text: Toro gazed upon the icy lake that lay before him. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. Its waves appeared from seemingly nowhere, each rising and crashing down without any semblance of order. It stretched out far beyond any sensical measure of space, reaching out to touch the surrounding forest and weave through the ancient stones of the valley. Toro understood that this was not a lake, and yet, that is exactly how the elders had described it to him. To him he saw an enigma of a supernatural element, something that defied rationality. This marked Toro with an unmistakable sense of discomfort and a burning desire to return back through the forest and up the mountain to where he could find familiarity and the reality he knew. But despite the permanence of this feeling, he repressed it and hardened his exterior with metaphorical armour, however transparent. Toro was a boy of instinct. He never understood why this made him so different to the other children, he only knew this made him stronger. A guiding light existed within him, something that lit a path ahead that he could only dare to follow. Since when he could remember he allowed this light to take control and make his decisions. He found comfort in listening to its assertiveness. It was right. It was true. The unnerving task that Toro had been set by his elders was clear; to strip himself of his clothes, follow an abandoned stone pathway through a heavily wooded forest before finally coming to a lake some three kilometres in. The commands seemed strange to a young boy, but considering his surreal circumstances, Toro thought it best to heed the elders’ advice diligently - for otherwise he feared putting his training in peril. He especially did not understand how his clothes had any bearing on the task, but his internal thoughts deemed them unfit for further questioning. Observing the lake, Toro’s brain struggled to compute and properly receive what his eyes met, this almost induced a state of psychosis. The lake that lay before him could not possibly be real. Could it? Through the extreme cold and sheer immensity of such a body of water, Toro’s senses cried out in pain at the warning signs elicited by the water. He could only stand there in disorder. As crisis management, he looked internally. He searched for the light within but instead found a void, empty of purpose or answers. Toro - through some surge of pain - knew he needed to compel a certain aspect of his body to edge closer to the bank alongside the water. A chilling wind bit away at his exposed body, heightening his sense of vulnerability, but it was this feeling he thought better than to dwell upon. It was his training now he knew needed to prove itself. At this moment, he took a few steps forward. Careful not to physically contact the lake, Toro’s feet were now firmly planted right on the edge of the water. Chilling daggers swirled in the water, making it obvious what was now required from this point. His life felt in grave danger, yet the stars above aligned themselves in perfect formation. He closed his eyes and tried to picture strength, but instead his mind reflected images bearing fear and uncertainty. What was taking place? Where was the eternal light he usually found within? He realised this could not possibly matter now. None of it could. He was here at this moment. Something about this seemed likely destiny. With no further deliberation - Toro spread his arms like an eagle and plunged into the deep abyss. Vanquished from this earth, he began to soar. A dark ice summoned his Being and Toro finally observed the guiding light he had always followed. He thought about its meaning and about his past and future. Did the light belong to him? Or did he belong to the light? Whatever the case, it did not matter now. The two were separate Beings, but yet they had never been more at One. This was his abstraction, Toro thought. This could only be his destiny.