Every SmallPond has the same length day and same length year. The constellations are different, the climates are different, the places are clearly not the same and yet they work the same?
The other Ponds follow these patterns, they keep to these measures even when there is no logical reason to do so.
Did no one ever ask how it was possible? Look at the probability of such an event? Did their Awakening leave them without the curiosity to wonder why?
Something to look into someday, to see if ancients records exist and have been forgotten, or whether it simply is known but never questioned.
~ * ~
Anya looked at the details of the newest change to their bound equipment and smiled. She'd felt the shift as she faced the goblins, she'd noticed how they'd become easier to deal with right as Seb's shocked thrill flashed across the band.
Flowing Robe (Growth) - Lysanya Syl
Provides no benefit when weapons are wielded
Automatically repairs itself with infusion of Energy from bond
Can transition between Husk and War Husk
Helps disguise the Awakened's location within the robe while fighting
Disguising effects can become tangible in deflecting or redirecting assaults
Is considered part of self for the purpose of enhancements
Singing Sword (Growth) - Sebastian Syl
Blade deals no physical damage
Automatically repairs itself with infusion of Energy from bond
Can transition between Husk and War Husk
A chain of Energy connects the pommel to the Awakened
Imbued effects can be pulsed when chain is extended
Emits Bladesong when bond desires
Pulse? she sent.
Seb tossed the blade into the ground a few feet away and shared his view of Energy flow. The weapon glowed in his sight, the chain almost appearing tangible despite being invisible to the eye. She was about to ask what had changed when a bubble flared out, weakening as it did until it faded away. Another bubble followed, then another, the delay between them clearly under his control.
You were trying to deal with a group-
-and I imagined the Energy hitting them all, he sent, finishing her thought. The way I might strike out around me if I swung at them all.
It doesn't spread very far, she sent.
If it can hinder even two goblins instead of just one it will remove pressure, give us a bigger advantage.
Like my robe, she agreed. I could feel where they were passing through the distractions, where the flashes you've mentioned met their attacks.
He nodded as he wandered through the cavern collecting shards.
I could feel it and knew I could block them. Some of them at least, she admitted.
He spun, a dart of crystallized energy flying at her as he did. She knew it was harmless but reacted all the same, her robe moving with her and a flash of green deflecting the dart into the ceiling.
That's- he began.
It's tiring. Almost as draining as healing was at first.
His grin as a half dozen darts manifested, each at a different angle, each moving at a different speed, let her know what he was about to say even as she spun through them in an attempt to reach him.
Practice, he sent as the next wave appeared.
By the time she caught up to him she was barely able to see straight. Five waves of darts had flown at her, nearly every projectile impossible to avoid entirely. She'd managed to parry each one, her arms stinging from the few that had made contact.
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Enough, she sent.
Seb nodded and took a deep breath, his attack not nearly as effortless as it had seemed in the moment.
Pretty.
What? she sent.
The trim, it looks like flames flickering up the robe.
Glancing down she saw what he meant. Where before only the trim had reminded her of his eyes now there were faint patterns, patterns that almost seemed to be shifting as she watched.
Yours? she asked.
He held out the blade, angling it this way and that so it caught what light there was. The hilt was the same, the pommel was as well. A flash of emerald caught her eye, the tone making her think of a mirror. The fuller was now clearly defined, a darker tone that matched the braid on the hilt and distracted almost as easily.
Very pretty, she agreed.
~ * ~
They'd been level 9 for over six months. Seb could feel that they were getting closer, that they would be able to advance to level 10 soon, if only they could decipher Fay's hint. They were there, he knew it, Anya knew it, the feeling of certainty was so strong he could taste it some days.
Seb. Enough! Anya sent.
I wasn't, he began. Fine, I was dwelling. I was looking for something that wasn't there. Again.
You're looking for a pattern.
He nodded and tightened the tether around his wrist. Sparring helped them think, helped them clear their thoughts and come to answers. It helped them spend time together, to know each other as well as they knew themselves.
Our Energy shapes to who and what we are, he said.
Fay said that. Told us it was a hint.
She tugged on the tether, pulling him towards her while he focused on the hint. She left him no further time to think, challenging him every time he slowed, pushing him to answer, to escalate.
Her energy twisted, the sight of it nearly matching the pattern he saw when the goblins turned to her. He felt the pull, the demand that he attack. He listened, his movements following the dance they created, his motions flowing into hers before exiting once more, the tether the only reason they did not end up on opposite sides of the cave.
Seb.. she sent, the band itself carrying the demand, challenging his distraction.
You challenge, he sent even as he swept in.
Always, she agreed before freezing.
He nearly struck her, nearly turned their dance into something deadly. He lost the moment, lost the pattern only to feel her shock ripple into his thoughts. He followed, his weapon disappearing as he swept her up, twisting them through the air in a tangle of limbs that ended with her safe on his chest as he hit the wall.
Anya?
Challenge, she sent, her tone filled with wonder.
I challenge, I am challenge. Each repetition grew stronger, more confident. My Energy challenges, my words challenge. That's what it means.
He could feel her understanding, feel her confidence in her words. He felt her joy, her relief, felt it all come crashing down as she realized he hadn't.
Oh, Seb-
No, he interrupted. You figured it out. You have it.
He felt her happiness return, felt his own confidence grow. She'd figured it out and so would he. She wouldn't let him fall behind. She'd challenge him and he would find his way there as well.
There is a pattern, he sent. You found it first.
You were the one who insisted. You wanted a pattern.
There's always a pattern. There's always a reason for why something is the way it is. The way it moves, the way it flows.
He blinked as he felt something. It wasn't certainty but it was close. It wasn't the pattern, it was the flow.
Flow? Anya sent.
No, not quite. But something close.
He pushed away from the wall and looked at her. He could feel her shift under his gaze, feel her reaction to the intensity despite the fact that he wasn't consciously aware of his own eyesight.
When she'd frozen the dance had faltered. When she'd realized she'd sent ripples through his thoughts. He'd seen the ripples, felt their movement. He'd followed them and a new path emerged. He could feel her attention through the band, her awareness mirroring his in the moment as he visualized their Energies just before he had crashed into her.
Does it always move that way? she sent.
No. Only when things feel right. When the Energy turns from a pattern into-
-a current.
He wanted to nod, he wanted to agree, but he couldn't. He understood why she had frozen when she did. Current was right, currents explained how he fit the world. His Energy flowed, his Energy found patterns. His thoughts flowed, his thoughts found patterns.
Currents, he sent when the moment finally passed. Not the static pattern, not the flow. The combination.
His eyes gradually refocused. He'd lost himself staring at Anya as the words echoed through his head, she'd been staring right back at him, challenging his gaze. She still was, she still stood there as though daring him to blush or look away, to truly see her.
Anya-
We did it. We both did it.
We're in the depths-
Seb. I love you, but if you don't say wow I'm going to hurt you.
He stood there in silence, long enough that he could feel her temper start to flare, long enough that she shifted her feet to steady her stance. He let the moment draw out, let her feel him returning her challenge over the band before he finally relented.
Wow.
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