I'm jerked back into reality for some reason I can't explain for a few seconds, until lightning cracks across the sky outside the carriage. "Woah," I say. "How long has that been going on?"640Please respect copyright.PENANAaZ9k4JD7le
"You woke up from the first really loud one," Ama says. "So... maybe 10 minutes, at most? The storm's heading our way and we're running into it, because the nearest stop is maybe 20 minutes out from here at a horse's trot, and if we're lucky we can get there before the storm gets too bad."640Please respect copyright.PENANAVjA3wh78AF
“Sounds like a plan,” I say, stretching. “Ugh, I have a crick in my neck.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAVV6gfhWrYp
“Want me to massage it out for you?” Klef asks.640Please respect copyright.PENANAWJdIWf21MB
“Please?” I respond, and he cracks his fingers before motioning for me to turn my back to him. As he starts to massage my shoulders, I glance at everyone in the carriage. Ama is reading a book disinterestedly. Hibiscus is reading over a map and talking in low tones to Bobbi on the other side of the carriage through a slot where there isn’t any canvas, probably giving instructions. Flo and Rythe and sitting next to one another, hands linked together. Flo is resting her head on Rythe’s shoulder and they are murmuring to her. All in all, everything seems pretty calm. It doesn’t do anything to make me feel any better, though. “What are we going to do once the storm dies down?” I ask.640Please respect copyright.PENANANcnJiEzFC6
“Eh,” Ama shrugs. “Really, it all depends on how bad the roads are. If they’re really bad, I’m going to see if I can scrounge up enough magic to teleport everyone to the next base, though I’d really rather not do that, seeing as how I’ll be down for the count for several days, at least. If they’re not, we’ll keep going until we hit the port in the werewolf territory, which will take about a day once we’re out of the mountains. From there, we might be able to find a teleporter, or we could travel by boat. Really, there are a lot of options in there, and I’m just hoping that the roads aren’t so wet that the horses can’t continue.”640Please respect copyright.PENANANJHJCNOdlV
I nod. “Okay. Sounds like you guys have this all figured out. Sorry I missed out on the discussion.”640Please respect copyright.PENANARuNKjcL9XP
“I bet you’re not really,” Ama says with a little smile. “Talking strategy is all well and good, but only when you know what you’re saying. And you’ve said yourself that you’re not a very good strategist.”640Please respect copyright.PENANARahmgA5vkg
I smile slightly. “You’re a little bit scary good at that, you realize?”640Please respect copyright.PENANAd6sGx4Red6
Ama grins. “Ssh. Don’t tell Bobbi I said anything, they’ll kill me.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAvdR9QkHAyN
Klef snorts from behind me. “I bet they won’t. They’d never have you to talk with if they did. And besides, what would Luke think?”640Please respect copyright.PENANAxoOz0tr4Q9
“Fair point,” Ama says, pointing at Klef. “I like the way you think, Mister Thief.”640Please respect copyright.PENANA2wLGpvmxt8
“Why thank you, Miss Wizard,” Klef says with a laugh in his voice.640Please respect copyright.PENANAKJiBGZw5PG
“Careful not to get too cozy,” I tease. “If you do I might get jealous.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAHV6r9eTwrS
“Nah, you don’t work like that, Ride,” Klef says. “One of the reasons I love you, actually. You’re really nice and even if someone is hurting you, if they’re not about to do major damage and it helps them in the long run, you make sure that they’ll be okay. Even if it means that you’re injured more than you already are.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAdUCeTSCEqW
“Mm. I’m not sure if that extends to break- ups, though,” I muse. “I wouldn’t know. I was the one who called off my first relationship, and my second one seems to have been going strong for a month now.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAw86xIu5U60
Klef laughs. “I love you, Ride. Platonically, romantically. I just love you.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAVO0K6IRYNS
“The feeling is mutual, I assure you,” I chuckle. Then I full-out laugh, because Klef has moved from massaging my shoulders. “Klef! Don’t tickle my neck!”640Please respect copyright.PENANAsneAYYeEaG
“Aw, c’mon, Ride! Live a little!” he protests, continuing to tickle me.640Please respect copyright.PENANAUWBAzmFlSW
I duck my neck out of his reach and roll onto the floor, swatting his hands away when they reach for my sides. “Stop!” I yell. “Seriously, Klef! Stop!”640Please respect copyright.PENANAQxJSKgAaTi
“Okay, okay! I’m stopping!” Klef surrenders, holding his hands up.640Please respect copyright.PENANAaVwcOdAyBZ
“You’re ridiculous,” I tease, still laughing from the surprise attack.640Please respect copyright.PENANAzblKDG1MYz
Klef grins and pulls me up so I’m sitting again, just as we hit a bump in the road and I fly forward into him. I grunt as I ram into Klef, and he yelps when he hits the railing on the back of the carriage. I push myself off him and blush. “Sorry,” I say.640Please respect copyright.PENANAXK5Z98lzVK
“Don’t be,” Klef groans, rubbing his back. “I’m fine with getting bowled over by you any day.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAkMmAYiTqen
“Flirt,” I laugh. “You’re such a flirt.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAgBT2dcrHDs
“Always, my dear,” Klef says with a wink.640Please respect copyright.PENANArdeezhhztC
There’s a groan from the other side of the carriage along with a gag. “Do you two mind?” Hibiscus groans.640Please respect copyright.PENANA04SkwHyB2U
“Seriously, we’ve been over this,” Ama adds. “It’s only cute for so long.”640Please respect copyright.PENANALQ5SeEd07Z
I look at Klef and he shrugs. “I don’t really know how to stop the banter,” he says. “It just… sort of… happens, you know?”640Please respect copyright.PENANACqvrBSqOR8
“I do,” Flo interjects. “Ryhte and I would not shut up the first time we met.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAbhmuryxJH7
Rythe sighs. “Oh, those were the days. Back when you were fine with my relentless teasing you and flirting in general.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAKD7QrRAyuJ
Flo rolls her eyes. “I’m still fine with it if you don’t embarrass anyone, but lately you’ve been embarrassing everyone.”640Please respect copyright.PENANA1kmkup7QQm
“What’s wrong with that?” they ask.640Please respect copyright.PENANAaPKXD1encQ
“Everything,” Flo says. “You need to respect people’s boundaries.”640Please respect copyright.PENANASfttqPo6fk
Rythe shrugs. “I can’t tell people’s boundaries if they don’t tell me when enough is enough,” they reason.640Please respect copyright.PENANAz32pUjPX5h
“That’s why I’m here. To tell you when your joking has gone to far and you’re making people uncomfortable. Without me you’d be dead of embarrassment.”640Please respect copyright.PENANA2VLqEFeE33
“Not a thing,” Rythe teases, bopping a finger on Flo’s snout.640Please respect copyright.PENANAP55EiKfL2R
Flo mock-growls at them with a sly grin, before the carriage lapses into silence. I turn to watch the rain falling. It’s picking up speed at an alarming rate, and wind whips around the sides of the carriage, adding to the feeling that we’re stranded in the middle of nowhere with no hope of weathering out the storm. “How much longer until shelter?” I ask Ama.640Please respect copyright.PENANAz2rwQfj10N
She looks up and chews her lip. “Oh, I’d say… 10 minutes? Maybe 5, if Bobbi can convince the horses to go faster.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAZ04qCb4zKn
There’s the sound of yelling outside the carriage and we pick up speed suddenly. Ama smiles. “5 minutes.”640Please respect copyright.PENANABPszHiUmbJ
I nod and look at Klef, whose eyes are starting to droop, despite everything going on around us. I nudge him lightly. “Melisma to Klef,” I say quietly.640Please respect copyright.PENANACvNr9bdXR7
Klef blinks once, snapping to attention. “I’m awake,” he says. “I’m awake.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAOYvY34NszT
“Barely. How much sleep did you get last night?”640Please respect copyright.PENANAO6HzC11lYR
“Ugh. Not enough,” he groans. “I feel like death.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAdAjYhdPwWi
“You look a little like it too,” I say. :Your eyes are a bit glassy. Why don’t you try and relax some until we get to our rest stop? After that we can decide who gets sleep and who is taking care of what next.640Please respect copyright.PENANA6CgS4Y9IsI
Lightning cracks a mile or so behind us, and everyone jumps. Ama groans. “Looks like we’ll be using my magic to teleport. Great.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAUyJJYIRNVv
Rythe groans in response. “Ugh, but teleporting makes me sick to my stomach.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAU2EeG0FRuu
Ama shrugs helplessly. “If it helps, I doubt I have enough in me to take us all directly to the base.”640Please respect copyright.PENANArFhTnJSTGT
“Could you use some of my Sight as sort of a boost?” I ask.640Please respect copyright.PENANAtPTCudzBc8
Everyone looks over at me confused. I shrug. “In my dreams, I think my magic- sensing abilities act as a conductor for the use of magic as well as simply just being able to see magic being used. I don’t know how we might achieve it, but we can try, can’t we?”640Please respect copyright.PENANASA2xciYBcJ
Ama nods slowly. “I might know how to do it… it might be painful on your end, though.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAm2bl7O0D0k
I shrug and give a little grin. “What could possibly go so wrong that I’d never want to try channeling Sight again, short of the world ending or everyone I love dying? If I get a little sick, I get a little sick. It happens.”640Please respect copyright.PENANA29qhdEmH9p
Ama nods as thunder rumbles overhead. The carriage comes to an abrupt stop and Bobbi ducks into the carriage from the hole in the driver’s side. “The storm is nasty, you guys. We have to get inside, now. I’ll take care of the horses, you guys keep moving.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAHcWSIASODV
Everyone jumps out of the carriage with their things and run to an overhang in the mountain, which reveals a cave underneath, fitted with lightbulbs on the ceiling every so often as it continues. I take a few cautionary steps inside and inspect it. “It’s dry, and we won’t get zapped, and I don’t think we’ll get killed. Let’s go inside.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAeIXVgId3TJ
Klef nods and follows me inside, and Hibiscus and Ama mutter to themselves as they follow after. Flo and Rythe are silent save for their footsteps.640Please respect copyright.PENANAzNXPbZ0ogm
The cave, for its attempts at being modern, is still woefully primitive. Whereever the lightbulbs fail to work, which is often, 2 candles on either side of the cave on the walls are burning, giving the rocks disfigured and sometimes disturbing shadows. Klef inches closer to me and draws his knife. “I don’t like this, Ride,” he whispers.640Please respect copyright.PENANAXT3AQkfYng
I shrug. “Eh, nobody’s trying to kill us yet, let’s see where this cave takes us.”640Please respect copyright.PENANA0DZmX0uRCU
The hall narrows until only 2 people at a time can scrape through together, and a staircase spiralling up marks the end of the cave. “Going up!” Ama yells, walking to the bottom of the steps and taking the lead.640Please respect copyright.PENANAllomzMzAx9
Hibiscus laughs and shakes their head. Somewhere behind us, a horse whinnies. “Well, Bobbi made it inside safe, let’s go up and see what awaits us.”640Please respect copyright.PENANACrw1M08JNj
Klef moves towards the steps in front of us before I can, and I huff but follow behind him as he acts as a shield to me. “I can handle myself, you know,” I grumble.640Please respect copyright.PENANAzoQIpIMxcY
Klef looks down at me innocently. “I know, Ride.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAB5h7bAT7zr
I narrow my eyes. “I know what you’re doing. Stop patronizing me.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAFy93GPUg70
“Me? Patronize you? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Klef laughs, continuing to move forward and upward.640Please respect copyright.PENANAuVujUldnr0
I growl under my breath until my hearing catches some familiar voices, including Ank. I smile, knowing Klef can’t hear them yet with his ears. I few steps later, he groans loudly. “C’mon, Ride, you should have warned me!”640Please respect copyright.PENANArwHF6MpcEk
“But you wanted to be my protector so bad, and I didn’t want to hurt your feelings!” I tease.640Please respect copyright.PENANAYECV7BYEY7
“What?” Flo asks from behind me.640Please respect copyright.PENANArLXotXfguj
“Old friends,” I say drily, arching my eyebrows and nodding to Klef. “He’s not been a fan for a few weeks, because they made kid-safe lyrics to their sea shanties for him when he was a young one.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAs8tbiAZyAd
“It’s not that they did that, it’s that they said those songs were the real ones!” Klef calls down.640Please respect copyright.PENANAsw0aNd8Ndf
“Hey! Is that my favorite thief I hear?” Ank calls. “You’re not still mad at us, are you, Klef?”640Please respect copyright.PENANAwItW97Ohz7
I giggle as Klef pulls a face and glares at me. “This is your fault,” he mutters half-heartedly at me.640Please respect copyright.PENANAfYqHJfcbj4
“Why, I have no idea what you’re talking about, Treble,” I tease.640Please respect copyright.PENANAsr2RArBoxd
Klef pulls a face but walks up the last of the steps, and I follow. In front of us is a wide open room, set up like a cross between a bar and a tavern, with glass windows overlooking the trail we came up on, and old wooden tables thrown up against it. Ank is standing by the bar, grinning. “Well hello, there, my little thief! No hard feelings?”640Please respect copyright.PENANAe4IOru84bD
“Oh, there are hard feelings,” Klef says with a smirk, going over and hugging Ank. “It’s good to see your ugly mug again, Ank.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAGheH1vL5Z5
“Ugly?!” Ank asks indignantly.640Please respect copyright.PENANATW66zIZLzL
Klef grins. “Like I said, hard feelings.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAt9zuQgtyTx
I walk up behind him with a smile. “Long time no see, Ank.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAHR63K4NW6u
“My favorite death wish girl!” Ank cheers, lifting a glass of some alcohol or another up in my direction, before knocking it back. “It’s good to see you again, Miss Rides. Or is it Missus?”640Please respect copyright.PENANApxaA74yoRN
“Shut up!” I laugh. “Just Miss, thank you very much.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAXVotH7K244
Ank clucks his tongue. “Shame. I was hoping you had found a man who would treat you right since we met last.”640Please respect copyright.PENANA9luqMWgVPE
“I never said I was still looking, I just said I wasn’t married,” I point out to him.640Please respect copyright.PENANAAyZtEy3nxA
Ama wolf whistles from over by the windows, and the rest of our entourage are walking their way over to either us or Ama. Ank raises his eyebrows. “Didn’t settle, did you?”640Please respect copyright.PENANAq1G2zpU8dx
“Depends on your definition of settling,” I say vaguely. “Half you crew wouldn’t seem to think so.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAf91XwSNeRi
Cheers erupt around the room. I hold up a hand. “And Geo treats me right.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAyWsxSfbI0n
The other half starts cheering, and Ank shakes his head at me. “You, my dear, are devious to the extreme.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAW8kkBsrGZW
“Thank you,” I say with a curtsey. “I’m glad you think so highly of me.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAIY5yFR6ffn
Klef ribs me and says, “You know, what’s the harm if we tell ‘em? You know everyone on Melisma is going to know in about a month anyway. Well, anyone who cares.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAex3VK761uY
I sigh. “Yeah, sure, fine. Tell ‘em.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAdDOEEuq7Xj
“Hey guys! Rides is a liar! She’s not going out with Geo! She’s going out with me!” he yells into the room. “I am a very happy trophy boyfriend!”640Please respect copyright.PENANAfwcp7clypa
I nudge him as soon as the room erupts again. “Did you have to phrase it like that?”640Please respect copyright.PENANAPL72yDsCB6
“Did you have to say Geo?” Klef retorts.640Please respect copyright.PENANAAuO56xYGV3
I roll my eyes. “You. Are. Ridiculous.”640Please respect copyright.PENANA2CoGhF0XSH
“Thank. You,” Klef says, turning and leaning towards me with a smirk.640Please respect copyright.PENANAUXmmu3vNES
I shove him backwards just enough that he hits the bar counter before hopping on one of the stools and waving to the bartender. “Hey bartender? What do you recommend for a traveller who means business?”640Please respect copyright.PENANAcwdSKCpRuF
The aging woman walks over, taking the glass she was polishing and fills it with something from one of the barrels in the back. “Rum,” she says. “Don’t drink it all in one go if you’re not used to it, you’ll find yourself waking up in a pool of your own vomit tomorrow morning, and you’ll be the one to clean it up.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAAaWXLherd8
I nod. “You’ve got it, ma’am.”640Please respect copyright.PENANArjcBJERuxF
She nods and leaves, and I take a shallow sip, coughing slightly. “Strong,” I rasp. “But it’s not bad.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAs48iuuVd8Z
Ank smiles. “You sound like you have potential for drinking contests. If you ever feel like entering one on my ship, I’d be happy to train you.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAa3G9IRUX3u
I nod and laugh a little. “Thank you for the offer, I’ll keep it in mind.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAAAMUad2z1u
Klef’s lips twitch a bit as he sits next to me. “Can I have a sip?” he asks.640Please respect copyright.PENANAQCYgg4AQfp
I pass it over and he takes one, immediately staring to hack when he tries to swallow. I burst out laughing, taking the glass back as Klef desperately gasps for air. “It burns!” he exclaims.640Please respect copyright.PENANA5ZS49ZyKbc
“That’s something alcohol will do, yeah,” I say, taking another sip.640Please respect copyright.PENANAUfz8jzac6M
Klef glares at me and sulks on the counter, waving to the bartender. “Could I have a root beer, please?” he asks.640Please respect copyright.PENANAeyK2at4NK3
I grin. “Aw, how cute. You’re still asking for soda as a grown adult.”640Please respect copyright.PENANAWfQpv9R1SN
Klef sticks his tongue out at me. “Root beer is good, no matter your age.”640Please respect copyright.PENANASC8HeXAobs
I shake my head and take another sip of my rum. “Agree to disagree,” I mutter.640Please respect copyright.PENANApDvmdLePgi
Ama walks over and sits next to us at the bar. “You two know what we’re doing next?” she asks.640Please respect copyright.PENANAyWGc1QnX1J
“Well a little break never hurt anyone,” Klef says, shrugging and nabbing his rootbeer off the counter. “And you could probably use some time to prepare your teleportation powers, whatever that entails. So I figure we rest for a bit, and then when we’re all ready, we try your teleportation powers. Does that sound reasonable?”640Please respect copyright.PENANABjBhqlvzCU
Ama nods. “Maybe you have thought this through more than I originally assumed you did,” she admits.640Please respect copyright.PENANAGT6I7SkvJQ
Klef lifts his root beer to her and smiles. “It’s okay, we all make mistakes sometimes. Let’s just get this show on the road. I’ll buy you a drink, if you want?”640Please respect copyright.PENANAaLuGyxBWge
Ama smiles.640Please respect copyright.PENANABCAJ1UkW3m