Aaaah! What was that? Why do you sound so close? Kente’s thought voice was high and fast. He was shocked by this new sensation; it wasn’t the same as listening to Marke’s voice when he spoke aloud.


    Try meditating on the nature of Eclipses. I think you can come here too. Marke thought.


    A minute later, the Kente opened his eyes and saw a grinning Marke. They stood together on the shadow sea. Marke was glowing with light, Kente was doing the opposite with shadow.


    “What’s the opposite of glowing?” Kente asked. Marke just laughed and hugged Kente, slapping him on the back. They both felt solid enough. This was a sensation that Kente hadn’t actually felt except in memories from the original Marke. It felt so good to have a body, even if it maybe might not be real. He was overcome with emotion and couldn’t speak clearly for several minutes. Marke didn’t look like he understood why, but he was supportive and just waited patiently.


    Kente eventually managed to speak. “I haven’t had a body in a while. I really missed it, Marke. Sometimes it was really hard.” His voice nearly cracked, but he didn’t want to start crying, he wanted to do something interesting. How could he make something interesting happen? He looked up at Marke’s face. Up? “Hey, no fair! You’re taller than me.”


    Marke looked confusedly down at their feet then up at the top of Kente’s head. “Only by a little.” He said. “Do your feet stick into the ground more than mine?”


    Kente picked up his feet and examined them. They seemed normal and sat on the surface of the sea. Where he stepped, the light slick pulled back so that he walked only on the shadows. “No.”


    “Actually, I’m wider than you are too.” Marke said.


    “What?” Looked at their shoulders, then stretched his arms out wide. Marke matched him and, indeed, Marke’s fingers spread just a tiny bit further. “Did you grow while in prison?” Kente asked. Marke just shrugged. Kente was struck by a wave of gratitude for the fact that they could have non-verbal communication.


    They stood around for a while, just chatting. Kente thought it was pretty great, but there were important things they needed to figure out.


    “How do we get out of here?” Marke asked.


    “I assume we just stop meditating.” Kente said. “But I don’t feel like I’m meditating right now.”


    “Me neither.” Marke said. He rubbed his chin. Kente thought that looked fun, so he rubbed his own chin.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Marke closed his eyes and breathed slowly. His body stopped moving and became a statue of light. Got it. His thought voice echoed around Kente. Just meditate on the nature of eclipses again.


    Ok, be right out. Kente said. He took a few more moments to jump up and down, do some spins, and try a cartwheel. He fell flat on his back. He pushed himself up to sitting, then closed his eyes and meditated.


    <hr>


    Marke waited for Kente to come back out of the shadow sea before asking a question. “How do we get off this roof?” Now that his mind was back in his body, he felt the many pains interfering with his thoughts.


    “I want a body.” Kente said. “I want the System to give us a skill that lets you make a body for me. You really wanted the mind protection skill for Priority One. I need a body to satisfy Priority One. It doesn’t even have to be all the time, I just want something.” Kente spoke earnestly. Marke didn’t blame him. Kente hadn’t complained about anything except boredom, but he had all the same memories Marke did before the split, so it made sense that he would be more comfortable with a body.


    “Yes, of course. Manifesting a skill from the System worked once. If something works once, it can work twice.” Marke nodded.


    “Can you climb the ladder?” Kente switched the conversation right back to business.


    “I think so. I’ll just use my good hand and my good foot.” Marke started up the ladder. He peeked out onto the roof. The roof was flat stone with a raised lip around the edge. Marke didn’t see a second roof access. He looked over to the prison roof, but it was a taller building and all he could tell was that no one was standing near the edge. Looking to the other direction, Marke saw a bank of storm clouds rushing towards the town. He furrowed his brows in confusion. “Has it rained at all since we came to this realm? It rained just before we got here, but I don’t know if it rained at night.”


    “I don’t think it has rained now that you mention it. Do those storm clouds seem to be going especially fast?” Kente sounded worried. Marke studied the clouds for a few moments.


    “Yes. Very yes. Holy cow that’s a big storm.” Marke looked down into the roof access area. “I guess I’m not in danger of drowning, but we should try very hard to get off this rooftop. The storm might provide cover so we can get away or at least hide somewhere else.” Marke took a moment to think. “Priority One: I need food soon. Priority Two: shelter.” Marke climbed fully onto the roof and lay on his belly to try and stay out of sight.


    “Roger that. The only food sources we know of are forest berries and prison porridge. Those are both poor options right now, so we have to do some breaking and entering. Can you pull the ladder up here?” Kente said.


    Marke could pull the ladder, though it was awkward and lifted obtrusively high before he could lay it flat on the roof. He crawled slowly towards the “back” of the building because he hoped there was something like an alley with fewer people than the street. He checked the prison roof again and focused on Hide before looking down over the edge. It wasn’t an alley, exactly, it was an empty canal. The back of the building he was on had several drains leading out the back that would empty into the canal. Marke pulled his head back.


    “This is bad.” Marke said.


    “Out of the frying pan and into the eye of a hurricane.” Kente said.


    Marke raised his eyebrows. “Feeling poetic?”