"Yes Master Oh. Or, to be more exact, I felt 'something'. I am not sure what this 'it' you are referring to is. The only thing I can be sure of at this precise moment is that you sent Okaa-san away in order to tell me something that she should not hear. Or perhaps 'must not' hear?"
"Hmmm. How best to approach this? I wonder. Ah, that will do nicely.
"Kumiko, assume the meditative position next to me. Center yourself, then reach out and lay you hand on top of mine. Do NOT move your hand, no matter what happens. If you feel that you cannot do this, tell me now and we will discuss this at another time."
"No Master Oh. I am exceedingly good at not moving when surprising things happen. It was the only way to avoid being injured by some of the other children at the orphanage when we were still tiny. When we were hidden, they tried to startle us into moving and giving away our location by suddenly making very loud noises."
Master Oh spoke very softly, almost as if to himself. "How exceedingly strange this world can be. Seemingly trivial skills learned in adversity can be those that become of great importance later in life."
He shook himself and turned to Kumiko again. "Very well, we will begin. I expect that you will see something, or some things that you have not before. You may speak, but, as I said, do not move. Is that understood?"
"Your words I comprehend and will obey. The reason for them I do not understand. However, it seems likely that their purpose will reveal itself shortly. I shall compose myself and prepare for what is about to occur."
Master Oh wasn't feeling all that composed himself. He had awaited a student like this for over 30 years and had, to be absolutely frank, resigned himself to never finding one. It was to be expected that he would not of course. How many people in the world can see and, potentially interact with, the shadows? Even with Kumiko there had been no inkling of her ability until that moment when they had locked eyes as they teased Karla.
He sat and prepared himself for the trial, for that is what it would be. He felt Kumiko's hand on his and began. He stretched out from within himself and pulled on the curtain that was between the planes. "There are beings living here that may appear frightening but are benign. Others appear most comely but are malefic. Simply being able to see them is an exceedingly rare ability. Even more rare is the ability to see their inner selves. Their 'shadows' if you will.
"That term is very imprecise, for the 'shadows' within those who wish us no harm are quite bright. It is those whose 'shadows' are darker than pitch black that must be watched, and, if need be, avoided."
To Kimiko it looked as if the wall of the studio was shifting or sliding or rippling, though, looking more closely, Kumiko could see that there was nothing wrong with the wall at all. The air between them and the wall was changing. Then it was as if there were curtains, and they were gradually being pulled aside to reveal what they had been hiding.
How do you describe "yellow" to a blind man, or music to a woman who is totally deaf? There was nothing sensible by a normal person, but Kumiko's brain insisted on trying. She 'saw' blotches of color swirling around, odd shapes that seemed to be approaching and receding at the same time, and strangest of all, bright lights that were totally black.
"Relax Kumiko. Don't try to force your perceptions. Let your mind be as free as when you meditate. Your spirit will adjust your senses in the way that will make the most sense to you."
Master Oh chuckled. "From what little I've heard from the few others I've met who have this ability, no two people see the same thing. Fortunately it works much like color blindness. The color blind person can see a car as blue whereas another sees it as red. However, both identify it as a car. It is the essence that matters, not the form."
Kumiko flinched and let out a soft moan.
"Are you all right child? Are you in pain?"
"Not at all Master." Her 'voice' sounded much different that it usually did, like a crystal wind-chime would it it were laughing, "It is just that I was startled. Everything seemed to be stretching and contracting, much like what happens when someone pulls on a balloon. Then it was as if that person had let go, and the balloon snapped back to its true shape.
"This is the most astonishing place, but... But.... I'm not sure how to put it. I feel that I could stand up and walk into it. I also feel that I could quite easily find my way back here, no matter where in 'there' that I was.
"I suspect that that feeling is, however, hubris arising from my fascination."
"We will discuss that later. First the basics, just as with the art. Do you think that you could duplicate what I did to open the curtain?"
Kumiko paused and thought. Then she thought some more. Like she had before, she was 'replaying' what had just happened in her mind, but this time in very slow motion, as she watched what had happened.
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"Yes. I believe so Master Oh. it should be rather easy. I wonder why I never noticed that it was there before." She "laughed" again.
Master Oh was surprised at how musical her laughter was. It was very like, something he had heard before. Somewhere. Perhaps something decades past. He....
This would never do! The teacher must not be woolgathering, especially with such a potentially dangerous realm open in front of them.
"Very well Kumiko. Now I want you to close the 'curtains', firmly. Leave no distortion between us and the wall. Not even at the corner of your vision. Straighten it completely. Even a tiny wrinkle can potentially be opened from the other side by anything that wants to come through. If that being is simply curious, there would likely be no harm done. If it was something hostile though, there could be great danger."
He watched Kumiko with a fair amount of amusement. She closed the 'curtain' and then straightened it like a housewife who is hanging her sheets on an outside line to dry. She 'snapped' the edges straight and then pulled them down smoothly. When she was done there wasn't even a tiny hint of a seam present.
He reached over and ruffled her hair. "Well done little one. Well and thoroughly done I should say."
His watch showed that almost an hour has passed. Time sometimes flowed oddly in the vicinity of the other realm.
"We have just enough time for your other lesson. You must learn how to defend yourself against any of the 'shadows' that come through or are sent through from that other realm.
"Karla has told me of the attacks on you. To me it seems likely that the first being you encountered is from this realm. I will teach you how to defend yourself against such."
"Remember what I told you. You MUST look at the inner form of these beings. NEVER, ever assume that the ugly is evil and the beautiful is good. Even with people that is often not true. With these it is true even more frequently. Why I do not know. Perhaps the 'ugly' ones are testing us somehow.
"At any rate, what you must do is fairly simple, though, like all simple things, it is harder in execution. Fortunately I can create a seeming of your potential enemies. You may practice against it. Be warned though that I cannot make these move. A real one will likely be in motion and won't be nearly as easy. Still, repetitive action of a simple skill makes it second nature, and requires no conscious thought to implement. This is the same."
Kumiko looked at him dubiously. "If you say so Master."
Children! Always the same. They think that if they don't master something instantly it must be impossible.
"Even so. Listen to your Master. You will follow me in this as you do when we are learning Hapkido. Do you understand?" That last part was said with a bit of a growl.
Kumiko responded instinctively, like any good student when reprimanded by her master.
She leapt to her feet and stood at attention. "Yes Master Oh!"
<
"Very good Kumiko. Now attend to what I do next. Before we are finished today, you will be able to duplicate what I am doing, and you will be able to do to it correctly every time. If not, I will be disappointed. You do not want me to be disappointed, do you?"
Even Kumiko's poise was shaken by that. "No Master Oh! Absolutely not!"
"Watch what I do, and memorize it. I will do it several times, so there is no rush. We have another 25 minutes after all."
With that he spun a semblance of a shadow creature in front of them. It would be wasting your time to ask him how. If you don't have the potential to do it yourself, you'd never understand. Not that you wouldn't try of course, it's just that you might as well try to fly.
<< I know that it's not fair, but who ever said that life was going to be fair? It isn't and that's that. Live with it... Not that you have any other choice.>>
After the 4th time that she watched him make one, Kumiko understood what he was doing. Or at least she thought she did. Then it was her turn.
<
Kumiko understood what to do, but she failed over and over. Finally on the 17th attempt, or maybe it was the 27th, she was too tired to remember by then, she managed to assemble something that was approximately the right shape and didn't try to disintegrate the moment her attention lapsed a bit.
"That will do for now Kumiko. I expect you to practice for a few minutes every day after school. No more than that though. If you spend too much time at it, you'll be so drained you won't be able to move for hours."
"I don't think that that will be a problem Master. I'm already so tired that I can barely stand. I believe that I will need a large number of calories in the near future."
Master Oh checked his watch. "We should have about 7 more minutes. Just enough time for me to show you the last part."
Kumiko would have groaned had she been able to speak. Even as disciplined as she was, she couldn't have held it in. Master Oh would not have been happy. Not at all. And an unhappy master meant a VERY unhappy student.
It was the first time ever that she'd been glad that she was mute.
"Now Kumiko, pay close attention. All you need to do is imagine that there is a sphere in the middle of the shadow. For some reason it doesn't matter that there isn't one there. It seems that with beings from this realm, your imagination has a great deal of power.
"So, what you do is use your mind to grab the two sides of the sphere. Then you twist in opposite directions. It will pop open and fall apart, and that will take the rest of the being with it. They sort of implode."
"Go ahead, and give it a try. You'll find it much easier than what we've done so far."
This time Master Oh hadn't been exaggerating. Or perhaps Kumiko was so tired that she no longer was capable of disbelief. She managed it perfectly on only the sixth try.
"Well done and well concluded. We are finished with that lesson. Oh, by the way, you can practice, ah, disassembly, on the ones you create for yourself. Rather neat if you ask me."
He reached out and ruffled her hair again. The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air. Astonishing! It really was like in the movies. Everything seemed to be preternaturally clear and moving in slow motion. Even the chime of the bell over the door as it opened was like crystal.
Then things sped up to normal, and he whuffed as he landed on his back on the mat.
He turned his head and saw Kumiko bowing to him.
"Master Oh. If you please, do not EVER tousle my hair like that again. It is going to take me an hour or more to get all the tangles you caused out. Please forgive this small one if I have caused you any injury. (Even if you did deserve it.)"