Seed (Not that kind)

[17:41] Lea rose her hand up, and without a second wasted, a stream of water rose up with it. With a few graceful and fluid movements of her hand, the water followed along, carrying such precision and grace that it seemed to be the work of someone that was a true master of the art, perhaps even beyond. But if Vetani listened to Lea and paid careful attention to the flow of Lea's mana circuits, she'd notice something very... off.

This wasn't water magic. Her circuits weren't shifting at all beyond natural levels. It was as if she wasn't even casting; as if the water was just... listening to her.

Or perhaps, more accurately, as if she were one with it.

"This is arcane magic. It's where you harmonize with the world to such an extent that you no longer need to command it for it to move according to your whims. You are, quite literally, one with it, and everything you do becomes a part of the naturalorder."

"Is that too abstract for you? I can explain it in a less abstract way, but it'd technically be less accurate, too."
(Lea Elisheva)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[17:54] Vetani whirls around toward Lea, full attention on the older girl and her alone, At first, she looks with her eyes, and Vetani does see the simple flow of a magi's water. Each movement of Lea, the water would follow down to the most minute shift.

But. Lea did say that something was off, a hint. Her form is impeccable, so Vetani closes her eyes and goes deeper. Her practiced senses flow off her body and curl toward Lea in a slight, slight pressure.

Vetani notices right away. None of Lea's circuits were alight or connecting with the hand that holds the water.

So, she hears what Lea has to say, and gives a big nod. "I get it, I really get it. It was like your magic wasn't active inside of you. Instead, it was the lifestream itself inside of you, and through you. Or whatever it was that I could 'see.'"

"Anything that's the most accurate is the best for me. Even if it's abstract, it's the way of the world."

Her head tilts, as she thinks for a moment. "I don't know if that makes you conduct the lifestream, or if the lifestream conducts you."
(Vetani)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[18:01] Lea's continued hand movements grew less and less subtle, although they never quite became anything that could be considered dramatic. Lea was a subtle person in most respects, and so too was her usage of the arcane. She wasn't exactly a master of it, either. Compared to those before her, she was a neophyte, but nevertheless knew enough to explain it to others.

"It's similar to when you ask a friend to do you a favor, I guess? Not exact, but close."

She lowered her hand, and the water followed.

"You need to speak to it, in the same way the sun speaks to you when you feel its warmth, or the way the moon speaks to the tides to cause them to shift. You understand? I could show you how I learned to do it, if you need."
(Lea Elisheva)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[18:10] Vetani feels the shift of water grow sharper. Out of the darkness and flashing of mana and circuits, Vetani wrenches her eyes open. The sweeps of the water indeed, held with every minutae jerk of Lea's hand. When she stayed it, so did the water hold.

She looks rather wide-eyed through it all, and she looks out toward the ocean. "I don't know what I need. Not at all. But for at least a time, I'll need a favor from Them."

"Sounds... comfortable, though. Communicating with the lifestream and all. How do you do that? You're speaking, and yet none of your magic is active."
(Vetani)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[18:21] "I'll show you, then."

Lea removed her shoes and undid her dress, revealing a pair of shorts and a T shirt under it; the closest thing to a swimsuit she had. She allowed herself to wade into the water until it was about knee-high, then turned over to Vetani, shooting her a smile, before shutting her eyes and entering a state of total, serene calm.

She did not explain, merely feel. She did not express, merely befriend.

And just as she did the first time, Lea communicated through dance. It was a dance matching the fluidity of the water she found a home in, and the water responded, dancing alongside her. No, perhaps it was dancing with her, in the same vein as a pair of lovers. It was not as grandiose as her first few dances, nor was it as potent, but it was enough to deliver a profound message to anyone who dared pay attention.

The world is your friend, so long as you flow with it.

The flow was the key word here, and it was displayed by Lea's dance better than anything else could. She did not allow thought to enter her mind, as that could only slow her down. She did not through words, but her dancing spoke a language that only she could understand, and that only the water could answer.

Her dance ended after a few minutes, hopefully displaying to Vetani the nature of what had to be done.

"It's not something that's easy to explain in words. It's something that you can only do. Reach out to the world, ask it to be your friend. Extend who you are to the world around you, making yourself a part of it."

"Then you'll understand how to speak to it, in a language unique to yourself."
(Lea Elisheva)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[18:34] Vetani doesn't seem to blink, nor move. Dancing itself was something she barely knew, but she found herself enraptured. Her senses read everything, yet nothing from Lea. For one of the few times in Vetani's life, it seemed like this was a person in harmony. What Vetani couldn't sense, was purely through that dance she sees, the movements brushing against the water around them both.

Vetani didn't read Lea's message in it's exact words, but the concept of it settles heavily in her mind, like with the concept of Arcane itself.

"It's pretty funny that you mention that. So there's this magic that I do: mind-links, empathy. The first step of it all's for me to use my magic and my music, and that extends my mana outward."

"The concept of this... seems pretty close to myself, what I think about. Yet very different." Vetani's solemnity was broken as soon as she started speaking, eyes shifting with the waves and blinking rapidly.

"Part of this world. Instead of people... the lifestream, the world itself. It's a big step."


(Vetani)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[18:35] Lea Elisheva says, "It's not as big as you think once you realize one key thing."
[18:36] Lea Elisheva says, "They're all the same thing."
[18:37] Lea Elisheva says, "I've felt that way for a while now. Maybe it's why all this was so easy for me."
[18:38] Lea Elisheva says, "But the lifestream flows in and out of us and through the world. It's the golden thread that ties creation together."
[18:38] Lea Elisheva says, "Once you see this thread for yourself..."
[18:39] Lea tugged at the golden threads that only she could see, as the entire world before her... shifted, so to speak, in an entirely natural way.

"...that's when it all comes together."
(Lea Elisheva)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[18:39] Lea Elisheva asks, "Does that make sense?"
[18:40] Vetani says, "Mnnn."
[18:41] Lea Elisheva says, "I want you to ask the world to be your friend."
[18:41] Vetani says, "It does. It all does. Lifestream is everything, down to the tiniest speck."
[18:41] Lea Elisheva says, "However feels natural to you."
[18:41] Vetani says, "Alright."
[18:42] Vetani says, "Time to get... acquainted. Though, the lifestream's known me forever."
[18:50] Vetani folds her drumstick arm, laying it over the pandrum that she holds. Unlike with just a singular person, she knows that she has to focus on the world itself. Everything and anything beyond her, at any which point she could face with her eyes.

"I have ideas for how to express myself. I do. But... will the world like what I have to say? I'm coming to the lifestream with a favor, a big favor."

The weight feels heavy in her pocket: the seed she is attempting to grow. Still as blue and empty as the day she found it, years ago. "It haunts me. I think of growing this seed I have, every day. Some self-centered reason to contact the lifestream."
(Vetani)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:13] Lea Elisheva says, "I don't know, but the world will respond either way."
[19:14] Lea Elisheva asks, "What's your favor, if you care to share?"
[19:15] Vetani says, "Well."
[19:16] Vetani says, "Bit of a long story."
[19:17] Vetani says, "So there's these 'leylines,' that need to be filled in, inside my seed."
[19:17] Vetani says, "The fae themselves couldn't grow it. Not from water, and not from magic."
[19:19] Vetani asks, "Magic tree, like Yggdrasil. You know?"
[19:19] Lea Elisheva says, "Yeah."
[19:21] Lea Elisheva says, "That sounds like something the lifestream would like."
[19:22] Vetani says, "Yeah. I'd imagine it'd be like an extension of the lifestream..."
[19:22] Vetani asks, "In physical-ish form?"
[19:24] Vetani says, "This thing's looked the same since I found it six years ago."
[19:24] Vetani says, "Still glows, still warms near fae."
[19:26] Lea Elisheva says, "Hm."
[19:27] Lea Elisheva says, "That sounds like it could work."
[19:27] Vetani asks, "Intersting, yeah?"
[19:28] Vetani says, "Since the seed reacted so strongly to fae... creatures of the lifestream. I figured this would be lifestream-y."
[19:29] Lea Elisheva asks, "Did it respond to any of the things I did?"
[19:30] Vetani says, "Gah. It was in my pocket, so I wasn't looking."
[19:31] Lea Elisheva says, "I see."
[19:31] Lea Elisheva says, "Hold it out and see if it does a thing when I fiddle with the water."
[19:32] Vetani says, "Hmn."
[19:33] Vetani goes through the motions, carefully putting back her drumstick and drum. A large seed is curled around in the palm of her hand.
(Vetani)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:35] Lea rose her hand up and began to maneuver it around as if she were conducting a symphony. As before, the water followed her exact movements, with a level of precision that most magi could not hope to muster. She gazed at the seed in Vetani's hand, waiting to see how it'd respond, if at all.
(Lea Elisheva)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:37] Vetani's palm tenses, as though trying to keep the seed held in her palm. Now, it moves imperceptibly, like a vibration.

"...It feels warm, again," Vetani breathes out.
(Vetani)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:40] With that, Lea came up with an idea. Rather than manipulating the water, she tugged at the strings of causality, causing the seed itself to rise from Vetani's hand, showing that these abilities were not limited to the element the user is most fond of.

"How about now?"

Vetani could still grab it, if she wished, but she wanted to see if direct manipulation of the seed would change anything.
(Lea Elisheva)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:47] Vetani jumps, when the weight she was protecting in her hand would disappear. She would whip her head around and panic, but the realization came to her just before that.

The seed is still in front of her face, and she stares. At the moment, the seed glows and shifts with a clear resonance for Arcane. The pale, visible leylines flicker between appearing, and disappearing.

"That's," Vetani struggles to start, "that's the first time I've seen my seed without those lines. Completely blue."

She grows seemingly calm, but determined. "It doesn't seem to last, but I think I and we are on the track. It requires the 'base' magic of the world in order to function."

"Sadly, sadly: doesn't seem sustained quite like this."
(Vetani)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:48] Lea Elisheva says, "Hm."
[19:49] Vetani says, "I'll need to think more on this."
[19:49] Vetani says, "This feels like... the right foundation."
[19:50] Lea Elisheva says, "If you practice this harmonization, always do it in front of the seed."
[19:50] Lea Elisheva says, "Or near the seed."
[19:51] Vetani says, "I won't miss it."
[19:51] Vetani says, "Well, well. I should also get someone to watch the seed, since I'll need to harmonize."
[19:53] Lea Elisheva says, "Could try it now. I'll watch the seed."
[19:53] Lea Elisheva says, "If you're in the right state of mind."
[19:54] Vetani says, "Hate to admit it; I don't think I'm very harmonious right now."
[19:54] Vetani says, "... Excited."
[19:58] Lea Elisheva asks, "Over the seed?"
[20:00] Vetani says, "Yeah."
[20:00] Vetani says, "Good stuff right there."
[20:00] Lea Elisheva exclaims, "Yeah, now we have a pretty huge lead for it!"
[20:00] Lea Elisheva says, "We could call it here if you want, then."
[20:00] Vetani says, "Think I should, in case my head explodes."
[20:02] Lea Elisheva says, "I don't know how realistic of a concern that is, but I'll trust your judgment."
[20:02] Vetani says, "It could happen. Anything can."
[20:03] Lea Elisheva says, "Technically true."
[20:04] Vetani asks, "I've also been going back to Gehenna, since my house is there. You want anything?"
[20:04] Lea Elisheva says, "A hug."
[20:04] Vetani says, "That can be done in Levengard."
[20:04] Lea Elisheva says, "True."
[20:04] Lea Elisheva says, "Let's go back, then."