Meeting By Moonlight (Vash/Kurai/Anguo)

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

I nodded.

"Well, that makes my job a little easier, at least. I'm going to be teaching you the same way my own teacher taught me; Kurai has his own style, of course, but meditation is where I began. Meditating is a way of focusing your spirit, and it is also a method of contacting and focusing the mana that flows through you. As a monk, you use your spirit, or 'ki', while mages use mana outside of them by first focusing on their own soul. A Lunar Knight is a blend of the two."

I took a deep breath. "The first step in either path is to contact your own power, and meditation should help you do that." I closed my eyes, laying hands on my own power, which bloomed faintly around me as a nimbus of multicolored light, seepig out from beneath the limiters on my coat.

"Eventually, you'll be able to do it as easy as breathing, without focus or meditation, but that day is still far off for you." And I let go of my power, letting it dissipate into wisps that quickly faded away.

[Zhen Anguo]

"Alright!" 'Guo said with a nod "Contact my own power..." Placing his halberd on the floor, he reached to his belt, pulled off a small gourd, pulled out the cork and covering the hole with the first two fingers of his right hand, he tipped it upside down, covering his fingers in salt water. Reattaching the gourd he sat on the floor, cross-legged before reaching up with his hand and smearing his cheeks, lips and eyelids with the salt water. He took a deep breath and kept his eyes closed as he tried to channel his own power.

He was struggling if he was being honest, then he thought about it, how much stronger and calmer he normally felt when he meditated, so rather than focusing on trying to find whatever power he was looking for, he did as he always did. He reached out to the world around him and accepted that he was simply a pawn on the grand scale of the planet, he allowed natures energies to flow through him, and he felt the faintest link with some higher force.

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

Well, well, well, Kerrian mused quietly to me. He can almost feel me.

He has a strong attachment to the world, I agreed.

"Good," I said quietly. "Centered in yourself, you can feel the ebb and flow of energy in the world. It has a pattern to it, a kind of breath. In and out, ebb and flow; when you contstantly take in energy, it's as though you're constantly inhaling; at some point, you won't be able to take any more. It will come crashing out of you... but you can control that. Breathe some of that energy back into the world, slowly..."

[Zhen Anguo]

Exhale the energy, and release...

'Guo let out a thick breath through his nostrils, combining his release of energy with his breathing techniques during meditation. Sure enough, he felt the world around him flourish with the energy that he had exhaled around him. Just like Vash had said, it was literally like breathing, every time he inhaled, his energy grew slightly, and every time he exhaled, he made sure to release some of the energy back.

"Vash..." He muttered, not breaking his focus by opening his eyes. "I can feel something... It's wierd..."

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

"What?" I asked him, though I had my suspicions.

Either you or me, brother, I thought.

[Zhen Anguo]

"I don't know... It's like there's something holding onto my..."

His brow furrowed as he tried to find the right words to speak, it was like a thread had been wrapped inside of him, but he couldn't specify just where it was, it felt like it was attached to his heart, his lungs, his stomach, all of him. Then it dawned on him, it was his soul. Something was linked onto his soul and it only just dawned onhim that he had always felt this sensation, it had only just come to light.

"My soul... Something's holding onto my soul..."

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

"That's the bond, between you and the spirit who chose you," I told him. "That is the source of your power, the one thing that makes you a Lunar Knight. Can you feel it? Extending away from you, and up into the heavens?" I raised my hands in front of me, outstretched towards the sky, welcoming the energy that passed to me from both Mothers and Kerrian.

[Zhen Anguo]

"I-... I can..." He muttered, smiling slightly, it was a weird feeling knowing that at that very moment he was actually connected to the spirit of one of the moons. It was like being placed in the hands of some higher force, the connection was definitely faint, and it didn't give him that much more strength, but still, it was eery.

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

You should get used to it, sounded Kerrian's voice in both of our minds - evidently, he was going to let me listen in on this one. We're stuck with each other until you manage to get yourself killed.

That's not very nice, I scolded him privately.

I'm not a nice person, he replied the same way. Or so you are always telling me.

[Zhen Anguo]

The voice shocked Anguo, but he calmed himself quickly and came to reason with himself, if he were to spend the rest of his life with this spirit, best not to step off on the wrong foot with him.Taking a calming breath, he spoke, assuming that the lunar spirit could hear him clearly.

"I respect all aspects of nature. If the land calls for my death, it will take me without complaint. But if man and steel try to take my life, I assure you they will find no easy task on it. I have lived my life appeasing nature and in turn I hope to be safe from her wrath, as such, we shall journey together for a long time."

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

I had to keep myself from a chuckle; I wasn't supposed to be eavesdropping on this conversation, and laughing at Anguo wouldn't be a good start.

You, said Kerrian, are almost as much of an idealist as the sorry lump who is teaching you. He sighed, a long drawn-out sound of exasperation and grudging respect. But all the same, I have to respect your dedication. I suppose I should stop butting in for now; training you, thank the gods, is not my problem. It is his, and he'll be eager to go back to bothering.

I could feel him withdrawing, though I also sensed that his connection with Anguo had strengthened some.

[Zhen Anguo]

Guo smiled inwardly, he knew that he had just taken quite the step forwards, or at least, that's what he thought.

"Better to be an idealist and live alongside nature rather than destroy it!" He said cheerfully as he opened his eyes and looked up at Vash, excited by what he'd just been through.

"That was weird!" He cried "It's like I had two minds and was talking to myself in my head... But I was getting responses!"

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

I nodded. "Knights are able to speak directly, mind-to-mind, with the Lunars who chose them. The bond is different for everyone - some Knights are in constant communication with their moon, others are almost silent. Every Knight is different, and so is every Lunar. Kerrian can be a bit opinionated, or so I've heard..." - the distinct impression of a snort and rolling eyes - "...but you'll get used to him."

[Zhen Anguo]

"Well... If he is who I have been paired with, who am I to complain? Nature has its ways, and if it has chosen me to work alongside this 'Kerrian' I must fulfill what it wishes me to achieve!" He nodded to himself as he unfolded his legs and pulled his knees up to his chest. "So!" He said cheerily "What's next?!"

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

I smiled. "What, not tired yet?"

I was kidding, of course. Full moon tonight; we were all energized. I hopped to my feet.

"I think we've already seen that you can use that massive thing," I said, indicating - what had he called it? White Dragon? - "...but how well? You held off Kurai for a while, which is impressive, but can you keep calm in a fight? And how well can you channel the energy you have?"

I slipped out of my coat, tossing aside my first limiter, a grin on my face. "Of course, if you'd rather face Kurai, I'm sure he'd be ready for a rematch."