Aian's personal training. (SOLO) Cont.

(First part)

https://www.fairytail-rp.com/t3279-aian-s-personal-training-solo#51617

The two arrived after a long walk at the Serene Cliffs; an unlikely location for them to appear at; for Aian was not comfortable being so close to water, yet the old woman persisted on them starting here. "There is a bit of a special cave here that can help you out with balancing yourself out; though I fear you won't succeed the first time, but it is good to know if you could do it now or not." The old woman stated, as she began scaling down the cliff to the rocks and crashing waves below. Aian hesitated to follow, as he was not used to scaling down at an obscure angle; having to move himself towards the flat surface of the cliff underneath the hanging portion. Aian struggled to get a hand hold before his waist was even past the edge of the cliff. He knew that if he fell, there would be nothing to catch him or stop him from crashing into the water below, and be at the mercy of his weight going against him along the waves. His weight was also an issue, for it didn't seem as though the small rocks could hold him in place as he tried to scale along the overhang towards the cliff. "Isn't there a safer way down?" he asked, slowly making his way toward the flat surface of the cliff. However, as she began to respond, his focus was drawn to the rock he had just grabbed letting go in mid swing of his other arm; causing him to plummet quickly to the rocks and waves below. Aian tried to protect his head at all cost as he fell, not having time to try and chant out his armor. He crashed into a rock, causing its upper layer to fall apart leaving a flat landmass that was dwarfed and immediately submerged into the oncoming waves. Aian had landed on his back and thus was quickly consumed within the oncoming crashing waves. His body in shock and temporarily stunned from the impact, Aian could only lay there under the heavy flowing water as he tried to regain his senses. Fear had not set in, as he was unaware of his surroundings or sound. The impact must have knocked me for a loop....I can't hear or feel anything...but I know I am alive. he thought to himself. As his senses began slowly coming back to him; he felt himself being pulled out from the water and dragged along the rocks. Who is....It can't be her, I weigh too much for an old woman too... He tried to think, but his mind quickly faded out of thought as his body still recovered from the shock.
When he finally came too, he was looking up inside a cave where even the sound of the water was too distorted to make out. He sat up, looking around the path he was in, to see he was still at the mouth of the cave and could see the water crashing against the rocks behind him; though it sounded further out. "You shouldn't force someone as old as I am to drag you around everywhere." The old woman stated, coming out of the shadows from ahead.
"I-I am sorry." Aian apologized, getting to his feet. He still had no idea how she had managed to get him out of his crash zone, or even up above the rocks and water below with his heavy weight. He looked out over the cave's mouth to find the crash zone at least thirty feet below, and five yards away. The entire time the waves would crash over up against the bare side of the cliff below, running over all of the rocks along its path. To him, it was still a mystery how she managed to not even get swiped away from the waves.
"Come, enough apologies and pleasantries, you got a waterfall to overcome." The woman demanded, striking Aian with a cane she had obtained further in the cave, before walking back into the shadows. Aian nodded, and began to follow her in the dark. What was strange about this darkness, was that it was thick and overwhelming. Even with his heightened senses of sight, he could not see through it. This caused him to bump against a couple of rocks as he stumbled through the dark. "Stop wasting time and come on." The old woman ordered, obviously further ahead than he was.
"I can't see where I am going." Aian replied, trying to feel his surroundings out but felt his hands touch nothing, not even rock from above or below.
"That is because you have blinded yourself to darkness, overwhelming your senses with the light child. You started off in the dark, now you need to embrace it again. If you can't even see what is clearly in front of you; then you can't even make it to the waterfall." The old woman retorted, not showing any sympathy in her voice. Aian continued to stumble in the dark, trying to find his way around: He would bump his head against a low ceiling, stub his toes against rocks, bash his knees and shins against small rock railings, and even tripped over a couple of rocks too small to stub his toes on. None of this really cause him pain, but the fact he was doing at least one of those things every two seconds was getting a bit tiresome for both him and the old woman watching him. "I can't believe HE trained YOU..." The old woman sighed in impatience. Finally figuring out the layout of the cave, Aian crawled underneath the tall hazards and over the lower ones; using his hands to feel for the oncoming obstacles. Finally reaching the old woman, he was greeted with a strike from her cane once more. "It is very rude to keep an old woman like me waiting child. No respect for your elders, I tell ya'." She grumbled as she began walking once more. Aian tried to follow, but was met with yet another obstacle to the head, which caused her to groan once more. "This, is going to be a long, long, mentor ship..."

After what felt like hours of crawling on his hands and knees in the pitch darkness, Aian began to finally see light. Though it was a dim blue, he rushed towards it in a calm manner as to not accidentally run into the old woman who was guiding him. As the light got closer and closer, he was finally able to see more of his surroundings; finding that he was crawling around in a stand able path with no obstructions in his way. Getting to his feet, he walked into the light. Aian was immediately in awe upon the room he entered in the cave: There were mushrooms upon the wall that acted like lanterns, filling up the opening with the dim but resilient blue light. There were four clusters of crystals inside the cave that reflected the light into a large pond in the middle of cave, making it radiate with a purplish blue glow. The pond itself was created by a strange waterfall that covered the center of the large pool of water; but the location of where all this water was coming from was unknown as it all came from the roof of the cave. It was awe inspiring, but the atmosphere felt unnerving. The waterfall should be a miracle, yet it let of this ominous aura; as did the water. The only thing that did not seem off within the room, was the single circular stone pallet in front of the waterfall. It was the only stand able landmass within the pond. Yet the fact it had no feeling from it whatsoever was also unnerving. 
"This is where we will evaluate yourself." The old woman stated quickly, looking at Aian within the dim light. "You must get to the stone; and meditate."
Aian looked at the woman to the stone, realizing that there was over twenty feet of water separating them. "B-but I can't swim..." Aian protested. He never had the chance to swim before, and with his heavy mass he wouldn't be able to float no matter how much air filled his lungs; he was too heavy. Despite being able to walk gently and quietly, he would simply sink and have no way of being able to get out of a pool of water. 
"Do not worry about that! Just go!" the old woman demanded, striking him upside the head with her cane. Though the hit didn't hurt Aian's toughened body, it made him feel regretful for complaining. He bowed to her for forgiveness quickly before standing in front of the large pool of water in front of him. He looked closely at the water to see no reflection from the surface. An odd phenomenon, but he choose to ignore it as to not upset the old woman more by his hesitation. He took his first step onto the water, only to find it hold him up as though it was ground. This confused him even greater, for he knelt down to press his hand through the water to find it engulfing his arm without difficulty, but it was holding up one leg and knee. He turned to the Old woman for answer, but she simply pointed sternly to the land mass in the middle of the pond. He turned his attention back to the water, and carefully took step by step towards the earth. Each time his foot touched the water, it would hold him up as though he was walking on some sort of barrier. It was an odd sensation for him, each step felt like he was both floating and being repelled upward. Still, he carried on till he reached the landmass. 

He was told to meditate, and so he got down to his knees, sat down and crossed his legs in front of him, and placed his hands on his knee caps. There he closed his eyes and began to meditate. It only felt like a minute passed when he heard a chilling voice call out "Hey" in front of him. He opened his eyes, recognizing it not as Kamuy's but his own. There in front of him and coming out of the waterfall was a dark grey skinned replica of himself with black eyes and yellow irises. Aian quickly stood up before the dark replica. "Who-"
"I am you." The doppelganger replied cutting him off, his voice echoing out of a chilly whisper. 
"But I thought Kamuy-" Aian began again, but was once more cut off in mid sentence.
"Kamuy is nothing more but a parasite infesting our body. I am your real self whom Kamuy has had the pleasure of overshadowing." It replied once more, walking till it was in front of Aian. 
"So then..." Aian started, knowing that the entity in front of him would do the same thing, as it appeared to share his thoughts.
"Yes, what he stated back then was true. However, only half so. I developed with you in the womb, and as you grew. He however is a separate being who harbors me within you. I was well aware of what was going on, of all the hatred, while you turned a blind eye. I would scream into your ear, but you would turn me away. Then he came along. He appeared to share the same interest as I, and after a while we both began screaming at you to change. but once more, you turned us away. Then he possessed us, and I was forever shoved into the abyss." 
"I-I am-"
"Don't be, after all; I am you. The real you. I know how you truly feel." 

(TBC)

Aian stared at the darkened image of himself that emerged from the purple waterfall in front of him. His green eyes staring into the darkened blood red eyes of the darkened skin copy. Aian couldn't help but make an expression of regret and sadness as he started piecing everything together in his head. The words Kamuy spoke long ago in his head about how he truly felt in the world raced around his mind in a swirling torment of agony to his heart. He didn't want to believe that he honestly felt horrid about the world and wanted to cause pain to others. Aian's goal was to protect the weak and innocent; not cause harm to everyone in an act of mistrust. All the dark lies Kamuy whispered to him about wanting to burn down his home to the ground, murder his parents, murder everyone who sided with them during his torment after taking him into their homes, burning down the rest of the village, killing everyone whom he met on the way out as he walked past the still flying and burning embers of the village as it collapsed onto itself in the forest. Aian didn't want to believe any of it; he knew that was all of Kamuy's doing. Like a demon, it was his acts possessing Aian that performed those tasks- Aian begged him to stop and he ignored Aian's pleas. "N-No...." Aian stuttered, gripping his head trying to keep himself from exploding in a mixture of emotions as every dark word raced through his head that Kamuy had ever whispered to him.
"Ah, but it is true. Everything Kamuy has ever spoken about...it is what you truly feel. I know; for I am you. There is no mistaking the hatred that has been consumed in your heart. You hate, and desire pain for everybody. You have no faith in trust to those whom claim to be your friends, and you hold nothing precious. A mistreated child, warped by the darkness of the world and consumed by it. That is your real persona. The only difference; is that you are not that catalyst; Kamuy took that away from you. Probably, our true and only real friend in this world." The darker version explained as he slowly walked towards Aian' placing his his hand onto Aian's shoulder as though it was an attempt to help him calm down. But when Aian looked at his darker copy, he could only see a hellish smirk across the dark skinned counterpart's lips; with a malicious glaze over his eyes that revealed every moment of joy that Kamuy and him felt as they harmed all those people that they killed.
"N-no...I don't believe it...I won't!"? Aian screamed, throwing his dark counterpart's hand off his shoulder and shoving him away. The dark clone merily smirked and brushed his shoulder off as thought it had dirt placed on it; trying to keep up a good impression; folding his arms behind his back.
"Believe what you will, but the truth is there and you know it. Eventual; we will get to you and you will become what you are supposed to be. A living incarnation of death that our Master made us to be." Aian rushed at his counterpart; angered by the words of his Master whom taught him to protect over kill being twisted by what he now believed to be something that wasn't real. Aian threw his hardened fist towards the clone's face as it continued to simply grin, closing its eyes and vanishing before impact; revealing Aian to be punching the gushing waterfall instead. As though the waterfall could interact itself; Aian felt his fist pushed heavily away by the upside down geyser of water; before the waterfall itself exploded in his direction forcing him off of the stone plating he was on and into the purple fluid below. What was only inches before now seemed bottomless as he sunk into the liquid. As he tried to open his eyes; he could see the blue flames of the torches above glisten like stars as he continued to sink down into the purple water; his consciousness fadding into darkness.

Aian came to upon the cliff that he had descended earlier; feeling the grass against his hands and neck-the wind brushing against his hair and gently grazing his skin and clothes whilst the stars above glistened in the clear night sky. In front of him, he could hear the old woman complaining to herself; though loud enough that he could hear her and tell she was talking to his now conscious mind. "You certainly do know how to mistreat an old woman like me; failing that test in that manner to break your meditation and strike the waterfall itself; get pushed into the water and sink to the very bottom making me have to drag your heavy arse back up. And then you had the gull to remain unconscious in a drowned like state as I had to drag you through that cave and carry you back up this cliff. I nearly broke my back and hip several times during that little adventure you know." She complained, striking Aian with her cane as she walked by to get firewood that she set behind him. "Than you had the gull to remain unconscious while I had to get all this firewood and a fire going just to wait for you. You really are a selfish brat."
"S-sorry m-mam..." Aian stuttered as his mind came into focus. Aian could only sit up and remain silent for several long moments as he recalled what happened in his mind. He felt ashamed at how he acted; a mix of anger and sadness causing him to act rash and attempt to do something that was not even physically possible. His mind became filled with depression as his thoughts went towards the past events of his life; as he recalled his supposed true self felt about what they all had done to him. In his consciousness, he never hated any of the villagers of old for his mistreatment; nor did he resent them. He accepted the treatment for it was better than what he experienced when they ignored him or he was forced to stay in his room alone. He remembered that was how Kamuy came to be; his severe loneliness conjuring an entity that was supposed to be his friend that now tortures his mind with dark taunting and lies upon lies. Aian refused to believe that he truly felt the way the two exclaimed how he originally felt about everything. He convinced himself that he was there to protect the good hearted and innocent; not be one filled with hatred and cause pain.
"We have a long way to go before you are ready..." The old woman stated, warming her hands by the fire. Aian looked at her, watching the orange yellow glow dance off of her wrinkled skin of her palms and face. "Your body is fit...but your mind and heart are out of balance. You take so much in and do not let enough out; thus you torture yourself with an unbalance of emotions that cause you to be unable to release your powers fully. Solid and cold as steel; yet warm and flexible when needed to be. That is how your body must act; but your indifference and hesitation within your mind and heart cause you to be unable to be either of these things. You sway back and forth; your Iron is no fit to be used as scrap metal with the state you are in." she explained, which only caused Aian to look down to the dark ground below as his body was not near the warm fire.
"You are...really going to help me?" Aian asked, looking back at the strange old woman whom he still found a mystery. She never stated her name, nor had she given him any reason to trust her. Now she was expecting him to just go with her on some wild training that he couldn't even imagine. However, the woman didn't acknowledge the question as she began to make herself comfortable on the ground.
"In the morning, we have a long way to go to get to your training. You blind yourself with so much false light; that you forgot and lost the wrong path. We will see just how successful you are." She stated, before closing her eyes for rest. Now in silence; Aian laid down upon the ground as well watching the stars dance above. Unsure of what was to be expected, he closed his eyes and fell into sleep; though like always when he did so he was plagued by nightmares. This time being himself that infested and ruled his dreams instead of Kamuy.