After two long days and nights of travelling, arguing, and running, they had finally hit the next town, a small settlement surrounded by forest. Cináed, partway through the trip, had been completely exhausted, and as a result had let his magic fade from his appearance, reverting back to Aella’s form. The only difference (other than the enormous attitude jump) to tell it was really him was the shiny metallic color replacing Aella’s blue-grey irises.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLeKs7D8Lt
He’d noticed Luna watching him every so often, and she finally said, “Your eyes are strange. Almost like a human’s, only you know, silver… well, I guess it makes sense.” 782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc988NrhPbQ
“Eh? What makes you say that?” The eyes in question flickered to her as he turned to face her in his saddle.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5zAEh0ykr
“Weeeeeell, you’re a shapeshifter, so you have to take the thing’s form, right? … Do shifters even have their own form? I mean, why humans…?” She trailed off, looking a bit dazed.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdICZSOo07
He was kind of at a loss at her question, but answered anyway. “Uh, yeah. Shifters do have their own forms, in a way… it’s a bitch to explain. They just learn how to look like humans, because most spend the majority of their lives on Earth with humans, y’know?” He shrugged. “And the color, that’s easy. It matches our magic. There’s a lot concentrated there - we rely on sight a lot. Bright light changes whatever eye color we chose to that, ‘cause it’s reflecting off the magic instead. And it usually glows.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFMtYNWAXIr
“Ohhhh…” Luna paused, crossing her arms. “I guess it’s kinda like our world. Everyone is like a human, but Fia says that’s because humans accidentally cross the portals and, you know, breeding happens! So unlike this world, and I guess your world, almost everyone has magic, but they don’t have a choice for human form. Oh! But if you don’t have magic, technically some species can transfer parts of their magic! Like witches… and …and some elementals?” She rambled on about the subject, then finally stopped to breathe. 782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8YEpcd11C
“Huh.” Seeing as he had no experience with their world, he was pretty curious. “Don’t get me wrong, though. The shifter’s dimension is completely made of magic. Everything. Even shifters can’t put up with it for long.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡay76T6VEKX
"Everything?!" she gasped. "That’s so… uh…" She seemed stuck on the word to use, then just gave up and grinned.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhbGHbbGEj
He nodded. “I know.” Redirecting the conversation, he asked, “What’s your world like?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkujCCkPybT
She looked up, eyes glazed in thought. “Well, I guess it depends on where you go! My island was more…” She narrowed her eyes, getting stuck on the word again, then shrugged and gave up. Then she smiled again. “But there was a ton of trees and vines and birds and prey! Neoma’s land is pretty neat too, like, it’s in the middle of all the climates, and it’s huge! Not as huge as Fia’s… but it’s in the center of a ton of climates! So their land is full of elements and elementals!”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxWsEyLWu9
”So does their element depend on where they live, or is it random?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXoZiQsC4Zd
“Mmhmm!! On the island, anyway!” She paused again. “On Fia’s land its more witches, and fairies, and other things like that… well, fairies are kinda elementals too… Oh!” She continued. “But there’s bigger kinds of creatures, and a few smaller ones!” 782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNu8DMqh8R2
”So who’s Fia?” 782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvL10yyLwn
“”She’s our friend and the keeper of portals on our island! She sets up portals and where and when they go places - she’s a witch!”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmNbodQ0OQ
”Huh. You guys need to go see her to get back to your world, then?” he asked, wondering if this witch was at the destination Neoma had been so vague about.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uXUxIhvfh
“No, we know the destination to go to! Neoma’s sister, Ee, was messing with the portals and sent us through…”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡso1clrLsps
He grinned a bit. “Bet a certain bitch wasn’t so happy about that.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBf5ShI0FHL
”Heard that!” Neoma growled.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamP32spzeJ
“Good.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xpanbDmI2
She giggled. “She’s going to killlllll her!”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzPylD7j4Lg
”Hah, sounds fun.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOWYgcjHMN
”I like Ee, though…” Luna pouted a bit. “Her lap is reeeally warm…”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZacyKMmi6
He was quiet for a few moments, then abruptly changed the subject. “What about you? You’re a familiar, right?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0olcwdTUIh
She thought for a second, then nodded excitedly. “Yeah! Well, technically, not everyone in my village is a familiar, but almost anything can be a familiar, so…”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1IbSwIo2T0
”What’s your village like?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbkngAVloh
Luna kicked her legs off the horse, accidentally hitting it once, and patted its shoulder with a mumbled apology. “Well… it was different than this! I mean, there was conflict between the other clan and us, and a little conflict inside it, but they weren’t really accepting of outsiders… no, that’s a lie. As long as you could hunt, you were good…” She gave a short hum, conflicted in her thoughts. “We had a different ranking system!”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUoKAbPnC0
”How?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24xfHfq8XZ
”Well, there was the head family, but I guess that’s everywhere… There really wasn’t anything under that, though. The normal population, then the prisoners.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JaXdk19FQ
”Sounds pretty simple.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwkbVuX5hi
She nodded. “And the prisoners could become part of our village if they worked it off, or they could choose to go home after they worked enough.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEeLMECFmk7
Huh, that was surprising. “You guys would just let them go?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iPYkNuUnz
”Well, the village didn’t like each other, but we weren’t total jackasses - the prisoner could have a family! The amount of work they had to do depended on the crime against the other tribe. If it was something like murder or stealing another tribe’s children, then they probably would be dead when they got back home. Bad leaders were kicked out, too. If they did evil things, then they were evil people, and obviously couldn’t lead correctly. And a corrupted leader makes a corrupted clan.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflp82W3JzS
Truest statement he’d heard all day. He nodded. “Doesn’t sound like that bad of a way to live.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLQlqCF1vC
Neoma shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at the two. Luna only nodded happily. “It was!”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPjzmqrdKQ
”Was?” The shifter looked over at her.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdK3PAEng6c
She bit her lip and nodded. “Was. What’s your home like?!”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkMTHRcZqo
He blinked at the switched topic, then hesitated. “Eh… like I said earlier, shapeshifters pretty much just live here on Earth, so..” He half-shrugged.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGuftzkzuO
“There’s a pretty much to that, though,” she prodded, smiling.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzurOrDF26i
”Not all shifters do. I do.” He gave her a flat look, much preferring for her to drop it.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nCNvUucPW
”Oh.” She pouted. “But Earth’s boring!”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvfuJkmOGX
”In your opinion.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7ERtCtahu
”In a lot of people’s opinions!”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jVpGFZZ5G
”Not in mine.” Better than quite a few places he’d seen. (Including the ones by accidental force, but some of those were cool, too.)782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrMTBwAAgf
She pouted again, glaring. “Well, your opinion’s stupid.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklHl2D3dlH
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I can say the same for yours.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1cYz1mcGWq
”Oh really? If you shapeshifted in front of a lot of people in this world, they’d burn you at the stake! In our world, it’s totally normal and accepted!”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LzipCV8yq
He started to smirk. “Shapeshifters don’t usually have that problem, though,” he pointed out. “First, we’re practically impossible to corner, and if we are, we can still escape. Second, you can’t burn one of us to death - most wouldn’t burn, period. Hell, I’ve shifted in front of people just for fun. It’s hilarious, they freak out. Sometimes, they pass out.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ80RuAetTYD
She had a blank face, then stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms in defeat. He grinned, and she started to giggle.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvT0j4pCuoa
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* * * * *782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9HYyvjoTG
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Just before they’d entered the town, Cináed had shifted back out of Aella’s appearance. Now he was back to his reddish-haired form, although tired-looking.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlViRnpaJnS
Neoma had changed her shadow horse to look more normal, which had caused a lot of bucking and protest and had taken a few minutes and calming gestures.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCAaPijvynm
He looked over at the elemental. “So. What’re we even doing here?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZ9TrjoEuq
“Well, we’re heading up to a small town. It’s where one of our portals are located.” She looked down, glaring at the ground.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2TAZPHMcKa
”We spending any time in this town?” he sighed.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUaua4gTZyb
“Besides getting more food, no.” She looked down at Luna, who was walking around the horse’s feet, nimble enough to not get stepped on. 782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXi7v7E3ych
“Good.” Luna paused her playing to look behind them, then darted under the horse again. He glanced at her distractedly, then went back to looking around.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJcbU8hQAlt
Neoma rolled her eyes, pointing to a store “Stay here okay?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoswv8ASxb6
“Why?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TCDFE7ImS
“I’m not talking to you, asshat. I’m talking to Luna.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjzB7lIBsO
“Yeah, I know that,” he grumbled, annoyed. “Why’re you leaving her there though?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXeSFiwoDHG
“Because we’re going into the store to get food.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcWAbmssrj
He huffed. “Took her last time. Whatever, let’s just hurry.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMq1axTGupk
“Yeah, yeah.” She jumped off the horse and tied it to the pole, leaving Luna to curl up next to it. He did the same, muttering something under his breath.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzNFvc4I66
Neoma walked quietly into the store, looking at all the foods they had set out. Cináed followed a few steps behind, looking a lot less interested and mostly just glaring at either the floor or Neoma’s head. She didn’t seem to notice, as she was looking over the food. “Pick whatever the fuck looks good.” 782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfCMnoHcFD
He gave her an irritated look. “Can’t you pick yourself?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDYkI1LzEv
“‘Course, but you have to eat sometime.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94x0lQVsQ5
“I don’t CARE what I eat,” he complained. “Unlike some people, I’m not picky.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLRxBTrlPk
She scoffed as she began to pick up a few fruits. “Riiiight.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnLbO0X8AR
A short while later, the two had managed to get a decent amount of supply and approached the counter. After showing it all to the shopkeeper, Neoma pushed some shadow money toward him - it was something she had been working on for awhile, and it was finally to her standards. The man didn’t see any difference, at least.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRp7DyeFC9Z
Outside, Luna was completely immersed in her thoughts until Neoma spoke. “You okay there?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHcvje0omN1
The familiar jolted up, purring in response, as Cináed quickly untied his horse. Neoma followed suit, and they rode out of the town with Luna trotting ahead.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ezZ8wsh0g
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