𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 | 𝑺.𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒛𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒘𝒂

𝟐𝟏 | 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠

~*~

SIX MONTHS LATER

".....as usual, you seem to overexert yourself forcefully,"

Pausing in the midst of my training, my attention shifts across to see the Stone Hashira sitting upon the boulder. Though his words were true, I felt the need to focus on becoming stronger. The silence grew longer than I wanted, coming back to reality with his words of wisdom.

"Well, sometimes we need to improve ourselves," I spoke up, wiping the sweat against my temple with my bangs sticking to my skin. Leaning my blade against the tree not far, I tie up my bangs into a small pinned back ponytail. A deep exhale drifts fog past my lips, allowing the snow to cool down my temperature. 

He rubs his palms together for warmth, his beads grinding together in a rhythmic pattern.

"Well, I can't argue........" He states simply, still perched upon the boulder in silence. ".....if I may, has there been progress between you and your brother? Has he made amends?"

My breath sharply hitches and my expression hardens, "Can we speak of something else, if something had happened.......I would've informed you by now," my hand grips the hilt of my blade, lifting it up securely. "So that means he missed the last Hashira meeting, again?" while walking back to the middle of the shallow waters, getting into stance.

A troubling sigh leaves the weeping hashira, "It appears so, his absence is unacceptable..." he admits, with discontentment. The beads leave a soft satisfying sound, while he rubs his palms in a prayer. ".....even master is concerned by this, as to why I'm here today. Besides that, I'm here to check on you......."

Angling my blade I swipe vertically with total concentration, understanding how my hand would grip the blade whilst combat. Swiftly I drop my blade, and caught it when it angles the opposite, sharply slicing horizontally in seconds; causing the water to spray in one direction.

"You're much stronger, Lady Hayami......." He continues, when I knew there was more to it.

"But....?"

He clears his throat with a pause, "But........your movements are stiff," clearly he senses through the sound my breathing, while his attention focuses on the gentle waters around. "Your breathing is not.......channeling right. It's as if your body is not moving, flowing like the river.....which means either something is weighing on your mind. Or.....your body has changed, and your breathing capacity is slowly changing as you've grown since you started."

With a sigh my right bare foot glides through the freezing cold water, my thoughts focusing on my history that I've learned.

"Dragon breathing..........a technique derived from Water, then derived from Sun breathing," whilst in deep thought, he gave me time to think. "A technique based on a mythical creature, may or may not have existed years ago; a angelic and powerful beast known to mythical stories told by generations........I never knew why we passed down this breathing technique."

"Did you find your answer?" He queries, his hands lower to his lap. Snowflakes fall gracefully around us both, feeling a small snowflake touch the tip of my nose.

"My ancestor, she was able to master water breathing......" I began, while slowly moving my feet through the shallow waters of the pond. The rushing waterfalls faintly crash in the background, ".........however, judging to her journal, her body changed. She was never a thin woman, let alone society's definition of beauty like myself. Though she struggled, she used our families crest ....'Mizushi'....also known to be the fearsome dragons of the waters. She trained her own body like the dragon itself, like claws, jaws, tail......and so on, and channeled every bit of strength in each limb of her body......"