Author note: So, here's the link to the YouTube steam for my interview with PopPop on the 8e! Hope a few of you are there so I'm not all alone with people I don't know! >shivers in his booties< :DEdit: try again: https://www.youtube.com/live/6jSEnEGfoUQ
Irwin leaned against one of the large Volcano Trees in Flowrishin’s small but dense garden. Between the towering black buildings, he saw that the sky was lighting up. It wouldn’t be long till Scour’s sun would glare down from above, and beyond the walls, he could hear the first shouts, voices, and laughter, showing the city was also waking up.
A few hours and I’ll be back, he thought, thinking about Scintilla and his children.
To him, a few years had passed, even if he’d compressed most of that time in the equivalent of a few days. For his family, a bit over a month had gone by, and he wondered how the kids were handling knowing that Scintilla would become a Crathan.
He knew he would find out soon, as he would learn how the tens of thousands of Crathans that would be moving to Eluathar would handle the much colder and greener world. Even if they moved them to the volcanic, mountainous range that Daubutim had determined would be their initial home, even just the much more vibrant blue sky and the sun would be a major change for people who’d never been on another world.
They will learn, he thought, remembering how he and the other Giardians had managed. Besides, they aren’t alone.
He let time flow by quietly until the first bell of the day echoed through the city.
Time to head home, he thought, knowing he would be incredibly busy right after. First, he’d have to bring a group of almost a thousand Crathans to Exarg on Mouxirvin, then he’d reforge Scintilla’s soulcard and prepare for the return of the same thousand Crathans. They would be gone for a few days, but to them, over a thousand years would have passed. He hoped most of the three hundred would have learned to create at least a single cardseed, but even if they didn’t, he was sure the top fifty would. What really mattered was that they would hopefully have multiple four or five-soulcarded.
Then he’d have to bring half of those to the new Crathan outpost, spread the rest across the fleet…
Busy few weeks, he thought, turning to Flowrishing, who was sitting against a nearby tree, her head against the bark and eyes closed.
“You are sure you don’t want to come with me?” he asked.
“Not yet. I’ll handle the Viridians when they arrive here, as they will likely send someone old and stubborn. After that, when things are going well, I’ll have one of the Ceyum bring me.
“Ceyum?”
“Those body-doubled transport people that move stuff between here and Eluathar,” Flowrishin said as she got up. “That’s what people have begun to call them. Well, that or Ceyumachar, but that’s mostly people who want to be difficult.”
“Ceyum,” Irwin said, before humming softly.
Probably better than body-doubled movers or transporters, he decided.
“Send a warning before you arrive, and I’ll make sure to have a place for you,” he said.
“I’ll be fine. You have forests there, right?”
“Oh, we have forests, alright,” Irwin said, thinking about the sprawling woods around New Mallorin.
“Remind me, were there already Viridians on Eluathar?”
“Some,” Irwin said as he followed her to the gate. “Mostly merchants and others we saved over the years.”
“Good,” Flowrishin said, turning to him at the gate. “Then, until we meet again. Let's hope it doesn’t take a hundred years again.”
“Let’s hope so,” Irwin agreed as he grinned at her before walking out into the city.
--
Lirai stood with her arms crossed among the other three hundred. Behind them was a larger group of family and friends, some carrying bags, though she knew most of their supplies would be in soulscapes.
And then there’s me, she thought, not bothering to look around.
She was, as always, alone. Oh, she had friends among the three hundred, some even good friends, but there was no family to accompany her. People who were willing to give up everything just to go with her to an unknown world inhabited by giant whales to live for a thousand years, while reality around it was frozen in time.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself, she snapped.
It wasn’t like anything had changed, and she’d prepared herself for a long time. And yet… as she stood there, hearing the excited chatter around her and listening to nervous laughter, she felt alone. Her usual thoughts about exploring the portal gallery after everything was over didn’t help, and she clamped her fingers around her arms so hard it hurt.
I’ll make my own family, she told herself, but unlike usual, the words felt hollow. A distant dream that didn’t help right now.
The crowd around her fell quiet, and she looked up to see Teacher Irwin, Lord Daubutim, and a few of the Ceyum walk towards them.
“So, is everyone ready?” Teacher Irwin asked, not even having to shout for his voice to reverberate across the square, almost seeming to be felt through the soles of her feet.
A few nods and some attempted shouts of excitement were muffled in the almost tangible nervousness.
“Good, then-”
“-oming! I’m coming! Wait for me!” a shout rang from a nearby street.
A thousand people looked to the side, while Lirai felt her mind slow down as she recognized the voice. Two seconds later, two figures came sprinting out of the street, one familiar Crathan in leather armor, the other an unfamiliar Ignitzian.
“Lejingi!”
Teacher Irwin’s voice boomed across the square, but Lirai barely noticed. All she saw was Sinturkal slow down, before walking towards her with a sheepish grin.
“You were seriously going to leave without me?” he said, moving to stand beside her as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
“I… what?” Lirai croaked, not sure what was happening.
“Oh, come on! You must have guessed?” Sinturkal said, his grin turning into an almost painful smirk.
Lirai couldn’t stop herself, but she reached out and punched his chest.
“Hey!”
“Don’t you hear me!” Lirai snapped. “What are you doing here?”
Sinturkal raised an eyebrow. “What do you think I am doing here? I’m here to see some crazy world and travel through the portal gallery. What do you think I was practicing all that crazy stuff for?”
Lirai stared at him, feeling her mind shut down for a brief moment. Then she put her hands on her hips, glaring at him.
“You were angry with me!”
“Technically, I still am,” Sinturkal said. “Which is why I can’t just let you leave, right? How am I going to make you understand what an utter fool you are?”
“Sintu!”
A hazy voice called out across the square, causing Sinturkal to flinch.
“If the two of you are about done with your romance issues, do you mind if I speak with my old friend?” the Ignizian asked.
“Yes, yes, Aunt Lejingi,” Sinturkal said, winking at Lirai before turning to the glaring Ignizia.
Is he here to come with me? Lirai thought, staring at him in disbelief. She replayed all the things that had happened over the last few years, trying to see when she’d missed something… and couldn’t come up with a single thing.
--
Irwin shook his head as he looked at the two awkward Crathan youths standing side by side.
Good for her, he thought, before turning to someone he’d not seen in a very long time.
“Lejingi,” he said with a grin, almost adding that he had not thought she would still be alive.
She’s an Ignitzian, of course, she’s still alive, he told himself.
“Tutor,” she said, using a name Irwin hadn’t heard since he returned to Scour.
Lejingi’s smile was nearly the same as it had been thousands of years ago, just less nervous than he recalled. It seemed even someone who was nervous and quiet by nature changed with enough time. Besides that, the only thing that showed she wasn’t as young as she seemed was the slight redness in her hair, like fire with too little air.
“I had been wanting to look you up earlier, but it took a long time to get everything sorted in time,” she said.
“In time for what?” Irwin asked, cocking his head as he realized she was wearing standard Ignizian leather armor, strong at the front and back but light, with the arms bare for ease of movement. A short sword clung to her hip, as if she were expecting trouble.
“Tutor, if it is all right with you, I’d like to accompany my nephew and see the Portal Gallery,” she said, causing an explosive whispering from the crowd.
Irwin ignored it and looked at her in surprise. Of all the people he’d met on Scour over the years, she wasn’t one of those he’d pegged as being adventurous.
Well, she did leave Flamingrock to help me create those Charters, he told himself.
“Of course you can join,” he said, staring at the Ignizian that had been the one to show him the lakes of Ancestral Coperion and introduced him to Preg. Thinking about the ancient Ghulnithair, he realized he’d not even taken the time to visit them.
“You want to go with them to Exarg, or…?” he asked.
“I’ll go with Sintu, then, when he is done, I’d like to explore your world,” Lejingi said. “After that, I’d like to see Igniz.”
Irwin nodded slowly, suddenly wondering what Scintilla and the other Ignizians would say when they saw Lejingi. She was thousands of years old and probably the best cardsmith that used the Airflow Style that he knew of.
“Well,” he said, looking across the crowd that fell quiet. “Then, unless anyone is expecting a final arrival?”
There was no response, and Irwin waited until Lejingi had moved beside her nephew, causing Lirai to shift nervously. Then he raised his hands and pulled the entire crowd into his soulscape, moving them into the central square of the town he’d made near the foothills.
The square was suddenly almost empty, and he turned to the Crathan that he recalled had brought him and Daubutim here initially.
“Kanein, are you ready to bring me back to Eluathar?”
“Yes, Guildmaster,” the Crathan said. “I’m going to move you as fast as I can, so I don’t get the same issues as before.”
Irwin nodded as he pulled his soulforce as close into his soulscape as he could, hoping the transporter -Ceyum, he corrected himself, would have an easier job this time.
He sensed the other pulling on him, and he tried his best not to resist even in the slightest. He saw a small soulscape for a moment, and then he was shoved back out onto a familiar square. The bright but far less hot sun of Eluathar burned above them, while the dry, slightly sulfurous air was replaced by a cold, crisp one.
“Welcome back!”
Irwin blinked as he saw Trimdir stand at the Square, eyes slightly baggy, stifling a yawn.
Kanein’s other body stumbled, and Irwin quickly reached over to keep him on his feet.
“Better,” the man muttered, though blood was dripping from his nose. “Though, I think, Cardsmith Irwin, it’s best that if you need to move again, you ask specifically for me. I don’t think the others will survive this.”
Irwin grimaced, probing the Crathan and sensing what felt like a pair of ruby-rank soulcards.
“After you feel better tomorrow,” he said. “Come find me. I’ll help you get your next heartcard.”
Kanein blinked, his mouth dropping open in shock. “There’s no need-”
“Yes, there is,” Irwin said. “I should have done so before we did this again. If it makes you feel better, think of it as payment for moving me back to Scour if I ever want to again.”
Which will hopefully not be anytime soon, he thought.
“I… yes,” Kanein muttered, wiping the blood from his nose while grinning. “If you are alright, I think I’ll go and head home. I need to lie down for a while.”
Irwin was about to ask if he would be able to get home safely when he saw the same Crathan woman who had been waiting for them on Scour, hovering near the edge of the square. Her eyes were locked on Kanein.
“You do that,” Irwin said, beckoning her over.
She sprinted forward, quickly putting Kanein’s arms across her shoulders.
A quick nod and a promise to find him a few days later, the two walked away, and Irwin turned to Trimdir.
“You look like you haven’t slept in a month,” Irwin said, noticing that Trimdir was doing everything but look at him.
“That’s about right,” Trimdir said, rubbing his unshaved chin. “We need to talk.”
Irwin blinked, opened his mouth, then closed it.
Now what?
“Alright… can we do that here, or?”
“Probably better not to,” Trimdir said, motioning forward. “Let's go and have a drink.”
Irwin frowned, but as he felt his otherself move from Granvox to Mudball and begin handling the three hundred, he decided he had time.
Trimdir didn’t say anything as they walked towards a nearby diner, one of the few in the Volcano Academy run by Ignitzians. A few minutes later, they were seated in a quiet corner, two orange-tinted crystal glasses and a large bottle of something steaming in between them.
By that point, Irwin was both worried and confused.
“Okay, what is going on?” he said, picking up his glass. He almost asked if someone had died, and instantly, a tremendous worry for his family made him spread his soulforce senses outward, flowing like a massive pressure wave towards New Mallorin. Only when he felt the soulforce resonances of Scintilla and his children did he breathe lighter.
Wait, where’s mom?
He blinked, staring at Trimdir, and felt his heart thud harder. “Where’s my mother?”
“Don’t worry, Esmee is fine,” Trimdir said, quickly. “Dammit, I’m doing this all wrong. Irwin, your mother is pregnant.”
Irwin felt his control over his soulforce snap away, and suddenly all of him was in the small room with Trimdir, staring at the older, bald, and muscular smith. It lasted for only a moment, then his otherself quickly rushed back to what he was doing.
“I… Really?” he asked, not sure what to say as he grabbed the glass and drained it in one go.
‘Kid, are you okay?’ Ambraz shouted.
‘Fine, just… I’ll tell you in a minute,’ Irwin said.
“It was as much a shock to us as it must be to you,” Trimdir, refilling Irwin’s glass. “Your mother said she’d thought it possible after you redid her cards, as it rejuvenated her a lot.”
Irwin nodded, leaning back and ignoring the dangerously creaking chair. He guessed it made sense his mother had expected it, and as she looked barely in her thirties now, he guessed he should have expected something like this. He just… hadn’t.
“What did Bronwyn say?” he asked softly.
“He’s known for a few weeks now,” Trimdir said. “He was shocked for exactly ten seconds, then started running around telling anyone. Never seen him like that. He is looking forward to seeing if he is going to get another younger brother or a sister this time.”
Irwin blinked as he imagined getting a sister. He’d never expected anything like this to happen anymore, and now he wasn’t sure what to say.
“Are you okay?”
“Of course I am,” Irwin said, realizing that he was. A new addition to things he cared about had suddenly been added to those already there, and a sensation of expectation and joy was rapidly building. Although he was theoretically over a thousand years old and had memories of over a hundred, he felt younger than he had in ages. Memories of his time as a scrawny kid in Malorin, being scolded by his mother, played through his mind.
“Mom is pregnant,” he muttered, before grinning as another realization hit him. “You do know what that means, right?”
Trimdir’s eyes narrowed as he stared back. “You better not call me-”
“Dad!”
Trimdir’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You and your brother really are the same.”
Irwin leaned back and felt a torrent of tension leave his system as he took another swallow of the spicy liquid. He rolled the rest around, looking at how the light reflected from the pale orange liquid.
“Where’s my mother?”
“Esmee is in Treanba, visiting Lady Coulwater,” Trimdir said. “There’s a soulcarded healer there who specializes in pregnancies.”
Irwin hesitated.
Treanba, he thought.
The most northern city on Verdant Isle was a few days from where they were, but that was if you traveled normally.
He hesitated, then focused on his soulforce senses and aura and stretched it north as far as he could. Soulforce signatures flashed by, and he ignored them all until he sensed a massive congregation that had to be a city. Spreading his senses, he did something he’d never done and touched all of the signatures in a single blanket wave.
There she is.
Irwin felt his mother in a room with another familiar soulforce signature, and he instantly knew that Trimdir had been right. She was fine, and the pregnancy was either too early or she was too far along for him to sense anything extra about her.
“Irwin?”
Irwin looked up to see Trimdir stare at him, face pale, eyes wide. The few people who sat at other tables had turned to him, all equally pale, and some shivered. Three were lying on the table, one slumped down.
“What's wrong?” Irwin asked, looking around and expecting trouble.
“Could you… please… pull back… your aura?” Trimdir croaked, his voice tense.
Irwin yanked his aura back, suddenly realizing what he was actually doing. As soon as he did, screams came from outside, followed by groans and moans from all around him as people leaned back in chairs.
“I think we should probably head home now,” Trimdir said, pushing himself up, swaying a little, then heading to the door.
Irwin followed him, seeing how dozens of people were watching him with wide-open eyes.
I can’t leave like this, or there’s going to be issues, Irwin thought as he stopped. With the city growing, he couldn’t know most people, and those he did know were all older or lived close to him. It wouldn’t be a good thing to have them think he was some powerful and dangerous person.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said, noticing how the people froze again. “I was experimenting with one of my abilities to scan something far away. I hadn’t expected that it would have this effect on those nearby.”
Technically, that was a lie, because he’d not even thought about it before acting. If he had, he would have known what might happen. His words didn’t do as much as he’d hoped.
I need to do something to take the edge off before rumors start spreading, he thought. Although that wouldn’t be an issue for him, he didn’t want it to somehow reflect on his children.
He scanned all twelve quickly, sensing mostly heartcarded, with two soulcarded with a single handcard.
“I take it you all know who I am?” he asked.
A few careful nods.
“Okay, come to the smithy tomorrow, and I’ll fill up the soullake of those who have a heartcard and reforge a handcard for those who are at that stage. Also, please tell those you see what happened and tell them it won’t happen again.”
Halfway through his talk, he saw that a few people had perked up, fear rapidly giving way to interest and awe.
“Will…I mean… Does that offer count for everyone?” a small woman with a long ponytail of curly brown hair asked.
“Who do you mean by everyone?” Irwin asked, cocking his head curiously.
The woman swallowed, seemingly already regretting her question.
Dammit, I should have paid more attention, Irwin thought.
“Do you mean everyone in the city?”
“What? No, but…” the woman shook her head, looking mortified. “My son is upstairs, and…” she faltered, then looked at the table.
“All those in this restaurant, nobody else,” Irwin said, making a quick decision. It wouldn’t be bad to have more people with strong cards, even if it meant it would cost him time he’d rather spend on something else.
“Thank you, Lord Roddington,” the woman muttered.
Irwin grimaced. “Irwin, or Cardssmith Irwin, will do. My brother is Lord Roddington.”
The woman nodded quickly, clearly trying to smile and failing, and Irwin looked around, scratching his head.
Great.
“Sorry about that,” he said, turning around and walking away to find Trimdir standing in the doorway. The older Smith's face had regained its color, and he was smiling slightly.
“I just wanted to check how my mother was doing,” Irwin muttered.
“I figured,” Trimdir said as they walked through the city, noticing dozens of people chatting worriedly, many seeming fearful.
“It’s a good thing you didn’t tell them to keep it to themselves,” Trimdir said. “It would have spread either way, and that would have caused far more trouble.”
Irwin sighed as he shook his head.
“Don’t worry, it will fade away and only leave a memory of just how strong you are,” Trimdir said. “Besides, did you notice that most of the people there were young? Most don’t remember, or weren’t even born on Giard. Those who do will explain it to them, and what you did.”
“You say that, but you looked rather rattled,” Irwin said.
“I was the one closest to you, and it felt like something was trying to lock me in place and hold me there,” Trimdir said. “It shouldn’t have been this bad for those outside the restaurant.”
“Let's hope so,” Irwin said as he walked towards his own house, really wanting to see his family now.
Halfway there, he thought of something and looked at Trimdir, who had been quietly walking beside him.
“Where are you two going to live?” he asked. His mother was currently living with his family, but if she and Trimdir had a child…
“I was wondering when you would ask,” Trimdir said. “Esmee asked me to buy the residence behind yours. The old woman living there, I think she was called Jouli, had been thinking about moving to the town where her grandchildren live.”
Irwin felt a slight relief at that, and he was about to say so when a startled cry came from ahead.
“Dad!”
Irwin looked up to see two small shapes dash towards him, slamming into his leg before screaming up into his arms.
“Dad, dad, you’re back!” Glow shouted, climbing on his shoulder, while Soot grinned.
“You have no idea what happened!” Soot said, before turning to Trimdir, eyes narrowing almost just like Trimdir’s had not too long ago. “Wait! Uncle Trimdir, you didn’t tell him, right? You promised!”
“Oh, I didn’t tell him that,” Trimdir said. “But I think you should wait till you get home so the others are there, or Mia and Flux are going to get angry with you, not to mention Zan… Remember when you made her sad the last time?”
“Ugh,” Soot moaned. “Don't remind me. Ti was horrible! Fine.”
Irwin glanced at Trimdir, who just shrugged.
Okay, so it's definitely not something bad, then, Irwin thought.
Five minutes later, he stood in the garden with six children in his arms, on his shoulders, and one -Mia- on his head.
“Dad, dad! You need to hear what Zan did!” Mia shouted, just like all of them had been doing for the last minute.
Irwin took Zan in his hands and held her forward a bit so he could see her.
His daughter was smiling widely, fidgeting with her hands, while Silv’am was flying around her head.
“Alright, how about you tell me what got all the others so excited?” he asked.
“I reforged a card all the way up to ninety percent topaz,” she said, her smile widening. “And I’m really close to reforging it to Emerald rank!”