shadows

1 - 08

“Something’s different,” Ray said, coming to an abrupt stop. “Something changed.”

Green came to a stop too, by her pupil’s side. There wasn’t the smallest change in her face. “Let’s get something to drink,” she said. It wasn’t a particularly inspired idea. Not far from where they stood was a coffee shop. And Ray loved her coffee as much as she needed it when she was tracing.

They found themselves inside a quiet coffee shop. Ray with a large cup of espresso. Of course, she ordered more than just one espresso, asking for it all to be served in the large cup. She gave a smile and pointed at her head in answer to the waitress’s questioning eyes. “Need it,” Ray said softly. Her voice sounded tired enough to convince the waitress, who nodded and completed the order.

Green had a cup of tea. With plenty of sugar. She liked her tea sweet, except when it was prepared at home. And unlike Ray who needed the bitter bite of the coffee to ease away the aftereffects.

The first sip set of a wave of relief that spread across her face visibly. Tracing was difficult work. She had to hone onto the right disturbance. If it was continuous, that was great. Made her job easy. But that was rare. The rest of the time, she had to remember where she first felt it. Keep herself steering toward it. Without getting distracted by anything else, the wrong disturbance that was much too alike. Keep going. And keep a look out for the next occurrence of the right disturbance. It required extreme concentration. And keeping herself in that state for a long time. It was a lot more demanding than it seemed in words.

“What is it?” Green asked, after she finished her tea.

And after Ray finished her coffee. She looked much more comfortable. Almost like herself. She didn’t answer immediately. She shut her eyes. Slowed her breath. Set herself free from the chains anchoring her.

She left her physical body behind and floated into the sea of energy. It was cacophony. More disturbances than could possibly be counted wreaked havoc. To someone like her, someone as sensitive, it was like uncountable explosions being set off endlessly. And yet, behind it all was a calm. She floated through the explosions unaffected. Into the calm. This was the state of tracing.

Green pushed her hands down harder onto the table. She admired her pupil’s talent. But she also understood the risks, the aftereffects. That was why she insisted Ray not do it often. Unless it was absolutely essential. Like now. She stared into Ray’s eyes that were like coloured glass, empty and see through.

Right now, when Ray was out of body, was when she was the most vulnerable. And that was where Green came in.

Green wasn’t a tracer. She was something even rarer. She was a Shuuto in the truest sense of the term. She could physically affect the laws of the world.

Shuuto was a word from the ancient tongue. It referred to someone who was in the physical state and also not. It was a word created to refer to those who walked on the boundaries. Back then, in the time of the ancient tongue, these Shuuto were demons.

Of course, today, all of these tales from that ancient time were just that. Tales. And Shuuto came to be used to refer to the otherworlders. Even among the otherworlders, Green was one of the rarest of rare, a true Shuuto.

Green’s dark eyes glowed like a golden flame. They weren’t very incandescent, which was the fortunate. She didn’t attract attention. In her eyes reflected the two states. The physical world in one eye. The coffee shop. The people. The physical world. In the other eye were hazy shapes, indecipherable to everyone else. To Green, they were the laws taking the shapes of things they saw from her memories. Constantly changing. It was their way of greeting their friend. A Shuuto. Green spoke with them through thoughts. They saw what she was thinking. And they replied by forming a shield around Ray. And they weren’t against doing so. Tracers weren’t as familiar as Shuuto, but they were better than the rest.

Ray was soulless for a long few minutes. Then, she returned, gasping. Sweating. Trembling. Took everything she had to pull a smile to her face, as she picked up the mug and showed it to the waitress. And put the cup back down immediately after the waitress nodded. Only then did she turn toward her master.

“They are getting onto a plane,” Ray said, pointing in the direction of the airport.

“They?” Green asked.

“They,” Ray repeated. “A woman. A mother. Pregnant. A child inside. Very small. Too tiny.”

“Was that it?” Green wondered aloud.

“Was what what?” Ray asked.

“The ripple,” Green answered. “What we felt. Was it the child taking birth inside her womb? Was it her getting pregnant? Was that what we felt?”

“That would make sense,” Ray said in agreement. “That would be an event big enough. But, what would that make the child? And the mother? Which of them is it?”

Before Green could answer, the waitress brought another large cup filled to the brim with the dark and strong espresso. She smiled at Ray, in some grief and with a lot of kindness, and walked away. When it was just them again, Green continued.

“We will find out. But it is going to be really hard on you.”

Ray shrugged. “Will you be okay?” She asked.

Green didn’t show it. So she appeared fine. Like all was fine. But Ray could imagine the stress. It was hard enough on her just crossing over to the calm. She could at best feel the laws a little closer. But Green crossed over entirely, becoming one with the laws. It wasn’t the crossing over that was difficult or terribly dangerous. It was the returning. It was far too easy to cross back to somewhere else. Turn into something else. Green had to be her most attentive all the time. It was a herculean endeavour.

“I am,” Green said. “And will be fine.”

Green didn’t say it. But Ray heard it anyway. It was her duty. For the Shuuto. For the world. For the stability of the promise.

“I think there’s an easier way,” Ray said, with a teasing smile after she finished the coffee. “You would need to make a call. We just have to check where she bought a ticket to.”

Green grimaced. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“I am,” Ray admitted readily.

“Let’s keep that in mind,” Green said.

They grinned at each other. And then, Green pulled out her phone.