The Weight of Souls and Eight Heartbeats (Witch)

Content Warnings:

SOUL TALKS! Um.... a BEEEG game of tag! Um.... wibbles? And MAYBE some wribbles?

“This… How, by the Cracked and Riven Moon, is this so… so difficult?” I grumble, more to myself than anyone without as I glare at the withering patch of plants before me.

Four days of rest since Xafra's freeing from the Garrote, and now we've decided to head out after Rufus’s letters and the Root Way town his old Cadre is stationed in. Krahe was left behind to send messages to and from the Estate. And... Xafra’s trying to teach us all how to consume Ousia from the vibrant and plentiful jungles along our path.

The Blasenplage, only due to my obsessive need to make it as efficient as possible and mud godling gifted Glyph, make trying to consume more Ousia easier. But… only barely. And only when I cascade the working into killing a cluster of plants so the cost to cast it all balances out.

Plants are worth less than breathing things, and dead things ever more so, of course. And I’d take the problem to be one of Ousia weight and such. Mayhaps even consider it like any muscle that needs time and nourishment to grow. But…

Lynette chuckles and reaches out to easily gobble up the Ousia and Physis of the dying garden. Even begins to nibble on some living things' edges with a crackling of our tendrils. Easily consuming more than I’ve been able to or will be able to in an hour’s time in a few seconds.

“Adaline, wife. If this turns out to be something you master quicker than me once I get you some of the Breath I’ll be ever so cross.” I huff to the gerl crouching by my side, but let Lynette’s mirth touch my grumpy tone.

Xafra is a wonderful teacher. And even now is guiding all three of the spirits within my Doll to consume their fill. Verbess and Schatzi struggled for a bit, but their talons, efficient focus, and lithe speed grants them easy feasting. As for Warden…

"Suspicious. Warden believes this task to be effortless. Yet Pack sisters and Users are not seeing similar results." Warden comments as it devastates precise square swaths of jungle in front of it, extracting the Ousia into itself despite lacking the physicality of its sisters to cut the plants.

Xafra chuckles softly, but refrains from comment.

"It does make this seem ever so easy. Hmmm... I wonder..." Lynette murmurs, seems to... shift something. Not in a way I can feel inside our flesh but... can taste the echo in our energies. I begin to nudge her for an explanation, but she's focused elsewise before...

{Blasenplage} She thinks through our Glyph. Reaving more of the life before us away that we will be able to consume before the Ousia and Physis melt away. Turning it to naught but ash and the invisible silhouettes of the energies.

I'm about to chide her but... Then she strides us forward and effortlessly begins to pull it all into our core. Even devoting more Physis to our tendrils to reach out farther than we'd normally feel balanced with.

"Well... isn't that a mystery solved?" She very nearly cackles in feasting mirth while I go still in awe, our Wellspring suddenly a decade more vibrant than before. Then Lynette turns us back to regard the others. "I always wondered what the Threads meant by that unit of measurement. But it's... what did you call it? The day you first saw me within our Elevar? Ontological Weight? Not Ousia or Physis or Nomos but... all those and more? The Estate calls it Wairua and did a horrid job of giving me context of why it mattered."

"I honestly wasn't certain who would figure it out first. Yes, you're correct. Wairua seems like a good shorthand for Ontological Weight. It is a phenomenon that acts as a force multiplier for techniques that involve asserting one's conception of reality over what exists. The old Chain Arts, the atavistic Garrote, were one such, as is the resheathing ritual, though that can be done by anyone who knows the ritual as Dämmerung themselves operate the process." Xafra explains.

"But why is..." I look to Warden. "Age? Or... a being constructed and laded with thoughts as opposed to born or brewn empty? And Warden already knew about at least the idea of the Siphon you gifted my Doll. So it stands to reason that it would be ready and able to wield this all with efficiency. Which... I suppose that might apply to Lynette. But... I'm not sure... oh."

Lynette nods, "Yes. The Estate seems to be able to help me channel it better as well. But... the farther we get the less it will do that. Unless... well, if the unless comes to pass we've probably found ourselves in a horrid mess. But I'm still much better at this than you without it's help."

I huff and look to Xafra. "Please tell me there are tricks you can impart to make me at least competent before we return home from this trip?"

"There are a few ways but I'm not certain about shortcuts or tricks. Knowledge is a big one, as is Renown though that's more temporary typically. The other main way is Ego, like not arrogance, but knowing oneself deeply and your capabilities. That part usually increases more with time naturally."

"That... Moonshite." I sigh and glare back at the mess of ash. "Well, at least Lynette can do it well."

Certain that Myself is not a wise thing for anyone to be exploring the mess of. Especially as we're about to venture out into a world that I have to be...

Well, Someone else. A person I've not considered. Much less with the gerl watching my messy thoughts with a smirk and... Yes, stupid Half-Knit! I can feel your insufferable smugness! Stop it!

Lynette grins while we begin to work to melt the space between. End our Division.

"I'll practice while we move." I murmur. "Traveling through the jungles will cut our journey in half, if I'm not too slow."

Which... Well at least that brings a grin to our lips. We've not gotten to test our endurance and motion Glyph. The second thing the dirt godling wove for us…

"Sounds reasonable. Working in unison, you two should be able to do more, and if you're able to master my Pestherold it should increase your efficiency more, as it uses your Blasenplage only as a cutting edge instead of destroying everything." Xafra responds.

"That's actually a wonderful idea." We agree while beginning to move. "We've dabbled in it. Mostly to inspect the alterations and considerations of your Einwandfrei from the source. But it really is a brilliant twisting of the original concept. Knitting in specific places to cleanse instead of the cascading effect that consumed from the point of origin. The only note we had was this it requires constant focus as opposed to the Blasenplage's only needing fuel and little adjustments once unleashed. But... hmmm..."

We consider that for a few moments. Letting our pride and past enjoyment of examining her creation freely pass to her through the bond. "We never expected to even consider teaching another any of our workings. It's impressive how you took the spirit of the Blasenplage and refined it. Kept the core concept and wove something different yet... equal. An improvement on something with so few flaws. What were your goals when reweaving it? Thoughts and ideas and inspirations?"

"It was..." she pauses for a moment, and offers a look of chagrin. "I thought a lot about what you said regarding creating Blasenplage, both verbally and in the documentation, and recalled Jezrial's obsession with sanitization before any surgical procedures, and realized that if I targeted the outer edge of my Ousia field, my aura, I could maintain it as a continuous casting. My goals were primarily to increase the efficacy of my tendrils while in my spearform or in the Grakler prosthesis, as they lacked the capacity for direct damage. The constant focus requirement is only initially, as most aren't as used to manipulation their aura passively. Once it becomes second nature, you can in effect cloak yourself in the Pestherold and use your Ousia to attack without expenditure past the minor upkeep."

Nodding, we can't help but smile along with her words as we walk. Verbess moving to take up the front and expertly slice and cut away the foliage so this leisurely pace goes unimpeded. "We're glad we asked. The spell seemed too... mentally intense, for practical use. And it was obvious we were missing something. Have been chewing on it between projects since you gifted the research notes. But it makes sense now. Especially once we consider the Wairua you must have. Never even read about beings other that Sun-Blessed being able to manipulate themselves like you do. It's impressive. And would be terrifying. Except... well..." One of our own Physis tendrils reaches out to poke and nip at the edges of her. "We got to taste just how soft and sweet you prefer to be, and quite enjoy when you consider rougher endeavors."

"Adorable. Interesting process too. All these concepts that affect us and the world around us, kept hidden away. Allagaí, Empty Nomos, Fractal Glyphs, Dream Gardens, Wairua, the power of nomenclature, there's so very much much to learn." Adaline murmurs as she works on making ethereal glyphs and compounding them while walking.

We can't help but giggle at that. At the reminder of what else we wanted to test while in these jungles.

"Speaking of which..." We murmur, glancing back at her with a grin. "Wanted to ask you, Adaline. We saw you out and about with Verbess and Krahe the other day. Testing Frame limits? Did you... Oh, how did I hear it put... ever get to go full tilt? I know Verbess hasn't for many years, and Krahe wants to. But... their limits would be a bit messy to start with. Especially within the confines of the Estate's grounds."

Our Doll keeps its pace, but Quills twist to thrum in curiosity at this sudden shift in topic.

Adaline gives us an odd look, and the misstep is obvious when she responds, "I've only been outside the Estate once since my conversion, and with my confinement..."

We nod, pause our walk and move to stand before her. "We... thought Verbess might have asked you to try some things out when it was running about the Estate with Krahe. Pulled you into some tests between your work and projects. Gauged your Frame's abilities. But this... this seems a wonderful opportunity. If I could entice you into a... bit of a challenge? A chance to try out your form's limits?"

Xafra giggles as Adaline smugs, "I'm always up for a challenge."

"Excellent." We smirk. "It's simple, really. We'd like to see if you can catch us before we reach the Root Way we're heading toward. No magical enhancements. No tricks. No hiding. Purely a test of your Frame and our forms agility and speed. If we put up at least a hint of a challenge, then we'll try to do the same to you."

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The bond oozes with desperate ravenous desire as Adaline's face stills and she nods.

We shrug out of our outer layers, unhook the belted pack we'd assembled for this trip. Leaving us only in a pair of shorts, short-sleeved top, and knitting needle secured on our back hip as we pass the bundle to Verbess. Then we take to cracking joints, flexing muscles, and letting our scales... do something strange as we stretch ourselves a bit. "Feel free to use the Quill song to keep track of me. Wouldn't want you to get lost." We taunt as we finish, moving to consider the path forward.

Without Verbess’ work cutting and slicing a path it'll be crowded with growths. But... the little advantage our knowledge of what plants will break and bend easily will balance out with Adaline's extra strength. But we need to see if our suspicions about Dämmerung's Resheathing of us did the most important shifting we wanted. Made us a Witch worthy to hold Xafra in combat. And if we can't even keep pace with a Combat Doll without our Glyph or magic, the dirt godling failed and we'll need to consider Fleshcrafting arts to gain what we need...

We smirk and look between our Doll and Xafra. "We'll trust you both to loose your Pack Sister after we've gotten enough of a head-start to make this at least a bit of a challenge for her?”

"Certainly. Ten heartbeats?" Xafra offers.

Adaline starts to limber up, stretching out her joints and wiggling her fingers. "Sounds reasonable."

"Hmmm..." We grin, glance over our Pack. "Make it eight, wouldn't want to be too unfair to this youngest Pack Sister."

Then we turn and dash away into the jungle toward our destination.

We were worried that this would be a poor test. Any new vigor and speed this form had dulled by the mess of growths and nonsense within the jungle. But... No. Actually. With a simple adjustment to our eyes, and knowledge about the growth patterns, we're able to easily find the best route and cut our way through. Only resort to a quick boiling away of a few odd croppings of ravenous thorned bushes that cut a swath through the jungle and would otherwise force us to double back.

We're not quiet, but nor are we loud enough to miss the sounds behind us of our pursuer after thirty heartbeats of running at half-tilt. Adaline's Quills thrumming a lovely little tune of pursuit, excitement, sprinted with annoyance that we can't help but grin and giggle at through our well-paced breaths. Because... well, she doesn't know these jungles. And all her Frame's wonderful speed is worth little when so much underbrush clogs her path to us. Makes us want to take a Root Way back just to see how our forms compare on equal footing...

We let our tendrils titter and cackle loudly. Echoing our taunting glee back at her as she begins to adapt and follow our trail better. Quickly learning which plants can be pushed aside and which need to be avoided...

Closer and closer and closer. Up until we find another one of those thorn walls and have to hesitate just before...

Adaline pounces towards us, not seeing the thorn wall, and as we duck around it she smashes directly into it with an irritated hiss followed by a series of scrabbling sounds. We’d already started a little Blasenplage weaving to rot us a path through, and leap forward. Letting our tendrils click with delight at how… how natural that felt! Adaline came at us fast as a bolt loosed from a crossbow and we dodged her on very nearly reflex!

We keep running. Building up speed as we barely even have to consider the underbrush now. The sound of Adaline’s Quills begins to get farther away, more than we expect with the lead we're building up again. But…

{Is Adaline alright?} We intone through the bond to Xafra as only the latent echoes of Quill song titter around us. Letting ourselves slow a touch to listen for the sound of fast approaching Frame. Confident that if she’s taken to stealth then she’d still have quite the distance to cover if not running at top speed and a quick check in being more than reasonable. {We don't hear her behind us. Did she stumble into something odd back in those thorns?}

[She's fine, you should move faster if you can, she decided to play to her strength and go directly upwards.] Xafra responds.

Our tendrils go still as we picture the way Verbess loves to hunt. And how the Pack so easily will be sharing skills and ideas on how best to consider prey and environment through their Quill Songs.

We can't help but cackle aloud at that, the brumbles that crawl up our spine, and... and the very real understanding that Adaline will never feel alone in her endeavors so long as her Quills dance to her Pack's tune.

Then we're really pushing forward. Using more and more weavings of Blasenplage than before to let our form reach higher and higher speeds as the jungles boil away before us. Not our fastest but... If Adaline's Frame is even a third as capable as Verbess' at treetop motion and ambushes We have, perhaps, about ten heartbeats before she's–

With a thunderous crack of shattering tree limbs, she smashes down two metres behind us with a giggle, before immediately leaping back upwards into the canopy to race above it.

We avoid stumbling in surprise, keep running. Realize that the crack of the trees will have to be our call to dodge. Because she... She either only just barely miscalculated or... well... that was a test. More likely a playful taunt.

Well... nothing to do now but give her a troublesome target and see if our own reflexes are up to the task of getting us out of the way at the barest hint of her strikes!

End all castings and take to a slower speed, beginning to use the underbrush as cover. Hopefully let any misaimed lunges leave her tangled up as we keep twisting and jerking our path in erratic patterns. Adding more and more things for her to need to consider before launching down after us.

The sounds of Quills trail off even more as Adaline seems to match stealth for stealth, the jungle falling near silent around us. The quiet continues for longer than we expect, causing us to reach out once more to Xafra. Beginning to intone {Are–}

But… a sudden impact takes us from our feet and sliding through the underbrush.

"Gotcha!" Adaline exclaims with exuberance at the end of our tumble.

“Moonshite. Slowing let you go quiet on us. We lost the tell. Should have kept moving at speed. Trusted our reflexes.” We growl and giggle. “But... Well done. Excellent timing.”

"Thank you. And yes, you did very well, I would have struggled a lot more to get you if you didn't slow down, since I have no real ability to navigate the jungle itself." Adaline responds with a big hug.

We return her easy embrace and let the moment stretch longer than it would have a week ago.

These past few days have been... well, wumberful. As Schatzi likes to say it. Too short, but perfect. Working closely but... honestly lazily with Adaline on Glyphs and other tests, monitoring Xafra's network, and just... watching everyone settle into a peaceful pattern. Being so often near or even surrounded by our Pack has eased something. A twitch or itch we didn't realize was there until it quieted. It could be our new tendrils that always seem to dance and titter along with the songs they sing, but... feels deeper than that.

Because I even fell into a rest without a night terror haunting me once. It was short, and while I'm still uncertain that I actually drifted off while sitting with Adaline in our study... even Lynette insists. Because Schatzi was on the other side of the grounds and we've tried to be careful about unannounced drops into Xafra's Driftdream.

"So," We loosen our grip and slump back. "Your turn. Or our turn. Whichever. We're going to catch you. But..."

Glance past her, up into the treetops.

Could... could we follow her up there?

Flex new talons and hooked toes. Consider our speed, agility and general abilities.

"You've got this. Watch how I move and see what you can incorporate." She responds before giving us a quick kiss on the forehead and climbing up the nearest tree.

"Alright..." We breath, taking in her movements. Careful not to get distracted, at all, by how gorgeously her Frame moves and twists and flexes. Very much not needing to knit in the mental images of how it will feel to pounce and pin her after a chase through the trees to get us cracked free from a hesitation of enjoyment and moving again.

We were always well-toned from constant trips about the Root Ways. But... upper body strength is definitely a new thing to adjust to having in abundance. Because while we absolutely do begin climbing this big tree at good speed. We... lack the balance and understanding of the general... like... technique of the process!

"Thank the Cracked and Riven Moon we don't need to worry over our bones snapping from a fall." We murmur just as we get up into the general canopy. Look about to find Adaline crouching comfortably on a large branch a tree away from us. "Alright. Let's... see if we can make this worth your time."

Then we coil our legs, adjust, and leap. Not even at Adaline. Mostly to see if we can even make it to her tree.

And... before we realize our mistake we've passed her and are tumbling toward the next tree. First grab for a branch misses, but in our downward arc we manage to tangle ourselves about a growth and pull ourselves up and rightways. Take three deep breaths and work to steady our slightly over excited heart.

"That..." We giggle, look up. Do a little messy calculation, then leap. Miss our first target but manage to even catch and stabilize on a branch past it. Look about for Adaline with a grin. "Oh… this is going to go so poorly."

"Possibly, but it'll be fun." She calls from above.

With a grin we hop up to the cluster of branches she’s perched upon. Let tendrils rattle in anticipation and challenge while our eyes lock with hers. “Eight Heartbeats.”

She grins and begins to move.

We watch her climb higher and higher until we see her bend the tip of a tree back and use it to launch herself above the canopy, spreading out flaps under her arms we hadn't noticed her add to the outfit, and using them to glide a surprising distance before landing on another and doing it again.

“Oh! Isn’t that clever…” We murmur while coiling our legs tight. Take a deep breath as the final heartbeat passes. Then leap.

Don’t look down.

Not because it would scare us. We’ve needed to let Verbess carry us through more interesting places over much more dangerous grounds. But because we’re moving too fast for it to do anything but offset our aim and balance.

And with how much focus we still need to adjust our eyes to find our mark quickly…

Miss our first target, catch on a branch three of our height down but farther along. Scramble up, quick as lightning. Coil again. Leap. More upways than before. These jungles are thick and there are plenty of spots to find our footing. In fact…

Stop using our hands. Need speed to keep up with our blue butterfly.

Just… run. Leap in small bounds. Stride as fast as we can. Like we once did as a child hopping across the raised branches above the Wasteways of our Grove.

We’re losing her. Only caught a glimpse of Adaline through the branches three heartbeats ago.

Faster.

Don’t think.

Eyes forward and upways and ignore all the nonsense!

One of us remains mingled but… begins to consider the numbers. Uses our heart's steady beat as measurements. Calculate as the other only did when in the depths of furious despair that we were about to lose everything.

But ignore those memories! If we divide now we WILL leap headfirst into a tree!

The jungles above carry much the same vegetation as the underbrush below, but lessened. Thin enough to easily ignore and leap past the thicker things growing about the trees. Especially with our new eyes seeing so far ahead. Letting us be faster than we even were below

We can do this!

Slowly yet certainly gaining on our blue butterfly as she glides forward.

[Gonna have to call it soon. At this pace you'll be in range of the outpost in five minutes.] Xafra warns with a tinge of amusement.

Moonshite! We can catch her. If we had twice that time and no change in her speed we’d have her easily!

Don’t even respond to Xafra with words. Need to focus Just… let the gerl feel through the bond our schemes and drive. Up and up and upways. Need to be high enough! Don’t change plans and motions now. Just cut away the bad steps. Chart better paths. Just like we did before!

Efficiency is the lifeblood of good Function and magics!

We’re, honestly, going way too fast. Ignoring the messy calculations that show us what could come after our final leap. But we refuse to worry about the tumble afterwards.

Like always.

Closer and closer and closer…

Almost beneath her now. Watch the gerl’s eyes. Be ready to adjust if she sees our plan and either takes to falling early or twisting her glide to a harsh angle.

Despite our speed, the next movement happens fairly slowly. We’re more bounding forward than running now, setting ourselves up to effectively collide with her at a moment just as she’d twist to catch her footing.

But… Well of course the gerl was thinking ahead of us this time.

Adaline twists at such an odd angle. Not to escape our embrace. In fact she makes it easier for us to snatch her up.

So why…? Oh.

Right.

Stupid Half-Knits.

She wouldn’t let us tumble flank over head even after a failed pounce. Would toss away a victory she might otherwise have if it means preventing us from getting hurt.

And there is quite a bit of that in our descent. Cracking and crashing through the canopy with Adaline taking the brunt of the impacts before we both manage to reclaim some manner of grip on a few branches. Slump to adjust and pull the gerl close and look for any damaged parts of her Frame while huffing a soft. “You alright?”

"I'm feeling fantastic. That was amazing and you improved so quickly." Adaline giggles, "I was certain you wouldn't be able to catch up but you exceeded my expectations completely."

“You’re sweet, but you still claimed the spirit of the victory. Could have twisted to let us blunder into a tree in a final leap.” We relax and lean back against the trunk of the tree, letting an easy and delighted smile take to our lips as we gush. “But regardless, the tree hopping was inspired, and the gliding was… so unexpected. But perfect.Wonderful design. When did you even find the time for it?”

"Oh. I'm quite hopeless at weaving but Schatzi was able to accommodate me in a rather short amount of time once I provided the material and design... and a promise to talk to Xafra before letting Calix see them."

We giggle. Feeling… Something. An odd sensation bubbling up as the adrenaline and excitement ebbs.

"Thank you. By the way. For catching us. After our..." We trail off as Division cracks through us like the first lightning strikes of the Summer Storms.

Stupid thoughts, honestly. Memories long pushed down and buried dredged up when part of us makes a bemused comparison by mistake and thoughts crack apart like some overripe fruit after too much easy merging. How we never could stop ourselves from recklessly tossing ourselves after a goal and falling deeply in love with the gerls there to catch us after stumbling.

The others race into the clearing below us, following the path of our fall. "Everything alright?" Xafra asks.

Deep Breath. Wipe away the–

I glance down, wave while standing up on our branch and calling out. "Wonderful, actually. If we handle this a certain way we'll have to see how Adaline does against our Schatzi. Mayhaps let Verbess and you have a go. But for now..." I glance up and away. Can already see the twisting Root Way looming above and just a bit away. "Let's handle this gaggle of Threshers and those pesky letters."