In the Silence of the Darkness (Rei)

[demonfire]

Estrik walked to an extremely dark part of the cavern, using his staff to guide his way throughout the bodiless catacombs. He stopped when he arrived at a nice, wide open spot perfect for training. It was nice, smooth, and all-around what should be referred to as a best-kept secret. He sat indian style and began to clear his head, although nowadays he found it harder to do. Well, this was certainly a pickle. If he couldn't do it himself, how the hell was he going to teach it? Oh well, everything works out in the end as they say.

[[red].Raven]

Very slowly, Rei entered the cavern, intending to just walk until she either found Estrik or bumped into him. Her footfalls weren't as silent as usual, either because she wasn't trying to be quiet or simply could be. Aside form her usual paleness, Rei's ghostly skin had a look of sickness to it. Of course, she wasn't sick, but she certainly didn't look well either. She walked with one arm around her, not to cover the Mark, but as though babying a rib... which is exactly what she was doing. 'I hope this doesn't have to get physical... don't know why it would, but Estrik has his ways...' Rei walked with her eyes closed. She wasn't exactly tired, because going unconscious counted as rest, but she was a little out of it from simple power exhaustion.

She soon entered the large room where Estrik was and stopped a few feet away, not wanting to speak and disturb him.

[demonfire]

Underneath the blindfold that covered his eyes, the eyes opened up as Rei approached. "So, are you hurt, or are you just telling yourself that you are hurt?" Estrik asked. Perception was going to be the lesson, might as well do a diagnostic beforehand. Made the plan that much easier to teach. It was just the way of the world.

He got up and stretched with the usuals. He touched his toes, stretched his arms by doing some arm circles. Like those helped any. I mean, really, what use are they?

[[red].Raven]

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing, just me being clumsy." Yeah, of course, because Rei was just the clumsiest person in the world. "I think I may have broken a rib... or two... but there's nothing I can do, so there's nothing I can worry about." Honestly, Rei didn't want to tell Estrik about her second encounter with Damon, and her already out-of-focus mind did a good job of, well, not focusing on it. Although, the fight wasn't an entire defeat; she had manged to learn a few things about her own abilities. Since Rei never really had to stretch, she simply stood and waited for Estrik to finish.

[demonfire]

"Well then, riddle me this. Does this truly hurt, or is it just what the weakness of your mind tells you?" Estrik asked as he attempted to flick Rei's hurt ribs with his fingers. He smirked. These were all the necessary evils. "Perception is a powerful tool, it can make you...or break you. So, tell me as well. How can you prove that this cave exists?" Estrik asked as he attempted to bring Rei into the not-so-family friendly mind game. It was probably going to be the worst night of her life, excluding the psycho encounters. Oh, and did I forget to mention that Estrik still had that floodgate of hate inside?

[[red].Raven]

Too slow of mind at the current moment to move away from being flicked, Rei cringed and let her jaw clench. 'Oh yeah, they're broken...' Releasing the tenseness from the pain in a small fwoosh of stored air, Rei spoke carefully. "Yes, that did hurt, but I'm sure you want me to say that I only think it hurts because that's what my mind is registering it as." She sighed, already able to feel how bad this was probably going to be. "And... this cave exists because..." Rei gave a thoughtful pause. "Um... what cave?" she asked with that common, unknowing humor that may befall someone when they cannot begin to grasp an answer.

[demonfire]

Estrik sighed, "At least you're trying. But here's the magical explanation on some anatomy!" he said as if it were something exciting. "The nerves in your ribs say it is pain, and then send the same signal to your mind to tell you that it's pain. But, you can block the receptors in your mind from receiving the messages, thus making it feel numb almost. Aspirin almost has the same effect," he said as he sighed and brought himself to a more uniform, monotonous lecturing tone. "Just remember, Rei: necessary evils," Estrik said, smirking.

[[red].Raven]

'Aspirin?...oh, right, those pill things...' "But," she started eyes wandering to the side in thought. "If someone were too good at it, couldn't it be dangerous?" It was then her turn to sigh and she closed her eyes. Necessary evils...' Rei attempted to run her fingers back through her hair, if only to get it out of her face, but she barely even touched the short auburn strands before her arms was violently brought back down. Broken ribs equals limited motion. Wonderful. To stop herself from exclaiming her pain, Rei simply grit her teeth and closed her eyes more tightly.'Stupid trees...'

[demonfire]

"That's why we've got to practice control. Contrary to what Alan Jackson says, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, depending on the situation at hand," Estrik said. "So, I want you to remember the best thing that ever happened in life, and focus on that. Nothing else. Master that first, and then we'll move on to more...combat-relevant situations," Estrik said with a slight pause. He sighed and waited for his pupil to become adept at this. Just on one thing was the hardest thing to focus on, because of the double edged sword--the train of thought. That thing would go from one thing, to the other thing, to another thing, and so on and so forth.

[[red].Raven]

Well, this was already bad. Not only did Rei have to recall one of the few good experiences she's had, but she had to do it and constantly focus on it. Her mind already wasn't in the best of states today, so this probably wouldn't be very easy. 'Best experience...' Hm, alright then, she supposed that finally making- and not killing- some friends could be considered the best thing... Or maybe, resealing the demon so she wouldn't have to worry about it as much... Nah, the friends one was more definite, she hoped. Sighing, Rei sat down abruptly and positioned herself Indian-style.

'As long as I focus and not think about-' Ah, crap. Everyone knows when you try not to think about something it become the most prominent thought. '-what happened in the Divine Hills...' Struggling to keep focus with so many images re-entering her head, Rei placed her elbows on her knees and head in her hands. Stupid brain.

[demonfire]

"You know what, new exercise. I want you to not think about your best friend in the world, and focus on everything else," Estrik said with a sly smile. Reverse psychology was a good way to approach these things in times of extreme hardship while clearing your head. Estrik remained quiet and attempted to clear his own head, although he lay down upon the cold rock in a very relaxed manner as if he wasn't trying, but he was. It was getting harder and harder the more free his mind got, but he was trying to keep it in check. Usually by expending a large amount of energy a day to tire himself out to keep it in check, but the bad thing was that he got stronger and more stamina from it. It would seem like a good thing under normal circumstances, but it wasn't. Estrik liked to keep his thoughts that he doesn't want to share to himself while he invaded others privacy. It was just his thing.

[[red].Raven]

"Um...okay..." Of course, Rei didn't understand the reverse psychology thing right now, she was a bit too frazzled. Of course, because Rei had multiple friends, they were all best, and trying not to think of any of them just sort of... brought them all into one picturesque scene. There was Estrik- of course((lol xD))- Rhyme, Rain, Viviene... Okay... so there weren't too many... but at least they were enough to keep Rei's mind occupied. Eventually, they were the only thought in her mind, aside from the occasionally, and very irksome, other thoughts that would randomly pop in and disturb things.

[demonfire]

((Of course, XD))

Thoughts raged across Estrik's mind like a violent storm as he tried in vain to clear his head. It was sad that someone who had just started was doing better than he was now. He just took a deep breath in and held it for a few seconds, before releasing it slowly and repeating the process.

Eventually, light began to shine through the storm clouds and his mind became clearer. Certain thoughts were put into the back of his mind as Estrik continued on with the breathing, until there was nothing left. Sure, there were the few random thoughts that popped up now and then, but nothing too serious or big. He got up and walked over to the wall in a zombie-like state and readied his hand as if he were going to swing a baseball bat. Instead, his hand collided purposely into the wall, sending a shock of pain up his hand. He said nothing but literally bit his tongue as he once again began to try and clear his mind, feeling the pain dissipate from his hand and tongue, at least for now. "See?" Estrik said as blood from his tongue dripped onto his lip, making him seem more like a cannibal than anything else. Necessary evils, as they say.

[[red].Raven]

When Estrik got up, Rei opened her eyes, careful to keep as much focus as she could manage today. "What are you-" She gasped sharply. "-Estrik!" The shocked girl jumped about halfway up before landing haphazardly and re-settling on her knees. She just stared at Estrik like he were insane... or at least, more-so than usual. "You just- but-why-... your hand..." Utter astonishment smothered Rei's expression. Wait... did he expect her to do that?

((o.o))

[demonfire]

"And by more combat-relevant conditions I mean learning to ignore your own pain," Estrik said smiling as if his tongue wasn't bleeding and his hand wasn't severely bruised. It was his left, so who cares? He was right handed anyway. Estrik tried as long as possible to keep his mind clear, trying to put on a good example for Rei.

"And now, I assume by you jumping up like that that you have completely mastered focusing on everything but your best friend?" Estrik said in that way that teachers always did when their students did something that wasn't wanted. He turned around as he began to suck the blood and drink it in like it was saliva. Estrik shook the hurt hand so that Rei couldn't see it and muttered something in some weird language, probably one of the only things Croatoan had ever been useful for. Cursing in unknown languages, yeah!