First attempt at training. [D2, LA, Expecting]

[Isawa Kyosei]

"Perhaps you will. Perhaps you will not. Why would you like to see them? For the image? To behold an interesting image? To commune with them?"

[Jiyo Sora]

"To see something I've never seen before that doesn't sound awful."

[Isawa Kyosei]

"There are many things in the world that are not awful. I understand why you might not think that, but they do exist. The moon, rising over a mountain, as the wolves call to each other. The sight of a stag, raising it's head in concern, the sun's light glinting off it's full rack of antlers. The sight of a gem, pulled from the grasp of the earth, and polished to brightness. A ripple of wind over the fields of rice or barley, making them look like they are bowing to the sun. A simple flower, growing with no concerns, in a field where no man has trod for at least ten years." He smiles softly, this time. "Beauty is all around us. What we see when we look, that comes from within. Your father, because of his gift and burden, his Oracular eye, often only sees the ugliness, as he has been given warning to protect others, and keep them safe from that ugliness."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Oh, no, no, I just meant that I like seeing new things, but I also know that there's, like... rotting dead bodies and stuff int he world, and while I've never seen one, it's not an experience I'm terribly keen to go for..."

[Isawa Kyosei]

"Hmm. Do you like mushrooms? What about fish?"

[Jiyo Sora]

"Well, not sure what the relevance is, but I've encountered both fish and mushrooms in both culinary and less, ah, consumptive settings... I like 'em. Fish are really pretty. Even the ugly ones."

[Isawa Kyosei]

"Mushrooms require those dead, rotting things to grow. And fish eat those dead rotting things. Just because something is dead and rotting, and ugly, doesn't mean it doesn't have a purpose, or that the kami haven't created something to remove it. Insects, and the mushrooms, dispose of rotting, dead, ugly things, returning them to the cycle of life."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Yeah, but we're talking about what is liked, not what is necessary."

[Isawa Kyosei]

"True - from your point of view. But, that point of view may change. Or, it may not. You are, after all, young yet. Still growing into who you will become."

He resettles slightly. "What if your gift was like your fathers - seeing that which was ugly and terrible, in order to warn others of it? Would you accept that gift, or work to repress it, and refuse to use it?"

[Jiyo Sora]

"I don't see much choice, really. You work with what you've got."

[Isawa Kyosei]

"Perhaps. And, perhaps not. My father, for most of his life worked in a mine, pulling out brass, so that bronze items could be made. However, another of the workers noticed some blue veins in the mine. He thought they were pretty interesting, and pulled some out. Working with it a little, he dropped an alcoholic drink on it, and it reacted - oddly. Taking this to the overseer at the time, they worked and discovered it was actually silver. Thus, work on the mine not only changed, it also increased. Because one person was curious. He would probably be the overseer of the mine, instead of me, if he hadn't been run over by a cart, and had his back broken, a year later. But, instead of the brass mine they thought they had, they found it was a silver mine, which threw occasional brass as well. Just because you think a gift is one thing, doesn't mean it can't be something else, and you are restricting yourself."

[Jiyo Sora]

"But we're not even sure I have one..."

[Isawa Kyosei]

"Honestly, your parents and I are sure you have something. What it is, that is what we don't know. Could be you have a version of Sight, like your father. Could be you could learn to call on the spirits, like me. Could be you have the talent to see into other Realms, or interact with them, like Reiko. Could be you can control your internal energies, like Nozomi. Could be you can speak with animals. Those are just a few of the options. But, yes, we are sure you have some sort of gift."

[Jiyo Sora]

"And how do we figure out what it is?"

[Isawa Kyosei]

"One of the ways is to expose you to dangerous extremes, to shock the gift open to save your life. But, since I like my own life, and your dad would kill me if I did that, we will try the next most common method. Meditation. Only, instead of shutting everything away, I want you to allow things to flow through your mind, and then focus the entirety of your thoughts on it. It will be tricky, but I think you can do it. I should ask, are you trained to meditate properly?"

[Jiyo Sora]

She giggled.

"Better than Dad is, that's for sure!"

[Isawa Kyosei]

"Yes, well, from what I understand, he didn't exactly have a teacher of these things. So, in most methods of meditation, you either try to remove all thoughts from your head, or focus on one activity to the exclusion of all else, like when my wife is weaving threads. Or when I am sometimes carving stone. Instead of that, I want you to open your mind, to allow outside thoughts to come, focus on them, and then try to find if they are errant thoughts of your own, or coming from elsewhere. Do you think you can do that?"

[Jiyo Sora]

"I can try."

Of course, as an NPC with no dice pool, her effort would be purely narrative, but she went to it with a will.

[Isawa Kyosei]

"No, no, not now. I want you to try this over the next few days, and we'll meet again, in say, 3 days?"

[D5 to meet again]

[Jiyo Sora]

"All right..."

Shirayuki frowned.

Evidently it was a lot to process.