A Son Of Two Dad's

Training in shadows

They started training and MK felt as though he was at a serious disadvantage as they went along. Macaque still seemed to be going easy on MK and yet he found himself always on the floor or hitting into the wall with his back with the force behind Macaque's blows.

"Stop being nice." Macaque instructed as their staff's clashed and MK pushed a little bit harder, frowning as he tried to force Macaque's staff to the side. It didn't work and as it swung at him from the side MK tried to clumsily stop it, only to not put enough weight behind his arms and get forced backward again. 

"Stop holding back." Macaque instructed again as he helped him up and MK took in a deep breath, expression serious as they went at it again. 

"Your first strike should be your last." Macaque coached again and MK nodded, listening as he hit back with more gusto. The force from the two weapons clashing shook down his arms but he held strong. He didn't want to fail, didn't want to disappoint the other. 

"Good job, kid! That's great, you're getting better." MK beamed at the praise, putting even more force into his next strike as they spared back and forth, never a moment to breath. 

It was hard work and by the time they were done training it was well into the night and MK was lagging behind, feeling tired with arms like noodles. Luckily, Macaque decided to put him out of his misery, putting his own staff down that they'd been practicing with and giving MK a hand up from where he'd all but collapsed on the floor, hoping Macaque wouldn't think he was weak. 

"I think that's enough for today." The demon chuckled and MK looked down as the other helped him stand, noticing the feeling of the fur as it touched his palm and fingers. 

"You did a really good job, bud." He said afterward and MK snapped his head up immediately, looking at Macaque with a gasp. 

"Really?" he asked tentatively, hopefully, and felt his heart soar when Macaque nodded. 

"Course! You did great for a beginner. I'm impressed." He praised and MK vowed to never let his mentor down, ever, not when he believed in MK in a way only three people ever have. And even then he often wondered if those three people thought he was a screw-up. 

"Now get on home and meet me back here for your next training session tomorrow after you get off work." Mk nodded, wanting to hug the other but deciding not to before scampering out the door, waving behind him. 

"Sure thing! Bye Macaque! See you tomorrow!"   

Macaque watched him leave, arms crossed with a smile on his face that turning into a smirk as soon as the kid was out of sight. 

He loved it when everything went according to plan. 

The next day, MK was bouncing in place as he pounded on the door, waiting impatiently for almost a second before going inside anyway and not waiting for a response. 

"Macaque!" He yelled out as he walked into the dojo, seeing the demon sharpening a weapon while sitting cross-legged. 

"Hey, kid. Good to see ya. Ready for today's training?" MK nodded as his teacher stood up, walking towards him. 

"I thought we'd try practicing some of those abilities of yours? The shadow one might be a good place to start since we both share that one." MK nodded enthusiastically, letting Macaque guide him to the corner of the room where they sat down lotus style. 

MK had to wiggle his feet to get comfortable, making sure he didn't cut off the circulation to them and end up with pins and needles. 

"Okay, close your eyes and just sit for a minute. Think about the darkness around you, about the places that are cast in shadows, untouched by the light." MK squeezed his eyes shut, liking the sound of Macaque's smooth, calming voice as he listened and focused on the darkness around him. 

"Think about becoming one with those places, unseen, unheard, behind in the background, able to move about as you please." MK did, feeling himself grow colder the way he did when he became a shadow and opened his eyes to find himself on the wall, a shadow. 

"Good. Now I want you to focus on being free, moving around. Remember, you're not limited by speed or movement. You can travel wherever you need to. Move however you want to." MK took a deep breath and did as instructed, careful not to lose track of himself, which was actually harder than you'd think.  

After a while of that and trying different things and getting more comfortable with it, Macaque instructed him to become material again and he did so, finding himself standing next to the wall. 

"Good job." MK felt himself light up with the praise. 

"Now, go to the middle of the room. We're gonna practice doing that but at the same time as keeping your body physical."

Confused, MK looked up at Macaque. 

"What do you mean?" Macaque smirked and a shadow grew from him, stretching across the floor with its' glowing eyes and smile until it was on the wall. It was still connected to Macaque at the base, though, MK noticed. 

"Like that." His teacher demonstrated, shadow going back into him and MK tried to copy Macaques' position and footing, wanting to get his right. 

"How do I-" He didn't even have time to finish the question as Macaque was already answering it. 

"Think of the shadow of an extension of yourself, rather than your actual being. Control where you want it to go like its' an extra arm or limb. You're directing the movement, rather than becoming."

It took a while, but eventually, MK managed it, cheering when his shadow was growing across the floor. He even managed to get it to wave at him and move about before it went back into himself. 

"I did it!" He cheered to himself proudly, looking over at Macaque for approval and feeling even giddier when he nodded at him. 

"There's some even more impressive shadow stuff I can teach you." Macaque started as he turned the lights overhead off and put a large one on behind them. 

"Have you ever heard of shadow plays?" He sat down next to MK, putting his hands up so they were in the line off the light before forming them into the shape that cast the shadow of a realistic bird on the wall. 

"Woah." MK stared at it with stars in his eyes and Macaque looked down at the smaller kid sat next to him, a smile on his face as he watched the awe in the kids' eyes, the amazement. 

For a second there was something warm and soft inside him but he shook it away as quickly as it came and once again focused on changing his hands, forming other shapes and animals as he instructed MK how to make them. 

In the end, he spent more time than he'd planned on simply sitting with the kid and moving his hands so he could form the perfect animals, teaching him how to move them so the shadows themselves looked realistic and alive. 

Originally, he'd been planning on teaching MK how to actually control those shadows that they cast on the wall, but he spent so much time talking about shadow play, his passion, that it was already far too late by the time he stopped. 

"You should probably head on home, MK. Otherwise, you'll be too worn out for tomorrow." And Macaque was right because it was dark outside and MK was yawning from where he was sat next to him, leaning into the warm, soft demon beside him. 

"Okay. G'night Macaque." MK mumbled out as they both stood up and Macaque froze in surprise when the kid wrapped his arms around him in a hug, letting go before Macaque had the chance to respond (though he wouldn't have ever known how to respond, really. Not to that.) and leaving. 

Macaque didn't move until long after MK had left, feeling- feeling something as he looked over at the light and the wall with that soft feeling once again in his chest. 

He shook his head, scowling. No. No way. He was still sticking to his original plan. 

No way was he going to get attached. 

(I meant to update sooner but I lost my charger so I couldn't. I found it now though! Hope you guys are enjoying this and I'll be back tomorrow.)