The Ties that Bind Me Book 1

Another Notch on My Soul

We lay in bed all that day and talked of nothing, everything still I was unsure. I was taught defenses that my body learned reactions to long ago. This though, this was definitely new to me. I had never felt any other love than that of my family, but every time Lolek would touch my skin, even in passing, my heart would speed up and my skin would grow warm. As the day turned to night and my other lessons began I got dressed and kissed Lolek one more time before heading to see Gethin for more training in flexibility.

As I reached the training grounds I felt a sudden pain in my face, it hurt more than almost anything I had felt before. As I got my bearings and looked around I saw nothing, yet how could that have been. I saw the shadow that I knew so well to be Gethin and he looked as if nothing at all had happened. I walked closer to him and ended up on my stomach face down in the ground. I was getting angry, I knew something was up. Had someone found out about the teachings that they finally decided to do something. I got up off the ground and moved again towards Gethin, my anger roiling to the surface as I walked. I was bound and determined to find out what was going on. I got up slowly and felt the pain spread from my back to my neck, but I had been in worse shape. It was when I looked at the shadows again that I saw another figure standing with Gethin that things started to fall into place. Well sort of fall into place that is.

I reached the shadows as always, bowing to Gethin out of the amount of respect that I had for him. I still couldn't see who the other figure was, but the outline of his body I seemed to remember well. It was Hao and then everything came together. He was testing my senses, my reactions to things that I might not have control over. I turned towards his outline and bowed to him as well. His movements were small and I noticed that he bowed back to me as well. I smiled a bit before relaxing my stance to talk to them.

Imiri* مساء الخير هاو. انه من الجيد رؤيتك مرة اخرى. مساء الخير ، Gethin ، شكرا جزيلا على نصيحتك الليلة الماضية. جزء واحد من الجسم يتضور جوعا. (Good evening Hao. It is good to see you again. Good evening Gethin, thank you very much for your advice last night. One part of the body starves the others.)

Gethin* جيد جدًا ، أنت تفهم الآن أن اختلالًا واحدًا يمكن أن يتسبب في حدوث انشقاق في جميع أنحاء الجسم. يجب عليك تنسيق كل شيء بداخلك ؛ العواطف والجوع والأفكار وجميع. (Very good you understand now that one imbalance can cause dissension throughout the whole body. You must harmonize everything within yourself; emotions, hungers, thoughts and all.)

Imiri* نعم سيدي ، أنا أفهم. لقد أصلحت الخلاف في نفسي وأنا مستعد لمواصلة ما توقفنا عنه. شكرا مرة اخرى. (Yes sir, I do understand. I have fixed the dissension within myself and I am ready to carry on where we left off. Thank you again.)

A smile crossed my face and I leapt forward and hugged him tightly. I couldn't accurately explain the happiness inside of me, but I figured that would have been a good start. I stepped back quickly bowed again and then looked up to see what looked like a smile on Gethin's shadowed face.

Gethin* لقد تجاوزت توقعاتي Imirial. الليلة كنت قد ذهبت إلى هاو الذي سوف يعلمك لصقل المهارات التي فقدت منذ وقت طويل. أنت تلميذ مناسب جدًا ، لذا أعلم أنك ستحقق نتائج جيدة. (You have gone beyond my expectations Imirial. Tonight I had you over to Hao who shall teach you to hone skills that I lost a long time ago. You are a very apt pupil so I know you will do well.)

He stepped forward and hugged me to him and I felt more at home with him, like a grandfather I never knew and a father wrapped up in one.

Gethin* تجعلني فخور ابنتي روحي. (Make me proud daughter of my soul.)

Imiri* سوف ، شكرا لك بابا. (I will, thank you Papa.)

With those last words he walked away from me and I faced Hao. My stance was relaxed but respectful as he moved close to me I could see he was sizing me up.

Hao* سأعلمك كيف تدافع عن نفسك. الدفاع ليس فقط في عرقلة أو ضرب ، ولكن سيولة تحركاتك. الليلة سنبدأ من خلال الاسترخاء عقولنا. كل ليلة تكون هنا عند غروب الشمس وتبدأ في الاسترخاء عقلك. سنبدأ التدريب في الظلام الكامل والعمل حتى شروق الشمس الماضي. (I am going to be teaching you how to defend yourself. Defense isn't just in the blocking or hitting, but the fluidity of your movements. Tonight we shall start by relaxing our minds. Each night be here by sunset and start to relax your mind. We will begin training at full dark and work until just past sunrise.)

Imiri* أنا مستعد. كيف يجب أن نبدأ؟ (I am ready. How shall we begin?)

Hao* أود منك أن تجلس بشكل مريح وتغمض عينيك. تخيل أمامك غرفة يمكنك تخزين أفكارك. هذا هو المكان الذي أريدك أن تضع فيه كل شيء في ذهنك حتى يصبح خاليًا من كل الأفكار وأنك مركّز تمامًا. سوف يستغرق الأمر بعض الوقت للتعلم ، لكنه تدريب سوف يفيدك أكثر. (I would like you to sit comfortably and close your eyes. Imagine in front of you a room that you can store your thoughts. That is where I want you to place everything in your mind until it is empty of all thought and you are fully focused. It will take some time to learn, but it is a piece of training that will benefit you the most.)

And thus the next part of my training began. The whole night we sat while I tried to focus my brain and clear out all my thoughts. Every now and then he would test me by marking my arm with a reed. The pain wasn't what distracted me, it was the sound. I closed my eyes once more after each strike and tried to start all over again. Thus did it go until morning, then I went back to my routine with the trucks and added a new training to the ones that I was already doing.