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]

"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."

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel follows as Promise searches, mostly not talking. She casts worried looks at nowhere in particular fairly often.

[imeanforever]

Promise flies high most of the time, swooping lower to investigate springs and streams and note the locations of court architectures.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel's flight paths mostly don't follow Promise closely, though she tries to remain in sight. A few times she asks to change paths to avoid going through a mire of flight-unfriendly harmonics.

[imeanforever]

Promise doesn't mind detouring accordingly; it's not like she knows what she's looking for either.

When they get tired she finds a place to camp for the night. For herself there are local berries she identifies as edible, but Steel is still on her brought-along rations.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel's brought-along rations are starting to run low. Extended magic use burns more calories than she thought.

"I'll need a gate in less than four days, or I'll start starving."

[imeanforever]

"We could carve out a chunk of that rock face, and then put it back after you've been and gone? This is a nice enough place to wait for a few days even if it's too shady for my tree to be happy."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Thank you, let's."

She carves out a section of rock, and flattens the harmonics.

[imeanforever]

Gate.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel goes through the gate.

Half an hour later, she comes back through, bleeding. "Close the gate right now!"

[imeanforever]

Promise closes it. "What's wrong?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Things got worse back home. Way worse. Civil war. I barely climbed up the canyon wall before someone attacked me, rambling about how I didn't have a uniform so I must be rebel scum. Fuck."

[imeanforever]

"Oh no. I'm so sorry. I can put you somewhere else? If that would help?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Putting me somewhere else might help, but I don't know how big the civil war is. I just saw plumes of smoke from the city and two groups fighting. One of them turned on me after they won. Can sorcery make you invisible? I think if I'm invisible and inaudible and hide my harmonic signature I can move around safely. I want to go back and - try to help."

[imeanforever]

"Sorcery can do invisibility, yes. I haven't actually learned how yet but I could probably figure it out in flat harmonics."