New Heights

by **Jomi** on February 19th, 2019, 1:46 am

The ghost waited with uncharacteristic patience in Alheas park. Unmaterialized and hovering through the thick green foliage of a nearby bush for good measure. The bright midday sun shone through the ghosts thin dissipated mists as though he weren't even there, rendering him nearly invisible. But even so the ghost still kept his distance, lest he spook the bait with the electric chill of his etherial shroud.

Jomi watched the plump brown, common field mouse twitched its noes apprehensively several meters from where the ghost had made his hideout. Its absurdly long black whiskers rose and fell with its quick nervous breathes as it investigated the scattering of chicken feed. Almost as if it knew this offering were too good to be true.

A shiver of glee worked its way through Jomi's soulmist. The ghost had spend days planing, preparing and stalking for this moment and now the badgers long dead predator instincts were creeping back and invading his body like a disease. Jomi's unmaterialized soulmist rolled with delicious tension as he stalked towards the mouse, now hurriedly stuffing its cheeks with the pilfered grains. The ghosts excited soulmist frosted the ground beneath him as he closed the gap. The ghost channelled his excitement inward and pooled it into his soulcore, using the unbridled energy to throw his soulmist forward and blinked into the mouse. The field mouse let out a piercing squeal as its muscles contorted around the invading soul. Jomi wasted no time with strategy and tactics, instead he immediately directed his soulmist to saturate his hosts soft tissues. Overwhelming the weak willed prey mammal with the force and the possession and filling the much smaller vessel with the entirety of his essence.

Once fully in charge of the tiny body Jomi rushed to isolate the astral body of the mouse. He plucked the threads of its soul experimentally, manipulating the vessel like one would a puppet. The ghost blinked his new wide brown eyes, adjusting himself to the new strikingly different point as they flickered over to the tree tops opposite the clearing. Where The ghosts true prey waited for its opportunity to strike.

WC: 357

by **Jomi** on February 19th, 2019, 1:48 am

Jomi had been following a young Redtail hawk for days now. The ghost had seen the creature make its nest near the Infinity Manor and had immediately become enamoured with the grace and ease with which it soared over the valley. Raining death from above on all the small woodland creatures that burrowed in the mud and filth below. Existential boredom and the lack of any real purpose had prompted the ghost to obsessively follow the hawk over every peak and down into the Unforgiving. The ghost had been studying the way it moves, every twitch of its feathers and tilt its wings had been committed to memory. And now the day had finally come. The ghost was going to learn how to fly with the power and grace of a Redtail Hawk.

The ghost cursed inwardly as he searched the trees for the predatory he knew was there. Jomi hadn't taken the mouse's eyesight, or rather, the lack thereof, into consideration. The sky was dark and hazy, like a permanent fog that settled over everything beyond the ends of the ghosts new pointed noes. This mouse was the ghosts only chance to possess the much faster hawk, and the ghost had no idea if the hawk was even looking at the tasty meal he had provided.

Several stressful ticks passed as the ghost mouse waited completely prone in the open field for the curved black talons to rip into his flesh and carry him away. The ghost coiled himself tighter around his hosts soul, crowding it out and pushing his consciousness forward as the sheer terror of the rodent threatened the ghosts dominance. Jomi willed his soulmist to pentitrate deeper into the mouses body to take up more space. It wouldn't do for the rodent survival instincts to throw him out before he'd even had a chance to see the bird.

Am I not enticing enough to you, hawk? The ghost sneered at the treetops bitterly.Do you need me to do a trick for you?

The ghost pulled at the muscles of the mouse and isolated the threads of living dijed that coursed through them. He focused his mind on the flow and ebb of that energy and the path it took through the mouses small fail body. The ghost bunched up his haunches, pulling the tiny clawed feet underneath him before he reached into its soul and let loose the mouses stored dijed. The ghost directed the energy through the pathways in its legs creating a large burst of power that launched the rodent into the sky.

The ghost could hear the wind sail past the mouses sensitive ears as they fell back towards the ground. The ghost manipulated the body in mid air, rolling it instinctively in order to land on its feet. Turning just in time to see the ground grow dark as a large shadow blocked out the sun.

WC: 486

by **Jomi** on February 19th, 2019, 1:50 am

The ghost was overwhelmed and forced out by the rodents survival instincts as the long black talon of the hawk pierced its belly. The soft round body of the mouse hung limp from the predators balled talon as it was carried higher over the park on the back of a winter gale. While the ghosts drifting, formless soulmist clung to the mutilated mouse body for the ride. A tendril of soulmist coiled around the hawks yellow scaled feet as the ghost called up the latent power lying dormant in his soulcore. The energies flowed outward, traveling to the very ends of his mist before the spirit activated them. The tendril seized and restricted around the hawks leg, dragging the rest of the ghosts etherial shroud behind it.

The hawk glided easily over the peak, unaware and unperturbed by the stowaway ghost. Gently the bird lowered her wing and banked left, soaring over the busy shopping district and back towards its nest near Infinity Manor.

If Jomi had a mouth he would have shouted in joy. While ghosts were just astral bodies which continued on after the physical had died and thus could hover above the ground and 'fly' using sheer will. It was a poor substitute to the sensation of cutting through the air and being carried by the winds. Even just riding along in the birds talons was a rush. The ghost was vibrating in excitement to try out these wings for himself.

Jomi gathered himself and concentrated on the movement of his mists. He needed to be focused and calm, the possession had to be more graceful than the mouse's in order for the flight to continue uninterrupted.

The ghost creeped up the birds leg, infusing his mists into the stiff, bunched up muscles that cradled the dead mouse. Slowly picking apart and isolating the astral body as he moved up into the hawks torso. Saturating himself into the muscles and bones and claiming the space for himself.

WC: 330

by **Jomi** on February 19th, 2019, 1:51 am

A tick of confusion carved itself into the hawks body as the invading force wormed its was into the sanctity of the predators soul. Only for the confusion to turn into a full blown panic as the ghost forced its way forward against the hosts souls natural defences.

The field mouse plummeted back to the ground as the panicked hawk thrashed its talons in a desperate attempts to repeal the invader. The blood and visceral spilled from the gaping wound in the mouses belly as it fell onto the crisp clean robes of Lhavits most unlucky resident.

Jomi could hear her disgusted shriek from below as he abandoned his tack and turned the gentle possession to a full blown assault.

The ghost rushed to spread his essence into the birds wings as the beast thrashed and screamed. Jomi worked to overwhelm the animals soul, using his sentience to push back against its consciousness and gain control of the body. The birds predators instincts proved harder to overcome than that of the gentle field mouse. The hawk fought the ghost for every inch as they both began their slow flapping decent to the crowded streets of Zintia peaks shopping district.

Jomi forced the weaker soul aside, crowding it out of the way as he filled the space behind the hawks eyes. The world became sharp and clear as the ghost adjusted to the predators eyes. Even in the whirlwind of sky and tumbling feathers the ghost could make out the colour of the grout that held together the cobbles of the street below. And in the distance he could see the cracks in Infinity's domed roof that peeked out from above the willows that surrounded it.

The thoroughly disorientated ghost used Infinity's peak to orientate himself and called on everything he could remember observing in the days he'd spent stalking the hawk. Jomi pulled at the birds astral body to unfurl the rust coloured wings. Tilting them back and up to slow the decent as the ghost struggled to control the hawks pinwheeling legs.

The shop roofs rushed up to meet them as both hawk and ghost prepared to collide hard with the flat white stones. The ghost outstretched the hawks thick legs and pulled them beneath the body and swept the wings back even further behind their head until the tips touched.

Jomi channelled the panic of the uncontrolled fall into the dejid that coursed through the hawks back and legs. The sharp burning pain of a dozen soul darts assaulted the ghosts soul as he strained his dead dijed to redirect the animals living dijed for the second time in the last chime. Funnelling the potential kinetic flux energy into the hawks legs and wings.

WC: 456

by **Jomi** on February 19th, 2019, 1:53 am

The ghost struggled to fight off the terrified hawks soul and maintain control of the possessed body while directing the flow of dijed. The raw energy exploded through the broad muscle groups, tearing the muscles in the hawks wings and legs as the ghost strained to direct the flux.

The dusty stones of the rooftops scrapped across taloned feet as the ghost brought them under the birds body and braced hard for impact. The ghost prompted the stored energy to release all at once. The lines of dijed that crossed the astral body flooded and pushed against the stone roof and the hawks own momentum. Pushing them back into the sky as the flux imbedded wings brought themselves down with a punishing force.

The onlookers below watched with stunned curiosity as they watched a hawk stall in mid flight and plummet to certain death only to seemingly bounce off the roof and back into the sky.

The rapidly tiring ghost opened the hawks mouth and let out an enthusiastic if uncharacteristically brutal screech of joy as they soared upward on the forgiving winds. Jomi steered the hawk towards Infinity manor shakily on stiff wings as each tiny inconsequential moment of a single feather seemed to tilt the hawks body dangerously.

As the hawk and ghost neared the manor the multiple aggressive possessions and the effects of over giving started creeping over the ghosts etherial body. The threads holding the possession together began to weaken and fray and every moment was a struggle for the invading ghost.

Jomi prompted the hawk to inhale, smiling inwardly as he admired the view from the eyes of the bird one last time before his time ran out.

The ghost felt his soulmist detach from the hawks body as the exhaustion set in. The mists began disintegrating and lifting off the muscle tissues and detangling from the astral body. Jomi struggled to keep his control of the bird. He pulled at the fading grip on the birds astral body to tilt the wings downward, bringing the ghost and hawk down for another rough landing onto the Manors front lawn.

The hawk created a furrow in the soft soil of Infinity's prized gardens. Prompting the Manor to fume angrily at the empty air while the ghost lifted off the hawks broken body and faded from reality. No longer having the energy to even be seen.

Did you see that Infinity? The ghosts thoughts poked tiredly at the thread of consciousness that tied him to the Architectrix, I was flying.

You were falling. The manor sassed back, clearly upset by the destruction of its carefully cultivated flowers.

I possessed a bird and I flew it here..well, coasted here. It was amazing!

You coasted downward, uncontrollably. Some might call that 'falling'.

Petch you.

WC: 471