Chapter 4050: Sir! II

Duke Whisker’s stellar eyes held depths of experience that transcended his small form.

“In my existence, I always play a game of origin probabilities. Calculating what beings truly are versus what they present themselves as. And of all probabilities for who or what you could be…after all I have seen and know, you are either an Early Creature, or one of those terrifying Fold Dwellers stemming from the Wandering Territories.”

HUUM!

Noah’s eyes blazed with sudden interest at these words.

Duke Whisker, seemingly unperturbed by the reaction, waved his little paws casually.

A white cloud materialized beneath him, lifting him to a more comfortable conversation height.

In his paws appeared a block of resplendent stellar cheese that gleamed with inner light. He began nibbling at it with the air of someone eating away stress as he eyes burned with determination!

“What do you know about the Wandering Territories?” Noah asked, his interest genuine. “What lies within them?”

Duke Whisker blinked slowly, as if recognizing he was being tested but choosing to answer anyway. He continued eating his stellar cheese, each bite seeming to calm him further.

“The Wandering Territories,” he began, his voice taking on the cadence of someone sharing carefully guarded knowledge, “exist in the gaps between Folds. Or perhaps they don’t exist there…it’s never been entirely clear. They’re spaces that are and aren’t, paths that lead everywhere and nowhere.”

He took another thoughtful bite of cheese.

“Some don’t even know where they are or how to reach them. The Territories don’t appear on any map because they refuse to stay in one place long enough to be mapped. Yet any Fold Dweller who exceeds Originus Venerant feels a calling toward them…a pull that transcends physical direction.”

The mouse’s expression grew more serious.

“In the Earliest Folds, it was said that the First Farmer…the Fold Dweller who gazed upon THE Living Spirit, grew disillusioned with everything after an attack from a Mad Early Creature. Living Existences with their hierarchies and prejudices. Early Creatures with their casual cruelty. Inevitabilities with their endless hunger. All of them viewed Fold Dwellers as lesser, as prey, as insignificant.”

…!

Duke Whisker paused, his stellar eyes growing distant with memory or knowledge.

“So the First Farmer did something unprecedented. He established an endlessly vast domain in the Wandering Territories…a space that existed specifically because it shouldn’t, that welcomed those who had no welcome elsewhere. He proclaimed it was only for Fold Dwellers. There, they could live without persecution, without fear of being casually destroyed for sport or sustenance.”

The implications boomed heavily in the garden air.

“We rarely see powerful Fold Dwellers from that place,” Duke Whisker continued. “When we do, they’re… different. They’ve developed along paths we don’t recognize, achieved power through means that shouldn’t work but do. They’re dangerous in ways that transcend simple strength because they’ve had to be creative to survive.”

He fixed Noah with a gaze that suggested he was weighing possibilities.

“As for Early Creatures… nobody has seen them for quite some time. They’ve become myth more than reality, stories more than beings. If you are one…” He trailed off, then shook his head. “But that would mean you’ve been hiding among us, growing, preparing. And that would raise questions about what you’re preparing for.”

The stellar cheese had been reduced to crumbs, which Duke Whisker consumed with final, thoughtful bites.

“So tell me, Sir…and I will continue calling you that because respect costs nothing and might save everything, which are you? An Early Creature playing merchant? Or a Fold Dweller from the Wandering Territories who has transcended so far that the distinction no longer matters?”

Noah remained silent for a moment, weighing not the question but how much truth to reveal. Duke Whisker had shown remarkable insight, remarkable respect. But trust…

Trust was earned through more than clever deduction.

“Does it matter which I am,” Noah finally asked, “if my actions benefit those worth benefiting?”

Duke Whisker’s whiskers twitched in what might have been amusement. “A question answered with a question. Very well. Let me be more direct then…will THE Living Order be safe? Will she be returned? Will the balance between Origins and Paradoxes hold through the Kleos Concordat?”

These were the real questions, the ones that mattered more than origins or classifications.

Noah’s response was simple. “She is safer than she has ever been. She will return when she chooses to return. And the balance, though I dont personally have full control over it…should hold unless someone tips it through foolish action.”

…!

Duke Whisker nodded slowly, accepting these answers with the wisdom of someone who knew when pushing would yield less than patience.

“Then I suppose we shall see what unfolds at the Concordat,” the mouse said. “Though I suspect it will be more serious than anyone anticipates.”

In the distance, through walls that couldn’t quite contain the sound, Duke Gwendolyn’s frustration manifested as something breaking.

Neither Noah nor Duke Whisker acknowledged it.

Some perceptions mattered less than others, after all!

Duke Whisker regarded Noah with the particular intensity of someone weighing futures against probabilities. The stellar cheese was gone, leaving only the lingering scent of compressed starlight in the air.

“Regardless of your disposition and identity,” the mouse said carefully, “is there anything you need? Existence is getting increasingly tumultuous. Living Origins will need alliances on all sides if we’re to navigate what’s coming.”

Noah waved his hand with grace, and something materialized that only they could perceive…a silent stellar string stretching between them, gossamer-thin yet unbreakable, visible only to those it connected.

An entanglement in the truest sense…a connection at a fundamental level!

He tugged on it gently, the vibration traveling instantly across the impossibly thin thread.

“We have shared a deeper conversation than most,” Noah acknowledged. “We have formed an entanglement. If I need anything, or if you need anything, simply tug on this connection. The matters of THE Living Order will be taken care of. For now…”

He turned toward one of the grand golden glass windows of the domed garden, gazing out at the distant corner of Aeternitas!

“For now, I will go back to my work as a merchant.”

He turned back to Duke Whisker with a smile that contained layers of meaning. “Oh, could you send me back to the market? I am a wee little Fold Dweller after all, and I can’t be flying from the high towers of Aeternitas Concordia, right?”

The mouse blinked slowly, processing the gentle mockery of their entire situation.

A being who could teleport from within Doorways to the Loom, who commanded THE Living Order’s attention, who bore the pressure of multiple Dukes without flinching…asking for a ride like someone needing help down from a high shelf!

Duke Whisker sighed, the sound containing both amusement and resignation. With a nod, brilliant white light erupted around them both, like being wrapped in the concept of movement itself!

3/4

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