To All

[beautifullies]

[ By now, Claire has a grasp on how communicating with others works, and after writing out her thoughts to be sure she knows exactly what she'd like to send, she sits back in her chair. Her handwriting of choice is neat and slightly slanted. ]

𝑀𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝐶𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑟. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑚, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑. 𝑇𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑢𝑝 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑎 𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟, 𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦, 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑚𝑎 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡ℎ. 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡, 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑦.

𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡: 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠. 𝐴𝑛𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑢𝑠𝑒. 𝐴𝑙𝑐𝑜ℎ𝑜𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠. 𝐼𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑎 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛. 𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑙𝑒, 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙, 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦.

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑢𝑛𝑛, 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒. 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑜 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑡, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑠. 𝐴𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 (𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠) 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑. 𝐷𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒.

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑗𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛. 𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑗𝑢𝑟𝑦, 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐. 𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒.

[ ooc: feel free to wildcard me! PM me for any plotting or you can find me on discord @ lifewasawillow#5524. ]

Comments

[ushiri]

Some of us would gladly offer.

[ To take on their friends' suffering, if it might ease it even a little.

They won't know for sure what they're dealing with until they get them back, though. And that is maddening. ]

[carmesi]

[it would not be too much, actually. but wanda doesn't respond to it once claire says she's joking. surely the folks in solvunn would find a hospital building distasteful.]

They've taken people precious to me.

[that much is an understatement. wanda doesn't want to just dump her woes on the other woman, though.]

A hospital might not be fitting of the commune, but if you want modern medical equipment, I'm sure I could replicate some for you.

[with discretion, of course.]

[beautifullies]

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑠 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.

[ If he could see her, he would have seen a softening of her features. ]

𝐼 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠.

[beautifullies]

[ Any gentle humor deflates from Claire, and she closes her eyes for a moment. ]

𝑂ℎ, 𝑊𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦. 𝐼𝑓 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝, 𝐼'𝑚 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑡𝑜. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛.

[ The offer is genuine, Claire likes Wanda, very much, and wouldn't mind. ]

𝐵𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑁𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝐼 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑, 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓. 𝐺𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑢𝑝 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐼 𝑎𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜.

[ Claire pauses, but then: ]

𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ.

[carmesi]

[she appreciates that. maybe, should she encounter claire at another point, she will take her up on that offer. for now, other things take precedence.]

I can get you gloves and everything else. I can meet you later to talk specifics. If you have a clear image in your mind, I can replicate it.

[maybe claire might not really know the extent of her magic, or her magic at all. she'll find out soon enough.]

Is there anything else you need?

[beautifullies]

[ Claire will, no doubt, be gobsmacked when she sees it in action, but she's already accepted there's so much about this star that is new to her. Learn the right things and utilize the right resources, and she can only be at more of an advantage as a healer. ]

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑛𝑜. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐼 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑘𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔; ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡. 𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒ℎ𝑜𝑤? 𝑂𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒, 𝑝𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠.

[ Preferably not another person, if possible. ]

[carmesi]

[a question—]

There is magic that could do that, yes, but it is not necessary to go to such extremes.

[because, as claire may suspect, it might be forcing someone to absorb said sickness, to their own detriment.]

Enchanted crystals could work, even purification rituals. I would have to assess it personally to know what it is.

[but it does give her pause.]

Why were you speaking about that?

[nadine_he_loves]

And sometimes a calling changes.

Thank you. And it looks like it might be easier to get you supplies than I thought. Can I contact you privately in a day or two?

[beautifullies]

[ Well, that's a relief. No having to bounce a curse around like a hot potato. ]

𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛.

[ Claire takes a breath, letting it out. ]

𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑛𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡-𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑡ℎ𝑠. 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙 𝑣𝑖𝑎 𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑒.

[carmesi]

I don't doubt that when we find those who have been taken, their ailments will be not just physical, but mental and emotional, too.
The thought of something affecting their souls is all too possible.

[and, now, it worries her.]

Allow me to look into it and I can bring you supplies for it.

[beautifullies]

𝑌𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦. 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑡.

[beautifullies]

𝐼𝑡 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑦, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙, 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑, 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑠, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒.

[ Wanda's reassurance that something can be done for an ailment Claire has never heard of helps release a portion of the tension beginning to reside at the base of her neck. ]

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠, 𝑠𝑜 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑖𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠; 𝑖𝑓 𝐼'𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑, 𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒, 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒.

[aquaveiled]

Horizon, actually, if you don't mind. I'd like to see what you've come up with. Peeking into other people's domains is one of my favorite things to do.

[beautifullies]

𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡. 𝐼 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑡, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜, 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓. 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑢𝑛𝑛, 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦.

[ Is she boring? She's boring. Maybe her home in Boston where she raised Bree would've been something different, a least. But as much as she loves her daughter, that was never Claire's home. ]

[warfed]

We are friends from back home. Perhaps being better friends here. I am glad to have her, especially with other friends gone missing.

I have heard stories about such curses, but I do not know if any of them are true. Do you think that is something that could be happening here?

[beautifullies]

𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡. 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑤𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑡.

𝐴𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑎'𝑠, 𝐼'𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝐼'𝑚 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑡𝑜. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑎 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ.

[carmesi]

First, we need to bring them back.

[they can deal with how they'll handle everything else— well, later.]

You too.
Be safe, Claire.

[warfed]

I admit, I am feeling out of my depth, as well. Nothing I am doing is feeling like enough, but I am sure many of us are thinking the same thing. It is hard to feel like anything is enough when those we care about are in danger.

You are very kind, Claire. I offer you the same. If there is anything I can do for you, I am glad to do so. Hilda is being an excellent judge of character, but even if she were not, I can easily tell you have a great and generous heart.

[beautifullies]

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐵𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑃𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑎. 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒.

[warfed]

The same to you, Claire.

[aquaveiled]

Oh really? Well, when you see a large crystal parked outside your house, you'll know it's me! I'l see you shortly.

[aquaveiled]

[ As promised, Himeka makes her way into the Horizon and towards Claire's domain. As the landscape shifts into rolling hills and green pastures, she knows she must be close--this does feel quite a bit like Solvunn, doesn't it? And it's not a bad thing. The landscape is really one of the best things about the Commune, if you ask her.

Himeka's arrival is accompanied by a large floating crystal that gently rotates on it's axis. It floats beside her until she commands it to stop in front of a stone building.

Himeka calls out. ]

Claire?

[ Unless this isn't Claire's domain and she's just invited herself elsewhere... ]

[beautifullies]

[ The Horizon, for Claire, has been the only thing to come close to soothing the deep chasm of homesickness, even more so than Solvunn. Here, she can create home to the best of her ability, and so Lallybroch has come to fruition.

She knows it isn't real, but she's content to pretend when she can. Waiting on Himeka, she's sitting on the front steps, skirts tucked around her knees, hair up in its usual way. Himeka wasn't kidding, there's a huge rotating crystal entering the courtyard and Claire's eyes widen, standing to greet her. ]

I didn't know if you were being literal or not.

[ Letting out a soft laugh, she watches it disappear and then turns her gaze back to the young woman. ]

You happen to be among one of the first visitors I've had.

[ The only other being Hilda. ]

[aquaveiled]

[ Ah, there she is! Himeka waves as she turns her gaze towards the other woman, slowing her approach just so. ]

I like my Domain to go where I need it to. Then I never need to worry about finding it.

[ Not that it seems to be a problem for literally anyone, but it makes sense to her. ]

Am I? Then I'll have to put a pin in for a proper housewarming party. Do they do those sorts of things on your star?

[ Not so in her village, but she's seen it quite a bit since she left for the surface. ]

Thank you for meeting with me, by the way. I know we're all going to be very, very busy as the days go on, but I wanted to ask you something.

[beautifullies]

It depends on the place you've settled, honestly. Some places emphasize being neighborly, some don't. But I can't say I've ever minded a gathering.

[ She smiles warmly; Claire isn't a partier, but she does like to mingle with drinks and finger food. Leading Himeka further into the courtyard, there's a table and chairs, but she also gestures to the front door. ]

I'm always happy to speak with you, though I wish the circumstances were better all around. Would you like to go inside or stay here?