second choice (video)

[wingsister]

[That talking white horse is on-'screen' again and this time the 'screen' isn't ripping. Instead, it looks like she's indoors, possibly a cafe or coffee shop judging by the background noise. Some canny numbered may even be able to recognize that she's in fact contacting the network while at Expresso Yourself, where she's become quite a regular over the course of the last month.

She takes a delicate bite from one of the sugar cookies piled on a plate in front of her before beginning to MindSpeak:]

:Hello. I'm contacting the Network to tell people that after many days and nights of careful thought, I've decided to start calling myself by my previous self's name. It's not that I don't appreciate what Shou named me all those years ago. Areonwen was a very nice name. It served me quite well when I was a horse.

But-- I'm not really a horse anymore. Or I'm in the process of becoming something else, anyway. Something that may be horse-shaped but isn't really a horse anymore than-- than--: [There's a pause here as she obviously searches for the right word.] :Than one of your angels is a human.

In the place my previous self came from, there was an institution known as the Heralds and the Herald-Mages. They were humans who wore white uniforms and had mind magic--and the ones called Herald-Mages has true magic as well. They were there to protect the kingdom and to solve any strange or difficult problems within that kingdom.

The Heralds were partnered with beings known as Companions, who were a kind of guardian spirit that took the form of horses because it allowed us to travel quickly and gave us some convenient natural weapons by way of our hooves. That's what I'm becoming again.

And when I was a Companion my name was 'Sayvil.' I'd like it if you called me that now.:

Comments

PRIVATE TO SHOU

[wingsister]

[Sayvil looks somewhat guilty, as much as a horse can, when she contacts Shou privately.]

:You can still call me Areonwen if you want. I do want to use my Companion name for other people, but... you don't have to use it.:

[ursoreckless]

If that's the name you wanna use, then that's the name you wanna use. No hard feelings over it at all; after all, not everyone's got nearly the same names as their past selves.

[wingsister]

[If anything, she looks guiltier.] :I suppose not.:

[After a long moment she adds,] :You're still important to me, even if you aren't my Chosen. You're my other human. And I doubt Kerowyn is going to show up with echopulses now if she hasn't already.:

[ursoreckless]

I know. Even if I may not spend that much time with you, you're still important to me too, Sayvil.

[wingsister]

[Shou might get a quick mental glimpse of an older, white-haired woman with a beaky nose looking both pleased and regretful.]

:You too, Shou.:

[There's a brief silence on her end, then she snorts and Says,] :Oh, to the hells with it. Since you just gave me an echopulse concerning it, I might as well tell you it: I turns out did have practically the same name from my first life to my second, it's just this one, here and now, is evidently my third--which I've known since I knew I was a Companion, mind you, but we weren't supposed to let on that most of us used to be Heralds like the ones we partnered. Though I really don't know how we weren't caught at it with the way we barely changed our names from life to life--there's hardly any difference between Savil Ashkevron and Sayvil, besides the first version having a second part to it.:

[She exhales suddenly, blowing air through her nostrils.] :I didn't quite expect to say all, but I think I feel better now that I have. And a handful of us were full spirits, like what I was talking about. I just wasn't one of them.:

[ursoreckless]

So basically you were once a person that became a glowy talking horse and now are my glowy talking horse?

That's pretty cool.

[wingsister]

:Yes. Basically. Even though I never Chose you like I Chose Kerowyn--my Herald then--you are mine and I'm yours. And I would have had a Companion of my own once, when I was a Herald. I don't remember mine, yet, but that's how it works.

Although we're not really horses. Or-- I won't be a horse in too very long. Just horse-shaped.:

ACTION (PRIVATE TO TORIN)

[wingsister]

:Did you 'hear' that?: [Sayvil 'says' from halfway across the coffee shop once she's finished with her announcement.] :I tried to pitch it so that both the Network could 'hear' it and that you could too. It's just the two of us now, though.:

[She takes another cookie from her stack.]

:That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.:

[radiantchicken]

I did!

[He makes his way over to the table Sayvil's at.]

I've found it to be very liberating to start going by the name I remembered. I hope it is the same for you, as well.

[wingsister]

:Mm. I hope so too.

I didn't tell them everything about us, I'm afraid. About Companions, that is. I understand why I have memories of being a human Herald-Mage and memories of being a Companion now. I could tell you why, but it would have to be a secret. I know it was something we kept secret from the Heralds.:

[radiantchicken]

I understand.

[There is a very serious nod.]

I'd be honored that you'd tell me--and I will not tell anyone else. You have my word.

[wingsister]

[Sayvil takes the time to eat another cookie before she replies, gathering her thoughts on how best to explain it.

She believes Torin, that he wouldn't tell. And honestly, it wasn't as if there was anyone from-- from her prior selves' kingdom here besides her to be dismayed by these hidden truths.]

:We used to be Heralds. All of us who were Companions to Heralds were just prior Heralds who were born again into horse-like bodies with our previous life's memories intact. I remember dying as a human woman, because I was a human woman then. I can even start to piece together an order of when the things I remember happened now, because the ones where I had hands and a human body were my first life and the ones I didn't were my second life.

I was a human, Torin. Not a shape-changer. A human. And I died and I elected to come back to advise another human who'd been in my position before. Or a similar position. Kerowyn's position was rather singular. I remember that much.

We never did tell them what we were, not all of them. Not most of them. I don't remember if I told Kerowyn. She was from outland, she might have had a way to figure it out on her own.

I think part of it was that they'd treat us as a much higher authority that way...:

[A mental equivalent of a sigh.]

:There were a few of us who really were true spirits who'd never been human. But-- the rest were like me.:

[radiantchicken]

"That's amazing." Torin sounds very impressed, that much is certain. "And so something similar has happened a third time..." He's careful not to say anything out loud that might run the risk of being overheard, for his speech doesn't work in the same way as Areonwen's.

[wingsister]

And while she could eavesdrop on him with her mindmagic, she'd really rather not. Somewhere along the line in her transition from Areonwen to Sayvil, she seemed to have developed ethics.

:I just wanted to tell you,: she says, :so you'd know I wasn't-- wasn't quite as an exalted a being as I made it sound to them. The angel comparison works for the Companions who weren't human, the Grove-Born, and quite well--but it's an exaggeration of my own capabilities.:

[radiantchicken]

"There's a bit to be said for doing that sort of thing." Torin nods. "Many people have no idea what I am and am not capable of--I'd prefer to keep it that way. The mystery's useful."

[wingsister]

:Exactly. We used the mystery to our advantage whenever we could. I wouldn't quite say we were running everything behind the scenes... but they did consult us often enough.:

[radiantchicken]

"A sound strategy, to be sure." Torin nods in approval.

[wingsister]

[There's the mental impression of a smile.] :It wasn't quite fair to the Heralds... but it was effective, which counts for something, I suppose. Except for you and Shou, it's a tradition I'll err on the side of keeping for now.

The tradition of only MindSpeaking to our Chosen Herald partners and other Companions seems less effective, to my mind, and I certainly won't be keeping it up here.: [Especially since she didn't have her Herald.] :I'm afraid you're stuck with me.: [Another impression of a smile.]

[radiantchicken]

"I don't think being stuck is the right word for it." There's a hint of a smile in Torin's own voice, though having a beak makes smiling impossible. "'Stuck' sounds far too unpleasant. You're anything but that."

[wingsister]

If she were human again, her cheeks would have colored at that. :Well,: she Says briskly, :I'm glad we're of like minds, then.:

[radiantchicken]

Torin remains apparently oblivious to the fact that he said anything blushworthy. "As am I."

[wingsister]

He has a nice voice, all deep and confident. Not that she hasn't noticed it before, of course, and there's really no reason to be especially noticing it now.

:I'm glad I got my Numbers. For any (hah) number of reasons, but also because I met you.:

[radiantchicken]

"I feel the same way." Torin nods. "Meeting you has been one of the brighter spots in all of this."

[wingsister]

It's a very lucky thing that Sayvil's a horse or rather horse-shaped. If she were a human she'd be--

Well. She's not and that's just as well, all things considered.

She eats a cookie.