random pointless swirls

[sturdycoldsteel]

The shaper known as Steel is flying down the right side of a road, shoring up the edges of the bluestream that lets her lift herself off the ground as she goes. Sure, she'll be a bit clumsy and weak when she gets to Opri, but she's not planning on doing much more stream-shaping today, so might as well.

She glances at the bluestream (the magical vision blinds her physical vision for a short moment, but not long enough to crash into anything) and determines that this next crossroads is where she needs to turn. She tilts to the right...

...And lands on a patch of orange grass in a forest clearing. This is not the town of Opri. She opens her eyes and ears to the bluestream, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

The bluestream here isn't a nice, orderly, useful pattern like on the roads, or the formless fog that it usually decays to after a while. Instead it's a riot of random patterns swirling around, wispy and confused and obviously not designed to do anything useful.

Steel, deaf and blind for a few seconds thanks to her peek at the bluestream, stands very still and is very confused.

Comments

[imeanforever]

"...What happened? And is my book okay?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Your book's fine, I was holding it inside my force-shell. I wasn't careful enough with the floaty stuff you can turn water into with bluestream. It's flammable, but it shouldn't have been that flammable."

[imeanforever]

"Floaty stuff?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I haven't quite finished college yet, but high-level bluestream does a lot of, mm, matter manipulation. They can change materials around in creative ways, make stone act like a liquid for a few minutes and then put it back, that kind of thing. The thing is, you can turn water into two not-water gases, one that is flammable and likes to float, and one that is the same thing that humans need to breathe and fires need to burn. The flammable stuff exploded and ruined my desire to experiment, so this definitely won't happen again."

[imeanforever]

"Ah."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Incidentally, here's a harmonic map of that berry patch over that way."

[imeanforever]

"Thanks. This makes up for the tasty roots that used to grow here," Promise says dryly.

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Oops. I thought I'd picked a spot without anything useful."

[imeanforever]

"Maybe the roots will have partially escaped, being underground, and grow back."

[sturdycoldsteel]

She closes her eyes. "They're still alive, they're pouring a little disturbance into the bluestream. Maybe you should water and fast-grow them. Or I can try, I got fast-grow to work on a flower."

[imeanforever]

Promise goes and gets some water. "What do the harmonics look like where the roots are?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Orange Euler arcs interfacing green slow-flows... Wait, that's my notation, not yours." She waves a hand at the dirt. "Well, they're empty now."

[imeanforever]

Promise snorts and crouches near the plants.

Whoof! They sprout energetically.

"Sorcery likes blank harmonics."

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel gives a short bark of a laugh. "Yeah, we established that yesterday. I can get almost the same results in anything except dense tangles or fog, though. Is it just because of that extra unknown factor to account for, you think?"

[imeanforever]

"I don't think it's just that. I know my tree really, really well, and that just now was still markedly better results than coaxing my tree into growing faster."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Strange. Maybe I'm not good enough to get any really dramatic results from blank spots yet. Want a candied dewdrop?"

Half a second later, "Damn, sorry, they count as food, don't they. It's getting annoying to constantly be aware of that. I don't have any practice at it."

[imeanforever]

"Candied dewdrops are unusually safe - the dew is unowned to begin with and sorcerous adjustment doesn't guarantee a claim - but from a mortal to a fairy, yeah, safer not to. I can make my own. Do you like them?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"They're a convenient way to carry water. I've been purifying them first - do they taste like something if you use real dew?"

[imeanforever]

"I like them best if I get the dew off my tree, because then it tastes a little like the haws, but it's not a strong flavor."

[sturdycoldsteel]

Nod, nod. "Does the gate need to be anywhere in particular? And where will it lead? I might want to visit this place again, carefully of course. If you can put it wherever on this end I want to make an underground house-ish thing deep enough that it doesn't disturb any plants."

[imeanforever]

"I don't know where I'll put it yet, I haven't finished the gate book. But I should be able to aim it wherever you want."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"If it needs a certain kind of harmonics, well, I can do harmonics. I need to go back to my suneater circle now, though, I'm getting tired. See you later?"

[imeanforever]

"Later."

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel goes back to her suneater circle, simultaneously sleeping and eating sunlight. When she wakes up, she tries to find River, hoping to apologize for threatening her with fire.

[alicornucopia]

River is not in her house, but she's close by, picking flowers.