Isolation

Flinch woke up to Valery gently shaking him by his shoulder, “Are you alright?”, she softly asked. Flinch placed one hand over hers, “Yes, I am. I know what to do now, but the others won’t like it.”. Valery’s pretty face showed worry at his statement, “Well, that sounds like I won’t like it either.”. Flinch chuckled, “That’s probably right, but you will understand.”, he stood up and turned to her before he continued, “I need to leave for a while. I need to train in isolation to improve my martial arts before I return strong enough to protect you all.”.

Her worry turned into outright shock, “You want to leave? At this time? They need you! We need you…”. Flinch placed his hands on her hips and pulled her into a kiss. After parting from their shared passion, he brushed the tears from her cheeks, “You need me to be strong. Three of my sons died while I was there, I can’t allow that to happen again. When I have gathered the power I need to be worthy of leading this clan, that is the day I will return to you all.”. He gave her one last kiss, “Please explain it to the others, they wouldn’t understand.”, then he turned and wandered off into the forest.

Flinch wandered through the forest with no clear goal in mind, letting his instincts set his path for him. He didn’t even stop when his steps led him to the foot of the mountains and started ascending the sheer cliff without question. He felt the warmth of the sun and the cold light of the moon many times during his journey, but his mind wasn’t in the mood to count them. Eventually his mind awoke and as he looked around, he knew he had found the right place.

It was a cave near the top of a mountain, icy winds crashed against his skin and sharp rocks dug into his feet. A waterfall of crystal-clear spring water crashed down onto a flat rock from which it first dispersed and then gathered back into a clear stream. The place was as beautiful as it was hostile, as serene as it was frightening, no normal creature could survive here for long without food and exposed to the cold with only water. Flinch however knew that that exactly was his task. He had to survive in this place, under these conditions and find peace amidst the natural fear of ****. He removed his clothes until he was left with only a loincloth and stepped towards the waterfall. He sat down on the flat rock and felt the freezing cold watersplash across his body, felt the cold dig itself deep into his body. He took deep breaths and then he started to focus, retreating his senses, his whole consciousness, into his mind. He wasn’t sure how long he would stay there, but he knew that he wouldn’t move until he had found the breakthrough he was looking for. He took deep breaths, and focused his mind.