Chapter 8.1
The hands, gripping them firmly, easily lifted them him into the air and slowly descended back into the earth. Katashi and Jaala looked at each other. To their credit, neither one of them saw outright fear on the others face, though they both realized their situation had grown critical. There were but few seconds left to act. Sensing that to struggle was futile, the strength of this elemental far exceeded their own and they had not the means at hand to change this at this moment, neither one of them made any significant attempt to do so.
“My friend,” Jaala said with a calm that Katashi found most impressive, “I am open to any suggestions you may have, but please do not take overmuch time to consider as it appears we have little remaining before we are pulled under the earth and our team in this incarnation is drawn to a close.” The calmness Jaala portrayed did nothing to hide the nervousness he was feeling.
Katashi had begun to experience time in slow motion, where everything began to stretch out. The seconds they had remaining were lengthening into minutes and longer. This happened, he sensed, as he began to calm himself. He looked at Jaala, listened to his question, and saw that while he was not struggling he was tense, clearly nervous at their impending demise, and that after he had been sure they would succeed with his gift. Katashi took a deep breath, hard with the grip of the elemental, and whispered to Jaala.
“Wu Wei.” It was one of their earliest teachings, and one that was stressed and built upon as their training progressed. A literal translation would be to act without acting. A more clear definition would be effortless action. Wu wei was often taught as being associated with water and its yielding nature. Although water is soft and weak, it has the capacity to erode even solid stone and move mountains. Water is without will, though it may be understood to be opposing any solid material that can be broken into pieces.
Jaala looked at Katashi and instantly understood and replied after taking a deep breath and calming himself, “I am a drop of water.”
“I move the mountains.” Katashi finished. It was the first verse in one of the sacred texts, and one that was well known to both of them.
They both quit all forms of resistance, easily entering a state that was meditative, beyond meditative even and time slowed for them both to the point all movement stopped though still the hands gripped them firmly. This continued for some time each staring at the other calmly. Again it was Katashi who spoke first.
“Always yielding downward . . .” he whispered.
Jaala looked at him and nodded, “I find my my own level in the dark valley.”
It was the next line of the holy writ and they both knew what it meant, what it implied, and what they needed to do. Even as they continued to offer no resistance they also willed themselves to acquiesce to the powerful earth elemental. In a rush, they felt themselves dropping towards the earth. If they would have offered the least resistance there is no doubt they would have been swallowed up and killed. They did not though and as their feet touched the ground the hands, the earth that was gripping them, simply slid back into the earth.
They looked at each other, at first questioningly and then smiling. This was interrupted when the Elemental, it’s voice at any rate, rumbled from the earth just in front of them, “It is good. You may pass on to the next test.”
Jaala looked at Katashi, walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder as he looked into his eyes. “Very well done my brother.” The thanks was sincere and heartfelt.
Katashi for his part simply nodded in acknowledgement. He had acted in the moment with far more calm than he thought he possessed. It was the situation that brought it out of him. He needed to ponder this much before he replied so he pushed it to the back of his mind and smiled, “Let us move from this spot Jaala lest the earth elemental decides to test us again. I have the feeling what lies ahead will not be as easy as that which we have already endured.”
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