Training Wheels [IC]

[alderwitch]

It was rare that Taylor took out someone that was just working the kinks out of their mystical powers at this point in her life. Most of the time, she was just too busy. But Stesha was as good a friend as she'd ever really had so of course she took time to help out with a new found ability. Especially when this sort of ability was something you really, really wanted a safety net on.

"Okay, so, I'm not sure how your magic is going to do this. I pop through the Void to dimension skip but it's all, sort of, innate. I mean, I know where I'm going but the process is sort of instinctive, so I'm really not sure how to pass that on. Fortunately, your magic is pretty instinctive too so at least we're working off of the same principles. This would be a lot harder if you were Hermetic," Taylor said to Stesha as they stood out in a park and in front of a small cluster of plants.

[Electra]

"Well, I've been in the dimension I send people to when the plants eat them," Stesha said a little dubiously, "and I've been to places where everything is plants and no people, and I'm pretty sure it's another dimension. But I'd like to learn how to control it. I think it could definitely be useful. If I could set up a holding area somewhere, even just a little building with a couple of first aid kits and signs to tell people where they are, it would make evacuations a lot easier. I hate putting innocent people in my pocket dimension, because it disorients them so badly when they pop out. Maybe this could solve the problem. But I don't know how to start, or what to aim for," she admitted. "How do you do it?"

[alderwitch]

"When its just me? I just picture the plane I'm going to and step sideways into it. I have to open a portal to take other people through -well- if I don't pop them in the Void for the ride." Taylor said, frowning as she tried to find away to explain the concept. "I mean, all that keeps you from stepping into anyworld you want is the Veil, so I just step through that instead of stepping forward through the standard three dimensions. Does that make any sense?"

[Electra]

"So you just visualize where you want to be, and go there?" Stesha asked. "That seems easy enough. It's how I travel from place to place, anyway. But I haven't really been to other places yet, so that makes it harder." She reached tentatively for the leaves of a lilac bush, then looked over to Taylor. "Can you tell me what to visualize this first time, maybe? I think that might make it easier, if I have something to aim for."

[alderwitch]

"Ohhh.... hmm.... Okay, lets try this. It's a near-Earth but uninhabited..." Taylor proceeded to describe in minute detail one of the verdant green earth dimensions. She knew that it was of similar enough atmosphere to cause no problems, "How's that? Do you think you can do that? I'll be right behind you and I'll pull you back if you miss and end up somewhere else. Sadly, I think the only way for you to learn is trial and error but at least you have a safety net. When I got lost, I just had to meander my way back no matter how long that took."

[Electra]

Stesha grimaced at that idea. "I hope that won't be a problem, anytime I've teleported in the past, I've had a strong sense of where home is, and I always just followed that. I wouldn't want to get lost out there. It's a big... universes." Closing her eyes and concentrated, she reached into the network of plants she used for travel, searching for ones that were very far away, yet right at her fingertips...

In an instant, they were somewhere else entirely. Or rather, they were standing in exactly the same spot, but in a very different world. All signs of human life were gone, wiped away by dense vegetation. Stesha looked around, then clapped her hands. "I did it! Or at least... I think I did. Is this the right place?" she asked Taylor.

[alderwitch]

Taylor glanced around for a few moments, her normal brown eyes bleeding to glowing white as she used her supernatural senses to quickly verify their location. Her dimples flashed in a quick smile and she nodded, dropping the spell, "Right on the money. This is the same location that we were just in, in what would be Freedom City on another plane of existence. Very good. Now, after you've had a moment to get a sense of this place... can you get home? I know you said that was easier."

[Electra]

"Sure, I can still feel it." Stesha closed her eyes again, reaching out for the familiar plants of home. In a moment, they were home, literally. A slightly longer than usual transit brought them out in the middle of Stesha's apartment, standing next to her favorite traveling hypoestes. "Well... I was close," Stesha said with a laugh. "I guess I reached for the most familiar plants, instead of just home plants. I got it right, didn't I?" She looked around for any discrepancies that might indicate she'd missed by a fraction and sent them to the wrong universe.

[alderwitch]

"You did indeed, this is Earth Prime. It'll always have a little extra weight as the heavy anchor of the Earth-like dimensions," Taylor mused as she solidified in synch with Prime and glanced around, "Alright, lets try something with a little less natural vegetation and see how you do with those. There's a lot of near Earth's. All I'm going to tell you about the next one is that it's similar to this one but all the super heroes there work for sports teams. I took Jack there the first time we went jaunting about. It's a second or so slower in the time stream so by now they're several months behind Earth Prime. Its winter there. See if you can get us in their Freedom park."

[Electra]

Stesha concentrated, closing her eyes and screwing up her face. "I don't think it's working," she said uncertainly after a few moments of effort. "Maybe I can't go through time the way you can. I can... I can sort of feel that there are places where it's winter and the plants are sleeping, or where the plants are really slow or fast, but I can't grab hold of them like I can normal ones. Maybe I'm not doing it right." She tried again, and this time they did transit, but they came out in the middle of an empty baseball diamond on a clear summer day. Overhead, a squadron of superheroes in black uniforms flew in formation. "I don't think this is right."

[alderwitch]

Taylor glanced up and with a thought threw a quick cover spell over the two of them, hoping that was fast enough for whatever Supers were floating around to not pay attention to them, "Yeah, this isn't the dimension I was thinking of. I'm not sure where we are and I won't be able to focus on figuring that out till I can drop our cover. Let's find someplace to hole up quickly so I can find out where we are..."

[Electra]

"How about over there?" Stesha suggested, pointing to the home team dugout. It was totally overgrown with ivy, and looked like it would be invisible from the sky. Indeed, the field itself showed evidence of only the most desultory mowing, and that not recent. The grass stretched up well past their ankles. "I must've gotten confused," she said as they hurried to the shelter, "I thought sports and superheroes, and I guess I got a little of both, but not exactly. At least they weren't in the middle of a game... which is kind of weird. Isn't it baseball season?"

[alderwitch]

"I think so... I've never really been a sports sort of person, really," Taylor said as they ducked down and hustled into the dug out. Taylor just phased on through the greenery as she figured Stesha wouldn't have any problem with a few over grown plants. "I don't think this place has been used in a really long time, though. Everything's kinda over grown and out of use."

[Electra]

The plants seemed to move aside for Stesha before she even touched them, letting her duck easily into the overgrown dugout. For good measure, a few more sprouted up after they were inside. "Maybe this is a universe where everyone just got bored of baseball," she suggested, peering into the doorway that led to the locker rooms. It was closed and locked securely. "It is kind of boring, I have to say. Do you think we should just try and go back to Prime?"

[alderwitch]

"Erde," Taylor said the word tightly, and with a gesture popped a portal open to the world they knew, hustling Stesha through with one wary look over her shoulder. She took the time to make sure they weren't traced or followed and then closed the portal with a pop. "Not a pleasant place to live or visit. Shall we try one more time?"

[Electra]

"Sorry about that," Stesha said with a grimace, brushing herself off as though trying to shake off the aura of that world. "Yeah, let's get back on the horse. I'm glad you were with me though, I might have decided to go exploring, and that probably wouldn't have ended well." With a little sigh, she centered herself again, thought about other worlds. "Maybe this time we can try for one without people?" she suggested. "Maybe one without a lot of anything, but that still has air and light and plants. I seem to be able to zero in on those a little bit better."