January 28, 2019, 2:16 am.

In the hammock just in front of Rufka and I, Tipan holds Kellica as the Taken agent wipes her eyes. Her tears didn't last long, but she seems embarrassed that we saw them, if the flatness of her ears is anything to go by. Or maybe she's angry we saw. Could be both. Either way, she's not shrugging out of Tipan's arms, so I'm sure she'll be okay.

"Sorry," Kellica says, looking at Tipan. "That's... no one's..."

Tipan just nods as I look to Rufka in confusion. Rufka's shrug isn't very helpful. But it does prompt Kellica to say more. "Venom mages are... it's assumed we're all evil. Even in the Taken, those with a Venom class are shunned."

"And they'd all know," Rufka states, nodding in understanding.

"Worst part is the Taken insist that some of us become Venom Mages," Kellica spits, then she shakes her head. "Anyway. I'm sorry, I... think I need to get some sleep."

"Didn't you want to know about my class?"

Kellica pauses, her hand on the pole holding Tipan's hammock in place as she looks back at me. Then she shakes her head. "It can wait till tomorrow."

With that Kellica returns to her hammock, turned away from us. As I turn away, I notice her take the hat Rufka bought and pull it into her arms.

I do the same, except instead of a hat, I pull Rufka close. Wishing her goodnight, I pass into sleep the moment I've leaned back.

...TPWM...

I wake to terror and flames.

Rufka is lying next to me, screaming as half her fur burns away. Tipan's lying metres away, picking herself up as she looks around. I follow her cue, pausing time as I search for our attacker. I'm not able to see anyone. The only people here are the same people who went to bed last night. Kellica is struggling to get free of her hammock as the lean-to burns above us.

At least that's easily dealt with. A minor flex of mana douses the flames.

When I drop out of pause, I slip down next to Rufka, who's screams pierce me to my core. I want to pull her close to me... but the burns along her side are-

Before I can process what happened, Rufka stops screaming. She's still burned, but now she's just shaking her head. Then she smiles at me. Which isn't quite as charming as normal, what with the melted flesh. "Well, that was unpleasant."

Then she slumps down.

I just about have a heart attack, preparing to teleport her directly to Roberts when white light washes over her body. When the light fades, she's coughing, but the burns and melted flesh have all returned to normal. I kneel down, tentatively touching her, just to confirm she's okay. And thanking whatever just happened that she's not pained by my touch.

"Well. That was unpleasant," Rufka notes, trying to give me a smile. But it's broken by another cough. "Remind me not to poke you when you're sleeping."

...

"What?" I ask, my face going cold. "Are you... I did this? To you?"

"It's no big deal. I'm fine. See? My furs back and everything." Even as she's speaking, her fur starts filling in. Leaving her just as I saw her before bed.

"How... what... how..." despite all my supposed Intellect, I'm unable to process Rufka's response to what just happened.

"That's some impressive healing magic. How'd you do that?" Kellica asks while stomping on a small ember I missed.

"One of mum's tattoos. Required the blood of a trugunta, I think? Only works once a day, but it's pretty great, right?"

Kellica nods in agreement while I'm still fixated on the source of this mess. Me.

There's a conversation in the background as I wander away. I'm halfway out of the valley before a hand lands on my arm. It's Rufka. I flinch away from her.

Immediately, I regret it, her eyes widening at my response. Then she shakes her head. "First time blowing up your thiani in your sleep, huh?"

That manages to get my attention.

"You say that like you've done it too," I observe, still not trusting myself to get too close to her.

"Not me. But Dhanni did it to me three times before she got used to sleeping next to someone."

"This never happened before," I point out. "Not with us. And I didn't wake up throwing spells. I woke up to you screaming."

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

"Are you... Apologizing for screaming after I burnt half your face off?"

"Yep. I normally have better control. You just surprised me."

"Rufka. That's... That's not normal."

"I know! I'm just that awesome!"

At this point, I can't stop myself from face-palming. On the plus side Rufka has somehow made me feel better about setting her on fire. Guess she really is that awesome.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you," I say, giving her a long side look.

"Did what? Got blown up by you? Total accident," Rufka says, all four of her hands interwoven behind her head.

This time, I decide to poke her. Just to see if she'll explode. But the only explosion I get from her, is an explosion of laughter. Probably for the best.

When I look around, I realize we've walked all the way to the outer edge of the valley. I can see the smoldering remains of the lean-to. And Tipan and Kellica working to set up a new one. Without using magic.

"We should probably help," I suggest, gesturing at the others.

"Probably. Let's walk instead," Rufka says, turning along a path that runs along the upper rim of the valley. And then ignoring it as she leaps to the top of a stone post. Then to a wooden railing that shakes under her as she glances back at me.

I smile at her, embracing the challenge of following in her wake. Without using magic. A task that would have been impossible to do two weeks ago. Before I've landed on the log behind her, she's shot off, leading me around the rim. And then Smoulder's running beside us. She doesn't follow Rufka's trail, making her own way. I don't use magic as I follow behind, counting on my increased attributes to carry me. For all of a minute.

Smoulder and Rufka keep having to stop to wait for me, so I start cheating. Just a little. A slight lift with wind manipulation while dancing across a field of rocky outcroppings. Or making the mud patch grip my foot so I can't slide off the slimy log.

We've circled the valley twice before Rufka changes tack, and turns it into a game of tag.

This time I have to cheat to even get close to her. And once I've finally tagged her, she calls a timeout by drawing me into a kiss. One that's interrupted by Smoulder landing on my head.

"Feel better?" Rufka asks, resting her head on my shoulder. "Not afraid to hold me, right?"

"I... no, I guess not," I reply, realizing she'd managed to make me use my magic just to catch up to her. And now I was holding her like I hadn't just...

"It was an accident Lexi. These things happen when users get sudden spikes of power. And we've had lots of those lately. We just need to be prepared. We need some healing talismans. Maybe mum has extras. Or we can go shopping for some. I've got a bunch of essence left over."

I'm unable to respond, my throat tight as I rest my head on Rufka's shoulder, matching her stance. Which sets Smoulder tumbling. She looks up at me, but instead of the indignation I expect, I can feel Smoulder's worry.

It makes me smile as I release Rufka, kneeling down to apologize to Smoulder. "Sorry, Smoulder. Set something on fire I shouldn't have."

Smoulder sends me reassurance. I don't think she understands why, but she knows I'm upset. And that's all that's important. Yet somehow, her action jogs loose the memory of when I'd woken up to her trying to burn down our room. And failing utterly to hurt me.

Rufka kneels down next to me, holding a snack for Smoulder. Smoulder accepts her tribute, and I can feel her smugness return as Rufka fawns over her.

While Smoulder and Rufka play, I hop down to the lean-to, copying Rufka's earlier leaping. I do it poorly, but flying feels wrong here. Or maybe I'm just not in that much of a hurry.

Either way, I arrive to find Tipan and Kellica have already sorted out the remains. As I step closer, Kellica looks at me with a smirk fixed in place as she says, "I guess I should've asked for your class name if this is what happens when you keep things pent up."

Tipan barks out a laugh, covering her mouth as she looks to Kellica. Who, I realize, is still wearing the hat from last night.

"You know," I start, kicking lightly at a piece of charred wood that escaped most of... whatever happened. "You might have a point there."

That stops Kellica's grin.

I can't fight the smile as I turn to her, arms spread wide. "After all. I am a Cataclysm Seed!"

The way her jaw drops, almost makes up for not having a place to sleep for the rest of the night.

Right as Kellica is about to respond, a stray ray of light breaks into the valley, causing her to turn away swearing. When I look to the source, expecting to maybe see Rufka or Genitha, I instead discover that the eastern wall is a mosaic of crystal, with each part of it directing light to different parts of the valley. Where Kellica has been standing would've been the side of our lean-to. And based on the way the light is striking some of the other buildings, it was probably supposed to function as an internal light source. The design is really cool. And would be super impractical if you couldn't form mirrors with a wave of your hand.

Even as Kellica is recovering, I begin playing with creating a light tower to scatter the incoming beam of light. I get a little lost in the process, forgetting entirely that we're not supposed to use magic here. Until a hand lands on my shoulder.

Looking up, I find Theria staring at me with her right eyebrows raised. Then my eyes drift to the tower I've erected where the lean-to once stood. It's already a dozen meters tall. Maybe more.

"Sorry, got carried away," I say, stretching out to take the tower back down. But Theria's grip on my shoulder tightens, stopping me.

"It's quite alright. Using magic for art is one of the few things I encourage here."

Looking at the tower, I tilt my head to the side. I suppose it could be considered art. The pair of Smoulder statues at the base were the only real flourish I put into the tower though. The rest was mostly just playing with different ways I could reflect the light. Turns out that when you can generate pretty much any metal, stone or other mineral, you can make lots of different reflective surfaces.

Which is good. Cause I have zero idea how mirrors were made back on Earth.

"Your mum wanted me to remind you that you need to pick up your companions for a meeting," Theria says, and for a second I'm confused. My mom shouldn't be anywhere within a hundred lightyears of us. Then I realize she's talking about Genitha.

"She's not my... I'm not even a K'tharn," I mutter.

"She's already calling you her kitten. You might as well accept it," Theria says, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "I've rarely met a woman as stubborn as her."

As she releases me, she gets a far off look in her eye as she mumbles, "Or one so vigorous."

If I wasn't embarrassed before, I am now. I let Rufka know I'm going to collect the others through a quick text, and with only the minimum triple checks to ensure safety, I teleport away.

Arriving beneath the tree of Nexus point 392, I take a moment to ready myself. Then I access the Nexus, calling for Raz's door.

When I step through, I'm greeted by the familiar sound of Raz's guitar. Then, as I'm turning towards our table, I'm stopped by a familiar bug. The same one who's been bumping me every time we've passed each other.

I'm not familiar with his species body language. But I feel that having several friends around him, all with their weapons drawn and pointed in my general direction indicates some level of hostility towards me.

Not exactly the welcome I'd been expecting.