“Yes,” she replied, in her own language. “But I am not expert in their use.”
“Some weapons do not require expertise. Colene has told me of guns.”
“Of what?”
“Colene, describe a gun for Nona.”
Colene, now dipping water from a pond that was probably no more than a puddle to this world, obliged with a mental picture of a small metal object with a short tube projecting.
“I can not fetch such a thing, for I know of none,” Nona said. “I can make something that looks similar, if you wish.”
“That won’t work,” Colene said. “They have to be made exactly right, and have bullets.”
“Bullets?”
“Little bits of metal that shoot out.”
“I do not understand how that could be a weapon.”
Darius sympathized, for he found the notion confusing too. “No guns,” he said. “Knives, spears—they should help.”
“Illusions can be effective too,” she said. “Often they can fool the animals, so there is no need for violence.”
“Yes, Colene used an illusion to thwart Knave Naylor,” Darius agreed with satisfaction. “Seqiro can do that, in a fashion. But his illusions are strictly in the mind of the person he touches, no one else.”
“Yes, it is a marvelous power,” she agreed. “My illusions are visible to everyone; I can not limit them like that.”
“The two of you, working together, should be able to discourage almost anything.”
“It is nice to be with Seqiro,” she said.
Darius realized that Nona, despite her powers, was basically an innocent woman, lacking some of the hard edges Colene had. She hardly seemed the type to change a world. Perhaps it was just as well that she had fallen in with their party, because things were bound to get un-innocent soon enough. “Yes, it is nice,” he agreed.
Colene and Provos returned with water. “But I could have conjured that,” Nona protested.
“You’re supposed to be resting,” Colene reminded her. “I’m going to forage something to cook.”
“But I can transform—” Nona started. Then Darius’ warning thought registered: it was a thing Colene needed to do. So she compromised by transforming a hair into a fine tuber, then floating it quietly to a place where Colene would soon find it. Darius did not protest; he was in doubt about the safety of natural food here. It could be spoiled or poisonous, despite seeming all right.
They made a meal from the tuber, and this worked well, because it was by no coincidence of the type that became delicious when boiled. Then they formed a barricade-shelter by the base of a towering tree, walling the huge world out. It was large enough to include Seqiro. It seemed snug and safe, but Darius knew that any large animal could crush it with one foot. He still felt insecure.
Then he had an idea. “Nona, can you make an illusion that will remain without further effort?”
“Yes, as long as I am near it.”
“Can you make an illusion of the base of the tree covering this shelter, so that it seems to be part of the tree from outside?”
“I can do that. Do you want it to smell like the tree also?”
“Yes! Excellent. That will camouflage us, so maybe we won’t be bothered.”
Even so, they decided to take turns awake, watching. There were peepholes in the shelter facing in four directions: east, south, west, and up. If there was anything suspicious, Seqiro was supposed to be awakened first, and if he verified hostility or hunger near, he would alert the others.
Fortunately there was no emergency, and they were able to get a fairly good night’s rest.
Darius had the first watch. The others settled down, but Colene remained awake. It seemed she wanted to talk to him. Probably the horse remained awake too, connecting their minds. “Why were you hugging Nona?”
Oh. He should have known that she would not forget that detail, from the time he had been with the woman and horse. “I do not care to conjure more than one person at a time, so I had to carry her.”
“Why not?”
“That is the natural safe limit of sympathetic magic,” he explained. “A person can conjure himself or another person, but it is not wise to—”
“Back in your home reality, maybe. But here maybe things are different. Did you ever try more than one here?”
He was surprised. “This is possible. I shall have to try.” He marked two circles on the ground, almost touching because there was little room. Then he brought out the Darius and Colene icons. “If you will—”
“Gotcha.” She moved so as to stand wedged beside him in one circle.
He invoked the two icons, then moved them toward the other circle. He moved—and so did she. Now they were wedged together in the other circle. “It is different here! I can not transfer joy, but I do seem to be able to conjure simultaneously with assurance.” He could tell by the feel of it.
“So now you won’t have to hug Nona any more.”
He looked down at her. “That is unfortunate.” Then they laughed.
Nona took the next watch, and Darius lay down. But Colene remained awake. Darius could sleep when he chose, but was curious about Colene’s next move. Was she going to tell Nona what she had told him?
Not so. “You don’t wear anything under your tunic,” Colene said.
“That is true,” Nona agreed. “No one does, unless it is cold.”
“Men don’t either?”
“It is unnecessary. The tunic covers everything.”
“What about when the wind blows hard?”
“It is not hard to keep a tunic in place.”
“But don’t your breasts sag?”
“Sag? Yes, with age. That is natural.”
“Well, I have news for you. They look better and last better if they are supported. The flesh doesn’t get pulled out of shape. Here, I’ll show you.” Colene pulled off her tunic, revealing her crudely torn and tied halter and pants. “See, I don’t have nearly the stuff you do, but when I have the right uplift, it looks almost as if I do. And if I wear the right kind of pants, my tummy looks better too.”
“That is true!” Nona agreed, intrigued. “And such a garment prevents the deterioration of age?”
“Sure. Let me show you the design, and you can make me a good bra and panties.”
“Yes. Then I will make them for myself.”
Darius knew that Colene was doing this so that Nona would no longer expose her torso when she changed tunics, or bounce as obviously when she walked. That was just as well; he had found Nona’s body to be most distracting, whether viewed from a distance or held close. He had tried to do the proper thing, and not look, but the responsibility to hide her private flesh was really the woman’s. It would be better yet if both of them wore full female diapers, but he knew it would be useless to suggest that. The women of other cultures simply lacked the appropriate modesty of those of his own reality. Colene exposed herself deliberately, to taunt him, and Nona did so because she felt it was all right when washing among friends; both were driving him moderately mad.
He allowed himself to drift to sleep, while Nona used her magic to make the type of garments Colene wanted. He was glad that Colene was taking a positive approach. He did not care to risk her negative approach.
When he woke, he found a pair of undershorts beside him. Colene had arranged for him to be clothed under his tunic too. He put them on without comment.
NEXT day they set out for a suitable Megaplayer. They did this by helping Nona to gain a local familiar, which was a large (to them) bird, then conjuring themselves as a group to the promising sites the bird spotted. Several such jumps took them onto a larger head of Jupiter, where farms were spotted. Nona had a certain sense about which native person might be amenable to their approach, and Seqiro verified this. But it was Provos who was decisive: she did not remember the first prospect, or the second, or the third. Darius trusted her memory, so they kept searching until Provos acquiesced. So it was that they came to the house of an artisan who lived alone.