Losing count of days and weeks wasn't a sign of anything good - Ayu was well aware of that, yet once in a while she found herself realizing that she kept forgetting about the passage of time. Strangely, it was pretty easy to get caught up in training, she understood as much. For a long time, she was focusing on meditating, dodging, and polishing her techniques like Telepathy and Far-Seeing Arts... Then she started using the Pendulum Room. For a different type of training. Day by day, Ayu would spend hours inside, facing memories and fights that were long gone but from which she could still learn something. Tactics, actions, or responses, everything was a delicate matter in a world that was boiled down to the competition of power. Fight. It was what she should have done before and what she will need to do in the near future. Bruised, scratched, and often bleeding, Ayu would always leave that chamber quietly, without a single word. After tending to her injuries and allowing her self-healing factor to do the rest, she would close her eyes for a while. Wondering why and when it all came to this...

Then, usually, it was the time to prepare meals for Celric and Cress - like nothing happened. The sight of the Saiyan siblings always brought a smile to her face. The routine was still there. She was reading them stories, playing with them, training a bit, doing all the fun things, and listening to their tales. With a heavy heart, she would look at them lovingly, stroking their hair. Cute children. Amazing kids. By any chance, with time, will they too... Ah, no use thinking about it now. After putting them to bed, Ayu would stay on the edge of the Lookout, gazing at the world. And others. At people she knew, she loved and cared about. She would see them fighting, training, and learning everything on their own. Away from her. Right... It's not like she would make a worthy training partner anyway, so it was pointless to feel this bitterness. She had no right to feel sad - so much was at stake. The sense of loneliness couldn't even compete with the seriousness of the threat that was approaching the Earth. What could the mere heartache of one person mean in the face of danger that could doom them all?

So she would go there again. Into the room full of clocks. Where ticking noise would drag her into darkness, shaping shadows into familiar people, giving them voices she missed and faces she wished to see. And then she'd have to fight them.

It all started with Callion being away and his warning, with their enemy growing stronger. With Liari's attack on Frost, and then later Ayu's resolution to work harder - or, no, maybe even before that. When she felt Bluebell pushing her away, after their heart-to-heart talk in the pits of Hell. Or maybe earlier, actually... There was a moment when she was convinced her head was like stained glass, each piece reflecting a stain on her soul. People she disappointed and hurt. Fights she might have been able to prevent. Times she let her fear take over without taking action. Times she was too late. Times she wasn't enough. Times she couldn't do anything. All that painted a picture of a flawed, cowardly person who always felt everything too strongly and too much - when did Ayu start seeing herself as a burden to everyone? Nonetheless, she was pushing on. Feeling guilty wasn't any excuse. This sinister, deeply disturbing energy out there in the universe was growing stronger... And then, Namek was suddenly no more. Ayu remembered seeing unspeakable pain in Dende's eyes, ache that he was going to humbly carry in his heart. There were no words of consolation she could think of, she only remembered embracing Namekian, feeling his most unnoticeable trembling. How could she begin to think about comforting Earth's Guardian? Blue Planet was his home - Namek was his homeland, a place of his people. She couldn't let him feel this pain again.

Pendulum Room. Facing her fears. Over and over again. Ayu could feel her body getting warmer, her muscles tensing with each strike or block she performed. Her heartbeat grew faster like ringing in her ears, and blood was flowing rapidly to make sure her reflexes were just right. Always on guard, never at peace. So that was how the warriors felt during sparing sessions and fights... The sensation of life signatures weakening, the flesh she hit hot under her hands, the whiz of lungs when breath was forcibly removed from lungs. That... Was it, wasn't it? Ayu was able to experience this rush for the first time.

And she deeply detested that feeling with every fiber of her being.

This time wasn't any different. Leaving the Pendulum Room even before dawn breaks the night, Ayu was rubbing the back of her neck and her shoulders. It was quite a workout and somewhat of a nightmare too... But that was in the past already. Having quickly washed, patched what needed to be patched, and changed clothes, Ayu thought about a quick meditation session or maybe a book - sleep wasn't much of an aid lately. Walking down the stairs towards one of the libraries in the Lookout, her gaze brushed against the names of the ancient tomes. Books, scrolls, tomes... Hmm, maybe she'd prefer to spend her morning with a hot cup of tea and a moment of silence.

She was about to leave but something caught her attention. With the corner of her mind, she heard an echoing whisper... Somewhere near.

Right. Dende mentioned another student of his that was here on the Lookout. She could feel that she was getting closer with every step, sensing a secure, yet strong energy akin to a pulsing stream. Ayu would of course go and introduce herself way earlier but a twist of fate and her own insecurities made her always be busy somewhere else. It happened that she was occupied with books, training, or cooking for a duo of forever-hungry Saiyan children.

Standing in front of the closed door, her hand stopped before she could even knock on the wood. Closing her eyes for a second, Ayu tried to sense everything that she needed, because something... How to put it? The energy she felt was like a stream, clear, steady, confident - and yet, a pulse within didn't remind her of a gentle heartbeat. She couldn't explain why or how, it just wasn't bad and yet she wasn't sure that it was good either. It's not that she believed the person in this room would be evil, only that there was something she didn't know. Or maybe being alone with her thoughts for so long made Ayu unnecessarily wary of others. Whoever there was, they hoped they would wake up soon and their thoughts were shaped with such determination they reached her mind with ease.

"I-I apologize for intrusion..." She opened the door and carefully stepped inside. Soft breeze moved her hair and clothing, while she raised her head to look at... Well, Ayu certainly didn't expect to see a picture of a serene man in the middle of meditation. The force around him - and within him - was swirling around in green and blue layers, that at a closer look proved to be a bubble of a force field. He was floating in midair, his face calm, peaceful even, and yet she remembered that he wanted to wake up. Closing the door behind her, Ayu took a step closer, tilting her head and observing how the Ki acted around the stranger. People meditated so deeply for many reasons and she knew that sometimes it wasn't easy to break through the trance. Dende once had to put her in that state for her own good, just for a couple of days. Was stranger the one who put himself in this bubble?

It was a delicate matter. Forcing the field open could lead all the energy synchronized within this man to retaliate, causing him harm. Trying to wake him up with yelling or sudden movement - like Celric once shook her awake when she happened to oversleep after late-night training - wouldn't be safe either. There was also a valid chance that meditation was so deep, that it wouldn't even work. The only way Ayu could think of was to wake him up from the inside, speaking directly to his mind and helping him realize how to break the trance.

Without much hesitation, she sat down on the floor. In a diamond pose, tucking her legs under her, Ayu straightened her back, loosely joining her hands on her lap. She closed her eyes. The telepathic connection was here, just diffused - like raindrops scattered around the forest. She had to join them together into one, uniform stream. And when she did, Ayu did not want to make her presence appear so suddenly, so intrusive and threatening. That wouldn't be pleasant in any way... The brink of her thoughts brushed gently against the other mind, like the tip of a feather or maybe like someone softly pulling his sleeve to get his attention. Without words at first, she was only letting herself be known as a presence, soft, unalarming, and cordial.

G-Good morning, she spoke faintly after a moment, after pondering if she should say anything at all. I a-apologize for the intrusion. I-I heard your voice. She allowed herself to apologize and explain everything gently, trying to make sense and not sound too overbearing. His circumstances were unknown to her after all. Is e-everything alright? I know that you're meditating and if you don't mind, I could try to help you wake up.

There was something hopelessly funny in Ayu still being shy around strangers, even if she was meeting them through a telepathic connection. She couldn't help but feel a bit timid, even if she was the one reaching towards with a helping hand.

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Power Level - 318,222 | 10 (Seal technique)
Word Count - 1,668
Technique to learn - [ST2]-[ST3] Far Seeing Arts