Now that Bear Hug was all safe and cozy in the upper realms, they had to get back to their actual goal. Aside from convincing someone to ship them to Second Gift from this side of things, they had to get strong enough to actually <em>do</em> things with the. They didn’t even know what those things would be, but being stronger and <em>more</em> would help. Cultivating was pleasant, at least.
Unlike Scha which had been hot or cold, most of the Scarlet Alliances were a nice middle ground while still having bountiful upper energy. About that energy… Bear Hug wondered if it should be called one thing by them over here, and something else by those below? Or perhaps simply referencing the energy they actually possessed would be correct.
They did their best to help Uzun with what he wanted, but after the scans there wasn’t really more than was needed of them. After that, Bear Hug’s main goal was to increase the number of bodies they had in the upper realms. That might bnce things, and at the very least would increase the variety of activities they could get up to.
-----
Meanwhile, in the lower realms, more of Bear Hug was focused on what they <em>could</em> do to protect Second Gift. Practical ideas were few and far between, unless they could heat a whole. However, inspiration came in the form of a turtle.
Anton’s home of Ceretos was nice- the best in the system. Bear Hug had one of them there, now. Bear Hug wasn’t very good with cities full of people, but <em>really</em> liked some of thekes near the people that felt like Lev. And the huge tree. And the other, still pretty big trees. People knew Bear Hug was there and also that they couldn’t really talk to each other, so mostly anyone who came out on theke waved when they passed each other. It was nice.
Then an ocean flew overhead, carried by a big turtle. Bear Hug already knew about Paradise, but it was very different to <em>see</em> him. Especially when you realized how far away Paradise was while still taking up most of the sky.
Bear Hug wanted to carry an ocean. That one might actually be big enough to cover a. And then there would be a frozen ocean all over the.
It wasn’t a perfect n, obviously. They were still working on it. Still, being good at controlling all that water would help. It wasn’t just power either. Paradise felt strong, but there wasn’t an overwhelming, constant effort. Clearly, there was skill.
Bear Hug stretched towards the sky. “How do I do that?”
Then they remembered that they could ask. Yelling up into the sky was probably not the right way to do that, though. Instead, they could just ask Lev to introduce them. Yes, that seemed right. Why not ask right away?
Oh right. Lev wasn’t on. And Bear Hug still hadn’t gotten a waterproofmunication thingy. Hopefully Paradise wasn’t leaving right away.
-----
Bear Hug wasn’t sure if it was fast or slow, but a couple dayster they were in the sky talking to Paradise. “How do you control all that water?” they asked.
Words were tranted through Lev, who was helpfully giving of his time. More people were learning the energynguage, but that took time and people didn’t always <em>need</em> to speak to Bear Hug. Maybe they should figure out how to digest ‘sounds’, though, so that they could talk to more people. And how to <em>make </em>sounds. Bear Hug didn’t want to make people learn to talk to <em>them</em>. Though it was for sure a betternguage.
Paradise didn’t answer. Instead, Erin did because she was the one who talked. Though Paradise <em>should</em> be able to talk, right? He controlled energy so good. “It’s mostly continuous practice for centuries. And more centuries.”
“Oh. I’m trying to figure out how to keep a from freezing. Can you do that?” Bear Hug looked Paradise in the eyes. As much as one could, with the eyes being so far apart and Bear Hug not having their own eyes to look with.
Paradise gave a tiny nod. Probably. It was a veryrge movement up and down overall, but rtive to head size it was tiny. Bear Hug also wasn’t sure it was a nod until Erin confirmed it.
“... Do you want to learn the energynguage?”
Paradise shook his head. Which kind of meant he already sort of understood.
“Paradise doesn’t likemunicating,” Erin exined.
“Oh no!” Bear Hug grew concerned. “Am I bothering him? Should I stop asking things?”
Bear Hug got sshed with a small ocean. Except the salt was removed, so it was just ake.
Erin shook her head. “I think Paradise is saying that he just doesn’t want to be responsible for talking. If he was actually bothered by you, I would have stopped a while ago. I <em>think</em> sshing you was positive. It felt that way.”
“I like water,” Bear Hug confirmed. It was strong and powerful. “You pushed the first. Bounty. Are you going to help with Second Gift?”
Paradise had no simple response. Erin, however, came up with an exnation. “He certainly doesn’t seem eager at the prospect. I don’t think it would help, either. We’re pretty much limited to the lower realms. We’d only cover half your journey.”
“But… teamwork and friendship…?” Surely whoever was in the upper realms would want to keep things good as well.
The second time Bear Hug was hit with ake, they thought Paradise might actually be mad. But it didn’t <em>hurt</em>. It just knocked them far into the distance and then dragged them around.
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It was hard to get out of the flow, and they were just stuck circling Paradise for a few minutes. Then they were doing it but <em>not</em> stuck.
The flow of water was entrancing. It was like they were in a real river, which… they didn’t actually do very often. There was a reason Bear Hug stuck tokes and ponds. Unless youtched onto something, you would be pulled along and taken along with the current to <em>anywhere</em>. Well, specifically downstream, but that might not be where you wanted to go.
The flow of water wasn’t just trying to be a river, though. It was about <em>how</em> it was flowing. Obviously there wasn’t a slope the water was going down. Paradise was controlling the water. They were <em>showing</em> Bear Hug how it worked. Which was what they wanted to begin with. Making sure the water wasn’t salty was a nice gesture, because Bear Hug was most definitely a freshwater algae.
Bear Hug wondered how long Paradise was willing to teach them. But however long it was, they were going to devote as much attention as possible to it. Humans were nice, but Paradise was probably closer to Bear Hug than most even though he was still an animal.
-----
The ‘Little Alliance’- the West Core for those who were boring- though still technically aligned with the Chaotic Conglomeration in therger sense, was finding their relocation to be quite advantageous. It wasn’t just the closer ess to allies who were willing to help them grow- though that <em>was</em> a significant factor- but because what remained of their holdings on the mid-border with the Exalted Quadrant were in a strained situation from both sides. If they had remained, they would have inevitably folded under the pressure.
As it was, their new homes on the border at least allowed them the <em>option</em> to retreat if it came to it. They didn’t want to, because they didn’t want to abandon the region of space they had lived in for many generations of their sects, but they recognized it was better to live than to perish. And the presence of their smallest allies was still a source of tension. They simply didn’t mention the void ants to visitors. The average person wouldn’t notice- most cultivators, really.
Obviously the ones from the lower realms knew, though. And there was a particrly strange visitor today. A man named Alin Kato. At least, Velvet thought he was odd and Runa clearly agreed. The twins were a different matter, but <em>they</em> were odd too. Reliable allies, but odd.
“Normally I would not have taken such a lengthy journey to ask a small number of questions,” Alinmented. “But secrecy is of some importance. Have you experienced any troubles with the Disciples of the Beyond as ofte?”
“You mean after Ramil attacked and tried to wipe us out?” Runa asked.
“Yes, precisely. After that.”
“Not… much. Though we are somewhat more removed from that particr sect now.”
“Yes, I see. And has your spying ryed anything of interest?” Alin looked at Velvet in particr. “I have some particr avenues of inquiry. Specifically, experiments involving <em>actual</em> distortion beasts and not projections.”
Velvet shook her head. “They don’t make it easy to spy on them. And I’d rather not get close to Ramil.”
“Sensible. In your opinion, who do you think would be best ced to intercept something at some particr coordinates in half a millennium?”
Runa was rather baffled at the question. Even a century was a bit far to predict with certainty. The question seemed toe out of nowhere.
Juli answered just fine, though. “Aside from us? I’m not sure. Also, I don’t know that we could, I just think we’re best suited. That’s outside the gctic ne, right?”
“Indeed. There are actually some developments in that area because of this incident,” Alinmented. “My assistant will send them to you,” he waved.
“Who?”
Alin made a face. “Oh yes. He was upied with… something. In the lower realms. I suppose I shall have to gather that information.” Alin made a face. “What’s your security level?”
“The highest, as far as I know. They kept adding more levels.”
“It was quite an inconvenience,” Alin nodded slowly. “Well, that does make things simpler. I can’t be bothered to sort through things, I’ll just send all of it. It should be useful for life on the border of the realms anyway.” He looked to Runa. “Is the West Core nning to expand to the edges of the gctic ne anytime soon?”
“If we did, we’d outside the Scarlet Alliance.”
“That would be a logistical difficulty, I suppose. But if you could set up some outposts, that might be most helpful.”
“For what?” Runa asked.
“Well,” he paused for a moment. “I must assume everyone here can keep a secret.”
“Durff’s out,” Velvet confirmed. He was actually <em>decent</em> at keeping secrets, but it took him more effort and thus it was better not to burden him.
Alin found himself having to exin about the distortion beast nest- which people were aware of, but without the details. And the details were the tiresome part that people were <em>supposed</em> to have assistants to cancel. But then they had ‘important matters’ and that they ‘couldn’t afford to go hundreds of lightyears away on a whim’. Presumably because of some social thing. Obviously the Alliance was paying for the actual transportation.
The theorized destination of the distortion beast nest would be ‘above’ the upper realms. That in theory put the West Core closer, but in practice they were still quite distant from the location, in all physical dimensions. They were merely the only option for potentially setting up helpful outposts.
Halfway through one of his exnations, Alin Kato felt something strange outside the room. Little machines, and then the distinct sign of void ants. The door opened, and he recognized Crossed Antennae- by visuals, if not by previous interaction. It was quite sensible to keep track of the most prominent void ants, and fortunately those of import tended to be more physically distinct in size and adornment.
“Sorry I amte,” Crossed Antennae signed.
“You can watch the recordingter,” Alin said. “The short version is… centered around long-distance ships that wouldn’t rely on standard interster mechanics. Like… actual systems or stars. Sustaining life for great distances is a bit of a conundrum.”
“I understand what you mean,” Crossed Antennae responded. “Humans take up so much space and food.”
“Yes, we-” Alin blinked. He hadn’t specifically <em>ignored</em> void ants in his previous thoughts. They had even been part of potential bnced ship ecosystems. They were good for all sorts of small repairs without tearing out paneling, and they were good at small scale nt maniption as well.
But he hadn’t considered sending <em>only</em> them. He’d already noticed the greater prevalence of mechanical transport for void ants in this region- a trend that had spread slightly to the lower realms as well. The two hadn’t been put together. And void ants were easier to convince to send on a potentially deadly mission for the good of all. Could they fit enough recording systems, though?
If his assistant was around, he probably would have been dragged out of his thoughts sooner. Usually that was the correct call when people were waiting for him to speak. But these people were patient and let him finish quite a deep dive on new and valuable paths of thinking.