Shuya drew a circle next to her stick-house. One side of the circle she dug out and the other side she left alone. Pointing to the dug out side, she explained:

“There are some folk—mostly old mortal men who are bitter about being single—that misunderstand the Yin and the Yang. They say “Yin is death and Yang is life” and so they believe women are on some level, impure and wicked by their very nature. But that’s just nonsense. Shangti and Xi Wang created life together. I’d like to see those old fools say Xi Wang is evil to her face and not wet themselves, heh. Ahem, anyway! What causes death is not Yin. It’s when there is disharmony. In our world, when yin and yang fight, that causes death. It can’t be blamed on just one side, death is a group effort.”

The older woman clucked her tongue disapprovingly at the ignorance of mortals before continuing, “Death comes from disharmony, life comes from harmony; specifically from the harmony of Yin and Yang. That’s the power the Heavenly Dao gave Shangti and Xi Wang, because the Heavenly Dao itself is harmony and unity. So when the God and Goddess work together, anything and everything is possible.”

“This ignorance of the true nature of the Heavenly Dao and Yin and Yang gave rise to another misunderstanding among mortals: that life and death are equal, that good and bad are equal, even interdependent. Little Sister, this is very important: Life doesn’t need death to exist, but death needs life to exist. Without life, there is nothing for death to kill and decay. So life is always on the winning side, understand?”

“I guess?”

“Not ‘I guess’. Death comes in many forms, and one is despair and hopelessness. To be crushed under such thinking is to die while alive. So you must never ever believe death is needed, that it is equal to life. It’s not, it’s subservient and always will be. Keep death in its place, and you will always triumph. Perhaps not in the way you think, but you’ll always be the winner in the end. Do you understand now?”

She thought for a little bit more before nodding.

“En.”

“Good. Now, the reason Yin got confused with death is because Yin’s essence is “acceptance” and darkness, while Yang’s essence is “victory” and light. Yin accepts hardship, while Yang accepts success. Yin is the coolness of night while Yang is the warmth of day. Naturally, the Yang is much more attractive, right? Everyone wants to triumph under the sun before a crowd, everyone wants to win. No one wants to accept defeat and live in darkness.”

“..that’s true. I’d want to be associated with yang too if it’s like that.”

“Mmm… But darkness is the time for all good things to rest and rejuvenate. From defeat, you learn many things about yourself.” Shuya quirked her lips slightly. “In fact, this is the true power of the Yin. Because it accepts difficulties, it can turn even the most wicked and evil things into something good. From hardship, trials, and temptations, it can produce wisdom. And wisdom is more valuable than a thousand victories. This is why Yin is also associated with wisdom.”

Shuya reached out and squeezed her Little Sister’s hands.

“My Master was pure Yin. The mountains, that’s where I live and where you met me. It depended on her for safety and rest. But she was driven away, and when she left the yin within the mountain became dormant. And now the yang of the mountain suffers.”

“The yang suffers? What’s the yin leaving got to do with the yang suffering?”

“Because the yang was never meant to exist alone. From the beginning, yin and yang support each other. Yin gives defense, Yang gives offense. Yin gives wisdom, Yang gives deliverance. And together… though I dislike admitting it sometimes… they produce life and make it flourish. This has always been so. Without the yin, the yang power wanes. So for a long time now, the yang energy of the mountain I live on has been unstable and weakening.”

“Oh, I see! It’s really unfortunate what happened to your Master then…”

“You say that like it doesn’t involve you, but it directly involves you.”

“It does?”

“Yep, yep. You may not realize it, but your world very much depends on the stability of the Yang. Right now, it’s dangerous.” She patted Little Sister’s knee softly. “I cannot let you remain in such a lopsided situation. Even though you can never be pure Yin as my Master was because you’re mortal, you can still be something close to it. Not immediately, it will take time. But by the end…” She grinned evilly. “…you’ll have the Yang grovelling at your feet.”

Hearing this, Little Sister raised her eyebrows.

“…do you not like yang, I mean men, by any chance?”

Shuya pursed her lips. “Not all men, just the punks.”

“So just Mr. Light then…” Little Sister sighed helplessly.

The other woman grinned widely and tweaked Little Sister’s nose.

“Perceptive, aren’t you?” She then cleared her throat, putting on a serious expression. “Anyway, with just your yin, you can do a lot. But when you combine your yin with yang, you’ll be able to do even more. You will become very very powerful with the things I will teach. You won’t be as strong as my Master, but you’ll be close enough to be safe—” —from that punk, Shuya thought.

Little Sister’s eyes got huge upon hearing this.

“Wow! Really?”

Shuya gave a low chuckle. “Of course Little Sis, don’t you have the pu—Mister Light?”

“Eh? What’s Mr. Light got to do with it?”

“Didn’t I say?” Shuya said with some exasperation. “Some of this you can do alone, yes, but the power of my teaching will be with the yin and yang coming together. If that’s the case, obviously you can’t do it alone. You need a yang, ergo, your Light.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize… so I’ll be working with Mr. Light? Will he be ok with that I wonder?”

Shuya gave a short laugh.

“Trust me, he’ll be fine. And it’ll be a while until you’re at a point that you and him can do anything together… directly.” She cleared her throat, eyes shifting slightly. “Anyway, we’ll focus on the things that you can do on your own for now. First things first, you must strengthen and understand your own unique yin.”

“And you’ll show me how to do that?”

“En. Let me see… the hardest part of manipulating yin or yang is that the physical body often gets in the way. Mortals often can’t separate their bodies from their spirits so they—” Shuya paused and wrinkled her brow,”…but obviously that won’t be a problem in your case, huh.”

“It won’t?”

“…it won’t… so… I’m going to have to do this backwards. I’ll teach you the spiritual parts first and then later I can help you understand the theoretical aspects of the physical parts.” Shuya scooted a little closer and held out her hands.

“Anyway, take my hands.”

Little Sister did as instructed.

“I’m going to reach out a little of my spirit, which is my own unique yin, and then… mmm… how to say… I’ll basically tickle you.”

“You’ll what?”

“I don’t know how else to describe it. There’s no pain, but it’s a little irritating, but not in a bad way… necessarily. Like being tickled.”

“…uh… I guess that’s ok then…”

“Then I’ll begin!”

Shuya’s hands began to glow blue, and then the blue traveled onto Little Sister’s hands. For a moment there was nothing, but then Little Sister felt it. Like something very gentle but prickly stroking her hands, running up her arms. It was a little irritating but it also…

“Bwahahahaah!” Little Sister burst out laughing, bending over as she did. It really did feel like being tickled! “Wh-what is this?! Hahahaha!”

“I’m just moving my yin across your yin. I know it’s odd, but concentrate on the place I’m making contact with, that’s you. That feeling you feel, that’s your yin specifically.”

“I-it’s really—hahahaha—hard to—hehehe—concentrate like this—hehehehe!”

Little Sister tried to pull her hands away, but Shuya kept an iron clasp on them.

“I know. But you’ve got to try before we can move on. Part of the issue you have right now is you aren’t even aware of your yin.”

Just as Shuya had said, it didn’t hurt but it was a little irritating. The longer it went on, the worse the irritation got, though it never quite reached the level of painful. No matter how Little Sister tugged to be free, Shuya wouldn’t let go. In the end, Little Sister was forced to concentrate just to keep her sanity.

“Ok, I think—hahah—I’ve got it!” Little Sister finally gasped out after what seemed like an eternity.

Shuya let go of her immediately and the strange feeling stopped. Little Sister slumped in relief.

“Sorry, I realize that was uncomfortable but this is the fastest way.” She gave her Little Sister a sympathetic smile and then winked. “Now you do it to me.”

“…do it… to you…?”

“What? It’s only fair. I spent all that time tickling you, now you can tickle me in return.”

“T-that’s true!” Little Sister exclaimed excitedly. That tickling had been borderline torturing, and since Shuya was willing to take as good as she got, then why hold back?

With her tongue sticking out slightly, Little Sister concentrated. The tickling sensation was still echoing across the part of her that Shuya called yin. Now that she was aware it existed, and that it could be moved, she was confident she could do as Shuya did.

Unfortunately, what came easily for Shuya did not for Little Sister.

“This is so difficult!” She finally complained in frustration. “Why?! You did it so easily!”

“Silly, I’m almost as old as a mountain, of course it’s easy for me. I know myself. You are young and barely know anything. Naturally it will take time for you, but you’ve still got to keep trying! You will succeed if you don’t give up! So don’t give up!”

“Arg, okay! I’ll definitely get it!” Filled with determination, Little Sister kept going until finally, FINALLY, a little bit of her yin moved and touched Shuya’s yin.

“Oh my! I felt that! Keep going!”

“I-I’ve got to do more?”

“You have to tickle me, and this is more like a gentle poke.”

“…oh right..” She’d spent so much time just trying to move her yin, she’d actually forgotten the original purpose for doing so.

Sighing, she kept going. Moving her yin was hard, much harder than dealing with the nature elements. It seemed like every tiny movement required a great deal of effort, she was beginning to despair again when Shuya suddenly let out a giggle.

“Good job, you did it! Hehehe!” Shuya gave a final laugh before letting go of her Little Sister’s hands again. She then patted the younger girl on the head affectionately. “I know it was hard, but thank you for not giving up.”

“You’re welcome!” Little Sister responded, honestly just happy that she didn’t have to try anymore. “What do we do next?”

Shuya lifted a finger and waved it around. “We’re going to convert the ridiculous amount of yang in your world into energy to strengthen your yin.”

“Eh? Eh? I’ve got a bunch of yang?”

“Yes, you do. I mean, a little yang is fine but seriously… This is ridiculous… I can’t stand it.” The older woman crossed her arms over her chest, shuddering in disgust.

“…really? But I don’t feeling anything..”

Shuya tilted her head, eyebrow raised.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about why you don’t notice. I noticed it immediately. This is what I think: your yin is like a diamond. Do you know how diamonds are made? Under intense pressure and heat for long periods of time. You’ve had this yang in you for so long, your yin became strong and beautiful, like a tiny diamond.” Shuya pursed her lips and sighed. “Even if I think having this much yang is ridiculous, the byproduct is that your yin is tiny but incredibly, ridiculously tough. Though since you’ve not trained it, all you’ve got going for you is endurance and not much else. That’s the yin for you though, takes a wrong and makes it right.”

“Oh— I didn’t know! To think, my yin is strong and I didn’t even realize!”

“Well, didn’t I say? Yin and yang are hard to see, or even notice, unless you’re trained to look for them. Most people won’t notice, regardless of how fundamental yin and yang are to their very being. As for you… while your yin is tough, its growth has been stunted from the pressure being put on it by the yang. So instead of letting this yang bully your yin, we’re going to put it to good use and have it be the catalyst for growth.”

“I see!”

Shuya raised an eyebrow, “I doubt you do, but you will. First, you need to see the yang. So close your eyes.”

Confused, Little Sister did as instructed.

“Concentrate your yin into your eyes. Imagine it like a tiny cloth covering each eye. Got it?”

After a long while, Little Sister nodded slowly. Tiny beads of sweat were rolling down her face. It was really a difficult request, but she was proud when she succeeded. A faint shimmer could be seen over Little Sister’s eyes, proving she’d succeeded.

“Now open your eyes.”

The younger woman did as instructed and was astonished by the change:

Little Sister’s world was filled, no packed, with gold fluffy looking balls of light. Obviously the yang. It was so thick, you could barely see anything else. Little Sister was shocked. No wonder Shuya said there was too much yang!

Shuya herself seemed to have sparkling blue glow over her body. When Little Sister looked down at herself, she realized she had something similar. Shuya’s was a light blue, but hers was very dark. It was almost black, but it sparkled and reminded her of the night sky filled with stars above her head.

Shuya reached out with her shimmering blue hand and grabbed a bunch of yang. The fluffy gold yang struggled, as if trying to escape. Alas, Shuya stuffed it in her mouth before it had the chance and chewed on it aggressively. After several minutes, she spit it out in disgust.

A slightly-gnawed clump of yang hurriedly floated away from her in a wobbly line, before disappearing in the rest of the gold yang.

“Nasty! His yang is so tough and bland, just like you’d expect from an old fart who spent most of his life single!”

“Aren’t you old and single too?”

“Excuse me! I’ve had many frisky adventures! Unlike that pu—fellow!”

“How does that work if you’re a tree? Aren’t you rooted in one place?”

“I’ll have you know, in my younger days, I was extremely popular among the gentlemen squirrels and birds! There was even this very handsome buck who I got along well with for many years!”

Little Sister somehow managed not to burst out laughing.

“…well, alright…” She wheezed out with some difficulty, “but that doesn’t stop you from being old…”

“Little Sister, just because something is true doesn’t mean you need to say it out loud.”