To find a cure.

Nodding, I think upon her words. I assumed, “so they didn’t reproduce a lot is what you’re saying. I mean, you were in the hospital for a year… then you went to school and lived with the foster family. All I’m saying is that there might be 301 members in the clan; a member that you don’t know about.” With a shrug, I add, “but if you did that when you were 7, the oldest they could be would be… oh wait… you were in the accident at six and went back when you were seven? Ah, so you only went to school and lived with the foster family for a year…?” Leaning back I look up as I how a 7 year old made it through the forest alone without any special abilities. That was a pretty irresponsible set of parents to allow a child to go missing for the amount of time it takes to get this deep in the forest without teleportation. As far as various techniques went, I assumed she must have had some back then and hadn’t learned all of her techniques recently. “That’s amazing,” I say in a bit of awe, though I was still a little confused about how that whole time line worked out. I would have asked, ‘are you sure that’s right’ to anyone other than my sensei; in the long run, it didn’t really matter. I instead say, “it must’ve been hard on you.”

244 / 5269

“I see…” I say as she speaks a bit more on the foster home. I figured they must be good in idea only as there was no real guarantee to get good parents out of total strangers. With the summary, I give a short, “ah….” It all sounded like a pretty good rebound from a lot of bad things that happened. In an insightful tone, I comment, “I never thought sensei would actually be smart…” As I say this, I gaze off into the woods a bit; she was pretty so I assumed she was either of average or sub intelligence. We never got into any deep discussions, though I was probably the worst person to travel down that road with as I would easily become lost. My life almost sounded normal when compared to hers. Though it was pretty bad, I was sitting here with her because of the bad things that happened in her life. Fate was kind of weird, but then again, it seemed to prove that live goes on when bad things happen and new situations arise out of hopelessness. Even though Sensei was a monster at the moment, this was probably leading to something better.

200 / 5469

“I’m glad to be here for you Sensei,” I admit to her words. It was beneficial to me because I was learning new things and gaining new experiences in my training, even though I had to work for it. I wasn’t the type to use others, so I felt at the least, obligated to fulfill any clan duties that I would need to as a part of my payment for being taught under this teacher. My hand lifts up and scratches behind the back of my neck for a moment before it lower to the ground to my side. I wondered what Sensei’s people would be like when we got there or if they would believe that we were really from the future. It’s a hard claim to expect from anyone and I figured it would be that more harder to believe in an age without the technological advances and ideals of the future.

154 / 5623

My gaze shifts to the sensei as she stands to her feet, then returns to the ground as portions of her cloak are displaced by her stretching. Pulling my feet under me, I hold to the side of the tree as I stand up. I dust off my bottoms with a “hai hai” to the announcement that we would be moving on. A grin comes to my face when she teases as I speak, “I don’t mind running again; piece of cake.” After all, I had more pride then I did stamina. I didn’t know if she were serious or was simply teasing me. With a nod in the direction we’re supposed to go, I ask, “you want me to head that way?” Up to this point, I had never seen Sensei use the god speed technique, so I didn’t know that she was able to move as quickly as I. Just to be sure about our current path, I inquire, “what are we looking for next?”

167 / 5790

“Eh?” I look up as I am informed that we were going and then suddenly one of us went. I didn’t expect my Sensei to be that fast at running, especially in monster form, but I figured if she were more than a normal human, than something like that was to be expected. A grin spreads across my face and my body leans forwards as I take off after her following the path she was taking. I knew she knew the forests much better than I did and could probably move though them like a hot knife through butter, while my run would probably be something more akin to a cold baseball bat in the same situation. Instead of trying to pass her up, I concentrated on not allowing her to get away from me. Since she didn’t use god speed, I wouldn’t use any god steps unless something happened, like I hit a tree branch and got several meters behind while trying to spit out bark. The sound of the bushes shuffling in my passing comes to my ears as I attempt to shorten the head start gained by my sensei. I figured the cloak should slow her down.

200 / 5990

I found myself following behind like a nice pupil until I heard her words. “What?!” my mind translates as my eyes widen as the competitive spirit in me grows. A grin comes to my lips as I wondered if Sensei really thought she was faster than me. Now that she’s asked for it, I had to deliver to her. “Yeah right, Sensei,” I call up towards her, “I was told ladies didn’t like dust, but here you go.” I call upon the winds of garhalla to lighten my steps as wynd energy begins to build about my form; in one bound I thrust forward in a sudden burst of speed which I mistook as my normal cloud leap (cloud dash) where as I glide over the ground (hover) casting the illusion of wind wings on my back for an instant as my body propels forwards (airboost). The sudden burst of speed, is enough, not only to cause a large displacement of wind force in my wake, but should be enough to send me past sensei and into the lead before my feet come back in contact with the ground and I maintain the pace of my boost. The effect might be something like a horizontal tornado passing by. In turn, I would ask calling back to her, “ya like that?”

220 / 6210
+ Cloud Dash

A smug grin is on my face as I hold the lead for a while. Turning back to see where she was, I notice her movements change. I wondered if she flashed to get to my side as we ran. Either way, I was prepared to pull ahead of her yet again when I noticed her doing some sort of short range warping. I blink as I continue to run at my pace, wondering if that was a spell that I was supposed to know. “That’s just cheating…” I murmur slightly in awe as she distances between us again. Getting a hold of myself, I knew I couldn’t simply look, or I would be left behind. Deciding that since I was better with wind, it was the way to go, I begin an incantation calling upon the full force of the winds of Garhalla; I couldn’t allow myself to be outdone with tricks here and there. I had to prove, as a man, that raw speed was better than any type of short term warping, even if I refused to use god speed just yet. During this time, wind begins to build about and behind me as I continue to run. It continues to build up, ripping apart tree branches and forest bushes as I rip past. I would allow the momentum to build fully while hoping that there were no low lying branches coming in the near future. Suddenly, I would give a short hop and bring both feet together as I glide for a moment, while setting my posture in the air no more than a foot or so off of the ground. My feet come in contact with a solid air disk (cloud leap) and the wind energy that had been built up to this point, presses out fully in a reverse usage of my Galeforce spell; instead of pushing away an object, I would use an immovable object to push myself. The burst of speed is sudden and rips me forwards at a destructive level of speed, ripping a straight line through the forest while casting hover on my body to control my ‘flying.’ In like manner, I would seek to pass up my sensei once more causing air skids as I ride the wind, hovering in front with barely enough reaction time to miss the plentiful trees and objects of the forest. “Crap…” I murmur lightly, “I should probably slow down….” It was one thing to go fast and another to control that speed.

419 / 6629
+ Cloud Dash

There are some miscalculations on my part and soon I find myself inevitably coming towards a tree. Before I am able to make contact and become intimate with the tree, I find my body snatched up and pulled high above the forest canopy. By the time the rush stops, I am able to see the forest below me. From the sound above me, I could tell that the Sensei had expanded her wings and was doing that thing that I couldn’t technically do as a human: fly. Hearing her words while simultaneously being choked by the collar of my shirt, I answer back, “hai hai…” Pulling at the cloth on my neck I get out, “you just saved that tree from being destroyed.” Right after my words, there is a ripping sound and my shirt is left with my sensei as my body begins to fall the distance between her and the forest. Without an initial hop, I could not activate air hike and without a place for my footing, I couldn’t direct my fall with god speed. “Ah crap…” I feel pressure build up in my stomach as I call out, “buffering winds surround” (buffer) and “winds push the ground” (airboost). The spells activate as I re enter the forest canopy, cushioning my fall so that no harm came to me as I landed, rolled a few time, and ended up on my back looking up wards with no shirt on. Broken twigs and branches lay littered about me as I left a nice sized patch in the forest ceiling. By now I had successfully pooped myself out and the stamina from all the spelled that I used caught up with me all at once.

286 / 6915
+ Cloud Dash

I felt her finger push into my cheek, though I did not move in response to it. My chest heaved up and down until suddenly I felt a surge in my stomach. Leaning up immediately, my body turned away from my Sensei as I hurled there on the forest floor. It had been a while since I had actually thrown up from fatigue; that was something had hadn’t happened to me since I was very young. After the last of the remnants escape my mouth and I find myself coughing, I bring my right hand to cover my mouth as I attempt to keep my back to my Sensei out of embarrassment. I felt pretty much like crap and the vomit didn’t give any type of relieving release. “Okay…” I manage to croak out, “doing too much is bad for you… got it…” I cough slightly a few more times before I would slowly attempt to pick myself up; I couldn’t just sit on the ground all day, and I needed to redeem my pride at least a little bit.

180 / 7095
+ Cloud Dash

“I know, I know…” I complain in between breathes as I stand to my feet and straighten out. I had been an athlete all my life; in things like this I felt I didn’t need an instructor. If it were warping or some magic technique that I didn’t know, then that advice would be more readily accepted; I was stubborn in my own way. I watch as she rips open a portal and then looks back at me. I assure her that I wasn’t heading anywhere soon as I continued to catch my breath. After she left through the portal, I held my hand at my stomach and murmured, “who knew that magic could physically tire you out… maybe that’s a warning Ashram should have given me…” It wouldn’t’ take me long to catch my breath, but the fatigue from a lack in stamina wasn’t something that would easily go away. Thanks to some quest I partook in a while back, I was able to regain my stamina twice as quickly as others, but still this point that I had reached was a new experience for me. For a moment, I wondered just where my sensei warped to in order to bring me water.

204 / 7299
+ Cloud Dash

Ten minutes waiting for someone turned out to be a lot longer than it normally would be. I start off catching my breath, but after that, I started pacing about in circles. My stomach started to feel a bit better as I regained my strength. On top of that, I was hungry for having lost my lunch. I whistle lightly and look around before jogging over to the bushes, pulling down my pants and relieving myself into the forest. After I had gotten rid of that, I return to the main place wondering if I had enough time to god speed forwards and portal back. The only issue with that was that I did not know where I was or where I needed to go.

Before long I am brought out of my thoughts with the arrival of my Sensei. Turning towards her, I look at the hand that reaches out with the water bottle. Taking one, I nod and thank her and even see a sandwich too. A smile comes to my face as I thank her and take the sandwich. I begin eating the sandwich immediately holding it with two hands while cradling the bottle in the crook of my arm.

203 / 7502
+ Cloud Dash

I continued to munch on the sandwich I had been given as I give slightly humming confirmations to whatever orders and directions she was giving. As it would come to pass, we would be walking the rest of the way there. The sandwich is dispatched of rather quickly and I twist the cap off of the water. The quarking catches me a bit off guard, but I come to the conclusion that we had stumbled upon a creature here in this forest. Turning to visually intercept whatever it was, I noticed it running straight for my Sensei. I would not allow harm to come to my Sensei, so before anything was said, my body appears in after kick pose as I would have used godspeed to rush the creature and kick it into the forest brush. If the kick was successful and I didn’t have to use any more drastic and more harmful measures, I would be in the process of channeling my fire energy so that I could follow up with bbq’ing the thing if it made any further movements. I was almost certain that my Sensei would drape her arms around me in thanks for saving her life.

200 / 7702
+ Cloud Dash

My energy gathering is interrupted as I see my Sensei rush towards the thing I just punted into the bushes. “Oro?” I blink as I wondered why she was calling out the word rhapsody. I wondered for a moment if it had to do with some spell she had come over. It becomes painfully clear that she knew the thing that I had kicked. I jog after her, reaching her as she looked over the little thing. Now that it was like that and lying on its back, it didn’t look that dangerous; it actually looked a little cute. “Oh crap…” I murmur lightly realizing that I might have done a bad thing instead of a good thing. “It was coming for you…” I attempt to explain, “and we’re in the forest with who knows what… I just moved on instinct… here… I’ll find you a stick to poke it with… that’ll fix it!”

154 / 7856
+ Cloud Dash

I straighten up as the bush passes by me; it had come rather close. Her voice freezes me for a moment as my butt cheeks clench a little. I thought I felt a little bit of pee squeeze out of the tip of my member as well. ‘Scary,’ I think as I take a step or two back and away from her. I could tell she needed some ‘her’ time and that it would probably be best for me to stay back for a little bit. I wondered just how hard I had kicked it; I packed a pretty good punch, but it was better my foot than my sword.

110 / 7960
+ Cloud Dash

I would stay back while my Sensei hovered over what I would have to assume was her pet. I still thought that poking it with a stick would do some good, but I laid off on any more suggestions for the moment. I watch as it witness that my Sensei seemed to have some type of healing ability. My eyes widen slightly as I marveled, having not seen this spell before. Something like this would probably prove to be very useful in the future; I figured I could use something like this in my arsenal of protection. I would have to ask her how she performed this spell and if it had anything to do with void manipulation. Thinking about it, I couldn’t figure out what I would have to manipulate in order to get something like that to work. So far, the only magic I knew about was elemental and void; this seemed to be neither of these.

159 / 8119
+ Cloud Dash

I continue to watch as she casts the spell over the creature. I assumed it was a high level spell for the length of time it took to be effective. My thumbs loop into my pockets as I standby. The little thing had picked a weird time to pop out of nowhere. I started to wonder where it had come from and how it knew we were here. I hadn’t seen it before; I figured something like this would be around the clan compound or something like that. She should get it a bell; that way it wouldn’t be kicked as easily. We still hadn’t made it to the stomping grounds of her ancestors, so I wouldn’t be really thinking about going anywhere else other than the primary objective. I would remain dedicated in helping my sensei return to her normal form. Looking at the thing, I wondered if it were just a normal pet or if it had some type of mystical powers… maybe I should get a pet… like a huge skunk or something like that?

178 / 8297
+ Cloud Dash

It seemed like whatever she was going was working as I continue to stand idly in the background. Eventually the thing begins to move and animates back to life. I did have a hell of a kick, though it could have been worst. The poor thing didn’t stand a change, but maybe this had made it a bit tougher. I watch the happy reunion, still not 100% sure of what this thing was, but guessing it was her pet in the past realm? As I am told so say hello, I tense up and give a salute as I answer, “hai! Hello, Rhapsody-sama!” Easing up, I step towards her and it and speak in an apologetic tone, “sorry for kicking you little guy, you caught me off guard.”

128 / 957
+ Cloud Dash

When the creature stared, I wondered if it was processing what I was saying. It hissed and snapped at me, causing me to step back and away from it, being wary of the creature. To Izumi’s words, I chuckle lightly, “heh… yeah…” I rub the back of my neck and modestly look to the side as she explains to the creature that I was a good guy, or something along those lines. As expected there would be some time of tension between the creature and I, but from the way she was hugging it, I assumed it was with us for the long run. I answer a “hai” to the let’s get moving as I would continue to follow her the way she lead. Interested in the creature, I would ask in a surprised tone, “so when did you get a huge pet lizard?” I pause for a moment as my eye widened; I knew she had turned into something of a monster, but “…don’t… don’t tell me… that’s your child?!” There’s no way a humanoid could give birth to a larva… was there?

184 / 8,609
+ Cloud Dash

I would have to admit, I was a bit relieved that the salamander creature wasn’t her child. I give a nervous and embarrassed smile as she explains how she came upon the creature. With the explanation I nod and give an elongated “ooohhhh…” But then I wonder, ‘why was the sacred hunter running from something?’ I figured that he must’ve either been weak or a rookie. I shrug off that thought and accept Rhapsody for who she was. “Wait, how can you tell it’s a she?” I ask without really thinking. The body of a salamander seemed to be a pretty phallic thing in itself, but then again, the differences between the two sexes probably had to be pretty subtle unless the males were a great amount larger than females. Then again, I knew nothing of salamanders or this thing that was in front of me. I retract my statement with, “nevermind, she’s a cutie.” I hoped that would be better received as I continued to follow behind my Sensei as our journey continued.

175 / 8784
+ Cloud Dash

With a nod, I accept that answer; it seemed to make enough sense to me. In my terms, it would be like touching a stove to see if it was hot; those were the type of troubleshooting techniques that I was good at. When I hear that it was nearby, I give a bright smile as my mind moved to the next phase: contact. I wondered how the clan people would be. I was sure, if they were a secretive type of clan, that they might not like that we were able to find them, but then again, that would be a test that we were really members of their clan. Well, I wasn’t a member by blood, I was more like a honorary member… In thinking about that, I wondered if they would accept something like that. I ask, “is your clan strict about letting in members who aren’t related to you by blood?” It was better to get that out of the way now so I would know what to expect when it came time to interact with them.”

181 / 8965
+ Cloud Dash

I see the scaly hands while wincing a little bit, not really used to the idea that her entire body was covered like that. I move beyond that to pay attention to her words, and was a bit relieved that I wouldn’t be that much of an outsider when compared to the melting pot that was the clan. I answer a “roger” to the fact that we were supposed to follow what they said and abide by their rules. When we reach the tree, I get the action that I’m supposed to do and I watch her go first. Before my eyes, she vanishes on the final rotation around the tree. “Um… okay,” I say looking at it, “this must be some type of illusion magic, or something.” I place my hand on the tree and make three circles about it much like she did before turning, awkwardly keeping the same hand on the tree as I came about the other way twice where I too would vanishes from sight to anyone if they had been where I originally was.

180 / 9145
+ Cloud Dash

Coming into what appeared to be a new realm, I look out almost in awe at the change in atmosphere and the sudden beauty of the forest. I would be taken aback for a moment; they must have had really… I mean really good fertilizer. “Whoa…” I murmur lightly looking over it for a moment. In looking down I am able to see the village, but my gaze shifts to Izumi when she speaks to me and captures my attention. I give her a nod I assure that I understood why. “Yeah, I see,” I answer back, though I was a bit curious about the thing that we had just come through. If I were to be a part of the clan, I wondered if I actually had to know how that worked.. “So that thing we just came through?” I begin to ask, “was that some type of illusion, or barrier?”

152 / 9297
+ Cloud Dash

Interested in the correct answer, she has my attention as she goes over the properties of the thing which I had just experience. It’s explained in terms that I could understood, so I nodded and answers, “oh” on the conclusion of the explanation. With a nod, I agree, “mm” as she advises for us to start meeting the natives of this place and realm. I was a bit carefree during this process since I was with her. I figured she knew the things to say so that everything would turn out okay; all I had to do was stand around and look cute. In my head, the thought of them running us out of the village with pick forks seemed unlikely; if worst came to worst, we could always teleport.

130 / 9427
+ Cloud Dash

My gaze is about the village as I follow my Sensei into it. I turn front and center to see that we are approached suddenly and by a group. With a bit of enlightenment I see that this would be the welcoming party to greet us. This way, they made things pretty simple on us. I allow my sensei to do the talking through this process while attempting to look as un-menacing as humanly possible, and with any luck, I would exude shojo pastel bubbles. There seemed to be an issue, but I keep my composure as ordered by my Sensei. After that, I find out that the leader of the clan was a woman; that was a surprising fact in itself. When we are told to wait my gaze shifts towards my Sensei before returning to those that surrounded us. This would be the opportune time for a really bad joke.

152 / 9579
+ Cloud Dash

I started to wonder if this were some type of torture. They wanted me to stand in place for the matter of several minutes without conversation, moving around, or anything. It was among one of the most boring thing I’ve done in a while, though I kept my visage looking calm and collected. The internal whining inside would not be seen by those on the outside. It is announced that everyone would be walking us to see the leader, which I thought was pretty gay. I wondered if they were afraid of us or something like that. They couldn’t be terribly strong if it took several of them to walk two visitors and a slug. When my Sensei speaks into my mind, I clear my thoughts and answer back, “yes Sensei, I see.” But I would have rather the scenario play out where a guy says ‘you must show us your strength for us to believe you’ and then I god speed my fist into his face, after which he would bow to me while apologizing for his insolence. Unfortunately that does not happen. Eventually, when we get to the main audience chamber, I see someone who looked very much like Izumi to me. I look from that person and then to Izumi before I realized that wouldn’t do any good, since Izumi didn’t look like Izumi anymore.

228 / 9807
+ Cloud Dash

I stand passively to the side of my Sensei with my arms folded other my upper torso, standing upright. My gaze would be on the leader as she interacts with my teacher. When I am introduced, I only give a slight nod of my head. In a sense, the leader would ask for it and I would look to the side as Izumi removed her cloak. I did not necessarily like looking at the form she held, but I could hear the snakes hiss and come to life once revealed. When she stated for all to leave, I assumed she didn’t mean for me to go as well; it seemed all and all sad that Sensei was so hideous in this form that she could draw gasps and clear out a room.

132 / 9939
+ Cloud Dash

My gaze is on the leader as she stands and approaches. Though I didn’t make any movements, I would be ready just in case the ‘cure’ for this was to simply kill whoever had been affected by it. The entire room seemed to have special reaction to her, so I didn’t know what to expect from the leader who cleared the room. The purpose of our coming is brought up and my gaze is on the leader’s face with hopeful and optimistic expectations. We are let down when the leader states that there wasn’t. For me, it was a major let down that we had come all this way, seemingly for nothing. A look of confusion and uneasiness settles on my face hearing the answer that I knew might crush my sensei. Swiftly turning to my Sensei, I attempt to bring the light of hope to the situation coaxing, “don’t listen to that Sensei! There’s got to be a way, she just doesn’t know it. There’s got to be something!”

170 / 10109
+ Cloud Dash