[Shinyama Pavilion] Let Your Fingers Do the Walking (Solo)

[Dhatzu]

Timestamp: 30th of Spring, 511 AV Location: Acolyte Quaters, Shinyama Pavilion Time of Day: Pre-dawn Purpose: Meditation and Projection Training Status: Closed, Solo The second floor of the Pavilion had finally grown quiet, as Dhatzu's fellow students settled in for some sleep or other more serene activities. The acolyte had lit a small votive, its tiny flame casting a pathetic orange glow only a few feet around it, leaving the rest of his small room in shadowy darkness. The lack of illumination did not hinder Dhatzu. From the moment the Goddess of Night had marked him as her own, darkness no longer hindered his vision, and his eyes could penetrate the shadows. It was not as it was when seeing in the day, bright and clear, but the dark acted as its own kind of light, making things visible in the dimness. From a low wooden box at the foot of his sleeping mat, Dhatzu gathered a few small items. A jade kina, a hunk if dried fungus and the broken handle of a knife. Moving to the center of the room, he laid the items on the floor, separated from each other. Then he retreated to one wall, near the tiny candle. Lowering himself to the floor, the student sat cross-legged on a reed mat, his hands resting on his knees. Allowing his eyes to slip shut, Dhatzu inhaled deeply, a cleansing breath that expanded his lungs to the fullest and stretched his diaphram. Holding it for a moment, he then released is slowly, blowing it out through his mouth. Then he inhaled again, deep but normally, and began a steady, relaxed breathing rhythm. Beginning with his forehead, he visualized the muscles of his face releasing tension, focusing on relaxing everything as he mentally traveled down his cheeks and into the tense joint of his jaw, letting his mandible go slack. Next, his mental journey reached the base of his skull, traveled down his neck and across the tight muscles of his shoulders. His arms drooped slightly as effort was made to unleash the tense trapezius muscles. Each arm was given attention, even to the joints of his fingers. As his body uncoiled, Dhatzu could feel gravity tugging on him, as if drawing him into the floor. Moving on, the bank of muscles on either side of his spine were relaxed, reaching across the top of his buttocks, then over his hips and into his quadriceps. Finally crossing his knees and around his calves, Dhatzu mentally massaged the arches of his feet and ended at his toes. Then his eyes slowly opened. "How long are you going to sit there without a word, little one?" Dhatzu muttered in a tongue unknown to any in the Pavilion. It was hushed and husky. A small, whispered voiced replied in Makath, the language of shadows. "Until you do something funny Dhatzu." The Lhavitian turned his head slowly, only enough to see the small, flickering shadow clinging to his shoes in the corner. He allowed a small smile to crease his face. "You may watch, if you don't bring in a horde of friends like you did last time." "Come on, you were trying to use your magic to eat rice, you looked like you were covered in maggots! It hissed a little laugh. "You do not boss me, Night Stalker, but I will stay quiet and still, if you prove entertaining."

[Dhatzu]

Dhatzu mentally brushed aside the small shadow, closing his eyes and falling silent, again slipping into a rhythm of measured breathing. A low, guttural hum began in his throat. The sound's vibration and monotone aided in his concentration. It was a crutch, so to speak, that Aleto had taught him to use in preparing for meditation. Once he became more adept at settling his body and mind, he should no longer need it. Many chimes passed as he focused on the sound, leaving the busy thoughts of his mind to fade. Freeing himself from external distractions, Dhaztu ceased his droning. The student's mind turned inward, beginning to separate the layers of his being, beginning with peeling away his soul from his physical form. He imagined it as an egg that had been boiled. His corporeal body like the shell, hard yet fragile, clinging to the soft matter of the astral being. He became aware of self apart from the physical world. Dhatzu knew well that he was more than the temporal body he possessed. That was the hardest thing to accept at first. He was not his skin, his hair, even the unique features that made him a one and only among a world of one and onlys. So much was placed on the physical body, as all are judged by what heredity and fate had saddled one with. For a young man, the physical self was commandeered by hormones and curiosity and residual primal instinct. Dhatzu had found the discovery of his body, and those of others, became a strong distraction from the discipline of finding one's inner being. Aleto had explained the ties between body and soul. He said that intimacy bound souls together. He was warned to explore sensuality with caution, for when one shares their body with another, their souls create emotional bonds as well. Now able to delineate between soul and flesh, Dhatzu allowed sensation to subside, attempting to detach from feel and sound and taste, the distractions of the material world. he saw his astral body, for his own edification, as an amorphous glowing shape roughly humanoid. Inside his soul were those things that were truly him. His thoughts, likes, dislikes, experiences, all the aspects of his conscious and subconscious that framed his perspective of the world and himself. Now he was ready to practice what he had learned.

[Dhatzu]

The next step had been most unnerving at first to learn, and still left an uneasy feeling in the pit of Dhatzu's stomach. He began a low muttering, a cyclical recitation of syllables in Makath that he employed as an incantation to aid him in performing the delicate task. For skilled projectionists, the separating of an astral limb from the corporeal form was simple. But for the acolyte, it required concentration to enact without adverse affects. Drawing upon the pool of djed within him, Dhatzu focused a concentration of the substance at his right shoulder. He mentally shaped the matter into a thin, flat surface. Then, again, imagining his body and soul as an egg, he set the djed at the juncture where his body met his astral form. As one peels the shell from a boiled egg, the young man began to leverage the physical from the metaphysical, separating his real-matter shoulder from his astral one. Carefully he worked at the detachment until the astral was free. Working the djed down his upper arm slowly, the separation went smoothly, peeling away with little effort. Then he hit the elbow. He rushed a bit, overconfident in his success so far, and snagged up on the next joint. A sharp tingling shot out from the joint and the acolyte flinched at the sudden sensation. He paused in his incantation, taking a moment to gather himself and to let the feeling subside. He did not detect any injury and, gingerly, commenced once again to pull away the astral arm from his elbow. Working around the knobby joint, he proceeded down the forearm and into the hand. Delicately he tugged away the hand and each digit. Once freed, the astral arm left the physical limb limp and without feeling, laying listlessly on Dhatzu's lap. The lhavitian then flexed the ethereal arm, wiggling its fingers and getting the feel of the awkard limb.

[Dhatzu]

Dhatzu's attention fully focused on the astral arm, Little One and whatever shade may have joined to watch temporarily forgotten. Freeing parts of his astral form had always left the acolyte a bit unnerved. There was not the same sensation of heat, cold or the movement of air one felt with a limb wrapped in nerve-laced flesh. The movement felt very similar to his physical arm, whether that was the nature of the astral body, or if it mind simply ghosted that sensation, he was not sure. Dhatzu had to ignore the almost lifeless physical limb that was bereft of its soul, for to look at it disturbed him. Instead Dhatzu set his eyes on the three objects placed on the floor in the middle of the room. First, he stretched his astral arm, feeling it lengthen past the measure of his corporeal limb, until it hovered over the chunk of dried fungus. He lowered the hand, seeing the fungus twitch as he set his fingers around it. With a gentle pull, Dhatzu slid the object towards him about a foot. It was fairly easy to manipulate, large and light. The novice projectionist flexed the fingers on his astral hand, getting a feel for them before moving onto the next task. His eyes set on the wooden knife handle. He willed his astral arm to move to the handle, about six inches in length. Again he lowered his hand over the thing, drawing his fingers and thumb around it. He fumbled it for a moment, as it lay flat on the floor. but soon he had the handle in his grasp, and he lifted it and moved it over above the fungus. Slowly, Dhatzu lowered the handle onto the fungus, carefully slipping his fingers from around the haft. It began to slide off the fungus, and with a quick snap Dhatzu stopped it, then nudged it back until it was still. With his free arm, the acolyte wiped at his forehead. Then he set his gaze to the kina, moving his astral limb to it. "That looks stupid," the little shadow commented. "Hush!" Dhatzu breathed with an edge. Drawing his focus again to the task, he flexed the forefinger and thumb of his soul-hand. Then, holding his breath, Dhatzu reached to pick up the small stone coin between then. The smooth rock danced as he fumbled to pick up the small object, finally securing it between his finger and thumb. Carefully, he raise the kina and swung it over to the stacked fungus and handle. The coin suddenly slipped and clattered on the floor. The acolyte exhaled, sighed, and again worked to pick up the kina again. He was getting weary, the concentration needed to control his astral arm tiring. Once the kina was in his control, Dhatzu continued until the small stone hovered over the other items. He was beginning to strain, controlling the minute movments taxing his energy. He was slightly alarmed when a few flashes of shimmering glow highlighted the outline of his astral arm. The instructors said that was a sign that a projectionist was reaching the limits of his ability. But Dhaztu did not want stop...not until he finished his challenge. Ever so slowly, every other part of his body still, including his lungs, Dhatzu lowered the kina to the knife handle. He lingered there, his astral fingers still on the coin, the coin sitting on the wooden handle. Finally, the finger and thumb budged, leaving the kina to free stand on the stack. A grin tugged at the corner of Dhatzu's mouth. With one last burst of energy, he flicked his finger at the stacked items. The fungus, handle and kina tower toppled. Now came the hard part....putting this thing back.