Panta Rhei

Uta's traveler's wagon is parked in the last stretch of grassy area just before the beach proper starts. It's a large barrel with wheels, the size of a camper. It has been 'unfolded' into its full resting form: a canvas is stretched off to one side, as a canopy of sorts. The lantern stretched out to hang outside the door, even if unlit (it is, after all, still day outside). A campfire has been set up, and there is a table and a couple of chairs for various activities.

Uta's grunty, larger than average, seems to have stolen herself a maid's outfit, a pair of fake sylph's wings (which she's wearing on her back) and a purple wig. It's off grazing somewhere in the distance.

As for Uta, she's currently standing with her feet in the water, where a river joins the sea, attempting various techniques in this particular point of conjunction; for the occasion, the Spriggan is decked in a swimsuit, of which Gwen seems to have provided her with a sizable selection; today's choice is a white one-piece affair with a single, adorable cartoon jellyfish on the front.

Unfortunately, for Jazz, Uta has talked her into helping her train with her water magic. As a Sea-Witch, she is probably the correct person to ask.

One of them.

The truth is, Jazz has had no idea what she's doing the entiure time and has thus been kind of faking it as Uta has returned from each task she's set before her. It seems to actually be working, in any event, which is a good thing because she's due to set out for the Chinese Server any day soon.

Seated at the edge of the water, Jazz appears to be drawing in her little book. Charcoal sketches, as usual, this time of the river and Uta and her camp. It's all a bit dry. Lacking artistic flair, actually. % r
...but, all the same, she's making progress. It's better than it was. Uta, however, looks more cartoonish than her surroundings. It's subtle, but there.
% "That's right. Uh, feel the water between your toes. The water and the, uh, silt," she says, absently.

Uta inhales. "The water. The silt. The toes." Eyes closed, in the most serious expression she can muster. "The natural flow. Be aware of it. Don't fight it. Flow with it," she tells herself.

She inhales, and with her eyes still shut, she begins a series of tightly controlled movements. A Karate kata, a memorized training progression to practice and internalize techniques. There is slight sloshing at the beginning, and due to Yamato's lack of pollution, one can see her feet (along with the bottom end of her wings) through the crystal-clear water. It's slow, it's subtle, but while at first the friction of water against Uta's legs and wings is obvious, as time progresses there is a subtle adjustment, where the Spriggan's movement join in harmony with the flow of the liquid; her wings stop being dragged around, and they find their groove in the current.

The moment is magical in its subtlety, and of course, Uta proceeds to ruin it. "Jazz! Jazz! I did it!", she exclaims, jumping up and down on the spot, and rushing over to Jazuhanzu. The resulting splashes are, it goes without saying, messy to say the least. "Is that good enough? Can we move on to the next exercise yet? Uh? Uh? When do I get to do the thing where I sit under a waterfall in the lotus position?"

"You've got it," remarks Jazz absentlky. She's hardly paying attention to Uta at the moment, in thatr sense. She's just letting her do her thing while she does her own thing. This is Jazz we're talking about. She gets lost in her own world at the drop of a hat, while being lost in another world that dropped her in a hat.

When Uta starts scrambling and speaking her name, however, she looks up and sees the incoming far too late. She is splashed. Her book is splashed. Everything is splashed.

"...yeah, sure, we can do that. Why not? We can find a water fall. You can sit under it for hours and meditate like a monk is supposed to. I don't see any reason not to. I mean, if we're all about the flow of water."

She glances from one side to the other before down at her art. There is a sigh.

Uta stares in excitement for a few seconds, until it finally clicks with her. "...oh. Oh. OH! Sorry! SorrySorrySorrySorry!", Uta apologizes, hands joined together and bowing multiple times with her eyes shut, in panic. "I didn't mean to ruin your masterpiece! That-" She opens one eye, tentatively, and glances at the drenched sketchbook. "-whatever it was!"

She paces about, in sheer panic. "If only I could do something to fix it! If only! I just wish I could, you know, go SCHLOOP, And-"

As she makes the 'SCHLOOP' sound, she pulls her hand and forearm back, closing them, in a motion to symbolize sucking.

And lo and behold, unexpected, all the water which was drenching Jazz's sketchbook seeps out of it, and flows up to Uta's hand as she makes the pulling motion, so that she ends up grasping a fistful of liquid.

There is a look of surprise on Uta's face, and from that point on, well, things don't go as well. She shrieks and jumps backwards, the liquid falls in a single mass to the ground below, and Uta stands there staring down in disbelief, rubbing her hand.

When it finally dawns on her what happened, she asks, "...Did I just do that- wait, is that the girl from the menu?" She asks, and juts her head forward, almost certainly invading Jazz's personal space, to take a better look at her now dried piece of art.

"... I wouldn't worry about that. It was hardly a ma---" and then the pages, at least, are dry, if the charcoal having run. "I mean, I was going to dry those later, but thank you all the same. Hey, that's actual progress. Yes, you did that. Gathering water from the air, or other sources, is entirely useful! At least it means never dehydrating in the desert. Much."

Her tentacles wiggle a little. At least her lessons seem to be helping somehow. "All right," she says, finally getting to her feet. "Let's test something. I want you to do that again. But this time, when I'm hurtling a spray at you."

...and then there is a BLAST OF WATER GOING STRAIGHT AT UTA.

Uta's eyes go wide, she tries to react, but the blast is too quick.

She's pushed backward and goes tumbling; she scrambles to steady herself, the jet of water causing her to cough, splutter and almost choke. Eyes closed, hair drenched, she teeters to the point where she barely stands, and manages to utter, "WATER. Why does it always have to be WAT-Oh, right. I'm training in it."

More sputtering, and she finally resumes a stance of martial readiness (or, at least, as decent an approximation as being in the trajectory of a massive column of water allows), she jumps in the air, performing an aerial kick-flip, and attempts that technique again.

The jump, which would have taken her out of the trajectory of the blast, but thanks to her technique, she's now attracting part of that blast to herself. "HORIZONTAL WATERFALL!", she exclaims, during the brief respite from semi-drowning her leap allows.

And SPALSH, she falls into the main waterfall again, and she's pushed back a good distance again.

The first blast impacts and Jazz clucks her tongue in disappointment. "Uta, we talked about this!" For about three seconds. The warning wasn't great.

Still, the second blast follows the first blast that leaves her drawing it towards her as she did and Jazz sort of continues doing so until Uta is carried further back more from her own antics than anything she's doing.

"...well," she says, as the water runs out, "...I can see you still have a very long way to go."

By now Uta is on her hands and knees, sputtering, dripping. "I suppose you are right, Jazz..." the Spriggan concedes, and proceeds to rub her eyes

"AUGH! SAND!", she exclaims. Without even noticing, a blast of fresh water departs from her hands, which rinses her eyes.

"...thanks Jazz, that hit the spot." Apparently, she's not aware she did it herself.

"..."

Jazz just sort of stares at Uta for a long moment. Her tentacles twitch. Her eyes, they close.

She raises her hand and tiredly runs her fingers down her face.

"I wish that I could take the credit for it but it seems you're coming along. You ... blasted yourself, Uta. Right in the face. Very good. At least that means you're, you know, coming along... I guess?" She shrugs, hair falling in waves over her shoulders and then the tips of it lifting at the end, wafting behind her idly.

"It'll do."

Uta peers through slitted eyes as rivulets of water trickle down her cheeks. "I... what?" She lifts her open palm, and looks down at it, suspicious. She even cocks her head and cranes her neck to pull it away by the slightest amount. She gives her forearm a slight push, and as she does so, she balls her fingers in a fist and opens them again.

Another blast of water leaves her hand, and blasts her in the face.

Sputtering ensues, and Uta exclaims with ecstatic annoyance, "I have become my own shower!"

It's a testament to the nature of the Sea-Witch that she does not laugh. She just sort of stares at Uta for a long moment before nodding, solemnly.

"My work here is nearly done, but there is yet more you must learn, Uta." She clears her throat, clearly considering her next words carefully.

"There is a great test that lays ahead of you." Figure it out, Jazz, don't write checks your mouth can't cash when you're offering Uta a test!

Uta sputters, scrambles to stand, recovers from teh accidental self-shower. She parts her hair in front of her eyes, and leaning forward, she asks. "...a test? I..." She shrinks a little, her weight shifts from one leg to the other. "...I doubt it consists in writing an essay, does it?"

"... I mean, it could. You could write me an essay on the shape of water but I'd be wondering why how you knew about the Wonder Twins."

Jazz shrugs her shoulders and then flicks her tentacles over her shoulders. Then twine into her hair, braiding with it.

"No, Uta. I want you to do something. I have placed something under the water. I will give you a map. I want you to dive and get it."

She brings her arms across her chest. "You won't be able to do it unless you've mastered a little diving magic since, you know, you either won't go fast enough or your air won't last long enough. Presumably." She points a finger at her.

"Once you have retrieved this item, you will need to locate me in the Palace Lands."

Uta focuses all of her attention onto Jazuhanzu's instructions.

And as soon as the Undine is done, Uta blinks and- hey, look, it's a crab. It's the most interesting, thing, ever!

Uta follows it until it reaches the sea. She even pokes it with a stick as the little creature hesitates before diving in.

"Right!", exclaims Uta, straightening up all at once. "Diving! Yes!" She rushes back to Jazuhanzu, and sheepishly extends one hand to receive the map. "I assume the drawings on the map will wash out if I take too long, correct?"

"...yes, of course. You have to hurry, Uta." Jazz nods, solemnly. They totally won't but Uta making things harder on herself is perfectly fine with Jazz.

"Tonight, however, you must stay under the waterfall."

"You know the one," she adds.

A pause. Uta will find one. This is much easier than her trying to pick one of the ones she's mapped already.

"The one with the grotto? And the conveniently levigated rock underneath? In the ridiculously scenic setting, perfect for a wide establishing shot before you cut to the one sitting underneath and training? That one?" Slight hesitation. "...of course you mean that one. What else?" She mumbles, as if chastising herself (which she probably is), but one can already tell by how her wings suddenly spring up and spread, and how they flutter, that she's all excited at the prospect. "Will do Jazz! Thanks! Thank you a lot for what you're doing for me! I will never forget it, ever! And I hope, one day, to be able to pay it back!", she exclaims, with a wide smile, before running off-

-towards the sea. Another crab! The most interesting thing ever!

"Hmmhmm. Yes. That one, Uta. Very good. Go do that," says Jazz.

... maybe now she can get back to her drawing...