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MHO, Chapter 25. A little bit of a chill chapter, as the boys resupply and recuperate from their recent adventure. Seems someone else is having a decidedly less 'chill' time though~

-Llox

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"So when did you first meet Mentor?" Lykou asked, then took a bite out of his breakfast, a new crude spear laying on the ground next to him. It was mid-morning already, but the two weren't in a hurry. They'd decided to wait a day before continuing on with their journey, so that they could resupply.

"On the mountain. First night, right after that... thing, attacked us in the morning. How's that cut doing by the way?"

"Oh it's long gone now. What little was left of it was gone after trying out the bracers yesterday. Same with all the other little cuts and scrapes. These things are great," Lykou said, taking a moment to admire the one on his right arm.

"Yeah, I guess these things will help us conserve bandaging material in more ways than one."

"I'm glad we found them," the canid replied, grinning. "I still can't believe we found actual, honest-to-goodness magic armor."

"I guess that's two kinds of artifacts we have now, when you include these things," Kuna said, fiddling with the medallion around his neck.

"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting about these honestly. I'm worried the glow is getting dimmer though. Can you tell if they're about to, er, go out?"

Kuna looked it thoughtfully for a moment, then shrugged. "Unfortunately, not really. I can kind of sense the energy there but Mentor hasn't taught me anything about that kind yet, so I haven't really thought about. They're supposed to teach me about it soon, though."

"It's star magic, right? Or whatever it's called?"

"Yeah, at least that's what I always heard it called," the sereva replied, then looked up, remembering something. "Oh! Good news, though, I meant to tell you- Mentor said when they're done with these lessons, I should be able to guide us home, somehow."

Lykou visibly perked up, his tail swishing a bit on the ground behind him. "Alright! Any idea when that'll be?"

"Unfortunately no, not exactly. I think it'll be soon, though."

"Either way, that's fantastic!" Lykou grinned and hugged the sereva with one arm.

Kuna smiled and hugged him back. "Hopefully after that, it won't take long to get there."

"I wonder if your mentor knows how far away we are?"

"Doubt it. Spirits know a lot of things, but not everything. Unless we find some kind of navigation spirit- and I don't know if there is such a thing- I don't know that we'll find any easy answers."

"Damn," Lykou said, frowning briefly. But then he shrugged and smiled again. "But hey, as long as you'll be able to point us in the right direction, that'll be a big improvement."

"Yeah! I just wonder how that'll work..."

"You should ask... them? About it tonight," the konuul suggested. "Heh, all this 'they' talk- not he or she, huh? I guess it's hard to tell from their voice."

"I don't think that kind of thing matters with most spirits," the sereva replied with a shrug.

Lykou smirked slightly. "Well, Sulyr was definitely a guy."

"You basing that on his voice, or just wishful thinking? Even if we see him again, I don't think he's got the bits to fuck you, Lykou," Kuna replied with a playful grin.

The canid sputtered and coughed, and had to take a big sip from his waterskin before replying. "KUNA!" he blurted out afterwards, blushing.

The sereva burst into a snickering fit.

Lykou rolled his eyes and smirked. "Yeah, yeah, fine, good one. You got me," he said, then paused to eat some more before continuing. "I'll get my revenge eventually though."

"Worth it."

The two ate in silence for a few minutes before the conversation continued. "So between the two of us, we've seen a tree spirit, a rock spirit, a water spirit, and a fire spirit. Plus the two formerly-alive people spirits. I guess next we're due to see kind of wind spirit, at this rate. What'd you call them, the mostly invisible ones?"

"Elnu. Doubt we'll see them unless we suddenly decide to spend a lot of time tracking any bird sounds we see. There are plenty of other kinds of spirits though."

"That you've met, or just heard of?"

"Both... but mostly just heard of. I saw an earth spirit once. I forget what they're called, but they're kind of like huge, wandering snails made of soil and stone. Like a galdra's even lazier cousin or something. I've also heard of whirlwind spirits and frost spirits, and some others, but never seen them. And I'm sure there's even more neither of us have heard of."

"Wow. I had no idea there were so many different kinds."

"Well, it's a big world. And if you think about it, there's all kinds of animals and people out there, it'd make sense for there to be just as many kinds of spirits around."

"I guess that makes sense," the canid replied, scratching his head. "It'll be pretty cool to meet more of them."

"Maybe," Kuna said, looking away in thought. "Depending on what kind, though, we should be careful."

"Well, they've all generally been pretty nice so far."

"Yeah, but we've been lucky. Some spirits can be cranky if you disturb them," the sereva warned. "Not to mention there are corrupt ones out there. Demons and such."

Lykou shivered a bit at the thought. "Good point. I assume you haven't seen any of those, right?"

Kuna shuddered at the thought. "N-no, unless... well, no I'd probably not be here if that were the case."

The konuul frowned and hugged his friend again. "Well let's definitely not dwell on_that_ thought."

"Yeah, let's not," Kuna agreed, smiling and hugging him back.

"So now that you've started actually using it, how exactly does magic, er, work?" the canid asked after a few minutes of eating in silence.

"That's a little complicated," the sereva replied, after swallowing another mouthful. "Tell you what, we should get to gathering- or hunting, I guess, in your case. How about I tell you about that tonight while we wait for Mentor to arrive? They can even help answer questions. And I have one or two that'll apply to you as well."

"Oh really? Now I'm really curious."

"Let's just say you might be sort of a magic user as well," Kuna said with a grin. "And might not even realize it."

"Huh?? I... think I'd know if my hands randomly started glowing or something, Kuna."

"Apparently there might be forms of magic that aren't as... visible, or obvious. I'm still not too clear on it, though, so that's why I want to talk to Mentor some more about it."

Lykou arched a brow, then grinned. "As if I didn't have enough to be excited about tonight. Going to be hard to focus on hunting."

Kuna chuckled. "You can always share some of my food," he teased.

The canid snickered and rolled his eyes. "Well, on that note, I think I'll go get started."

"Make sure to user your bracers! Just to be on the safe side," Kuna reminded him. "And make note of the giant tree's position from here, in case you need something to guide by to get back."

Lykou glanced over at the giant thing, then shrugged. "Yeah, I guess, but I shouldn't have too much trouble with that. I'm pretty good at remembering that kind of thing."

"I remember that one night you came back late. That scared me," Kuna said with a slight frown. "Make sure you use your bracers, too. Just in case."

The konuul smiled and hugged him tightly. "Alright, don't worry, I'll be careful and make sure I'm back well before sunset. You do the same, though, deal?"

"Deal," the sereva replied, returning the hug and smiling again. Both of them activated their bracers, wished each other good luck, then each set off on their respective day's work.

*****

A shadowy figure lurked in the canopy of some trees, doing their best to stay out of sight, or at least notice. Colorful flows of energy surrounded them, and numerous spirits of various sizes and natures went about their daily activities- far more than most mortals ever knew. Among them, however, were a trio of special, somewhat serious looking spirits, that stood out from the rest. While everything else was tending to the natural order- hovering around various plants, swimming through streams, lurking within stones, digging through the ground, drifting through the air, and so on- the grey, amorphous trio were busy searching the landscape of the spirit world for something- or someone. They approached several other spirits, one at a time, interrogating them in a language no mortal could fathom, before moving on. After a nerve-wracking twenty minutes or so, they finally left the area. Around ten minutes after that, the shadow dropped down and took a slow, steadying breath.

"Damn, damn, and doubledamn," the figure muttered under their breath. "This is more attention than I anticipated."

An faint rustling, whisper-like sound came from the sleeves of the stranger's outfit.

"Of course I could deal with them, but I don't need that kind of distraction right now. Not while I'm in the middle of a project. You know who they report to."

The figure looked around, then slipped off deeper into the forest, heading back to the edge of the canyon. "I hope Arbassla is the only thing they're investigating. I have a feeling I'm going to need to... tweak my plans a bit." The figure stepped over to a particularly large boulder jutting vertically out of the ground, and activated a small rune etched into its side. A portal immediately opened under it, temporarily replacing the stone's surface. They then looked down at their arms. "Chaiko, scout around Shaong-Rya and make sure things are clear for me to slip in. Baniv, go check into the situation with Sulyr, then track down Zynshal. I've got to go speak to my student. I'll meet you two there later."

Suddenly, two sets of glowing orange eyes appeared, one on each arm. After a moment, the sleeves of the stranger's outfit detached and the two inky black shadows swooped away and into the portal, sealing it behind themselves. The figure turned and looked around for a moment, then transformed into a floating ball of flame before bolting off through the woods.

*****

Kuna was in the middle of slowly digging out some turnips he'd found, when he suddenly felt a presence hovering behind him. He quickly turned around and was surprised to see a familiar ball of fire floating in the air. "Mentor? What are you doing here? It's the middle of the day, I thought-"

"Sorry Kuna, I haven't got much time. I just came to say I'm afraid your next lesson will need to be delayed a day. There are some urgent spirit-world matters I've gotten entangled in."

The sereva frowned, his ears folding back. "It's about the big tree, isn't it?"

"Ye-...n-... it's complicated," the spirit said, sounding unusually hurried and slightly frazzled. "Don't worry about it though. It won't effect you and Lykou. But tomorrow you should try and make it a bit further north- the further from that thing you get, the easier it should be for me to get out of the, er... complications over in the spirit world."

"I'm really sorry if we-"

"Not at all, Kuna. You've done nothing wrong- just the opposite, in fact, but I'll have to explain that at a later time."

"If you say so... I'll talk to Lykou and we'll head out first thing in the morn-"

"Good. Excellent. See you tomorrow then."

Before the sereva could even respond, the fireball vanished.

*****

Late that afternoon, Kuna was sitting back at the campsite, stitching up some tears in his poncho. His bag was well-loaded with both food and various herbs he'd managed to harvest. Laying next to him was a branch he'd selected for a new walking stick. And in front of him, the firepit was set up, expanded for whatever Lykou might bring back, with whatever reasonably thin, flat rocks he could find sitting next to it.

As the sun was creeping down, he started to worry about the konuul. Fortunately, he soon heard rustling in the brush behind him, and turned to see his friend walking up with a fresh kill hanging over his shoulder. It appeared to be some kind of particularly large bird, but Kuna quickly turned away, preferring not to know the grisly details. "There you are. Almost started to worry."

Lykou smirked and set the carcass, as well as the rest of his things, down on the other side of the firepit. "Well I'm back, so now you can relax," he said, then looked down at the firepit. "Wow, thanks for setting things up."

Kuna smiled over at him. "Of course. Hey, do you still have those golzog knives?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Let me have one, I want to do something."

"Sure," the konuul said, digging one out of his bag and handing it over to the sereva before sitting down. "Whatcha have in mind?"

"Almost done stitching here. Figured I'd work on this branch I found afterward," he said, pointing at the stick next to him. "Maybe make it a bit more comfortable to hold onto, decorate it a little bit. Just something to keep me distracted while you're... er, doing your thing."

Lykou shot him a sympathetic look. "Fair enough. I'll try to be done well before your mentor shows up."

Kuna frowned a bit. "Actually, about that," he said, temporarily setting his work down. "Mentor stopped by earlier today to let me know the next lesson has to be delayed."

"What? Really?" Lykou asked, notably frustrated. "Why??"

"Apparently,that," the sereva said, nodding to the giant tree before returning to his stitching. "Is causing some kind of ruckus in the spirit world that they've gotten caught up in somehow. In fact they said it'd be best if we could try and put some more distance between us and that thing before the next lesson, to give them a reason to be less 'tangled', I guess."

"Well damn, I was looking forward to meeting them, too," the canid said, then sighed. "But I guess that makes sense. That thing is crazy. I just hope we didn't unleash something bad by accident..."

"Not from what Mentor said. Supposedly it's something good, just... I don't know, we'll have to ask them about details tomorrow, because they seemed pretty rushed today and I couldn't get any more info. Anyway, I thought we could head out as early as we can tomorrow morning, if you're up for it."

"Sure. Since we stayed here an extra day, we might as well," the konuul replied, then started getting to work butchering the bird.

"I can still tell you things I know, though, if that'll make up for it," Kuna said with a small smile, though he tried not to look in the canid's direction too much.

"Sure, that sounds good."

"So where should I start?"

"At the beginning, I guess. How does magic work?"

"It's kind of hard to describe. After... whatever happened that first night I met Mentor, I started getting this faint feeling, like a new sense I didn't have before. Turns out-"

"Wait, what happened that first night?" Lykou interrupted, arching a brow. "Did... Mentor do something to you?"

"Kind of? I'm not really sure. Something about, er..." Kuna paused, trying to remember the exact words. "'Traveling the astral path through realms internal' to... free part of my soul, or something? It was this whole weird thing, I honestly thought it was all a dream until I saw them again the next night."

"Sounds weird. What was it like?"

"Well, after I accepted their help, everything kind of went dark, and I woke up in this weird place," Kuna said, then went on to describe the entire 'initiation' ordeal, or whatever it was.

"Wow. Damn. That sounds... intense," Lykou said, having temporarily stopped working to listen to the sereva's story. Then he grinned. "That does explain a few things, though."

"Oh?" Kuna asked, looking up curiously.

"Yeah. Like how much more confident you've been since. Here I was trying to help you with your demons, then you go and kick their ass while I was sleeping."

The sereva blushed and grinned bashfully. "Yeah, I guess I did, huh?"

"Definitely. It shows. So no more nightmares, then?"

"Well, not so far," the sereva said, rubbing his neck with a somewhat thoughtful expression. "I'm not going to hold my breath though. It has a habit of creeping up on me. I definitely feel better since then, but... well, things like that," he said, then shuddered a little. "Magic or not, I still don't like thinking about it too much."

"Hey, just remember I'm here for you," Lykou reminded him. "Don't hesitate to let me know if you need to talk. Or just need a good cuddle."

Kuna smiled back at him. "Yeah," he said, then quickly turned away. "...as long as your hands aren't covered in blood, anyway."

"Right, that'd probably be counterproductive," the konuul said, chuckling a bit. "Just be glad it's only every few days I have to do this."

"Oh believe me, I am. Do you, er, do that as much back home?"

"Not really. I might help with hunts on occasion, but I preferred gathering if I was doing something besides the whole 'watching for spirits' thing. Handling food is something I'd rather trust to people who are especially good at it."

"What, you're not?"

"Not really. I mean I do a passable job and I've certainly been getting practice on this trip, but I don't exactly have a lot to work with, either," the canid answered, then chuckled. "Heh, I couldn't work in the kitchen-houses. Always made me hungrier being around all that food. I'd be too tempted to sneak snacks all the time. They had to chase me away a lot when I was a kid."

"Kitchen-houses?"

"Yeah, you know," Lykou said, then eyed the sereva for a moment. "Or, maybe not. Right, I forgot, you mostly eat things raw. It's where food is, well, prepared. Both what I'm doing right now, as well as cooking anything that doesn't go to the ovens. And adding things for flavor, like salt and herbs."

"Your village really does sound interesting," Kuna admitted. "I guess I didn't realize you might have so many different buildings for specific things. All we used shelter for was... well, sleeping in and storing things, for the most part."

"Mhmm. Most of the buildings are places to sleep, and avoid bad weather in, but there's also the kitchen-houses, oven-houses, meeting house, and a few others," the canid said, then smirked at the sereva. "But we can talk about that more later. Back to the magic talk."

Kuna smirked back and rolled his eyes slightly. "Fair enough."

"So, you've got this new... 'sense' now. I think that's where you left off."

"Yeah. So, there are all these energies flowing from the spirit world into the mortal world all the time. Life energy is the most obvious kind, I guess, because its flowing into and through our bodies all the time. I can't really describes what it feels like, though. Imagine trying to describe sight to a blind person or something."

"Ah. Yeah, I... guess that makes sense."

"Yeah. It's just something I can kind of feel now, even if I can't exactly see it. Well, unless it's being channeled through glyphs and stuff."

"Glyphs?"

"Another word for spirit-signs. Apparently there's several names for them. Glyphs, runes, spirit signs... maybe even more I don't know about," Kuna said with a shrug. "But yeah, I can feel the energy and kind of... I don't know, grab it with my mind, and control it to some degree."

"What all can you do with it? Besides ignite 'glyphs' and make your hands all glowy, I mean."

Kuna grinned. "Oh, that's right, I didn't really get a chance to show you that bit. Watch this," he said, then took a moment to focus and manifest the magic. He then reached over and touched a nearby patch of grass. After a moment, it suddenly started to rapidly grow and transform into a patch of pretty little white flowers. Then, he waved his hand as he dismissed the magic.

Lykou's jaw hung open for a moment, then he grinned back. "That. Is awesome."

The sereva blushed slightly. "I'm still learning, of course, so I'm careful what I do with it. Especially because it can drain me after a while. Mentor says I'm learning fast, though, and the more I practice, the easier it'll be," he explained. "Heh... I guess I can tell you now, the hardest thing I've done so far was, well... you remember that tree we slept under?"

The konuul stared at him for a moment. "....yyyes...?"

"Well... let's just say the reason Koki showed up is because he was thrown off by someone else messing with his tree. That hollow wasn't there when I found it."

"YOU did that??"

"Guilty," the sereva said with a bashful grin. "I was worried he was angry when he first showed up, but he just ended up being excited to meet a mortal that could 'tend' his tree as well."

"Well yeah, that's damn impressive!" Lykou said, slowly getting back to work. "I guess that explains why you were so exhausted that night too, though."

"Yeah, trees take a lot of energy, heh. Apparently I recovered quick though, because while you were sleeping the next morning, I got Koki to lead me around and help a bunch of flowers that got buried from the mudslide grow back. It helped me practice and he appreciated seeing things restored a bit."

"Aww, that's sweet. He sure was a neat little guy. I hope we meet more of them."

"Yeah, me too," Kuna agreed, then glanced over at Arbassla. "I wonder who's going to be responsible for that, though. Something that size must need a whole tribe or ten of those little guys."

"Or a really, really big one, or something," Lykou said, glancing over at it as well. "Heh, can you imagine if Koki was scaled up to match that?"

The sereva snorted slightly and an amused expression crossed his face as the image formed in his mind. "Boy, that'd be a crazy growth spurt."

The canid chuckled and sat in silence for a moment before continuing. "So you can make things grow and change now. That's pretty cool. Why don't you try doing that on your poncho instead of stitching it?"

Kuna shook his head. "Only works on still-living things. Doesn't work on dead things."

"Ah. Damn, that's a shame."

"Yeah, I found that out after I tried using it on one of those gourds. Oh, but I can make new things, too, though I'm still extra new at that. And I have to be careful because it uses essence and is a lot more exhausting."

"Essence? What's that?"

Kuna shrugged. "Just this other thing we have. Comes from the flow of energy over time. Apparently as long as you have some, it helps your body heal and recover from things. Oh, and, er," he said, blushing and smirking a bit. "Also, you know... makes it possible for people to have babies."

Lykou arched a brow, somewhat amused. "Really? So, what, is it part of your-"

"No, you perv, nutting isn't magic," Kuna cut him off, rolling his eyes. "...at least I don't think so, anyway. But yeah, you run out of essence, no babies and no healing. Or at least slow healing, maybe."

The canid snickered a bit. "So... as far as the growing and changing stuff, have you tried it on anything besides flowers, grass, and a tree?"

"Actually the night I first learned to do it, I messed with some cave mushrooms," the sereva said, then grinned sheepishly.

"....ohhh, so_that's_ why you were acting so dodgy that morning. Forget to clean up your practice work, huh?" Lykou replied with an amused grin.

"Yeahhh, hehe," the sereva replied. "I am so glad I don't have to hide it anymore. It was a huge pain in the ass, plus I felt awful keeping it a secret from you."

"Yeah, I definitely want to ask your mentor about that. Seems weird, and I'm kind of annoyed about it," the canid said. Then, after seeing the sereva's expression drop slightly, he quickly smiled and added, "At them, not you, obviously."

"Heh, yeah, I hope they had a better reason than just thinking you might be distracting or something. Frankly I look forward to having you there for the next lesson. Especially because I want to ask them directly about your own, er, magic."

"Yeah, what's that about? I don't have any magic abilities, I think I'd know. I certainly don't have any weird extra senses that I know of."

Kuna grinned at him. "Well... Mentor mentioned that some people- some konuul in particular- have more subtle, even subconscious ways of making use of mystical energies. And there's been two times on this trip where I think, just maybe, you did it without realizing it."

"Huh? Really? How??" the konuul asked curiously, yet again stopping what he was doing.

"Well the first time I'm not super sure, because it was brief and it was before I started actually learning magic. When you rescued me from that weird... spiny beetle thing. But the more obvious time was the other day going down the mountain to escape that giant-thing," Kuna answered, grinning at the konuul. "I was watching you closely after you had that crazy idea, and I saw, and felt... something."

"Really? I don't see how, I was just... you know, acting on instinct, being quick, and... and..." the canid trailed off, staring down in thought. "Actually, now that you mention it, that whole thing was... kind of a blur... I only vaguely remember the details, but somehow... yeah, it was like everything was happening in slow motion and I could... I don't know, move and think faster than I ever have before..." Slowly, his eyes widened as he looked back up to the sereva. "That... that was magic?"

Kuna nodded slowly, still grinning. "I think so. Of some kind, anyway. It'd also explain why you were so crazy exhausted afterwards," he explained.And definitely the reason I couldn't stop staring at you and feeling like mush in your arms, he thought to himself, not entirely sure he'd convinced himself. Right?

"Wow..." Lykou said, then slowly a mixture of excitement and confusion crossed his face. "That's... really cool, I just wish I knew how exactly I did it."

"Like I said, it's something to ask Mentor about. Would be nice if you could learn to consciously control it. Or at least figure out what causes it."

"Yeah, I'll say. It'd be nice to use it any time we have to deal with some monster or something. Weird how it only happened those two times so far. Would be handy in a fight."

"That's the odd thing. Yeah, you were fighting that spiny thing the first time, but I don't think I saw that glint in your eye until right before you tricked it into running off the cliff. And then on the mountain I don't think it started until you got that wild-ass idea."

"Huh," Lykou said as he stared off in thought. "So... when we're in danger, but instead of fighting I guess I'm just... trying to save you?"

"More like specifically trying to do that but in a crazy way. Which, uh, I don't recommend you start going around randomly just trying to do crazy things all willy-nilly, in case it doesn't work. That... could end very badly."

"True. Definitely want to talk to your mentor more than ever now, though."

The two continued working on their respective tasks and idly chatting for the next couple of hours. By the time they'd both finished, they found themselves unusually tired as they cuddled next to the entrance to the cave.

"I hate to say it, but I think using the bracers for so long wasn't a great idea," Lykou pointed out. "You said it can drain our, er, 'life energy', right?"

Kuna nodded, frowning a bit. "Yeah. I guess maybe we should save them for when we know there's imminent danger."

"That's what I was thinking. At least it only takes a moment," the konuul replied, then yawned.

"I guess you better get to b-" the sereva started to say, then was interrupted by a yawn of his own. "...bed."

"Looks like you're not much up to keeping watch either."

"Well one of us should..."

"Hmm. Do we? I mean, this cave is kind of secluded and the fire's right near the entrance. As long as we make sure it's got plenty of wood, we should be fine long enough to get some decent sleep. We were going to try and get up early anyway, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

The two quickly worked on collecting some more wood and making sure the fire was well fueled, then entered the cave together. "Goodnight, Ku," the konuul said, giving the sereva a gentle squeeze.

"G'night L-... hey, why do you sometimes just call me 'Ku'?" Kuna asked, rolling over to face him.

"What, you don't do nicknames?"

"Nicknames?"

"Yeah, you know. Like a short version of someone's name, or a second playful name you call people you're close to."

"I... well I mean, you know."

"Shit, right, sorry," Lykou apologized, wincing at his own faux pas. "But yeah, it's a common thing. Hey, now that I think of it... we kind of have the same one. Naira calls me 'Kou a lot back home."

Kuna giggled slightly. "The two Ku's. Maybe one of us should pick a different one."

"Nah. Ly and Na don't work, and I can't be bothered to think of something else right now. Besides, it'll be a fun way to confuse people."

The sereva snickered a bit more. "You're a goofball."

Lykou poked his tongue out playfully.

"Alright 'Kou', let's get some sleep. Goodnight, silly."

Lykou chuckled. "Sweet dreams, Ku."