Elder Cultivator

Slowly and patiently Bear Hug extended part of themself towards the nearby ivy that had just torn off part of it. About ninety percent of the way to actually touching the vine, they stopped and waited. Anton watched Bear Hug hold the pose for several minutes. For a human non-cultivator, their arm might have gotten tired holding such a pose. Bear Hug had no skeletal structure, which meant all support had to be actively maintained by their own energy. It was about the same as constantly levitating material.

But Bear Hug waited, until slowly the ivy dared to cross the last bit of distance, wrapping around. The two twisting bits of greenery waggled up and down… and down and up. Left and right and in and out and eventually the ivy realized it was supposed to let go.

“You did good!” Bear Hug said, indicating their new friend. “We can also do that like this.” Bear Hug extended just a thin strand of energy, waiting. The ivy responded more quickly this time. Their energies touched, providing a level of feedback that their bodies likely didn’t possess. Yet Bear Hug still clearly preferred physical contact. “Good, you’re learning.” Bear Hug repeated the word good frequently, likely because Anton had done the same. As the only example of teaching language, that was only natural.

Over the next few days they came and went- there wasn’t anywhere comfortable for Bear Hug to rest within close proximity of the tree. Anton, being the odd member of the bunch, preferred to allow Bear Hug to interface with the new friend most directly. However, he also participated in energy conversation with Bear Hug for purposes of demonstration.

Slowly, the ivy came to understand the basics. It seemed they were shy more than unable to understand, but eventually the concept of names came up. Referencing people that were present was simple, but signs for names came about when people couldn’t be directly pointed out. Bear Hug was a particular folding and entangling of energy representing the action they were named after, while Anton went with a bow shaped with the warmth of the sun. The latter was a bit more complicated, but most cultivators would be able to make a vague approximation of the feeling even if they didn’t use fire. Ultimately, the bow would be sufficient unless other humans arrived or someone else picked up weaponry.

The ivy eventually ended up with a name that took a simplistic representative form, a curving line representing coiling around a tree. Helix. Anton thought it was a good name when translated into actual words, and a unique enough form to be recognizable. Eventually flourishes might be necessary once there were enough known individuals to have overlap in their name structures, but it was unlikely anyone would be taking the name ‘spring’ as in the mechanical object any time soon, so Helix was plenty distinct.

The concept of days was clear enough to every plant- heat and cold of the sun. Thus, they were eventually able to communicate that they would be going away for many days, but would return.

“We need to find other people to talk to,” Bear Hug explained. “I can’t be here and there and over there very well, so I have to go.”

Helix waved goodbye. They did not appear particularly sad nor happy at the parting. That was good enough, at least.

When they were on their way a few hours out, Bear Hug twisted around. “We forgot to ask Helix to accept you being the sun!”

Anton shook his head. “That’s not important. Though it is also more likely now regardless, creating connections between people is the most important. I want you to be able to get along.”

“But things would be better if you were part of the sun, wouldn’t they?”

“My answer would be biased towards that, since it is what I already do. But it may not be the case.”

Of course, after reaching Unity people would be guided towards a more harmonious world with a bound star around, but there was some possibility that it wouldn’t be as beneficial for people who were so different. Though if Anton grew to understand the locals better- what they wanted and needed- then that problem should theoretically solve itself. There could be sapient creatures somewhere that were alien enough he couldn’t grow to understand them, though. Or they might have incompatible needs. A world that was significantly unbalanced might be difficult to bring into unity without causing some harm to some of its residents.

Anton knew that it was impossible to live in a way that caused no harm to anyone or anything, but striving for ideal results was the best thing about being a cultivator. He’d rather not make any big mistakes, and at his level of power it would not require much of his power to make a massive mistake. Though that was only if he wasn’t careful with his control.

-----

As they traveled, Anton taught Bear Hug how to sense things further away. Previously Bear Hug had traveled from location to location along waterways, and while that was a useful method it also greatly restricted the directions and areas of travel. If they were to be exploring the entire region, more mobility would be required. Anton was always happy to find water sources for Bear Hug, but Anton wanted to promote independence.

Currently, he was watching Bear Hug get eaten alive. Very slowly by a swarm of small fish. Bear Hug didn’t seem to mind. From what Anton could tell, they had moved all of the older and soon to be dead pieces to their outer surface. Human bodies recycled dead cells automatically, and algae likely did as well, but having entire sections die off was strange. From what Anton understood, those were older and ‘worse’ iterations of Bear Hug’s body. They didn’t seem concerned and overall kept up the same amount of biomass, so Anton just accepted it.

Over the course of weeks, they had traveled far enough to change into a hotter climate, the beginnings of something resembling rainforest. Bear Hug was excited to see dense plant life and very much enjoyed frequent rains- which was why Anton had chosen the direction they were headed.

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While Bear Hug had difficulty traversing terrain in general, what might be considered obstacles weren’t really the issue. Except for cliffs that completely blocked movement unless climbed over, the strands of algae and water easily fit through and around any sort of obstruction. Dense foliage and bushes weren’t a problem except that some strands got left behind. Bear Hug rarely bothered to disentangle any bits.

“Oh!” Bear Hug’s energy bounced up and down in excitement. “Look, a friend with a pond inside them! This is a good place to sleep for the night.” Bear Hug rapidly approached an enormous pitcher plant- large enough to catch more than bugs, but it might even be large enough to catch humans- if there were humans to catch. Anton detected a few remains of bones at the bottom, which was telling.

“No,” Anton said. “That’s not good for sleeping in. It’s bad water.”

“... Why?” Bear Hug asked.

“Because that’s actually the stomach of that plant. Animals fall in there and can’t get out, and it dissolves them.”

Bear Hug pondered for a few moments. “That makes sense. It’s a pretty devious trap. Do you think that one set it up on purpose?”

“I don’t know if it’s sapient,” Anton said. “I have observed similar plants that are that way naturally. And one elsewhere of a similar form but smaller in magnitude. Do you sense any active energy control?” ℞åNóβËś

“Not really,” Bear Hug admitted. “I was just hopeful.”

“We’ll find a new friend soon, I’m certain.”

-----

Soon was relative, but eventually they came upon a large briar patch that if nothing else possessed significant natural energy. It was clear to Anton that the whole thing was a single entity- including spines as well as various bladelike features. That was about as far as his observations got when Bear Hug ran forward.

“Don’t scare people!” Anton called out.

Bear Hug slowed down, just in time for a blade to swipe in front of them. Unlike when the beast had stabbed them, this clearly had natural energy control. The swipe extended a good meter beyond the end of the wide blade, slicing a finger’s length into the front of Bear Hug and severing a number of strands.

Instantly, Anton formed an energy bow and arrows in his hands, firing it towards the briar patch.

“No!” Bear Hug gestured, clearly towards him. “Let it be!”

Anton’s arrow curved upwards before dissipating. He had been ready to transform it into a wide blade, cutting apart the entire patch at once. “It attacked you.”

“They were probably scared,” Bear Hug said. “It’s okay,” Bear Hug displayed a calming aura, taking half a step forward.

Bear Hug was blasted backwards twenty meters. They were nice and perhaps incautious, but not a complete fool. While their defensive energy had been loose during the first attack, Bear Hug had prepared for the second and solidified their energy. Thus being knocked back instead of… whatever else might have happened. While Anton didn’t expect that a small bit of cutting would be ultimately fatal for his friend, there had to be some limit.

“Are you sure about that?” Anton asked Bear Hug. He continued to observe the briar patch, noting that there was a significant lack of other vegetation nearby- following a trail. It seemed to be able to move to some extent, though at the moment it appeared sessile.

Bear Hug stood up, brushing themself off- removing twigs and dirt. Vaguely. “Yes, I just need to try again.”

Stubborn. Anton liked that.

He watched as Bear Hug approached again. This time, a different shaped blade- closer to an axe head- chopped down from above. The direct clash of natural energy went in favor of Bear Hug for the first exchange, but attacks repeatedly rained down, intentionally avoiding flinging Bear Hug away. Anton watch closely as some of the body twisted around behind Bear Hug.

The one good thing about not having sensory organs was that Bear Hug never really got too used to having a front and a back. Long stems whipped forward in an attempt to pull Bear Hug closer to an inevitable demise, but the algae simply split apart, shielding their divided body and then rolling backwards. Only some water was lost.

“I don’t think they understand I am friendly.”

Anton paused for a moment. “I think they eat plants.”

“... But not thinking ones, right?”

Anton shrugged. “Maybe they do. Maybe they haven’t met any.”

The briar patch crawled forward visibly, with Bear Hug keeping a more cautious distance as they tried to communicate. However, any strands of energy that reached out were severed by various attacks. The briar patch was quite good at picking out such strands of energy and reacting to anything. Anton also thought that it was paying attention to him while fighting Bear Hug.

Bear Hug was stubborn, and continued to make attempts. Energy was severed or consumed as a defensive measure again and again, late into the evening. Bear Hug had lost perhaps a quarter of their mass and was barely able to hold their form together when Anton finally managed to get them to stop for the night.

“You need to rest. I don’t know how close you are to dying but…” Even if this body wasn’t important- which it might be- he’d rather not have Bear Hug push that far. “You need to rest and recover. We’ll come back, if you really want to.”

Bear Hug reluctantly agreed, breaking into a full retreat. Anton stood watch during the night, and the next day as Bear Hug sulked in a nearby river, latched onto some rocks so that they did not drift away. “Why don’t they want to be friends?”

“People who have never had a friend don’t understand how nice it is,” Anton said. And sometimes, people were just violent and murderous. Sapience didn’t equate to friendliness or sociability, just the ability to reason in certain manners. Active cultivation made it fairly clear that the briar patch understood something… and seemed to not care that Bear Hug wasn’t a threat.

But perhaps it had previous bad experiences with others. It was highly likely that the first encounters anything had with another sapient was combative in some way. Though they might mutually decide that fighting wasn’t worthwhile.

In the morning, Bear Hug was significantly more full of natural energy and had recovered some lost mass. Anton was prepared to allow them another chance, though he would be ready to yank them away as necessary.

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