The endless waste

[aestrix]

Once, this planet teemed with life. It doesn't do that, anymore. The ground is dry and cracked and occasionally broken up by charred remains of trees. There are no birds, no bugs, no living plants - nothing but an empty, endless waste.

With one exception.

But the world is so very big, and the exception so very small. If someone showed up away from it, they could be quite forgiven for thinking this world is completely dead.




with Sable (Kappa)

with Aisilian (Link)

with Grendyne (Rockeye)

with Temple (Curiousdiscoverer)

Comments

[light_another_life]

Giggle. "All right. I will go do - general magical householdy chores. I should also get you some kind of bed."

[greatestgift]

"I brought beds! But I do need a place to put one, yes."

[light_another_life]

"Hmm. I didn't really build the place with a space bedroom in mind... Do you mind if I put you in my library?"

[greatestgift]

"Not at all."

[light_another_life]

"Then I'll put you there. Though, until I get you a translation poppet you won't be able to read any of them."

[greatestgift]

"I'm sure I'll survive."

[light_another_life]

Snort. "All right. And while I'm housekeeping I can get you food. Any food preferences? Or do you want me to show you the kitchen and let you grab whatever you like?"

[greatestgift]

"Anything you have will be different from the extremely limited selection of things I've been eating for the last ten years and therefore almost certainly delicious."

[light_another_life]

"Ha. Okay then. I'll get you something. What were the things that were in the extremely limited selection? I can avoid them."

[greatestgift]

"Please no duck, rabbit, blueberries, mushrooms, or fish."

[light_another_life]

"I do not actually have half of those things. Not easily, anyway. I think we'll be fine. Be back in a little while. Call if you need me."

Off she goes, to do housekeeping things and fetch food.

[greatestgift]

And Sable perches on the walls, ready to shine bright lights on the shadow creatures should any appear.

[aestrix]

There is a shadow over there that twitches.

And then it starts seeping in a Sable-ward direction.

[greatestgift]

Sable expands her Last Prism to its full size, aims the glowing pyramid at the shadow, and calls on its magic.

There is quite a lot of bright light, in flickering colourful beams that swirl and dance, kicking up a rainbow of sparks where they rake the ground.

[aestrix]

The shadow makes a faint hissing sound as it dies. It lingers longer than an ordinary shadow, a spot of black that shrivels and smokes in the bright light, but it soon shrivels away to nothing.

Well. That was easy, wasn't it?

[greatestgift]

Yes it was. How convenient.

[light_another_life]

Others show up, creeping along the edges of the light. They die just as easily.




And here is the lady of the house, carrying a plate of food that contains zero duck, rabbit, blueberries, mushrooms, or fish!

"Here you are," she says, and she offers up the plate.

[greatestgift]

"Thank you! The Last Prism kills shadow creatures very handily."

Nom nom food.

[light_another_life]

"Oh, good. That's useful. Probably makes night runs possible, though I wouldn't be able to feed nodes essence potions that often - they take some time and effort to make." She flies up to the wall to sit and eat. Her own food's less extravagant than Sable's, but she doesn't particularly seem to care. Nom, nom.

[greatestgift]

Sable is highly enthusiastic about the food.

[light_another_life]

Sable's host seems quietly happy about this. She nibbles at her own banana nut bread, vaguely smug.

"It's weird to have company in the material world now," she observes.

[greatestgift]

"How long have you been going like this?"

[light_another_life]

"Mmm. Sort of lost track, if I'm honest. There's just no reason to measure the time." She stops to estimate and convert time to appropriate units. "... Thirty-something years? Ish? Not very long, but I couldn't actually say it's been short, either. And I still have a long way to go."

[greatestgift]

"Well, that's longer than I was all alone in a hostile world, so good for you holding up this well."

[light_another_life]

Shrug. "Thank you. I'm not really alone, though. I mean, I am physically, but not when I'm asleep. I can talk to everyone that's asleep in the dream world, wander about, make friends, exchange book recommendations, get lessons in magic. It's lonelier than I'd like, but I can't accurately say I'm alone."