Every stream moved toward her.
Not blending. Not layering. Just effortlessly becoming one.
My eye twitched.
I had been grinding my soul into dust trying to figure this out. And here she is, doing it like it’s breathing, or photosynthesis…whatever.
I swallowed down the mild irritation bubbling up in my throat.
“Luna.”
“Hmm?” She pulsed a soft gold, ending her absorption.
I hesitated, searching for the right words. “Do you know what you just did?”
A beat of silence. Then she pulsed again. Brighter this ti.
“…Drank?”
I let my head fall into my hand. The clean one, of course. The other was still finger-deep in a corpse I was glad not to see.
“You didn’t just drink…I—Luna, how the heck did you do that?”
“Do what? You said to think of it like water, so I did. Easy.” She happily explained, giving all the credit.
Can a person hate a plant? Because I am currently in that debate.
“How the heck did you take everything!?” I exhaled in one breath.
She shifted uncomfortably on my wrist. “What’s up with you? No need to get so upset.”
“You’re right…sorry. But really, I can’t take all these trails of power. Just the one without, well, elents.”
She pulsed in thought.
I could tell she didn’t quite get it. It was instinctual for her. Maybe it was just a Bloodroot ability. Maybe she herself was special.
“You reused your abilities. I can hear your thoughts.” Luna interrupted mine.
“Seems unfair…I couldn’t hear yours,” I shot back.
“You could tell I didn’t understand. I don’t think the sa way you do. But you still understood …”
Ignoring that line of thought. At least I know it’s possible. To store energy of different types was definitely possible.
“Luna?” I called in my mind.
“Yeah?”
“You said it’d be hard for us to separate, right?” I asked curiously.
“I cut myself off from your roots in your body, but mine have already entered you. Important ones.”
She hesitated, pulsing with anxious light. “Is there a problem?”
I shook my head. “No. I just wanted to enter your mind again. As confusing as it was, maybe becoming you will help.”
“…Do we have to?” she pleaded, unwillingly.
“Well, no. And even if I wanted to, I don’t know how. It only worked when you were separated from .” I relented.
I could feel her version of a sigh. “Maybe the power reacts to your will. You haven’t wanted to fuse recently, just share our communication and abilities.”
“Then why did we fuse at first?” I asked, as if she were an expert.
“I don’t know.” She gave her version of an annoyed huff. “You didn’t give instructions, so it went all out. It's not my ability. You try."
“For a wee—”
“Don’t you dare.” She warned.
I cleared my throat. Completely pointless, considering we were talking in my mind.
“You never stop doing pointless things.” She interjected.
“As I was saying, for a grass, you’re pretty smart.” I attempted, finishing my complint.
A hue of altered red. “...We can try it.”
With her permission, I focused. I fused my internal force into the Beast Force once again, this ti pushing more into it. Then, with the intent to fuse minds, I shot it into Luna.
A pulse of discomfort surged through .
My body shifted and warped, no longer interpreting light as it once did. Patterns of energy waved around us, shifting and reforming, becoming sothing more natural as I—
“Us!”
Luna snapped, breaking through the chaos with her individuality.
“Not this again. Okay…one at a ti. Luna, you talk.”
We sighed. “Okay, but I can only absorb a bit more. I’m starting to feel weird.”
Oh.
Oooooooh.
“I forgot to ntion sothing.”
“Yeah?” We said, confused.
“If you absorb too much power without making it your own…well, can plants pop? Anyway, just don’t do it. If you feel sick, stop and exercise.”
“Exercise?” Luna asked.
“You know, move around…I guess shift your roots, or stretch, or do…whatever plant exercise looks like.”
Luna pulsed with determination as she moved our body, stretching her roots in erratic, unsettling patterns.
I imdiately regretted everything.
I had discovered the massive downside of inhabiting a body that wasn’t mine.
“I’m getting exhausted,” I muttered, trying to pant but unable. My color pulsed a pale li.
“I barely started!” Luna huffed in frustration. “I can feel it, though. So is leaving, but so is also staying in our blade!”
Our body lit up, pulsing with an assortnt of chaotic, exciting frequencies.
“Alright, Luna. Now that you can convert your force, can you absorb a bit more? Just like before?”
Our body shifted slightly in agreent as we both went silent.
I let Luna take full control, focusing entirely on the feeling, anything that might help unlock the secret to different energy absorption.
I could see the paths flowing, coming closer, finally rging.
Like a breath from a ghost, the wisp seeped into the blade of grass that was us.
Then it hit.
"AGHHH!"
A surge of sensory overload.
Freezing. Burning. Buried alive. And sothing in between and even sothing beyond.
Sothing in , my being that sohow even with a shared mind was individual, rejected it.
Whatever shielded her mind, I didn’t have that blessing.
Every source slipped into , and my mind snapped back violently. I forced myself out, panting hard.
“Are you okay? What happened?” Luna asked, her worry pulsing through .
I was soaked in sweat. My body was leaking all the water I had absorbed through my roots, as if trying to flush the sensation out.
I took shallow breaths, trying to push through the phantom pain before answering, “It—it’s nothing. I can’t do it like you, but…”
I was shaking, violently trembling, like I had been freezing to death just monts ago. My muscles ached, every hair on my body standing at attention.
I pressed my hands into the pools of liquid around , and a fleeting portion of that feeling returned. The dampness leaking between my fingers. Tracing across every groove of my skin. The way it flowed through so violently at the mont Luna absorbed it.
The nature of liquids.
That was it.
It wasn’t about simply knowing energy existed. It wasn’t about scientific logic or the physical world’s rules.
It had to be felt. Examined. Pulled apart.
It was sothing beyond.
Sothing almost…spiritual in nature.
I may not be able to do it all at once. I’m not Luna, but that's alright. I have my own path.
I will borrow from hers, as I will share mine back.
I didn’t know how yet. But maybe my abilities could sense more than just the surface of reality that I could see. Precursor Sense was proof of that. But there had to be a way to take it further. Like I did with Beast Force and internal strength.
But there was a problem.
I needed to heal.
I could use my Precursor power to help circulate my energy, but to perform sothing as delicate as Sensory Veil in this state?
Impossible.
I understood that without even trying.
I could feel Luna shifting on my arm—exercising, stretching, moving.
Unfortunately, I could also feel sothing wriggling in my veins.
Her roots.
I shuddered.
Don't think about it...Alright.
"Ti to stand."
Alright. Breathe.
I got this.
"And UP!"
I wobbled at first, my balance shaky, but circulating my energy constricted my sides, and the roots stabilized .
I wasn’t queasy anymore. Either the water helped, or due to my cultivated state, I had recovered quicker than expected.
Probably both.
There was only one source of light which was the faint glow of orange moss.
I moved toward it.
My adjusted eyes burned slightly, watering at the corners as I approached. In my domain, the moss pulsed faint red, the color tracing their forms.
Clusters of world force surrounded them, small red wisps mixing with other bright, but faint, colors.
They didn't seem particularly special. Essentially just glowing accessories to the cave, casting dim light on jagged rock and filthy water pools.
But as I got closer, I realized sothing.
It wasn’t the moss that caught my attention.
It was a hallway.
And yes, I know...it’s a cave.
But this was not natural.
This was intricately carved. Well built.
Or at least, I hoped.
A long corridor leading into the unknown.
Hopefully, an unknown that didn’t involve any more sensory deprivation monsters.
I listened.
Silence.
Not a single noise from within.
Then again, it’s not like I noticed the first ones until it was too late.
“Luna?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you keep an eye out for anything?” I asked telepathically.
“How?”
“What? What do you an, how?!”
What wasn’t understandable about my request?
“I don’t have eyes.”
I could feel the faint trembling of the blade on my wrist. She was snickering.
Apparently, Luna had a sense of humor.
Honestly? It wasn’t bad. Not as good as mi—
“You’re not that funny.”
...Yes. I had found my answer.
You could, in fact, hate grass.
“Don’t be so dramatic. You called a weed a few tis already. I’m only teasing.”
“Yeah, alright. That’s fair. Anyway?”
“I’ll keep an ‘eye’ out. No problem.” Luna’s pulse carried amusent but also a hint of reassurance.
I took a step forward letting all my abilities fade. But imdiately stopped.
A breeze drifted through the corridor.
Not stale air. Not a damp cave draft.
Sothing deeper like a breath.
A slow exhale from sothing ancient, pressing against my skin.
Pulling forward.
I stepped into the pitch-dark passage.
For a brief mont, I considered igniting True World Sight through Luna again.
But I resisted.
Not yet. I shouldn't use it until sothing dangerous ca. Then I could at least tell where they were.
My footsteps echoed, the soft patter of damp leather on smooth-cut stone.
The corridor felt endless in my slow, cautious pace.
But eventually I reached the end.
I froze.
“…That’s…why is he here?”
“What’s wrong?! Danger?!” Luna’s pulse sharpened with apprehension.
I couldn’t answer.
Because standing in front of was sothing impossibly familiar.
A carving of black stone. Dark and gleaming like onyx.
A man with a killer beard.
The one who rewarded with Beast Force.
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