A Hand-Woven Universe 60 60. Taking The First Step

The sound of grinding stone echoed out from the face of the cliff. Suddenly, a human sized boulder began to slide out of position and threatened to plummet below, hitting a few cracked edges on the way down.

A meter to the right, Noone was looking over in confusion.

"But… I didn't even touch it?" He groaned, a sudden anxiety filling his heart. Noone looked down to see the stone already dropping quickly out of sight.

After waiting motionless for a few moments with no change, Noone gave a gentle 'huh' and continued on. He spared a glance into the crevice the large stone just fell out of. Behind the stone were cracks about the size of a hair spread throughout the entire surface. Noone hesitated for a moment but decided to forget it and kept moving forward.

He had been climbing for half a day now and was very excited at his progress. Despite not having used his body in a while it seemed the plant had kept him in shape. This was good news as far as he was concerned.

He moved efficiently along the rock, finding easy handholds amongst the cracks and crevices of the cliff. Blood pumped through his veins and he had gained enough momentum that - even with the pack - he was leaping from one handhold to the next. He was extremely wary of the loose stone, but was confident in being able to readjust before losing the momentum and falling.

Every time he jumped he would take a deep breath of the salty humid air. It felt amazing on his lungs and he found himself really enjoying the sensation.

"Maybe I have been taking things too seriously." He thought silently, mind wandering as he let his body fall into a rhythm. Something about nearly dying had given him some perspective about the last few years of his life in Tapestry.

"I've wasted so much time." He thought. "Feeling sorry for myself." He jumped over a portion of unstable rock and easily planted his foot into a crevice, switching hands. "Caring that I was different." He s.h.i.+mmied directly to the right, keeping his body close to the wall and sc.r.a.ping against his clothes. "Well none of it will matter in the desolate world above. If I don't die immediately, I can make my own way. I won't waste what time I have." He nodded to himself. Noone was about to leap up, when suddenly a handful of stones from around him began to break off and fall.

"I needed thi- HUH?" Noone dodged to the left, grabbing on to a protruding shelf only a few inches wide. He watched the stone fall past him with wide eyes.

"Well then… if that's how it's going to be." By this point Noone was covered in sweat and his muscles bulged under his skin like steel cable, his fingers gripped the stone around him like iron. The sun was approaching the cloud line. Noone was still smiling though, enjoying the adrenaline that came with the climb.

"I have been playing too safe." Noone said - out loud. No one was there to hear him, but he was there to hear himself, and these words resonated within him. Whether or not he meant this about his coming of age trial, or something else – only he knew.

Noone picked up his pace, wanting to ascend above this portion of cliff before the sun set. His body flung itself up gaily, latching onto new stone and using that momentum to leap at every opportunity. Noone was not aware of it, but his mental state was gradually changing over the day. It had been changing ever since the sun peaked through the clouds and its rays bathed him in energy.

Maybe it was the new lease on life gained from nearly dying in some random hole in the earth. Maybe it was the plant. Maybe it was something that was always there, just waiting to be uncovered, bursting through all at once.

When Noone saw his body pierced through in his memories, and his meridians and veins diagrammed out by the roots of the plant, he experienced a rebirth of his spirit. His desire to live had flared up, quietly in the back of his mind waiting for the right moment.

Noone did not know his meridians had become reinforced, but energy from the universe was now being filtered into his body. It was a small and inconsequential amount for most people, even less than a newborn of Tapestry. But for Noone, it was already more than he would ever have before.

Right now though, it simply existed as some extra power running through his physical form. Like unprocessed fuel, Noone would probably never even realize it was there spreading through him - even into his mind. His mind feasted on the energy like a beggar given a buffet.

…

Sarah and Feylin both stood outside the office with various thoughts crossing their mind. Feylin was very excited and more than a little overwhelmed. Sarah too was overwhelmed but not nearly as excited. In his mind Feylin was already packing, imagining what the people coming from the inland will be like.

Many of the clerics at the temple were not what Feylin would imagine when thinking about the glories given to the church. Every one of them were retired and kept to themselves apart from meal time and prayer. They were still devout members, and good people, and no doubt all had their own stories to tell, but he was young and spry and eager for adventure, and the idea of meeting clerics like those in the stories filled him with excitement.

"Alright, here let's stop by my quarter and I will write down a list of things you should bring for long travels." Feylin said with a little too much eagerness. He was already 2 paces ahead. "It's not like going to the nearby towns! You will need to be prepared for every circ.u.mstance."

"Excuse me but you can't possibly know what this will entail." Sarah rolled her eyes. "And what do you know about 'long travels' Feylin!?" Sarah bit, glaring at the eager young man. She was not looking forward to this he realized, and most likely it would be taken out on him.

"Now now, don't be mad at me. Ultimately this is out of both of our hands, we are simply being dragged along." Feylin attempted to push her anger off on anything not him.

Sarah realized he was right. She took a deep breath and clasped her hands in front of her chest, saying a short prayer to calm herself and plead for deliverance from her responsibility. She knew that it was no use, so she just settled her nerves and made to follow Feylin.

"So… where is Burian anyways, Feylin?" She adjusted her robes and tunic casually, pus.h.i.+ng a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Hmm… Somewhere important?" Feylin responded without any sense of propriety, extremely non-comital about his answer.

"What? You mean you don't know? You want to go see the world in service of the church and you don't know?" She stared at Feylin incredulously. If she were to ever want to leave, she would do everything within her power to learn absolutely everything she could beforehand. Just to be safe. She could only take a deep breath and ignore her companion.

"Well there are a lot of places in the world." Feylin said, putting on a face as though it had nothing to do with him.

Sarah sighed. She resigned herself to look it up later after packing.

"By the way how have your studies been going Sarah?" He asked, attempting to change the topic.

"I haven't made any progress since gaining access to the last level of spells." She said. Her tone became nonchalant as though it did not bother her.

"Which second level did you decide to focus on?" Feylin looked over his shoulder curiously. Sarah began learning second level spells several months before him, but eventually he caught up to her after buckling down in his studies and prayers.

He grew up in the temple ever since he was a child. He was dropped on the doors of the temple and his parents disappeared into the night. Since beginning to learn the ways of the church, he always felt he was meant for great things, living a life in the world bringing glories to his temple at the west edge of the world.

Jakobson told him often that he would do well by being more humble.

Jakobson, of course, was right.

Sarah hesitated for a moment, "Healing prayer."

"Ah. I should have known. You do know there is a whole world out there right? Do you really just want to stay here in the middle of nowhere practicing nothing but healing?" Sarah didn't respond, letting Feylin talk as much as he wanted.

"Anyways, I decided to focus on Spirit Weapon." He flashed a smile at her, hoping to see any reaction other than being ignored. Unfortunately, Sarah didn't respond.

Despite how it may seem on the outside, they actually got along alright. She understood Feylin's intentions, wanting to leave this boring place and explore. She didn't hold it against him and that's why she let him talk like this.

And Feylin also understood that she enjoyed her peace and quiet. He was never told what occurred 5 years ago that brought her to the temple. One day Jakobson arrived back from a week-long a.s.signment and brought her with him. He said that she had interest in learning the ways of healing, so they fed her and gave her books and she took to it like a fish in water.

For the first year or two she was extremely quiet. Feylin only remembered her speaking a few times, and usually only to Jakobson. When Yisanet came to the temple, Jakobson put her under Sarah's care. Ever since then she had become more social on the outside. However, everyone could tell that no matter how social she showed herself being, she was still a very closed off individual.

Feylin felt bad for her. He could only imagine what brought her to the temple, nothing good certainly. But she studied hard and was a devout acolyte, so what else could be asked for?

"By the way did Yisanet pretend to hurt her ankle when she found you?" Feylin changed the topic.
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"Yeah."

"Mm."

"Jakobson spoils her too much."

"Compared to you?"

Silence stood tall and Sarah said nothing.