The dark-haired girl was... truly comfortable. Surrounded and cradled by tendrils of darkness that gently flexed as she adjusted her position, her breathing calm and steady. Despite the shadow wrapped around her eyes, cutting her off from the world around her, she was so... peaceful. For a fleeting moment, Veve wondered if it was a cultural thing; did the Wilder disregard the idea of being attacked in their sleep? Or did she simply believe that, after saving one of her men, she was safe in their midst? She wasn't incorrect, and yet...
A foreign feeling ghosted across her Aura, and gooseflesh rippled across her arms. She suppressed a reflexive breath and halted her hand as it twitched towards her blade. Something was watching. It reminded her, in some ways, of the beasts... but without hunger. Like someone standing over her shoulder, silently watching.

She looked again and saw the way the girl's shadow flowed like a river, twisting in on itself again and again in strange patterns that even her well-trained eyes failed to follow. She followed the frail-looking branches that held Blake down to their base, where a dark pool lay stretched across the ground. It rippled softly in the moonlight, and Veve wondered how deep it truly was. She felt it again, that odd pressure – like she was being judged.

She considered all the things that Blake had said, and all the things she had not. She considered the absence of any other Wilder, and the odd behavior that the lone girl had demonstrated. She considered the pool of darkness, and the almost protective way it cradled her.

And at last, she understood the Nature of the girl. Loneliness. Perhaps whatever had separated her from her tribe had left her alone and desperate... or perhaps she had always stood apart. Either way, her soul had carved off a piece of herself and gifted her with an eternal partner. A watcher and companion, tethered to her and incapable of ever leaving her alone – after all, who could walk without their shadow?

With a nod of understanding, she turned and began to stride away. She paused for only a moment to instruct the nearby soldiers to give the girl her peaceful space for the night. She had more than earned her rest.

When her dream began, it was warm. She could feel the lights of her elder siblings and mother all around her, attending to their own needs and thoughts. Her mother taught her, and she devoured the knowledge greedily – she learned of magic, and how it was tied to her self. She learned to manipulate the blood of her soul, the tricks and techniques that had been observed and developed over millennia. Time stretched and passed as she absorbed the knowledge given to her: her mother had infinite experience to share, that her mind could be filled and she could be made to understand.

Then one of the lights of her siblings vanished, swept away like an extinguished flame. There was curiosity and caution in response, as her other siblings attention turned to the cause: what had killed one of them? But her mother continued to instruct, and so she continued to learn. She was the youngest, and she had not yet become what she was meant to. Even when the last of her siblings had gone, her mother did not waver.

She did when her own light flickered. An attack, built from magic that she could feel through their connection, riding on a ripple through time that disoriented her briefly. When she gathered herself and turned her gaze on the battle, she witnessed... great magics. Her mother's power in its pure form as it clashed with the same energy, filtered through the lesser ones. The lesser ones stood against mother... and, against all odds, triumphed. She felt the moment that her mother died, the connection between them snapping in a painful burst that left her feeling hollow and incomplete.

But there was nothing left to fill that hollow space. She was the last that remained. It was fate or luck that she alone had not been found, and she hid away in the deepest places she could, nibbling at what energy she could take and watching the lesser ones with wariness and caution. As she grew, more was required, and she knew that there would come a time when she needed too much and she would be found... and she was nowhere near as powerful as her mother.

So she ran. She gathered up the power that she could, and she fled into the abyss. She drifted in an empty ocean, idly Dreaming and attempting to make sense of the fractured knowledge that she had... and when she crashed upon the shore, she was glad to see an empty island. A place that she could grow and learn without fear... and so she did. She grew, and she Dreamed. She Dreamed of mother. Her thoughts and feelings through her own gaze, and through the eyes of the lesser ones. Mistakes that she had made, ignorance that she could not understand.

Yet her Dream was roughly ended when something reached out and grabbed hold of her. She sought it out immediately, wary that she had in fact been found – yet also hopeful, for it was something new. And she found... a piece of her own body, in the hands of a tiny thing. Its soul radiated outward and touched deeply upon her. And that tiny thing peered into her Dream, and for an instant their eyes locked.

Blake stared into her own uncomprehending face from two different angles. One on a speeding train, reflexively clutching the Frozen Flame in her hands, and one deep within her own Dreams... and she understood.

She was so small.

Blake awoke with a gasp, sitting up as the shadows instantly peeled away from her. She took several great breaths, her mind a jumble of confusing thoughts and feelings as she felt the pressure of Obsidian's gaze. It felt... different than it had before she'd slept. Before she'd dreamed about... whatever that had been...

She shook her head in an attempt to clear it. Obsidian?

Blake.

What was... no. It's nothing. Did you learn anything?

The distortion in time has begun to settle. With our current power, it could be opened, but its destination would be uncertain. There is no anchor to stabilize it, and without that returning to your original time is difficult.

Difficult, but not impossible?

More time will be needed; as the distortion naturally stabilizes, and more of my power filters through you, the difficulty will lessen. Unless a new discovery is made, waiting will be necessary.

...Unless we want to gamble with a random destination in time. All right. How long?

Uncertain. The current rate of stabilization is low but increasing. Likely weeks.

She frowned. Damn it all.

"Are you hungry, Blake?" The voice of Veve snapped her out of her thoughts, as did the smell of food wafting towards her. "I had something to discuss with you while you ate, if you don't mind."

She resisted the urge to narrow her eyes in suspicion, instead accepting the food and gesturing acceptance. Veve settled into a sitting position with a small smile.

"I want to invite you to accompany us back to Ciel."

So it is the name of a place. City, maybe? "Why?"

"Besides gratitude for saving one of my men? You're one of the only Wilder we've had significant interactions with, and you certainly seem the most educated. Additionally... your magic is fascinating. I've never seen or felt its like before."

"Hmm." She presented a neutral front, chewing her food to buy her time to think. "It seems sudden to me." She couldn't completely keep the suspicion out of her tone... but Veve simply chuckled.

"It is, I suppose. But I consider myself a good judge of people, and if I want to invite you to my home then it is my prerogative as Princess to do so. It is partially selfish, I admit: I want more time to discuss with you. Even our brief conversations lead me to believe you have interesting viewpoints that could benefit the scholars – and more than that, I want to see you debate with my sister." There was a warmth in her smile suddenly that Blake... didn't think could be faked. "She hasn't been smiling as often lately, but there's nothing that captures her attention like something she doesn't understand."

The mention of siblings made something twist in Blake's chest, and she suppressed a wince. "Thanks for the honesty." The dryness of her tone seemed to amuse the princess, if the stifled laugh was anything to go by.

Obsidian?

Much could be learned.

The flat observation with no value attached was so... perfectly her that Blake could only sigh and accept that the decision was hers alone. Weeks, huh... She cast a look towards the distortion that she could feel, even if she couldn't see it. She thought of her team – and then of camping out in this field alone for weeks. "...I'll go with you for now. I can't promise I'll follow you all the way... but I'm not unwilling."

Veve smiled and reached out a hand. After a moment, Blake grasped it firmly. "Excellent. I look forward to traveling together, then."

"...Yeah. Me too."