Temple in the Mountain(s)

Religion does not have much of a place in this modern world. The big reveal of Shinigami, Hollows, Arrancar, Vizards...and then the myriad of other superfluous additions to what human beings shared their planet with has put a sizeable dent in the whole belief in a higher power. Ignoring that Hinduism is one of the few religions who can actually stand the discovery of these supernatural beings it too has fallen out of favor. Historically speaking, that is the written and commonly known history, Hinduism does not have a singular founder and to a point, this is true. Hinduism, as a whole sprung up as a collaboration of ideas from multiple individuals that fed toward a singular purpose of explaining the unexplainable when it came to this crazy world humans lived in. What history does not teach us is that all of these ideas came from the study of one man, and that one man was currently hurtling through the air dragging an ornery child by the ankle.

To put it gently, very gently, people skills was not Sagumi’s forte and neither was gentleness. None of his students were treated gently over the course of his multiple lives and the world he resided in did not change that. This was a strange case in that he was taking on a student who had...well...no power at the moment. It wasn’t that he hadn’t trained the powerless before, but the rules that governed the universe at the time were far more forgiving toward the powerless. In this world and at this stage there were quite a few punishments for being powerless and Sagumi certainly wasn’t going to rent a vehicle for this adventure. So, unfortunately for the master pupil combo, Sagumi was going to have to carry Kaito. Further unfortunately for Kaito, Sagumi felt it prudent to carry him by his ankle and hang him upside down in the air as he sped across continents. After a relatively brief trip to the mainland, Sagumi landed gracefully at the foot of the of a particularly towering mountain of the Karakoran mountain range, his feet touching down a few meters away from a crystal clear pool of water. Sagumi, less gracefully, dropped Kaito on to the bank of the pond before letting out a big sigh as he checked the skies for Koneko.

“I guess she’ll catch up later, why are you so close to the water? Back up.”

Whether or not he backed up was irrelevant, but it was probably in his best interest to follow directions as Sagumi’s breathing became far deeper and far more rhythmic as a look of concentration donned on his face. His legs spread, his stance widening as he raised his left arm out in front of him, elbow pointed up and forearm angled down, his eyes not leaving the crystal clear water in front of him while he gave Kaito the first explanation he would have before he was more or less abducted out of his room for the trip to India. As was established, Sagumi wasn’t very good with boundaries...or social niceties in general but definitely not boundaries.

“We came on this little field trip to a place of great spiritual power...or some other sort of mumbo jumbo. It doesn’t matter, regardless, you’re here to learn so focus up...Senkugoshoha.”

As the words left his lips, Sagumi appeared as no more than a blur as the couple meter distance between himself and pool was instantly closed and his right arm was thrust forward and down at the water with blinding speed. The sheer force of the thrust sent a massive vacuum of energy and pressure down into the water, immediately evicting the fluid from its resting place. Water sprayed up in to the air around them before proceeding to shower the area around them in a light drizzle, about a mile long area around them. Sagumi’s hands came to his chest before gently stretching down the length of his abdomen, exhaling with each stretching motion before he glanced back at the young and probably now slightly wet Kaito as a slight grin appeared on his face before he nodded toward the now empty basin. A small path was revealed, leading in to a three meter diameter hole in mountainside and Sagumi fully intended to have Kaito and Koneko when she got there, to go in first.

Kaito’s questions fell on deaf ears, an occurrence he was probably best off getting used to and while Sagumi did usually do his darnedest to pretend to care about his disciple’s opinions and ideas, there was simply a bigger and much more important thing for Sagumi’s attention to be directed at presently. He wasn’t sure how Koneko had managed to get there so quickly. She was either much faster than Sagumi had given her credit for or...something else had allowed her to arrive so quickly. He’d pursue the answer to that question later though as something even bigger and heavier was more pressing on his mind. Koneko had caught up to them just in time to be victimized by Sagumi revealing the entrance to his mountainous temple network and it had left the woman’s top thoroughly soaked. They needed to admire the wonder that was a soaked, white, top and they needed to admire it long and hard. After a good long stare, the exact time being left to the imagination, Sagumi tore his eyes away and made his way down the now empty basin that was the pond. He imagined Koneko would follow him without much question and Kaito, well, Kaito certainly wasn’t getting home on his own now was he?

As the pair of them would enter through the small stone cropping in the mountain, they would see the majesty that was the closest thing Sagumi had to a hometown in this world. Underneath the specific peak of what humans in the twenty first century referred to Gasherbrum IV, was a gigantic hindu temple. Like many Hindu temples, the inner temple of the Gasherburn IV mountain was pyramidal in nature and seemed to be constructed inside the hollowed out towering piece of mountainous rock. Numerous gopuram, quadrangular and mostly ornamental structures lined the outside the temple area. They were originally simply ornamental, but Sagumi had long ago repurposed most of them as housing structures. The weekends they would be spending at the temple would involve the pair of them sleeping in these buildings. The kid did have school to attend so they were going to have to spend their training sessions in both locations.

“Ah...Dravidian Architecture...those kids really outdid themselves and I somehow feel that every time I look at their work. It’s amazing what the braniacs can do with just the slightest bit of Chi.”
Sagumi gave Kaito a cursory glance before turning to one of the gopurams to the group’s left. “Inside there is where you will be spending your weekends for the foreseeable future. Expect to spend your weekends here in this mountain and your weeks at either school or the dojo in Karakura. Training is your life now.”

Sagumi’s normal jovial tone was absent from that little speech. It was serious, to the point, and uncompromising. Jovial would not get the point across to these two that, despite Kaito effectively being kidnapped, this was the life they had chosen. He was going to give them everything he had to improve their capacity as martial artists and as spiritual beings, he expected similar dedication in return. Slow, the familiar smile crept back on to his face as he pointed at the gopuram he was looking at.

“Now inside there is a change of clothes for you guys. There are closets clearly marked Kaito and Koneko, thankfully enough letter overlap and I didn’t have to work very hard on the nameplates. You will find your training uniforms in there, you can’t really wear those clothes and train properly, you look ridiculous. Now go change and be back here in twenty minutes for your initiation, go go.”

Success! While Kaito was showcasing some serious insubordination issues, case in point being his lack of proper attire, Koneko’s compliance with his directions was infinitely the more important one, so at the moment, Sagumi was paying virtually no attention whatsoever to the stern little child as he laughably dropped down into what Sagumi assumed young Kaito thought was a valid fighting stance. As Sagumi saw Koneko come up from behind Kaito and toward the pair, his body sprung into action from a seemingly resting point. The man had, in one frighteningly fluid motion, moved past Kaito while simultaneously manipulating his body. Sagumi shifted the boy’s stance, shifting his weight to his back leg while twisting his body so it faced to the side, while he made the boy’s front foot point forward before delivering a slight push to the backside of his front knee and causing it to bed slightly before repeating the process with the boy’s back leg and turning his back foot outwards and perpendicular to the front foot. This whole sequence would be missed if someone so much as blinked at the wrong time and as far as anyone in the room could tell, Sagumi simply ran straight for Koneko’s scantily clad form and wouldn’t be able to notice the speed in which Sagumi shifted Kaito’s stance.

Focusing on the more important things in the room, specifically Koneko’s breasts, Sagumi took a moment to admire his stylistic choices in training attire, and then he took a second moment, and then three, and then four and damn he was a genius. He was all ready to put his tactile talents to the test for further examining his best of best decisions, but he decided he would leave that mystery for later for the time being, especially since Kaito was probably just now recoiling from his sudden repositioning and knowing him, chances were good that he was pretty irate about the rough handling of his stance and for his master’s rather skewed priorities. After spending a good couple, minutes of admiring his work, it was time to get back to the business at hand, before Kaito started screaming, and a soft sigh escaped him before turning his attention toward to the west side of the wall before wrapping his hand around Koneko’s shoulders and walking her toward Kaito.

“I like the enthusiasm there Kaito, and that is an impeccable Dwi Kubi you’re standing in, basic stance of Tae Kwon Do and you have it down masterfully, but we’re not doing any sparring today, soon, I assure you, but not now. Right now you guys have an errand to perform. Through that entry way there you’ll come upon a path that will lead you further in the mountains. At the end of that path, you will find two glowing gems, one for each of you. Bring them back to me and you will have completed your initiation in to the Sagumi school of Sagumi amazingness. I’ll be in the main temple taking the nap of extreme awesomeness, come wake me when you finish.”

Sagumi gave Kaito and Koneko a push toward the doorway, Koneko’s push being more a smack on the bum than a push, thankfully sexual harassment lawsuits don’t quite exist anymore, before Sagumi let out a large yawn and sauntered toward the largest structure in the complex, a contented sigh at that. His jovial expression did little to betray the true nature of the task he had just given them however. They would be facing much, much more challenging tasks on this trial than simply picking up a gem and carrying it back to Sagumi. Their brains would be tested, their bodies would be tested, and their souls would be tested and if they survived, they would be ready for what lied ahead.

When the pair of them came to focus on the task ahead of them and passed through the small entryway, an entryway that would very quickly seem redundant. Before them, stretching straight up to the top of the mountains. The massive structure was to be their first obstacle. Upon closer inspection, they would find a small circular, raised platform at the base of the towering door. Leaning against the door was a large book titled "Almanac of Asian languages." Lining the outside of the platform were ten small, flawlessly cubed stones. On the door, above the platform, they would find lines scribbled in a strange language.

నీవు కలిగివుండుట దశము పాషాణము పరిష్కారమౌట వాటిని లోకి అయిదు గత్తర ఒకడొకడు గత్తర ఫలరసము కలిగివుండుట నలుగురు పాషాణము

It was the key to opening the door, could they figure it out?