A Hand-Woven Universe 29 29. It Is What It Is.

Noone had been sat on the edge of the shelf for a full day now. The sun had peaked hours ago and was now nearing the horizon. In his ears and head he could feel the pressure building up.

Noone had debated with himself for a while, deciding whether to try and make more progress today while the sun was out. Eventually he decided against it. One way or another he would need to cook the creature, and doing it earlier would save a lot of rations than cooking small bits as he went.

Plus, Noone was unsure when the next suitable location to rest would be. This was something Noone had considered well before he had started packing for his jump.

In his mind, Noone knew the only thing he had going for him was his strength. So, he brought mining equipment along with the idea of carving out caves as he went.

Even if there was no where he could rest, he was confident in his ability to make s.p.a.ce for himself. When he discovered how hard the stone was towards the bottom of the cliffs, it was but a minor inconvenience.

The sun crossed into the s.p.a.ce between the clouds and the ocean, bathing Noone in color and illuminating the world. Noone finally stopped working on the bird and sat there staring out.

"Beautiful…" He focused on the blues and greens of the ocean below. Enjoying the way the sea seemed to flow into itself, infinitely complex.

There were many harsh downsides to this trial, especially if you did not have an attunement to gain enlightenment of. But the way the sun would cover the world in colors was something that Noone had never seen before, and it left him with many unforgettable feelings stirring inside.

So, he sat there until the sun fully set over the horizon. The world around him went dark for a moment, until his eyes adjusted to the small light given off by the sun-stone. After failing to find a certain spiked rock, Noone returned it to the pike in the middle of the shelf.

Another hour pa.s.sed, and the bird was finally washed and ready to be cooked. Over the past hour Noone had considered many ways to cook the creature with the limited tools in his possession. Eventually he decided to roast it over some fire stones through the rest of the night.

By morning, it should be cooked through.

Noone grabbed the pick he had brought with him and walked towards the cliff face. He hefted the pick up, took a deep breath, and swung it into the stone.

A loud crack rang out as sparks flew into the air. A chunk of stone shot off the cliff face and bounced away, eventually rolling off the edge of the shelf clattering down below.

Noone let out the breath he had taken.

"Well. That's not so bad." He mumbled. Noone had been dreading what cutting through the dense stone at the bottom of the cliff would be like. Either way, it would have to be done. But that was only so far as it wasn't impossible for him.

Noone bounced the pick in his hands deciphering what he felt when he struck the stone.

It really was incomparably dense compared to the stone around Tapestry. But if a pa.s.serby were to look at Noone in this moment, they would see a smile on his face.

When he had first started working in the mines, he was strong, but battling the stone around Tapestry for a year strengthened his body to an incredible degree. However, by the end of it all he could cut through that stone like tofu. There was nothing more his body could gain from it.

This left him feeling a little depressed. He had grown to like the sensation of his body getting stronger, even though it was tough.

Now though, trying to carve his way into the stone here, it reminded him of his first day in the mines.

Noone stepped close the cliff face and began breaking a hole into it. Cracks continued to ring out, sparks flew, stones that had been knocked out were shoved out of the way by freshly cut stone behind them.

Slowly Noone slipped into a trance.

Breathe out and swing.

Breathe in.

Breathe out…

….

A large waist high hole had been cut into the stone wall, just tall enough for the creature to fit into.

Noone grabbed fire stones from his pack and threw them into the hole, shattering them in the process. When fire stones are broken after being activated, they will release all of their stored energy much faster than they would if Noone were trying to channel his energy into them. He would be relying on this to cook the bird through by morning.

He lifted the bird clear off the ground only straining slightly under its weight, waddling over to the cliff face from the edge of the shelf.

A small grunt escaped his throat as Noone used his strength to force the bird into the improvised oven. Pops and crackles immediately responded as the shattered fire stones rubbed against the skin of the creature. A blast of hot air had also shot out, cras.h.i.+ng into Noone and stealing the breath from his lungs.

Noone stepped away from the oven and looked up at the sky. No light was peeking through yet, which meant he would have time to rest.

Noone laid out on the ground and began thinking about the rest of his journey. When he recalled how long he fell. It really did feel like an impossibly long time to try and climb all the way back to Tapestry.

But once on a tiger, it was hard to get off. There was nothing he could do now but see this through to the end.

Noone thought about Adria and Liter and Elder Azelle. Tommy, Porose, Trisha, all the elders, everyone in the mines, all the people he had come to know through Poroses' generous festivals. He would return sooner or later, and he would have some time to spend with everyone before they left to go into the desolate world above.

Noone wasn't sure why, but he wasn't as anxious about it as Adria and Elder Azelle were.

"Maybe there's just no difference? You die in Tapestry, or you die in the world above. You die either way, but only one way lets it be your own choice." Noone sighed. He shook his head, shocked by his own morbid thoughts.

He continued to look out into the darkness.
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If he had a choice, he of course would fight his hardest to live. He did not know what to expect from the desolate world, but he would fight. But if he didn't have a choice or a chance, then he would rather pa.s.s on knowing he did so through his own will, then letting the universe decide the where and when.

Although Liter and Elder Azelle had only found out recently, Noone had known for a number of years that he would not be able to live as long as everyone else he knew.

After he had met with Trisha the first time, she had found him a few days later. Away from Liter and anyone else, they had sat and talked a long time.

Noone became more comfortable with her, as he just realized she was different in much the same way he himself was.

Eventually she had left, but before she did she was the one who had told him… that he probably would only live to be around 100 years. She had known from their first interaction.

Because Noone had been born without any affinity, his soul was inherently different than theirs. In some ways it was stronger, like being able to influence element stones with it, something they could not do. However, at the rate that his soul aged… She had merely shaken her head and walked off.

Noone sat there for a long time. Much the same way as he was now. Staring out into the unknown and unknowing dark.

"Well," he began, as his memories floated back to the good times, and the lonely times of the past.

"It is what it is,"