Editing Last Breath of Winter:Characters:Mask:History (section)

===A Lesson===

Aphelion landed in a sprawl on the floor. With a spinning flip, he returned to his feet, staring into the ancient man across the dojo. The old master, Iron Masked Ivory, was turned away from the young Sidereal, apparently quite occupied with tending to a row of bonzai trees resting on the rear banister of the patio perched above a massive garden on the farther stretches of Yu Shan. Aphelion rolled his weight to the front of his feet, shifting his weight back and forth to ensure ease of movement. Ivory continued about his gardening with a soft half smile.

"You have a young man's energy, but you must learn how to be still."

Aphelion's bobbing came to rest. "But, Sifu, you said I must keep my center moving to maintain balance and unpredictability."

Ivory nodded sagely as gingerly swept away some small clippings. "Yes, but that does not require you to move as well. Let us practice."  The hairs on Aphelion's neck prickled with the sound of Ivory's rapping on the banister. A mob of spirits poured from the crannies of the hall, launching themselves upon the student. Aphelion's violet eyes narrowed, their color matching perfectly the soft glow from his forehead. Silently, he delivered a leaping kick to the forward approaching opponent, using its face as a springboard to launch into a backwards somersault. Ivory watched quietly from the top of the steps, a mildly nonplussed expression on his face. "Well, you are learning to be silent."

A brief incredulous look was all Aphelion could afford his teacher before returning his focus to the multi-limbed swordsman to his front. With deft movements, he slid between the spinning blades, a soft grin creeping over his face as he twisted between sword blows while backstepping from the foe. Ivory nodded sagely,"You begin to see the Joy in Adversity. Good, but are you aware of your surroundings?" With a sharp stomp, Ivory knocked a lance from a nearby wall, and sending it flying at Aphelion with a kick. At the very last moment (or perhaps shortly after), the student's eyes cut over to see the incoming spear. There was a flash of purple light, a haze of motion, and the spear was lodged firmly in the side wall. The spirits paused briefly to look at the wall and then back to the student in a three point stance in the center, a dark blood stain growing along the right side of his dōgi. The mob moved in for the finish, but Aphelion launched straight up to the support beams of the roof, crouching behind a cross beam to provide some measure of cover. Laying flush with the beam, Aphelion slowly peeked over the edge. His eyes widened in surprise as he heard an all to familiar voice whispering in his ear.

"So many offshoots you learn, young one, yet you miss the all-important cause."

Aphelion rolled off the side of the beam to avoid his master's incoming blow. Hooking the tips of his feet on the edge of the beam, the student whirled around the support, landing on top standing. "What...?" asked Aphelion. Noticing his master's eyes narrowing, he quickly added,"Sifu." Ivory straightened his beard thoughtfully for a moment... and then launched into a flurry of attacks. Though he moved with inhuman speed, his words came soft and slow, as if discussing philosophy by the meditation pool.

"You are quiet, yes, but not silent. You have greatly improved in avoiding the enemy's strikes, though still very vulnerable. Your awareness of your surroundings is fair, but fundamentally limited by your lack of understanding." Aphelion frantically blocked and dodged the never ending barrage of attacks. Styles switched mid strike between the two as they bounded from support to support. Finally, in an effort to move to more tactical ground, Aphelion launched a counterattack. Ivory gave a half-amused look as he began blocking his student's feet and fists.

"You must finally come to realize what we must all know, my student." With a sudden sharp blow to a pressure point, Ivory rendered Aphelion motionless.

"You do not exist."

Whether his current condition or the question yielded Aphelion's questioning look, Ivory chose to elaborate.

"As long as you separate the idea of yourself, mastery will be impossible. No one can hear that which is not there. They can not strike the non-being. That which is seen by no one falls squarely to your knowledge." Ivory paced thoughtfully along the narrow beams as he spoke. 

"We have given up being for Creation. We are the empty spaces between chaos and order, destruction and preservation, dark and light. Our dying, like our living is no great matter, because no force can stop the nonexistent. It is only the product of our motions that matters. Ours is not sacrifice, but the necessary flow of Destiny."

Aphelion eyes rolled back as he fought for consciousness. After a moment, Ivory struck his student again, releasing the Essence block he had created. "Go now, Aphelion, and ponder this. We shall work further tomorrow."