Irwin felt the horrid headache fade away as his soulscape recovered. It was a slow process, and half a day after he'd begun his journey on the back of the Chaos Whale, the pain was still enough to make him wince.

  At least it won't take as long as I'd initially feared, he thought, sending calming thoughts to his ride.

  The Chaos Whale was too young to know normal communications, and it didn't have a name yet- or if it did, it didn't know. It reminded Irwin of talking with the tiny Ignitzian embers.

  A soft, worried hum, barely audible above the constant howling of the storm, made him look at the second of the slightly larger Chaos Whales. Like the one he was riding, it was roughly the size of a Charbull, and he sighed as he knew what it wanted.

  Stay calm, I'm going to sit on your sister for a while, he sent in images and emotions to the Chaos Whale baby he was riding.

  There was some confused worry, and it took him a few tries before it understood and let out a sad but accepting bleat, a sound Irwin mostly felt resonating through its body. He moved across the soundwaves, reappearing on the back of the other chaos whale baby, who instantly began barraging him with emotions of worry and fear.

  It took him what felt like hours to calm her down, only interrupted a few times when Coal's shadowclone appeared to keep them on course. When Irwin finally finished, feeling the small being below him settle down, he let out a weary sigh.

  He looked around the rest of the tiny pod, five so small he knew that sitting on their back would likely cause them trouble. Those hadn't really needed any calming from him, and after hours of conversations with the bigger two, he had gotten a confusing answer. Apparently, the five youngest ones weren't grown enough to really understand what was happening. At least, that's what Irwin took from the confusing jumble of emotions. How that meant they didn't experience the panicky fear of the older two was beyond him, but he did notice that they kept pressing against each other and the two slightly bigger ones every so often.

  I hope those other Chaos Whales are still at Eluathar, Irwin thought.

  Otherwise, he'd have to babysit these seven until they were grown up. Memories of Mudball and the other young Chaos Whales surfaced in his mind, not for the first time.

  Irwin let himself linger for a short moment in the happy, safe times when he was with his family before pulling his focus back to the present. Those times would come again. But not if he let himself be distracted.

  His eyes roamed the storm around him while his soulforce senses spread out as far as they would go. The interference from the chaotic storm was intense, though having been in its midst for a day now, no longer protected by barriers, he had noticed something. It was weakening. Not enough to be easily visible, but he could sense the difference.

  The Portal Gallery corridors, or better said, where they should have been, were areas of tension to his senses. The more ordered and typed soulforce that was even now present in those areas was constantly struggling against the storm—a thing he'd not sensed while on the ship but which was clear as day now.

  The struggle had probably been going on for as long as the storm was here, but now, he could feel the storm being slowly pushed back. Whatever had caused the regular chaotic area beyond the barriers to swell and grow into the storm, it was now, in some parts, slowly being pushed back. Not enough for the Portal Gallery to recover, but from what he could sense, that would only be a matter of time.

  How long? He didn't know, but knowing he wasn't anywhere near any powerful worlds, he guessed the more powerful sections would start reappearing within a month.

  Too bad it's not fast enough for us to use the Portal Gallery to return home, he thought.

  Time continued to pass slowly, the Choas Whale pod zipping through the storm. Irwin still hadn't found even a distant indication of any Oculithar, but with how many there had been, he knew it would be only a matter of time.

  What are those two up to? Irwin thought, faintly sensing Greldo and Ambraz doing something.

  With his otherself still fast asleep, he found it difficult to detect what was going on, but he wasn't yet curious enough to wake the other part of him.

  Whatever it is, it better be something to help us get back.

  Pushing away his growing worry, trying to keep the Chaos Whale from sensing it, he looked around.

  He was absently taking shallow breaths of the horrid fumes that swirled around him. They didn't actually hurt him, but as he felt the combinations of frozen fumes and biting gasses expand his lungs, he didn't like the sensation either. Then again, he couldn't complain. As far as he knew, there wasn't anyone else who could survive the storm like he could. What that meant for how his body worked was a problem he'd think about at another time.

  Some food would be nice, he thought.

  He debated again, waking his otherself to have it send him some food. He could technically pull it out of his soulforce, but that would require more focus than he wanted to commit to right now. Besides, although his head wasn't killing him anymore, he wanted to use as little of his soulscape's abilities as he could until it fully recovered.

  More time passed, and his worry about running into Oculithar grew with every passing minute. Just as he was losing his debate with himself on letting his otherself rest, he felt Greldo put his hands on his giantself's arm.

  Irwin grinned as he woke that part of him, and as it did, he felt his mind expand as what was happening in his soulscape began to clear.

  ~ Irwin's Soulscape ~

  Irwin pushed himself up, feeling a comfortable tightness in his giant body.

  "You feel better?" Greldo asked, looking at him, eyes sparkling.

  Irwin nodded, focusing on his friend. It showed how tired he was that it took him a while to realize something had changed.

  Greldo's dark, shadowy eyes widened, the pupils larger than they should be, while swirls seemed to move within. Tiny eddies seemed to move around within them constantly.

  "You filled your soullake," Irwin exclaimed, pushing himself up to a sitting position.

  He noticed Ambraz perched on Greldo's shoulder and finally sensed the weary resignation coming from his bond.

  "What happened?" he asked.

  "Oh, don't worry so much," Ambraz snorted. "I just had to use some of our cards to fill his lake."

  Irwin frowned. Although Greldo's soullake was far smaller than his and should have been close to being filled, using cards would have still cost hundreds of shadowcards… which they didn't have.

  Wait… he frowned as he looked at Greldo, trying to recall the details of his cards. His second and third cards were nearly completely shadow-typed, but his first card…

  "Told you he'd figure it out," Ambraz grunted. "So, kid, I'm afraid I just blew through about two hundred and eighty cards, mostly summons and shadow cards. I've tried to stick to the useless ones, and we definitely skipped anything with potential, but…"

  Irwin snorted, barely caring about that. It was a small price to pay for Greldo getting his third soulcard. Besides, what would the alternative have been? Pull a chaos whale into his soulscape and start reforging? The mere thought of that caused his skin to crawl. Unless there was no other way, he wasn't bringing anything big into his soulscape until he felt way better than he did now.

  Greldo raised his hand, wriggling it around and drawing his attention. "So… I need a bit of help."

  Irwin was surprised to see the slots on Greldo's left hand were still empty. He'd fully expected him to slot the cards he'd been planning. If they hadn't, that could mean only one thing.

  "You need me to reforge something?"

  "Two for two," Ambraz said, flying up and landing on Irwin's shoulder, growing to match the larger perch. "So, I take it you realized by now that we sorely underestimate the soulforce pressure of chaos whales?"

  Irwin barked a laugh, involuntarily rubbing his head. "I'd say that is a bit of an understatement."

  "Exactly. So, what I managed to find out in the time they were here, they harmonized with your soulscape, and the pressure rapidly built up. When you ejected them, you were only just in time. A few seconds longer, and your entire soulscape would have burst," Ambraz said.

  Irwin felt worry mixed with relief waft through their bond, and he realized just how worried Ambraz had been.

  "So, this also means that there's no way Greldo can move you when you are that big because you wouldn't be able to stop your own soulforce resonance from ripping you back out," Ambraz said. "However, I've been thinking. Perhaps we've been going about this the wrong way. Take a look at this card."

  Irwin frowned as Greldo gave him a card. It was topaz-ranked and, from what he could feel, had never been reforged. The card's soulforce resonance was rough around the edges, but with some effort, it could be polished into something nice. Focusing on the image, he saw a faint outline that seemed to represent a bed with a person sleeping on it. It was definitely a shadow-typed card, and it seemed to have an inclination to utility or… control? He wasn't sure.

  "What am I looking at?" he asked curiously.

  "Currently, a very mediocre card called Shady Rest," Ambraz said. "It's a card of the control sub-type, and it allows the wielder to put anyone weaker into a short rest. It has the odd addition that the person put to sleep, as this will heal at a slightly increased rate."

  Irwin's eyebrows shot up as he realized what Ambraz was suggesting.

  "You want to reforge it so Greldo can use it to put the Chaos Whales to sleep!"

  "Well, not exactly," Ambraz said, sounding smug. "You are thinking of bringing them into your soulscape while they sleep, but that won't work. Their resonance happens naturally. So, when they are in here, they will start harmonizing all the same. No, what we are going to try is reforge this card to focus on a tiny bit of the card that is barely used right now. You see, from what I can tell, the card uses the shadow type to pull the one asleep partially into the shadowrealm while putting it to sleep."

  Irwin's eyebrows shot up. "You want to pull the Chaos Whales into the shadowrealm for Greldo to move."

  "Exactly," Ambraz said. "If Greldo can move them around, it will reduce the issue we've been having."

  Irwin hummed as he scanned the card, his mind already dissecting the resonance he was hearing and coming up with ways to change it.

  "Did you come up with a resonance to go for yet?" he asked, looking up.

  "I did, but there's a catch. You need to reforge it up to diamond."

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  Irwin grimaced, lowering the card. "I have zero type overlap with this card. If we try that, the card will probably fail or be barely eighty percent. If he slots that, he'd have to remove it later for a good card."

  "I know. But it doesn't matter because we can add a type you are good with to it… if we are lucky," Ambraz said.

  Irwin was about to say something, but Ambraz continued before he could.

  "Kid, don't worry. I know what you are thinking, but it's fine. Remember. Shadows can only exist if there is light. So, what does fire create? Light. And light creates shadows. We just have to try and draw out that part of the shadow card if we can."

  Irwin frowned as he understood what Ambraz wanted. It was complex and something that rarely worked.

  "Not all cards will allow that," he said slowly. "Besides, we might just add the light subtype to it, which won't help at all. It might even make it worse."

  "True, but I have a good feeling about this one," Ambraz said.

  Irwin hesitated, then shrugged. It wasn't like he had a better idea, and if it did work as Ambraz said, he'd be far more likely to reforge it to diamond. Even a partial type overlap with his own soulcards would make things far easier.

  "Alright, let's start right away," he said, walking a few steps away before turning to Greldo. "Can you return outside, in the shadowrealm, and keep an eye on things?"

  "So you can forge me a potentially great card? Definitely!"

  Irwin snorted as he waited for Greldo's call before ejecting him from his soulscape. His otherself barely caught a glimpse of Greldo before he vanished into the shadowrealm.

  "Alright, let's hear what you have prepared," Irwin said, trying to ignore the lingering headache.

  --

  "Do you think the captain will return?"

  Pelin looked at the young Yuurindi girl sitting beside him. She'd just shown up at his quiet corner of the deck a minute ago, sitting down without a word but looking anxious.

  "What gives you the idea I would know?" Pelin asked.

  "Nothing, but I've been going around asking everyone," the girl said.

  Pelin frowned, looking around the rest of the deck. He'd climbed up on a small ledge between the lower and higher decks, giving him both peace and quiet and a good view of what happened below. Hundreds of people were sitting or walking around, many looking as worried as the young girl beside him.

  "I take it nobody knew," Pelin said. It wasn't a question.

  "No," she said, looking up and back.

  Pelin followed her gaze, staring over the edge and onto the upper deck, which was far less crowded. Only a handful of Ignitzians stood there, talking with Rindiri. They were too far for him to hear what they were saying. Still, they didn't look half as worried as the rest of the people.

  "Think they will answer if I ask them?" the girl asked.

  Pelin turned to her in surprise, wondering what her deal was.

  "They might," he said slowly. "Only one way to find out."

  He fully expected her to remain with him, but she just nodded, pulled herself up the next deck, and walked towards the Ignitzians.

  She's crazy! Pelin thought, suppressing a sudden desire to follow her and see what would happen.

  To his surprise, the tall metallic woman that everyone called Irwin's sister knelt beside the girl with a smile and talked with her for a while. She pointed at the large dark hound, sleeping to the side, before shaking her head.

  A minute later, the girl walked away, looking relieved. She was walking toward the stairs, and Pelin couldn't help himself. He quickly waved at her, beckoning her over. She looked at him for a moment before turning and heading back his way.

  "What happened?" Pelin asked as she lowered herself from the high deck back on the narrow ledge.

  "Brecka said I don't have to worry. As long as Coal's shadow clone is still here, Greldo and Irwin should be fine. She said they are out scouting," she said before shrugging and making as if to climb down.

  "Hey, wait a second," Pelin said. "Who are you?"

  The girl looked at him in surprise. "Nugri," she said. "You?"

  "Pelin," he replied, somewhat lamely.

  "Well, bye, Pelin," the girl said, climbing down.

  Pelin watched her reach the lower deck and move away through the crowd.

  What just happened?

  He leaned back against the wall. Nugri… he'd have to remember that name, if only because there was definitely something odd about her.

  A day passed, with him having to go back down and sleep and eat, only to return to his perch as soon as he was allowed back on deck. Standing below it and looking up, he stared in confusion at Nugri, who was sitting on the ledge, her legs dangling down.

  Pelin hesitated, then climbed up and sat down next to her.

  "Hey," he said.

  "Hi," Nugri said, not looking at him but her gaze darting across the people walking below them. "I asked again."

  Why… would she do that? Pelin thought, but he suppressed the urge to ask.

  "And what did they say?" he asked slowly, already guessing the answer.

  "That shadow clone is still alright, so we shouldn't worry."

  "Good to know," Pelin said, turning his attention to the constant chatter below and trying to understand what was happening. Did Nugri like him? Or did she just come here to share what she'd heard?

  They continued to sit together for close to an hour, Pelin none the wiser of what to do. He'd tried talking with her a few times, but Nugri just answered questions, not offering anything else.

  He was pondering if he should just find another ledge when there came shouting from the prow. He jumped to his feet, looking ahead, and his eyes widened.

  Seven small fishlike beings hovered near the Nocturna while he thought he saw some movement on its deck.

  "They are back," Nugri said while climbing down.

  "Bye," Pelin managed just before she vanished in the crowd. He stared stupidly for a moment before focusing back on the creatures.

  I guess those are the Chaos Whales we've heard about, he thought before another thought popped into his mind. Let's hope we can return to the Captain's soulscape soon.

  --

  Rindiri watched as the seven Chaos Whale babies circled the Nocturna. She let out a pent-up sigh of relief, then almost jumped as Greldo appeared beside her. His face was pale and worn, his hands shaking slightly, but his dark eyes gleamed with an intensity that startled her.

  He filled his soulscape, she thought, feeling herself drawn into the odd swirling patterns in his dark eyes. She shook her head, looking at his left hand and finding a single new card there. The image was darker and clearer than many she'd seen. It showed a figure lying in what looked like a sea of darkness that ran up to the edges of his cardslot, causing it to appear harsh and square.

  "Sorry for startling you," Greldo grunted, causing her to look back up at him. "I'm just here so you can tell everyone we are back, safe and sound. Sadly, me and Irwin need to rest for at least a day or more. Irwin will come to bring everyone into his soulscape when he is ready."

  The hairy shadewalker hesitated, then frowned as if trying to recall something. Finally, he swatted his head and let out a weary grin. "Right, how have things been here? Everything alright?"

  "We are fine," Rindiri said. "Everyone was just getting worried."

  "Good, good," Greldo muttered, barely seeming to hear her. "Let's talk when I wake u-"

  His words cut off as he vanished into the shadows, leaving Rindiri staring at where he'd been.

  "Well, let's get everyone ready for another day," she said, turning to Brecka. "Get some shadewalkers to move around the other ships and tell them."

  Brecka ran away while Rindiri sighed and walked to the edge of the ship. Gripping the railing, she stared at the distant, shadowy ship surrounded by small Chaos Whales.

  Great, and how are we going to bring those along…?

  --

  Irwin yawned as he woke up, stretching his arms up and out. He looked to the side, finding Greldo still snoring softly. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, looking around the captain's sleeping quarters of the Nocturna.

  "Ughhhhh," Greldo groaned, turning around and putting an arm over his face. "Do you have to make that much noise?"

  Irwin snorted. "I barely made any. Your ears are just too sensitive."

  "Yours are deaf if you can't hear the racket you are making," Greldo muttered, but he sighed as he raised his hand and stared at the back of it. "I really like this new card…"

  Irwin got up and cracked his neck, then his arms as he stretched. Having no headache was fantastic, and his soulscape felt calm and steady. Still, his giantself was still asleep, showing he wasn't fully recovered yet.

  "Good, because it took enough effort," Irwin said as he thought back to the card he'd made for Greldo.

  Card: Sleep in the burning shadows

  Type: Diamond, Dream, Shadow, Forged by Irwin Roddington

  Owner: Greldo

  The wielder of this card can cause any weaker creature to fall asleep, drawing them deep within the warm embrace of the shadowrealm. While there, their natural healing, both physical and mental, will be greatly increased. Creatures can voluntarily allow themselves to fall asleep.

  Passive: Minor fire resistance

  Passive: Lucid dreaming

  Passive: Increased resistance to dream walkers [Greatly increased while in the shadowrealm]

  Active: Cause someone to fall asleep, drawing them into the shadowrealm

  It's not bad, he thought, holding back a grimace.

  Sadly, it was only just over ninety percent, meaning that Greldo would need all five other cards to be a hundred percent if he wanted Irwin to be able to create the best possible heartcard. Worse, because it was higher than his first soulcard, and thus the current potential of his soulscape, it wouldn't work at its full potential.

  Irwin pondered it for a moment, ignoring his friend, who was humming happily. Then he grinned.

  Well, that just means I'll need to find out just what a worldcard can truly become, he thought.

  His instincts were telling him that what he'd learned from the Accenti wasn't completely right. Based on everything he'd seen and what the Titan card had insinuated, there was a step beyond a soulcard, and if that were true, all he had to do was make sure at least one of his friends' soulcards was at the pinnacle.

  Well, and figure out how to even make one, what they are, and how someone isn't bound to a world, he thought.

  "So, what do we do? Rest a bit more, or start traveling?" Greldo asked.

  Irwin looked at his friend and poked his soulscape a bit more.

  "Let's rest for half a day, and then we can leave," Irwin said. "You are sure you can move those Chaos Whales at the same time as you drag me around?"

  Greldo rose, a happy gleam in his black eyes. "Don't worry about it. After they fall asleep, they are lighter than the Nocturna."

  "I wonder if that would work on me," Irwin said thoughtfully.

  "Well, if we have a few hours, we can always try," Greldo said.

  "Sure, but let's wait till my soulclone has woken up," Irwin agreed.

  "Good! That gives me time to go over all my cards again and determine what I want you to do for my second one," Greldo said, rubbing his hands gleefully.

  Irwin rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but be happy to see his friend feel better.

  "I'll go and check on the Chaos Whales."

  --

  A few hours later, when his otherself had woken up, Irwin lay back down on a bed, Greldo standing nearby.

  "Remember, don't resist," Greldo said.

  "Yes, yes. You told me that three times already," Irwin said.

  Greldo moved closer, and Irwin felt a soft, lazy resonance begin to flow from him. It tried to force his soulcards to resonate with it, and Irwin could feel them shrugging it off before he could even react.

  Greldo grunted and stumbled back. "Hey!"

  "Sorry," Irwin said, focusing on his soulcards. "That just happened without me doing anything. Try again?"

  Greldo glared at him, then nodded as he walked forward.

  Irwin felt the same resonance, and this time, he quickly grabbed his soulcards, willing them to follow the proposed resonance. He could almost feel them hesitate, but as he pushed a bit harder, they began doing as he wanted. He yawned, feeling his eyes grow heavy. A warmth spread out from all around, almost as if he was lying inside a warm hearth, its heat flowing into his bones. The next thing he knew, his mind was completely within his soulscape, and he sensed how his otherself and that part of him were fast asleep.

  "Wow… that's odd," he grunted, looking up from where he'd been going over the stacks of cards.

  "So, it worked?" Ambraz asked.

  "Yes… I can feel him moving me now," Irwin said, sensing how his other body was moving around the shadowrealm.

  A few minutes later, he felt the sleepiness fade, and his otherself wake up. Focusing on it, he opened his eyes, looking at Greldo, who looked worn to the bone.

  "You… are heavy," his friend said through gnashed teeth. "It's like carrying ten thousand of those chaos whale babies around. It's like you have anchors dangling from your body, holding you in place!"

  Irwin shrugged as he got up, noticing he felt marginally more rested than before.

  "Well, I guess that means neither of us can move an adult Chaos Whale around," he said, not adding what he was thinking, that it would only be a matter of time.

  "Well, let's go and start our journey," Greldo muttered. "You still want to stop at the harbors…?"

  Irwin hesitated, then nodded. "Yes. We can't just leave those who survive there. Besides, when we reach the large branch that surrounds Eluathar, we can find another small world for them there. With the right cards, they will be fine, and it's safer than any of the existing harbors and worlds."

  "Alright, let's get going then," Greldo said. "I'm sure people will be more than happy to have some room to move again."

  Irwin nodded as he thought about the ship with the people still infected with the plague.

  I'll have to either find a cure for that or get as many Yuurindi as I can a high enough rank card, he thought, knowing that if he couldn't, he'd have to leave some of them behind.

  @O Owen, @P Pepperbell, @j jack bizzuk, @R Rui, @W William Vickers, @J Jonathan Evans, @S Sam, @M Marrow, @L LTLlamaTree, @G Gy?rgy Pauleczki, @B Bryan Bernhardt, @E Eric Torres, @I IronFist95, @D Dekra, @J Jordan Lane, @K Kevin Spock, @J Josh Watson, @M MehTy, @M Micha? Radziszewski, @S Seth DeWitt, @J Joshua allen, @C Cupcake Jesus, @A Andrew Green, @I IcyCamo, @? ????? ??????, @L Liam Watts, @N Nick Weis, @l lehmius, @b benhlbrt, @N Nick P, @M Morningfrost, @P Patrick Dinsdale, @D Devendra Ramkarran, @b bird, @S Sengen65, @a anpi, @J Joel Cunningham, @E Emma Crossing, @S Sylv, @R Robert Wang, @V Volipoli, @D Denis T, @C ContraCowboy, @J Julien Flores, @k kaemonawa, @J Joseph Halper, @A Ahmad odt, @C Connor Herron, @G Gabriel F., @A Attherisk, @B Ben J, @W Will Newell, @S Sanaddor, @D Darren Andrei Aton, @C Cory, @D Dave Howe, @M Matthew Gibson, @C Calvin, @L Liam107, @C Corey Lusty, @J Jude Howells, @R Robert Johansson, @A Aldric, @D Djfunfu, @A Alex Han, @T Toknightly, @n nicolas perez, @g gabriel barraza, @M Max Gustavson, @R Russ, @T Theo Chao, @T Trenton king, @A AnWan, @T Tony T, @M Mark Newton, @D DarkRaven, @J Jonathan Ryan-Walker, @S Sebastian K., @I Immutably Empty, @S SubtleStubble, @T TheSoraRyuu, @B Benedict Jung, @R Robert, @s smpx, @V Venetian Secretion, @C Callum Watson, @H Hajakuja, @D Del conn, @D Dominic, @D David Anderson, @J James Snyder, @G Gigih Ramadhan, @K KARNLL, @A Anne Kristiansen, @A Andre Darda, @M MxVz, @M ModdedTech, @R R4wlo, @E Eaglesfall, @i im Panda, @s spencer annable, @S Sheltron5000

  Common = Quartz, Uncommon = Amethyst, Rare = Topaz, Very Rare = Emerald, Epic = Ruby, Legendary = Diamond, Mythical = Ammolite