The desert was the only place around that was quiet.
It wasn't just physical noise, of course. Makoto could tune out physical noise, especially in pursuit of sleep. It was the swelling tide of emotions, which he was now sensitive enough to that filtering was near-impossible. He could usually exhaust himself enough to sleep anyway, but that was becoming harder. He didn't want to have to deal with this forever.
Perhaps going out into the desert wasn't the wisest thing to do in the middle of the night, but he'd fancied a walk, and supposedly the stars were much clearer from there than anywhere else. Most of Moon, outside the towns themselves and the farms on the southern edges, was forest--not an ideal type of terrain to stargaze from.
There were creatures in the desert, of course, as well as bandits. But he could handle the former, or at least run from anything he couldn't, and the latter would enter his empathy range long before they got within any distance to be a threat.
Besides, it was night. The only light aside from the stars and moon were the small motes of light he kept hovering around him, dancing fireflies of photon chakra that were just sufficient to show him the area around him, spread out in a cloud about six feet in any direction.
The phoenix had counseled him to be careful, and to keep his sixth sense tuned and regular sight as clear as he could. It didn't mind him sneaking out of the hotel for a bit of stargazing, though he'd had to agree not to go too far out of visual range of the dojo and slowly reconstructing city on the surface near it. Not difficult, since all of it was visible for miles into the desert...well, it was during the day anyway. He was still only a little beyond sight of civilization, just enough to see the sky clearly.
And it was a clear night, the stars bright in the sky. He should have just found somewhere to flop down and stare into the sky, getting some mental rest.
You're very restless tonight, Makoto. Is it really getting worse?
Yes. Or at least, it seems it. Maybe that's because I can't find a way to filter or dampen it. He gave a mental sigh, pausing in his walking. The motes, shifting slowly in colour between pale yellow and white, then back again, paused with him. He tilted his head back to look at the stars, tracing various patterns in them of constellations. There's no other recourse; I'll have to find a way to shed it for something else. If I can.
If you can, the phoenix echoed in his mind. And if you cannot?
He frowned unconsciously, staring at the sky. Then. I'll find some other solution. But I'd rather not accept that I cannot. I'll find a way, regardless.
If you're that determined, I am sure you'll find a way. I will do what I can to help, if anything.
He didn't respond 'verbally,' but it would be able to read the current of his emotions as well as he could read anyone else's. Better, even.
The truth was...the truth was he wasn't really sure it was possible at all, but that didn't much matter. As he'd often thought in battle, it was a bad idea to regard anything as impossible. Even if it was impossible, you should shut up and do it anyway. That line of thinking had gotten him through an awful lot in the past.
Including something in this very desert.
So maybe this desert, or this country in general, was a good place for him to be if he wanted to do something so difficult as to voluntarily shed a power core. It was here, before, that he'd met--well, become aware of, or maybe more precisely even, re-awoken--the phoenix spirit inside him.
That wasn't why he was there, though. He was just tired of the emotions of a whole city of people shouting at him, and him being unable to filter them effectively--even if he just focused on one or two he knew slightly better. That didn't help much anyway; too much focus on either of his traveling companions only unnerved him, reminding him of their emotional irregularities.
He started walking again, not away from the village but along it, as far away as it was. Maybe he ought to just exhaust himself out there, every night until he found a more permanent solution. Get a couple of hours of quiet in daily.
Unusually, the phoenix did not warn him off that. Perhaps it sensed he was, in some ways, fraying at the edges.
I'll figure it out. Nothing is impossible. If it is, I'll do it anyway.
He continued on through the desert.
[Using Discovery of Contract of Your Choice ASP card to find the Bird contract.]
It wasn't just physical noise, of course. Makoto could tune out physical noise, especially in pursuit of sleep. It was the swelling tide of emotions, which he was now sensitive enough to that filtering was near-impossible. He could usually exhaust himself enough to sleep anyway, but that was becoming harder. He didn't want to have to deal with this forever.
Perhaps going out into the desert wasn't the wisest thing to do in the middle of the night, but he'd fancied a walk, and supposedly the stars were much clearer from there than anywhere else. Most of Moon, outside the towns themselves and the farms on the southern edges, was forest--not an ideal type of terrain to stargaze from.
There were creatures in the desert, of course, as well as bandits. But he could handle the former, or at least run from anything he couldn't, and the latter would enter his empathy range long before they got within any distance to be a threat.
Besides, it was night. The only light aside from the stars and moon were the small motes of light he kept hovering around him, dancing fireflies of photon chakra that were just sufficient to show him the area around him, spread out in a cloud about six feet in any direction.
The phoenix had counseled him to be careful, and to keep his sixth sense tuned and regular sight as clear as he could. It didn't mind him sneaking out of the hotel for a bit of stargazing, though he'd had to agree not to go too far out of visual range of the dojo and slowly reconstructing city on the surface near it. Not difficult, since all of it was visible for miles into the desert...well, it was during the day anyway. He was still only a little beyond sight of civilization, just enough to see the sky clearly.
And it was a clear night, the stars bright in the sky. He should have just found somewhere to flop down and stare into the sky, getting some mental rest.
You're very restless tonight, Makoto. Is it really getting worse?
Yes. Or at least, it seems it. Maybe that's because I can't find a way to filter or dampen it. He gave a mental sigh, pausing in his walking. The motes, shifting slowly in colour between pale yellow and white, then back again, paused with him. He tilted his head back to look at the stars, tracing various patterns in them of constellations. There's no other recourse; I'll have to find a way to shed it for something else. If I can.
If you can, the phoenix echoed in his mind. And if you cannot?
He frowned unconsciously, staring at the sky. Then. I'll find some other solution. But I'd rather not accept that I cannot. I'll find a way, regardless.
If you're that determined, I am sure you'll find a way. I will do what I can to help, if anything.
He didn't respond 'verbally,' but it would be able to read the current of his emotions as well as he could read anyone else's. Better, even.
The truth was...the truth was he wasn't really sure it was possible at all, but that didn't much matter. As he'd often thought in battle, it was a bad idea to regard anything as impossible. Even if it was impossible, you should shut up and do it anyway. That line of thinking had gotten him through an awful lot in the past.
Including something in this very desert.
So maybe this desert, or this country in general, was a good place for him to be if he wanted to do something so difficult as to voluntarily shed a power core. It was here, before, that he'd met--well, become aware of, or maybe more precisely even, re-awoken--the phoenix spirit inside him.
That wasn't why he was there, though. He was just tired of the emotions of a whole city of people shouting at him, and him being unable to filter them effectively--even if he just focused on one or two he knew slightly better. That didn't help much anyway; too much focus on either of his traveling companions only unnerved him, reminding him of their emotional irregularities.
He started walking again, not away from the village but along it, as far away as it was. Maybe he ought to just exhaust himself out there, every night until he found a more permanent solution. Get a couple of hours of quiet in daily.
Unusually, the phoenix did not warn him off that. Perhaps it sensed he was, in some ways, fraying at the edges.
I'll figure it out. Nothing is impossible. If it is, I'll do it anyway.
He continued on through the desert.
[Using Discovery of Contract of Your Choice ASP card to find the Bird contract.]