The monastery was much quieter without Kai. Jay dutifully kept up his exercise plan, wanting to prove he was capable of functioning without his friends babying him all the time. It wasn't as much fun doing it on his own, he was more likely to get stuck in his head, remembering times they had all trained together, remembering times he had spared with Nya.

The rest of his days were dull and long. Lloyd was right, the monastery didn't feel like home right now. He thought about leaving too, sailing the seas, searching for Nya, even staying at the lighthouse for a bit, but he knew what the team would think of him going off on his own with his shiny new medical condition. And honestly the thought of being stuck at the lighthouse during a thunderstorm asthma episode sent shivers down his spine. 'We start small.' He remembered Kai saying at the start of their training. He couldn't go to the lighthouse, but he didn't want to be here.. there had to be a middle ground.

"I'm going for a walk." Declares Jay, sticking his head into the game room where Cole and Zane are playing a game of chess.

Cole frowns, "Where are you going? Do you have your inhaler? How long will you be gone?" Asks Cole in quick succession.

Jay sighs, "dunno, yes, not sure, a few hours maybe?"

Cole stands up, coming over to Jay, "A few hours? You sure you're up to that? Do you want me to come with you?"

"Cole, chill! I'm letting you know so that you won't panic, not to make you panic more. Look, you got to go climb Mt. Egalt, I know I can't do that right now, so let me go for a walk. Alone."

Cole looks down guiltily, "Right, sorry. Could you at least share your location?"

"Fine!" Grumbles Jay as he takes out his phone, "I'll share it with Zane."

"Why Zane?" Says Cole with confusion.

"Because I trust him not to follow me unless my life is in immediate danger." He states, holding out a fist towards Zane.

"Understood." Says Zane before completing the fist bump.

Cole shrugs, "Good enough. Take care, and water, and your inhaler!"

"Yeah yeah." says Jay lazily as he leaves the room.

He heads off down the monastery stairs, then takes one of the side routes, determined to find a path he hasn't been down before. It was easy to forget that they lived on a picturesque mountain when they normally didn't even use the front gate, instead driving or flying to their needed location with one of their many vehicles down in the lair.

After a bit over 40 minutes of leisurely walking he reaches a fork in the path, although the thin track snaking off to the left might just be an animal track, rather than a walking track. "That looks like somewhere I haven't been before.." muses Jay as he heads off eagerly. The terrain quickly gets steeper, with the 'path' turning more into a narrow scratch on the edge of a cliff. The hill slopes up steeply to his left, and down steeply to his right, mostly covered in grass with an occasional tree and rocky outcrop. He isn't worried, the path is still wide enough to easily keep his footing, and it seems sturdy enough.

As he goes round a bend the view opens up showing the whole valley. "Whoa!" Says Jay with excitement, "is that Jamanakai village?" He gets out his phone to take a photo. As he does he notices his reception is down to one bar. "Hmm, one bar lookout." He mumbles, unofficially naming the location. He puts his phone in his pocket, continuing down the path, surely Zane won't send out a search party as soon as his signal is lost? Cole would. He pulls his phone back out.

Bluejay: reception is getting patchy, back soon

Zane01: 2 hours.

Bluejay: 👍

With that sorted he focuses on where he is going. The steep slope starts to level out, and the area becomes more woody, the view from before now completely obscured. He pulls out his kunai, cutting down a few small low hanging branches, it seems no one his height has come this way in quite a while. Probably an animal track after all.. He thinks about heading back, not wanting to wear himself out forging a new path, but then he hears the sound of running water, so decides to keep going.

As he cuts down a particularly dense branch he sees the source of the sound, there is a waterfall coming out of the head of a stone dragon. "Whoa!" Says Jay, even more excited than before. "How long has this been here?" He examines the crumbling mossy statue, deciding the answer is a bloody long time. The waterfall flows into a pond, and the pond in turn flows into a small creek, continuing its path down the mountain. The water looks pristine, lilly pads and other plants are thriving, and he sees koi fish circling around. There is a large tree growing overhead, covered in autumn coloured leaves. There is a rocky outcrop underneath, perfectly positioned to catch the afternoon sun. He climbs up there, admiring his find, and listens to the flowing water.

Water. He had wanted to find some, he hadn't been around large bodies of water much since.. well since Nya left. He stares into his reflection, hoping feebly to see a trace of her staring back at him. "Nya, are you in there?" he asks gently. But she wasn't there, at least not in a way he could sense. If she had died, at least he would understand it, but what does it mean, to become one with water? What was her life like now? Did her soul still exist in this realm, connected to all water? He let out a big sigh. He hated water, the cold sea water as it crept up his body trapping him in his sub, the canal water as it clung to his clothes as he shivered in that alleyway, the cold shower water as he had rinsed out his hair driving panic through his body. But every day he drank water to survive, and she was water, and he could never hate her.

He glances up towards the waterfall admiring the way it looked still, but was in constant motion. He supposed water was like any other element, it could be used for good, or for bad. A fire could warm your house, or burn it down. Lightning could strike you dead, or power your phone. The earth could be a solid path under your feet, or a landslide that sweeps you away. It was about balance, and he needed to find his balance with water.

After about an hour chilling at the shrine, he starts to head back. He didn't want Zane to come and hunt him down. He pauses at the entrance to the clearing. "See you later." he says, not fully sure who or what he's talking to. To the water? To Nya? To that sense of peace? Whatever it was, he knew he was coming back. The trip back to the monastery was uneventful, with him stacking a few rocks near the turnoff so he would hopefully find it again next time.

The next day he packs up a satchel with snacks, an art book, and art supplies. Cole is much more chill when he says he is going for a walk, since he had come back alive the day before.

"Zane, can you give me three hours out of reception? I want to do some, um, journaling."

Zane looks up from the manual he is reading, "Did you find something?"

"Yeah, I think I found my happy place." Jay grins.

"Ok, 3 hours." says Zane, turning back to his book.

This time Jay speeds along the path, bursting with excitement. Halfway there he is forced to take a break, his lungs arguing with the need for speed. "Ugh, I'm not even at one bar lookout.." mutters Jay as he sits on the side of the path trying to catch his breath. His symptoms are only mild, so he decides to wait it out instead of relying on the inhaler. The preventative medication was helping, but he still needed to be wary of his limits.

When he finally reaches the shrine, it is like a breath of calm washes over him. "Hello again!" he says cheerfully. He climbs up onto the rock and sits there for a while, taking in the ambiance. Eventually he gets out his art book, and starts sketching the dragon statue. He is not much of an artist, but this was just for him, so it doesn't matter if it was good. It takes him three attempts to get something he is happy with, and then he goes onto the next page, sketching the pond itself, spiralling currents, koi fish and lilypads. "I should have brought colours.." He mumbles while rummaging through his bag. "Oh well, there is always next time."

He doodles happily for over an hour, humming and swinging his feet in the air. He now understood why Lloyd and Kai had left, why Cole took a trip to Mt Egalt, Why Wu and Misako chose to study in Merlopia. Being outside of those walls felt so freeing.

That night he had the couch dream again. Lying there struggling to breathe, feeling alone, but when Nya took his hand, it didn't come into focus. Despite how hard he tried, he couldn't make out her face.

He awoke with tears in his eyes and a tightness in his chest. He sat up, taking some big deep breaths, he could still breathe. His nightmare dreams didn't wipe him out completely like they used to. Either the preventative meds were working, or it was like Cole said, his grief wouldn't stay that intense forever.

"Why couldn't I see her face? Am I forgetting what she looked like?" He picks up the photo frame on the nightstand, staring at the photo of them together.

"I'll never forget her, right?"

The next day at the shrine he sketches Nya, particularly her face. While he does so, he starts talking to the water. It feels silly at first, he knows she probably can't hear him, but it couldn't hurt right? There was no one around to make fun of him, and it felt right. It was better than trying to forget her.

He started keeping a half full glass of water on his bedside table, and would whisper it goodnight and good morning.

He goes to the shrine most days, Zane sometimes warning him of poor weather, convincing him to stay home. Cole no longer has any objections, and even says "Whatever you're doing, keep doing it. You seem happier."