^^ Master Hector, aged 92 ^^ ((His eyes are silver/white because of Cataracts, the only visible sign of his age. Qui has kept him young for 7 decades, and will continue to keep him young for many more.))

((The Jun'g Elemental Qui is taught only to Jun'g Chiefs and Medicine men. It is Water, Air, Lightning, Metal, and Shrub.))

--- Date: 05/21/2030, Time: 14:30 ---
--- Mt. Jakarta,Ruins of Jun'g'a Valley ---
--- Jack Legend, 18 ---

I slowly slipped through my form, my master watching me closely.

He grunted, slapping my ankle with his sheathed sword, and I corrected my stance, and continued.

He nodded, walking around me slowly. I gathered qui slowly, slowly, and when I finished my form, I pushed my Qui-filled hand into the flames in front of me, then pulled them back, along with a prefect sphere of flame, the size of an apple.

Master nodded. "Hmm... Put it back." He said.

I focused my Qui again, and slowly placed the fireball into the flame, and then allowed it to soak into the rest, without explosion this time. I stepped back, and breathed deeply. "Again, master?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No... You have mastered manipulating the fire. Good. Now we will work on Air. Put out the fire." He said, standing directly behind the fire.

I nodded, and slowly began my form, gathering qui.

"No, without the form. You think your enemy will allow you to dance before you hit him? No! Do it now." He said sharply.

I stood straight, and drew up my reserves, then reached slowly and simply snuffed the fire with a small breath of air in the shape of a hand.

He nodded. "Good. Start it again."

I snapped my fingers, and a fire started, as I'd simply shook the air quickly. He nodded towards a bucket of water. "Put it out." He said.

--- 05/29/2030, 015:00 ---

I looked at the soldiers, combing through the Valley. They were always looking for something, and they never found it. And this time, when they didn't find it, they beat and killed the few villagers they found.

Master sat down next to me. "They know not what they seek, and so they will never find it without guidance."

I nodded. "Yes, master."

He hummed. "Go speak to them, my student. Ask them what they seek. If they attack, you may harm them, but do not kill them."

I stood and bowed. "Yes, master."

I jumped off the cliff, and pushed my qui into my feet and ankles, pointing my feet down, landing almost 400 feet down without even bending my knees. He chuckled, far above me.

"Show off!" He called down playfully.

I smiled and started running, my body pushing through the wind faster than any mortal could, because I was no such mortal.

I skidded to a stop, next to a soldier, and tapped his shoulder. He turned, surprised, and I smiled. "Hallo. What are you searching for?" I asked.

He stepped away from me, leveling his crossbow at my chest.

I hummed. "Can you understand me?" I asked.

He pulled his trigger, and I caught the quill calmly. I held it up. "Please don't make me hurt you." I said calmly, smiling.

He loaded another quill with a small movement, from a drum under the neck of the Crossbow, and I sighed. I dodged this time, and pinched his neck gently.

He collapsed, unconscious, and I looked at the other converging soldiers. "He's alright, just unconscious."

"How dare you attack a soldier-" they began speaking in English.

Ah, they don't know Jun'g. "I didn't. He attacked me. I was just asking what he was looking for, so I could help. I know this valley like the palm of my hand." I shrugged, speaking in English, even though the words felt foreign on my tongue.

They lowered their crossbows slowly. "And he's not dead?"

"No, see for yourself. Just unconscious. He started firing at me when I spoke. I know now he didn't know Jun'g. That makes sense, to him I must've been talking gibberish." I nodded.

The speaker blinked. "Jun'g?" He asked, like the word was odd.

"Yes. Do you know know where you are? Jun'g'a Valley. That's Mount Jakarta, my home." I pointed at the mountain.

The leader stepped forward. "When did you begin to live here? Before the Storm?"

"Hmm. Yes. I've lived here with my teacher since I was born, 18 years ago." I nodded.

He looked at the mountain. "Would you lead us to your teacher?"

"Why do you want to talk to a dying, senile old man?" I asked.

He narrowed his eyes. "That's none of your concern."

"Ah, but it is. He's the only family I have, you see. If you mean him harm, I'll have to harm you first." I smiled.

He leveled his Crossbow. "That's fine. We don't need you alive, anyway. Only the old man. BOYS! We've got a location. The old man is on the mountain."

They started moving towards the mountain, and I sighed. "I'm sorry for disobeying you, master." I said softly, the wind carrying my voice at my command.

I plunged my fingers into the dirt, sending out my qui, and spikes of rock grew instantaneously, stabbing all of the soldiers through their bodies. Most died quickly, some didn't. I looked at the leader. "Why do you want the old man?" I asked harshly.

He started firing his crossbow in rapid fire, and I dodged easily, ripping it from his hand. I put him against a spike. "Now tell me, or I start growing a spike through your spine." I growled.

He paled. "We were given orders! We were told that the old man was the one who made the Storm, and that he lived here!! That's all I know! Please!"

"Who commands you?" I asked softly, now curious.

He paled. "Queen Bergen! Please, don't kill me, I'll tell you anything!"

"Hmm... Where is this... Queen Bergen?" I asked, releasing him, but sticking close.

"In her Palace, in The Center!" He answered quickly.

I nodded. "And the Center is...?"

"Uhm... It's the Center of all trade on the planet? Based in the Ruins of New York?" He said slowly, unsure of himself.

I nodded. "I see... Then, who told you that the Old Man was the one who made The Qui Storm?"

"One of the other Masters, Master Qigong, from China! He lives in the palace, on Mount Carolyn, next to New York! He told us that Master Hector of Australia was the one who started it, sixty years ago, but it only happened, just now! We were supposed to bring him back to The Center, and he would undergo Trial!" He answered.

"Hector? You really do know him... And trial for what? Even if that's true, which it is, he didn't do anything wrong. He was trying to fix the Ozone layer, and Save the planet, which, by the way, he did succeed in doing." I waved a hand dismissively.

He blinked. "We know all that. But the Queen wants him to stand trial."

"For what? What are the charges?" I asked.

He narrowed his eyes. "Destroying the planet, maybe? Mass Genocide?" He said snidely.

I glared at him, and he quivered as my silver/gray eyes bore into his green ones. (My eyes were normally golden, but they turned silver when I used excessive amounts of Qui, eventually they'd be silver forever, and I'd be permanently blind.)"Genocide is the purposeful mass murder of a single race, by one person or collection of persons. That's not what the Storm was. It was a simple Backlash of Qui. Master Hector never did anything wrong, he only tried to save the world."

"Even so, I have to bring him for trial-" I held up a hand, stopping his words.

"Go. Tell your queen that Master Hector is a 92 year old man, who is dying from lung and kidney Cancer. He would not survive the journey to her court. If she wishes to see him, she will come here to Jun'g'a valley, and she will come in peace, not with soldiers killing our peaceful villagers." I said simply, shooing him.

He backed up a step slowly, and I stomped. He scared, just like a bunny, and sprinted away back the way he came.

"Senile old man? Cancer? When did my student become such a liar? And when did you begin disobeying me, hmm?" Master said from behind me.

I turned and knelt. "I simply didn't wish them to raid our home, master. I don't want them to return."

He nodded. "I see. But this is not the way." He gestured at the Rock spikes.

I bowed my head. "I am sorry, master."

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to the women you just made widows. The children you just made orphans. You must do this." He nodded.

I gathered the men's dog tags, and nodded. "I will, master."

"Well, not now, of course. When you go with the Queen's men back to this 'Center'. You will find them, and apologize then." He added.

I blinked. "I will?"

"You will." He nodded.

I slowly stood. "Yes master... How-"

"They will come back in a few hours, with many more of them. You will tell them I am almost dead, and I suppose I will be, soon, and so it is not a lie. They will likely take you to their Queen. There, you will address the Queen, respectfully, and then ask to see the soldier's families, and then you will apologize to them, and then, if possible without harming even more soldiers, you will come home." He nodded and began walking towards the mountain.

"And if it is not possible to return home without killing?" I asked.

"You will not return home until it is." He said stonily.

I bowed. "Yes master." He disappeared.

He'd left my weapons with my bag, hanging from a spire, so I strapped it on, and hummed, standing in the epicenter of the rock spikes.

I hummed, and then picked up a long, thin log, and began whittling a sword out of its cylindrical shape.

Soon I had quite the masterpiece, perfectly level, arm length, two hand grip, though it could be held with one, a well-made guard, and even cross-hatching on the handle, all the details flawless. I slid it into my weapons pack, and then picked up another log, and started another.

---

I was finishing my fourth set of paired wooden swords when the soldiers came back. I smiled, and sat still, whittling the details into the wood, and waited.

The man from earlier walked up to me. "My friends would like to see the old man." He said, confident now in his 'friends'.

I smiled, and all the soldiers weapons took themselves apart. I stood, as he held up his hands in surrender, and shook my head. "You should really pay more attention, mate, do you know that?" I asked.

He nodded in agreement, shaking with fear.

"Well, here's the thing. Master Hector is almost dead, as I've said. And he's given me a mission. I'm to find these peoples loved ones, and apologize for killing their loved ones." I gestured at the men on the spires.

He blinked. "Why?"

"Master specifically ordered me not to kill any of the soldiers. I didn't listen. He was very displeased. He has ordered me to find those people, apologize for their loved ones, and apologize to your queen, and tell her that he will likely be dead soon. So a trial is not only pointless, it's unnecessary." I shrugged.

He gulped, and nodded. "I-I guess we'll have to take you to the Queen, Then..."

"I suppose so. I'll be a guest of her court, I think. After all, the Prince of Australia does deserve a bit of respect." I smirked.

He blinked. "A prince? You?"

"A prince. Me." I smiled at him.

He turned around slowly and started walking away.

"You haven't seen many of my people, have you?" I asked, walking next to him.

He shook his head. "Hardly seen, maybe ten?" He looked at the others.

They nodded. "Maybe 15. Saw a family of them while you were gone. They were gone quick, though. Had goats with them." One said, humming.

I nodded. "We only number 5,000. The entire continent. The Aboriginal peoples mostly were the survivors." I grinned. "We know how to hide from the weather, and Master and I stopped the shockwave from spreading out of the valley." I nodded.

He nodded. "I saw that the edge of the valley was the exact edge of the destruction. But for only 5,000 to survive?"

"We don't have much cover, in this terrain. And the first tornado slammed down in our valley, just like the others, but it was stopped, so this is the only area with a modicum of survival. Our clan has spread out since then, but that's all. This valley is known by a different name, to the old locals, but we of the Jun'g called it Jun'g'a Valley." I nodded.

"What's that mean?" He asked.

"Our Land." I said gently, smiling.