The Ghosts of Goathland Station

Individual Skills Training continued. Every evening after dinner Evan continued to practice wandless and parcel magic for an hour. (He had taken to keeping three pebbles in his pocket. Every time he was alone, he would hold the pebbles in his hand and would levitate them about an inch above his palm, circulating them around each other.) All the exercises he performed wandlessly he repeated with parsel magic. He also continued practicing Haragei for a half hour every night. He had started off in small steps (back when he was training for the PJFT) - He would get into a deep horse stance and focus on breathing using his stomach. Taking deep breaths and exhaling, thinking of the movement of air in and out. He then paired that with slow and methodical punching, trying to keep relaxed during the arm movements, but putting all the energy into the end of the punch. (Sometimes he tried doing this while making two pebbles circle his feet, low to the ground where nobody would see them.) After a while he could feel and sense his internal energy moving from his core, up into and through his arms and out of his fists. Little by little he added to his "meditative practice" to include blocks, reverse punches, redirection, and kicks."

"In the beginning he found it was really difficult maintaining a clear mind as he added the arm movements because he had to think of the proper movement, however as he progressed and he developed his muscle memory, he found himself thinking less and less. The same thing happened when he added the Haragei. As he improved, he increased his practice time, trying to sense out those nearby and what they were doing. Now he could sense his team mates and knew where each one was. His Sensei had told him that with enough practice, he might reach the ultimate zone where he could sense danger and other things in the immediate future. So, he kept practicing. He pushed his senses more and more each evening. Each time he practiced, he was able to sense his teammates presence more quickly and more clearly. Before and after each practice, he would spend 15 minutes practicing Mu-Shin. Mu-shin is a meditative practice which means the "mind without a mind". In essence, it means to let go of consciously directed mechanical thinking. By doing so, one is "in the moment".

The mind senses what is, and nothing else. Together with Haragei, this can be a most important skill. With no cluttering thoughts, the mind is able to react more quickly to the sensory input from Haragei. His Sensei told him that when one truly masters mu-shin the mind is like a mirror – there are no preconceived values, judgment, hopes, and fears; everything just is; action and reaction - with nothing cluttering the space in between; there is no need for thought, just action and reaction. Little did he know this was also the basis of Occlumency.

November 23 – they were in the third week of Individual Skills Training. Evan woke up again after a vivid dream. He immediately wrote down what he remembered, got dressed and set off to find his On-Duty Command Sergeant. It was 0500. The Sergeant wouldn't wake the Commander so, after Revelry, Evan walked up to the Officer's table at breakfast, saluted the Commander and then handed him a note with two words and a time – Goathland Station, 2300. The Commander nodded to Evan and told him to see him in his office after breakfast. When he got there, the Commander and the Head of the Royal Marines Readiness Unit (RMRU), General Black were waiting for him.

Since early morning, Evan had worked on a storyline to explain the planning session he saw in his dreams that night, so he was ready now to relay that information. "Good morning, Commander, General." He began. "Your note mentioned Goathland Station and 2300, Midshipman. Care to provide more detail?" asked the Commander. "Yes, sir. As I mentioned last time we talked, I sometimes get these sharp headaches accompanied by flashes, for the lack of a better word. Early this morning, I had another….'episode'. One of the flashes was of the Goathland Train Station – it had a sign post stating as such.

It was nighttime, and the street lamps were lit. A clock showed the time as 11:00 – I assume it meant pm as it was nighttime. I saw flashes of several buildings: the Goathland Hut, the Inn on the Moor Hotel, Goathland Village Hall, and the Fairhaven Country Guest House. In these flashes, the buildings were engulfed in flames and the people couldn't get out. I do not know if these are the only targets, just the ones I saw" he explained. "Goathland Station?" asked General Black, while looking at a map of the UK. "Yes, Sir" Evan responded. "That'ssss innn….. North Yorkshire Moors area, in Whitby, approximately 340 miles to the northeast. Nearest support base is Leeds" the General commented while looking at the wall map of the United Kingdom.

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