I became well-acquainted with the town, accompanying Yaviri so our minds could latch together in a closed loop circuit of grounding, lest the noise of so many minds leave us pained and exhausted.
Like the others, Kul biosphere left its people wanting for little. It was idyllic, with its hub town's glittersome architecture flowing cooperatively into the forestry, its clear waters and spacious mountains teeming with wildlife. There was another name for these spherical, verdant semivoids: Cradles. Some of us saw that word as an allusion to birth and life. Others saw it as a glowering condescension accusing the inhabitants of infancy - children at play in a stable world that provides their needs.
It frustrated me.

Despite this, I found myself scarcely wanting to leave. It was cozy, certainly, but the real reason - one of them - was walking alongside me, toying absentmindedly with one of the rosen braids framing her face and contrasting against the fiery mane trailing down her back. Out here in the megastructure, so far removed from those noisy minds, I realize they might have more in common with me than their own tribe. They stay on the outskirts, hike in the stratum rather than mountains, look for answers outside their cradle.

Suddenly the world spins to life and tears me from my thoughts, rumbling and shifting, plates scraping noisily together, turning, slamming into new positions. I sprint toward Fray as she loses her footing and reach out, but she's already in freefall and I'm left hanging from the ledge as this fragment of madness swings to its new home. I let go and roll to my feet along another plate as it swings back toward where I lost her, swiftly making my way to the joints that propel it so I can scramble further downward.
The farther I go, the calmer it gets, as if the shifting had been a ripple moving upward. By the time I spot her in the dim ambient light, the chaos has ebbed fully. What I see chills my blood, though, and a struggle against the world's motion becomes a struggle with myself as the heat, feeling, and strength drain from my body.

Eventually I slip and barely manage to protect my head as I land by her motionless side. Everything hurts, and when I reach for her my hand is as red as her hair. Some of it could be mine, but that's a fleeting thought that crumbles as the first heat that returns to me pools and pours from my eyes.
"Fray..." I can barely hear myself. "Get up..."

No response...

I try to move and the world flashes white with agony. I can't move.

Time passes in a haze...

I can't feel her mind... is it the pain stopping me? Or is she-
...

I lose track of time long before something finally happens. Shimmers of sanguine light bloom along the pool we're laying in until every drop is illuminated. Something in me stirs distantly in recognition, and then once again when those sparks of neon light begin to swirl and coalesce and finally vanish, leaving only the red of her hair. Her eyes open and I realize something I'd barely noticed time and again: those catlike pupils in the centers of her violet eyes are shimmering. Sometimes it's hard to tell her and Yaviri apart, but a look at their eyes was always enough, and now I realize why. It's easy to think these things now, seeing her moving again, seeing her climb to her feet.
Unfortunately it also brings back all the pain I'd lost the will to feel until now, and hells does everything hurt.

Another swirl of that sanguine light brings ease to all that pain, and once it fades, there's nothing left spurring me to consciousness.
I simply fade into oblivion...

I don't know how long I was asleep for. The pain and emotion burned out every joule of energy I had. I blink myself awake and find myself surrounded by ramshackle furnishings, mostly camp supplies and salvage with a chorus of drapes and string lights overhead. One of Aruli's hideaways, no doubt. They come into view quickly, looking over my face with a sort of frantic eagerness, and turn to look behind me with wide eyes.
"Fray!" they bark, letting her know I'm awake.

I sit up as Fray scrambles over to check on me, and I notice that glint in her pupils again.
"I really wasn't seeing things, was I?" I ask quietly, earning a quizzical look.
"Your eyes... and those particles of light. You were... you-"
My face contorts as I remember what I saw and felt, and Fray pulls me into a tight hug before sitting down and taking a deep breath.

Where do I start?

I take a deep breath, hold it for a moment, then exhale deeply as Aruli retreats comfortably to nearby wall to tinker with something.

"What you saw was real, yeah," I begin. "Those little flecks of light that swirl around me as I dance, or heal myself, or heal you... sometimes the color changes, but when I'm doing it they're usually red."

"You are doing it, then..."

"Yeah. When I reach into the Pulse, or flow with Nel, or do something that bends the world around me."

His eyes light up with startled wonder. "You can reach into the Pulse?!"

His response surprises me a bit and we simply stare at each other agape for a moment. Eventually, I stand up and offer him a hand. "I'll show you, come on. There's a Pulse vein nearby."