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]

"I just want to make sure that you'd rather have one here than on the other coast."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"If there's only going to be one, it should be on the other coast. Or better yet, within a day's flight of wherever you end up growing your new house."

[imeanforever]

"Right."

To raftbuilding. Mostly with sorcery. Harmonics-flattened sorcery.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel helps (especially with heavy lifting), but defers to Promise on the actual design of the raft with only a little advice here and there.

[imeanforever]

Promise has never actually made a raft before, but she's shaped wood, and she thought about this on the flight over. It is not very fancy. It has some pegs on the edges to tie on the bags of objects, attach a tow line, and make it harder to roll off in one's sleep.

[sturdycoldsteel]

...Steel has a bit more experience with watercraft. She proposes lengthening it and adding weirdly-designed pontoons, which will keep it more stable, as well as enclosed compartments to protect the objects from splashing, and miscellaneous structural reinforcements.

"Yes, I know we're going to use it for all of a month or less and then abandon it. But if something's worth making, it's worth making well."

[imeanforever]

Promise doesn't object to fancying up the raft a bit.

A fairy comes by, behaves very politely, asks if they're going to the other continent, and requests that they please drop off a packet of papers at a library there upon doing so. Promise accepts and packs them up with everything else.

[sturdycoldsteel]

All in all, making the raft, talking to the fairy, and loading the cargo takes only a few hours. They're off well before sunset, with Steel sitting at the bow of the raft, telekinetically pushing it along a thin line of edited harmonics at a fairly brisk pace, almost as fast as flying.

[imeanforever]

Promise flies. They travel at the divide between the sapphire on the one side and the emerald on the other, so they'll be able to orient when they lose directional cues from sunshine.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel quietly reads some of her books, and a few of Promise's (if permission is given).

Eventually, Steel declares that it's time for her to sleep. As the raft slows down, she asks, "How long do you think the journey will take, all told?"

[imeanforever]

"Depends on the wind, if we're interrupted on the way - probably at least a week."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Good thing I can purify just about any kind of water. This raft would have been pretty cramped if I had to bring casks and cans for it. Not enough privacy to bathe, but there's cleaning spells. I'm not regretting coming with you - fairyland is still really pretty and, ironically, safer than home. Who or what might interrupt us?"

[imeanforever]

"There are sea fairies. I don't know how often they surface or whether a boat's presence would change that."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I'd be curious enough to come have a look, at least. Well, I can't say goodnight... Good weird-frozen-morning."

[imeanforever]

"Sleep well."

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel sleeps the same way she always does: Uncaring about what clothes she's wearing or what she's laying on or how bright and loud it is, lying completely still for hours and hours.

[imeanforever]

Promise tows the raft along.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel wakes up and resumes towing the boat along, more quickly than Promise can.

They could pass the whole week in the same pattern unless something exciting happens.

[imeanforever]

An ocean fairy does come up to see what they're doing, and wants to talk to them (Promise does the talking) about the news from the Queenscontinent, but then goes under the waves again without incident.

It takes them in total nine sleeps to get to the desert (where it is night), and then Promise tows the raft along the coast until the desert has given way to something more comfortably traversible.

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Are we just going to abandon the raft? I've gotten a little fond of it, honestly. Maybe someone around here could use it, we can trade or give it to them."

[imeanforever]

"We could tie it off and leave a note saying it's available to anyone who wants it? Finding a recipient would probably be more trouble than it's worth."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Right. I don't want to just sink it, though."

Steel writes such a note and attaches it to the raft when they go ashore.

"Where to now?"

[imeanforever]

"Now I look for someplace with a water source, a place to put my tree and a garden, and not too many neighbors."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"It if takes more than another few days I'll want a gate. Things weren't looking very stable when I left Telra, I want to go check on some friends."

She levitates all their stuff on a thin platform again.

[imeanforever]

"It might or might not take that long, but I can also keep an eye out for suitably obscure places to put a gate."