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.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLuSbCPrRW
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.” 790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0o0mWgRth
“Eh? What makes you say that?” The eyes in question flickered to her as he turned to face her in his saddle.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZUEfYsnyD4
“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.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYEYijFzVT
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.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4D2yoFJpw
“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. 790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHsishlyIEl
“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.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0S0Wyepph
"Everything?!" she gasped. "That’s so… uh…" She seemed stuck on the word to use, then just gave up and grinned.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrFN1vkmtx
He nodded. “I know.” Redirecting the conversation, he asked, “What’s your world like?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQdZ29964xO
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!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcQe2rzBuF
”So does their element depend on where they live, or is it random?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdKn7hXAtX
“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!” 790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3zv9YneLP
”So who’s Fia?” 790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetFgXryMtw
“”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!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKcCg1YFk2
”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.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjX9xfDORmE
“No, we know the destination to go to! Neoma’s sister, Ee, was messing with the portals and sent us through…”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR8nSHncrcG
He grinned a bit. “Bet a certain bitch wasn’t so happy about that.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbhFoZBYNC
”Heard that!” Neoma growled.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmLrha47at
“Good.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlqb9hRg9r
She giggled. “She’s going to killlllll her!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKdPka9fqD
”Hah, sounds fun.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrjm8AKKBzQ
”I like Ee, though…” Luna pouted a bit. “Her lap is reeeally warm…”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VJnoKTwfc
He was quiet for a few moments, then abruptly changed the subject. “What about you? You’re a familiar, right?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfQ8vCIDNNd
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…”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIROoNRrBM3
”What’s your village like?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG66vFsK4Bt
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!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaC5VVeWAq
”How?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljUyvAtpa1
”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.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1V2KBWZtj
”Sounds pretty simple.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXHhJNidsD
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.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHsmesXv9cK
Huh, that was surprising. “You guys would just let them go?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHGRyxrC3T
”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.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GElb3yZQe
Truest statement he’d heard all day. He nodded. “Doesn’t sound like that bad of a way to live.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxP2DyAjzU
Neoma shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at the two. Luna only nodded happily. “It was!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmci3aAOjds
”Was?” The shifter looked over at her.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcoRJLdnm5v
She bit her lip and nodded. “Was. What’s your home like?!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7uxoebbPL
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.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwN5Qv94Qp
“There’s a pretty much to that, though,” she prodded, smiling.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCoYoJdJ01s
”Not all shifters do. I do.” He gave her a flat look, much preferring for her to drop it.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKytC1qhLXY
”Oh.” She pouted. “But Earth’s boring!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPP8VebFEAe
”In your opinion.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2sLe70xs2E
”In a lot of people’s opinions!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDvbYrYYCs
”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.)790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuA7v3ImCDb
She pouted again, glaring. “Well, your opinion’s stupid.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZO71veHeg
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I can say the same for yours.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsDLtPDY0J
”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!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡocr7LetyVL
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.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9PYaxm80p
She had a blank face, then stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms in defeat. He grinned, and she started to giggle.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrZBXQsr7p
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* * * * *790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutdzx6NJCh
790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBN7PA0Lzcb
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.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB7cWcwZS6i
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.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnhtctkHVm
He looked over at the elemental. “So. What’re we even doing here?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNomJnmaIA
“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.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHieEVCGmmi
”We spending any time in this town?” he sighed.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWg9MQcuDl
“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. 790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJmsLKyRO8B
“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.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNthnoCQ8b
Neoma rolled her eyes, pointing to a store “Stay here okay?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYTxBDOIP9
“Why?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8p5GFZ1mZF
“I’m not talking to you, asshat. I’m talking to Luna.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qlOOKAlwD
“Yeah, I know that,” he grumbled, annoyed. “Why’re you leaving her there though?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MbZd7gD1A
“Because we’re going into the store to get food.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0sckyFLF5K
He huffed. “Took her last time. Whatever, let’s just hurry.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKehAghD1t
“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.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqydw8f3vcV
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.” 790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5ZXgfXGlM
He gave her an irritated look. “Can’t you pick yourself?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKKs2Od4Hiq
“‘Course, but you have to eat sometime.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWiNhjzcGoX
“I don’t CARE what I eat,” he complained. “Unlike some people, I’m not picky.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5vr1tauvP
She scoffed as she began to pick up a few fruits. “Riiiight.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuABiqZs9qL
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.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdMPQSLtSLg
Outside, Luna was completely immersed in her thoughts until Neoma spoke. “You okay there?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzb46FylFh
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.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7Nuc8iHFn
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