset. 'Why am I killing these people? Are these those whom I will stain my sword with their blood upon a not so distant future? But most importantly... why do I not care if these people die? Because they are just figments of my imagination? Or because I'm just... uncaring?'

[Guyviroth]

Amongst the fields of grass and the walls of the canopies of trees stood a line ninja, white robe flowing in the gentle breeze, accompanied by the wavering motion of chakra that slowly began to die down, to a calming dance, before vanishing completely. The path of floating leaves, bark and ash blew before him, passing him forlorn grace that, even though they were just parts of nature, soulless debris within the winds of life itself, each one felt to give Helios a look of displeasure, of joy, of sorrow, of anger. Was it really just a case of Helios striking out against one of nature's creations... or was he lashing out at himself?

The bark on the tree was scarred to death. Punctures from the chokuto seemed much wider than the thickness of the blade itself, possibly from repetitive strikes making the holes larger. Swiss cheese looked wholesome when compared to the brutal craftsmanship that Helios had displayed upon its trunk. The bark varied in shades of light brown to where it was intact, to charcoal grey where the friction of such repetitive wood on steel collision began to heat up the blade to burning points. What was more astonishingly was the fact that before him remained only half a stump, the rings within the trunk's core would suggest it had been there for decades. The other half was carriered backwards from the force of attacks, the chokuto finally cleaving the great tree in half. The upper half lay dying just behind the remaining stump, parts of its branches snapped from the impact of hitting the hardened earth, while some of its leaves detached and were scattered into the currents.

Some of the fatigue began to set in to Helios. His blood rushed throughout his body more so than it usually would, his breathing was out of synch to what he was usually used to, and his body began to numb softly while the joints felt like rusty iron hinges as he moved them. As he began to shake off his arms, he felt some feeling coming back into them, and began doing so with the rest of his body. Taking in a deep inhale, he held it for several second before releasing, then doing so again. He began to fill the cool, exhilerating feel of the oxygen in his lungs, causing him to relax with another exhale, beginning to regain his pace of breathing. Helios was rather pleased of his work, despite how emotional it felt for him. Sheathing the chokuto quickly, he turned to face three training dummies and sat in front of them. Looking into what could of been the sockets of their eyes, he tried to find some form of semblence of human life within it, like he had those visions when facing the tree. None surfaced. Perhaps he had cleansed whatever inner turmoil he had? regardless, he closed his eyes, and began to meditate.

[vegapunk]

28 EXP @ Guy

[Guyviroth]

The sky began to cry in revalation that one of its chosen children was turning more to the dark side, day by day. The rain came down not heavily, but not in a drizzle either. It was as though through the rain the world was attempting to comfort this one boy in his troubles, in his confusion, in his lasting pain that will span across years. Helios was more or less aware of this; those visions were far too clear and far too vivid to just be random hallucinations. He has thought that one day, at one time, at one point in the future, those people whom he saw would die by his own corrupt blade. When that time was, and how it would happen, and where it would happen, was still a mystery to him.

The shinobi's eyes opened slowly. The sky that was once a cool ice blue that soothed his soul with its color, now darkened ominously to a charcoal black. Rain clouds invaded what was once his skyward sanctuary from the realms of mortality and war, and now pierced his being with their animosity as they did with the good weather not moments ago. The rain no longer comforted him, but bombarded him with sin and punishment as though it was in his repentance that he would murder so many innocents in times to come. Thunder clapped and lightning strikes in the not so distant rural districts of the village. The weather changed so quickly that Helios could not help but think; 'Perhaps this is just an omen of what I will become'. The calm morning of yesterhour was how he felt when he stepped into this field, but after his mind nearly collapsed from reality he felt more like the thunder and lightning, striking anything in its path, undaunted and uncaring.

Standing slowly, Helios looked at the three tree trunks that stood upright, rigid, in front of him. He couldn't see anything besides what lay in front of him. It was something that baffled him and something that he needed to work out on his own; why was he seeing such imagery when he was training, and why could he not see them now even if he wanted to? Turning away to the path back down to the village, he strode slowly, thinking of what he did, what he will do now, and what he will do in times to come.

EXIT

[Apple]