It was midday; the time where the sun shone the brightest. July was happy and excited while June was content with her name.

Black smoke swirled around the little panda and in an instant, he turned back into his human form. July suddenly grinned from ear to ear. After transforming back, June was naked. Usually, Boa would dress him, but now, such a thing was impossible.

A mischievous urge rose inside of July. “Well, well, well, you’re looking mighty fine right now little June.” July’s grin and tone made June feel uncomfortable. He hurriedly covered his body with his small hands in embarrassment but only his little willy was covered. It was a good thing but a bad thing at the same time.

July laughed at his embarrassment. She had her fair share of fun for the time being.

“Say, little June, who exactly are you? A talking panda and this transformation can only lead me to think that you’re a mystical beast. Only, such a young mystical beast shouldn’t be able to transform.” She was very curious at June’s circumstances. This type of curiousity was like a curiousity where one would show for a mysterious toy.

June replied, “ Father said that I was from a far away place. That I was from a higher realm. Father doesn’t know why I can transform at a young age so I don’t know either.”

His tone grew solemn when he mentioned Boa. Hearing the tone of his voice, July knew that she shouldn’t pry any further but she couldn’t help herself.

“Then, do you know what kind of mystical beast you are?” she reluctantly asked.

It was silent for a moment and this silence made July nervous. “Maybe I asked of too much” She thought.

Before she could say anything, June replied, “ Heavenly Yin-Yang panda. It was in a book I read.”

His book of inheritance made June remember Boa and how it was his fault that Boa had ascended early, but it also made him remember cultivation. To get his mind off of Boa, June wanted to cultivate.

“July, i’m going to cultivate.” He was in a bad mood and July noticed. “O-ok, have fun” she said sheepishly. Seeing June walk away, July let out a laugh. Even in such a moment, June was naked so when he walked away, his buttocks moved left and right. This was what made July laugh.

Upon hearing her laughter, June’s mood worsened and he ran as he covered his buttocks.

“Bully!” he shouted as he ran. July smiled and went back towards the pond. There, she sat on a rock and swung her foot in the water. Her mind was slowly drifting to a different place.

June ran until he reached the point where the trees stood. It was about five meters from the pond. He looked back and saw the back of July. “Such a bully” he thought.

Before cultivating, he set off to make something to cover himself. He tried to connect the vines and leaves to create something that would cover the lower area of his body. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make one. In the end, he was left naked and tired.

By the time he started to cultivate, three hours had passed. The sun was steadily falling and it started to get a bit chilly. June sat down and relaxed his mind. He began to feel out the elemental Qi around him. Soon, he found the strands of water and fire Qi that were around him.

He directed the water Qi towards his heart and at the same time, he also directed the fire Qi to his stomach. Once the water Qi entered his heart, June lost his emotions but when the fire Qi had entered his stomach, he returned to normal. The fire Qi in his stomach ignited his emotions while the water Qi took them away. They counteracted each other in order to create balance.

The next step was to guide the two different type of Qi’s towards his dantian.

When June tried to guide the water Qi, it didn’t bulge. It stayed in his heart and was unresponsive. This situation made June quite confused. “Maybe i’m doing something wrong” he thought.

After a few minutes of failure in moving the water Qi, June decided that he would try with the fire Qi first. Fortunately for him, the fire Qi moved and entered his dantian without any problems. “The fire Qi is moving... Why can’t the water Qi move?” pondered June.

He went back to the water Qi in his heart and tried to move it again. What awaited him was failure as the water Qi was unresponsive. The water Qi disappeared from his heart when he left it unattended. June was stressed and worried for his cultivation. He didn’t have a teacher that could guide him. It was all up to himself to progress.

Without any ideas or choices, June continued to cultivate with Fire Qi. Feel the Qi, gather it, then guide it into the dantian. He repeated this process many times until his stomach couldn’t handle anymore fire Qi going in and out of it. By doing this, not only would his cultivation grow, but his stomach would grow stronger.

What June didn’t know was that when he was using water Qi unconsciously, his path of balance was disrupted when he didn’t use fire Qi to cultivate too. His dantian had more water Qi than fire Qi, so until there is enough fire Qi to match the water Qi, it wouldn’t accept any more water Qi. Luckily this balance could be restored, otherwise, June would have not been able to cultivate ever again.

When he opened his eyes, a great hunger overtook him. The sky was dark and filled with stars. It was already night before he knew it but that wasn’t his concern for now.

His belly was in need of food and the only person he could go to for help was July. Luckily, the hunger he felt was substantially less than the last time he had cultivated with his stomach. Otherwise, he would have already passed out from such hunger.

June ran back to where July was. He stopped when he saw her. She was still sitting on a rock above the water. Her feet were still waving back and forth. June saw her back and he found it to be lonely.

“July!” he called out to her. July turned around with an unexpected bright smile on her face. “June!” she called back.

June ran towards her slowly. He stopped with a pant as he asked, “do you have anymore food?”

“Food? There are more Dai fruits, but at this rate, they’ll be gone by tomorrow” July said with a laugh.

July stepped down from her sitting place and walked towards the tree with the apple-like fruits. She walked back to June when she was done picking them.

“Here, a batch of Dai fruits for the little fat panda” said July as she gave the fruits to June. He squinted his eyes at her in dissatisfaction but the fruits were worth too much and in the end, he took them. It took a bit of time for him to munch on these apple-like fruits, but when he was done he burped in satisfaction. Although it didn’t quite fill him up, it was better than nothing. “Here.” July handed him a skirt made a leaves with a vine holding them together. It was what June was trying to make earlier.

“We don’t want our little panda to be naked all the time right?” said July. June took the leaf skirt and put it on. There was a breeze but it covered him and that made him happy.

July stood at by his side with a grin hanging on her face. “Were the Dai fruits delicious?” she asked.

“Yes! Thank you…” June’s voice trailed off. A few days ago this scene happened. Only, Boa was there instead of July. When he remembered Boa, June became gloomy.

With a sigh, June climbed the on the rock that July was sitting on earlier. He sat down and wrapped his hands around his knees to get warm. It was a cold night. He looked towards the sky with a frown on his face.

The sudden change in his mood made July worried. She followed him and sat besides him. Fortunately, the rock was big enough to fit two people. She looked at June and she felt like this was the first time that she had truly seen him. He was a bit plump but she was mesmerized by how his black sleek hair contrasted with his bright and handsome young face.

She had an urge to tousle June’s hair because of how cute he was but she stopped herself when she saw his downcast face.

July bent down and whispered into June’s ears, “What is our little panda looking at? The stars?” June slowly shook his head.

“Oh, is our little panda looking at the moon then? We definitely have a beautiful moon out tonight.”

June shook his head again but this time he replied as he pointed towards the starry sky.

“Father is up there.”

July was curious, so she asked, “Why is he up there?”

June said nothing and it was quiet for the longest time. “It's my fault” started June. His voice was shaky. “It’s my fault that he's up there!” cried June. He quickly drove his head in his knees but July saw his eyes and how they quaked. She knew that he was trying to hold back his tears.

She reached her hands out and softly patted his back. This comforting sensation caused June to look up at her. “Why are you trying to not cry. Tears will wash away your pain” said July.

June looked at the sky again and bit his lower lip. “Father said that men should not cry. That I should be strong.”

July laughed as she exclaimed, “Fool! Tears don’t make you weak. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or woman, young or old, strong or weak. Tears don’t discriminate either, so go cry your eyes out.”

The hand on his back felt warm and her voice gave him comfort. His body trembled and he cried as he lunged into July’s arms. The rivers of tears didn’t bother July at all as she held June in her arms.