Closed Dem Bones

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

She was first. Of course she was: the man knew she wouldn't sit and wait like Naiya. The man knew that she had come for one thing, and nothing else would be a good replacement. Khida was to be joining her. Naiya would wait with the other man. All details she didn't care about. Details she looked past in a heartbeat. Details that didn't apply to her.

The woman moved swiftly to sit beside him, the grass catching her as she leant against it. He began to speak his instructions, but his Strider, a beautiful young thing, took his attention, dancing about him, impatient, wanting to play. Merevaika's lips curled to a soft smile at the man and his horse, signs of taunting and teasing on her fingers but not said. They were young. Newly bonded. Both had much to learn, much to discover about the other. Let them have their moments of not being one. It was the ticks that followed that showed her he wasn't a good recipient for her teasing: he knew horses, he knew this one.

When his focus returned to the woman, he spoke softer than before. Merevaika let his words fall across her, not knowing if she could do it. Could she really forget about her safety? About her animals - about Eryunt? Her body was tied to this world in so many ways, and he spoke of being free and unconnected. She didn't even have family - how did they do it? The ones who had so many others to join them with. Then he spoke of protection, of entering the web alone. He was right. They had Beast, the shadow lost in the grasses but watching all the same. They had Grey, the pup she had trained, that she had loved. They had Eryunt, who grazed a few strides away, heavy eyes watching them. No harm would ever come of them, not by sneaking up.

His disappearance came quickly, in a shock. He was there one moment, then his consciousness was missing, just a body lying beside her. That was what she was giving her body up to. All of a sudden, her mind panicked, muscles tensing. Her hand moved to curl around a weapon, but they were gone. She was empty, and she was about to become emptier.

Fighting the feelings, she gripped the empty air, pressing her body against the grass she lay on. It enveloped her, a basket that brushed every limb, every part of her skin. The ground rose and fell under her, the wind tickled her face and her fingers. Then she could feel it again, the sense of panic of attempting to give up her body. Suddenly, all the other feelings were distractions, painful, her body trapped in one place.

The woman burst up, quick to rise to her feet. Her breathing had fallen quicker, she realised. Her heart was trembling in her chest, and she couldn't feel safe. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, tried to assure herself it was okay. That she wouldn't lose her body, but the more she thought, the more she remembered. Stories, of webbers who had lost themselves in the web. Who had found it so appealing, and wanted to stay. Who had become lost in whatever could be found and forgot how to return to their bodies. That could be her. And her body, no matter how many times it could be changed, it had been changed, was hers, and the thought of leaving it frightened the Drykas.

Her eyes flickered to the other woman, trying to gage how she was coping. At some point in her panic, she had changed, now a falcon searching for the web. Was that possible? If Merevaika shifted to an elk, would she be able to reach the web too? Not right now. The falcon was Khida's true form, the elk was not Merevaika's. To leave her body, she needed to be in its original form. Not as an imposter.

Relaxing herself, she reminded herself that she had magic. That she could control it, and bring it about. Settling back down, she felt the grass again, but let herself focus on every blade, each and every one that shifted and moved in its own way. Her eyes felt heavy, and she listened to the wind, matching her breaths. As Zulrav exhaled, so did she, finding peace in the simple movements.

Without wanting to, she felt the tickle of djed across her, the magic spreading through her body. It soaked through her skin and into her, deeper than blood and bone, rising. Her eyes began to prickle, and before the paths could come into sight, she let them close, trying to manipulate her djed in another way. Trying to keep it away from the sunbursts and instead let it guide her to Azmere, to Khida. She couldn't let a Kelvic beat her by reaching the web when she couldn't. She couldn't show everyone her fear of letting go.

The woman kept breathing in time with the wind, using it to anchor her. Instead of treating it as a distraction, she faced it head on, matching every gust with a deep breath of her own. Every time it ran across her motionless body, the woman made herself feel it, remind herself that this was her body. That she would never truly leave it. She turned her mind to the ground she lay on, reaching out mentally to press against the blades that pressed against her back. The rocks that lay beneath her, too. She could feel every scratch in them, until they were part of her. Until her body anchored her too strongly, fighting to have her. Refusing to let her leave herself.

Noises, too. The rustling of the grass, of the people. People who she had to trust to protect her - when she couldn't even trust herself. Padding, of a dog somewhere above her head. A dog she had raised, had loved, had tied herself too. Horses, running - and her mind was lost on things she hadn't planned to think about. Of riding, the feeling of flying across a sea of green, a being beneath her - not just a being, but a horse, her horse, her strider. She could feel him beneath her, even when he was so far from her, warmth radiating, the simple, mechanical movements of him running. Of wind as it tugged her hair, pulled it back, bit her eyes until they were wet. Of hills and valleys becoming nothing but blurs as he dug into the web, almost glowing with the power it gave him.

She had done this before, she realised. She knew the connection to the web, and she knew it much more than any web mage. She didn't only know how to use it, how to be part of it. The Drykas knew what it was to be the web, for the connection to be so strong it formed every breath. Or rather, Venthris did, which was the same thing. Venthris was her way in. Venthris had done this all before.

Rather than focusing on herself, on her being, and on the panic that arouse when she thought of leaving her body, she let her mind wander on other things as she let all her senses go. She was focusing on the wrong things: on what it meant to be human, to be Drykas, to have a body and to not want to release it. Instead, she had to be focusing on what the web meant - the connection that tied her to it. She was already there, already so close. She just had to find it.

The Strider would guide her. Merevaika found herself searching, sifting from one memory to the next in an eager hunt to discover the ones that never truly belonged to her. Feelings came back to her that she hadn't focused on in a long time. Smells she could never smell as human. Of grass, of horse. Of fear, love, anger, happiness. Wind, tugging at her mane, not her hair, rushing across fur not skin. Four legs, not two, her body rising and falling as she ran. Hooves, her hooves, against the ground. Every step. Every leap and jump. Every horse in her herd, running together, a simple sense of unity and purpose.

And the web. It was in every memory. It wasn't something she knew about. It was something she felt. The Drykas remembered finding where it coursed the strongest, reaching out and pulling it towards her as if it was gold. She remembered the feeling of running with it, not with her own body, but as part of this greater thing.

She could feel it, but she couldn't tell who, where, and when. In her human body, the woman shifted, smiled, felt her eyes water a little. In her horse memories, she ran, faster, faster, faster still. It was there, it was just in reach. It was part of her.

Then there was the sudden rush of web that flowed into Venthris as she found her connection with the web.

Then there was the sudden rush of web that flowed into her, Merevaika, and she knew she had found it.

She was there. Here. Finally, after such a long time and after never. She was back and discovering it for the first time all at once.

And it was beautiful.

The hills rolled with soft colours around her, calling to her. The web called to her more strongly, like the paths with the colourful bright lines that traced the country, overlapping, crossing, an endless net of magic. Yet so different - stronger. This was what they protected, what they hid from everyone. This was Drykas.

This was the Web.

"Pavi"
Grassland sign
"Common"

[Naiya]

Khida and Merevaika first, good, she could watch, learn from a distance, perhaps or better yet, make sure they were safe. She watched as people settled, and horses milled, wary, half her mind at home fussing over the wuepo who was not here.

Still, she did not miss Lodai's invitation, the glimmer of mischief in his eyes and the smirk on his lips promising trouble. Bring her spear, indeed. Naiya crossed the distance with her chin raised at the man, all show as she was sure he knew. Still unsettled - hard to be anything else - she chose to sit with care, feet tucked beneath her butt, knees pointing out ahead of her. The modified kneeling was a seat poised for action. The smirk lingered on the behemoth's face, so she poked at the man with the dull end of the spear as she settled, the pointy tip of the spear far across her lap so that there was little chance of danger in the jest.

"Surely that isn't mocking in your posture?" Naiya asked with faux severity in the shaping of her own body. "Not all of us are so large as to simply lumber in and strike our enemies into the stillness of prey." Her smile presented him with a breath of teeth, not bared, but sharp all the same. She would not bow beneath the hoof of his jest. She poked him a final time before laying the spear to rest on the far side of her body, safe from motion but well within her reach should she need it.

Stretching her body up through the reach of her arms, she lay back into the grass, alert, but attempting to relieve herself of worry as Azmere told the others. They were near the city, only chimes away. Two watchmen accompanied them. They were surrounded by their companions, vigilant striders and devoted hunting companions.

It was enough to let her spear aside, plucking three long blades of grass from beside her she knotted the supple stands together at the end, taking the end, weaving one across the others, creasing the strand around the two others. She slipped the blade back between the other two, letting it lay flat across the top of the furthest strand.

Her weave continued, slowly tucking and wrapping, leaving off creases on the edges, adding new stalks before the weave could end until she had a band of grass that would give texture and softness as a toy for Shai. The task at least brought her distraction, if not loosened her worries for the boy at home.

Hey eyes found the movement of the others, Khida stood, stripping to skin before removing herself of even that, down to the feathers and talons of her falcon, sharp and strong. She smiled, Khida would do this, they would work together and learn this magic. They would not be stuck without the tie to the undercurrents of their world, their people.

Settled again, Khida turned back to her task, turned back to seeking the web, in a skin more familiar, or more ready vessle than the bounds of a human skin. Merevaika had struggles of her own, starting into action on her feet. Her action sent Naiya's hand to her spear, but nothing stirred in the grass nor the sky. Naiya could only assume she was fraught by some inner struggle, rather than an outward one.

Startled, Naiya set back to distracting her mind, chasing away the worry that set into her shoulders so easily. Perhaps she was not prepared for this magic in the way the others were. Letting go of worry was not something she had managed in a long time.

-----------

Naiya space Pavi | Common | Tukant
other space Pavi | Common | Tukant

[Azmere]

A sharp comment was on its way but never arrived. Lodai winced as he was jabbed. The look on his face was that of a child; clearly, with feelings hurt. It didn’t last long. The sarcastic man had difficulties maintaining any form of ruse or deception. He simply lacked the ability as well as the desire to do such things. He opened his mouth to respond when the one woman shot up and looked around. Deep brown eyes just watched her sit back down and get back to the task of acclimation. Lodai remembered all of that. The Windcallers had been rather open about teaching the web to its members but the process was beyond intimidating. The ankal was a man larger than Lodai – or at least that’s how the watchman remembered it.

The burly guy was pulled from his thoughts a second time when the other woman stood up. This time, instead of looking a little disheveled, the girl stripped to her skin then took the time to calmly fold her clothes before shifting into a tiny bird. “You’re not feeding her enough, Naiya.” The man smirked then leaned forward to peer over the hill and take a second look at the hawk. That’s when a second jab to the ribs caused Lodai to release a growl. The massive paw snatched a hold of the weapon’s shaft and he gave it a jerk; not to free it from Naiya’s grasp but to emphasize that he was more than capable of doing so. “Poke me again, woman…” His words trailed off as he released the spear. His hands flashed a few signs which spoke of bad things and consequences.

Lodai went back to brooding and muttered something about vengeful spirits being easier to deal with than Drykas women. A soft rumble in the earth grew and was soon accented by the clopping of horse hooves as Skylla and Atavan came thundering nearby. The two striders stopped after a strange routine that saw each take turns encircling the other before they decided to stop and munch on some wild clover. It was not very often that someone saw a genuine smile cross the warrior’s face. Yet if one was nearby when the big black stallion came stomping around, she would glimpse the softness of the bearman’s heart. After a good deal of time passed, Lodai looked at Naiya. "Start meditating. Az will come for you soon."

All the while, Azmere waited. He grew tired of aimless repairs and patching but also knew that he couldn’t scout lest he miss the arrival of his students. It was a weird concept to wrap his head around; that was certain. The scarred Drykas never considered himself much of a protégé so the reality that he was now responsible for the decisions which would impact more lives was taking a long time to get comfortable. As always, the whispers of the Web sang sweet remedies in his ars but the archer had learned long ago to ignore these suggestions. While the Web served a grand purpose and tending to it was a privilege, the nature of the realm was one that encouraged cowardice and selfishness.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been lounging on the hill. There was a time when Azmere felt like he was no longer alone but there was no other essence in the area. The watchman rose and began to look around and that’s when he noticed that Khida had turned into a snack bird. The ankal made a face. He didn’t know how that would affect her training. The contrasting gaze looked skyward and found the luminescent shape of a small hawk floating upon the winds. He made a grand gesture for her to come down to his level. When the kelvic landed near him, he made signs with his hands that cautioned her to not get to close to her sleeping form. The male Drykas tilted his head. While being a flying Kelvic in the actual world would lend many advantages, those things would be rendered all but useless in the Web.

Azmere signed to the novice Body shift. Question. Maybe he was wrong about the advantages and disadvantages but there was certainly going to be a bigger hurdle in the communication department if Khida remained a bird. The watchman had never considered this a possibility before and was unprepared but he would have to fly by with impromptu plans from this point onward for Merevaika had joined them. The green eyes fragmented with red looked around in wonder and with careful scrutiny.

Not one to waste time, the Azmere set to task right away. He beckoned both women to gather near to him then began his introduction. The ankal’s words sounded much the same as they did in the normal world but there was something different about the Web – there was no ambient sound. There was no wind, rustling of grass or the noises of animals. An experienced webber, the archer took this into consideration and lowered the volume of his voice.

Welcome. “Before we start, you need to understand some things.” Rules. The man watched the green eyes and the golden with an intense stare. He was trying to read the women during his prepared dialog to see if either would cause him problems while on this side. “Do not underestimate the Web. It gives off the appearance of being safe and perfect but it’s hollow.” No pain. No noise. No boundaries. “It’s easy to get lost. The Web will talk to you.” Don’t listen. “Make a habit to always come back to your body.” Often. Routine. “This will keep you from getting lost and remind you that we don’t belong here.” Only visitors.

Azmere knelt down and wrapped his hand around one of the thick lines of djed. It was one of the dimmest ones in the area so he knew it to be one of the oldest. The women would not see this difference as novices but they might notice that it was a bit larger in size. The magical cord pulsed against the man’s essence and it gave him a sense of belonging. This was one of the dangers of the Web as well. It had a way of making every action feel natural and rightfully so. The grid of magical netting was comprised of the same energy that made up the mirror images of the people who tended to the damaged and worn out fragments. The archer motioned for his students to join him near the ground. Thankfully, Azmere had experienced quite a bit of exposure to female kelvics recently and was able to tune out Khida’s naked form to some extent. It also helped that a person’s essence glowed and tended to blur finer details.

The lesson continued. “The Web enables travel at the speed of thought.” The ankal pictured his pavilion and traveled there instantly. Then he traveled back. In the space of a blink, he had been gone and returned without any effort. He looked first to Merevaika and then to Khida. Travel to me. The archer gave his thoughts the image of flat stretch of land about half a mile from the hill. It is where the horses had run off to before they had all entered the Web. In an instant, Azmere was standing next to some strange looking green flowers but he could still see the hill. His blue and gold gaze could also see the women. Even with his experience, he would not be able to see them travel so he was taking it on faith that neither one of them would get lost trying to chase some far off object.

NoteSorry for the delayed response. I'll try to be more prompt with the rest of this thread.

[Khida]

The third thing Khida noticed was silence, complete and profound. No sounds of horses at play, no murmur of the wind through the grass, no voices carrying from where their guardians stood vigil -- not even the cadences of her own breath or heartbeat reached the falcon's ears. That gave her a moment's alarm, and another when she found that breathing... didn't.

Casting about, she glimpsed motion: the broad wave of an arm, apparently summoning her down to earth. Yes. He would be able to explain. Khida dove -- only she didn't; there was no wind resisting her passage, no air for her feathers to grab on to. Yet she descended nonetheless, swooping down with unwonted ease to land beside the odd-eyed man. He signed warning, indicating --

The body of a falcon, at rest on the ground, where anything might come along and snatch it up.

-- herself.

Well, that gave certain gravity to the man's earlier admonishment. Never alone, indeed.

The man signed something else, but Khida only caught the very tail end, a flicker of fingers in the periphery of her view. She might have asked him to repeat, but it was then that another presence intruded upon her awareness; Khida looked towards it, finding a copy of a familiar profile.

She sensed, more than saw, the odd-eyed man's focus gather in the way of one commanding attention. Looking to him, the Kelvic reached for her other form, skin being far better suited for talking and teaching than feathers; she reached, and didn't find that nameless quintessential otherness where she expected it to be. Yet still her other form unfurled upon command, Khida-the-woman straightening up from folded legs to stand with the only other beings who seemed to inhabit this odd otherworldly space.

A shift that wasn't. Perhaps because she was not herself?

The man promptly began speaking, and that brought yet another strangeness to her attention: he spoke, and Khida heard. She heard nothing else of the world around them; why then could she hear his voice?

Nothing of this place made sense to her -- but understanding would have to come later, as the man forged on ahead through words the Kelvic struggled to draw meaning from.

He said something about pain, about getting lost. About not listening, about coming back often, about being a visitor. He bent and drew up one of the glowing strands, motioning the women closer. Khida stepped forward, walking on ground and grass she didn't truly feel. As she examined the thread more closely, he spoke of Web and travel -- and was gone.

Then back, sudden as a blink.

Khida was still working to make sense of that event when the man signed to me and was gone again. To him? To him where?

The Kelvic's first reflex was to shift and take flight, as she would for nearly any search conducted in flesh. But would that work, in the strangeness of this otherworld? She hesitated, and hesitating, looked about -- to the nearly-familiar woman she could not name, to horse and dog and the two who stood watch, to --

A silhouette where there had not been one before, a profile rapidly becoming familiar.

-- ah. There he was. Not far away at all.

To me, he had said, and Khida was not so simple as to think he meant by walking. Or even flying. She bent to do as he had done, or nearly, touching tentative fingers to the gleaming strand he had previously stood beside.

That, the Kelvic could feel. Under her hand, it felt like a stiff breeze, corralled and channelled into a narrow tunnel. Touching the thread felt... something like flying, in the way that flying was what one did when one possessed wings. Natural. Intrinsic. Right.

Khida flinched back, eyeing the thing suspiciously. Why did that register so strongly when the rest of the world seemed bleached, muted, subdued?

She didn't like it. And yet -- and yet. Even just its echo, evaporating from her senses, drew the Kelvic back in as might the warmth of a campfire on a cold night.

Regardless, she had been given a task. Amber eyes regarded the man in the distance once again. Khida wasn't sure how this travel was supposed to work, but she had gotten here through images in her mind, so she built a mental copy of what she viewed here as well. The stretch of the earth, the textured lines of grass. The man standing in its midst. The shape of the horizon, the play of light and shadow across them all.

She touched the Web again, felt its currents thrum against her hand. Go there.

And go she did, one landscape exchanging itself for its close cousin with disorienting alacrity. It was as if she had looked upon a painting, and had it snatched away to reveal another. Had she even blinked? Khida... couldn't recall. She did now, blinking wide eyes up at the odd-eyed man who now stood before her. A deep, reflexive breath followed, and then that amber gaze narrowed, the mind behind it beginning to think through the implications...

Travel. Not in the flesh, but quick as a thought.

How far?

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

Still struggling to believe she was actually in the web, the woman stared round with disbelief, soaking it all in. Djed, everywhere and anywhere. She wanted to reach out, feel it through her fingers, find it and pull it through her. She still felt Venthris inside her, the constant feeling of galloping less than a memory and more something she wished to do. Why else was she here?

To do more than that, she reminded herself, wondering how this djed could do more than power her. Wondering how someone had discovered it in the first place.

Then she noticed Azmere, beckoning her over and she moved. It was a strange feeling yet oddly natural. She was simply... there. Next to him. Djed still there, the same feeling as before. But there she was. No movement from her, no noise of footsteps, of her brushing through grasses. Only Djed. It was so strange, but it still felt so right.

Next came a set of rules. As if he wasn't talking to her. As if he didn't know she broke every rule that was given to her, sooner or later, by accident or on purpose. Rules were little more than guidelines. The Drykas would never live by them, if there was something better in store. And what he spoke of felt wrong. They weren't just visitors. This was their true home, and they were fair more entangled in it than they should have been.

At least, she felt like she was. It was Venthris' fault, mainly, but some had to be Merevaika's too. She was always too stubborn, always thought she was right. Because she was. That was clear, wasn't it?

The man reached down to the strand of djed that could only be the web, wrapping his hand around it tightly. What did they learn now, she wondered, after all the warnings were done? What could even be learned? The Web was a secret to her, but not anymore. Now, she would learn everything.

Suddenly, he was there and gone. The woman blinked, almost wanting to reach out. How? How did he do that? She blinked again, and he was gone, the woman almost wanting to yell out towards him and call him back. How did he do that? Simply... disappear?

She looked at Khida, wide eyes and blinking wildly to try and take in what she had seen. The other woman was looking out at the distance, and Merevaika flickered her eyes towards whatever she was staring at. Out there, a shape, a body, a Drykas. Azmere, it seemed. She strained her eyes to make him out, wondering how to get there. The previous movement was wrong. She didn't know how. She couldn't get herself to move.

In desperation, she looked back at the Kelvic, to find the woman gone. How? Where? What? Her eyes swivelled back to the field, back to the figure. Figures. She had joined him. Somehow.

It was the web. It had to be. Pulling herself tight, she reached down, snagged the glowing strand and instantly wanting to never let go. This was where she belonged. This was part of her, more than anything else. "There," she whispered to the Web, wanting to hear a reply more than anything. Azmere had spoken about it talking to her - and she wanted to listen, despite his warnings. It would speak to her, tell her things she dreamed of. "Take me there."

In her mind, the image of the two figures became clear, strengthening in colour and in focus, when suddenly, it was like she was standing beside them. Because she was. Somehow.

A rush came to her, her heart rising in her chest and the woman finding breaths too much work. This was exhilarating, and all in a good way. With a deep breath to steady herself, she lingered just in time to hear the words, the question, "How far?, before she was trying to test it. She lunged at the next strand of web, feeling it under her fingers, and letting her mind flicker to the hill in the distance and finding herself there with a little thought. Then the next hill, then the next. Little jumps, before she finally returned.

Her heart was pacing now, a smile so wide and clear on her face, one that none would have ever seen before. This was what she was made for. This was living. "How far can I go?" she mirrored the Kelvic, eyes shining with excitement. Could she return to her pavilion? Find Ywana and see what she was doing? Cross the Sea of Grass in a thought? It was crazy, and she loved it.


"Pavi"
Grassland sign
"Common"

[Naiya]

Not feeding her enough. Naiya shook her head at the words, as though she wasn't capable of feeding herself, or that Naiya's efforts were the only ones that mattered in the autonomy of another being. She rolled her eyes at the man and his antics.

Yet, she couldn’t help but bring back to mind the shape of her wife as she had changed just now, trying to recall the image untainted by her emotions or care for the woman. Had she grown thin? Her bones had always been sharp, birdlike, but had that lent to thinness?

A frown marred her brow, settling firmly into the growing lines of her face. Khida was a capable huntress, in both human skin and feathered. Naiya had been helping supplement food as well, trapping and fishing, producing cheese and bread. They had plenty. No one in their home should be hungry. Not even with the many children they supported.

Thin… the word was shaped softly of inquiry but not cut so much with intention as it was a thought given form on her hands. Who else had grown thin without her notice, Shai ate readily, he grew and grew, but what of the others? Her mind spun, recalling the family, the shapes of their forms, nudity was normal enough, but she didn’t spend time examining the forms of the others in the pavilion, proximity did not beget loss of privacy. Had she missed the thinning of her pavilion? Was she spending too much time dedicating cheese for sale and trade while her family was hungry at home?

True concern had fallen into her frown marred features when Lodai spoke to her once more, warning her that it would soon be her turn. Meditate, clear her mind. She had listened to the words of Azmere before he faded into the web to await the others.

Let go of worry, but all new worries filled her mind now, thanks to the behemoth beside her. Had she been blinded by her wuepo, leaving her family to struggle while her mind was so focused on the child she had birthed.

She shifted in her place on the ground. Trying to chase the thoughts out of her mind with movement. It wasn’t something she could fix now, just something she was aware of now, and could address in the future. She pushed those thoughts aside. Acknowledged, but not helpful in this moment. Instead she tried to let everything fade from her mind. Breathe. Constant, steady, like Zulrav’s breath across the land.

A shift, change in sounds around them, and Naiya’s gaze lifted, seeking the sound, reassuring herself that it was not danger. Lodai was still beside her, the animals near. This was as safe as they could be. She closed her eyes again, chasing the rapid beat of her heart with slow breaths. With her eyes closed she could not ignore the sounds of the sea around her. She relied too much on the sights that she was accustomed to, finding the source of sound to be sure it was what she imagined.

Without her sight, she felt lacking, everything else became louder, sounded closer, more foreign. She gripped her spear beside her. Letting the heft of the wood promise her safety. She wasn’t leaving her body yet, simply letting it relax, and once she accepted that, it became easier. She was aware, her body was her own, and if she needed to take action, it was as simple as opening her eyes.

Slowly that reassured her, letting her breath slow her entire body, feeling each puff of Zulrav’s breath, each such of Syna’s gaze. It brushed her mind, but did not distract her, did not stir her from the relaxation of her steady breath and easy heart.

Perhaps that was the idea, to let her body fade into the surroundings. To be a vessel for her mind and the magic that it contained. There was a pull that kept her in her body, kept her from the web. Slowly she became aware of it, reeling her back in each time she tried to let her thoughts follow the whisper of the web.

That was new, the whsipering as she sat, something had changed, pulled her closer to the spirits in the web. It must have been Azmere, doing something. Opening the door for her mind to find. She moved again, not something done physically, but letting her mind drift towards the image in her mind of the web.

It helped to picture it, what she knew of it, glistening lines of magic that connected the land, tying people to their world, feeding strength to their striders as they called for it.

Snap like a bow drawn too tight. She came back to her body, a feeling that promised she was moving in the right direction, but still she was tethered. What bound her?

She sat again, waiting for clarity, for something to move, a sound to draw her to what had brought her back. She could hear the wind dancing through the grass, the steady breaths of Lodai beside her, but nothing out of place.

What had drawn her back? She pondered the question in her silence. Waiting for something to present itself as the reason for her struggle. Chimes passed, but nothing came to her.

Perhaps she was simply unsettled by the thought of abandoning her body in the sea of grass. She was unprepared in such a circumstance, although it had never seemed that there was any disconnect from entering your body to being able to function. She had watched both Azmere and other watchmen leave the web and jump to their feet, ready to act on what they had learned.

She stirred, opening her eyes and casting a glance at Lodai. He would tease her, she thought, but it wasn't worth missing the opportunity to learn that was being offered.

She took the spear that was resting beside her and pulled it into her lap, hands first clutching the weapon as a reminder of its presence. She took a few more chimes to let her mind settle, then closed her eyes and sought once more the space that she had found before.

It came slowly, her imagining of the web giving her a target to reach out to. She could still feel the pull of her body, making her progress slow. She reached for the luminous strands with her mind, and felt a response.

That was different, new, and almost startlingly so. She opened her eyes, but was not greeted by the sight of the horses and the horizon as she had been only moments ago. Instead she found herself, sitting in the grass with her spear resting across her lap.

Shock crossed her mind, or her... spirit? All too quickly she found her concentration gone and her awareness back in her body. She could have cursed if she hadn't thought that such conscious effort would undo the work she had done.

She searched again for the gap in her mind that let her chase the web, the space between the fall of a pavilion's entrance, where only her mind could squeeze through leaving her body behind.

This time she was ready, opening her eyes she searched the landscape, finding the forms around her instead. Lodai dozed beside her, Khida, Azmere, and Merevaika were still sitting in their circle. The animals were near, she could see them, but different, like viewing something through fog or glass.

Then, beneath her, a familiar sight, shimmering blue lines, crisscrossing across the sea, a pattern of lines and crosses that was truly like what she had seen in the caverns beneath the lake.

She knew this place, even if only in memory, and it knew her, whispering to her with a sense of purpose. Where were the others, though? Surely they hadn't left her here alone?

She reached down to touch the web, an action done in a blink, like the movement between the thought and the action didn't exist.

There was power in this, the web promised her, power and belonging. That wasn't what she wanted, now, however. Now she wanted to know and with the thought information came, a siren song of knowledge.

So ensnared by the depth of the web, Naiya had hardly looked up beyond her responses to the web. It took only a moment of actual looking, with eyes that were not the same -- but there, all the same. She saw her companions, a distance away, the hill giving her the vantage point she needed to find them.

Perhaps that was how people became lost in the web, forgetting their body in exchange for the whispers of the web. Still, she had discovered motion already, so with the same process she reached out to a strand of web again, and in the instant the thought occured, she was beside the others.

-----------

Naiya space Pavi | Common | Tukant
other space Pavi | Common | Tukant

[Azmere]

Azmere watched as the two women spent some time and came to terms with what he had said. Movement in the web was the primary function. Gathering information required more than just the Web but when one had tracking skills or knowledge of the land, the ability to transverse large areas in mere ticks changed the rules. It the main reason why the Drykas were never under any direct threat from invaders.

A shadow passed over the man’s face. A year ago, raiders had come in to the Sea of Grass and violated the homes and lands of the horseclans. While there was no evidence beyond a few small pieces of circumstance, the ankal firmly believed that pieces of the web had been damaged or rerouted to allow the pirates a backdoor. Azmere came across such a mess one day while searching for a Drykas woman who had gotten lost. Amunet. He hadn’t thought about her in a long time. The fiery-haired healer had changed in Riverfall so it was no surprise that she went back not long after she had been found.

Fortunately, Azmere was shaken from his thoughts as Khida appeared before him. The young Kelvic was as stoic a person as he’d ever met. She took everything with a pace of wisdom as Asmodeus was wont to say. That is, she gave thoughtful consideration before she acted or spoke. Her golden eyes were curious but more yellow than those of the tigress. The contrasting gaze fixated upon her face as the eyes adjusted from wonder back to contemplation. The right corner of the watchman’s mouth curled for a moment. She asked him how far she could travel and the scarred instructor skirted the issue with a patient hand gesture to indicate that he noticed Khida – always thinking.

Merevaika joined and her wild expression was almost the polar opposite of her fellow student. The starbursts tracked the tiny hops the young thief made from one hilltop to the next and then back again. The watchman sighed with the patience of a mountain and a very light expression upon his face. He remembered those feelings as if it was yesterday. Azmere remembered the smile that felt like it would break his face because it was so big. He could not scold her for enjoying the rush of the entire experience. Once again, the wandering mind of the archer was brought back around by Merevaika’s question; an echo of Khida’s inquiry regarding range of motion.

~~~

While all of this was going on, Lodai was very carefully perfecting his skill of pretending to snooze while observing, in great detail, the world around him. This was something that his time with the Stormblood pavilion – Rufio in particular – had encouraged. The soft brown eyes soaked up the sudden change in mood that had come over his companion. Naiya had grown uncomfortable in her own skin, it seemed. The behemoth took in every shift of position, every breath and every nervous twitch. There was such unease that he was beginning to wonder if she had been accosted at some point in her past. The way breezes and rustling grass instantly got under her skin started to make Lodai feel jumpy. When her last jolt made his skin contract in reflex, he sat up with a very loud and dramatic exhale.

“Ankalette!” The volume of his voice made him pause and evidence of the unexpectedness of the level was painted all over his tanned face. Sorry. The thick fingers gracefully made the signs of their people but the size of his hands caused Lodai to be much slower at it than most. “You’re starting to make me nervous.” He gave her a knowing look. Let it go. To emphasize his point, he pinched off some umpteen odd strands of grass and tossed them carelessly into the air. Zulrav’s gentle breath caught them and carried them away. After a few more chimes, he relaxed as she did. The big bear was happy and relieved to see the woman settling in and enjoying the peace. Drykas rarely take the time to just sit – something the Watchmen know all too well. Lodai kept up with the current events and knew how complicated the Dawnwhispers’ lives had become with all their children. He truly wished that Naiya would be able to bask in the moment though he would never say as much.

Lodai went back to his artful watching for several chimes then he started to calculate how long Az and the other women had been on the other side. Gently, he rolled onto his side and used a very soft tone to encourage Naiya to release her awareness into the Web. “It’s time, Naiya. Let your spirit run free.”

~~~

Azmere looked from the tight-lipped Khida to the grinning Merevaika and smiled his uneven grin. “Far enough.” He held his hands up to silence any further protests or questions; palms pointed at each of his students. Patience. The azure and amber eyes focused in on Vai. He knew her strengths did not include a capacity to wait. “We wait for Naiya.” The scarred face shifted to find Khida’s gaze. He held his chin out and looked down his nose at the Kelvic. While it might seem haughty in pose, it was a way for him to physically block her nudity from his gaze and limit his focus to her face. Then we continue mission.

There was a mission, afterall. This was not some half-cocked idea that Cyrus came up with while chugging vision water. The Watch had lost people and no one had any answers so the plan was drawn up and was now being executed. The archer knew how to bide time, however. Webbing was so much more than just an out of body experience. Without saying or signing another thing, Azmere concentrated on releasing the djed from his body in a very controlled way. The watchman turned his palms face up from relaxed arms bent at the elbows. He curled his fingers until it looked like he was holding something roughly the size of a skull.

The expression on his face was calm and even like the swaying grasses that surrounded him. After a few ticks, a bright substance began to pool in each palm. The luminous djed slowly grew and though it was pure white light in the center, the dim outer glow was a silvery blue like far away clouds. The more the substance accumulated, the more it began to take the shape that it was given by its scarred master. In less than a chime, Azmere was holding two glowing orbs of djed each about the size of a large apple. The Drykas knelt down next to one of the dim lines by his feet and pressed the ball from his left hand into the strand slowly. The existing webline soaked up the energy without any resistance and flickered a tone brighter; buzzing with the recharge.

Azmere stood and held up one full hand and one empty one. He brought his palms together in a mirrored position which smashed the orb. The web mage twisted his arms until his fingers were pointed in the opposite direction then slowly pulled his hands apart creating eight individual cords of djed. Once more, the teacher revealed his hands to his students then he touched all eight of his fingers to his chest and allowed the djed strings to hang from his torso. Experienced fingers then went to work braiding and weaving one piece over another into an intricate knot that seemed to grow and reshape with each pass. One by one, step by step this was done until the exercise had come full circle.

[Azmere]

Naiya's arrival was unexpected but welcomed. She seemed to have a knack for the type of thinking that the Web required. This was good since she was, in her own way, the ankal of her pavilion. Azmere was not blind or deaf to things that went on in his city though he rarely got involved in the lives of others unless asked. For all he knew, the Dawnwhispers got along fine and like his own family -they existed somewhat on the fringe of society. This began a train of thoughts in the man which would lead to conversations later. The watchman returned to his lesson.

The orb became the strings which were woven into a knot which now formed a woven ball. It was Azmere’s personal origin knot and something that took him years to create and perfect. He held it up for them to see then pointed at the smaller versions that each one of them wore on their hip. The Drykas had used his knot to bind his pupils to the web. “Origin.” He tossed the balled up djed from one hand to the next several times. The archer knelt down once more and fed his energy into another dull strand of web. From his crouch, he looked up at their faces. No two alike.

The scarred face looked to Merevaika and Khida then his fingers bent into the sign for practice. Azmere made a few steps around them to stand by Naiya. He rolled his head to one side and jutted his chin out to stretch the tendons in his neck. He had been standing in a strained position to help him avoid taking in so much of Khida's naked body. This wasn't out of some misplaced ambition but rather a dedication to his golden guiding star; Yahal. The god demanded faithfulness but also purity. It was easy to let one's desires take over but Azmere spent a great deal of time contemplating ways around the temptations. A lifted chin can do wonders in a world where clothing could oftentimes be optional.

Now standing before the redhead, the archer smiled his half grin. "You did well to move on your own." Natural. He took a few paces to distance himself from the other women and made his steps in such a way that would create small pauses for Naiya to simply walk along. Once they were removed a bit, he continued. "Ankals use many techniques and tricks to leverage the web to help them be keepers of their families and herds." He gave her a knowing look with the blue and gold eyes. The watchman's voice dropped a little. "I will help you -teach you but not all can be learned in a day. Practice your origin as it will build your ability to draw djed. When you have created your own knot, come and see me." Azmere turned to see the other women and shifted his stance towards Stardown but his eyes cast sidelong back to Naiya. Then we train you.

Azmere walked back over to where Vai and Khida were with a quickly ast glance to make sure that Naiya was tailing him. He indicated that they should stop what they were doing and pay attention.

"We have a job to do for Endrykas." His face seemed to darken even within the strangely lit realm of the web. Death is here. He took his starburst stare from one face to the next. "We are to find out what we can. Remember- in the web you are safe from physical harm and detection but we must still remain together." His hands asked the question. Ready?

The web mage took a deep breath out of habit -not necessity- then began to ping across the landscape. In three jumps, he had crossed the distance to Stardown but only because he had investigated the path yesterday. the ankal returned to his first way point and waited until the women joined him. He was seven or eight miles away but clearly outlined against a standing pile of dark boulders, no doubt up-heaved during the actual crash of the star. Azmere then used the web to move closer to the crater. It was only about three miles in this skip but the man stood along on a rolling hill's crest and once again waited for his students. The teacher then made his final move to the top of Stardown's crater; a sharp ridgeline that could be seen thirty miles away. This leg of the journey was about twenty miles for the watchmen and the women but he was hard to miss standing so high above the earth.

When Khida, Merevaika and Naiya would eventually join the scarred Drykas, they would behold something wholly inconceivable. Stardown was full of bones. The crater which was large enough to house their city, host a race and support grazing for over a week was covered from end to end in scattered remains of every animal imaginable. Several square miles of stacked bones, drying hides, mangled carcasses and clouds of flies. Closer inspection revealed roving packs of glassbeaks but it was not the normal three or four per group. Some held a dozen of the predators and there were clearly grooves trampled in the dusty soil where boundary lines had been walked repeatedly.

Initial glances would reveal three main packs but even these terribly disturbing groups avoided the center. The deepest part of the crater had pillars taller than men comprised solely of bones. The construction was random but the massive columns and walls were big enough to hide a horse and rider behind each one. Azmere's face was grim and he was tight-lipped. Even surveying the scene a second time did not stop his heart from aching. Whatever had caused this had tipped the balance of life and death in this arena. The ankal narrowed his gaze as he reminded himself that there was no danger here. Unbeknownst to his pupils, the sheer scale of what lay in front of the man harrowed his confidence and strained his faith. The watchman committed these things to memory never wanting to forget how dark and terrible his beloved grasslands had become.

[Khida]

The dark-haired woman echoed her query, as eager -- no, more eager -- as Khida to test this magic's limits of travel. The odd-eyed man met their joint queries with something along the lines of tolerant amusement, deflecting each in a different way. Far enough, he said at the last. Far enough for what?

Far enough to find the hunter, to see with her own eyes that he was as hale as the bond assured him to be?

Wait, the man said, in a manner that suggested no further details would be forthcoming. He was not here to be queried; they were here towards some other end. The odd-eyed man went on to produce... something, some gleaming light that pooled in his hands like water, if water were self-contained and malleable. Diverted from her personal objectives by this newly demonstrated ability, Khida observed as he fed one orb into one of the weblines, breaking the other into strands and weaving them together into...

...she didn't know what, and he didn't say up front, not before their wife suddenly appeared where had only been empty space a beat before. Welcome, Khida signed once her initial defensive startlemetn had passed, shading the gesture with obvious affection and perhaps a hint of relief as well. It was good to have a familiar face in amongst all the current strangeness.

Origin, the odd-eyed man spoke, drawing the Kelvic's attention back to him. She didn't understand the word in and of itself, but he indicated the knot he had woven, and... herself? Yes, upon inspection, she found the same sigil attached to her, seeming somehow linked into her own substance. There was another, too, her unaccustomed eyes barely picking out the simpler weave. Whatever did those mean?

She looked at the man in bewilderment, lack of understanding not quite to the level of outright confusion. But his statement preempted any question the Kelvic might have asked; practice, he said, before drawing their wife aside for a separate discussion.

Practice. Khida glanced reflexively to the dark-haired woman left behind with her, wondering if she had understood any more of what just happened. And what they were bidden to do. Make a ball of light, divide it into threads, weave them into a knot -- but how did they get the light in the first place?

As instructions went, these were lacking.

What had the man done? Khida thought back the few chimes to when she had first noticed the pale light gathering in his hands. She mimicked his erstwhile pose, arms raised and elbows bent, palms turned towards the washed-out sky above. That and a look of concentration had brought the light-orbs forth.

So she, too, concentrated, willing... light... into her waiting hands. Only nothing came, not for ticks and not for chimes, not for all the thought and will and want her mind could apply. Had it even been light? Light did not split and bend and mold as whatever he had been manipulating did; it couldn't have been light. Yet the Kelvic had no better word for it -- never mind a better concept -- and so for all her efforts, her hands remained as empty in the end as they had been to start.

In time, the man returned with their wife, diverting Khida's attention from what seemed an eminently futile task. He spoke of work, of searching, safety, and together. It seemed a clear enough intent, and at his prompting, the Kelvic affirmed by sign, ready.

Then he was gone, again without so much as an indicator of the direction they should expect to find him in.

Khida cast about until she spotted his silhouette in the distance, more vividly alive than the environment around him. Once she knew where to go, the Kelvic followed, blinking from here to there in a thought; after the first couple of travels, it became considerably easier to anticipate where the man was going, and thus to follow faster.

It wasn't much of a surprise that their travel ended at Stardown. The tableau was no less macabre for being viewed from within the Web's otherworld. The odd-eyed man seemed to think no different, his visage seeming dark as they looked upon the bone-littered crater and the beasts stalking about it. She gave him a few moments alone with his thoughts, then signed, we do, query?

They weren't all there just to stand and observe, surely.

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

Far enough, came her response, but it wasn't good enough. Far enough - for him. How did he know what was far enough to her? She knew they couldn't travel across Mizahar - they didn't have the web, she knew that much. But could they move from one side to the other, instantly? Or would it take a million hops to travel the distance?

But her questions got know answers, almost wanting to snarl at his demand for patience. All of a sudden, everything she had always dreamed of was in reach, and she could feel the web, was in the web, hearing it calling to her to run, to ride, to explore it beyond her physical limits. She didn't want to wait - not for him, not for Naiya, not for anyone.

And it took all her strength to keep herself anchored, because she knew there was more to learn. More that he had to teach her.
The Web wasn't just about jumping from place to place, unrestricted.

And it was the words that followed too, that held her back. The mission. Not because of a sense of duty, but because of her curiosity. She had almost forgotten about it, about the reason she was here in the first place. They were challenging Dira's claim on their land. And that was worth all the waiting.

After a few moments, light began to pool in the Watchman's hands, and her eyes trained on it instantly, wondering what it was. He was working with the strands, it appeared. The light and the glowing lines in his hands, and he was doing something. Something strange, almost unnatural, something definitely magical. Keeping her hands steady and in his line of sight, she asked briefly, expecting some sort of answer, even if he didn't teach them it properly. What, light with web?

He spoke before he fully registered her question, describing it as an origin. Origin? Origin knot, she realised, having heard about it, from her father, from the others who used the web. Knots that tied, that joined, that marked. Knots that did something, each one unique to its owner. Then practice. Practice what? Making them? How? The woman wished she had paid more attention to him, to his actions, watched the way he had crafted it. Instead her mind had been where it belonged - dancing through the sea of grass and hoping to move once again. Not this.

Her eyes fell on Khida, wondering if she had understood. If she had watched, and learned, and knew how to do it. Clearly, from her bewildered expression, she hadn't been expecting this either. There had been no instructions. Not detailed ones, nor simple ones. The Kelvic seemed to try something, concentrating, and Merevaika decided she would try find the light too.

That was the first step, was it not?

As she reached her hands out, she stopped, realising something. It wasn't light. It was... magic, the same magic she saw in the web, and in the paths she followed. Glowing magic, not light. Where did it come from? Around them? Within?

Searching for something, she tried to find her own magic, but instead of bringing it to her eyes, directed it to her palms. There was her breath. Steady, in and out, centring her. A knot, in her chest, then an orb, growing. She could feel it, she thought. Inside her, then, slowly, she pulled at it, bringing it forward, to her palms, to her palms. She began to grit her teeth, forcing all her thought on the magic.

Was that something? A glint of light, she thought, then it was gone as her concentration collapsed. Maybe it was a trick of the light. But maybe she had found that magic that Azmere had brought forward and that the Kelvic had failed to.

But that wasn't what she was focusing on now. He returned from speaking with Naiya, Merevaika not even noticing the two had left. What had they spoken about? Secrets of the web, she decided, secrets she nor the Kelvic were deemed worthy enough to know. The Kelvic, she understood. Herself, not as much. She didn't have a pavilion, and had been a thief at several points, but she was still Drykas. Why hadn't she been told too? The envy rose up sharply, with a glint in her eye that could be seen if someone looked at it. She didn't care if they did see.

He spoke quickly, then began to travel, and she followed, forcing herself through the web in a way that was meant to feel natural. Occasionally, she moved further than necessary, bobbed in and out of the group despite his orders to stay together. She had to feel it, that feeling. It was something so much more than she had ever felt before.

Then they landed on the crater, and even she showed the surprise at the sight, squinting her eyes as far as she could see at the things that covered her sight. Bones. But not just bones. Carcasses, bodies, mangled remains, and the flies that came with them. Not pretty bones like the crystal skull of the horse that gave her memories. Ugly bones that stank of death. What sort? She couldn't quite tell, but moved instantly forward, trying to see clearer. Human bones? Horse bones? That surely made all the difference.

Her gaze flickered up, and she almost froze with fear. Glassbeaks, and far too many. Dozens crowded round, drawn by the dead, and it took her a few moments to reassure herself that she was safe. She couldn't be hurt. Couldn't even be detected.

So visiting the large pillars of bones, cruel demonstrations of death, would never hurt her. She had to get a closer look, had to understand.

Without thinking, Merevaika moved forward again, feeling the Web rush through her. Then she was a step away, a step, and she could touch it, she was that close. Bones. Was this Dira, or something even worse?

"Pavi"
Grassland sign
"Common"