Post by TheGreatPikkon on Jan 1, 2014 21:54:10 GMT -6
Pikkon stood alone, deep in the woods to the west of West City. In the center of a medium-sized clearing, he was surrounded by beaten grass crisscrossed with game trails and the sounds of nature. There was not a man-made thing for miles in any direction.
He stood quietly, his arms stretched downward and slightly out, a few inches from his sides. He stood straight, eyes closed, concentrating on a vision of himself soaring high above the clouds and focusing his Ki downward under his body. He knew the instant he saw a man fly that he had the power to do it, as well. The only problem was that he had no clue how to. But just as an infant can't understand physics or how to build a house, a man who has never experienced something relevant to what he is trying to do is obviously going to be at a loss for how to do it. It was a guessing game.
For three days he had stood in this spot, moving only to eat and sleep near the edge of the clearing, working constantly on finding the secret to freeing himself from gravity's clutches. He had tried everything he could think of. He spent the first day foolishly leaping tens of feet high and straining in concentration, hoping to take flight before falling, but realized that nothing that can fly ever had to jump off of a high thing to do it. He would launch from the ground.
The second day, he stood and manipulated his Ki and his mindset in one combination after another, trying to keep a mental checklist of what hadn't worked. This was the brute force method. He would try everything until he blindly stumbled upon the answer.
Late in the day, as he stood, sweat pouring from his strained body as he concentrated his energies, his mind had wandered aimlessly for a few minutes as he lost focus. As he realized that he was losing focus, he forced himself back to full power and focused hard on making his body go upward, and for a brief moment, his Ki pushed him up.
It was amazing. He felt as if his body were a rocket being propelled by a strong engine. The overwhelming sensation of being launched into the air by his own power distracted Pikkon after only a few feet, and his focus broke, causing the force to stop, but the energy already spent in the first few feet after leaving the ground was enough to propel him another sixty feet up. His eyes grew wide as he reached the zenith of his flight. He could see above the shortest of the trees from here. Everything looked different from here. He had been staring at the spot a hundred yards in front of him where the woods became the clearing for a long time now, and he noticed there was a very large bird nest in the canopy of one of the trees nearest to the clearing that he couldn't see from the ground. Adrenaline coursed through his system. His power was flowing freely and he felt a warm, soft wind all around him as he started to fall. He was flying.
On the way down, Pikkon soon realized he'd never fallen this far before and desperately tried to recall the power he had tapped into. He forced his power to spike and grunted with concentration in the few seconds he had, furiously thinking of anything he could to slow himself. He envisioned a giant cushion under him. Nothing. He imagined the wind sweeping from under him to soften his fall. Nothing. He imagined his Ki acting as a spring between himself and the Earth. Just then, he slammed into the ground with a thud.
Five minutes later, he awoke and decided he'd had enough for the day, retiring to the shaded area where his hammock was hung and refueling for the next day's lesson.
I need a better teacher, Pikkon thought sarcastically as he stared across the clearing, remembering how different everything had looked as he fell.
He now stood, silent and patient, nearly three full days after he began this task. He was being careful now. After the fall he'd had yesterday, he was holding his energy back to a fraction of its potential. His mind was still working as hard as ever, though, trying to find exactly how to focus his energy to propel himself. He had been focusing his energy downward from the bottom of his feet like the exhaust from a rocket engine for two hours while slightly tweaking his mental images. He was already tired and strained, but he refused to stop. He was ready for a short break, though.
Pulling himself out of his meditation, he relaxed and slowly turned, walking toward his camp for a moment of shade and a little water.
This shouldn't be this hard, he thought. With the way I flew so high with such a short burst of my full power, it should only take the tiniest bit to get me off of the ground a little. I don't understand what's holding me down.
Leaning against the trunk of one of the small trees his hammock hung from, he stared across the clearing while sipping from his water bag. He focused on the tree with the bird's nest and noticed that from this far away, he could see the smallest bit of it, but he would never have known what it was if he hadn't seen it from eye-level.
Perspective changes everything, he thought, recounting the old saying.
He drank again and thought of the problem at hand. Maybe perspective is just what he needed.
He started analyzing what he was doing more technically. He was essentially just trying to move his body from one place to another. He did that every day. Why was this so hard, then? And then it hit him. He only knew how to move with his muscles. In order to move above the ground, he had to move with his Ki. He already knew this. The real question he was getting at was.. How could he move without his muscles? What if he simply wanted to walk without them and not fly? How could he do that?
He brought his energy back under strict control and focused it behind him. When his mind was centered, he fed power into the focused thought slowly, pouring his Ki out behind him, hoping to propel himself forward as if walking.
Well, he thought, if I try to fly forward, I don't have to worry about falling too hard. I can use more energy safely this way.
Feeling exhausted and out of ideas, he let his frustration out, knowing that if he flew forward with this much power, he'd probably bounce along the ground for a while, but not caring. He focused a spike of energy behind him and prepared to be thrown forward, but instead fell backward as the tree he was leaning on was ripped from the ground with the sound of disturbed leaves and strained, creaking branches, and thrown, speeding straight behind Pikkon, ripping his hammock in half and causing Pikkon to fall backward into the pit left behind by the roots of the mangled tree.
"Pfft.. PUH!" Pikkon spit dirt from his mouth as he crawled from the hole and back to his feet. He took a few moments to look at what had happened before stopping, frozen solid, a grin creeping across his face.
Without a word, he rushed back to the center of the clearing and found the small round spot of dirt where the grass had been cut from its root by the occasional shuffling of his feet over the last days. He knew what to do. He had been trying to force the entire Earth downwards with his Ki. He was supposed to be moving his body upward. He had been trying exactly the wrong thing. He closed his eyes and hurriedly focused his energy back into his feet, but this time, he imagined his body being pushed upward by his Ki as if he was standing in a large hand that was carrying him. Focusing on the imaginary hand of Ki, he told his body that he wanted to go up. As soon as he pushed his energy into action, he floated three feet upward and stopped, bobbing awkwardly.
Pikkon didn't stop to think about what he was doing. He had to stay focused. He felt himself floating unsteadily and fought to control his power level on the finest levels, managing to steady himself some.
This was it! He was doing it! He could fly! He couldn't fly high or fast or gracefully, but he could finally fly! Now he had to figure out how to control himself.
Just then, the breeze picked up and he began to slowly drift to the side. He leaned to the side, hoping to propel himself back to the spot he had started in, but only rotated. This was strange. He let his Ki move from under his feet to his front side as he leaned farther, eventually lying flat on his stomach about four feet above the Earth. He continued this motion and was soon upside-down, standing on his head in this imaginary hand of Ki that was holding him off of the ground. He found it fun in a childish way, but knew that he must be serious and take time to master this skill.
Two hours later, he was jumping from one side of the clearing to the other, reaching heights of over a hundred feet without moving a single muscle. He would stand at the edge of the clearing and blast himself up and forward with his Ki, soaring freely for a few moments before falling in an arch, refocusing his Ki to slowly apply upward force under his body, slowing his fall and gracefully landing inches from the trees of the other side.
When he finally started moving with his muscles again and let his body and mind relax, he walked to the spot he had been camped and flopped onto the ground with a grin, feeling as euphoric and exhausted as a toddler after an exciting day at a playground.
As he picked up the remains of his shredded hammock and looked into the darkening woods at the tree he had accidentally uprooted, he chuckled to himself.
What a day, he thought, smiling.
He stood quietly, his arms stretched downward and slightly out, a few inches from his sides. He stood straight, eyes closed, concentrating on a vision of himself soaring high above the clouds and focusing his Ki downward under his body. He knew the instant he saw a man fly that he had the power to do it, as well. The only problem was that he had no clue how to. But just as an infant can't understand physics or how to build a house, a man who has never experienced something relevant to what he is trying to do is obviously going to be at a loss for how to do it. It was a guessing game.
For three days he had stood in this spot, moving only to eat and sleep near the edge of the clearing, working constantly on finding the secret to freeing himself from gravity's clutches. He had tried everything he could think of. He spent the first day foolishly leaping tens of feet high and straining in concentration, hoping to take flight before falling, but realized that nothing that can fly ever had to jump off of a high thing to do it. He would launch from the ground.
The second day, he stood and manipulated his Ki and his mindset in one combination after another, trying to keep a mental checklist of what hadn't worked. This was the brute force method. He would try everything until he blindly stumbled upon the answer.
Late in the day, as he stood, sweat pouring from his strained body as he concentrated his energies, his mind had wandered aimlessly for a few minutes as he lost focus. As he realized that he was losing focus, he forced himself back to full power and focused hard on making his body go upward, and for a brief moment, his Ki pushed him up.
It was amazing. He felt as if his body were a rocket being propelled by a strong engine. The overwhelming sensation of being launched into the air by his own power distracted Pikkon after only a few feet, and his focus broke, causing the force to stop, but the energy already spent in the first few feet after leaving the ground was enough to propel him another sixty feet up. His eyes grew wide as he reached the zenith of his flight. He could see above the shortest of the trees from here. Everything looked different from here. He had been staring at the spot a hundred yards in front of him where the woods became the clearing for a long time now, and he noticed there was a very large bird nest in the canopy of one of the trees nearest to the clearing that he couldn't see from the ground. Adrenaline coursed through his system. His power was flowing freely and he felt a warm, soft wind all around him as he started to fall. He was flying.
On the way down, Pikkon soon realized he'd never fallen this far before and desperately tried to recall the power he had tapped into. He forced his power to spike and grunted with concentration in the few seconds he had, furiously thinking of anything he could to slow himself. He envisioned a giant cushion under him. Nothing. He imagined the wind sweeping from under him to soften his fall. Nothing. He imagined his Ki acting as a spring between himself and the Earth. Just then, he slammed into the ground with a thud.
Five minutes later, he awoke and decided he'd had enough for the day, retiring to the shaded area where his hammock was hung and refueling for the next day's lesson.
I need a better teacher, Pikkon thought sarcastically as he stared across the clearing, remembering how different everything had looked as he fell.
He now stood, silent and patient, nearly three full days after he began this task. He was being careful now. After the fall he'd had yesterday, he was holding his energy back to a fraction of its potential. His mind was still working as hard as ever, though, trying to find exactly how to focus his energy to propel himself. He had been focusing his energy downward from the bottom of his feet like the exhaust from a rocket engine for two hours while slightly tweaking his mental images. He was already tired and strained, but he refused to stop. He was ready for a short break, though.
Pulling himself out of his meditation, he relaxed and slowly turned, walking toward his camp for a moment of shade and a little water.
This shouldn't be this hard, he thought. With the way I flew so high with such a short burst of my full power, it should only take the tiniest bit to get me off of the ground a little. I don't understand what's holding me down.
Leaning against the trunk of one of the small trees his hammock hung from, he stared across the clearing while sipping from his water bag. He focused on the tree with the bird's nest and noticed that from this far away, he could see the smallest bit of it, but he would never have known what it was if he hadn't seen it from eye-level.
Perspective changes everything, he thought, recounting the old saying.
He drank again and thought of the problem at hand. Maybe perspective is just what he needed.
He started analyzing what he was doing more technically. He was essentially just trying to move his body from one place to another. He did that every day. Why was this so hard, then? And then it hit him. He only knew how to move with his muscles. In order to move above the ground, he had to move with his Ki. He already knew this. The real question he was getting at was.. How could he move without his muscles? What if he simply wanted to walk without them and not fly? How could he do that?
He brought his energy back under strict control and focused it behind him. When his mind was centered, he fed power into the focused thought slowly, pouring his Ki out behind him, hoping to propel himself forward as if walking.
Well, he thought, if I try to fly forward, I don't have to worry about falling too hard. I can use more energy safely this way.
Feeling exhausted and out of ideas, he let his frustration out, knowing that if he flew forward with this much power, he'd probably bounce along the ground for a while, but not caring. He focused a spike of energy behind him and prepared to be thrown forward, but instead fell backward as the tree he was leaning on was ripped from the ground with the sound of disturbed leaves and strained, creaking branches, and thrown, speeding straight behind Pikkon, ripping his hammock in half and causing Pikkon to fall backward into the pit left behind by the roots of the mangled tree.
"Pfft.. PUH!" Pikkon spit dirt from his mouth as he crawled from the hole and back to his feet. He took a few moments to look at what had happened before stopping, frozen solid, a grin creeping across his face.
Without a word, he rushed back to the center of the clearing and found the small round spot of dirt where the grass had been cut from its root by the occasional shuffling of his feet over the last days. He knew what to do. He had been trying to force the entire Earth downwards with his Ki. He was supposed to be moving his body upward. He had been trying exactly the wrong thing. He closed his eyes and hurriedly focused his energy back into his feet, but this time, he imagined his body being pushed upward by his Ki as if he was standing in a large hand that was carrying him. Focusing on the imaginary hand of Ki, he told his body that he wanted to go up. As soon as he pushed his energy into action, he floated three feet upward and stopped, bobbing awkwardly.
Pikkon didn't stop to think about what he was doing. He had to stay focused. He felt himself floating unsteadily and fought to control his power level on the finest levels, managing to steady himself some.
This was it! He was doing it! He could fly! He couldn't fly high or fast or gracefully, but he could finally fly! Now he had to figure out how to control himself.
Just then, the breeze picked up and he began to slowly drift to the side. He leaned to the side, hoping to propel himself back to the spot he had started in, but only rotated. This was strange. He let his Ki move from under his feet to his front side as he leaned farther, eventually lying flat on his stomach about four feet above the Earth. He continued this motion and was soon upside-down, standing on his head in this imaginary hand of Ki that was holding him off of the ground. He found it fun in a childish way, but knew that he must be serious and take time to master this skill.
Two hours later, he was jumping from one side of the clearing to the other, reaching heights of over a hundred feet without moving a single muscle. He would stand at the edge of the clearing and blast himself up and forward with his Ki, soaring freely for a few moments before falling in an arch, refocusing his Ki to slowly apply upward force under his body, slowing his fall and gracefully landing inches from the trees of the other side.
When he finally started moving with his muscles again and let his body and mind relax, he walked to the spot he had been camped and flopped onto the ground with a grin, feeling as euphoric and exhausted as a toddler after an exciting day at a playground.
As he picked up the remains of his shredded hammock and looked into the darkening woods at the tree he had accidentally uprooted, he chuckled to himself.
What a day, he thought, smiling.