Unraveling Witch

Training

"Rin keep your elbow up." I said watching her be instructed by Kaede how to shot arrows. After that I'll teach her how to bless the arrow before shotting it. She looked at me and nodded. She'd been going at it for hours now. Kaeda just left to deal with a medical emergency in the village. So that left me to watch over her training.

"This is harder than it looks." She huffed letting another arrow fly towards the tree she was aiming at. It grazed the bark on the side before sailing off into the woods.

"Everything worth achieving is never easy Rin. Don't rapidly fire, you're expecting too much too soon. Take a deep breath and aim. Don't shoot until you're sure you will make it." I said. She notched another arrow and took a deep breath. For about a minute she stared long and hard at the tree. Then she sent her arrow flying. It buried itself in the tree on the edge.

"I still didn't hit the center." Rin complained dropping down her bow.

"Too much, too soon. You will get better the more you work. Take a few minutes to rest. You can't make progress while frustrated." I said patting the grass patch beside me.

"I want to be better now! Lord Sesshomaru will be back in three months! I want to show him what I can do!" She groaned coming to sit beside me.

"And you will, three months is more time than you think. Practice every day, work to improve then perfect your skill. You'll be fine." I assured her.

"Easy for you to say, you already perfected your skill." She huffed.

"Actually, I have yet to reach finality." I informed.

"Finality?" She asked scrunching up her face in confusion.

"At thirteen I awaken, at eighteen I coming into myself, at twenty three I reach Finality it is the reason I join you in meditation and even continue when you're busy. Everyday I meditate to prepare myself." I said.

"For Finality?" She confirmed.

"Yes, if I reach Finality without being as prepared as I can my skills with stop improving. I'll be stuck with them." I explained.

"So.....if you are ready will you be able to improve?" She asked.

"No, I'll stop improving no matter what. That's why it's important for me to get as good as I can before then. However, I can only improve so much. My goal is to reach my natural limit then try as I might to break through it. After breaking through it'll be a constant struggle to maintain that level. To improve it'll be a uphill battle." I said.

"So you're trying to break your limit and maintain it until you're twenty three." She said to herself.

"Yes, that's exactly what I am doing. Now meditate with me for a bit or return to your training. I have less than three years to work on myself now." I said closing my eyes. Rin didn't move from where she was sitting, instead she choose to meditate with me. That is, until Kaede came back. Once again she worked on her archery under Kaede's veteran eye. I meditated until it was time to go.

THREE WEEKS LATER

'THACK!'

Rin shot off yet another arrow at a tree. It zoomed through the air and hit the tree. I opened my eyes a fraction of a second before Rin bursted into a squeal of delight. "I DID IT! I HIT THE CENTER! I DID IT!" She declared proudly looking at me for approval and praise.

"Well done Rin, I told you that you would be able to one day. Now, do it again." I praised. She quickly notched and arrow and sent it flying. It didn't hit the mark but got close. "Don't let your excitement hinder you. Clear your mind and do it again. You did it once, now do it a hundred times without missing." I advised.

"Ay, then we will give ye a smaller target. After ye master that we'll train you how to bless the arrows." Kaede agreed. Rin nodded and notched another arrow. I closed my eyes and meditated more on myself. Slowly the noise of wind passing through trees, Rin practicing and their voices became white noise. Then, I found myself standing in the middle of the woods.

I looked around finding no noise or movement around me. My steps came with an ease that made me question if I even was walking. But the landscape moved beneath me. I wondered in circles in the forest then found myself at a great tree. It was teming with spiritual and demonic energy.

"Helena?" Rin's voice blew softly in the wind. My head snapped in the direction it was coming from. I felt a hand touch my shoulder and I was dragged through the trees to the spot where I was meditating. Before I was slammed back inside myself I saw Rin shaking my shoulder. "Helena!" She called again and I opened my eyes.

"There is no need to raise your voice. I'm here." I assured taking her hand off of me. I was hypersensitive to touch and my senses where intense. It was like I was put into overdrive.

"Ye stopped moving and your aura disappeared. Yet ye still breathed." Kaede said.

"My third eye was wondering beyond the confinds of my physical body. Don't be alarm next time, let me wonder." I instructed standing up.

"Is it dangerous?" Rin asked voice filled with concern.

"Not in the company of friends, your voice and touch brought me back. I found a big tree in the forest." I said.

"The sacred tree. Inuyasha was pinned to that tree for fifty years by my sister." She said.

"Their energy have been soaked into the very being of the tree. I must've been drawn by it." I said looking in the direction the tree was.

"Is that good?" Rin asked.

"It is neither good nor bad. It could be curious about me, the energy I mean." I said.

"Come, let us return to the village." Kaede ordered picking up the quiver of arrows Rin disregarded in her worry for me. I did as I was told and followed them back. What an interesting ablility. I would need to further investigate it's use.