Strong River inhaled deeply and then blew the breath out noisily from his mouth. Blue Ripple was considerate in keeping him away from the elders in conference right now; given the escalation of his enmity with Elder Wave, he might have done something dangerous. He had confidence in being able to handle the elder in a one-on-one confrontation, but against an entire group of elders who stood at the same level of cultivation as him and who had cumulative centuries of experience more than him? It was good to avoid that gamble.

"You let them have their way pretty easily," Mister Black remarked from inside River's mind.

River shrugged. "They're the ones who know that side of things. Pieces shuffling around on a game board... they can play that for now. They can think I'm a piece right up until I kick the whole damn thing over."

"Your sentiment for the clan seems to have eroded some, my young friend."

River snorted. "Yes. I'd say that tends to happen when one of the clan's leaders demolishes your house in a frenzy. When the best response you can get is another leader stopping him from turning it into a well. And of course in all this nobody even thinks of giving me an account about why or what I'm supposed to do."

"The Flowing Water clan seems very committed to the autonomy of its elders," Mister Black observed.

"Yes," River agreed, "and everybody else be damned! That's the Flowing Water way, it seems."

"So what's the plan now, then?"

"I'm going to meditate and recenter myself here. I have to speak with the head warrior, Elder Cloud, soon enough and I can't afford to make a mistake there. Would you be kind enough to keep tabs on their meeting and inform me if I should be running for my life so I can get a head start?"

"Old man Black, master navigator, beast wrangler, and now eavesdropper..." Mister Black muttered. "Certainly. Would you like a live summary, too?"

"No," River shook his head. "What I don't know I can't slip up about when I'm questioned. After that's over, I could use that information, though."

"Then that's how we'll play it."

River stood up from the chair and sat himself down in the middle of the floor in a meditative posture. While the seat was comfortable, with all the stress piling down on him he needed the ritual comfort of doing it the orthodox way this time.

Closing his eyes, he visualized the black hole of the Passion Sublimation Technique. It spun slowly in the vast darkness around it, ready to devour all things. River gathered up his anxieties and worries and flung them into the rotating vortex, letting it expand ever so slightly with each addition. For now, though, he clung to his hatred, his derision for Elder Wave and for the rot at the core of the clan that he represented. That was something he would not let go of, not until he could expunge it in the external world with his own two hands.

A couple hours passed this way until Mister Black informed him that the session was over and new arrivals were incoming. Leaving that dark voidscape in his mind, River stood up and stretched, his tendons crackling audibly as he did so. He then returned to the seat he had occupied before. A couple minutes later, a knock sounded at the door, and it opened.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, my boy," Elder Ripple said in greeting, stepping aside to let Blue Ripple enter. The tall blond-haired youth, looking rather spent, hurled himself into a chair and collapsed with a sigh. Next to enter the room was Elder Cloud, a very tall and robust old man draped in furs like a warrior.

River stood up and inclined his head in greeting. The old warrior looked him up and down in silence for a moment and then grunted, seeming to be satisfied at something.

Elder Ripple smiled. "Why don't we all have a seat--"

"Ripple." Elder Cloud interrupted. "I'm taking the boy for a walk. You've left him cooped up in here for too long, and these old bones need their exercise anyway."

"Of course." It seemed that when Elder Cloud made up his mind, not even Elder Ripple would try to persuade him otherwise. "I'll see you later then, Strong River."

River nodded to Elder Ripple as he moved to leave with the old warrior. "Thank you for everything, Elder Ripple." He followed Elder Cloud out of the room and the house. Outside, the sun had set and the sickle of the moon bathed the world in its cold light.

The old warrior led River through the clan compound in silence, finally exiting from a gate that led into the grasslands. They walked together along the beaten dirt path, the chirpings of noctural wildlife around them the only sound. The River of old -- or even the River from before the visit to the Primeval Forest -- might have felt a sense of dread from this. But now? Isolated, at night, this was where he excelled. Free of care but prepared to act, River figured he might as well indulge the old man's quirks and continue walking in silence with him.

"So, they have no idea how strong you are," the old man announced, breaking that silence.

That casual assessment did make River raise his guard a little more. "How strong would that be?"

Elder Cloud snorted. "I get enough echoes with the rest of the old bags of bones, you don't have to add any more. You're clearly at the seventh-grade Human Realm, aren't you Strong River?"

"Yes." River decided to humor the old man and see where this went. "How did you figure that out, sir?"

"You don't live as long as I do doing what I've done without being able to assess someone's strength," the old warrior replied. "There are two big reasons, though. First comes from observation: your blood is too thick, and your steps are too light to be merely fifth-grade as I was told. Secondly, I have my instincts, and those instincts tell me that if it came to a fight I wouldn't be certain of defeating you. Disappointing that it's so mundane?"

"Oh no, not at all, sir." River was appreciative of the explanation, being concerned that others in the clan might have the same tricks at their disposal. "I can only admire the fruits of your long experience."

Elder Cloud snorted again at that. "You can drop the 'sir' already, River. You can just call me Cloud when we're in private. And my long experience is just the accumulation of a man who has lived far too long."

"As you wish, Cloud. So what about that intense grilling I am supposed to be getting right now, then?

The old warrior barked a short laugh. "I could go for that if you want, but I'm certain your story is more than polished enough. You should of course still tell everybody what a harrowing dressing down I gave you, but the truth is I don't care what happened out there."

"Oh?" The eccentric old man was piquing River's curiosity more and more.

"The Wave brat's dead at the same time the senior Wave is ramping up on his despicable deeds. I'm sure you have the same guess I do about what he did to that old shack of yours."

River nodded. "The man wants to know my secret. What about you?"

"Me?" Elder Cloud shook his head. "This bag of bones is too old and tired to care. I spent my entire life trying to live up to my family name, looking to the heavens. Now that I am old and tired, I look down and only see mud staining everything around me."

"An interesting sentiment coming from an elder. So why don't you do anything about it?"

"I'm at the end of my days, River. Besides, there's you now."

"Me?" River was surprised at the thrust of the old man's intentions.

"I am a cloud, so I stood on high all my life and my water nourished the soil, but when I look at it, I see only mud everywhere now. Now you," the old man turned and looked River in the eye, "you are a river. A river cuts through everything in its path. Seeing where you stand, I can understand where at least some of that path goes."

"And if by cutting forward on my path I end up flooding and destroying everything you stood over?" River decided to take a gamble in this contest of words.

The old man shrugged. "Not my problem. As I said, I am at the end of my days. Accepting my imminent death brings with it a kind of lucidity. In standing overhead and refusing to move for so long, I have now lost all right to move. There are some things you will have to move on soon enough, though."

"Oh?"

"The other elders won't see through your hidden strength, but the chief will. Fortunately for you, he usually remains in seclusion, attempting to advance his cultivation. Unfortunately, this entire incident you are tangled in will grab his attention, and he is one of the bags of bones that will want to mine you for secrets."

"Well, that's straight to the point," River admitted. "Since you seem to want to conspire a little, what would our conspiracy entail?"

Elder Cloud snorted. "I'm a bystander who wants a good show before he dies. Let's leave the conspiracies to the soft-handed twits who talk their way through life."

"Okay. As someone who wants a good show, do you have any suggestions on how I'd go about it?"

The old warrior nodded. "In a while, we are going to return to the compound. I will have you stay at my residence. The old fools will spin around trying to figure that one out, and that should keep them immobile for a bit. While they're all considering their own options, they won't inform the chief so he shouldn't come out. That is the space for you to move."

"Move how?" River was somewhat amazed at how open the elder was being.

"When we return I'll give you a map and some dark garments. There's a location you'll want to visit this very night. After you've done that, I'd say you're free to make whatever decision you wish."

"You know, I'm beginning to feel used here, Cloud," River complained.

"Consider it a mutual use, River. That clarity that's come over me says that you'll appreciate this gift very much."

River frowned. "You sound very very certain of your death, Cloud. What has you so convinced, besides this lucidity business?"

Elder Cloud laughed, a longer and more hearty laughter. "Ah, River, you see, as someone in the position I find myself in now once taught me: Once you've lived long enough to see that you've become that which you hate, that's when you know it's your time."

River pondered those words as the pair followed the moonlit path back to the compound.