Jay POV
HOOOOOOOOOOO–broooooooooh.
The sound of death echoed along the skyline.
Silence lingered when it departed, the cluster of wildlife pausing for a moment to pay respects to the skyward monarch.
I was quiet for a completely different reason, though.
The call of the Quetzalcoatlus, marking its prey.
If you were marked, only death awaited you on this island.
Sitting along the ridge of my cave, I stared into the world around me.
My breathing echoed against the stone as I practiced taking deeper breaths for the hunt.
Air rushed toward my face as I inhaled.
It trembled down my esophagus, sounds of me struggling with something so simple tainting the silence around me.
I channeled the breath deep into my lungs, as fast and hard as I could. I was nearing the limit of this training.
Haah.
Just why was something so simple so tiring?
My goal was to learn how to siphon air from the atmosphere at high altitudes. The first step was getting used to heavy breathing, something I had severely underestimated.
The next step was actually staying at a constant high altitude for at least a day.
Forced acclimation.
I looked above me. The nest of the bird sat on a crest across from my home.
If I wanted to strike it, I would need to time my attack from late evening to sunset, when the bird returned from its hunt.
I prepared myself quickly for the climb back to the top of the mountain.
To practice chain accuracy while climbing, I threw sharpened rocks tied together with spindled bark and spiderweb strands.
Each throw lodged deep into the stone, forming a makeshift anchor.
I climbed each one, tossed the next, climbed again, repeating the process until I reached the nearest crest.
A familiar place. One I had visited during my duel.
The carvings were still there, the same energy that had marked them still lingering in the stone.
I traced the drawing with my fingers just as I had done before.
Would I have turned out like this without Ouroboros?
I channeled Stellarium into my fingers, the spatial essence of my star cutting into the rock in front of me. I wanted to finish the man's story.
He must have been like me, struggling to survive until a star found him.
I think thats why I wanted to do this so bad. He was the reflection of myself who wasn't as lucky.
So I drew it, a star guiding him until death.
I hope I do not share his fate.
With my depiction done, I moved along the crest, reaching a point where I felt comfortable enough to train.
Breathe.
The air was definitely thinner, but my methods were steady. I would soon be ready to fight that bird.
Suddenly, my spatial perception started beating in my head like a war drum.
On the other side of the mountain, I felt it — the bird.
Its long neck stretched forward, its eyes scanning the horizon as if checking something.
What is it doing?
I soon found my answer. I watched as it unfurled its wings, subtly masking whatever was beneath them with world energy.
My lungs hitched on the thin air.
Babies.
Too many babies.
But babies meant it had a mate.
How?
I had only ever seen one of these things.
Did I miss something in this world? Something even Ouroboros and Janus could not see?
I looked back, replaying each day after another, thinking about something that felt impossible.
But I was not in a world where possibility was the limit.
I looked into the sky. That cloud.
Was that where it was?
I tried to probe it with my spatial sense, but I could not feel anything. It was just a normal cloud.
My next thought was another island. No, Ouroboros would have told me.
Was it hidden? Like how Janus worked?
A sub-pocket within the pocket.
The revelation startled me. Could that truly be the case?
I wanted to report back to Ouroboros, but that was when I felt the chill of breath on my back.
It caught on the goose bumps on my back, ridging along them and shooting my nerves into frenzies.
Curses.
I had focused too hard on the cloud above me. I completely let my guard down.
Behind me stood a bear five times my size.
Huff.
Hot air billowed from its nose, its body tensing as it prepared to lunge at my face.
I ducked as quickly as I could, cold snow clinging to my skin. My back did not escape the attack.
I really need a form of defense.
The bear did not stop, its claws already inches from my face.
I quickly grabbed my glaive from my back after ducking another blow.
Step.
I slid backward through folded space, readying my weapon for an instant kill.
Ruoar!
It noticed my attack.
How?
Suddenly, I felt the presence of more than I could handle.
A giant snow lion was scaling the cliff behind me.
I have to finish this.
Ignoring the bear's cries, I readied my blade with condensed space, coating it in that familiar darkness that existed before a singularity.
Slip.
The air stilled around the bear's body as my blade passed through its neck.
From behind, I rolled away from the edge of the cliff.
I watched with worried eyes as three more enemies poured over the crest.
Do I have enough Stellarium to finish them?
Ah, whatever.
Star Form: Spatial Lag.
One moment the lions were converging on where I once stood, the next, their bodies painted the ground with their failure.
The air stood still once again in quiet reverence in my complete control.
Haah.
I let out the breathe that had been caught in my sternum the whole fight.
I stood on the edge of the cliff, shaking from the pressure on my mind.
It was a lot, fighting at full capacity on this hill.
I glanced at the sky one last time before leaving, the golden hue of the sun stretching across the horizon of water.
So close.
Other Jay POV
Hmm?
Strange.
At the edge of the world I had arrived in, I sensed something unusual. I stretched my spatial perception to its limits. Something was on the other side of the barrier.
What is it?
I tried probing deeper into the wall beyond, but my mind hit a hazy cloud. Like it existed on another plane of reality.
But that was impossible. Only Janus could create a subspace within a pocket.
I glanced toward the distance, where my parents resided, the only beings I could truly use that term for.
I should inform them. It could be the key to understanding this pocket.
Ouroboros POV
I watched calmly over the targets of my development.
One of the nine stars I bear.
Star of Development, Dioniq.
This was my second star's Star Form, the ability to foster things. I had raised so many children during my time as a world serpent. When I became sentient, I already understood the concept of fostering and development.
Currently, that energy was directed toward my three subjects, who followed my will subconsciously, although one seemed to be slipping free from my care.
He grows so fast.
I had marked him with my Stellarium on a whim, allowing continuous growth at the cost of a fraction of his will, something any young person would accept.
But this little one broke the spell of his own accord, as if he were a master of controlling his will subconsciously.
The attachment I fostered for months now felt like only a thin thread.
My poor child. So burdensome.
Step.
To my side, my third son arrived from his journey to learn more about himself, bringing news I already suspected.
But hearing it confirmed…
Truly shocking.
Another sub-realm within this pocket.
One right next to ours, and we never sensed its presence.
I subtly willed Janus to us, calling for his insight. As if on cue, Jay returned.
It was the first time I had seen his physical form in a month.
Truly, so burdensome.
"I found a clue."
His words pulled every eye toward him.
"The bird has a mate, and he is hidden in some kind of spatial sub-realm within the pocket."
His words confirmed everything I feared.
My voice drew the attention of my children.
"We finally have a clue. Let us not waste precious time."
Their heads twisted in agreement.
We marched toward the edge of the world.