Lightning Struck

Moving Water

"Water is the purest of the elements and is associated with life. All living things need water, and even when it is destructive, new life appears." Zen explained to Billie, "Water is an easy element to work with. The reason I am teaching you this is because you need to know how to use your powers, especially if Death attacks you." Billie gulped. An encounter with Death didn't sound like fun to him. "Sometimes water and air work together, creating storms and other things. After you learn air, you will be able to use them together.

"The first thing I am going to teach you is very basic," Zen continued, "You are going to learn how to move water so that it flows." Zen whispered something and they were suddenly in a field, next to a river.

Billie felt a nice nighttime breeze blow across his face. The river was a small one and there were at a part that looked pretty calm.

"I want you to make stream of water move over to that tree," Zen pointed to a lone yew, "It doesn't have to be big, just steady. In order to do that, you need to move your arms and hands, mimicking the motion of flowing water." Zen demonstrated. "It needs to be smooth and fluid, otherwise, like your motions, your current will be choppy. Breathe in when you move your arms inward and breathe out when they move outward. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yeah," Billie replied.
"Just concentrate on a part of the river, not the whole thing," Zen told him.

Billie took a deep breathe then started to move his arms awkwardly. He felt very conscious that Zen was watching. The water was as choppy as his motions and was dropping, just like she said it would be. He felt his face turning red in embarrassment.

"Just relax and remember to move your arms smoothly. Don't worry about how you look. We're the only ones here," Zen said.

Billie was still for a moment, trying to relax. He breathed slowly in and out before trying to match his arm movements to the tempo. Slowly and steadily some water floated out of the river and into the air, heading towards the yew. For a second Billie paused and his arm movements were choppy and the stream started to fall, but then he recollected himself and it continued towards the tree. When it hovered over it, he let it drop.

"Good, just remember to always use smooth motions when directing water," Zen said, "This time try to hold up two different streams at once and move them to the yew tree."

Billie used one arm to lift up some water and held it there. He used the other to do the same with other water. When he had them in the air, he kept a big enough distance between his arms so that the two streams didn't touch. This time he had to take it slower in order to keep them separate. It took nearly twice as long to get them over to the tree.

"I think you've mastered that, so I'll teach you something else. Now you'll learn how to make a focused jet stream of water. Stand up straight with your feet even with your shoulders. Tuck your elbows to your sides and let the palms of your hands face upward. Extend them outward until they are straight before lifting them and bringing them back in. Curve your hands inward towards your face and then push them away, stepping forward with your left foot as far as you can. Hold that until you want to stop. Then, close your hands into fists and step back, letting your arms drop down to your sides." Zen showed him slowly. "Now you try, slowly."

Billie planted his feet apart and got into the starting position. He moved his arms outward and then brought them back in, shaking a bit. He saw some of the river's water rise and it shook like him. He corrected his breathing and continued, curving them in like he was swimming. Then he pushed out, taking a big step. He almost fell from stepping too far. The water was a stream of water, but not very focused since it wasn't going in a straight line.

"You don't need to step quite so far." Zen pointed out.
Billie closed his fists and went but his foot back along with his arms.
"It takes 600 times repeating something in order for it to become second nature," Zen said.
"But I don't have enough time to do it that many times tonight, do I?" Billie asked.
"No, but that means you should practice whenever you can. Moving water and focusing water are different. Moving water isn't that hard, but focusing it requires practice. Do it again."
Billie did it again, a little less shakily and he didn't take too big of a step this time. On his third try, he got it down perfectly.

"Now do it faster," Zen said.
So Billie did until he could do it easily. By the time Zen brought them both back to the clouds, he could easily do it at a regular pace.
"We have done enough for tonight," Zen spoke, "Remember to practice and be careful. Death could do anything to try and kill you."

Billie said thanks to her and they said good-bye.
He slept peacefully for the rest of the night. At least until he woke up to a loud noise. The smoke alarm was going off.