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

[witchwatcher]

"Does your little aggressively alive fort have wards to keep them out or something? I only ever met one Witch who could do permanent wards. Couldn't keep the ability, either."

[light_another_life]

"I can do wards, sort of, but they're not cost efficient right now and that's not what's keeping the essence plants safe. The nodes in the immediate area are all safe now, the problem is that - nodes have a range of things that they can take from? And the range it can take from people is actually much shorter than the range it can take for something as easy and delicious as essence nodes. The glowing plants around are actually meant to tell me where nodes start eating things that are easy and delicious. Among other things. The light's useful for keeping shadow monsters from showing up and taking issue with my flowers." Pause. "And my face."

[witchwatcher]

"I should help you grow things while you try to figure out how to get me home. Am I going to have to kill shadow monsters?"

[light_another_life]

"No. It's sort of pointless, actually. They only show up at night and killing them doesn't solve anything, there will just be more of them later."

[witchwatcher]

"Alright, no killing shadow monsters. Good, killing monsters has been every day of my life for two years."

[light_another_life]

Saevetei - does not let herself wince. Nineteen was not a good age for being an experimental test subject that volunteers to die over and over again for the sake of saving the world. She doesn't have much space to judge.

"Saving the world here is actually kind of - not boring, exactly, but not extremely exciting, as long as you mind the hungry nodes."

[witchwatcher]

"I see you looking at me like that. Yeah, a lot of us don't deal with it well, but what else are you going to do? People were dying. Though, less exciting might be better for a while."

[light_another_life]

"I'm not arguing with the decision. I get it. I, of anyone, definitely don't have the moral grounds to say you're too young to save the world."

[witchwatcher]

"Glad we're in agreement. How can I help save your world?"

[light_another_life]

"I'm not sure yet, actually. I don't know if you can give nodes the essence you're pouring off, if you can - probably that."

[witchwatcher]

"That's a new one. Is there a way to test whether I can do that?"

[light_another_life]

"We can see if you emulate essence potions? Or if there's a way to siphon it off you. ... Tomorrow, though - I need to consult some people about how to handle this. Magically, I mean."

[witchwatcher]

"...Consult? With who? I didn't see anyone else in your fort."

[light_another_life]

"Oh, they're all asleep in the dream world, but I can talk to them easily enough."

[witchwatcher]

"Oh, you managed to evacuate the world when it started crumbling. Nice."

[light_another_life]

"..... No. Um. Do you not have a dream world?"

[witchwatcher]

"Uh, no? I mean, we dream, but dreams rarely make much sense and don't appear to actually mean anything."

[light_another_life]

"Oh, uh. Okay, when I sleep, I go to the dream world, and I'm conscious and myself and in a world that's a bit weird, but - it's possible to happily live in the dream world. No meaningless dreams or darkness. Everyone else that is connected to the dream world is in the same world, too. And if someone who is connected to the dream world dies, they don't - cease existing, or go somewhere living people can't follow. They're in the dream world. They can be brought back if you know how."

[witchwatcher]

Grendyne sits down.


"We can't do that. If you die, you're gone for good as far as we know. Some people say there's an afterlife called Heaven, a bit like you're describing the dreamworld, but we can't prove it either way. You're damn lucky you have a dream world."

[light_another_life]

Saevetei swallows.

That's a lot of dead people that are gone, isn't that.

"Do you want me to try to connect you to the dream world?" she asks softly.

[witchwatcher]

"Maybe we have something on my world, and we just can't tell. Maybe we don't. The black void... It would mean I really, truly have no chance of seeing my brother again. I'll have to think about that."

[light_another_life]

"Okay," says Saevetei. "... Let's go make you a bed, anyway."

[witchwatcher]

"Alright."

[light_another_life]

Saevetei goes and retrieves another essence potion, and then leads Grendyne upstairs to a library. There are many books! ... All of them are in a language Grendyne can't read.

Her host hums, figures out where the bed will go (and where Grendyne would like it to be) and then drinks the entire essence potion. She holds the netted copper thing in her left hand, and holds her right hand forward and -

Light traces its way up out of the floor, making what looks to be a bed frame, or an outline of it. It looks almost like a sketch in the world, shining and three dimensional and slowly gaining detail. The holes between lines fill in with white, and the whole thing fades a bit - shadows can form on its surface, showing the little nooks and crannies inherent in the bed. When the bed is whole, color starts bleeding into it, spreading like drops of ink in water on paper from the bottom up. The end result looks more like watercolor than an object - but the colors solidify and saturate and slowly arrange themselves to something more orderly and accurate.

And then it does look perfect, like a completely ordinary bed, with soft green sheets and a comfortable looking pillow. Saevetei lowers her hand.

"Done."

[witchwatcher]

"That was very strange to my copying-sense. I think I might be able to learn to use essence patterns with mana. Maybe. Bedtime right now, though."