Shen - Silk Threads of Fate

[01:04] <@Deedles> After a while of meditating in his bath Shen would be called back to reality by a soft voice, Blossom's voice. "Shen...?" she said
[01:11] <Shen> Shen arose from his half sleep-like state, his eyes slowly opened and saw less than he did than during the meditation. "Yes?..." he replied quietly.
[01:12] <@Deedles> She held forward her hands, even though he couldn't see it, he somehow knew that she was smiling gently "Take my hands." she told him softly
[01:16] <Shen> He flexed his hands in the bath, feeling the water rush between them as they emerged from its surface. He took her hands without question, but with a slight curious hesitation. "Like this?"
[01:18] <@Deedles> Blossom nodded as she gave his hands a gentle squeeze "Yes. I want to give you your first lesson." she stated
[01:23] <Shen> "...What do I need to do?" he asked calmly even if he was suprised by the sudden statement. He slowly rose slightly from the tub, resetting his resting position that had slipped in the meditation.
[01:25] <@Deedles> "Focus on my chi, I'm gonna try to block you from seeing it, not fully at first, since you wouldn't be able to break through that, but, it should help you hone your chi sensing." She explained to him with a soft smile.
[01:29] <Shen> Shen went silent as she spoke, nodding to himself as he understood. He shifted in the bath, sitting in it cross-legged and sideways to face her as he held her hands. "Alright..." he exhaled quietly. "I will try."
[01:47] <@Deedles> Blossom's hold of his hands was gentle, but steady, her eyes closing as she focused. "Now, try to sense me, my chi. Try to see me through my chi."
[01:53] <Shen> Shen again shut his eyes and centered his breathing, remembering what her chi had felt like the day on the boat and her calling act of calm towards Jian in the White Jasmine. He sucked the steamy air in softly through his nose and exhaled peacefully from his mouth, focusing on the presence in front of him that he already knew was there, but could not see.
[02:04] <@Deedles> "Keep focusing..." She instructs in a silk smooth tone as she released her hold of one of his hands, leaning forward slightly so she could reach his head and neck. She pressed a couple points around his head and neck before she pressed one final point in the middle of his chest. She was attempting to help his chi flow... Though the young Storm Dragon would probably not know this.
[02:09] <Shen> Shen felt it hard to focus as she prodded him, it did feel weird as he was completely naked after all. He said nothing though, shaking it from his mind as he exhaled deeper and focused intensely towards her, drops from the tap echoing into nothing as the world around him fell into a muffled silence with every drip.
[02:15] <@Deedles> Blossom settled back down and grasped his second hand again, breathing unison with him as she murmurred, just loud enough for him to hear without breaking his meditation. "Look for me, try to let your chi flow past my barrier."
[02:19] <Shen> Shen hears her voice as if she was all around him, coming from no particular direction. He stared blankly into the depths of the river that had replaced his vision and looked for her. He could hear breathing not sure if it was his own or not, the thought strangely intoxicating as he searched.
[02:20] <@Deedles> She sensed for him in return, feeling him initially getting lost in the walls she placed to protect her chi, so she lowers a few of them to help him find his way through... "You're nearly there..." she encourages him, her voice gentle.
[02:29] <Shen> A single sigh escaped his mouth along with an exhale as he felt around, so frustrated by his lack of ability to feel her, but his determination kept egging him on. He remembered the feeling that Ziulong had shown him when he sought out his chi. He no longer swam in the river eager to find a shining light, instead he stopped. The image of his body ceased its swimming and spread out as he floated in the water and waited for his chi to guide h
[02:29] <Shen> him.
[02:37] <@Deedles> Blossom smiled softly as she felt him release his hold of his chi and instead followed its natural course, down his arms and through their connected hands. The young Storm Dragon's chi carried him through the labyrinth of blocks that the blind girl had created, and he could soon feel the chi he'd felt twice before, glowing a bright and soft green light as it brought a sense of calm and breath.
[02:46] <Shen> Shen's frustration ejected itself from his body the second he felt the surge of water pushing him through the warm currents of Blossom's calm. He felt as if he was riding on the back of a great spirit as he stood, gliding around the glow as he watched her. He opened his eyes as he felt the room almost tug at him, an unseen force revolving slowly around them. "I saw you." he whispered to her.
[02:52] <@Deedles> As Shen felt himself move around her tranquil chi Blossom, in turn, felt his mixed chi swirl around her. Like a blue dragon of water with lightning crackling around it in a mighty display, like him it felt powerful and proud. Her smile widened slightly as she nodded "I saw you too..." she whispered in return, feeling something tugging her forward slightly, like an invisible thread tied around her torso.
[03:03] <Shen> He smiled and spoke quietly, little more than the whisper before - still a little confused by what he had actually seen, even if he knew. "Your chi is as beautiful as I remember. Calm, soothing, peaceful..."
[03:10] <@Deedles> His praise made her cheeks turn red, a shy, but happy, smile on her lips "Yours is breath-taking. Strong and proud, a Dragon of Storms." she told him sincerely, her voice remaining as quiet as his.
[03:21] <Shen> "Thank you, Blossom." he said, bowing his head instinctively, with his smile slowly fading. "...For showing me this, what I should strive for... I'll need to learn to do this on my own, you won't always be there to hold these hands of mine." he said as he squeezed gently.
[03:27] <@Deedles> She squeezed his hands in return as she leaned forward slightly to rest her forehead against his, breathing out gently. "I will hold them for as long as I can, but... even when I'm not by your side physically, I will still be with you, Shen." she released one of his hands to lay her hand over his heart. "I'll always be there... Look for me and you will find me." she promises him, her voice faintly breathless.
[03:46] <Shen> "I'll never stop looking." he returned to her, nodding gently against her forehead. "Now I know what to look for."
[03:49] <@Deedles> Blossom wasn't sure why, but this was making her incredibly happy, but also sad, filled with emotions she didn't entirely understand. Her eyes welled with tears that soon crept down her cheeks silently. "I'm glad, for I'll do the same. I won't stop waiting..." she was a bit confused at her own words, but something compelled her to say them.
[03:57] <Shen> In the haze of the baths steam, he could of sworn he saw her. Not in meditation, but through his open, dead eyes. It was a subtle frame inprinted into his mind, like a faint silhouette of light he couldn't quite see when looking directly at it. A gentle shift in nature - life. "Why are you crying?" he asks quietly, the watery tears dropping onto his hands, heavily contrasted to the water around him.
[03:59] <@Deedles> "I don't know..." She confessed as she chipped for breath, a confused smile on her face "I feel filled with joy, and life, and yet, my heart aches..." she tried to explain as her forehead kept leaning gently against his.
[04:08] <Shen> "An aching heart often lacks something to make it whole." Shen mused as he rose from the bath, planting a soft hand on top of her head with a smile and stepped out. "Every warrior goes through a similar experience to find their resolve. You sound like you're looking for something you might not even know you lack."
[04:11] <@Deedles> Blossom looked thoughtful, her hands came to rest on the edge of the bath tub as he released her hands and got out of it "Something I miss...?" she slowly turned towards him, her eyes peering at the silhuette of chi that she saw in his place. Her hands slowly curled up as they dropped onto her lap, pondering on the past events. "I guess... I guess you're right..." she murmurred,
[04:11] <@Deedles> something in her tone saying that she was starting to get an idea of what it could be.
[04:18] <Shen> Shen found himself moving easily towards the towels, picking one up without ever actually remembering seeing it there. He gripped it in his hand as he slightly zoned out, turning back to Blossom as she finished speaking. "Before the lake, I was so sure of myself." he admitted quietly, as he slowly ran the towel over his body to dry.
[04:18] <Shen> "...But now, I'm starting to realise how incomplete I was... am still." he turned, fully aware of her as he dried himself off.
[04:21] <@Deedles> She stared at him, his words striking a chord with her so familliar it almost hurt. "I've felt the same, my entire life, I always thought that fulfilling my role as Empress would fill that hole, that it would complete me, but..." she trailed off before she whispered something.
[04:24] <@Deedles> Few others could of picked up what she said next, but after losing his sight Shen's already superb hearing had gotten even better, and as such he could hear her whisper clear as day "I think I found it, in you..."
[04:31] <Shen> Shen leant against the basin, a large bowl of water placed before a small cupboard, his ears picked up the light whisper. It was hard for him not to notice, ever since he awoke after the river he had been improving his hearing to the degree that he had a harder time sleeping because of it.
[04:31] <Shen> Even so, the statement greatly confused him; so far she had done much more for him than he had done for her, and he swore to protect her. "You will find it, eventually." he spoke, as if hearing nothing. "Just don't stop looking."
[04:34] <@Deedles> Blossom smiled, sadly, looking a bit disappointed as she nodded "I won't. I won't stop looking, won't stop waiting." she repeated quietly before she slowly rose to her feet.
[04:39] <Shen> He sighed as he pulled on his clothes, pulling his tunic on but holding the torso guard in his hand. "I think I'm going to train for a bit..." he says as he turns. His voice is shrouded in good nature, a smile no less that of a fox as behind it he held an expression he did not want Blossom to know. "I need to get stronger if I am to fulfill my role to protect you."
[04:43] <@Deedles> "Of course..." She raised a hand to rub her arm slightly, forcing herself to smile despite lukewarm tears still slowly moving down her cheeks. She breathed in, somewhat loudly and shakily, before she managed to stiffle her own tears and utter. "Protecting me is what matters, after all." she bit her lower lip as she realized that came out in a way she didn't mean.
[04:49] <Shen> He moved to leave, hoping to escape before his heart stopped him. He opened the door, but stood still in the doorway. "...Protecting you is beyond just duty for me." he admitted quietly, turning back to her. "But even someone like me needs to protect their own heart if they want to continue protecting anothers."
[04:56] <@Deedles> "... Does that mean what I think it does?" Came her reply after a moment of silence, her form trembling faintly.
[05:04] <Shen> "You're not the only one who aches, Blossom." he sighed, holding himself back. "Thats all it means."
[05:06] <@Deedles> Her face lowered towards the floor. She smiled, but it was empty of joy "I thought so..." she answered, her voice breathless and quiet.
[05:07] <Shen> He wanted to go to her, but he couldn't and he hated himself for it as he left.