Asherah was sitting on the precipice of a cliff, overlooking the crystal blue waters of the ocean. As a small wave smashed upon the cliff, water and mist sprayed up its wall, as did a small brownish ball. While the ball flew in the midst of the ocean spray, it was guided directly to her hand. The ball was then thrown to the sky, interspersed with stark white spires topped with hats of green. The ball fell into the guiding hands of the sea, and a wave again splashed into the walls of the cliff, and the ball flew directly to her open palms.

While this game of catch between Asherah and the sea continued, her cute face of a child no older than 11 began to harden. When the waves dutifully returned the ball to her, she let it fall and bounce away. As Asherah began to stand, bringing her hands up to the sky, the winds began to rush- the waves began to grow- the mists began to rise- *gasp* -and the world returned to normal.

The small form atop the cliff crumpled slightly, but quickly straitened, as though hiding their brief loss of composure. As she turns around to pick up the ball, the white spires transform into a great range of forested limestone peaks with a wide blue river cutting them apart. When she bends down, the brown path that weaves between the lush green grass becomes apparent. Once she stands up to her full height of 4’3, a small brownish-black speck appears in the distance.

***

I began to walk back to the village after my somewhat fruitful session of practice. The process of familiarising myself with the ocean went mostly well, though even after nearly an hour of sitting there assimilating myself with the ocean I only managed a second of control. I suppose this is why Elder Li keeps saying: Practice allows for power, but power allows practice to bloom.

‘Probably shouldn’t mention that I spent the hour playing catch with the ocean rather than meditating like some old codger’ I thought to myself, pouting a little bit.

I looked off into the distance, my eyes following the river from the mountains to the sea to catch sight of the village, ‘Handy trick that, thanks Elder Li.’ The speck still looked like a house fly so I probably had another half-hour of walking *Uhh* but I might be able to convince Elder Li to let me have some beef since I managed to take control of the ocean!

I began to skip along, my trusty ba- *cough* practice aid bouncing along with me, only needing a few minor gusts of the sea wind to keep it aloft. I glanced back up to the mountains and began to examine them, knowing I didn’t really need to watch the path after walking it so many times. The stark white peaks towered over the surrounding landscape, they stood strong like an elder- holding many insights and curiosities within their worn yet sturdy exterior. Their age is what defines them, yet it is what has made the stunning, time-sculpted mountains, blanketed in verdant old-growth forests, into the region-defining landmark that they are. I began to wonder whether I could convince Cy or Wil to go cave hunting again… ‘Maybe hot springs after sport… Well, I’ll find out when I get back.’ I concluded resolutely.

I glanced back at the ocean, between the spires wearing their fashionable green hats, and into the distance where the deep blue water of the true ocean lies. I stared down the ocean and swore to myself yet again that: “one day, when I can truly control the ocean like a goddess from above, I will sail the seas, conquer the unconquerable, and sail into uncharted water to discover lands never before seen! I shall be like the great cultivators of old and uncover lost treasures and claim ancient inheritan- wait, why would there be lost treasure and ancient inheritances on land that was undiscovered… But Ye-Mei said that nobody is strong enough to cross the oceans… But Uncle Achal always tells those stories of lost treasures over the ocean… I’ll ask Elder Li, he’ll know for sure.” I thought as I turned back and continued to the village.

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***

(???)

I sat at my desk, overlooking the classroom, and was slightly unsure what to do. Of the thirteen children meant to be here for evening classes, I had only twelve, which would not be overly troubling, if not even a reason to be a tad excited, if not for the one who was missing.

Asherah was a troubling child at the orphanage, she was talented for her age, picked up most of the material with relative ease, and was excited… about everything, and had a tendency to get side-tracked. *huhhh*

“Cyrus, Wilbur, do either of you know where Asherah is right now?” I asked in the feint hope that she had suddenly decided that the toys in her room were interesting today.

A youth near the front stood up to a height of nearly 5 feet and proclaimed “I know where she went, Elder Li” in a voice that sounded confident, but could easily be seen as hoping that that would be enough. Alas, it likely wouldn’t.

“And where might that be Wilbur,” I asked in a calm tone.

“She said she was going to the cliffs by the ocean” Wilbur replied in the same tone as before.

“She left just after she got lunch” piped in a boy to the left of Wilbur.

“Thank you, Cyrus, that was going to be my next question,” I said whilst motioning to Wilbur that he can sit back down. I pondered the new information, lunch was nearly 3 hours ago now, it should only take her 30-40 mins to get there or come back, so she could have spent more than an hour there before coming back and still made it back with time to spare before class started.

I better not have to send a search party out for that little rascal again, twice was more than enough…

***

(Asherah)

While floating in the pool of water, taking a little break to cool off, I regarded the beam of light coming from the hole way up in the ceiling and thought back to how I’d gotten myself here…

I’d been walking down the path back to the village, the village was actually visible as more than a speck now, it was a collection of specks now- Yay, and I started to get bored, naturally. The game of keeping the ball bouncing using the wind had gotten dull after the long journey and so I decided to switch things up. I thought it would be fun to try to do the ocean game with the wind. However, after a few tries I quickly realized that the wind was a bit less solid than water, plus a significant lack in momentum.

Fortunately, the certified genius I am, I am sure when I overheard Elder Li talking to Aunt Ye-Mei about me he said I was smart, so totally certified… They were also talking about this thing about like the plan and the other villages and the Figh- no focus on what got me here… uhh right genius- so I came up with the wonderful idea of re-alining my dao to something more earth aligned so I could make little rock walls to bounce the ball against. See, little genius I am, I remembered when Elder Li was doing his whole lecture thing about how as children it's pretty much impossible for us to progress on the Comprehension of the dao, or something, so we can switch it up and stuff!

Anyway, so I started thinking about what Wil said helped him get access to his Earth whenever he lost it… Uhh… It was something like “blah blah sturdy, blah blah blah stones to make a wall, blah forge blah something foundation…” Ehh, who needs help, I’m like super smart, I got this… probably.

After 5ish minutes of pondering stones and mountains, I was getting some pebbles floating, though I still wasn’t able to lift the earth or anything… but I figured I’d muscle through it. So I got into a horse stance, tossed the ball, tensed all the muscles in my body- and thought WALL!- and immediately coughed some blood. I also, in that second, saw a small chunk of earth fly up, hit my ball, and send it flying. I naturally chased after it, up a hill, down a hill, up the next hill, down a hil- and fell into a sinkhole nearly 50 ft deep with a pool at the bottom.

So yeah, I also need to climb a 50ft wall to get back to the village, and find a way to get my ball out too. I’ve come too far to give up on it now!