"It's my right, you old coot!" Face red in aggravation, Robert struggled to keep up with his ancient guide. To his knowledge no more than a second had passed between Roshi's half-assed attempt at hypnotising him and the sudden stricken expression that had appeared on his wrinkled face. It had lasted for only a split-second, then a poker face unlike any Robert had seen before had closed over him. From that point he had been striding forwards, evading Robert's increasingly frantic questions.

"Right, s'might son. I went in, I poked around, I came back with an answer."

"You went tinkering inside my head and saw something."

"I saw a direction, mind the branches.."

The aforementioned branches continued to lash against his plump arms but compared to being blown up or shot at it was a small evil. They had been trekking – and it really did seem like trekking compared to the relatively relaxed stroll they had been on before - for ten minutes straight and to Robert the whole thing seemed like some ridiculous attempt to avoid talking. He never went as deep into the forest as they were now, there were no memories to draw on.

"You know that's not what I meant!"

The old man disappeared for a moment, bare feet skidding down a leaf padded slope. The trees were thick in every direction, meaning that little-to-no actual bushes blocked their path but with the amount of branches intertwining around them it was hard to know the difference. The main problem wasn't that he was missing a shirt, though an extra one would have been much appreciated. The weather was warm and the tree's cut out all breezes, making him feel uncomfortably warm rather than vice-versa. The main problem was that he was wearing sandals which – while affective on the beach – were a source of torment in the forest. He was giving real consideration to just dumping them and-

"Then dump 'em already and stop your whining."

Robert froze for a moment, stunned. The old man really could read minds.

"I don't appreciate you just diving into my head when you feel like it!"

Sighing remorsefully, he kicked them off, stamping through the pain just to spite his tormenter.. though how exactly it might upset Roshi was beyond Robert's failing logic.

"It worked, didn't it?"

Sliding down the slope, both hands digging troughs in the undergrowth as he leaned back to keep his footing, Robert reflected that he hadn't seen any kind of proof so far. They had been walking for hours upon hours before Roshi had even considered his 'party trick.' By this time, according to his fuzzy grasp of military policy, they would probably be cordoning off the entire area, getting ready to sweep for them. And when they were found some of the strongest warriors in Helion, along with a couple extremely expensive mercs, would appear and decimate everything within a square mile of them.

Full of their doom, Robert brushed his hands dry and followed Roshi's voice past the next row of trees.. into the open.

The tree's fell back to reveal a gradual slope of land that led down to a sort of beach, pebbles and jet black stones spread around the lip of a natural bowl – a lake of pristine clear water which, after half a day of walking in sweltering heat, practically begged to be swam in.. and before it all an awe inspiring sight. The old, and presumably dignified, man was standing with one hand behind his back and the other giving the 'V' for victory, a wide grin plastered on his face.

The lake could have captured a painter, held a poet for days, but Robert was unimpressed. He was insulted that Roshi thought he could be tricked so easily.

"You lucked out. You didn't find anything at all in my mind, did you?"

To the old mans credit his grin barely flickered.

"Not a thing, guess I ain't as smart as I thought."

"Pays not to underestimate me."

"Believe me, my boy – I know. Now, shall we begin?"

Just like before, they started with that odd mix of dance and aerobics. It was easier than before, some of the moves the second time put pressure on limbs he preferred not to even think of but he stumbled through it all. Robert was just beginning to get into the rhythm of it when Roshi relaxed and began stepping backwards towards the lake.

"What we need is to get out the country but since I'd like to do it with you alive and along for the ride, you're gonna have to learn a few things and learn them quicker than usual. So here's hoping that I'm a better teacher and you're a better student than either of us think."

With every word his wrinkled, blue veined feet took step after step backwards towards the crystal clear lake. From the word 'so' his feet touched the water and continued to move backwards; the amazing part was that from that word they did not continue downwards. Smiling, Roshi walked on water...

"Now most people would say you'd need to be a big martial artist to be able to get this quickly, but I don't. All you have to know is how to get your head around the theory and you're set. Martial Arts is where you go afterwards, get the workings of your own energy straight and you'll be able to go further and farther than some of the so-called experts."

"Are you telling me that by the end of today I'll be able to fly and shoot energy beams?"

"No, son, it's not that easy. But after today's session you'll have a better idea. And after the next one you'll have an even better idea than that. And that's how it'll go."

"When do I learn to walk on water?"

"Now."

In one swift movement Roshi kneeled down and let himself fall backwards against the surface of the lake, the water rippled but nothing more than that. Then he was crouched in the lotus position and, were it not for the glaring sunglasses, might have looked quite wise. Robert had a more difficult time; his limbs weren't trained through years of practice to do just what he told them to. Still the practice they had gone through meant that he was at least slightly more loose in his movements and had little trouble coming into something close to the old mans position – except on the grass that lay just beyond the beach.

Later Robert was struck by the fact that he couldn't remember anything Roshi actually said in that part of the training. His voice dropped into a sort of hoarse lulling and it really was an extremely warm day, Robert found his head nodding less because of what the old man said and more because he simply couldn't keep it up. It wasn't any kind of meditation he had ever heard of and yet it cleared his mind just as quickly, within minutes all that mattered was the breeze washing against his face.

"Do you hear me, Robert?"

The old man's voice was soft, inconsequential.

"Yes.."

"Can you feel the energy I spoke of, breaking against your spirit from me, flowing from the spirit that is you?"

Everything seemed to make sense in the state he was in. His eyes may have been closed or open, it made no difference. He saw nothing but felt everything. It wasn't just the wind that was pushing against him, it was the slow, steady energy of the old man. The deep, blue-green of a dark sea – mysterious, bottomless. And his own energy leaking out from his skin in tiny, almost invisible wisps of white.

And more, the golden yellow of trees absorbing light and water, creating life. The dark purples of the rodents the scurried between the trees, the flash of red that was a predator on the hunt, the –

"And now, control that energy. Do you hear me, Robert? Lift the energy up and let it carry you with it. Let it take on your weight."

Robert did so to the best of his ability and did feel a tiny, almost insignificant change.

"Now stand up and get over here, Robby. Time to do some push ups."

Some amount of hours later, Robert was never sure how many as his watch had been stripped away while being yanked out of the car. Still the sun had been hanging over his head and instead it was hovering in the west – part of it sinking into the river that the lake fed off.

He was half-way through a push up, staring down at the stony bottom of the lake, staring down at his rippling reflection, staring down at his stomach which was – even at the full stretch of his arms – sinking beneath the water of the lake. He was doing push-ups on the surface of the lake.

From somewhere beside him he heard Roshi begin to laugh.

And then his accursed mind, which never seemed to want to shut up, told him very bluntly that what he was doing just wasn't possible. The water couldn't hold his weight up.

So he immediately dropped into the water.

On the plus side it was every bit as cool and refreshing as he had hoped, though the shock did take his breath away. Robert broke the surface a second later, water churning as he flailed, then remembered himself and started paddling back to shore. He pulled himself up until his top half was leaning against the rocks, then sank against the pebbles with a gasp and turned a malevolent eye on his teacher who was laughing his ass off.

"You bastard, you old wrinkled bastard! You.. I.."

Robert trailed off and stared at the little waves that were lapping up against the ground he was leaning against, watched as a breeze sent ripples across the surface.

"I was doing it, wasn't I? I was on the water but not going through.. how did I..?

"Once you take on your full weight with your energy, which most people should be able to do, you're pretty much as light as air. You can jump higher than any of these trees and even water will support your weight. Flying is just the next step, beats me why I didn't come to it sooner. Half of my training in the old days was ways of tricking people into realising the first fact and even I took a while to get the second."

Listening with half an ear, Robert drew himself back up onto his feet and tried to remember the feeling. The words were lost to him but the feeling Roshi had led him to, the feeling of every bit of energy rushing against him, reminding him that he was alive – that was still there. Once he was sure that he had that feeling centred in his mind, it was only a matter of closing eyes and taking a step.. and then another.

The soft sound of water lapping against the beach was all he heard, even as he started to run there was only a gentle splash or two. Wiry hands caught him and suddenly he as on an ice-skating rink, gliding around and around until he fell still.

"I don't know how, but you've got it, my boy."

His eyes opened, first to see Roshi, then to look around at the water surrounding them. The river, painted gold by the setting sun, was a highway now. An escape route.

"I had a good teacher.."

"I'm a few centuries too old for flattery," the old man grinned and smacked him on the back, never minding the half-yelp as he scored a patch of sunburn, "but thanks anyway.

"We're going to follow this river as far as it'll take us, you'll find yourself feeling tired just from holding yourself up but just keep going as far as you can. At this stage you can only get stronger."

Pushing off from him, Roshi back-peddled across the cool surface until he was standing near the actual centre of the lake, then twirled about and waved for Robert to join him. The two faced the river that lay before them, Roshi smiling gently while Robert was practically beaming. He could rationalise it all he want – a high off the energy, a childish enjoyment of walking on water. He felt great.

"Race you, old man."

Roshi glanced sidelong at him, grinned and nodded.

Then he was gone, skinny legs pumping across the water fast enough to leave a wake. Wasting no time, Robert leant forward and forced his legs into action, gliding weightless across the smooth water.

That, he realised, was what was making him smile so much.

For the first time in his life he felt weightless.

Anyway..

His grin turned competitive and he cranked himself up a gear, ready to see what he could achieve without being tied down. The water parted around his feet and, leaving droplets hanging in mid-air, Robert ran for the sun.

"That's an affirmative, both subjects have been eyeballed."

Stepping out from amongst the trees, the dark green and brown of his body-suit near invisible in the shadows, the soldier reached a hand up to adjust the settings on his scanner. The dark green lens blurred with numbers as its sight zoomed in to capture both fugitives as they made their run.

"Confirmed, Robert King does appear to be showing a significant increase in energy manipulating."

As a scout he was adept at suppressing his energy to near non-existent levels, in modern warfare it was necessary in all sneaking missions. His orders were to follow them until the entirety of the HTF could rendezvous for a full on assault. His superiors made them out to be armed and dangerous, to be destroyed and then forgotten. However he was a career soldier and being such made a mental note of the walking on water technique; it was a little more elegant and a damn sight more useful on a sneaking mission than hiding your energy completely and roughing it.

"Moving into pursuit.."

Hands held out from his sides, Robert span like a ballerina and kicked off from the water – rising twirling through the air. He shot up twenty feet, head coming level with the tips of the trees that leaned down across the riverbanks, then dropped back laughing. His balance was almost lost as he touched down on the water but he was getting the hang of it. The energy concept just seemed right, no wonder even his brother had grasped it.

"Steady son," the old man cackled as he circled him then shot forwards, hands folded behind his back like an old pro, "just get the flow. And remember your breathing, keep bringing new energy in or you'll go kerplunk again."

Robert nodded, only listening with half an ear. He hadn't lived the world's most boring life – or so he liked to think – and yet this was definitely the most incredible experience he could bring to mind. The last two days had been the most surreal of his life and yet everything felt so right..

"You're fallin' behind, son!"

Except it wasn't.

They were had been found. Someone was behind them; others were coming from the north and the south. West, their escape route, was blocked off. They were trapped.

Not wasting time second guessing his intuitions - when actually gliding on water anything seems possible – Robert closed in on the old man and whispered frantically while trying to appear nonchalant. Roshi proved the better actor, nodding with so little interest that he could only conclude that the old man-

"- knew all along," Robert hissed through a frozen smile, "You old fool! Why didn't you tell me!"

"Thought I'd see how long it took you to figure it out.."

"But we're trapped!"

"Never such a thing, we are heading towards your next lesson."

"And if we get shot before we get there!"

Roshi sighed despairingly then eased one foot deeper into the water to slow his progression. The old man span easily on the waves until he was back-pedalling against Robert's back.

"Have it your way, son. From this point we go fast."

"Excuse me, you're going to push? That's your great solution? We'd have to fly faster than a jet!"

"Near abouts, now brace yerself. It could get rough."

Rolling his eyes, Robert continued to move forwards with the old man leaning against his back. What Roshi did was lost to him, all he could here was the strange mantra he went through.

"Ka.. Me.."

And the crackle of energy, accompanied by the deep, powerful humming of a wakened turbine.

"Ha Me.."

As the noise grew in volume, hairs beginning to prickle along his arms and down his neck, Robert felt the energy pouring off the old man. No longer relaxed, it was an inferno of spiritual light growing brighter and brighter. The shadow on that light was caused by the increasingly obvious presence of strangers – the Helion Task Force as likely as nought – closing in on their location. If he squinted his eyes Robert could just see two figures hiding in the light of the dying sun, waiting to take both him and the old man down.

Whatever you have planned do it now, old man. Do it before we die-

"HA!"

Everything in front of him blurred.

The trees on the side of the rivers, the figures that had been so far ahead of them moments before, the reflections on the water. His back was nothing but an exclamation of pain as the body of the old man cracked against it, pressure mounting as they sped up. And yet none of that mattered for all Robert could consider was the speed he was travelling and the amount of things that could go wrong.

On both sides of his body were sprays of water kicked up by his feet, which were already turning numb. The river twisted easily, so gently that they barely seemed like twists at all, and yet it was all Robert could do to twist and turn to remain in the centre. The presences that had been so important in the seconds before Roshi's.. whatever he had done.. were all flaring up in the background, trying desperately to make up for lost ground. The figures that had been haloed in gold had kept up for a split-second, and then had fallen back with the rest.

"Roshi!" The wind tore his voice away; he couldn't tell if the old man could hear him, "Roshi! What the hell are we doing!"

"Training," came a minute reply, almost impossible to make out. "The second part of your training.."

"I can't keep it up!"

And then the pressure died away, Roshi was suddenly spinning into view with a big grin on his face. The two ran on the excess momentum then came back to their original speed, the landscape no longer blurring in such a disconcerting way.

"Gotta be able to take high speeds when you're flying, that's a big part of it. Did well though, 'm proud of you, my boy!"

If that meant anything to him – and Robert sincerely didn't want it to, he still had reasons to be angry at the old coot – he didn't let it show. Instead he cast an arm backwards, back to the botched ambush.

"They'll catch up with us eventually, all you did was surprise them. Once the river ends and they speed up, we're sunk."

"Not to worry, when the river ends we hitch a ride. Just gotta have a little faith."

Robert nodded absent-mindedly, one hand rubbing sweat away from his eyes as he stared at the sunset.

"Any idea when that happens?"

"About thirty seconds, when we go over the waterfall.."

The two sailed on in silence.

"What!"

Roshi steered closer to his supposed student and caught one flabby arm, holding it fast. Robert barely noticed as his eyes were trained on the river ahead. What the sunset had managed to hide was the distinctive lack of horizon, no more than forty feet away the river ended in a very definite manner.

"Now you listen here, son, and listen good." For once Roshi was playing serious, his face ancient in its frown, "I'm gonna have to ask you to drop whatever issue you have with your brother and drop it fast, otherwise you're dead."

The young man turned and stared, mouth wide open, at the old man and as such missed the first, breathtaking view of the falls. A valley of gold was spread out before them, the beginnings of the Helion plains on which his home was placed. Robert had gazed up at the waterfall in wonder as a child, hoping one day that he would see it from the top. The old man span like a top, lifting Robert up and out over the thin air, then caught one last tree branch and held it in the crook of his free arm.

"Drop it or I'll drop you, are we understood?"

Robert choked on the spray of water that was pounding against him, then forcibly pulled himself up until his head was above the worst of it. From that position, ever aware of his feet dangling over the edge, he looked up at his ancient companion.

"What are you talking about! What 'issue'!"

"You hate your brother and that hate is festering inside of you!"

"Whose business is that but mine!" Robert snapped back, in spite of the suicidal situation it put him in.

"No ones," Roshi yelled back, looking deeply stricken. "But if you can't let that go then it'll take control of you. And if you can't let go of that then I can't take you any further, I won't teach any murderers – only heroes."

"I'm not a hero! I'm just a person and I hate that bastard more than anything!"

"I know, I do. But ask yourself this, Robby. Robert. Do you hate him with all your life? Do you hate him enough to die for it, die at the beginning of it all when it means nothing?"

The two stared at each other, water rushing in their ears, troops rushing towards their position.

Johnny wasn't the epitome of evil, just low grade nasty. He had done some awful things and was a pretty awful person.. but what did that really matter. For once in his life Robert wasn't living purely because – because he had no alternative that didn't terrify him. For once he wasn't the boring one, the one no one would remember or care about. And, in the position he was in, surely he could let go of just a little of the bile that he had been storing up.

And besides, part of him really did want to see how far this crazy old man could get.

The old man in question grinned, as if the answer were printed on Robert's face, and pulled him up to eye level as if it were nothing. All to whisper one piece of advice.

"That's it?" asked Robert, speaking incredulously but believing him all the same.

Roshi nodded and, with a flash of a beaming smile, let go of the branch.

The two parted in free-fall, Roshi righting himself so that he appeared to be standing on mid-air even as he fell while Robert spread his arms and legs out and felt the air rushing past his naked stomach. To his right, indistinct in the last glow of the day, the old man put two fingers to his lips and produced a piercing whistle.. and then Robert looked away. He knew Roshi would be alright, he had to be concerned with himself.

Far below wasn't quite so far at that point, the basin of water below rushing up to meet him, promising to be just as hard as any form of concrete, just as swift to destroy the remainder of his life. A different man would have accepted that fate, but Robert wasn't through with things quite then.

So he drew a deep breath and yelled long and strong, his voice echoing around him.

"Flying Nimbus!"

And was left hanging there, the ground still getting closer, his end still fast approaching. There was nothing, no magical object, no instant cure to the sudden death he expected. He had been a fool to trust the old man, a fool to believe in fairy tales and magical solutions to..

There was a yellow cloud drawing level with him and, though there were no eyes with which it could possibly do so, Robert had the incredible sense of being assessed. All over the cheery, mysteriously organic sound of some kind of engine.

"I don't forgive him.." Robert murmured, all but sure that the wind was carrying his words away far too quickly to be heard, "but I don't want to kill him. Is that okay?"

The two sank towards the lake, rushing deep into the mist the waterfall threw up, moisture clouding both of them for an instant – then they were out together. Robert lying spread eagled across the back of the cloud of yellow smoke as it chugged its way upwards amongst the rainbows.

He looked up in time to see Roshi's entrance, standing poised on what looked like a fiercely spinning turtle shell that soared through the air beside Nimbus. The old man gave another 'V' sign and cackled,

"Magic, my boy! Don't tell me you don't know about magic."

Robert just rolled over and laughed, and laughed and laughed and laughed with tears rolling down his cheeks and dancing in the slipstream they left behind them. As he bid his home goodbye, flying into sunset.

His journey had begun.