“You have to be careful about which whetstones you apply to yourself. Keeping your vigil on those that might sneak up on you. They can change who you are and how you react forever more and must be treated as such.”
Ranvir sat on the patio of the orphanage, one leg stretched out in the brace before him, one arm wrapped in a sling against his chest. Both his knee and shoulder emanated sluggish throbs, more pressure than pain.
He was joined by Elpir and all her kids as they watched the sky above the tree line. Their current angle obscured the sun behind the house, so they sat in the much appreciated shadow and watched the spectacle.
It had been a pretty cloudy day, the blue sky peeking through the cover like skin through an over-worn shirt. Except on the horizon. Ranvir squeezed his hand around the cane, just below the bar at the top, as he watched the clouds unraveling.
With the naked eye, he watched as the enormous gray and white fluff was ripped apart and blown away, dispersing into thin air. Thin drifts had sunk below the major coverage and were being pushed forwards by whatever movement was disturbing the air currents.
“See,” Elpir whispered, pointing towards the trees, “it’s beginning.”
Looking down, Ranvir couldn’t immediately tell what she was talking about. Then a tree stilled. Its branches and leaves still swayed in the breeze like long, loose hair, but otherwise it was completely unmoving. No new branches or leaves rapidly created and destroyed, no bark overgrowing old knobs before fading into the air, no roots writhing in the soil around the tree.
The kids murmured as they saw it as well, the younger ones more fascinated by the concept than the ones closer to his age. Ranvir wished he could’ve taken Frija with him to see this, but Elpir had warned it would get pretty cold quickly and since he couldn’t carry her any longer…
Vasso gently placed three of his fingers on Ranvir’s stretched out leg as he gazed at the clouds. Distance was deceptive when working on the scales they were currently observing, and Ranvir had little idea if whatever was moving through the sky would appear any moment or in another minute, but Vasso clearly thought it could happen at any second.
The rest of trees stilled, and the fingers clutched a little tighter onto his leg, dragging at the fabric. Vasso started tapping his feet, pulling his shirt up in front of his mouth with the other hand. Then, with a light breeze, the clouds above them ripped away.
Everybody grew silent as streamers of water emerged through the trees, wrapping around the trunks as they snaked along just a few fingers-width above the ground. In the silence, Ranvir could hear the grass rustling as the water passed. The streamers moved in odd patterns, sometimes straight, sometimes curving. Occasionally they cut completely a complete ninety-degree angle, or even more turning around completely.
It was fascinating to watch as they approached the house. Ranvir couldn’t help a brief grin as the younger kids all burst into mutters, whispers, and giggles. Vasso jumped twice before looking over his shoulder and smiling widely at Ranvir.
The water finally reached them and a chill went through Ranvir as his bare feet and the hem of his pants were soaked. The younger kids started splashing in and out of the streams, kicking water into the air, even as their skin pimpled from the sudden change in temperature.
“Alright everybody,” Elpir said, and began shooing everyone inside. Once he had to some space Ranvir began levering himself to his feet, Vasso helpfully pulling on his shirt to help him along. “You’ll get your chance to play in it in a few hours, once the water has heated a bit.”
Ranvir hobbled inside, marveling at Korfyi's nature. It sure beat the snot out of winter storms. The change of season from writhing to rafting was apparently a local one. In the sense that it didn’t cover the entire plane, but ‘only’ a couple countries. When Elpir had initially explained what was happening to him, he’d wondered how they were going to handle such an onslaught of water. He’d wondered what marvels of they’d wrought to protect their homes from the constants streams.
As he stepped over the raised foundation—an element of their buildings that hadn’t even occurred to him until he’d been forced to hobble around with a cane—he could see the water streaming around the stone instead of over.
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A little disappointing, but less labor intensive and smarter than a solution requiring powers.
Ranvir sat down on the edge of his bed, glancing down at the sodden pants. The hem was soaked through. Normally he wouldn’t bother doing anything about that, but these days he might drop dead from the cold it could give him.
Panting and red-faced, he struggled out of his clothing before getting back under the bed. Inside the orphanage, where the water hadn’t infiltrated, the temperature was still warm and Ranvir soon warmed under the covers.
He didn’t realize he’d drifted off until he blinked awake and found Vasso sitting before his bed. He held a book in his lap and was silently tapping a rhythm on the cover as he waited for Ranvir to wake up.
Clearing his throat, Ranvir shuffled up in bed until he could sit. “Want me to read?” He asked.
Vasso nodded and handed him the book before darting over to the crib, where Frija was mildly amused by some toy. He looked at Ranvir questioningly, one hand wrapped around one of the crib’s bars.
“Go get Elpir first,” Ranvir said after a minute, hating that it would be faster than getting Frija himself.
----------------------------------------
“Phew,” Pashar muttered, entering the room without knocking. Ranvir looked up from where he’d been studying. Leaning against the wall behind the bed, he was reading some basic book about the economy in Korfyi. “You look like absolute shit.”
Ranvir gave her a brittle smile. “Good to see you again as well, Pashar.”
“What are you reading?” She asked, stepping closer.
Ranvir shrugged. The book was advanced for him, though it was commonly used for kids a half-dozen years younger than him when they studied. He shook his head. “I’m trying to improve my comprehension, but it’s slow going.”
“That’s not exactly easy text either,” Pashar muttered as she snatched the book from his weak fingers. “You should read something with a story. I always found that more interesting. Tells you more about their society than most scholars can cram into a book of learning as well.”
Ranvir shrugged. “I don’t see the appeal.”
Pashar sighed, “Of course you wouldn’t,” she dropped the book back in his lap, causing him to wince. “What happened to you, anyway?”
“I fell,” Ranvir replied grumpily, lifting the book with a shaking hand and putting it on the nightstand. He would have to figure out where he’d got to later. He didn’t think Pashar was going to let him go anytime soon.
“From where? The roof?”
Ranvir cleared his throat, “You didn’t talk with any of the others before coming here, did you?”
Pashar raised an eyebrow, “What makes you say that?”
“Help me up,” Ranvir held out his hand to her, recruiting her strength to get himself seated more upright. Pashar’s eyebrows raised as she felt how shaky he was. “I slipped in the tub.”
Pashar said nothing for a long moment, “So now you’re sulking in your room?”
Ranvir closed his eyes and sucked on his tongue. “I’m not sulking. I am crippled. Standing up takes effort, Pashar. I can barely walk to the kitchen and back,” he bit his last words off, despite trying to withhold his anger.
“I mean, Ione and Amalia said that you were weakening, but I thought they just meant physically, not—“ she waved her hands over him, “all of this.”
Ranvir let out a disbelieving laugh. “What do you want me to do?” he shrugged, flailing his arm wildly enough that his opposite shoulder sent a pang of pain into his collarbone. “Should I just magically get better? Let me just fix my broken spirit. Ahh, much better. Why didn’t I think of that? Thank you so much, you fucking bitch,” Ranvir spit the last words at her.
Pashar seemed… less than impressed with him, “So you’re saying that you have nothing better to do than read about,” she plucked the book up and scanned the title, when she spoke next her voice dripped with sarcasm, “the fascinating and brilliant convergence of a coin mint that also just so happens to double as the weight system?”
Ranvir sneered at her, but didn’t reply.
“I can hardly believe that you couldn’t find something better to spend your time on than this,” Pashar said, closing the book. “You’re not ice, Ranvir. You will not melt from a little sun.”
Then she left, still holding his book.
Ranvir sat and fumed for a few minutes before other emotions finally allowed themselves to come to the forefront. He cried for a while before even the tears dried up and he was left feeling… scared.
His tampering with his tether-space was what put him in this position. But then again, he couldn’t make it any worse. He was already dying.
He considered what he’d been trying to do previously. Ranvir had been trying his best to take care of Frija, something that was very draining, especially with his current limitations, but he doubted he could stop anytime soon. He’d been spending time with Vasso, something that was actually very relaxing, but ultimately a waste of time. He’d read about stuff that was mildly interesting to help learn the language when he could read about Amanaris and books pertaining to it.
He couldn’t stop trying to take care of Frija, but he could make better use of the resources available to him, namely Elpir and Vasso, if they would help him. Vasso spoke only rarely, but Ranvir needed the practice. And if he was going to read, then it should be about Amanaris. Learning the local system of power would be more beneficial in the long run than acting like he feared it.
But he’d been spending as little time as he thought he could get away with rebuilding his tether-space. That had to change. He had to become faster and more efficient at it, moving with alacrity.
His ability to focus was too scattered.
So Ranvir closed his eyes and envisioned himself entering tether-space. Turning to the desolate world within himself. Ranvir had a month to go before Kasos was supposed to arrive, a month to work on his spirit.
So Ranvir drew the twin stones of a set time and a goal together and began honing his focus to a fine narrow point.