Herds of miniature deer and shaggy bison roamed the plains, nibbling away at the green shoots of wintergrass.

Snow-fed streams provided a soundtrack to Sparrow and Zoe as they walked. The white changed to lush green, and then very faintly into a kind-of yellow.

They followed the stream as it twisted and turned and gouged paths between hills. Trout lept out of the water in front of them, and a small black bear pawed the water, snatching at the fish until it had a meal flopping from its claws.

Sparrow and Zoe watched it from beneath a birch sapling, as it ate, licked its palms, then splashed around in the water like a happy child.

The two humans turned to face each other, Zoe was grinning, ‘Silly thing.’ she laughed.

‘Happy thing,’ Sparrow grinned back, ‘Perhaps he’s a lot smarter than us.’

The river barrelled down a waterfall and they showered in the mist beneath it. Sparrow taught Zoe about fire, and how to dry her skin using flames.

A little further down and a small, straight channel poked its way into the edge of the river.

‘Humans.’ Sparrow said.

Zoe bent down, peered at the channel coming off it, ‘How can you tell?’

Sparrow broke a rotted log in half, then placed the log in the water. It bobbed up and down and slowly made its way down the channel.

‘It’s straight,’ Sparrow pointed down it, ‘The river curves and bends as it wishes. Only a human would make a channel so straight.’

They followed the bobbing piece of wood. There were more signs of humanity - trees chopped off at ground level, a path wide enough for a cart, and then a large steel grate across the channel. Beyond the grate they stepped out into the open.

In front of them was a large valley, most of its hills covered with forest. But right at the centre were rows and rows of grape vines.

Beside them, the chanel had turned into a large man-made dam, with its walls carefully rounded into large pillars to hold back the water inside.

Zoe took her Mandolin out and plucked a few chords, ‘We going down there?’

Sparrow kept staring, taking everything in, ‘Probably. Why? You feeling inspired?’

Zoe smiled, ‘Not enough for a song.’

‘For a chorus?’

She tilted her head, ‘Yeah… maybe a chorus.’

He sat on the edge of the dam while she strummed away. The sun was still fresh in the sky and they had all day to make their minds up about the valley.

‘This is one of my favourite parts about any new place.’ Sparrow said, ‘When you’re not in the thick of fighting or talking, or learning. You’re just sitting on the very edge looking, seeing new things for the first time. Feeling a new sun on your skin, a new wind on your face and…’

‘-Well hel-lo there!’ A new voice called.

Sparrow smiled, ‘And then inevitably someone finds you and you slip back into yourself again.’

‘Hel-lo!’ The voice called, and just beneath the dam, a goofy-tooth man wandered over to them.

The man had much too large shorts on - they were so large and holey that he had to keep one hand on them as he walked, every time the hand dipped he almost tripped on his own shorts.

‘Well hel-lo!’ he said again.

‘You got any more words?’ Zoe asked.

‘Yeah!’ The man gave his buck-toothed grin again, ‘I got plenty of words. I’ve also got two hands!’

The man held out his hands, the things were like hardened leather with a smattering of mud overtop.

Sparrow smiled at the man, ‘Ah, Zoe, I think he wants us to shake his hand.’

Zoe frowned, ‘Those things? But they’re -’

‘Clean as the good earth herself,’ the man said and gave another grin so buck-toothed and idiotic they couldn’t help but shake - with buck toothed-idiotic grins of their own.

****

‘The name’s Wal-xi,’ the man said, ‘and, that, my friends is where I live,’ he pointed in the direction of a large stone mansion standing on the other side of the grape field.

Zoe eyed his grubby clothes, ‘You live in a mansion?’

The man laughed, ‘I’m honoured… but no… I’m just to the right.’

A little to the right stood two stone walls with branches and leaves piled over top of them.

‘It’s not much to look at now, but I’m building my own house.’ The man said.

They walked down to the half-built shack.

Wal-xi kicked at the walls, ‘It isn’t much but…’

‘These stones are perfectly cut,’ Sparrow said, running his finger along the top of them.

Wally beamed, 'That's right, I reckon if you're going to build a house you've got to do it right, my neighbour...' he gestured to the massive stone mansion just down that peeked above the trees around Wally's house, 'my neighbour, he started building his house at the same time as me and, well he had a little more help than I did, but I don't mind. I reckon you got to do with what you've got and I really enjoy cutting each stone.' He laughed, 'I don't so much enjoy carrying it over here, but it is what it is.'

'So you did this all yourself?' Zoey asked.

'Mostly,' Wally said, 'but I did have a little help from a cultivator from the forest.'

Sparrow raised an eyebrow, 'Are they any good?'

Wally nodded happily, 'Extremely good. That guy musta sold his soul to 10 devils. You see he's a namer.'

'A namer?' Sparrow said.

Wally gave a wild grin, 'It means that he knows the hidden name of things, it means he looks at the rock and he speaks its name and then he tells the rock to break and it breaks just the way he wants it to, another time a family's house was on fire, he spoke the fire’s name and then the fire disappeared, he hasn't just learned how to control things. He knows their names.'

Sparrow's eyes widened. It had taken years it had taken years of his life to cultivate just a few abilities. Imagine if he could meet this man and simply learn the names of everything in an evening.

'Can you take us to meet him?' Sparrow said.

Wally stroked his chin, 'maybe.'

'Maybe?'

Well you see, he lives in a little cave, well, cave's probably the wrong word - he lives in a little house in the side of a hill. You can only find it if he lets you find it.'

The man scratched his head and a couple of bugs dropped onto the ground, 'It's all quite confusing really, but look, you stay here and be my guests and eat some of this week-old soup I've been trying to get through and then in the morning we'll see if we can find him.'

Sparrow touched the smooth stone wall, 'If he's all you say he is. Then I'll help you build your house,' he pointed at Zoe. 'and she'll write a song about you.'

Zoe snorted, ‘I thought we were going to the ocean?’

‘We are,’ Sparrow pointed at Wally, ‘but it sounds like we need to meet this guy first.’

****

The next day, Wally woke them just as the sun was rising. He took them down a trail past the large mansion with its bronze encrusted doors and then through the mountains along a path that slowly disappeared, leaving them walking through the undergrowth.

The trees around Sparrow felt different, these ones wouldn't speak to him. Usually he could feel the trees humming about the rain was to come this week, or how sunny things had been, or complaining about all the little bugs or passing on news of how a pair of nesting birds were getting on.

But these trees were silent. He could hear their whispers and echoes, but couldn't quite understand them.

‘Where are we going?’ Zoe asked, but Wally just shrugged.

'I don't know. We’re just wandering through the woods.’

Zoe flicked Sparrow a look that said, why the hell are we following this guy?

Sparrow flicked a look back, I’m sorry… but if I’ve learnt one thing in my time around cultivators, its that they make things unnecessarily complicated.

They ducked underneath a banana-palm, and then skipped over a green stream before Zoe asked, ‘And why are we just wondering through the woods?’

‘Well, Craig, the cultivator I was telling you about said that best way to find him is just to wander into the woods. If he wants to be found then he'll lead you towards him.'

‘Craig?’ Zoe muttered, ‘Doesn’t sound like a very authentic cultivator name.’

‘Let’s just give him a chance…’ Sparrow said, ‘Wally, what happens if Craig doesn't want to be found?'

Wally shrugged, 'Then we don't find him.'

And so they walked and they walked and they walked until they got hungry and Sparrow found a bread loaf tree with green fruit in its branches, 'Here's lunch,' he said.

Wally shook his head, 'they're not ripe yet.'

'Yet,' Sparrow said, he placed his hand on the trunk of the tree, closed his eyes. In front of them the breadfruit turned from shrivelled green to plump yellow.

While Zoe and Wally bit into the breadfruit, Sparrow sent to roots into the ground to gather nutrients.

But his roots felt a slight tremor in the soil. It felt like an earthquake was going on just beneath his feet. He spun his head and in front of him the plants moved sideways, forming a large hollow tunnel.

Sparrow stared at the tunnel, narrowed his eyes, and pointed, 'I think we go that way.'

They walked for two minutes until they reached a cave, well… cave was the wrong word.

The cave’s door was a large, round arch, inside hung pictures of famous cultivators through the ages, plus a few jade princesses wearing tight-fitting dresses. Huge collections of swords, nunchucks, shields and priceless armour sat on glass-enclosed displays around the cave. They made Sparrow’s mouth drop as they sparkled in the light of a hundred rare glowing scrolls.

From inside of the cave a man-bun, combined with a scraggly beard and a hugely expensive robe moved.

The figure came out to them, his hand resting on a sword affixed to his belt.

‘Hey, I didn’t spend my parent’s fortune amassing this collection so you dweebs could stare at it,’ came the cultivator’s voice, which was a little higher-pitched than Sparrow had been expecting.

Still, a cultivator was a cultivator, even if they were named Craig.

Sparrow got to his knees and bowed in front of the man.

‘Oh mighty Craig, I have journeyed from afar, learning all the road can teach me, and now I hear you can control things just through the use of naming? I am your humble servant, and I wish to learn.’

Sparrow heard Wally bow down beside him, but from where Zoe was standing just came the sound of a snort. Sparrow looked up at Craig, the guy was trying hard to hide a smirk.

‘Well?’ he said, gesturing to Zoe, ‘Aren’t you going to bow down to me as well?’

Zoe shrugged, ‘That depends.’ She picked up a rock and held it out to him, ‘I need you to break this in half first.’

Craig stared at the rock, ‘Why?’

‘Because, I’m not going to bother getting my knees dirty if you’re not a real cultivator.’

Craig stared at the rock hesitantly, then gestured to a giant rock, three times the size of a gorilla’s head that sat next to his cave.

‘I can do one better!’ he lifted his hands up to the sky and started shouting in a bunch of languages Sparrow didn’t recognise. As he did a little dance and then gestured his hands to the rock, the rock snapped in half.

Sparrow and Wally bowed even lower. Zoe shrugged, and tossed her little rock to him, ‘Now do this one.’

Craig gestured to the giant rock he’d just snapped in half, ‘Is that not enough for you, little girl?’

Sparrow made a worried sound in his throat, ‘Zoe, please don’t-’

But it was already too late, Zoe threw another rock at the guy, it hit his chest and he doubled over in pain, ‘Oww, that really hurt.’

‘Well, why didn’t you turn it into dust?’ Zoe asked, ‘Sparrow I call bull on this guy, he’s clearly-’

‘-a master,’ Sparrow interrupt, transfixed as he watched Craig grab a rock and shape it into a dagger.

Zoe rolled her eyes, ‘Alright… I’m going to town, come find me when you realise that’s just clay he tucked away earlier.’

Sparrow bowed even deeper to Craig, who was taking a puff of a small device with copper wire wrapped around it, when he blew out a cloud of cheese-cake scented smoke filled the air around him.

‘Forgive my companion,’ Sparrow said, ‘You are clearly a master of considerable ability. Will you teach me your ways?’

Craig looked down at Sparrow and sniffed his nose, the guy isn’t even wearing the right clothing… those rags must’ve cost, what… half a bronze? They didn’t even have a label on them…

‘No.’ Craig said, ‘I can’t teach you, this stuff is far too advanced.’

He turned and walked back into his cave, he had a new season of the manhua ‘Attack on Mt Pelorus’ to catch up on, and…

There was a shuffling sound from behind him, Sparrow, who was still bowing, had moved to his doorway.

‘Please, master,’ Sparrow said, ‘Won’t you train me? I’ll give you anything.’

Craig sighed, ‘You don’t have a limited edition Karowaha Card in your rags by any chance do you?’

Sparrow shook his head, ‘No master.’

‘Well, that’s a bummer, because that is the only reason i’d even consider taking you on board as a student.’

He picked up his manhua, which he’d placed protective cardboard on either side of.

Sparrow just shuffled closer, ‘Where might I find this Karo-ah-karowara-kar-’

‘Karowaha?’ Craig said, ‘Well the only place I know that has it is the Baranasha Kiev Collectibles Store, back in town, but beware, it’s very pricey…’

‘Very well,’ said Sparrow, getting to his feet, ‘I shall return to town and steal a karowaha for you master.’

And with that Sparrow walked out the door, grabbed Wally’s arm and flew off into the sky.

Craig stared at the spot Sparrow had flown from in shock.

‘You… you…’ he scrambled outside, just in time to see Sparrow fly across the treeline, then he gulped, and locked the door to his cave.

Sparrow returned an hour later with the Karowaha in his hand. The thing was tiny - just a card with a picture of a turtle and a bunch of statistics next to it. Whatever, he figured, it must be an aid to help my new master learn the names of things.

He touched down on the ground outside Craig’s house and knocked on the door, ‘Master? I’m back.’

No sound came from inside the cave. Sparrow frowned, ‘Master? I have your card-thingy.’

He peered at the door, it didn’t look all that strong, a tiny iron locked and a pair on hinges, all it would take is a little stonefist and…

Sparrow punched the door off its hinges. It flew back, taking out a completely unscratched suit of armour based on the light novel Krakatoa. Sparrow stepped through the door, kicking aside a 5th-century replica doll of Princess Shi-Jin. As the Shi-Jin doll cracked in half against the wall, Sparrow heard the most heart-wrenching scream.

Craig was on the floor picking up bits of his collection, tears dripped down his cheeks as he placed what had been a pristine Tamagochi in perfect health back on its shelf.

‘Why!?’ He cried, ‘Why!’

Sparrow handed him the card he’d stolen, ‘Here’s your karowaha.’

Craig, took the card, and kept balling his eyes out as he slipped it into a protective sleeve, ‘You got grime from your fingers all over it,’ he said, ‘You folded one of the corners!’

Sparrow shrugged, ‘Is it time to learn master?’

‘Time to learn!’ Craig got to his feet, ‘more like time to burn, I am about to call the name of fire on your ass… are you ready?’

‘Yeah! He’s ready.’ Sparrow and Craig spun, Zoe sat on a log outside Craig’s cave. She raised her eyes to Sparrow, ‘He’s about to show you what you’re messing with.’

Sparrow flinched and dropped into a defensive position, stone coated his body and roots dug through the base of Craig’s cave into the soil.

Craig, meanwhile was waving his hands in the air, and trying not to look too conspicuous as he threaded a tube down the sleeve of his robe.

‘Alright, you asked for it!’ Craig said, from his hand a tiny flicker of flame grew.

Sparrow stared at it, waiting for the trick… waiting for the gust of fire he was sure to unleash.

Nothing happened.

Sparrow reached out and extinguished the tiny ball of flame. Craig clicked at the thing that lit it.

‘You’re not really a cultivator are you?’ Sparrow asked.

Craig pointed at the ground, ‘You broke my stuff!’

Sparrow stared at the hoarded collectables, then at Craig, then at Zoe, ‘I think it’s time to go.’ He said.

Zoe nodded, ‘I thought that as soon as we got here, but did you listen to me? No?!’

‘Sorry,’ Sparrow grinned as he took her arm, ‘ I think sometimes I just get too excited, I wanted him to be a master cultivator so bad that I looked past the fact he was just a collector.’