OK – now that we are out of Act Two and stumbling into Act Three, it is time to tip the frying pan towards the fire below. Our duo links up outside the town limits (poor Black Bart, he had such promise…just kidding – he got what he deserved) and Danny asks if Ronda can find his body. Ronda says yes, but it is going to take some time to search them out. What could speed that along is something personal – cloth, or a favorite thing. Danny asks if they have the time to go back to his village. Ronda says more than likely not, but she can let him step into her, and some that she can get a better sense of him. Danny asks how he is going to do that if she’s warded. She says that she’s warded against unwanted intrusion and holds out her hand. “Don’t worry – I’ll be gentle.” She says and Danny takes her hand. She tells him to close his eyes and think about home. Danny closes his eyes and starts to think about home, calling to mind the parlor and the table with his brother Bruce. His mind wanders out of the home and into the square. Village Cutie comes by, looking a little saucy for Danny/Ronda – which Ronda comments on and says ‘yeah, she’s not into you’ with a bit of a brutal language. Danny asks her how this is going to get her closer to his body. She says that he just needs to walk around for a few more minutes in his head. We get a tour of his life: he goes into the counting house and sits down to work on one of the books. Ronda comments that she’s surprised he’s alive – this sort of boring life would kill a lesser being. She now has enough to get a fix on his body and she breaks contact. As she is breaking contact (which Danny likens to a kiss that is awkwardly ended), Danny gets a quick glimpse of Ronda’s life – a rough and tumble existence with a neglectful and somewhat resenting mother on one side and a father who is trying to mold the daughter into the son he wanted. Danny comments on her life and she says that she has little regrets about it. It made her the person that she is and there’s no use for crying about it – it’s in the pass.

Now that she has a good idea of what to look for, she can start searching. She hops on the horse and Danny asks if he needs to get into the horse. She says yes, at least that way they can travel faster. He’s not as squeamish about stepping into the horse as he was earlier, but he still has some reservations about it – mostly about killing the horse when he steps out. He asks if he can step into something else, like a boot or a pistol. Ronda holds out a knife and says he can step into this – it should be easier than getting into the horse since it’s been around her long enough to pick up a trace of her power. He puts his hand on it and thinks about pushing himself in – he almost falls into the knife it’s so easy. She sheathes the knife and Danny wonders if she can hear him think. She says yes, and that he should try to sleep. He asks if he needs sleep since he doesn’t feel tired. She says it’s not to rest, but to give her some quiet for a change. Danny closes his eyes (or at least thinks about it) and tries to sleep. Danny doesn’t sleep per se, he falls into a meditative state that brings him to a location near the mountains and he is watching his body moving around and getting into a fight with a man-like…thing that seems to have more mouth and very, very sharp teeth than face. Danny-in-the-flesh looks over to Danny-in-the-spirit and says if he’s going to bring help, it would be better to catch up with them here and he points to a weathered, twisted tree. As he raises his hand up to point, the thing with the mouth bites through (through!) his arm, breaking it off in a ragged stump. Danny-in-the-flesh looks down at the stump as it is spurting blood and comments that the help had better hurry. If the Maw gets a hold of the Artifice and clay, then there is no saving the world. Danny comes around with Ronda yelling at him to get up – his distress is causing a couple of wraiths to come sniffing around. The horse skitters as one wraith draws uncomfortably close. Danny is a little freaked out, thinking that they’re going to rip up the horse. Ronda tells him to be calm and let her ride on. Danny can’t be calm – those things almost ripped him apart the last time he got this close. Ronda tells him to close his eyes and count coins – anything else to get his mind off of his fear. Danny flips out and the wraiths attack them and the horse…

… and this is where I am going to end it since I need to make lunch, shower, get gas and try to get along with my day. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy