[IC] This, That, and The Other Thing ~ PopeAlessandros x Jiskastya

[PopeAlessandros]

To the eye, one would see that the is a great nothing. All around, there is nothing to be seen. With the eyes at least. However there is something, in this nothing. Like threads of spider silk, little trails of energy crisscross one another, forming intricate if a bit chaotic patterns. The threads shift and move once in a while, as if tossed by a breeze that does not exits. With the right senses however, the cause of the shift would be very apparent. Like a dense mist, Tahaan plays with his messy tangle of energy, adding new ones, bending the existing ones, and occasionally just snapping a dozen at a time.

It is playing a game. The game has no rules to speak of, the only goal of it to amuse the energy creature. To it's senses, there is plenty in that emptiness. There is, all around, little bits to move and change, a riling mass of energy just out of reach crashing back and forth in an eternal struggle, one against the other. The energy is the closest thing to it's parent. Tahaan doesn't know how exactly it came to be, however it does know where it came from, and it is also beginning to get an idea of what it wants to do with this existence it was given.

Tiring of the threads, it draws them all back in, the dark gray of it's being swirling round and round until they are all brought back inside of it's mass. The faint twinkle here and there is the only break in it's almost purely bland gray mass, and as it darts through the now truly empty space the twinkles shimmer with a light all their own. It's seeking out it's partner. The only other thing that can amuse it here. The only other thing that seems to move about the way it does and has a will of it's own. The crashing energies do not interest it as much as the other being.

There it is. It is much lighter than Tahaan, seeming to be more weavy and solid. It ripples and waves, but doesn't seem to move around as much as the cloud does. It seems more settled. Tahaan races in to greet Aysus, swirling around it like a tornado before coming to a stop beside it, Tahaan's full mass settling into one place. Tahaan doesn't stop moving altogether however, bouncing up and down happily, glad to be by it's counterpart's side. It's always been drawn to the other mass, and is at it's most joyful when it can be close. It is only it's own curiosity that draws the dark cloud away to play, not wanting to disturb it's more calm and unexcitable partner.

~The threads were fun, the game took a long time. How are you, Aysus?~

Tahaan has no idea how they came up with their designations, but it does not seem that anything else would suit them better. There is no sound in this nothingness, but Tahaan can speak to Aysus none the less. A kind of communication that does not require sound to be transmitted to the other.

[Jiskastya]

Aysus was still. It was the stillness of the center of the universe, the stillness of something around which everything else spins. Yet even so, in that ultimate stillness, there was motion. For Aysus was tied to that universe of which it was the center. The universe pulled at it, pushed at it, creating the smallest of ripples within it, silken in their flutters. But, for now, there was no reason to pull back, no reason to push back. The tremulous threads were a nuisance, nothing more, something to be observed and tolerated until they finally fell into the truth of their existence. Aysus could not have articulated what was that truth, but it waited, just beyond sight, tremulous and faint, but certain.

Aysus shifted, rolling out to one side, and the universe rolled with it. The threads gathered around it, swarming, tying up in knots before breaking apart in a chaotic paroxysm of energy. Slowly growing more tired of the chaos, it reached out, pulling at one thread, drawing it tight against the opposing side of infinity. Another thread and another thread it pulled, until it sat at the center of a web that spanned the universe in all directions. And for a moment, everything around Aysus was still.

It let go of the threads with a gentle expiration, knowing it could not hold them, and for a heartbeat in reality they hovered in place, coiling as faintly as Aysus in the emptiness of eternity. But they would not remain. They were not constant. Slowly the threads worked against each other, every tiny ripple of distortion amplifying against the next until the universe returned to its base state. Unordered. Uncontrolable.

Tahaan’s return was a welcome distraction from the chaotic nothingness. Not that Aysus’ companion was really that much less chaotic than the universe around it. Unlike Aysus, who sat as a rooting element for the threads, around which they could gather and tug, Tahaan danced among the threads, pulling and plucking and, most importantly, scattering. There was a very good chance it was Tahaan’s actions which caused the slight disturbances in Aysus’ otherwise calm exterior, but Aysus did not begrudge its companion its pleasure. They were two sides of the same coin, equal yet opposite, and while each acted against the other, neither could be complete without the presence of the other.

It was for that reason that Aysus let out a pleased tremor, one that echoed along the threads, causing them to briefly enter into a state of greater turmoil. It was a greeting, and acknowledgement towards Tahaan and its presence in the universe, and, most importantly, Aysus’ was of letting Tahaan know that it was pleased at its return, despite the opposition it represented. Aysus was a being of stillness. What better way to let a being of motion know pleasure than to create motion, at the sacrifice of stillness?

~Centered~ Aysus replied, ~But dissatisfied. Your game grew dissatisfying to you as well, I take. Otherwise you would not yet be back.~

There was an answering moment of stillness, where Aysus sat, letting the universe tug at it, and Tahaan swirled about its counterpart, waiting for the completion of the thought that was building within its partner’s mind. The thought was neither long nor short in coming to the forefront of Aysus’ mind. There was no change in this universe, only the vibration of the threads. And that was no way to measure the passage of reality.

~Come.~ Aysus finally concluded, pulling Tahaan in towards it. ~I wish to try something. Hold still, as much as you are able, for one moment.~

Once more Aysus gathered the threads toward it. But this time it did not resist the desire of the threads to draw close to it. Instead it focused on drawing them in, drawing and drawing until they gathered around the two consciousnesses like a storm, pulling and pushing, roiling and bending and twisting and breaking, only to come back together a moment later in and new and even more chaotic pattern. And for a point in the history of the universe, that is all there was. Two consciousnesses, drifting together through reality, existing as the threads of the universe drew in around them in greater and greater number. And then the instant passed. Aysys reached out, gathering together the ends of all of the threads that surrounded the two, and pulled them in towards its center. The threads hummed, straining against themselves and each other, until it seemed like they should all break apart and explode across the universe.

But Aysus held them in place despite the imminent eruption, drawing them closer and closer together until it seemed like there was no room left for the two companions. Aysus could feel Tahaan moiling about above it, as they drew closer and closer together by the force of the threads. Soon it seemed they must inhabit the same space, or be crushed by the threads Aysus drew in around them.

And then the gathering was over. The threads stood quivering around them, vibrating and trembling against each other in a space that left them no room to move against each other. Out in the greater space of the universe the ends of the threads had the room to move, and there they shivered and shook in massive upheaval, protesting against this breaking of their most innate nature as they were shoved ever closer to each other, in a space that, by their very natures, they could not inhabit simultaneously. But around Aysus and Tahaan it was too tight, and the threads could do nothing but wiggle slightly as they tried to find room to maneuver away from their opposites.

~Go!~ Aysus ordered, and Tahaan broke free from around it. ~Do what you will with it. I care not.~ And that Tahaan did. It dove among the threads, poking and prodding, ripping and tearing, and all the while Aysus gathered together the new ends that Tahaan created, pulled them in tighter and tighter until Tahaan was dancing among threads that were separated by nothing but the faintest sliver of reality. The threads rippled around it, becoming tangled and inseparable, and still Aysus was drawing them in, pulling new threads to fill in every space that Tahaan made around them. It was exhilarating, intoxicating, and the threads were growing into larger and larger bundles, a weaving of two things that were not meant to come together into such close proximity. Something had to break soon. Maybe it would be Tahaan and Aysus themselves; for a universe no longer able to cope with their meddlings might break apart and pull them with it. Somehow, they both unconsciously accepted the risk, understood that it was worth it to find the new option that was waiting just beyond the edge of existence. For they sensed what the other alternative was, and it was more heady than anything they had ever experienced before this moment. For, if they did not break, the thing to give would be the reality they had always known. Now it was a race against the nature of the universe, to see which was the stronger: the threads, or the combined power of Aysus and Tahaan.

In the end, it was reality that broke. The threads, constantly fighting against each other in a desperate attempt to escape Tahaan and Aysus’ manipulations, and each other, finally melded so completely that there was no way for them to ever break apart until the end of reality itself. And something new, something that nothing had never seen before, bloomed.

It was bright. A moment ago Aysus could not have told itself what that meant, but now it understood. This was bright, and it could not help but recoil from this new, unexpected truth. For a moment it longed to put it out, to break the weaving of the threads and return to the way things had always been. For the way things had always been had to be right, didn’t it? But there was something far too beautiful about the light to destroy it. Something bittersweet and heartbreaking, but something that whispered of the beat that thrummed withing Aysus.. It was the promise of a new reality. But with that first promise came a second promise: There would be no way to return to the reality Tahaan and Aysus had once known. This was the ultimate break, and there was no turning back if they moved forward.

For a moment, Aysus was more still than it had ever been in the history of its existence. ~Can you repeat that?~ was its answer to the precipice that stood before them.

[PopeAlessandros]

It is happy. Tahaan falls still at the greeting, returning the courtesy in kind. It knows what it's partner likes, and Tahaan tries often to oblige. However, at this moment, things change. Things become different It watches the threads, listening to it's counterpart. Things, ideas, somethings begin to grow in it's companion and Tahaan can not wait to see what it is. It travels hither an tither, it's impatience making it move in it's natural random fashion, but always nearby. When bidden, it trembles happily and draws in close to the other. The threads around, the nothingness stretching forever, Tahaan is overjoyed to be trying something new. Something different. It has always wanted more. Leave it to Aysus to come up with a new game.

Threads come, and more threads, the storm harmonizing with them as it gathers in close about them. Tahaan tried it's best not to do too much, but on occasion it shivers with delight.

~I like this game.~

It wriggles about, in so close to it's counterpart. It's never been so close, and the newness brings joy. Something different is always something to be happy about. It can't see the energy any more, just the threads, and Aysus. Even all the nothing is gone, there is so much around them, so many little threads Tahaan would normally be toying with at this point. However it is not Tahaan's game, so it waits. Waits for what Aysus wants it to do.

Then Tahaan's part of the game begins. Like a shot it fires off, playing with the thread with the utmost joy. Having so many to play with as opposed to the couple here and small mass there. It is a good game for Tahaan, and even as Aysus does it's part, Tahaan does it's best to make things move the way it believes they should. It does not notice the danger, too wrapped up in what it's doing. It's very being it threatened by what they are doing, but there is no stopping Tahaan now. This is a game, and it is determined to play it out. Catching a glance at Aysus and what the other is doing another ripple pf joy runs through the gray cloud, thinking Aysus is playing the game with it making Tahaan very happy. They had never played together before, their tastes in play very different, But now, at they work together, a new bond seems to form between them, and Tahaan would not have it any other way.

Suddenly it happens! Something new is born, and Tahaan stops for an instant to admire it before darting to Aysus's side.

~This is pretty. I like you idea.~

It continues to watch it carefully, aware that Aysus is torn about it, but unable to feel such mixed feelings itself. A new pulse in the universe brings shivers across the gray cloud, causing the little sparkles to shine out the brighter.

~I like it. . . But something is missing. It is too much. . .One way.~

Unsure of the meaning behind it's own words Tahaan moves closer to it, wondering what's missing. There are threads left over, the tangled mass of them writhing, pulling away from the new thing. Tahaan moves to them, scooping them up inside itself with the others it gathered earlier. Moving back to it's counterpart's side it has an idea.

~Help me hang them. Follow me.~

It pulls out the ends of the thread, all not untangled after being inside of Tahaan. Drifting forward it moves around the bright thing, the threads trailing out behind it. Aysus follows it's lead and begins hanging the thread. The new thing simply stays in place, but the threads once more try to move away. Tahaan knows the threads can not think on their own, so their movements mus be because of what is left over from the creation. But, nothing should be left over. Everything pulled together should be used, because one can not have a part of a whole an expect it to stand. Tahaan knows how much Aysus values a solid existence, so it works hard to make one.

The threads over lap, weaving around each other in a far more ordered fashion than when the bright thing was made. These thread cling to one another. Eventually the bright thing becomes almost lost in the threads, and the threads themselves begin to expand outwards in all directions. They act as if some great explosion is only moments away. But Tahaan does not give up. It wants to complete it's idea, and it will not be denied. When the last thread falls into place, the bright thing completely covered, Tahaan calls Aysus to it side.

~With me!~

As one they enter the thick bind of threads, pressing them into the bright thing in one place. When at last the two things meet, the threads, and the brightness. Like the rippling waves of it's counterpart's folds the threads ripple out, becoming a new thing. The bright thing is once again hanging in the nothingness, but all around anywhere where there is no brightness, there is now dimness. Tahaan looks around to the side of itself not facing the brightness and finds it to be almost black. Looking to Aysus, it finds the same. The two things feel right, in order now. The balance between them in perfect harmony, like the two beings that created it.

Ecstatic Tahaan rushes around Aysus once more, shadowing the other in darkness every time it passes between the brightness and Aysus. Very pleased with what they have made Tahaan settles beside it's counterpart once more and simply basks in the feeling.

~Look what we made Aysus. We made something new! More than a something, two somethings. Two, like us.~

It's communications are very excited, but it tries to let Aysus be so it can enjoy the creations the way it's counterpart always does. In it's own calm still way. Tahaan looks a the dark, the invisible bits of it that are connected to the light. They will never be separated. Not ever.

[Jiskastya]

The imbalance of the brightness was subtle, but it was undoubtedly there. Even Aysus, who had most of its attention still focused on the brightness, could feel it. It followed after its companion, taking a slower, more direct course that cut through the bouncing of its companion. Just like everything else in this uncertain new reality the threads were behaving in a way that they had never behaved before. They writhed away from the light, leaving an emptiness surrounding the bright thing, a space with even more nothing than the rest of the surroundings. At least in that nothing there were the threads. But in that space reality was beginning to distort, and the light began to waver.

Seized by something that almost resembled the desperate excitement of its companion Aysus moved in, following along behind Tahaan. The threads moved towards it, as they always did, but the strange, repulsive force of the light was great enough that even Aysus' presence was not enough to repair the imbalance. It pulled the threads in towards the brightness, drawing them in closer and closer to the point of light.

The feeling thrumming in the air was far more massive than the sensation of the creation of the light. The threads began to race out towards infinity, covering all space, and the other threads began to unconsciously fall into alignment. Had it been a brand new sensation, Aysus may have folded to it, released the threads and allowed them to return to the randomness. But it was not as new as it had been moments before. Ultimately, though, it was the knowledge that this second act of creation was true to what had already been created that kept Aysus holding the threads, keeping them in place near the light while Tahaan gathered more, pulling them in towards the light.

And then they began to press, pushing the threads in towards the light. In creating the light, the two consciousnesses had pressed the two opposing forces of the universe so close together that they could no longer be separated. Now, however, they were drawing together the uncreated opposition of the light, forcing it to establish itself before the light was destroyed. And, once more, under the weight of the two, reality folded, and something new was born.

And with that birth came the death of nothing. It wasn't a loud death, or a violent death. That might almost have done it some justice. It was simply a cessation, a giving-up. There was no more nothing. For there was brightness, and then there was dimness. And those two truths filled the universe, and left no room for nothing.

~Yes,~ Aysus agreed. ~Two things. They are complete.~

Aysus moved away from the light, watching as the darkness slowly enveloped its own form. The threads shivered around it, briefly drawing in closer before dispersing as Aysus passed. They had returned to their chaotic randomness, even among the order of the darkness. The universe had accepted the newness, had learned to adapt its own natural rhythms and patterns to the change. It was not wrong, what they had made, even if it was new. Still Aysus waited, calmly observing, trying to fully understand this thing that it and Tahaan had done.

[PopeAlessandros]

Tahaan is too excited to sit still long, so out of respect for it's counterpart it leaves Aysus alone for a while and begins exploring. Everything around it has changed and as it moves, it's spacial sense changes. No longer does it feel that there is infinity around it. There still is, the space never ending, but the brightness and the dimness make it seem a bit more limiting. As it moves away from the brightness Tahaan notices even more dimness, the gray turning to black as eventually the brightness is so far away it no longer sheds any of itself on Tahaan's writhing form.

Turning, it can still see the light, there being nothing to keep it from doing so, but it's body is now as black as the dimness they created and it becomes almost indistinguishable from what they created. The only part of it that breaks through to reveal it is not simply another part of brightness's opposition are the faint sparkles of positive energy that flash here and there in it's mass.

~I am. . .Me. I am Tahaan. The dim may look like me, but it is not me.~

Tahaan took to talking to itself long ago when it noticed that Aysus liked to be still and was more solitary than itself. The talking helped it to think better, and as it learned more and more about the space around it, the words began to take new meanings. For they are not really words, not as most would understand them. No, the 'speech' of the beings is far more loose and wide than the simple thing that is the vibrations of sound. Being that there is no sound where they are, the idea of things being different is something that comes slowly to Tahaan, but after years of 'speaking' to itself, it's wandering mind continues it's journey as it moves towards the energy that made it.

The threads all around writhe and coil at it's passing, and a few times it reaches out to play with them. However the newness of a the things they made weighs heavily on it. More heavily than anything else ever has. Even that time Aysus and it discovered they even could communicate with one another in some other way besides wriggling around.

~At least then, the place around us didn't change. We were still the same, in the same place. Communication was a discovery, not a change in everything.~

The energy pulsates, crashing against and pulling away from in an endless, almost monotonous motion. Tahaan watches it for a short time, as it often does when confused or in need of something to look at other than the threads. However soon that too becomes boring and it begins making it's way back towards the brightness. As it tumbles along it passes a close knit mass of threads and pauses.

The dimness falls across them as Tahaan passes between the two things and it begins to wonder, getting an idea. Moving closer to the brightness it stays on the opposite side of it from Aysus so it can stay alone if it wants to, and slowly it brings the threads together side by side. The weaving is not something it's use to, but after watching Aysus do it a few times making it's beautiful intricate webs it likes sitting on, eventually it gets a nice near solid weave of threads to work with.

Passing between the threads and the brightness it once more casts the dimness on to them but this time it can distinguish it's shape against the threads. Each move it makes changes the shape of the dimness. With some excited bouncing it begins changing it different mass formations, the game being rather fun to see what the dimness will look like. Tahaan can never actually see all of itself at any given time, so the ability to at least get the basic idea of it's form fascinates the being for some time.

[Jiskastya]

Muteness and stillness were a part of Aysus’ nature, and by now it had embraced those aspects of itself completely. It was not inclined to rush something as drastic and shifting as the weaving of the threads, and to its great pleasure Tahaan understood that enough to leave it be and give it exactly what it needed; space and stillness.

To begin this change, this process of acceptance, Aysus first looked to the darkness. The threads that they had used to weave the darkness into being still existed, even if their ordered and bound structure was different from the roving chaos of the rest of the threads. Neither did the threads of dimness relate to it the way the free threads did. While they continued to gather around it, creating ripples and waves about his movement, the woven threads remained stationary. It plucked one tentatively, and watched the hum of the line quickly become swallowed. It then plucked a roving, wandering thread. That hum raced away quickly, sparking more and more hums around it.

There was no doubt that the darkness was far more stable than the rest of the threads. It was what it was, bound to itself and the brightness. Within that bonding of two unlike things it had found a measure of stability. It was complete, in more ways than Aysus could have known when it said that to Tahaan.

Aysus was not usually the destructive type. It was content to leave things be, to let them exist and explore on their own. Its tamperings with the threads had always been minor before this moment, brought about more by Tahaan’s exploits than any desire of its own. But now it gathered a handful of the threads of shade, and, hesitating only for a moment, it ripped them apart.

For a moment, in the space between the ripped ends, there was nothing again. Sweet, beautiful, familiar nothing. Aysus released the ends, a shiver running through its silken folds as it stared at the space between. But the ends of the threads were wriggling again, finding each other, bonding back up. And the nothingness was gone again. Darkness reigned supreme.

Not only were the dark and the light complete, but they were stable. There was no doubt that Aysus could affect it on a small scale, but it was no longer certain, even if it wanted to, that it could destroy the dimness and the brightness and return the universe to nothing.

On the far side of the brightness Aysus saw Tahaan draw closer. It partner was there, ready, whenever Aysus completed its thoughts. For a moment Aysus watched the escapades of its partner, and let its attention wander completely. It shivered lightly, happily, before returning to stillness and turning its attention back to the darkness.

Its exploration of the darkness complete, its understanding as near to perfect as it was possible to get, Aysus turned its attention inward, to Aysus. There was a collecting, and inhalation of self, and Aysus settled down to wait until it understood exactly how it related to this new universe.

In many ways there was no change. The universe still tugged at it, creating the faintest hints of movement within its stillness. The loose threads still gathered around it, swirling and eddying in the cosmic tides of energy from which they had both been born.

It wasn’t until it gradually began to move closer to the light that Aysus understood exactly from where its sense of imbalance had been coming. For all of its existence, Aysus had known it was the center of the universe. It could feel it constantly. Everything spiraled out from its location. Everything was oriented around it. This was no vain fancy, but a conscious realization.

But that was gone now. Some of the threads had a new orientation. They grew out in infinite rays from that one point of brightness. It had become the center of the universe. And Aysus did not like the change.

It sat there, staring at the pattern of the light, and slowly it began to gather the threads of the darkness and some of the loose threads together. It understood the darkness, now it was time to better understand the lightness. Slowly Aysus began to weave, following the pattern of the brightness. Now that it existed, now that it was a part of the universe, it was not necessary for both it and Tahaan to come together in its creation. The light was a wild point of chaos, and even if Aysus had led in its creation, its trueness had been granted by Tahaan’s chaos. But some of that chaos rested within Aysus as well. If it was not for that, there was no telling whether or not “Aysus” would even exist. And therefore it could recreate the light.

There was a brief rejection of the change, but suddenly it came to be. There was a moment of bonding, and another point of brightness came to be. The dimness that already existed reoriented itself, bonding to this second brightness as it had bonded to the first.

And then Aysus understood, and it was a relief. The brightness was not the center of the universe, for the center could only be at one point. The change that had so unbalanced Aysus was the fact that the universe no longer had a center. It was simply an infinite space of unfulfilled potential.

Aysus moved towards the first brightness, where Tahaan still played with the brightness and darkness. It moved between Tahaan and the brightness, creating another wave of shadow on the threads.

~I’m ready,~ Aysus told Tahaan, a shiver of excitement passing through it.

[PopeAlessandros]

It rolls a riles, flips and flops, the darkness against the threads making it feels good with each new shape it makes.

~It's almost like having someone just like me to play with!~

It softly shifts back and forth, the shadows falling from it's body and his part in shaping them more amusing than any game it's ever played alone with the threads before.

~The more there is, the more fun things can be~

With an effort it pinches down a part of itself until it looks like it's almost two beings. The sight makes it whirl around quickly. As it does this a thought occurs to it. It stills a bit as it begins thinking. It once more feels the need for something. It doesn't quite know what yet, and it isn't as if it feels as if something is out of balance like before, but it still feels. . .There should be something. Something that marks action, movement. When it is happy, it wants that to spread. Even if it is alone, it feels that things need something to go with them.

~Expression. I can communicate with Aysus, but I want more.~

It's body slowly stops shifting and for once it falls still. Despite it's stillness, by it's nature it's form still moves, drifting to the side as if drawn by the new creations around it. A part of it brushes over some threads and it's attention goes to the sudden ripples created by the soft touch. The ripples of the unused threads shivers off, disappearing into the distance and once more Tahaan turn in on itself to think.

~It would be great if the shaking did something. The shivers of the threads, created by something other than us playing with them.~

It again thinks of the source of the threads, the energy they came from the birth that was marked by. . . .Nothing. However Nothing is no longer good enough for Tahaan. There needs to be something. What good is a big happening when there is nothing to mark it. Somethings are just to important to go without some sort of. . .

Tahaan tries desperately to come up with just what is needed and once again it's body brushes over the threads. This time it is threads of the light. It watches as they seem to just keep shaking, shivering around until at last the settle slowly against one another, firm and stable. It is with that that it's thoughts shift to the other side of matters. Should there not be something to mark when there is nothing happening too? That thought seems to resonate though it's form with more understanding.

For a time it wonders why. After all, it is always doing something. The thing it feels it needs to have to mark happenings would make more sense to be more familiar or interesting to it. However as it spots Aysus on the other side of the light it slowly downs on Tahaan why it's thinking about the lack of happenings. It has lived it's existence in this place, making for it what fun it has, with only itself to play with most of the time. However, the one thing it gets to interact with that it has no control over, the one thing that stimulates it in a way that is different, is Aysus itself.

~It is always so still, and without movement. It well represents the opposite of what I am thinking of. It sacrificed everything true and familiar for this new thing. It would shiver for me even when it would rather remain still.~

A gentle feeling races through it as once more Tahaan races over to it's wall of threads, it's form once more on display. It shivers, shakes, thrumming it's body against the threads as it wonders if it's idea will ever come to be. If it will be able to make something that will make Aysus as happy as it is when the other gives up it's stillness for it. It has long tried to remain still for Aysus, but it does not have such control over it's form. However if it's thoughts are correct, perhaps it will make something special for Aysus. With Aysus's help of course.

In it's excitement it almost misses the creation of the second spot of light. However as the threads around it shiver and shake, the dimness racing past it in a small wave, it turns to watch the light being born. It becomes even more excited.

~It was a change. Aysus made a change itself. It made something and it used what we had made together. That looks fun!~

It whirls around happily, shaking with joy as Aysus approaches. It sees the shivers in the other's form and lets out a small shake of it's own.

~I want to make you something.~

Now directing it words to Aysus it moves backwards, past the little weave it made for the game with shadows. Pushing past some threads it settle in a spot and begins tugging gently on thread after thread. It does not weave them together, it simply lays them side by side. Once it has what it thinks it will need, row after row drifting side by side in more or less strait lines, Tahaan slows it's movements as best it can.

~Take the other ends Aysus, and move away from me without tearing the threads. As far as you can go.~

It watches as the other complies, the threads slowly growing more and more taunt with the strain of being pulled between the two beings. As it begins to strain it's body falls more and more still, the light shivers running through it, and subsequently the threads, slowly begins to fade. The riling cloud stretches out further and further to either side, and as it takes up more threads to add to the already long row of them is it please to see that Aysus follows it's lead without question.

Then it happens. For a split second, both figures are completely still. For the only time in it's existence, Tahaan does not move in the slightest. In that instant the threads fuse and vanish. A ripple runs through the universe, and Tahaan comes to understand what it was trying to make. The lack of shaking, the complete stillness of it all, it becomes. . .

~Silence.~

It can feel the imbalance of what was made, but it races to Aysus's side quickly and whirls around it once.

~Now there is something special when you are still. When nothing moves, when nothing shakes, there is silence!~

As if to demonstrate this it moves away from the other, letting it feel the new thing without Tahaan disturbing it.

[Jiskastya]

The silence was glorious. It had always known the internal silence, the peace of mind and body that led to stillness, but seeing something so basic to itself spread across the whole universe was more wondrous than Aysus could fully understand at the moment. It would need room and peace to fully comprehend the silence, just as it had for the brightness and the darkness.

But the imbalance loomed, and as grateful as Aysus was for Tahaan's willingness to leave Aysus to its own peaceful explorations, now was not the moment for it.

~Come back.~ Aysus called after its retreating partner. ~We must balance the imbalance, before it crumbles away into nothingness once more.~

It was surprisingly easy, at that moment, for Aysus to find the imbalance. In many ways it was just like the darkness and brightness. There was a leftover from the creation, something that swarmed in among the threads of silence, bouncing back and forth in a desperate desire to escape from this new thing in the universe. It was another opposite, another thing that would come together with the silence and create stability. Despite its former anxiety about the existence of the brightness and the dimness in a universe that had only known nothing, Aysus did not hesitate in the creation of the inverse. Aysus was far more a creature of consistency than Tahaan, and rapid change had always bothered it. But that did not mean that Aysus could not adjust. This was the new universe, and if change was to be the constant, so be it.

~Help me gather that which remains.~ Rapidly, Tahaan began to circle around Aysus, pulling the broken pieces of silence in towards its partner. Aysus gathered the reluctant threads, using all of its magnetic pull to keep the writhing things together. This time there was a weaving, a giant jumbling and twisting that was almost the exact opposite of the linear balance of the silence. Tighter and tighter Aysus wove the bundle, even as Tahaan continued to bring in more of the unbalanced threads. Finally there were none left across the span of the universe, and they were close to completion.

~Link them.~ The instruction was very simple for such a complicated process, but Aysus need have said nothing at all. It and Tahaan understood each other well enough to know what needed to be done. The woven bundle began to get wrapped in the silence, and the threads began to work against themselves, pushing in further and further to try and escape its opposite. But, surrounded on all sides by the threads of silence, the only thing it could do was get smaller.

And then it was gone, woven perfectly into the blanket of silence.

For a moment it seemed as though nothing had happened. But they both knew that the imbalance was gone. Whatever they had made, it was complete, whole, unified. And then Tahaan began to writhe about once more, and the threads began to vibrate, and there was an answer in the universe.

It was not much. It was hardly even worthy of being noticed, so little was it. But it was there. As Tahaan moved, the thing for which it had originally longed responded. There was a noise to answer its movement.

Aysus stirred slightly, and its movement was also answered by a noise, a faint rustling that seemed to mirror its own internal motion.

~It is beautiful.~

Aysus wasn't talking about the noise, although that was in part what it was recognizing. No, what it was experiencing was the perfect balance of two. Aysus and Tahaan, light and dark, noise and silence. And, even more importantly if anything, the way that the two essences related to the opposites. Light and noise were both points, things that interrupted the continuity of the universe. They were chaotic and caused constant change within the universe. And they had both been the creations that Aysus led. Darkness and silence were the constants, the things that remained when there was nothing to interrupt them. They peacefully filled the universe with a something that was almost like nothing. And those were the ones that Tahaan had felt within itself, and led into being.

How was it that both of them were far more capable of understanding each other than they were at understanding themselves? To a logical observer it would have seemed backwards, and yet there was no denying the truth of it, just as there was no denying the existences of these new things.

At that moment, Aysus began to realize something consciously that it had always known subconsciously. It and Tahaan were as completely linked as the brightness and the dimness, the noise and the silence. Despite the fact that they were not the same, they were complete with each other.

Fondness for its partner welled up within Aysus, and it rubbed up against the threads, the movement creating a humming sound. It now had a new way to greet its companion.

[PopeAlessandros]

It turns, looking back to Aysus with a faint bouncing motion.

~Okay. We'll fix it, then you can play with the new thing.~

It works hard and fast, doing as instructed, in ways that feel only natural to it. Tahaan drags them in, and Aysus holds them. The threads try to flee, but the cloud has a lot of practice fiddling with loose broken threads and not a one manages to escape it's hunt for them. Pulled in tight, held in by the thing they made, the present for Aysus, growing smaller and smaller until. . .They are gone.

Tahaan wonders just what was made and looks around this way and that. Then it stills. There was something. In a sudden inspiration it begins wriggling and writhing about, and it hears it. That thing it had longed for, the thing to mark when something happens.

~Noise, it's noise, I can hear it!~

The glee coming from the cloud shaped figure is evident as it begins playing more and more with this new thing. The sound is quiet, barely above the silence, but as it plays it gets more and more idea of things to do with it. It nearly shivers apart when Aysus makes noise using the threads, recognizing it as a greeting, and replies by falling as still as it can, the noise giving way to silence. It loves this new thing, this thing Aysus helped it make, and with one last whirl around it's counterpart Tahaan races off to enjoy this new thing they now know as sound, leaving Aysus to do what it will, coming to terms with the new things.

It races along, full tilt, the light and dark giving it's travel a far stronger sense of speed, along with the faint crackling and hissing of it's body as it whips around and strums it's body along the threads. Moving far enough away as to not vibrate any of the threads near to it's counterpart, Tahaan behind playing with the new thing called sound. It begins by simply playing with the threads, thrumming them all at once, or plucking one at a time. The actions produce the same noise, but the input is far greater when more than one is struck.

On a whim it tears one thread and shivers delightfully as a new noise issues from the thread. Setting it aside it does that a few more times until it understands the noise completely, then in a flash, it rips apart an entire group of threads.

~The noise is louder the more of them I tear. That makes sense. It is a bigger happening, so it is marked by a bigger noise!~

An idea comes to it and after a little fumbling, it weaves together a small light. To it's supreme delight, a new sound marks the occasion, a kind of 'pop' that sounds very different from the noises it cam make with threads. As is it's way, it makes several others, making them bigger and smaller, seeing how that affects the sound, and then just like that, it shatters a light, just to see what happens. The sound is far louder than anything it had heard before and in truth, it becomes frightened of it.

Unable to come to terms with the fear on it's own it races off to Aysus as fast as it can. It ignores the sounds it's being makes as it races through their space, and as soon as Aysus comes into view it speeds up. Without warning it wraps around it's counterpart, shaking differently than usual and it seems to be trying to hid itself. It finds comfort being so close to it's opposite, and it has often wondered at this fact, however now it is simply happy for the comfort.

~Sorry. I frightened myself. . .~

Unsure of how Aysus if going to react to the sudden intrusion into personal space, it tries it's best to not disturb it too much even as it remains partially wrapped around Aysus' body.

[Jiskastya]

Aysus had no reason to complain as Tahaan raced away from it. They were different enough to know when it was right to give each other space, and they both knew that they would always, ultimately, come back to each other. They were the only things in this void other than themselves. And they belonged together. Such was the nature of their existence.

In many ways, the silence was very similar to the nothingness. It was certainly much closer to the nothingness than the noise. The threads of silence wove together with perfect intricacy into the darkness, and together they grew even closer to the nothingness that had once been their home. And still the unclaimed threads of the universe danced among the woven ones, seeming hardly any different from how they were before when they were all.

Aysus hummed slightly, and this time a faint, sweet noise greeted it as it did so. Moments after it stopped the threads of silence moved back in, knitted almost perfectly into the threads of noise that, just by looking at the threads, it was almost impossible to tell shere one ended and the other began. But there was no doubt that the silence and the noise were two very, very different things.

Their union intrigued Aysus, and for a while it carefully studied it, making faint noises whenever the silence once more began to have complete dominance over the area around it.

That patient contemplation was interrupted suddenly by a noise. By the time it reached Aysus it was not much louder than the noises it had made itself, but it must have been much, much more massive at one point, because it had not happened here.

Aysus almost turned back to the threads, hardly bothered by the noise as it was making noise itself, when it saw something dark hurtling towards itself so fast that it was little more than a blur.

Aysus nearly ducked out of the way, no longer confident in what this universe might hold, when it recognized Tahaan. It didn’t have time for another thought before the cloud wrapped around him, huddling in close and shaking violently.

It was not exactly the most comfortable situation in which Aysus had ever been, but it was not about to push the frightened Tahaan away either.

~What did you do?~ There was a strange mixture of resignation, exasperation, and amusement in Aysus’ tone.

[PopeAlessandros]

Tahaan shivers softly, realizing it was probably bothering it's counterpart. It draws back, only a small bit of itself still touching Aysus. It wriggles this way and that, making little noises for a while until it is relaxed enough to reply.

~I was making things, and breaking things, discovering new sounds, and making them too! But then I broke a light, and it made a really loud noise. . .The noise, it frightened me. I know I made it, and should not be so afraid, but I could not help it. . .~

It finally manages to slither away from the other being, letting go so it can wander this way and that. Suddenly excited it pulls forward some threads and begins showing off what it's learned.

~See, if you tighten them then pull at them, the noise is new. Oh, and listen!~

In a whirls of it's body it brings forth a line of lights, no longer frightened at all now that it's counterpart is nearby. The faint pop sound makes it shiver and shake, bouncing around happily. Suddenly it realizes it's making a lot of noise, and Aysus may not like that, so with one last bounce it settle back into the threads, the small twitches of it's form only causes noise every so often. Reaching out with a thin strip of itself it touches one of the lights.

~If you would like to see, to hear, the really loud noise, just break one.~

It slithers back and forth, wanting to see what Aysus will do even as it longs to race once more off into the newness to see what else it can do. The nothing around seems so vast, but now it knows it has an end. It gets quickly lost in thought, drifting slowly away from the other and it's antics. It's desire to see what Aysus will do drifts quickly away as well as once more it feels a need building. A want for something a need for. . .

It looks to the space between all the things it now knows, the threads, the light, the dark. Sound and silence being less tangible but still visible to the being, but beneath it all is the faint energies created by everything else, the energy the everything that makes up the nothing is made of.

~Even as there is nothing, there isn't really nothing, seeing as I see things between, even if I see it as nothing, that is only because I have grown so use to it all~

It shivers back and forth in thought, musing about things until a new thought strikes it.

~We only call it nothing, because there is an absences of the only something we know, or at the time, knew, of, which was the threads. But now, as I look at it, I think there is more to this. More to nothing. Along with us, the threads were made, and the stuff between it is nothing, but even as a nothing, it seems that it needs to be. . .~

Unsure of just what it is thinking it moves back closer to Aysus, though still lost in thought, it's words can be sensed by the other without it knowing that it is “Speaking aloud” as one would say.

~It is the space between that gives the thread definition, and without it, the universe about us would be without definition. It would be very one sided, and as we have learned, there needs be two sides to something.~

Turning to Aysus it at last directs it's words to the ribbon being.

~I think, it is time for something. Something different.~

It reaches out to “Touch” the light once more, the energy “Feeling” different from the threads, but still lacking something. Something Tahaan can not fully understand at this time, but as it once more looks to the threads and the space between them, he gets an idea.

~We should make something like it! Like the threads and the nothingness. That is what I want.~

Twisting this way and that, it draws Aysus forward, pulling it out away from the things they have made. It has no idea how it and Aysus are going to make what he has just decided to make, however he knows, deep down, that it's going to take more energy than they are use to using.

~I think we will need to tap the energy directly for this. I am not sure, but think so. . .~

Drawing up to the riling mass of energy it slows, moving away from Aysus to try and understand why it feels the need for the central mass of energy for this next creation. It looks around intently, not getting too close, but not shying away at the noises it's making. As long as it's counterpart is around, Tahaan is as brave as could be. Finally it understands what it needs to do. What they need to do. Moving back to Aysus's side it hovers as still as possible before the other.

~We need to make both at once. We need to make them separate, but equal. I do not think one at a time will work this time. I. . .I do not know why, but this is what I hear inside me as the truth.~

It hesitates for a moment, unsure of itself, however after a moment it continues.

~If you are ready, I would like to make something. . .Solid. Something to touch. I know we touch the threads, but the thread is energy, it is. . .It is not solid. It can be formed into things unseen, it can vanish once formed.~

It is unsure of how else to explain it's want, but it tries anyways.

~We are of energy, or two types of energy, and all around us, there are threads, and there is the space between. I want to make something like that, but different. Something different from ourselves. I wish to make something we can see, at all times. Something that we can touch that is different than the threads.~

Not sure it's words are understood it falls silent, writhing a bit before asking.

~Do you understand what I mean?~

[Jiskastya]

Aysus watched Tahaan’s actions with amusement, more than willing to allow its companion to reveal its new-found experiences. Although Aysus could not honestly say that it derived as much pleasure from the actions of the threads as Tahaan did, it could say wholeheartedly that watching the pleasure of Tahaan gave it pleasure.

When Tahaan did finally create the light, Aysus studied it carefully, its own curiosity neatly tempered by its nature. By the time it fully decides that it would be willing to break the light and make a noise for Tahaan’s sake, the being had already wandered away. Aysus stared after its companion, before returning its attention to the light. Should it break it anyways?

No. there was no reason for it now that Tahaan had left. Should the time come up, it would do it again later. When it meant something once more.

And so Aysus returned to its own existence, as a being discovering reality through patient contemplation. It had not discovered as much about the noise and the silence as Tahaan, and it prepared to resume its contemplation.

But, before Aysus could be satisfied that it truly understood the noise and the silence Tahaan was back. Aysus listened patiently to its communications, and realized that Tahaan had already moved away from that which was, and was once more looking to that which could be. A small shiver passed through Aysys, sending its silken fold fluttering.

It was not sure it was ready. But Tahaan was ready. And it had already accepted that change was to be the only thing that remained constant in this new universe that they were experiencing. There was neither time nor room for a comfort zone anymore. Aysus had to release itself, and plunge over the edge. It would never have the same excitement for the unknown that Tahaan possessed, but it could demonstrate more than it was currently showing.

And so it dedicated itself to what Tahaan was saying, trying to understand what its companion wanted from them both.

~Perhaps,~ Aysus replied, once it was clear that Tahaan was done speaking. ~But I did not truly understand the light or the noise or the darkness or the silence until those things were woven into our universe. So I am sure it will be with this new thing of which you speak.~

Together the two moved towards one of the wellsprings of the source, one of the infinite number of locations where the threads were released by the source, the energy from which everything had come.

Tahaan swirled around it, continuing to gently prompt Aysus forward. The being did not mind Tahaan’s actions, for its thoughts were almost entirely focused on what was to come.

There was no doubt that this was going to be the largest change that had been attempted, and Aysus could feel the truth of that about which Tahaan spoke. It could not be done one at a time, for the thing which they were trying to create was so incompatible with the universe they had made thus far that it would not be able to survive long enough for them to make its counterpart from the leftover pieces of the threads. But Aysus also knew that neither of them could weave alone. They could create that which already existed alone, but a new creation required both of their input.

Could they truly do this? Aysus had never tried to do two things at once. It was not even sure that such a thing was possible. But, were Tahaan to tell it about the light before the light came to be, it would have thought that impossible as well. Change was not an innate part of its being. It would have to try harder.

The threads that collected around the wellspring were at the densest that they were at any place in the universe. It was easy to gather them together, so easy that it barely took a sweep of Aysus’ folds to bring them together into a massive pile, and the wellspring instantly replaced any open spaces that Aysus made with even more of the threads.

And so it began, uncertain of what exactly it was doing, but hoping that, one way or another, it would all come together. The threads wove easily under its touch, and Tahaan quickly moved in to help. The first part began to take shape. But did they not also have to be doing something with the pieces of thread that sheared away from the weaving, that were opposite in nature and could not remain within the threads that were creating this new thing? They scurried away quickly, so quickly that Aysus practically had to lunge to catch up with them. But in doing so, it was forced to release its hold of the weaving, which began to crumble.

Tahaan, concerned to see its partner scrambling so, desperately tried to help, drawing more and more threads into the weaving to keep it from falling apart as Aysus finally managed to catch the last of the secondary threads, that were to weave the opposite.

But now the weave was bloated, and it quickly became tangled on the new threads Tahaan had put in to keep it together. Suddenly, and seemingly without warning, the whole thing collapsed, the threads and pieces of threads scattering out into the furthest reaches of the universe.

There was a moment of perfect silence, where it seemed that even Tahaan did not move. In that moment Aysus knew, if he spoke the right words, this whole thing would be over. They would continue to explore with the threads, but this strange, perpetual thing they were trying to create now would never come to be.

~Lets try again.~

[PopeAlessandros]

Tahaan twirls with delight at Aysus's willingness to try for what he had come up with, a willingness that he knows will cause him to act against his nature. It feels a little sorry for taking Aysus away from it's long slow contemplations, but not one to pass up opportunities, Tahaan sets right to work. It watches as the ribbony being gathers together threads quickly and easily, darting out when it seems that some thread or another is about to escape, slightly panicky when Aysus itself seems to come under stress.

~Perhaps too much, too fast~

It thinks to itself, unsure if they should continue with as fast as things seems to be falling apart. However as all things fall apart around them, and a stillness falls over the scene, a new thought comes to it. Slowly it begins to shift this way and that, ready to stop for now, to try again much later when Aysus is more ready. However, Aysus is ready now. Prepared to try again. It writhes, curling about, watching the still folds of it's partner ripple ever so gently here and there, the stillness and the motion seeming perfectly in synch. Looking to it's own form, writhing, riling, twisting and bending, only the occasional part of it pausing for an instant, no longer.

With a bounce it coils around Aysus and urges it into a place right next to the wellspring. As it shifts around, it tries to explain.

~You are still, that is what you do. I move, I shift, it is my nature.~

It bounces almost as if making it's point.

~You are still, so you should be still. Let me move.~

With that it slowly grabs a few threads, pulling them away from the wellspring. They are immediately replaced. With one slow motion Tahaan drifts past it's counterpart and hands off the threads to be woven, It drifts past to the other side, grabbing a few more threads, turning smoothly and slowly so that it can once more hand them off. By now some of the opposing threads are trying to escape, however rather than darting after them, Tahaan moves to them smoothly, grabbing them just as they threaten to move out of reach, and immediately returns them to Aysus for weaving, repeating the same on the other side.

Muck like a loom they continue this pattern, instead of bursting these things into creation that way they has grown accustom to, instead they work slow, and diligent, the repetitive actions threatening to bore Tahaan, however the prospect of what may come of this by far enough to make up for any boredom he may be feeling now. The weaving takes a long time to complete, thought time has as of yet to have any point of reference, the two are aware of such even without it existing. The threads around and beneath Aysus grow thicker and stronger, the weave becoming more and more beautiful as they work. Tahaan suppresses the urge to dart about in delight, the end in sight, ti can just feel it.

Aysus seems to feel it too, the weaving around it seeming more and more complete, and then at last, it is done. A wave passes out from the two of them as as last Tahaan pulls in the last threads needed, Aysus weaving them quickly into the tapestry of their creation. For the first time in their existence, they feel weary, the work put into their creation having drained them considerably. Like a huge gently waves the weave rolls out, and for the first time, there are limits places upon their universe. It is far, far away, but their wave only goes so far as there are wellsprings, which until now, they thought without end. The weave vanishes, but the result remains.

Looking about they can see it, the bits of matter, so small and without form, drifting along in the spaces between, floating about in it's opposite, space, the area between. The matter moves smoothly, in perfect balance with it's opposite, and when two pieces of matter touch, they seem to interact and move on. Tahaan shivers, feeling the stuff brushing over it, completely free of either their will, or the will of the thing that brought them forth into this place. Unlike the threads, they seem to have no order, while at the same time, each little bit of matter having an order all their own, the space in between constant, and unchanging, only moving aside when a bit of matter wishes to pass, slipping back into place once it is gone. The matter is so small at this point that to anything less than Tahaan and Aysus themselves would not be able to feel it the way they do.

Unsure if Aysus will want time to itself once more, for it's never ending contemplation, or if it would rather stick together due to feeling so weak, Tahaan hovers, shifting ever so slightly against their new creation, but remaining silent as it can. The tingle of stuff against it's body, and the sound of it striking the still present threads is enough for now. It is enough to keep Tahaan amused, even if it wants nothing more at this point than to curl up with Aysus and relax, regain it's strength through the bond.

[Jiskastya]

A great wave seemed to flow through Aysus, briefly sending a ripple through its silken folds before bringing the entity to an even greater level of stillness. It rolled faintly to the side, moving away from the wellspring, but paused almost immediately as the infinitesimal pieces of matter that now scattered the universe touched it. Aysus seemed to draw in on itself, almost reflexively, before the weave of matter began to move. The pieces of matter skirted away from it, and even though space was not the same as nothing, it was, like darkness and silence, the closest to nothing of which Aysus knew.

Slowly it moved further and further away from the wellspring, and the number of threads around it began to fall back to a normal number. The matter moved aside in front of it, and came back together behind it. Only once it had reached a familiar and comfortable level of threads did Aysus settle to a stop and try and relax. But its own need to keep the matter from coming in close and continually bumping and brushing against its self kept Aysus from truly obtaining peace. That was, at least, until Tahaan moved in around it, swirling quickly in the gap between Aysus and the matter, instinctively understanding what its counterpart needed at that moment. Tahaan's actions kept the pieces of matter from touching Aysus, and left it with nothing but space. Then Aysus was able to truly relax, and it settled into itself, exhausted, unnerved, unbalanced, but still ultimately ready to face the constant challenge of the notion of change.

Gradually, as Aysus relaxed, the equally weary Tahaan began to move in closer to its counterpart. They settled into each other's presence, and assumed the closest thing to sleep that either of them had ever known. And so they drifted, Tahaan swirling lazily around Aysus, who floated in its bubble of space.

Aysus returned to presence second, and instantly noticed the restlessness of its companion. It shivered slightly in thanks, truly grateful to Tahaan for creating a space of relative safety and familiarity even as its own instincts drove it to go play, and explore this new world that they had created together.

~You can go now. Thank you.~ Aysus murmured gently, freeing its companion to exploration. Despite their affinity for each other, they were, in the end, different beings, and they each had to explore this new reality in their own way.

As soon as Tahaan left, the matter began to move back in. Aysus tried to ignore it, tried to pretend that it didn't care about the things that were constantly bumping up against itself, but it could only hold that pretense for so long before it forced the matter to once more scatter away from it by forcefully tugging on the weave of space and matter. Once more it was left with a bubble of space, and the shivering of its form wherever a piece of matter touched it quickly faded away.

This was so very different from the light and the noise, because there was no way for Aysus to escape it. Tiny pieces of matter spiraled away into the edge of infinity, as omnipresent as the threads themselves. The lights that Aysus and Tahaan had made were somewhere in the distance, concealed by the threads of dimness, but there was nothing Aysus could use to conceal the matter.

It knew it had to find a way to adjust, to understand, to accept. It had thought it accepted back before it had been done, because it had understood that they had been making something it had never experienced before, but the space between the idea of different and the reality of different was far greater than Aysus would have imagined.

Slowly it began to draw the matter closer to itself, and even though it was hesitant about the action it was also very deliberate. This time, when the matter ran into itself, Aysus did not allow it to scatter back out and away. I theld them together, bonded the little pieces until the little piece became a slightly bigger piece, and bonded those slightly bigger pieces together as well.

Aysus did not know exactly what it was doing. Aysus was a creature of contemplation, not of experimentation. But there seemed to be no other option for this strange new thing that was matter, and Aysus could not help but hope that, if it experimented enough, it might be able to find something that it could understand.

Slowly the pieces of matter began to grow and grow, until it had a piece large enough that it could watch it slide through the universe, a wrecking ball that knocked all other pieces aside. And it was, at that moment, that Aysus realized something truly astonishing. The matter was still.

It was not that it did not move through space; it most certainly did that. But the matter itself did not move. The pieces that were in the center stayed in the center, the pieces that were at the edge stayed at the edge. Despite being new and chaotic, the matter was the most still thing that Aysus had ever truly experienced. It drew closer to it, and reached out to it hesitantly. This time, no shiver coursed through its body, because it felt the strange, foreign likeness of the thing before it. Matter was not a foe, not something to be escaped or destroyed, but a like thing, something about which Aysus could truly understand. They were two things, floating through vast infinity, trying to find the stillness of a constantly moving and shifting world.

Slowly the matter that Aysus had been holding back, holding away, began to drift freely again. This time, Aysus drifted with the pieces, no longer bothered by their brief, flitting contact. This time, somehow, it felt comfortable.

[PopeAlessandros]

Watching Aysus drift away from the wellspring Tahaan can not suppress it's need to stay close to his counterpart and drifts along after it, trembling pleasantly as this causes more and more of the matter to bump against it's form. Through their bond it can feel how much this new thing is disturbing the other, the tension and unsettling presence around it coming across loud and clear. For an instant, it feels bad about it's suggestion. This new thing they made, it seems to be the worst change yet for Aysus, and it's all it's fault. It's countenance begins to droop as it follows along, but only for a brief movement, until Aysus settles and Tahaan can not refrain from doing something for it's uncomfortable partner.

Moving in quickly it swirls around the ribbon bring, knocking back all the matter before settling in to form a bubble around Aysus. This effectively keeps the matter away, keeps it from touching Aysus against it's will, and finally it seems to settle. Tahaan keeps moving, slipping in closer and closer until it can relax comfortably into their bond and rest, while still keeping the little bits from touching Aysus. A kind of sigh ripples through the cloud as it calms, the feeling of it's energy returning bit by bit relaxing it even further, and it's contentment with the universe around them giving it such a feeling of peace.

It's not too long however before Tahaan “wakes” from their peaceful drifting, the respite welcome, but not by it's nature something it likes doing for long. The lazy movements around Aysus speeds up, still determined to keep it's counterpart comfortable, however the occasional poking out of it's body like a tentacle swinging through space to play with the matter is added to it's swirling motion. When at last Aysus wakes, letting it know that it's counterpart if free to explore, Tahaan swirls in tight around Aysus once before darting off through the matter like a child running into the oncoming waves. And much like waves, the little bits seem to crash into it's body, rushing around it and settling only after they come down from the wake it's body caused.

It contents itself this way for a time, swirling quickly this way and that, making interesting patters in the matter, mini tornadoes and plumes. So overjoyed it moves off a little further than it intended from it's other half. In the past, it could go as far as it liked from Aysus without feeling more than a dozen paces away. However, with this new thing between them, this mass, this. . . .something. It pauses, shivering, the distance feeling unpleasant. Drifting a little closer to Aysus, still out of sight to give it it's space, it begins wondering.

~Does it feel the distance too? Does it care? Does it feel more comfortable now that I can move so far that the stuff between us allows it some semblance of being truly alone?~

It's thoughts disturb it greatly and on instinct it moves even closer, settling in to play more quietly with the new creation. Grabbing random pieces it began mashing them together, noting happily that when put together, it stayed together, and exactly how it was put together. Other than floating through space, the matter is the most stable thing they have created yet. It is delighted at this, hoping strongly that Aysus will be able to find it's comfort in this fact.

It spends time putting more pieces together, the ungainly mass growing into a rather disjointed ball rolling around in the space. After noting that the ball moves slower than the individual bits, through his natural evolution Tahaan does the next thing on his list of experiments. With a clap of it's body it blows apart the bits. It swirls delightedly at the new design in the matter, the bits crashing against one another, the direction of them floating shifting out of the way of the sudden expansion of motion.

~That was fun. It was like a mini version of me when I crash about!~

It does this a few more times before moving on to the next natural step, at least for Tahaan. Plucking up a single individual piece it begins bombarding it with energy, trying to change it. It does not change, however it does seem different for a moment before the energy dissipates. Wanting to know more it tries to crack open the bit, to look inside. The result is not only unexpected, but a little disastrous. The instant it manages to break open the bit there is an almighty explosion, the amount of energy stored within the little bit comparable to all the energy Tahaan and Aysus hold combined. It cries out, the blast blowing it quite aways with the rest of the matter around the explosion tumbling through the space with it.

Through happenstance, when at last it comes to rest, no longer being propelled by the explosion, it finds itself not a handful of paces from it's counterpart. Pulling itself together carefully, unhurt and undamaged by the sudden tumble, it looks over at Aysus and with a completely serious tone it says,

~Don't try and open a singular bit of matter. The result is unpleasant.~

At last it's fear catches up with it and without warning it wraps around Aysus and begins trembling.

[Jiskastya]

Aysus' gentle explorations into the nature of matter, space, and silence was, as ever, interrupted by Tahaan. Or, rather, Tahaan's actions. It was struck by a sudden ricochet of energy, that flooded over it and even succeeded in pushing Aysus away with its energy. Aysus shuddered in irritation and surprise, wondering what exactly Tahaan had managed to get itself into this time.

Its question was answered moments later by Tahaan's sudden and rather abrupt arrival from somewhere else, and told it what exactly had just happened.

~I was not planning on doing any such thing.~ Aysus responded to the shivering Tahaan, its voice tinged with the faintest traces of amusement. But it leaves its moderate rebuke just at that, and accepts its fearful companion with gentle vibrations of its own. At least, Aysus comforted itself, Tahaan would never change. Its explorations would always lead it further than it should go, and it would always come back to Aysus when such an event occurred.As ever, they were, and always would be, the only things in this universe on which they could rely. Everything else was uncertain, but they would always be together, and would always be bound, despite their oppositions. And it was, perhaps, these very oppositions which made them so compatible for each other.

For a while they were both silent, content to be in each other's presence and needing nothing more. But Tahaan's fear began to subside, just as it always did, and Aysus could feel the desire for new exploration and experience building within it once more. Aysus did not want to crush Tahaan's adventurous spirit, but it was weary of new things. Not physically weary, that had faded shortly before it and Tahaan had separated, but weary in its being of being forced into new things, and constantly having to adapt to the new universe, just when it was starting to become comfortable with the last thing they had done.

~Are we done with the new things? At least for now?~

[PopeAlessandros]

The reply coupled with the vibrations of it's counterpart make Tahaan feel a little bad, knowing once more it is disturbing it's counterpart.

~I should be more careful. . .~

It's words are quiet, spoken to itself rather than it's other half. It sits quietly for a time, trying to calm down. It doesn't take long, Aysus' presence enough to dispel most of his fear rather quickly When at last it feels relaxed enough it slips away, giving Aysus it's space. At it's question however it moves back in and still best it can.

~There is plenty to play with and explore. We can stop for now.~

Almost as if not wanting to be unsupervised it moves away only a few body lengths before toying once again with the matter. The pieces it made before, the big ones made from a bunch of little ones, are nowhere to be see, and true to it's nature it simply dismisses them and goes about with new exploration. Once more it picks up little bits and begins bombarding them with energy until they feel like they've changed, however just like before the energy dissipated swiftly and Tahaan is left with just a bunch of plain bit. Unable to think of anything else it begins sticking them together again, but this time it pushes at them bit by bit, changing them from a chunky mass into something a little smoother.

~Neat!~

Looking over at Aysus it waits until it seems like it's not busy before drifting over to show off what is has learned.

~*~*~*~*~

The force of the explosion had indeed blown the larger chunks of matter stuck together out of sight, breaking them apart a tad, but several larger particles held together rather well. Now they tumble freely, bouncing off their smaller counterparts, the energy from the blast having not only propelled them through space, but a few have even changed slightly. The balance of energy within them have shifted to one side, making them a little more negative than they were originally.

[Jiskastya]

As was its nature, Aysus was slowly adjusting to the universe as it now knew it. The process could never be rushed, only acknowledged as necessary and accepted in its entirety. But, as it contemplated its new universe, Aysus also watched Tahaan at play. It could not understand its counterpart's excitement with everything new and unknown, but it could see that excitement bubbling through its companion. For a moment, Aysus felt a trace of sorrow. Each of them was the only companion the other had. They were so completely opposite that the one could never fully understand the other, no matter how much they tried. There was no doubt that Aysus would not know what to make of a universe without Tahaan in it, and Tahaan felt the same way about it, but if anything that almost made it worse. Each naturally tried to reject its own nature in order to please the other, and the other only felt guilt at knowing it was bringing its companion to do something it did not really want to do.

But Aysus could not fully understand this sorrow it felt. It was like the new universe, strange and foreign and something that it could not understand no matter how hard it tried. it was, like the new universe, something that was going to have to be understood at a later date. Perhaps, when they both managed to understand it, the sorrow that it felt at the moment would no longer be necessary.

When Aysus noticed that Tahaan was watching it, Aysus turned away from its own still contemplation of the things that were, and once more turned to face the things that could be. Briefly it hesitated, trying to rationalize the difference between the things that were, and the things that could be out of the things that were. Was it really truly a change? It was something new in the sense that Aysus had never before experienced it in the manner it was being presented, but it was also true that the thing that was being presented was still the same thing that it had always been. If it looked closely enough, the threads would prove that every time. Could it really, therefore, be called a new thing?

Uncertain at the moment as to the answer of its own question, Aysus put it as one more of the ever-growing number of things that could only be solved by letting them exist for long enough.

~Come,~ it called to Tahaan. ~Show me these things that make you so excited.~

[PopeAlessandros]

As it drifts in closer Tahaan can not help but crackle happily when Aysus calls it to come over. It thinks joyfully that it's counterpart is actually interested in what it is doing, and that makes it ecstatic. Dragging along some of it's creation it darts up to the ribbony mass and deposits them in the space between them.

~Look look here! If you flex your energy, it almost seems to change for a moment, but then it goes back to normal, like it can hold more energy, but maybe I'm not strong enough. Then, if you put a bunch together, then push and mush them about, they become different shapes and the space between the bits lessen even more, see?~

Taking one bit that is relatively big Tahaan begins pressing an molding it carefully and it begins taking on a completely different shape. It adds more and more until the ungainly mass seems to stop moving through space. Of course it is, but simply so slowly that without a little nudge it's movement is negligible.

~It seems that the bigger the mass of bit, the less it likes moving, but once it gets moving, catching it is a little harder then when it is a little bit. It's like it. . . .Well, I don't really know yet. I have to play more. . . .~

As it says this it begins trying to do just that. Making mass after mass it begins tossing the different sizes bits back and forth. Once in a while a mass will escape it, but instead of going after it, Tahaan just lets it go. It pays not mind to these errant bits, it's nature to focus on there here and now, what lays before it and not what is out of sight. On impulse however it playfully bats a few larger pieces at Aysus to see what it makes of them, hoping it isn't too bothered by the suddenness of the action.

[Jiskastya]

Aysus watches the wild antics of its partner with a strange mixture of amusement, concern, and frustration. The amusement was easy for it to explain to itself. Even Tahaan would not deny that its antics were wild, rather uncontrolled, and made from a completely innocent kind of joy that made Aysus’ reserved, scientific explorations seem cold and distant. The concern, too, was easy for it to understand. Neither of them knew anything about this new world, and Tahaan’s wanton exploration had already led it into situations that made it uncomfortable more than once. Undoubtedly it would do so again, but as the universe in which they dwelt became more and more complicated, the disastrous effects could be much greater. Those two emotions were obvious and easy.

The frustration, though, was not directed to the outside world or its partner, but rather towards Aysus itself. It watched its partner in play and consciously understood what it was doing, the way it was experiencing the universe, and it could see the joy practically emanating from its partner. This exploration brought Tahaan such great joy that the being could hardly contain itself most of the time. But Aysus’ clinical explorations and studies had never brought it that kind of joy. It found peace and happiness in a complete understanding of the universe, but in that moment Aysus wondered whether it would ever know the staggering joy of its partner, or if that, too, was another thing beyond its reach.

There had never before been something that Aysus was not capable of doing. Now there was something; Aysus could not change itself, and that was the source of the frustration.

Aysus was so lost in thought that it did not notice the large pieces of matter flying its way until they were almost right on top of it. Surprised, it surged backwards and managed to dodge almost all of the pieces, but a couple of the pieces of matter collided with it, and were folded gently into its ribbons of energy. Unconsciously Aysus brought them together, and began to shape them. Unlike Tahaan’s unreserved stuffing of parts together Aysus sculpted carefully and delicately, shaving away pieces with a gentle touch before guiding them to a new part of the lump of matter.

The thing that finally emerged was very different from the thing that had gone in. It was not anything except a lump of matter, but somehow it managed to recall Aysus’ own graceful, consistent nature. The weave was not different, but it had been pulled and pushed gently, and guided into a different form of alignment. The positive and negative energy naturally incorporated within it had been aligned cleanly. It was a large piece that was completely stable, the smaller pieces of matter that made it up not forced together, but willingly lining up. Unlike many of the other large pieces that might scatter apart at the faintest prompting, this matter appeared to want to stay together.

Aysus studied this thing, before pushing it away from itself and towards it partner. ~That can be yours, if you want it.~