Catori was disappointed. She had been angry but that had faded quickly. That big idiot simply did not want to help. Just when she had tasted being real. Just when they were looking for a body for her. And now the world would soon be gone. No matter what she tried, Truth would not help them. And she was disappointed.

She spent as little time as possible in the Empty. The place reminded her of her best friend’s betrayal. Fio was not a friend. They were the same person. How could you befriend yourself? Now, she was using the starling as much as she could without breaking its body.

Trade Town had been interesting but the humans were a little… simple. The dwarven technology was much more fun to be around. Granted, the forests covering the Dwarven Hills were much more dangerous than even the cliffs around the road she had followed. Still, it was fun to move. It made her feel more real.

As much as she had carved a place for herself in their soul, it would never be perfect. She had not made a toilet. Her body in the soulscape would not digest food. The stuff dissipated right after going down her gullet. While it was more comfortable to not have to visit the toilet, it was jarring now that she was aware of all the little things a real living body did. It almost felt like the Empty was some kind of VR game. Where even full immersion would not only ever be an imitation of the real thing.

She could finally see the city in the distance. Serrington. It would be somewhat safer to go there, she thought. Vivi might think a starling sitting close to her a welcome snack. Nymph would be scared, at least instinctively. It was still dangerous to visit unannounced with a body that identified as not being sapient.

That was the weird thing about their Skill. [Distant Dreaming] had then weird side effect that whatever body she was using would never [Identify] as ‘Fio Catori’ or even possessed. It was almost like the Skill was perfect for assassination or infiltration. At least she had managed to work out how to pull on their real Skills while in the other body. Only [Telepathy] worked and only with Fio but it was a start. One day she would be able to talk to others with her own power.

Of course, there was a simple way to communicate with Nymph: Have her initiate the telepathic link. And even though the body was not sapient, Catori was. She could still write something on a piece of bark and drop it into the grove before landing.

The walls were easily scaled. She felt one of the guards [Identify] her and tweeted angrily. A drop of excrement decorated his helmet suddenly and inexplicably. That seemed to be enough misdirection, judging by their laughter. Catori found her way to one of the many parks in Serrington and found a loose piece of bark that was still hard enough to not break under her beak. It took four attempts before she succeeded. ‘Use [Telepathy]’ was written on the slightly smoother inside face.

She carried her provisional letter into the centre of the city. Nobody stopped her even at the threshold to the Comraich, the almost holy place where a Guardian had their node and home, normally. Vivi was a bit of a special case which had been explained to Fio as not very special for new Guardians. They usually wanted to spend some time with the people that they cared for. Only a century or two down the line would they start to get some distance from the people.

Catori dropped the piece of bark just outside the grove. It landed with a soft thud and she sat right behind it in the grass. She waited for a bit with no reaction before deciding on plan B. Fio had gone out with Nymph into the city a few times. One of those times, they had watched a musical performance that the mantis had enjoyed a lot. Now, Catori did her best to replicate the melody of her favourite song. The notes filled the clearing around the grove. A few minutes later, she reached the end. No sign of Nymph, still. So she decided to tuck her head under her wing and lay down on the soft grass.

She awoke in the Empty. Her imitation body laid on the couch. The TV showed Fio talking to Circe and a raven of all things. Catori curled up and a blanket wrapped around her. She listened in on the conversation half-heartedly. Apparently the little [Witch] had found a familiar. Good for her.

A sigh escaped her lips. She felt her limbs tremble. Before the tears could roll, something connected to her soul.

A tiny flex of her will and she was back in the starling.

“Who are you?”, a very familiar voice asked. Nymph. “You are not sapient but bring a letter?”

Catori pulled her head out from underneath the wing. Her tiny eyes looked down at Nymph. Not far, though. The mantis was maybe half as tall as her.

“I’m sapient, alright”, she snorted.

“Oh. That voice… Fio?”

“Ye…”

She sighed.

“No. I’m not Fio, not quite.”

“Some kind of clone, then?”

“No!”, she laughed, “Although there is some truth to that.”

She flinched at her word choice.

“My name is Catori. I’m Fio but I’m not. We share a soul but are different people. I’m our human part, Fio is our owl part.”

Nymph’s scythes jittered. The insect’s head tilted back and forth to look all over the starling.

“You don’t really look human.”

“Pff. Yeah. I’m well aware. This body is something I can control thanks to one of our new Skills. It was supposed to be used while dreaming but with two people in one soul we can actively use two bodies as well.”

“Oh. That sounds powerful. Especially since you still [Identify] as what I assume is the real owner of the body?”

“There is nothing left of them. It’s a combo Skill. We cut the connection between soul and a sleeping body, then we can connect the body to ourselves. It’s still alive so we have to take care of it, of course.”

“Oh, how intriguing.”

A stray insect was impaled on her scythe and she absent-mindedly started nibbling on it.

“So you are Fio and yet someone else.”

“Yes!”

Catori smiled. It was not very apparent on the starling’s body, though, which brought her mood down a little.

“I see. Well, how do I tell your body apart from any starling?”

“Does this body have vis enrichment?”

“No… it does not.”

“But I can still use vis. Our Skill imbues it with some of it.”

“Now that you say it… there is a little more aer all around you.”

“Of course, that will fall apart as soon as we use an enriched body…”

“I am forgetting my manners. Come in, Catori. You are Fio as well, so you have already seen everything.”

She inclined her head.

“Thanks.”

They entered the grove, ducking and weaving between ferns, roots, and vines. Catori snapped up a few bugs and mites crawling through the undergrowth. The perspective from such a small body made the density of the grove much more impressive. She could barely see the sun from this far down even though it was the middle of the day. Eventually, they got to the small ring of trees around Nymph’s node. Or rather, where the node had been originally.

“I see you didn’t put it back here”, Catori said.

“No. Underground is much safer and it lets me grow more plants in my storage. I can manually supply the vis to keep my grove flourishing.”

They sat down next to a large basin of stone holding some fresh water. At least it was large compared to the starling. Fio’s body would just barely consider it large enough for her tea. Catori made sure to take some sips.

“Now, have you come all the way here just to introduce yourself?”, Nymph asked.

“In part, yes. We also wanted to know if there was any issue with having bodies far away from each other.”

“And what is your conclusion?”

“Distance seems to have no effect on our Skill. In fact, Fio is in the centre of the human plains right now. It would be a week’s flight even for her. Maybe two.”

“That is quite far. Was that goblin village not a week away?”

“Yup.”

“So you could take someone’s life while being months of travel by cart away?”

“That is what the Skill is meant to do, I think.”

“And can you communicate with Fio as well?”

“I can use [Telepathy], sort of. I can only activate it with her right now, though.”

“Why, that sounds wonderful. Why don’t you have her join us, at least vocally?”

“That… I mean… She’s… a little busy right now?”

Nymph rubbed her scythes.

“I see. I apologize, Catori. Come here.”

The mantis spread her forearms while a root pushed her a little off the ground. Catori took a single step, and then Nymph’s scythes went around her body. A few soft vines joined in on the hug. For what felt like hours, the girl cried. She had not even known starlings had tears.

Nymph gently ran her scythes through her feathers. The joint felt almost like a hand on her scalp. One by one, Catori’s muscles loosened until she eventually relaxed completely. The bird’s instincts still tried to fight back, the hug being uncomfortable on her wings, but she pushed them down. She was Catori. She was a human. She loved hugs.