Irwin's Journey 436: Musical safety

Ambraz sighed as he hovered through the smithy. 

Great. Just great! The kid gets to explore, and I'm stuck here.

As he moved through the smithy, he realized he'd inadvertently circled back to the spot he kept returning to—the spot where the chunk of Aurorium lay. It was warped and broken, and looking at it, he felt his annoyance grow. He'd actually destroyed it. The latest chunk of Aurorium they had… 

Was it a complete loss? No. As far as he knew, this was one of the few ways of actually destroying the soulforce-absorbing material. But it still rankled him. As good as Silv'Am came out, his second attempt had failed. Worse, with Irwin in that time dilation, he was going to have to wait here till the kid finished. That could be weeks, months, or years.

Forcing himself to fly away from the Aurorium, he zipped up the building and toward the two enormous bodies on the upper floor. One was lying on the bed, while the other was sitting at a desk, flipping through cards.

Both were Irwin, and both were the only known Volcano Titans in the world. 

Irwin's final body, which Ambraz was sure was his original, was now dormant on Eluathar. His guess was that it was acting as some sort of anchor, keeping Irwin's soulscape locked in between where both his bodies were. He wasn't completely sure, but he'd already warned the brat not to bring his one-armed body back into his soulscape. If he did, he would probably be unable to return to Scour as there was nobody there to step out into.

"You found anything?" he asked as he landed on the desk.

"Yes and no," Irwin muttered, poking at the small stack of cards. "With Volcano Gaunlets, Surging Growth, and Greater Emnon Body Split, I have room for atleast some variety. Volcano Gauntlets will be the core as we planned, as it will blend perfectly well with my first and third soulcard, but… I'm hesitating."

Like you always do, Ambraz thought, unable to keep his lips from curling up. 

He had always been glad the kid didn't just willy-nilly slot a card, but he could seriously overthink things. 

"Part of me wants to do what I suggested before and find some way to add some Pyroflux or another part to it," Irwin continued calmly. 

"I understand you want to change your soulscape into a nicer place," Ambraz said. "Especially if we or others are ever forced to stay in it for a long time, but you could just move to a world with Pyroflux and move a whole lot in here."

"I know, which is why I'm hesitating," Irwin said.

Ambraz grunted. "Why not just do what I suggested? Just recreate the soulforce expansion card that you already have in your second soulcard."

Irwin nodded slowly. "I'm thinking about doing that and searching for another soul-typed card. I know they are rare, but making a seed for them is way too hard. If we can find one on Scour, we can try to create another soulclone. Having the bodysplit and soulclone abilities in the same heartcard would allow us to remove the worst weakness of body split."

Ambraz hummed quietly as he pondered that. The kid was right. If he could get that one and the soulforce increasing one, he'd have multiple advantages. The simplest but perhaps most valuable would be that the hearcard would have great overlap with all of his existing soulcards, making it much easier to create it, thus giving them more room to combine parts as they wanted. Beyond that, increasing his soulscape size would also enhance its stability, aiding in moving people across his soulscape while they are apart by vast distances or experiencing high time dilation. Finally, if he had a soulclone in each of his bodies, he would be able to do four things at the same time, or…

Ambraz frowned as an idea began to form.

"Kid, go and search for some combine or condense cards," Ambraz said as he began digging through his memories of the cards he knew they had. "Anything meant to combine things together, preferably mental or mind skills."

"I… combine cards?"

Ambraz ignored the kid, levitating dozens of stacks of cards before spreading them out in front of him to quickly go through them. He heard Irwin mutter an agreement, but he was too preoccupied with another idea.

What if the kid gets four soulclones and can condense them into a single entity? 

--

Irwin landed on the ground beside the sprawling forrest. He was slightly distracted by what his other self and Ambraz were doing.

"I'm almost feeling sad for going into that shadowy place," Brecka said.

Irwin turned around and watched the sprawling desert behind him. Tiny rivulets of sand flowed from the sharp-edged dunes, the sand glittering in the constant burning of the sun.

"It's not a bad place," he agreed, rubbing his chin. 

Perhaps I should get the ability to move sand around, he pondered. That would allow him a desert-like area in his soulscape.

Or…

He looked up, staring at the sun as he felt his otherself's hands freeze above another stack of cards. 

The sun was a raging ball of fire, flame, and heat… what if he combined only those types of cards for his next heartcard and created a tiny sun in his soulscape?

"Irwin?"

Irwin pushed the thoughts away, letting his otherself ponder as he looked at Brecka. She was examining him with barely hidden worry.

"Sorry, thinking about cards," he said. "Now let's go. I'm going to move us around with my movement skill, alright?"

"Definitely!" Brecka said. "I don't get why the others dislike it so much."

Because they get sick, unlike you, Irwin thought with a grin.

He put his hand on Brecka's shoulder, snapped his fingers, and a moment later, they were shooting into the darkness. The constant rustling of leaves and snapping of branches created a tapestry of sound waves for him to move over.

I wonder if there are still people and where they are, he thought as he rushed in the general direction he knew the original Cinder Grove had been.

--

Jieldinis sighed softly as her meditation skills stopped. As it did, she felt the eons of memories slowly fade into the background, ordered and categorized. The last fading moments of the odd sensation always gave her the idea she was leaving an extensive library. 

Unfolding her legs, she pushed herself to her feet. She looked around the featureless white room, a single corridor leading away into the rest of her private sanctum.

She wasn't surprised when soft footsteps came from the corridor. 

A towering man with wide shoulders walked into the room, his hand-length horns jutting out from his bald head. He stopped just before entering the room and bowed at her without saying anything.

Jieldiniss examined the head of her guards, one of the few Guidar of her own generation that still existed. They had been adversaries for thousands of years, then a couple for a few centuries. After their inevitable breakup, he'd left for a few millennia only to return again a few centuries later. He barely remembered any of that, having found a skill that allowed him to remove his memories permanently. 

Why so many of her kind had decided on that option still baffled Jieldinis even after all her years of existence. Yes, it was hard living with memories that were closing in on a million years, but turning them into abstract and relivable moments made it more than bearable. 

"Mozarath, I take it you are here to tell me Sjeeklin has done something troublesome?" she asked.

"Yes, Jieldinis," he said, his smooth voice surprisingly deep.

Long ago, it had been one of the reasons she'd been interested in him. Now, she just appreciated it for what it was—a curiosity.

"He has ordered all fleets that managed to take control over their area within The Fringes to stop their assault on The Wandering Verge and instead focus fully on finding any Galadin pockets."

"Good," Jieldinis said, nodding. She saw Mozarath hesitate. "I presume the other thing he did was order all fleets searching for other ways into the Portal Gallery Association's branches to return and join the nearest Fringe branches?"

"Yes."

Jieldinis ignored Mozarath's growing confusion. She had long ago learned that it was best to only share the absolute minimum with anyone, including her most trusted aids.

"Good, so far, no surprises then," she said. 

"Did you predict this would happen?" Mozarath asked.

"I told you he would successfully supplant me one of these years," Jieldinis said. "It is fine. I've been planning for this for a long time, and eventually, all he does will simply aid us."

She saw Mozarath hesitate but hold back any more questions. 

"Now, let's enjoy the relative calm this will bring us," she said. "Did you gather my fleet? I'm not spending another day in this frozen hellhole."

Mozarath nodded.

"Everything is waiting for your departure. Have you decided on a destination?"

"Not yet," Jieldinis lied smoothly. "After we have boarded, just set course for the outer regions. I'll decide on a final destination after that."

Mozarath hesitated, and Jieldinis watched him curiously to see if he would say something. Ever since he'd returned over six hundred years ago, devoid of nearly any of his old memories, he'd been quiet and reactive. So different from how he had been before. Initially, she had thought it was a trick, but as the years passed and she'd used all the tricks she had to test him, she had come to the conclusion that he truly had destroyed the majority of himself. 

"Very well," he said. "We are ready to leave as soon as you are."

Jieldinis felt a slight twinge of sadness. Even after a few hundred years, seeing that the manipulative, razor-sharp mind, one of the best and worst among all known Guidar and the only one who'd been a true match for her, reduced to this felt like such a shame.

She relished the feeling for a moment before walking out, ignoring how he fell in lockstep with her.

We will reach Zidoulahn in six years, she thought. As soon as we do, there's no trouble Sjeeklin can create that won't be to my advantage. 

Eons of practice suppressed her need to smile at Sjeeklin's foolish belief that he had outwitted her. How could he ever hope to do that if all of his memories were locked in those silly paintings?

"Before we leave, I want you to send a message to all of the librarians still under our power," she said. "Tell them I suspect that Galladin called Gelwin likely left a message behind for his people. Find it, or keep an eye out for anyone snooping around."

Mozarath didn't answer, but she knew he would follow her orders perfectly. As slow and reactive as he'd become, she could trust him with these things.

As the word trust flowed through her mind, she double-checked her consistency plans just in case. Glancing at Mozarath as he walked away, she smiled. Even if there was no more than a percentage of a percentage chance that he was playing her, it wasn't a wasted effort to keep it in the back of her mind.

--

Irwin landed on a towering tree, watching the caravan of partially covered sloops pulled by Teinefola reaching the edge of a distant town. 

It only faintly resembled the towns he'd seen when he first traveled across Scour's Groves. 

Instead of being among the tops of the trees, they were now lower to the ground, and most of the buildings were no longer cut out of or attached to the sides of the enormous trees. They seemed to grow down from the bottom branches, almost like odd growths. Others grew up from the gnarling roots with roofs that weren't pale and flat like those he recalled. Instead, they were made of pale green foot-long leaves that overlapped like scale armor.

All combined, it created a town that connected the lower branches to the roots with smooth, rounded buildings, long, curving walkways, and a few open areas where the roots had been flattened to create town squares.

It wasn't just the buildings that were different, either. The population was also not what he had expected. Instead of only finding Viridians and a handful of Ignitzians, Irwin saw three types of people walking around, and one was the reason he was quietly observing them, not sure what to think. 

Viridians made up half of the people, with the other half a seemingly equal split between a feather-covered humanoid species he'd never seen before and one he'd seen many times now. A species he'd not expected to find on Scour and one that could cause a big problem.

Accenti walked around, happily chatting with each other.

"So," Brecka whispered, crouched beside him. "Do you think they somehow managed to become Unchained?"

"I don't know, but we are going to have to find out," Irwin said. 

"I don't see anyone who looks even remotely like us," Brecka whispered, looking at him worriedly.

"I know," Irwin said. "But unless they have changed immensely, Viridians should not cause any problems. If anyone asks, we are siblings. Keep an eye out for anyone who seems to act oddly."

"Alright," Brecka said, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"We are going to need to figure out what has changed and where those Accentii came from," Irwin continued as he rose to his feet.

He removed the limiters on his sensitivity, and the ambient soulforce of scour assaulted his sense like a light, a constant swirl of sand. Amidst it, he saw the highlights that were the people. It took him only a few moments to find that barely any had soulcards, far less than he'd expected. Most had a few handcards, while he noticed a few dozen heartcarded scattered among them. After a few moments, he stopped searching, wondering about something else.

Would the Urdwellans still exist?

"Remember what we discussed," he said. "Ready?"

"Let's go!"

A flick of Irwin's fingers and a short trip across the soundwaves later, they were standing on the edge of the town behind the caravan they had followed. 

The town's chatter wafted over them, blended with the groaning of the old and worn caravan sloops and the soft hissing from the Teinefola. The air was thick and heady, warmer than he remembered from within the groves. 

As different as it was, the sounds and scents triggered a flood of old memories. Irwin sighed as he thought back to the last time he'd seen the Teinefola, a few days before he and Gerldo left. He realized just how young and inexperienced he'd been back then. Unable to even reforge a proper ruby rank heartcard except with great difficulty and with only a single heartcard.

"Hey! Where did you come from?" a young voice cried.

Irwin looked up to see a young Viridian girl sitting on the edge of the wagon, watching them curiously.

"Are you Oxarites?" the girl asked, leaning forward excitedly. "You look like them, but shouldn't you be orange or red?"

Oxarites? 

"You're pretty smart," he said, smiling at the girl. "We are traveling around to see more of the world! Is that what you are doing?"

The girl giggled, her leaves rustling almost seemingly without reason.

"No, that would be silly," she said. "I'm traveling with The Duloak Merchant's caravan!"

Irwin nodded, trying to look impressed. Before he could ask the girl another question, a thud came from the other side of the caravan, and a towering, green, and yellow-leafed Viridian stomped around. He was a few inches taller than Irwin, something he was both surprised and happy bout.

"Lilly, who are you talking with?" he asked just as his eyes landed on Irwin. 

His thick, leafy eyebrows rose.

"Curious! Oxarites this far east? What brings you here?"

"They are traveling the world! Probably adventurers," Lilly said, jumping off and quickly climbing on the man's shoulders.

"Are they now?" the man said, a sharp gleam in his eyes. "I have to say, you are somewhat peculiar for Oxarites."

Irwin nodded, raising his hand to show his three cards. "Our cards made some unforeseen changes."

The man whistled as he saw the cards, a sudden look of interest in his eyes. He glanced at Breck, who raised her hand like Irwin had, showing her own two cards. As Irwin saw them, he realized he'd not really paid any attention to her cards for a while. He barely recalled what she had now.

"Three cards? Not bad! Tell me, are cards easy to get where you are from? Ah… that reminds me. Where are you from?"

Irwin grinned, glad he'd come up with something before going down.

"We are from a tiny subterranean town beyond The Fingers of Lasairean," he said.

He hoped those landmarks still existed and were known; otherwise, he guessed it wouldn't matter either.

The Viridian merchant let out a surprised grunt. "You have traveled far, then. A shame you are not from somewhere close; I'm always on the lookout for a place that still has cards."

A soft cry came from in front, and the sloop before them began gliding forward.

"Ah, it seems Duloak managed to get us a place to stay," he said. "Good, I could do with a real bed for a change. Well, enjoy your travels, and perhaps we will see each other again!"

The towering Viridian waved at them before turning and walking after the sloop.

Irwin glanced at Brecka. "Let's go and see if we are allowed in or if there's something we need to do for that."

Brecka nodded. "I thought you said cards were reasonably plentiful here?"

"That's what I remember, but it seems things have changed," Irwin replied softly.

The caravan had floated through a large, ungated hole in the wall, although calling it a wall was a stretch. It was more like a barrier around the town's center created almost naturally by the buildings that surrounded it. Two Viridians and one of the feathery humanoids were waiting at the gate. Arms crossed, they wore matching dark green tabards with the symbol of a small twig cross with a dagger. They looked curiously as Irwin and Brecka closed in, raising their hands when they evidently decided they were close enough.

"Hello there," a tall, red-leafed Viridian said. Old and gnarly, his face looked like the bark of an ancient tree. "I don't believe I've seen you before. Please state your name and purpose."

"Irwin and Brecka Copperion," Irwin said, using the fake last name they had decided on. "We are traveling across the Grove to see more of the world."

The Viridian examined him for a moment, his gaze lingering on Irwin's hand. 

"Very well. Any profession we need to be aware of?"

Profession? Irwin frowned. Why would they want to know what they did?

"That's an odd question," he said, watching the guard to see his reaction. 

The Viridian barked a laugh and nodded. "It is, but you both have the size and musculature of mercenaries but not the eyes. I also don't see any weapons, though those could be carded. I'm supposed to keep unwanted actors out of Lindifel, and knowing what someone does for a living tells me a lot about people."

Irwin hesitated, wondering what he should say. He was going to find a place to practice his cardsmithing, focusing on creating new cardseeds. Unless he wanted to do that in a place far from people, it was likely they would find out sooner or later. 

I'll need to see how people react to this, he thought. But probably not now.

He raised his hand, and his soulstrum guitar appeared.

The guard took a step back as if expecting to be attacked. 

"What's that?" he asked, his hand on the long handle of the axe resting on his leg.

Irwin shrugged and, pulling the guitar into the right position, began softly playing a song he'd practiced long ago. It was one of the songs his children loved, a simple song. To his absolute surprise, Brecka stepped forward and slowly began singing. Her voice was a beautiful, hazy tenor, and she had obviously been listening in because she knew the lyrics by heart.

In front of them, the guards had turned their full attention on them, and as Irwin began humming deeply, their smiles widened. They began tapping their feet while other guards and more people came peeking through the gate.

Irwin stopped as the song ended, causing a round of cries for more and shouts of appreciation to ring from those who had watched.

"I haven't seen a carded musician in over two hundred years," the lead guard said, smiling widely. "Friends, you are more than welcome in our beautiful town. I hope you stay for as long as you wish, but please tell me you will be playing in the Ocre Branch, our local Inn! I'm sure Runditeh will provide you with free lodgings if you do!"

Irwin didn't even have to try to smile as his lips curved up on their own. 

"If you give me some directions, I'm sure that can be arranged," he said.

"Good! Tell Runditeh that Nagalam sent you," the guard said before waving them on. "Now, just go straight, follow the main road, and take the third intersection left. Climb the stairs, and you will find Ocre Branch on the second floor. It's the main building there, so you can't miss it. Big terrace and probably a lot of merchants already loitering about. Now, enjoy our town's beauty and tranquility, and I'll buy you a drink tonight!"

"Thanks," Irwin said as he walked away, dismissing his soulstrum guitar.

As they passed through the doorless gate, Brecka elbowed him.

"I think he liked you!"

Irwin rolled his eyes as he looked around.

Roaring with laughter, a group of three Accenti children were running across a square before climbing atop a wooden construction that housed one of the caravan's sloops. The others stood in similar coverings, while the merchants were nowhere to be seen.

Hundreds of people walked around while a happy chatter echoed everywhere. Most of the buildings seemed to continue up to the lowest branches, connecting into a weave of wood and leaves, leaving only some holes through which the forest could be seen. A warm orange light came from patches of intricate runes that were carved into some of the buildings, creating a patchwork of shadows in between.

Brecka was looking around excitedly, her eyes drifting to what Irwin guessed was a shopping street. 

"Let's go and see if we can find the Ocre Branch Inn," Irwin said. "You can explore the town tomorrow."

"Sure," Brecka said, her eyes wide. "I wonder if they use soulshards here."

I guess we will find out soon, Irwin thought.

It took them only a short while to go through the town, find the correct stairs, which was more a long winding slope than a staircase, and reach the Ocre Branch Inn. It was a spacious building with multiple entrances and an enormous open area with tables in front of it. Hundreds of people were sitting there, drinking, eating, and laughing.

As they walked forward, some people stopped talking, watching them curiously, and whispers began coming from them. The word Oxarite drifted toward them constantly.

The inside of the Inn was a single common room with small, partitioned sitting corners everywhere. It wasn't as busy as outside, and they had barely looked around when one of the feathery humanoids walked up to them. It was a woman with large, slightly bulbous eyes and a sharp face with a thin coat of green and blue feathers instead of skin. Instead of hair, she had a long mane of feathers that moved rigidly as she walked.

"Welcome, welcome! I am Runditeh," she said. "It has been a very long time since I last saw Oxarites, and I don't think I have ever seen any that are as burly as the two of you!"

"We are just a bit bigger than most of our town," Irwin said easily. "Nagalam told us to seek you out. We are musicians."

As he spoke, he quickly summoned his soulstrum guitar and let his finger trace across the soulforce strings.

"Oh! The goddess must have heard my prayers," Runditeh exclaimed happily. "It has been so long since I heard some truly good music. As much as I love the Viridians and their hospitality, their lands are so devoid of songs and music!"

Irwin was about to say something, but before he could, Runditeh continued.

"Please let me hear a little! If it's only half as good as I hope, I'll make sure you want for nothing in my Inn for as long as you stay!"

Irwin was surprised by a slight tenseness in her voice, and it took him two seconds to realize there was a slight threat in them, almost as if to say: and if I don't like it, you are in for a bad time.

He blinked, took up his guitar for the second time that day, and wondered what she would like. After a moment of hesitation, he began playing a tiny part of the whale song, a snippet that was mostly calm and happy, with a mere hint of melancholy. 

As Irwin hummed along, he saw Runditeh's eyes widen, her body grow tense. He had no idea if that was a good or bad thing, and he continued for a short while before stopping. When the last chord faded, Runditeth's eyes gleamed teal, a shimmer of light running across them. 

"That was beautiful," she whispered. "I've never heard of an instrument with a sound like this, but it reminds me of the cries of some of the birds back home!"

The more she spoke, the more excited she became until she nodded along with her own words.

"Good, yes. If you are willing to play tonight, I'll… wait. Do you play?" Her gaze snapped to Brecka, her head moving with a sharp snap.

"I sing," Brecka said.

"Great! Fantastic," the innkeeper crooned. "Yes, if you two can play tonight, you can eat and sleep for free. Depending on how you perform, I'll even add some soulshards for compensation. What do you say? Yes, right? Yes, of course you will! Follow me!"

Irwin blinked, unable to get a word in edgewise. Brecka giggled as Runditeh walked to the bar, and he snorted.

"Well, I guess we are performing tonight," he said, glancing at Brecka. "How many of the songs do you know?"

"Most of what you played for the kids," Brecka said with a wide grin. 

Irwin wondered how she'd managed that but decided it didn't matter and walked to the bar.

At least they still use soulshards.