I went to Badger, and told her of my intent, after having asked for protection from all directions. The tunnel she chose seemed to have a layer of leaves in it that we walked through. Soon I could see light at the end of the tunnel, and could smell salt water. She wrinkled her nose, and said she wasn't partial to salt water. She said, "Go on out, now, and I shall wait for you here."
I climbed out and was on a beach facing a great ocean. I felt my orientation was pointing east, but who knows? A dolphin met me near shore and called. "Come on, Ikka-Ri, let's go!" (Ikki-Ri is my given Dolphin name.) So I became myself as Ikka-Ri, the dolphin. We went swimming through waters reminiscent of the Caribbean. Very clear. We dove deeper and swam for quite a while. (Finally, I have learned how to do this properly, and not choke on water or try to breathe underwater.) We came to a place under the water that seemed to have been an ancient civilization -- like if Greece were underwater. There were all sorts of broken alabaster columns and statues, buildings and fountains. There was a roadway of some sort that we followed to what appeared to be the town square (so to speak). Jikker-Ki, my dolphin friend, led me over to a particular piece of sculpture. It was a sundial. But it had a permanently engraved shadow cast on it. Like I had seen in a movie when nuclear explosions caused shadows of objects and people to be imprinted on concrete walls, as the only evidence that they had existed. The shadow imprinted on the sundial was comparable to a clock reading 5 o'clock...with that area between 12 and 5 shaded in. There was some information being passed to me, but I wasn't getting the connection well. We surfaced, and I just lay there, catching my breath, warming myself in the sun. Then Jikker-Ki said, "Let's go over to the Dwarf place. Maybe there's someone who can give you more info on this."
So we swam further to what seemed east. As I got to shore, I resumed my human form, and followed the Path to their Village. I was met by an older dwarf, who seemed to be waiting for me. He had one of those carved pipes, which he was tamping down and working to get a good smoke to rise from. He had me sit down, and started talking. "You have to understand about the Call. It's like a Gong. When the Gong sounds, it echoes through all sentient beings, what you would call all 'Creation'. We don't have that term in our worldview because it is a limiting concept. All is, all was, all will be; no time-line, no beginning, no end. The term 'Creation' limits your Vision. Remember that. In any case, when the Gong sounds, when the Call is made, it echoes through all things. Unfortunately, with you Humans, it's mostly blocked. Very few of you are sensitive enough to hear it. But some do. You do. And Tee is one as well. She just has to find her own way to that awareness. She must re-visit the blinding flash she first saw. She must ask the Light, "What is your message for me?" Then, because she has been called a second time, she must ask the Cloud, "What is your message for me?" It is her Journey, not yours. This specific Call is for her. Rather, the message within the Call is specific to her. All of us hear the Call; the message is different -- each to his own Calling. Tell her that. So, okay...How do you want to return from here? You can go back with the dolphin, or you can take the Middle Earth tunnel, and just go under the water back to your land. My wife here will guide you."
So I said I'd like to go through the tunnel, but I was afraid of the dark. He said, "No mind; she's got a good lantern and this is her Calling." So I said, "Okay." His wife and I started walking through the tunnel. Her lantern made it seem like nothing more than a simple tunnel of earth that held none of the fears and anxieties that I thought it would. As we were walking, I commented on my Faery Shaman training I was going to be taking. She said, "You are already doing what they are doing." "Well", I said, "in any case I would be honored if you would accompany me on the Initiation Journey. She said, "Sure." I said, "What's your name, so that I may call you?" She said, "Smashfoot." Puzzled, I asked, "Smashfoot?" "Yeah; I got it 'cause I smashed my foot going on the wrong Journey. Now I got it right. Sometimes, that's what you got to do."
We were almost to the end of the tunnel, and I was getting ready to bid her good-by, when she added: "You know, I don't get it. You just keep going round and round and round on your Journey. Round and round your House. When you going to just go through the Door?... Talk to you later, Round-about." She chuckled, and left, as I came out of the tunnel and back to where I had started.
Journey to the Clouds for Clarification