5 TWLA 05

As uncertain as the method she'd chosen to teach with made Jeremy feel, it was effective. Submerged in her conjured water, she could highlight every single one of his countless connections to the weird energy Rain Maker called magic. Subtly poking and prodding at them in weak, fake attacks, his instincts wanted them to close. The discomfort and feeling of wrongness at invasion aligned with his poorly understood talent.

In less than a few minutes, the feeling of being a wind tunnel disappeared as all the channels closed like his skin pores had to her cold water. Once he had the feel of how to reopen them, Rain Maker slumped into the makeshift pallet of gear Jeremy had made earlier for himself. Her subtle sniffing at it made him embarrassed for reasons he had a hard time putting a clear name to. Another faint smirk from King caught out of the corner of his eye, snapped his straying thoughts back to focus as he quickly put his suit back on.

"You were smart to grab some of the purer magic stones. Once they're exposed to the air, they corrupt pretty fast but your flare out cave here has raised their purity back from B to about A grade," King said, as he flipped one in his hand.

"They can be used a couple of different ways when they're this clean. If we had isolation containers, we could store them for a trade in with HQ but we don't. We could break out the clearest parts and mix it with food for a couple days of nix free power boosting but we don't need it. If we had a suitable material for making a focus item..."

King was scratching his head in deep thought when he suddenly stopped. Looking over at Jeremy and then to the hole at the top of the geode they were in, he ran a finger over a spot on his head. "I'll be back. Collect your 'fixing' stones. Don't pile them too close to the magic stones and don't play with your powers."

Hunkered inside the buried geode, he hadn't felt the full force of 'The Hush'. But even insulated from it, Jeremy could still feel a subtle urge to stay hidden and silent. It wasn't over but King was treating it like such a thing didn't matter. He wasn't going to say anything about it to the young man that put off dangerous vibes, though. Far from it, he felt like he might be able to breath a little easier for a bit without the guy around. King's presence was nearly as stifling as The Hush itself.

'Hopping to', he muttered under his breath. "What am I worried about? I'm sure he can handle himself... It burns me up a little that he just assumes everything I got is his to do with what he wants but... I have to admit, he's got me curious."

As he went around collecting the 'fixing' stones, their collective soft glow reached a point were physical sight was stronger than his black and white vision. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the tarp bathing pool. Distracted, he brought a handful of the softly glowing stones and had a closer look.

What he saw had him stripping down to look at the rest. It wasn't that something was wrong. He didn't even look that different. But the large collection of little things ended up being a pretty big deal.

He was absolutely symmetrical, completely one skin tone from head to toe. All the little scrapes, bumps and marks of character were gone, even the elliptic bands of scars around his lower legs and right arm. It didn't look like he had to worry about when he should start shaving anymore either. To anyone else, he'd look just fine. They might even envy or appreciate a bit. But, he felt somewhat like an alien in his own skin, synthetic and fake.

The jarring sense of unfamiliarity made him feel hyper aware and sensitive. That was especially true for his feet and right hand. He doubted the subtle shades of difference stopped at the surface. The implications of that scared him a little but he calmed himself. If anything, he felt 'well', better than he had for some time.

Keen as he was to discover changes, he slowly became aware of something else, the presence of a more nebulous and hard to define change. Somewhere inside, bits of the corruption and wrongness that permeated the world around him had been gathered, changed and claimed. Not yet sensitive enough to feel it more clearly, he didn't understand what it was or what it could be used for.

To his new formed supernatural senses, it wasn't so different from magic, just older and heavier. It felt primal and filled with a wild potential far more difficult to interact with than it's younger and lighter cousin energy. He tried to draw closer to it, understand more, but was interrupted by a violent shake.

Coming to, he found that he had collapsed in front of the pool, face half submerged with an annoyed looking Rain Maker crouched over him. "This is why I haven't taught you trance yet. Too many things are new to you... I appreciate your curiosity but it almost killed you this time.

"A little closer to the water and you might have drowned... in a pool less than two feet deep. If you were alone, you might have stayed 'inside' until you died from something else. Trance is useful and usually hard to learn by those who haven't been saved from nixing out. But, I don't think getting it without the understanding of it is a good thing."

It took a moment for him to realize that more time had went by than he thought. The Hush was over and Rain Maker looked fairly rested.

Slightly panicked, he said, "How long has it been? King left not too long after you laid down. Do you think he might need help?"

She shook her head. "Don't focus much on passing time here. There is long time and short time. Everything else is meaningless. Things like cooking can be more challenging because of that.

"In this case, it's been a short time. If it stops feeling like a short time, we'll go look for him. I believe I would know if he's hurt or dead."

Not entirely convinced it was a good idea, he asked, "Are you and King... together?"

Face slipping into an expressionless mask, she said, "Not in the way you mean. And no offense if I've misinterpreted your reason for asking but... I won't be 'together' with you either. You are a child in my eyes. Things aren't how they appear to be here. You'll understand soon.

Taking in Jeremy's humiliated and slightly hurt expression, she added, "It's not so much a matter of attraction, Blue Jay. You're young inside and I'm not. Don't be in a rush to find someone to share emotional burdens with. This place isn't kind at it's best. It is cruel beyond words to those who make connections easily and feel for others too much."

She was saved from having to say anything further to fill the ensuing silence by King's return.

"Oh, you didn't give him a few happy hugs, Rain Maker?.. Listen up, Blue Jay. There are some who try to fill the darkness and fear with pleasure. Since everyone's going to think you're a purifier, there will be too many of them coming for you if they think you're willing. Don't.

"Increased burdens to your power and falling prey to someone else's is only the easy to figure out problems. If you... if you have a child here, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. What the twisting doesn't take, the operators will."

Morbidly embarrassed beyond endurance, Jeremy said, "I'm not like that! Is it a crime to just maybe like somebody? You two are way worse than Sister Espinal ever thought about being! God, just bury me in a hole and forget about me."

With a nearly evil leer, King looked at Rain Maker and said, "They're so adorable while they're still pure, aren't they?... Blue Jay, don't BS me. Every guy's 'like that' unless they don't have balls. Then again, maybe you don't know that yet. Good. Not knowing what you're turning down will make it easier."

Face still expressionless, she retorted, "Lay off. I agree with your advice but there's no need to be crude about it. And, I won't be 'like that' anymore either... I'm with you, King. Always have been. But, I'm not up for helping you or anyone else lick wounds anymore."

The tyrant shrugged. "Not really feeling up to much licking yet anyway."

There was a menace and challenge in his eyes that suggested if he had been 'up for some licking', he wouldn't have been so easy going about things. Considering how much she seemed to walk on eggshells around the guy on everything else, Jeremy thought there were some lines King had drawn for himself if she was willing to make her stance clear on issues of intimacy so boldly. There was no way of knowing for sure.

For the moment, it didn't matter. King threw a couple more crates down and whipped out what looked like a bone-like broken branch. It took him a second to register it but Jeremy knew where it had came from. King must have remembered getting clocked on the head by the kicked loose chunk of geode while being a monster deer.

The young man surrounded himself in a set of translucent golden armor before pulling it down to his hand in the form of a wicked dagger. Whether it was the pile of 'fixing' stones, the magic stones or his branch antler, the man crushed and carved mercilessly. Eventually, he called Rain Maker over to help and even had Jeremy close his eyes and 'imagine specific images. There was even some blood involved at one point.

It ended up being occult and confusing for Jeremy but he hoped explanations afterwards would make sense of things.

After stowing some things away, King handed a couple of items to Rain Maker before turning to Jeremy. "This ring will make water. Stop if it starts to heat up or it will explode. Don't know how long it will last but if you keep fixing it with your power, maybe a long time.

"Don't look down on the dagger just because it's wood... bone?... Anyway, don't look down on it. It's a lot stronger than it looks and has a sharp edge. It's got some of the fix and magic stone pieces stuffed into the handle too. Won't do anything special for anyone else. But in your hands, it'll cut through nixed like butter if you wake it up with a little of your juice. Maybe native monsters too but I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you.

"That armband will let you channel some dirt free magic for a little while but it's real job is to help me know where you are. You get tired of being under my wing, break it. If I ever nix out again and you can't bring me back, break all of it and ditch them. Otherwise, I might stalk you. If Rain Maker nixes out, ditch the water making ring for the same reason. Better yet, let someone you don't like steal it."

Before Jeremy could ask about how they were made or the other items that were stuffed into a bag and placed at the far end of their cave, A high pitched whine came from the bag in question. King pushed Jeremy behind the crates as he activated his golden energy armor and rushed towards the bag. Rain Maker tried to dive where Jeremy was but didn't make it in time and was caught by some shrapnel from the exploding bag.

A few dizzying breaths later, he picked himself up and staggered over to Rain Maker. Her legs got peppered a little but what really concerned him was the nearly instant fever she was exhibiting. King took the bulk of it but was mostly alright except for his left hand and shins. He had a similar fever as well.

"If it was that volatile, why didn't you put it outside!?" he asked but neither of his companions were in a state to answer.

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