The next morning comes at its usual time, and you go through your usual morning routine. Exercise, bath, food, so on. With a morning to play around in, you decide to consult with Miotal Scathanna to see if you can learn 'Shadowstepping'. +What is Shadowstepping anyway?+

+Moving unseen and unheard.+

+And why would your creators consider this skill important?+

+As they have named you Truthseeker, they also know that not all truths are illuminated freely. Thus there will be times when you must move unseen, to See and Listen to what is not illuminated.+

You put on your comfy old brown robe, noting that the frayed sleeves have been stitched up, and the splits in the hem mended. +So how to walk rather quietly and stick to shadows?+

+That can be part of it, yes. So can simply standing where others cannot see you, even in the brightest lights.+

You thank Canala for helping you dress, and accept one of your new veils from her. It ties across your eyes like a blindfold, but it's almost translucent. This isn't one of your formal occasions ones, so its a simple utilitarian black. +Care to explain that?+

+Stand where those looking cannot see us, and we are invisible. If they would look only in the shadows, then stand in the light.+

You leave your quarters, locking the door behind you as always, and glide down the passageway. +So, how do I go about learning this skill?+

+We practice, how else?+

With all morning to practice, you decide to walk generally aft, towards the Deathwatch Quarters. With your mapslate in hand, you can find your way to the training hall easily enough, and with your veil, the bright lights don't bother you nearly as much. You do notice several changes to your usual walking pattern, such as drifting around people instead of simply staring over their heads and having them move aside for you, avoiding joints and the occasional puddle of condensation, and watching the play of the light.

As lunchtime approaches, you feel that you have learned a little bit, but this is certainly no skill that can be mastered in a single day. You will need to revisit it later. Still, you decide to try and apply its lessons in reverse, to see if you can pick out Wraith or Helheim from their habitual concealment. You pass a message over your microbead to Canala, letting her know that you will be having lunch elsewhere, and head into the Deathwatch Quarters.

You head for the feast hall, but pause at the door when you notice that it is closed. You consider it for a moment, but you only make a cursory attempt to listen. The wood is thick and you can't hear anything more than muffled eating sounds, so you knock politely.

While waiting for a response, you glance about the passageway. You can feel Wraith watching you again, so you try and spot him. It's difficult, particularly with you veil stealing away some of the brightness. You do however spot the barest hard edge of a darkened pauldron in a deep shadow along the ceiling. "Is the floor not good enough for you Wraith?"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Wraith nearly crashes to the floor in shock. "How in Corvus' name did you spot me? You are blindfolded!"

You shake your head. "Veiled. Bedard has the detailed reasoning for it, I won't even pretend to understand the medical terminology, or the hows and whys. And to answer your real question, I felt your gaze again, and picked out the hard edge of one of your pauldrons."

"Shape recognition?"

You shrug. "Shape, or color, or the play of shadows perhaps. I saw the hard man-made edge more than anything definite. Put that together with your eyes on me, and it wasn't hard to guess."

The doors to the feast hall open behind you, revealing the black-robed and skull-masked figure of an Astartes Chaplain. You quickly step out of the way, not wanting to leave an unknown person at your back within melee range. The figure just chuckles at your sudden movement. "Someone actually spotted you Wraith?"

Wrath sighs. "First human to do so, but second overall after Pyrus. Lady Ethna Nic Vir Dannan, meet Chaplain Danus, on secondment form the Dark Angels. Chaplain Danus, our Navigator."

"Another Dannan? I had thought there were only three of them."

You answer the Chaplain. "Six of us so far, although I understand Morrigan and Vir are working on the seventh. I haven't heard from either of my brothers since they were dispatched to Terra to be Sanctioned as Astropaths and Soulbound."

"Ah, my condolences then."

You shrug. "I Navigate for a living, and I know how far we are from Terra out here on the frontier. Flight estimate is seven to seventeen years, one way. I don't expect to hear anything for several more years."

Danus shrugs, and flicks his left hand in a throwing-away gesture. "So what brings you down to our quarters again?"

You are saved from answering that by Bedard rounding a corner, pushing a trolley loaded with protein-heavy food. "Me actually. I invited her down for a training session, to measure her physical rehabilitation. Didn't expect her quite this soon, though."

You shrug. "I've not much to do until the Ignis has a destination and departure date. That's still nine days from now, meaning I had some lose time on my hands, so I came down here early."

Bedard nods. "Helheim spotted you coming, and I went and made sure I had food for two."

You look at the trolley. "Food for two humans, or two Astartes?"

Bedard blinks, Wraith snorts, and Danus bursts out laughing. Bedard shakes his head. "Servitors, they do exactly what you tell them to..."

Danus waves wraith and Bedard inside. "Lady Dannan will be along in a moment, I just need to ask her a question."

Wraith helps Bedard bring the trolley into the feast hall to start unloading it. Danus shuts the doors behind them and turns to face you squarely. "I noticed the Navigator's Vestibule was on the list of areas to be re-consecrated after the last transit. What went wrong?"

You sigh. "I got cocky. We had such a smooth transit out to HJG-1034, so I simply reversed the course to re-use it instead of making an entire new one. Bad practice, but acceptable when the Astronomicon is hard to detect, which it was. My screw-up came in not scanning as carefully as I perhaps should have for hazards during the Transit itself. I managed to run into a spike of Warp energy, and the Geller Field blinked. Only for a fraction of a second, if that, but it was enough."

Danus sighs. "That's going to delay our departure somewhat. Now I've got to check every bilge and vent, and the armsmen are going to have to stay on guard for re-appearances for years."

You nod. "Thank you."

Danus nods. "Go and eat, I'll be checking in with you later."

You nod and turn to enter the feast hall.