The Beginning of the Rest of My Life~part 2

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Spoiler:

When Keiro’s head rested back of the tree of where he slept, Keiro slept deeply, deeper than any sleep he’s ever experience in the entirety of his life. The immediate darkness straight to dream was unrealistically enough for Keiro to say that him being chase in the forest was the dream and he was simply waking up from that. Keiro could feel that he was dreaming a good amount of dreams to make up for the loss amount of times for not dreaming when he was prison. It seem like those years were empty with dreams and were filled with nightmares that were empty and void. Keiro thought he was dreaming, all people dream and sometimes they forget entirely of what they dream the moment they wake up. He had a very hard time believing that, feeling that the time he spent locked in that small room devoid him of all imagination and all sense of perception disappeared. No one in that place dreamed pleasantly, only dreams they had been to escape the hell they were in.

Keiro stopped ‘surfing’ in his mind and came to a full stop when there was a powerful light that made Keiro put a hand over his eyes. He squinted immediately from the pain caused by the light. It felt like he was right next to the sun itself but instead of burning him, it was blinding him. He could feel the light pierce through the thin flesh of his eyelid causing him to see nothing but red.

His mind analyzed in the short span, or however long it was in the dream world, that he was still dreaming. The logic of the dream did not sweep over him; it usually never does whenever he realizes he is dreaming. Whenever he finds this revelation, the standard dreams he was having become lucid and he is able to control the contents of his dream. But the light did not sway, it only kept in intensity. Keiro mind then rationalize that there is something on the outside affecting him while he dreaming. What could possibly be blinding me? The sun? Perhaps it was. A flashlight could be a possible explanation. Someone is probably examining him and if he being examine did that mean he was capture in the outside world? The only answer to that was a yes indeed, he was captured. If that was the case, he should try and wake up, possibly find a route that’ll lead him to his freedom.

But this was easier said than done. He couldn’t break out of his dream cycle like the ‘on switch’ to his head was out of order. This could pose a problem if he is captured. Sedation could be the cause of it, perhaps his body had exhausted itself and his body refuses to wake up. He was feeling more towards the latter option and decided to play with the idea for now. The first concern was this damn light in his eyes. There was simply no way for him to dim down the lights. It was still painful to open his eyes, even if this was a dream, and him understanding it’s a dream, shouldn’t he have the power to turn down the light?

Yet he had the oddest idea. What if wasn’t a dream? What if he was not fully dreaming but not fully awake either? Would that mean that he was in twilight, the term use when one is not fully enveloped in REM but their mind is not active to be considered alert. If that is the case then why was he able to put his hand over his eye? If it was a dream, the hazy effect of him putting his hand over his eye would’ve been smooth sailings. He remembered when fell asleep that his muscles were packed with cement all within his muscles and nerve and he didn’t realize that feeling when he put his hand over his eyes.

He should give it a shot and just yell out to whoever it was to turn off the damn lights. For the love of all that his holy just turn the damn lights off please. Maybe if he asked nicely-or be a complete jackoff-someone will hear his cry and he’ll be able to get this irritating light out of his eye.

“Hey…” Keiro said. It wasn’t exactly a yell or even a normal speaking voice. His throat felt sandy and harsh and he could his tongue and compare it to sandpaper and it would probably have the same texture to it. Ok, so he was awake, kind of, so that put the lucid dreaming theory out the window. He called again, this time a little bit louder, not by much since it still sounded soft in his ear.

There was shifting that came from the left side of the room. Keiro’s attention shifted slightly over to that direction. It sounded like someone backing up from under a table. He heard someone walking towards him. He took the person only two steps to reach him. His mind began to think. He couldn’t let his thoughts get too jumbled otherwise it would simply confuse him. He would have to take his thought process one step at a time. Two steps, non-hesitant, not awkward in the slightest when walking. How far was it to where I’m lying? Ten feet? Twenty feet? It didn’t take the person long and he wasn’t far away to reach me. So it had to be ten feet or less. The footfall was heavy, the boards he or she walked on creaked slightly. Silent, light on the feet but the wooden boards don’t care because of its age. This person wasn’t wearing shoes; I would’ve heard the clunk of boots. If it was a woman she would have to be at least 250 or more pounds and had to be as tall as six feet and four inches to six feet and eight inches. Possibility of that happening? Twenty-one percent. It’s a man. Definitely a man who can walk nimbly even with his large size weighing in at about 280 to 290 pounds and can chase me down without a hassle.

“You…” Keiro said weakly “You were the one that chased me…”

There was a silence in the room. Keiro could hear the low, breathing of the man, soft, almost unnoticeable if the circumstances were normal. Keiro turned his head but stop short feeling his neck muscles tighten immediately. How long had his neck been in this position Keiro thought. Keiro turned his head to the direction that the man was standing “I know you’re not deaf…judging by your reaction you aren’t surprised my realization” he was able to speak a bit clearer now but his voice was still dry. He let out a dry heave. The man moved again. There was a brief moment where he heard something metallic being handled then he heard the soft material shift by his side. A blanket, he was underneath a blanket. He felt something plastic touch his lips. He grasped it the best and felt the hole that was the straw. He began to suck inward and felt a rush of water flood into his mouth. The sandy, rough interior now became soft and moist once more. He realized he was thirstier than he believed to be when he heard nothing but air and small droplets of water reach into his mouth. He thought for a second that the man would deny him another serving of water but the straw was pulled away from his lips and a moment later returned with another helping. Keiro drank slowly this time, cherishing every drop of liquid.

“So you’re able to rationalize” the man spoke finally. It confirmed Keiro’s deduction hearing that low voice of his when he was in the forest. “That’s what surprised me the most.”

“Why is that?” Keiro asked, his voice no longer a harsh whisper.

“The sedative I gave you was supposed to keep you knocked out for six to seven days. It’s a type of herbal mixture that was created in my village long ago that forced the body to a comatose state. Your body had taken an extensive amount of damage. Your muscles show a bit more micro tears when I examined you and it seems you haven’t slept for maybe three or four days.”

“Five and a half…” Keiro reassured him “I’ve maybe had less than two hours of sleep in the past five days. I wouldn’t technically say that I’ve been getting my beauty rest. How long was I out?”

“That’s the reason I’m surprised. You slept 2 out of the six days that you should’ve slept. I’ve seen very few people wake up during this time and have coherent thoughts and speech. People who wake up during this time suffer alcohol-like effects: Slurred speech, irrational thoughts, that sort of thing. You surprise me.”

“I have a tendency of doing that.” Keiro had tried to sit up but his muscles decided otherwise. He didn’t have to hear the man’s explanation of micro tears, he was already aware of the effects of when he pushed his body far out of his limits. He shifted slightly so he could rest comfortably. “Do you mind turning off the lights? I would like to sleep.”

“Wha-“ The man paused “Oh, my apologies. I was reading a book while watching you. I wanted to make sure you were still in alive. You were a bit roughed up when I found you.”

“Mmmm…” Keiro was drifting back to sleep again. The man had reached over and grabbed the handle of the lamp and pulled it making it click. Keiro had fallen right to sleep even before he heard the lamp make a click.

Keiro woke up the next day. He found that he could move his arms a bit, though strained it was to move it. He found the reason why he had a hard time opening his eyes. His eyes were covered in cloth, making it almost impossible for him to open them. If that was true, then how in the hell did that light pierce through the cloth so easily? Was this man that blind that he used high-powered overhead lights? He untied the cloth over his eyes and slowly opens his eyes.

He found he was in a small room, fifteen feet by ten feet from the looks of it. He was laying on a mattress-very soft Keiro thought, was this memory foam or was it a regular mattress-that was in the corner of the room. Over in the far left corner was a small round table that had three thick books piled up on each other. The chair was unoccupied, pulled out from last night after the man had left. There was one window from what Keiro saw and he could see that was lightly raining; the small drizzle just kissed the glass pane. He could see that there were heavier clouds going to the east so it either stormed while Keiro was still asleep or it passed over. He remembered that he was in Rain Country, the one country that would hide his presence after breaking out of prison. Many of the prisoners headed north for some reason. He didn’t remember anyone following him when he was running through the rocky terrains of earth country. Either his pursuers decided that rain country was one option the escapees weren’t considering or they were attempting to track the most dangerous ones first before spreading out.

Keiro came to the sudden realization on a matter that was instantly answered after he realized. If he travelled south, that meant that he had reached rain country. He remembered correctly, the weather patterns in Rain Country were mildly bizarre due to the conditions of it raining continuously and without pause. Was it raining when he was training? He thought back to when he was sitting on the log and he resting his aching body. The only thing that was precipitating was his body. That wasn’t rain that dripped on him but sweat. No. No it wasn’t raining at the time. The sky wasn’t clear, not by any means, it was overcast. The rain didn’t fall however. His exhaustion, plus his means of training made him unaware of this anomaly and he should’ve realized it before hand.

Next to him was a tall nightstand that held a grey pitcher that was freshly filled with water. There was a glass cup next to it with a plastic straw. Keiro reached over for the pitcher and lifted it to slowly pour water into the cup. The muscles in his arms and shoulders still felt like there was concrete but he bore through it until the glass was filled with water. He took small sips of his water like he did last night and relished it with each drop. Keiro saw the door handle twist and open with the large man ducking his head slightly under the door frame.

“You again surprise me.” The man said “Not only are you awake but now you’re moving around. Next thing you know you’ll be walking around and about.”

Keiro shook his head “I know when I pushed my body to the limit. I won’t be walking anytime soon without a bit of a limp in my step.” He rubbed the back of his neck trying to get deep into his neck muscles to loosen the tight knotted ones.

The man walked over to the chair by the table and grabbed it placing it over by the bed where Keiro was. He sat down. Even with him sitting, he was a very tall individual who looked menacing even when he sat. Keiro looked at him blankly then grabbed the handle of the pitcher and poured himself another cup of water. He drank the water slowly examining the large man. He guessed he was in his sixties but his features said that he was maybe fifteen or twenty years younger. He had black hair with the sides of his head having mild traces of white in it. He had two deep lines on his cheek that looked like a blade had carved

“I suppose you have some questions that you want answered.” The man said.

“You can start with your name.” Keiro said putting his cup in his lap.

“Right. Yes, of course. How silly of me to not say that.” The man smiled “I’ve had many names in my past life, most of which I care not to say out of fear of the men I say it to tremble in fear. You, young man, may call me Shooden.”

“Shooden…” Keiro repeated then added “That’s a name from the island countries with the male names ending in ‘den’. 500 years ago it was used a lot for their males but died away when the tribes began to scatter due to different Kekkei Genkais.”

Shooden’s eyes brighten and he let out a hard laugh that could’ve been mistaken for a grunt. “Well, that’s something I rarely hear from anybody these days. You are correct on the name part. I wasn’t born in the islands but my father and my grandfather were born and raised. I was born in Kirigakure after war broke out during that time period. Out of respect, my father named me after my grandfather. Where…did you learn about that?”

“Read it in a book.” Keiro said matter of fact “I use to read a plethora of books during my time when I was a helper at Konoha’s Library. My father also had a collection of books, both fiction and non-fiction, that he stored in his back room. It was one of the places I would use to sneak in and read some of its content. That little tidbit was from one of his books.”

“Your father must’ve been knowledgeable.”

Keiro nodded “He was the type of guy who could win any trivia game and add back story to said answer. My mother would never let him play trivia games because he would always guess the answer right.” He smiled warmly “He would laugh every time helping me out with the answers I didn’t know…” He paused; his hands began to fiddle with the cup in his hand “Those were good times.”

“Something the matter?” Shooden asked

Keiro’s eyes moved to the window looking at the overcast clouds and the seeing the droplets of rain. His expression went back to its somber state “You stopped the rain around the area I was training in. Why?”

The sudden change put Shooden in a perplex mood deciding whether or not he should try to push the issue with the parent. He decided that this young man was not a child so he had every right to keep his privacy. “You found that out too eh?”

Keiro nodded “So you knew I was in the forest the moment I walked into it. By sensing me in the rain, you were able to track me and by clearing up an area where I could dry off and train a bit, it was easier for you to keep a track on me” He shrugged his shoulders “Smart really. I wish I wasn’t so exhausted that I would’ve realized it sooner.”

“That technique is very difficult to manage and even use. It took me fifteen years to really get it down and even then I only caught you in my senses by chance. The real reason for it is so I can hunt the wildlife here. If you were maybe four or five meters out of my range, I wouldn’t have found you in the forest.”

So he was hunting Keiro thought. It made sense. From what Keiro saw, the place he was taking shelter at had a rustic feel. Shooden used his own hands to create a place that would meet his daily needs that is shelter. He was interested as to how he was able to create a house under the conditions of the weather never to stop raining. Keiro had wanted to ask why he attacked him but he already knew the answer to that question already. He wasn’t interested in his explanation, not when the idea of him attacking him was to test his skills out.

“What were you doing out here training anyway?” Shooden asked “I didn’t see a headband on your persons when I retrieved you from the forest. The only thing I found was that bag of kunai you got and the clothes on your back.”

“I suppose saying ‘it’s a long story’ won’t suffice the curiosity you’re having at this moment.” Shooden shook his head and Keiro wasn’t the least surprise.

So Keiro began telling his tale to Shooden of him growing up in Konohagakure, living with the Hyuuga family and being underneath their wing. He explained the small story of how his family was involved in the back door dealings and conspiracy that his father and his uncle had delved into that would end the political reign of the second Raikage and the administration behind the political party. Keiro said that because of his father’s involvement with destroying an entire administration, he was a target. His father’s illness put his mind in a state of unease and asked for the assistance from his uncle’s colleagues. He never would’ve guessed at it was this same people that also sent his uncle to his death and ultimately destroyed the family by accusing Keiro of not only murdering his own father but assassinating three leaders that had ties to fire country. This sent his life in a downward spiral that would ultimately put him in prison for the next six years until a week ago when the prison went through some ‘new personnel” and caused a large mass escape procedure that sent a large majority of the inmates to freedom. This took three hours for Keiro to tell and Keiro had to get up once to use the rest to piss which was an additional five minutes.

Keiro stopped and watched Shooden’s face. It remained neutral during his explanation, not adding in any comment to Keiro’s story. He didn’t see a look of shock, a look of disgust or even a look of mild surprise. It kept that expression of interest, one that was analyzing not a story filled with conspiracy but rather a student studying over the notes of a professor’s lecture. Shooden had leaned forward a bit and turned his head to the side. “Did you kill those men and your father?” Shooden asked. Keiro was puzzled by the answer, not sure to answer it or not. Keiro just explained that he was accused of killing his father and the three leaders, didn’t he? He thought he did. It made him doubt for the moment but he assured himself that he didn’t. He shook his head.

Shooden nodded, satisfied with the answer. He leaned back in his chair “Still doesn’t explain why you were still in the forest. Are you training to exact revenge on those who killed your father and your uncle?”

Keiro looked down “I was taught that revenge is not the answer to everything for everything caught in revenge will continue a cycle of hatred and a flame that will never die.” He looked at his hands and balled it into a fist “When I was in prison, the first thing I abandon was that ideology. I wanted nothing else but to end the lives of those who ended my father’s life, my uncle Hitoshi’s life and cause nothing but pain for the pain they caused my family.” His fist seem to shake a little, not enough to notice but it was there, that hint of anger that is rarely seen in Keiro “I was eighteen when I was put in prison. I was sent there to life the rest of my days in the prison. If it wasn’t old age that would’ve killed me, it would’ve been my own self that would’ve taken anything sharp and slit my throat. Six years of my life was taken from me and six years of my life I wanted nothing more than be in death’s hands.

“When I escaped, my first thought was to get out and move. That’s all I wanted to do. Being in their was like being an animal stuck in a cage with no place to go, no one to talk to…it was a place where death was all you could think about and just hope that you could dream something pleasant that night.” He closed his eyes and lean back on the wall “I don’t want revenge now. I’ve realized that-it won’t bring back my dad and it won’t bring back my mom either. I’ll never be able to tell the girl I’ve cared for that I love her or ever experience the joys of being a shinobi in a village where I can protect my family. I won’t get those joys but I don’t want anyone else to experience the pain of someone’s greed and conspiracy. I’ve lived through that greed. They wanted me dead and here I am still alive and kicking….” He raised a hand and released out of his fist “They will suffer, that I made a promise to. It will not be for me though, I will not kill them for the sake of revenge but so that they will harm no other man, woman or child.” He finally looked at Shooden “I train because I want to get stronger so I won’t be weak the next time I face against those who hide in the shadow.”

“You-“ Shooden said. He waved a finger in the air and let out one of those short grunted chuckles “You are an interesting young man. To be so young and have such determination that is bigger than his self. How odd you are and yet…how powerful that can be.” He took a hold onto Keiro’s shoulder. His hands seem to engulf his entire shoulder and part of his neck too. “But from what I saw those nights ago, you were in no condition to fight on. You ran away because it was the smart thing to do.”

“I had no chance in fighting you. I was exhausted, both physically and mentally. I knew that f I was to fight you, I would’ve certainly lost. It was a matter of retreating for the sake of living not out of the sake of cowardice.”

“Smart choice boy. I would’ve done the same thing in your position. If I was you, I would aim to get stronger than you were before. I believe it is best that you start here.

Keiro was taken aback some with this proposal that was directed to him. To get out of prison and now stuck in a place where he would be under the watch and guidance of giant man, a giant and powerful shinobi nonetheless. Sounded like a fiction story gone awry or a dream that was a bit too good to be true. Or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, a terrible nightmare waiting to happen.

Day 1

It took Keiro two and a half weeks to recover from his injuries. In the first week that he was able to get out of bed without the slightest wince of agony in his leg, he began parts of his training and his rehab. Keiro asked as to where they were going as he was following the giant down a flight of stairs. His feet made echoing clicks and clacks down on the concrete steps. Were they going down into a large cavern? The only answer to that was yes because he heard far off in a distance part of the cavern the sounds of bats flapping their wings and singing that almost pin drop piercing sound they make when there is a large amount of them in one area. He looked up seeing if he could see any stalagmites or stalactites formations and he did in the far off corner when his eyes finally adjusted. Sometimes it was difficult to tell the different between the two but the one forming on the right hand side of him were stalagmites being from the stalactites. This was underneath a house? Keiro thought to find something like this and build a house over it may be stupid…but it’s so stupid it’s brilliant.

He was expecting Shooden to lead him outside in the rain, not a single moment beckon for Keiro to get off his feet and walk in the soft soil of rain country. He had an extreme distaste for being inside for long periods of time. Sleeping, eating, maybe relaxing for a day was the extent of his patience for staying indoors but for a week or more would be driving a nail into Keiro’s eye socket.

They reached the bottom of the cavern after counting fifty-two steps down into this cave. They stopped short of a long, wooden pole that stretched from the ground up to the ceiling of the cave. On the pole were three light switches. Keiro asked the question “So…we’re not going outside…” but the way he made it sound didn’t give the slightest hint of a question.

“Soon, young Keiro, you’ll be able to traverse the wet forest to your heart’s content. Now, however, is not what you’re ready for. You’ve certainly wanted that freedom to move but in order to be ready for the next step in your journey; one must treat it like a science.” He flips on a series of light switches. Large, overhead lights begin surge with electricity. The fluorescent lighting lit part of the cave up but not all of it. Whether for the respect of the creatures of that reside here or to save electricity, the entire cave had a dark, romantic feel that Keiro would read in mangas of a character that would hide in the shadows; the darkness was his ally and also his closest enemy.

The lights focused down on machines that Keiro recognized. He saw a large squat rack and a large bench, both ha a custom built bar that could hold more than just the limit of 405 pounds Keiro normally saw in gyms. Seeing the size of Shooden, this man could easily squat five times that amount. He wondered what his max was. He couldn’t be stronger than Shooden. That was certain. Shooden not only had experience and time but his size showed that he could lift without much of a hassle. Keiro walked over to the racks that contained all the free weights. They were also custom designed as well. There was the usual five, ten, twenty, twenty-five and so on type of weights that would stop at the limit of forty-five pounds. It stretched over to fifty pounds, sixty-five pounds towards 150 pound weights.

Off in the corner was a sparring ring estimating from Keiro’s viewpoint to be twenty-five feet long. In the center was a practice dummy that those who study the blind monk style uses. It stood at about six feet with wooden appendages that would circle around the entire dummy. It was meant for precision with ones hands and feet, aiming to not only perfect technique but to use ones techniques practically.

“This is amazing” Keiro said flabbergasted. “I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven really. Did I ask about going outside? Right now, fuck going outside. I wanna play with these toys.” He rubbed his hands with the eagerness of a man ready to dive into a chocolate cake.

Shooden laughed. “I suppose we can get started then.”

Second Month
Shooden held a stop watch watching the numbers on the clock move swiftly to the next. He looked over to Keiro who was holding onto his back the large custom built rack meant for squatting. He was surprised really, how he was able to lift this much weight in a short period of time. He looked over at the weights Keiro was holding. It was at 1000 pounds if not a bit more. By the next month or so, he’ll be able to lift maybe twice as much if he’s lucky. Knowing how well Keiro kept track with his nutrition and how well Shooden put in place rest days, he would make some considerable progress. Shooden knew powerful taijutsu masters who could barely muster up the sweat to hold onto weight like this. They were usually the ones who focus solely on technique and speed but sacrifice strength to obtain it. Keiro had a nice balance between those two. He was strong enough to make powerful blows to the body and he had the speed to continuously make it.

Shooden delivered a hard punch into Keiro’s abdomen. Keiro shouted and let out curses that even his mother would’ve covered her ears. He shook a little, his upper body that is, the bar shook with just minuscule wavering but Keiro kept hold onto the bar. He then began to squat down. He lowered himself into he was in the right position before grunting his way back up to the set position. Keiro let out a roar; a roar that didn’t signify pain but rather completion. He turned his head and spit onto the ground “Punch me again!”

“I don’t want to break you, kid. “ Shooden said “You already completed a set of eight on this. I think you’ve had”

“Did I stutter…?” Keiro said in the calmest voice he could muster “I said punch me. Do you hear me you fat, pig-intestine fat bastard! Punch me!”

Shooden found himself at a loss. This man was serious-seriously insane for asking Shooden to punch him again. Shooden composed himself and punched him square in the abdomen again. Keiro cursed out words again in a series that made Shooden almost bust to laugh. Keiro tilted his head back slightly and looked back up “Again…”

“Kid…”

“No, don’t “kid” me you pig bitch, I want you to punch me harder. That was a bitch punch. I bet if I bitched slapped your dead mom, you’d punch me harder.”

“That tactic doesn’t work on me. You’re silly to try it.”

“You’re right. I forgot I was talking someone who didn’t get a chance to get laid by that one chick who out right denied you.” Keiro looked up at Shooden. Shooden’s face had turned expressionless “Yeah, I read that part in your journal…” he hesitated, shifting so that his leg wouldn’t bend in on him and he wouldn’t fall over with almost half a ton of weight on his back. “I’m sorry, my mistake. Diary. You’re a bitch so I have to remember that you do things women do…” his mouth was cut out by Shooden’s large hand covering his face. With immense strength, he lifts both him and the weights off the ground. For a second, the squat rack itself was lifted off.

Keiro, you got yourself in quite a pickle…maybe I overdid with the word ‘bitch’. The weights fell off of Keiro’s back, hitting the ground with a boom that seems to shake the entire cave itself. Shooden didn’t hold back in throwing Keiro across the cave, he was sent flying into a large role of stalactites, turning the once beautifully formed creation into rubble.

“Had enough…” Shooden said, his voice almost a cold shot of air.

Keiro, now almost in a hysterics of laughter replied “Geez dude…you fucking throw like a champ.”

Keiro was holding himself upright with his hands on top of stalagmites, counting down the amount of ways one could cook a pile of fish. He could feel his arms tire, begging him to rest so the pain will stop. Pain is something that has to be understood an old voice said. It was the voice of his father, once proud to tell him the true meaning of pain and how to use pain to benefit one self. The technique he so frequently used was the ability to ignore pain. It was difficult for Keiro at first because he had always gotten himself hurt because he was trying too hard to focus away from the pain. It only seems to heighten his sense of pain. The one technique he taught himself was not to focus away the pain by ignoring it but distracting himself with something that he liked. It had to be something that he couldn’t go without, something that any man would be foolish to ignore. Food was the best choice, food was the one that supplied the body and brought comfort to Keiro’s soul. So far, it has been twenty minutes of him hand standing on the tips of the stalagmites and he had went step by step cooking in his head a good pile of fish and preparing them differently.

He first began by catching the fish, placing them in a wooden basket and going over to the house. He wasn’t scared of gutting the fish out, snapping its neck before taking out the offal out of the fish. His mind forged a knife that was sharpen, katana like, and began to slowly skin the fish scale by scale. He could feel his abdomen screaming now, the center wanting to balance itself back on earth only to be denied by willpower. The abdomen had to be ignored at this point and his body had to realize the next level in pain.

The fish had to be grilled today. A nice smoky taste he was feeling. What type of seasonings did he want to place on the fish? A nice salt and pepper mixture, simple and straight to the point. Maybe a bit of lemon to spritz it up just a bit? A little zing to add to the hickory smoke taste of the fish being placed on the grill (his mind was slowly fading back to reality where he saw the palm of his hands begin to bleed. The blood trickle down the rocks and slowly made its way down to the cave floor. It was hurting; oh it was hurting all right. Pain was a simple feeling however and it would simply move itself once again in a few short seconds. As predicted, the pain disappeared).