24. Friends (Redux) (Patreon)

A/N: Hey everyone! Thundamoo here. I recently started lamenting that I named soul magic "Anima" in this story instead of "Pneuma," since Pneuma means 'soul' and also 'breath,' and there are obviously a lot of parallels between the two in Bioshifter. Then I remembered that I'm the author and I have retcon powers. So Anima magic has been renamed Pneuma magic. I'm probably not going to go back and change the old chapters (because editing Patreon posts is kind of a pain in the ass) but it'll be changed for the public released and changed here on out. So if you see Pneuma and are confused as to what that means, it's Anima. Sindri is a Pneuma mage now. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!


I think the worst part is that it would all be so beautiful if not for the horrifying implications. The roots floating in midair, reaching out in every direction like the Goddess' fingers, clumps of dirt levitating around them like islands in the sky… it's breathtaking. So too is the Slaying Stone, its pulsating green chasms a beautiful mix of color along the backdrop of dark gray. But then I remember people presumably live there, and that the Stonerot is poisonous. It's as sure a sign of death as the glistening sap that flows out of the world tree's wound. Everything about this world is broken and wrong, and it's impossible not to wonder how things ever got this bad.

Three different apocalypses, I send over our mental link. Any one of these would have been enough, but you have three. The upper branches are on fire, the middle of the tree is impaled, and the roots are starving. Is Stonerot a fourth?

"Functionally yes," Sindri nods. "We're doing what we can to slow it down, to reclaim what it has taken, but it carves through civilizations like acid through paper, devouring stone and metal to multiply itself. Our pre-cataclysm cities have been abandoned, and the stores of knowledge there are largely lost. We had to rebuild everything we know from the memories of surviving scholars, and now everyone that lived through that era is long dead."

How are you so calm about all this? I breathe. This is completely insane.

"I don't disagree, but what are we supposed to do about it?" SIndri shrugs. "Do you think I know how to put out a fire the size of an entire world? How to plant a tree into soil that does not seem to exist? I do what I can to make the world a better place with the skills I have, Hana, because maintaining what we have is all we can do."

"He's right," Teboho sighs. "These problems are beyond the scope of mortals, I fear. They are the domain of the Goddess, or perhaps Her chosen."

I'm glad I don't have a face to grimace with. The domain of Her chosen, huh? What the hell am I supposed to do about it, though? All I can do is cut things and be a stylish fashion accessory. Do you really expect me to fix this, Goddess? And if not, why am I here?

I'm here for some reason, aren't I? The magic that links me between two worlds belongs to the Goddess, granted by Her with purpose. I have Her attention, I have Her favor, and as best I can tell I feel Her more intimately than anyone else. But unlike the shows, games, and stories where the hero is whisked away from Earth by a divine being, I was never given a task or a purpose. The Goddess brought me here, that much I know. But I still haven't really met Her, per se. She's just… been around, watching with expectation and quiet amusement. I suppose I could just ask Her, at least so long as I'm willing to risk wasting Her time again. I can't say I find myself terribly keen on that idea, but it's certainly an option.

Maybe She just knows that She doesn't need to say anything. I don't need Her to give me a divine quest to search for answers and solutions. I guess that's my plan, then. To try and help. To look for ways to slow or reverse the apocalypse. Once I finish getting my bearings and helping my friends stop a dangerous murderer then that'll be my next step. I'll tour all of this world's various ongoing ragnaroks and see what I can do to help. I certainly can't think of a better use of my time than that.

"Well then, I suppose it's time to get back to business," Sindri announces. "Kagiso, Teboho, could you get us somewhere to stay while you're out finding a healer? I'm going to search around and see if this city has any Chaos hunters that would be willing to join us. My birds report that our target is holed up in a cave barely a day from here, so our fight will be tomorrow night. Best to be as prepared as possible."

Oh gosh. So soon?

"Don't worry, Hana," Sindri smiles at me. "You'll be ready."

I shudder, remembering the near-complete lack of feeling as my claws slid effortlessly through those bandits.

If you're wrong, then I have good reason to be worried, I tell him. If you're right, I have even more of a reason to be worried.

"You are so kind, Hana," Teboho smiles at me. "But you are also strong. I am grateful that you are willing to help us seek justice for this."

"No worry, Hana," Kagiso says, patting me. "You are hunter. Will be easy."

I sigh. Kagiso is a hunter. I'm not sure she really understands that I'm uncomfortable with the act of killing. Teboho shrugs apologetically at me, seeming to be of the same opinion. The two of them are so very different, aren't they? I'd never know they were siblings. …Though I guess my brother and I are even further apart than they are. Even before it became concerningly literal, I would have described the two of us as completely different species.

Sindri motions us away from the edge and we head back into the city, the vibrant noise of it all tearing my thoughts away from my family. I didn't notice before, what with being so overwhelmed, but while the vast majority of people here are dentron there's an occasional smattering of non-dentron people. Humans are the first and most obvious. I can't help but note that every human I've seen so far has been dark-skinned, which is interesting. Much more interesting are the small, two-and-a-half-foot tall bat people that I initially thought were some kind of animal until I noticed a pair of them chatting with a dentron while clinging to the trunk of a tree thirty feet above me. I'm embarrassed to have assumed they were anything but people from that point on; they even have human-like faces, barring rodent-like incisors and long, fuzzy ears jutting up from the tops of their itty-bitty heads. The tiny little guys are actually really cute, with fuzzy bodies and large wings for forelimbs, tipped on the ends and joints with clawed, finger-like appendages that they use to latch onto the sides of trees, hanging and crawling at whatever angle they choose. Like humans, they only have four limbs counting the wings, but their stubby little feet don't seem like they'd be much use for walking; flat and thin, their legs barely even seem useful for crawling around. While all four limbs have hooked claws for clinging to trees, none of them seem to be even remotely useful for manipulating objects. Thankfully, they also have a dentron-like tail, thin like a monkey but tipped with three fingers that seem fully capable of holding onto anything they might need. And of course, while they're incredibly slow at crawling and climbing, that's because it isn't intended to be their forte at all. Whenever they please, they can leap off a tree and take to the air.

The bat-people immediately stop seeming clumsy once freely in the sky. Their funky little back legs become dexterous ailerons, their oversized forelimbs become powerful wings, and they zip through the air with the speed and grace of swallows. Interestingly, wherever they go a second one always follows them, never far behind or far apart.

What are the cute little flying people called? I ask.

Teboho chokes out a laugh as Sindri grins and says "Sciptera."

Sciptera? I ask. Kind of a mouthful.

"Sciptera are delightful people," Teboho says, a wisp of nostalgia in his voice. "A good many pairs of them would fly down to visit our village from time to time."

"Pala and Lula were there," Kagiso comments, her words emptier than usual.

"...Ah," Teboho says quietly, his fists clenching. "I was afraid of as much."

"Well. Let's make sure that tragedy never strikes again, hmm?" Sindri sighs, earning determined nods from both dentron. "Get a healer that can bring you back to your best, Teboho, and then get us somewhere to sleep. It'll be a long day tomorrow."

Gosh, it's so easy to forget that Teboho is severely injured. He hides it well. Despite those injuries, though, Sindri apparently still considers him the most reliable member of the group. Sindri hands Teboho some money and splits off from us, leaving him and Kagiso as my guides.

Wait, hold on! I call out. Shouldn't I go with you, Sindri? I can't talk to people without you.

"Isn't that what you've been practicing writing for?" Sindri calls back. "Get Teboho to make you a tablet."

"I can't make chalk," Teboho protests. "It's too soft of a material."

"She doesn't need chalk with her spells," Sindri dismisses. "Try to get a place on the ground floor for me, okay? I'd rather not suffer the indignity of being carried in and out of our room."

"Alright, alright," Teboho agrees, waving goodbye before summoning a thin stone slab in his hand and giving it to Kagiso. "Can you write on this, Hana?"

I skitter off Kagiso's head and down her shoulder, latching onto the forearm of the hand holding the tablet. Activating a weak Spacial Rend on one claw, I crudely carve my answer into the rock.

This works.

My handwriting certainly isn't going to be winning any awards, nor is my loquaciousness. It's slow going trying to carve out letters that I have to wrack my brain to even remember, but it gets the job done. Something about that feels really good, too. It's a level of independence I haven't felt in this world since first becoming fully lucid.

"Excellent!" Teboho grins. "I suppose I'll just unsummon it and summon you a new one whenever you run out of space?"

Sounds good.

I guess needing Teboho to give me writing material is a bit of an issue, but I suppose I'm not unable to communicate without that. Just unable to communicate without destroying stuff. It lacks the convenience of instant mind-to-mind communication, though.

"Now then," Teboho announces jovially, "I should probably admit I have no idea what we're doing."

"City big," Kagiso agrees, staring up at the treetops.

Oh gosh they're country bumpkins, that's right. But I'm super sheltered and from another universe, so am I any better off?

Ask for directions? I suggest.

"Oh! Good idea, Hana!" Teboho agrees.

We approach one of the merchants hocking wares, who glances at us for a moment before doing a sudden double-take when he spots me hanging on Kagiso's arm. Immediately, I panic, remembering the merchants from the trade stop that ended up trying to kill us. I direct my senses out and around us, searching for necklaces. I almost relax when I see the person we're approaching lacks one, but panic quickly seizes control again when I find five different cultists all in various parts of the crowd. One of them stares at me, though the others are minding their own business, either ignorant or uncaring of my presence. I poke Kagiso purposefully with my leg, pointing surreptitiously towards the man looking a bit too purposefully in our direction. She glances that way and spots him immediately, and I feel her muscles tense up under my legs.

"Mmm. Teboho," she growls quietly.

"Hmm?" he asks, looking up from his conversation with the merchant and taking only a moment to notice the hunter's posture in his sister. "...Ah. Well. Thank you for the directions, my good man. It seems we'll be taking our leave now."

As we expected and feared, the cultist follows us from a distance as we head deeper into the city, moving towards the Order healer Teboho was recommended by the local merchant. Together we creep through the crowds, staying on the ground to try and put as many people between us and them as possible, but they manage to keep pace with us. It's a dentron man, and he looks nervous.

What should we do? I write.

"Secluded location," Kagiso suggests. "Hana dispose body."

Woah, woah, what!? No, no no no! Thankfully, Teboho comes to my rescue before I have to write out an objection to the murder-and-cannibalism plan.

"We're not killing anyone as a first response, Kagiso," he chides. "Let's just get me healed, no one is going to attack in broad daylight in the middle of a busy commerce sector."

"Can't decide place for sleep if being stalked," Kagiso hisses.

"True. We have a while to figure something out, though. Here we are."

We walk into the clinic, a ground-floor alcove carved out of the trunk of a massive tree. The 'door' is just a simple cloth hung over the opening, but it's still enough to block line of sight from the outside. Kagiso nudges me and I understand what she's worried about immediately.

He's staking out the building, I report, since needing line of sight is for losers.

She gives me a pat and we sit down in the waiting room, Teboho behind a decent chunk of other people also in line for non-critical healing. We're going to be here a while, and I get to spend the entire time watching a cultist stalk us. He's not even all that good at it; the dude is looking increasingly nervous as time goes on, not seeming to be sure whether or not to keep his stakeout going, walk in after us, or go do something else. Eventually, he makes his decision, though, and I'm not sure whether it's a good thing or a bad thing.

He's leaving, I scribble hastily.

"Hrm. Follow?"

Me?

"I no leave Teboho. But you are sneaky. Better stalker than the fool."

I'm not sure I like the idea of going alone, but Kagiso has a point. I am very good at hiding from things, even without the ability to pop into another dimension. I'll probably have to go without that, since there don't seem to be any barren zones on the leaf. It's just as flat in the fourth dimension as it is in 3D space, meaning that anywhere I want to step out of w=0 space will have me falling through where all the dirt should be and splattering on the leaf below it. I'm starting to think of a few tricks to make that less of a problem, but now isn't a good time to test them. I'm a bit too stressed.

Okay, I write. Stay here so I can find you.

As crazy as it is to follow this man, I feel like we do need to know where this stalker is going and if he's going to be a problem. The prospect of him returning with friends to murder us is a horrifyingly real one consider that it has already happened once, so I wait for him to be looking away and scuttle out of the room after him, rushing up the side of a tree so I don't get stepped on.

Tailing him is trivial, because as long as I stay within fifty feet of the man I never have to give him an opportunity to see me in the first place. I may not be able to pop into a barren zone here, but I can just keep a branch or trunk between the two of us and let perfectly normal physics do the work. I get some odd looks from other climbers as I scuttle by, even scaring the crap out of a few people, but people seem largely content to ignore me as soon as they figure out that I'm ignoring them. Weird little creatures crawling through the trees is one of those things that just kind of happens in forests.

The feeling of my heavy breaths as I rush after my quarry is weirdly alien to me. My book lungs were garbage in terms of oxygen efficiency and temperature regulation, making my stamina with them absolutely terrible. They were, however, extremely quiet, and they didn't constantly inflate and deflate inside my body like creepy balloons. In all honestly, I'll probably miss them, as strange and inconvenient as they were. I'm no longer even radially symmetrical, at least on the inside. My lungs are growing larger and more human-shaped, it seems. Still, they help a lot with letting me keep pace with a fully grown dentron man despite him being nearly six times taller than me. I mean, he's just walking and I have to sprint, but at least I'm not dying trying to keep pace for so long.

I must be skittering after this stupid cultist for a solid twenty minutes before I finally find something that looks like it might be a destination: a building adorned with the same centipede symbol as the cultist necklaces that let me so easily identify them all. …I guess if I'd known this was here it'd be pretty obvious. Gosh it's counterintuitive to think that the cultists would just have a big public building in the middle of the city, but I guess it's like Sindri said: they're recognized as a legitimate religion. Calling them 'cultists' is probably really insulting, but they tried to kill me so I don't really care.

The man I'm following rushes inside, and I sneak across a branch to grab onto the outside of the tree that forms the cultist headquarters. Peeking inside is easy enough when I get close, so I take the opportunity to spy on the enemy. It all seems pretty normal, honestly: a couple bedrooms, a couple studies, a big chapel-esque room that takes up a whole floor, and a series of offices on the ground floor, in one of which Sindri is chatting with a dude that looks like he might be a cultist leader.

Wait. What?

Instantly, my heart rate spikes a hundredfold. Why the habanero is Sindri here!? The cultist I'm following almost completely forgotten, I scurry along the outside of the trunk until I'm right on the outside wall to the room he's in. Sindri is talking to a large dentron man sitting behind a fancy desk. The dentron is wearing bulky, heavy-looking metal armor, which I find strange considering how difficult that must be to climb in; I'll admit to not knowing a ton of them, but I've literally never seen a dentron wearing that much, not even the city guards. Behind him, snugly sitting in a weapon stand is a large spear. His upper pair of arms have their fingers threaded together, elbows resting on the desk as he listens to Sindri speak. A lower hand drums its fingers on his thigh, as his tail lashes back and forth with apparent concern. Scuttling close to a nearby window, I do my best to listen in.

"—your cooperation," Sindri finishes. "Are you interested?"

"Very much so," the dentron cultist agrees. "I am a Chaos hunter, same as you. The thought of not working alongside you with such a mage hiding out this close to my home city is absurd."

Oh. Oh! Huh. I mean, this is exactly what Sindri said he was going to do, so I guess this isn't all that suspicious. I don't like that he's doing it with a cultist, but—

"And information about the white-carapaced creature?" Sindri presses, and my blood runs cold.

"Well, I can certainly tell you that they're important to the Disciples of Unification," the dentron warrior answers. "But you must understand, that sort of knowledge is generally restricted to the upper echelons of our organization. You would need to show some degree of dedication to our cause before we can discuss it."

"Your racketeering gig, of course," Sindri sighs. "I don't work for people that insist on keeping secrets."

"I don't necessarily mean donations when I speak of dedication," the dentron dismisses smoothly. "I don't keep secrets to extort you, I keep secrets because they are secrets. We don't share information with people that aren't dedicated to our cause. But I can tell you this: if the familiarity you speak of this 'creature' with is any indication, you are in far more danger from it than you realize."

The two men stare at each other, sizing each other up for a moment before the guy I was actually supposed to be watching suddenly bursts into the room.

"Paladin!" the stalker yelps. "I saw a… oh."

The apparent paladin raises an eyebrow at the stalker as he realizes that Sindri is in the room and hesitates.

"Uh, should I…? I believe this is important, but…"

"By all means, continue," the paladin says. "I suspect it may actually be relevant to the current conversation."

"I… I saw it, Hagoro," the stalker stammers. "The Founder's kin. Young. It looked like a headless spider."

The paladin, Hagoro, nods.

"We'll speak of the details later," he orders. "You may go."

The stalker leaves, and Hagoro turns to Sindri.

"Sound familiar?" he asks.

"...That man sounded rather frightened," Sindri comments dryly.

"Because you are dealing with something frightening," Hagoro shrugs. "And I think you know that. I think that's why you're here. So how about this: you tell me why you came to me, why you decided to seek out a paladin from a religion that you yourself claim attacked you, and I will do what I can to explain."

I wait with bated breath, conscious thought stalling in my head as I try to put together all the pieces here. Sindri is scared of me? He went to our enemies because of that? What did I miss?

"I… am a Pneuma mage," Sindri explains slowly. "My specialty is in communication. I can link together thoughts in a large group and use it to direct battles more effectively."

"A useful magic," Hagoro answers amicably.

"To a limited extent, it… also can be used to read minds," Sindri admits. "I'll often pick up on things people don't consciously mean to send over the link. The… what did you call it, a 'founder's kin?' Her name is Hana. She's been traveling with us for many days now, and she's a kind person, not used to fighting. I didn't know what she was when we met, but I wanted her help with handling the Chaos mage since she has such an impressive Order aura. The more I spent time with her, however, the more I knew something was… off. She knew things she shouldn't have any way to know, and was ignorant about things she shouldn't have any way to miss. Though our link, I learned that she dreams of living in an entirely different world, full of technology advanced enough to be found in an ancestral ruin. It feels too real to just be a fantasy."

"I see. That is… more than I expected you to know," Hagoro admits. "And you're right. This 'Hana' is an invader from another world. And she is here to seek our ruin."

What!? No I'm not!

"I was afraid you'd say that," Sindri hisses. "Even the way she moves reminds me of those monsters from twenty years ago. But I've spoken with her soul to soul. She can get a bit… violent at times, I'll grant you, but she doesn't have a speck of malice on her. I'm confident in that. Honestly, training her to fight has been a pain and a half."

Yeah! You tell him, Sindri! …Wait, no, actually maybe stop telling him about me at all, what the heck are you doing. And when have you ever trained me to fight!? You've just kinda gone 'hey Hannah, go kill that guy for me!'

"Hmm," Hagoro muses, rubbing his chin in contemplation. "Truly? If that's the case, I'd quite like to meet her."

"Well, if you hunt with us you'll get the chance," Sindri points out.

Woah, woah, woah! Don't I get a say in this? This paladin guy is part of the organization that has been stalking and occasionally attacking me for no good reason! This is a terrible idea, isn't it? And how come Sindri went to this random jerk instead of just talking to me about it!? If he'd confronted me about it I probably would have come clean, if for no other reason than the fact that I'm a huge pushover.

"I think I'll do that," Hagoro agrees. "Come find me when you leave?"

"Mmm. The bridge to the city, at first light," Sindri grunts. "And then we'll see about this 'dedication to your cause.'"

"Of course," Hagoro agrees, and Sindri gets up to leave. I scuttle up the tree and find a branch to follow him as he leaves, silently fuming. I can't believe he went behind my back to set up all this crap! We're friends, aren't we? This is very unfriendly of him! I haven't been this angry at him since he nearly persistence hunted me to death. Which… sure is a thing he did. He's kind of done a lot of mean things to me that I've just kind of forgiven, huh? Like throwing me when I successfully casted the Aura Sight spell! I understand why he did it, but he never even apologized! I'm getting really mad now, scuttling after Sindri from above as he weaves along the ground floor of the city, walking further and further away from where I know Kagiso and Teboho are waiting at the healing clinic. Where is he even going?

Sindri pushes through some brush, walking farther and farther from the city proper and into the quiet, residential parts of Grawlaka. I almost think he must know someone here when he suddenly stops in the middle of nowhere, without anyone else around.

"Alright, Hana," he says. "Come on out."

I jolt with surprise. He knew I was following him? Well, you know what, fine! I need to give him a piece of my mind anyway. Sindri chuckles for some reason, and I don't think about why. Descending to the ground in front of him, I start furiously scratching in the dirt.

Why were you talking to cultists about me!?

"Why were you eavesdropping?" he counters.

Because the others and I were getting stalked by cultists, and when I followed one I found you talking to his boss! These people attacked us, Sindri!

"That's part of why I was talking with them," Sindri explains, reaching down to touch me and activate our mental link. "To learn their motivations."

Then you should have told us you were doing that! I protest. You could have asked me about half the stuff you discussed in there! You didn't have to go to the creepy zealots that nearly killed us!

"It was a calculated move, and I think it paid off," Sindri shrugs. "Can I ask you to just trust me?"

No! I fire back. You can't! You're not allowed to tell people about stuff you found in my head without ever telling me you were in my head looking at those things in the first place! That's a pretty enormous breach of trust, Sindri!

"Are you sure I can't convince you?" Sindri asks. "We've been through a lot together. We're Friends, aren't we?"

She's here in an instant. Chuckling as She speaks the word lovingly into my ear. Friends. Of course, I've been so stupid. Why wouldn't I trust Sindri? He's my friend! Thank you for reminding me, Goddess. She just howls with laughter, gone without a trace.

I feel… disoriented. My anger from before is gone, and I just feel kind of embarrassed and foolish for having it in the first place. I've been the one being nosy and mean without any real reason. Ugh. I can't believe I've been such a bad friend.

Sorry, I send him.

"It's fine," Sindri smiles. "I understand. Now, you want to lead me back to the others?"

Yeah, I agree, crawling up his leg and perching on his shoulder. I point in the direction we came from, and we're off.

Feeling vaguely miserable, I stay quiet for the rest of the trip back, only speaking up to guide Sindri where we need to go. By stroke of luck, we make it to the clinic only shortly after Teboho's treatment is complete. He grins at us, jumping up and down a few times to show off how well he's doing. We find ourselves a room at an inn that night, opting for one large one instead of two smaller ones so we'll be together in the event of an attack. We spend the remainder of the day resting in our room, preparing ourselves for the fight that we'll be seeking tomorrow.

"Zarebo was a skilled tanner," Teboho says without prompting.

"Huh?" Sindri asks, looking up. Kagiso's long ears perk up, and she stares at Teboho intently.

"Apogo made delicious, delicious foods. We had no need to cook, our sap was plentiful, but Apogo went out of his way to make things for us anyway. His daughter Putoniba was nearly as good."

"Yazo," Kagiso grunts. "Bulana. Doragi. Abegraw. Strong warriors, all."

Oh. Are these people from their village?

"Fori was a wise old man," Teboho continues. "Talked me out of many stupid things. Helen, a skilled artist. At both paintings and sculptures, she was a master. I wish we'd known her longer. Tagrawko was beautiful beyond words. I kept trying to work up the courage to ask her to lay with me."

"She'd say no," Kagiso grunts.

Teboho laughs at that.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," he agrees. "She probably would have."

More and more names pass through the siblings' lips, over and over, a private eulogy between the only two people left to remember them. Time seems to stretch between each one, at first in solemnity but later in memory, the pair seeming to scour their brains to remember each and every name so as to not speak the ones that were so obviously missing. But eventually, the time comes. A long period of silence stretches out, until Kagiso finally breaks it.

"Borupu. A good brother. Grawna. A good mother. Mago. A good father."

"Yes," Teboho agrees. "The best."

"Tomorrow, we hunt," Kagiso promises. "For them."

"For them," Teboho agrees.

Nobody else speaks for the rest of the night. Eventually, with the sun down and our bodies weary, we drift off to sleep together. I wake up with tears in my eyes, full of secondhand grief for people I can never meet. Poor Kagiso. Poor Teboho. They are all they have left.

My breath shaky, I go through my usual morning routine. I figure out my limbs, I get out of bed, I crawl my way into the shower, glorious hot water soothing my body as I groggily recall the events of the day. Today is Monday, right? So I'm going to school today? I'm going to go help my friends assassinate someone tomorrow and I'm going to school today. This is totally insane. Honestly, we're in a city now, I could just stay there while the others go enact justice or whatever. Skip out on the whole 'cultist paladin joins the party' bullcarp. How the heck did Sindri even convince me to go along with that, anyway?

I blink, water rushing down my face. Huh. Wait. Wait a gosh dang second! I stand up straight, the exhaustion in my body vanishing as I yell furiously at the shower wall.

"That motherfucker mind controlled me!"