ꙮ The Obsidian Road. Caion and Archie have packed for a little bit of an adventure, the Liminal Express having already taken them to the Kinder, Gentler Path leading to the quarry near Almachadta’s Courtyard.
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#archie
#caion
#tsemdrulukh
#duskomira
#tasna
#silver-throat
is wearing the first set of clothes he received since he first woke up at the Sanctuary - a purple robe with plenry of pockets, courtesy of one very generous Sword-Saint. The shock of purple at the crown of his hair pokes out ever so slightly from the hood. He had meant to conceal his identity as a Kushtaka, at the time - thankfully such measures were largely unnecessary now, as Caion would be a good deal harder to conceal. “Thank you for agreeing to take this journey with me, my love. I’ve left a fair few friends on the road, much the same as I was forced to leave you at first. I would see how they fare. But more than that…” He trails off for a moment, the gears turning behind his eyes as he thinks about how to express what he wants to say. “I made a promise to you that we would explore the worlds together someday when the danger had passed without a care in the world. Well, the danger is still very present, unfortunately, but we’ve made our plans and laid our marching orders. I think it’s okay to be selfish, this once. I’m glad I get to show you the worlds while we’re confident they’ll still be there.”
gives Archie an utterly helpless smile. “I’m so glad to have the chance, love. And I… when I meet the people of Almachadta and the Beast, I– I wanted so badly to have seen their worlds with my own eyes. To have seen where they came from, to be able to talk to them about their planes even though I was from another one. So– thank you for that, too.” And he squares his shoulders, as he can, and looks towards the door, and the faint trace of the Centerlight that can be seen beyond it.
: “No stories can fully prepare you, captivating as they are. Nothing compares to the real thing.” He opens the door wide, warm, radiant light spilling through. Taking half a step back, he takes Caion’s hand in his paw, and with a gentle shift in pressure, they step forward and through in perfect synchronization.
has seen the Centerlight, as Salme’d shown it to him, he’s seen her memories of it, vividly. And yet- even in those memories he did not feel its gentle warmth, so different than the light which trickles through Samudra’s clouds. And then, having stepped through into the Quarry, he looks up– and nearly stumbles into Archie, letting himself be propped up, laughing incredulously at the sight of the world on the other side, eyes wide. “O- oh, First Principles…”
drops Caion’s hand to embrace him fully, as much to stabilize him as to share the joy. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to looking up and seeing the other side of the world. I think I kept it a secret at the time, but being here made me so unbelievably dizzy the first time.” He laughs a little to himself at the memory of trying to walk evenly and in straight lines, too reserved to let it show how much it felt like the world was spinning around him. “But it’s… beautiful, isn’t it? Alive, in such a wild and untamed way compared to our hydroponics back home. Teeming with life, every direction you look. Even now, I spy at least four plant species I haven’t documented yet.”
keeps darting his eyes around him, in every direction, and laughs, suddenly. “It reminds me of Tulinsuojat, but, of course it would, wouldn’t it?” He takes a deep breath - knowing that there will be an Almachadta after this Almachadta, no matter what else is true, that that Almachadta too will have flora and fauna to document, that he need not– but he wishes to. He wishes to know everything of this world while it yet exists to know, and he knows he can’t, and so he smiles, a little bit wistfully, and nuzzles Archie’s nose. “It’s incredible.” And then, looking -past- Archie, with some surprise and delight–
lumbers towards the both of them, methodically. “Hello, friend! And you’ve brought another friend! Are you well?”
grins and laughs with delight at the sight of the giant Spoken Wood. “Tsem! Such a treat to see you! I should ask you the same thing!” He gives a friendly but respectful gesture. “This is Caion, formerly the Scholar-Emissary of Samudra, more recently elevated to Acting Academician… and, my boyfriend.” He beams with pride. “I’ve been wanting to bring your minds together for ages. Caion, Tsem would be a Scholar of some renown if he ever made his way to the Academy someday. And Tsem, if you liked my curious and experimental spirit, you should know it pales in comparison to this one’s. You two will get along swimmingly. Which I’m banking on being more positive than dangerous, but with you two…?” He shrugs and gives a playful, wild, teasing grin.
brightens, immediately! “Ah! Tsemdrulukh! Your reputation precedes you. It’s lovely to finally get to meet face to face”, -and there’s the slightest hiccup on ‘face’ but he figures it’s probably still appropriate in this context– and laughs, delightedly, nudging Archie softly with his shoulder.
peers, curiously, which if you’ll recall, is their default expression at all times. “(I) am well. (I) have been gathering my things. There is to be a adventure, I am told, and there will be much to discover and discern at our destination. (I) would like to be ready.” And then a pause, and a more curious glance at Archie. “The (resonance) from the crystal you showed me once. I remember it vividly. It suffuses you now. What occurred?”
returns the nudge, and if expressions could talk, his wide eyes, slightly raised eyebrows, and slight smirk teasing the corners of his lips would say “worried about saying the wrong thing even now? Once an Emissary, always an Emissary!”
looks at Tsem with surprised confusion. “I do? I wasn’t aware that anything specific had occurred, but…” He trails off for a moment, calling to mind the revelations at the Academy, the events at the Septentrione. “It turns out that the object we examined together is called a kleis, the Ancient word for a key, but also a referent of power or authority. The physical key opened our path out from Samudra and allowed us to see a portion of a city much older than Samudra’s current cycle, most likely as old as the Ancients themselves. I thought would be the end of it. But if I now resonate the same way, perhaps that act vested me with an authority I’ve been unaware of so far.”
trundles over a couple of steps to get a look at Archie from a different angle, and the crystal woven in to their trunk shimmers in light. “It would seem seem so! It’s good that you came to talk to me, or else you might have never known that it resonated with you still!” They seem to find this idea tremendously amusing.
: “You’ve already given me so much to think about in so little time! Let none say you’ve lost your touch, Tsem. It’ll be an honor to get back in the labs with you, once the moment allows.”
grins. “I find myself looking forward to that as well. I’d love to see what you got up to with Samudra’s resourrces; I’ve heard of what you’ve managed here on your own.”
wind-through-leaves rustle-laughs. “That is why (I) am bringing as much as (I) can along with me.”
: “Let us know if you could use some extra space! We have access to a pocket dimension or two. I owe you one, after ‘borrowing’ a few mushrooms from the quarry for some high-stakes culinarianism earlier.”
: “Ohhhh, that was -you-. (I) should have known.” More of that wind-through-leaves laugh.
returns the laugh with feigned indignation, quickly dropped. “You’ll be pleased to know that they’re now certifiably cross-planar delicacies! Not that you needed any more evidence of their deliciousness than that of your own senses.”
: “Forgive a change of topic, but there’s another I’d like to see during our time here. Do you know where Badri can be found, these days?”
: “Well, good! (I) will make sure that, in the supplies we bring with us, there’s a sufficient supply of them. We may be hunkering down in shelter for some time, but we can at least share the bounties of each others’ worlds.” And then a pause, and a frown. “Badri has been hither and yon fighting those awful plants that keep creeping up and harassing us, I’m afraid.” They gesture at Caion with a branch. “Told me to say hello to you if you did stop by, though.”
nods, eagerly. “That’s right, we’ve been in communication on the linkpearl, planning logistics for the evacuation.”
nods. “Ever the hero, at least in between flirtatious comments.” Is that a tiny bit of blushing you detect near his eyes, where his fur is thin? Must be a trick of the light. “I’m glad the fight continues. We need to buy time if we want to get as many people as possible to safety.”
: “Salme’s got a plan to help make sure we get as many people to safety as we possibly can.” There’s bright pride for his friend, in his voice.
: “Are there any areas that have been deemed unsafe for non-combatants, by the way? It would be nice to take a stroll, while we’re here.”
: “Everywhere around the Courtyard and the Quarry is… about as safe as safe gets, (I) would say. The further out you get, the more chaotic things get.”
nods. “Thank you for the tips, Tsem. I look forward to seeing you again on our Grand Adventure soon enough. For now, I have an adventure of my own in mind for this one, and there’s no time like the present,” he says, taking Caion’s hand. “See you soon, Tsem!” He gives Caion a chance to smile and wave in his oh-so-very-Emissary way, and then, they set off. ⁂
moves slowly, but with exceeding care, his feet avoiding every cleft in the slate and then, later, every root in the ground. It’s somewhat slow going, but he’d rather not let go of Archie’s hand to be using his staff, and anyways, he’s here to appreciate the scenery anyway.
takes Caion along as long and winding of a path as he can think of, with his rusty memory of the exact surrounds. Their pace is slow, methodical, wondrous. He points to things as he passes them - the Throne of the Palimpsest-King over there, a spread of food laid out for some feast in the Courtyard to keep morale up over here (“You’ve got to try their cheese sometime. Consider it your duty as Emissary.”), the place he first heard Wolf speak unburdened, the place where Salme first shared the truth of her story and her world, the clearing where we first met Jorule was that way and you should have seen the look on our faces. He pauses for a moment at a stretch of the path that would lead to the Tangle. “I was debating taking you there. To the Mask’s shrine. I kept going back and forth on it, because while it’s such a part of Salme and those stories and feelings aren’t mine to share, it’s also where I got one of my first, fleeting memories of you. Summoning a fiend ended up doing the trick, but I’d take counting tally marks with you over it any day. Well, for better or for worse, it seems like that decision has been made for me.” As he turns back, wrapped up in the bittersweet memories tied up in that place, he sees a very familiar-looking creature approaching him. “Oh hello, beautiful! Were you waiting for me? Oh, you’re so BIG! Oh, oka- okay - oOH-“ and suddenly there are more of them, so many more, and Archie disappears for a moment in a mound of ludicrous, affectionate fur and flowery branches.
🙧
ꙮ Swifts, of course, have a remarkable habit of being precisely where it is correct for them to be, and in this moment Archie and Caion both are swept up in an adorable, churring tide of lithe, sinous, flower-bedecked critter. Seems that they wanted to make sure they had the chance to say hello, too!
laughs with amused amazement. “Bigger than you would have guessed based on my gifted recreation, aren’t they? Speaking of, how is the little one?”
laughs, and laughs, and a little gnosis-simulacrum of a swift, picture-perfect but at fits-in-a-pocket scale, pokes its head out of one of the pockets of Caion’s robe and then every single Swift present has to nuzzle it, it is Mandatory, which just makes Caion laugh harder.
laughs with him, and nuzzles, and laughs, and slowly extricates himself from the mass. “That’s about as friendly an Almachadtan greeting as you can ask for!”
methodically boops the swifts on the snoot as they disentangle, each by each, until one - the swift Archie rode, while he was on Almachadta - stays close, ready to take them back to the Quarry. “I’d been hoping I’d get to see them, too. Oh, you’re magnificent creatures, no wonder Archie was so taken with you.”
beams and hops aboard, extending a hand down to Caion to help him up, wrapping that arm around his waist as the swift takes off, seemingly eager to show off to the newest guest. The ride ends all too soon as they find thenselves back at the door to the Path. “Would that we could stay longer, but we’ve got errands to run. I hate to say goodbye so soon, but let’s think of it as moving on to the next stop on our extraordinary tour. Shall we embark?”
: “Of course, my love,” –and he’s got some kind of little treat, in one of his pockets, before that, that he offers to the swift that carried them here, before following Archie back into the Obsidian Road.
ꙮ There is, conveniently, and perhaps just for them, a direct route between the Almachadtan platform and Queenstown’s platform. It wasn’t on the schedule, before! But the moonsilver tracks stretch away into the distance..
grins. An Emissary through and through. As they board the train, Archie leans on Caion, absentmindedly running his paw over his knee lovingly. “For me, we were just here, so I don’t have as much to catch up on. But Beast has its special charms worth taking in all the same.” The ride ends soon, too soon, and Archie reluctantly stands, stretches, and leads the way to the door. “I wonder where they relocated this one to. Only one way to find out, I suppose.” He stretches out his paw expectantly.
follows, taking Archie’s paw delicately, and they go through the gate -
ꙮ The doors open onto the outskirts of Queenstown, within the outermost walls. A large metal platform that serves as the conflux of three different train lines within the city, and one coming in from outside, and it’s fairly busy, people setting up the infrastructure of a hurried evacuation into the Obsidian Road. And there’s a familiar face -
is sitting on an inexplicably fancy-looking antique chair, and has a couple pieces of metal armor propped up against the side of it, and when she sees you, she stands and waves. “Oh, hello, darling! And you must be Caion?”
returns the wave. “Duŝkomira! What a pleasant surprise! Helping with the evacuation preparations, I take it? Oh, and right you are, of course. Caion, am I to take it you’re acquainted?”
looks, slightly, chagrined. “First time properly meeting, of course, but I assume my reputation precedes me. I only hope it’s a good one.”
laughs. “As if it could be otherwise!”
: “Xilai had this” – and she gestures to the metal plate – “to give to Salme. Said she asked for it on the linkpearl, and that she could make better use of it than he could, these days, if you could make sure she gets it? And Tasna’s around here, somewhere, she’ll have a fit if you leave before she gets a chance to say hello, so stick around a moment or two, if you can.” She glances over both of them, and smiles. “Taking a moment to see the sights while you can? Good on both of you.”
nods, smiling. “I truly believe we’ll get to the other side of this. But when we do, who’s to say that the way these worlds will re-emerge will be anything like the ones we know now? Before that time comes, I wanted to share these worlds as I’ve come to know and love them, myself.”
looks up – because Duŝkomira inclined HER head upwards, suddenly, and he looked up to see what SHE was looking at– and he sees the stars, and he gasps, softly, in wonder.
can’t help it - his tail is already gently thudding against the ground joyfully at the sound, watching Caion’s eyes, the way they sparkle like the crest of a wave in the light of Beast’s stars and all-too-few remaining moons.
softly clears her throat. Somewhere in the two of them staring up at the stars - or at Caion staring at the stars, and Archie at their reflections in his eyes - she snuck up on all of them, and she inclines her head formally. “Acting Academician. Scholar-Archivist. It’s an honor.” There’s a playful lilt to her formal tone.
startles a little, immediately dropping into a formal bow before realizing the teasing in her tone. “Academician-Gone-Rogue, the honor is ours,” he volleys back, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.
laughs in utter delight, and then she takes a good look at Caion – eyes glancing over the crystallised crater of his left eye, his arm – expression betraying nothing but for, perhaps, pride and satisfaction that the Academy goes on. “Glad I made it back in time to see you two. We’re nearly ready to start moving people and supplies into the– what do you call it, anyways, this refuge of yours?”
: “We call it many things. We first knew it as the Obsidian Road, which is the name I personally prefer, though I can’t deny that ‘void’ being monosyllabic is convenient for more casual use.”
: “Well, lucre to lemon tarts says everyone winds up with their own name for it anyways, so we might as well get used to that.” She looks at Caion. “Tower holding up alright, given everything?”
nods. “As well as could be expected. There’s– you’ve heard about the Radiant Wall?” –and Tasna nods. “It’s… helping, I’m not sure we could have the discussions we’ve been having without it. The island, too. Hey, I’ll be able to show that to you, once we’re both settled in properly.”
nods. “The Academy couldn’t be in better hands, even if one is crystal now. Then again, I’m biased, of course.” He looks around for a moment. “Every world has a food culture, of course - we all need to eat, or at least, almost all of us do. But Beast’s command of fine dining is like nothing I’ve seen. Their chefs will be invaluable as we find new ways to combine the flavors of our homes using what crops and agriculture we’re able to bring from each world to the Road.”
snorts, softly, and bonks his head on Archie’s shoulder.
: “Necessity is the mother of invention, and hunger makes a good sauce. You might have competition for the next Grand Soups, young man.”
grins. “I look forward to the chance to defend the title, then! I’m sure Luĉja would say the same. Have we made arrangements for his pet, by the way?”
nods. “He’s around here, somewhere, terrorising the locals. Xilai will make sure he makes it into the Void, don’t worry.”
nods, relieved. “I’m sure SQ and Zaya have their hands full with the evacuation. Is there anything else we need to be aware of?”
shakes her head. “Nothin’ I can think of. You just… keep on doing your weird miracles, alright?”
has been, meanwhile, looking up at the stars, and he nudges Archie again, and points. “(Look, that’s the Lantern-and-Eye. It’s so obvious.)”
nods and smiles. “You can count on it.”
looks where Caion’s pointing.
ꙮ You only ever get glimpses, briefly - in seafoam forming itself into familiar patterns, in billows of the cloud-cover, back at home. Here, the stars are always shining down on you. One bright star that’s actually two, right next to each other from our perspective, nearly overlaid on each other, the flame of the Lantern and the gleam of the Eye.
watches the Lantern-and-Eye as they watch us, connecting in a moment of mutual acknowledgement - or so Archie imagines. “The stars are beautiful here every night. But this one seems especially special.” On a whim and a hunch more than a plan, he reaches out with his mind, inviting connection.
ꙮ Just starlight, this far away. But lovely starlight, two stars that shine as one, and watch you from afar.
grins at Tasna.
grins back.
: “Truth-seekers. May we always walk in the light illuminated by the radiance of Truth itself.” He looks lost in thought for a moment but shakes himself back to his senses. “Have you eaten? I was considering a stop at Spice Row on our way out.”
: “We had lunch when we got in to Queenstown, but there’s a city train that goes practically right there. Go enjoy yourselves, boys.”
gives a final salute to the two of them and takes their suggestion, eventually boarding a train (“It’s like our pneumatics, but horizontal and on rails!”) and watching the scenery change through the window as they get deeper into the market area and closer to Spice Row. He can smell their imminent arrival before he visually confirms it, the smell of delicious foods permeating the entire train and giving everyone aboard a sudden appetite.
: “(Salme gave me the most -vivid- description of this place, once, and I -still- wasn’t prepared…)” And there’s the smells, but there’s also the way the riotous jewel-tone Reacher lanterns cast their light on everything, and– the tone’s different, from what Archie is used to, and a couple of the restaurants are closed and packing up their most-needed supplies, but Queenstown still needs to eat, and the food of Spice Row is still a joy.
seeks out one establishment in particular - that of his mentor in the Soups and the original owner and author of the veritable tome of culinary information Archie has taken to lugging around lately.
ꙮ True to its name, the Lucky Barncat’s still open! The muujgai in front recognises Archie immediately and there’s a very very nice table for two that they don’t have to wait for at all.
sits across from Caion, tome on the table, examining the menu. He’s delighted to confirm the presence of what he’d been hoping for - a faithful recreation of his and Luĉja’s preparation of the Soups, complete with the very ingredients used in its original preparation. “I hope the Samudran peppers have been growing well here, they can be finnicky,” he says to nobody in particular, as he places the order and looks forward to sharing a taste of his time here with his beloved. (And ensures that the meal passes muster well enough for him to continue to endorse it on the menu, which he truthfully has very little doubt of.)
, as soon as he saw the menu, excitedly pointed at what he knew damn well was Archie’s contribution, with a huge grin –
ꙮ And it is delicious, doing justice to your triumph in the Three Grand Soups.
waddles his way out of the restaurant, feeling satisfied as he boards the train. All too soon, he finds them back at the crossroads. He considers the options - SQ and Zaya are busy, there are some memories that could be shared over this way but who knows the status of the glass-sharks these days, the Deepforge is that way but doesn’t make for good sightseeing - and decides to bring them back to the Road a little early, eager to check in on his own home, to see it for himself.
ꙮ Once again, there’s a moonsilver rail that takes you right where you need to go.
laughs, in front of the door. “They’re going to pounce on me as soon as I poke my head out the door, you know. They’re going to pounce on you.”
laughs, and it snaps him out of whatever moment he was finding himself lost in. It would be understandable at this point to be lulled by the rhythm of it all, but the fact that Caion’s here - Caion’s here - with him, as astounded and astonished and bewitched and bewildered and utterly awestruck as Archie remembers himself being the first time he set foot in these worlds, makes every moment feel like it buzzes with electricity the same way a coeurl rumbles in contentment. Low, deep, warm, comforting. “You’ve already seen me get pounced on by several swifts today, love. How much worse could it be?” A smirk, an arrival, a stretch, a linking of hands, a platform, cool obsidian beneath his feet once more.
: “Yes, well, swifts aren’t as terrifying as the Zeroth Circle wanting an update–“ and he takes Archie’s paw and steps through.
ꙮ The Zeroth Circle does not pounce them, when they arrive on the other side, in Tulinsuojat. Instead…
is standing there, arms crossed, looking perplexedly at the Gate - and churrs first in surprise and then warbles in joy as Archie pokes his nose out, and immediately darts forward to give him a hug!
runs to her - well, for all three of the steps worth of distance separating them - and embraces her, his face burying into her neck, hugging her tight.
pats him on the shoulder, and then gesticulates at Caion until it’s a group hug. “Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting to see you two, today! What tricks are you two playing, eh?” She beams at both of them at once, somehow.
beams right back, the family resemblence more uncanny than ever. “No tricks this time! Just taking a rare moment of opportunity to come see how things here are going for myself, rather than relying on hearing it all secondhand. But before all that - how are you? What have you been doing?”
: “No tricks this time, eh? Leaving your options open for next time around, that’s a good pup.” She laughs, then looks a -bit- more sober. “I’ve been frantically spreading the word to every outlying tower and holt we still have on a map. It’s heavy work, I’ll tell you that, but work that needs doing.”
: “And none more suited to the task than Whisker-Clan, of course.” His eyes well with pride, not for the first time today. Seeing Aunt Silver-Throat in her element, knowing that she was the one coordinating the efforts to organize as complete an evacuation as possible - it reminded him of what brought him here. “Tricks are an option for most every visit, and somewhat recently, I didn’t even have to be here for one!” His voice drops in both volume and pitch a little, and an expression crosses his face that sits somewhere between serious and a little bashful. “I assume you found the letter?”
gives him a slow, soft smile. “A very lovely trick, indeed, pup.” She pats him on the shoulder. “Some day you’ll have to explain to me in detail exactly how you pulled that little trick off. Caion told me you’d been getting up to all sorts of adventures, I’m hardly surprised you’ll have things to teach me too, when all’s said and done.”
look up from the floor to meet her gaze, his eyes shimmering in the light like the tides by moonlight. “With any luck, there’ll be no shortage of time for us to learn from each other.” Something about her smile takes him back to - he’s a pup, out at the first festival in Ripple since the disappearance of his parents, the way Aunt Silver-Throats eyes were some of the kindest he would see that day. For all his travels, experience, and expertise, some things never change.
pats Archie’s shoulder, gently, with his hand. “The Clan’s fearless brilliance more than luck, my love. But, yes. Think of everything we’ll be able to share with each other, with the other planes, while we wait to return.”
holds Archie’s gaze, and smiles warmly. “I don’t even need to ask if you still remember all the songs I taught you, I can see them in your eyes.”
: “We’ll have very important jobs to do, uniting everyone. But I’m convinced that’s the way it must be done. There may be those who distrust each other at first, or at least who struggle to understand the experiences and values of one another. I’m no Emissary, but I’ve taken it upon myself to try to use food as a bridge to connect us all. It’s what the peppers and fish sauce were for, if you were curious.”
grins, to herself. “I had a feeling. More than one way to communicate something important. Words, song… peppers, sometimes.” A contented churr. “Did you carry your message across, then, do you think?”
nods slowly. “In the company of the Scorpion Queen, I might point to our trophy and proclaim that I suppose we must have, but with you? I hope so. It was a delicious meal, but the point we wanted to make was that we are whole when we are one. And until the denizens of Beast interact with many more people from across our worlds, there’s no way to be certain. I just choose to believe that they were receptive and took that message to heart.”
smiles. “Given the menu at the Lucky Barncat, I think they took your message to heart. And we’ll make sure that we keep lines of communication open, and carry our joy, carry the very best parts of us, into the Obsidian Road when we take refuge there. Your Emissary’s on the case, after all– and I’m not the only one.”