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?"647Please respect copyright.PENANAeqItLe96hL
"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."647Please respect copyright.PENANACSTOZAMEZA
“Sounds like a plan,” I say, stretching. “Ugh, I have a crick in my neck.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAyq7Rsp1b3r
“Want me to massage it out for you?” Klef asks.647Please respect copyright.PENANArdv5UA9MzL
“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.647Please respect copyright.PENANAZU5gFoZeEv
“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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAg49emBu64j
I nod. “Okay. Sounds like you guys have this all figured out. Sorry I missed out on the discussion.”647Please respect copyright.PENANATjPYIQVRS2
“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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAMJJ6fGpAXs
I smile slightly. “You’re a little bit scary good at that, you realize?”647Please respect copyright.PENANAL5RDJ8BGJd
Ama grins. “Ssh. Don’t tell Bobbi I said anything, they’ll kill me.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAWbxCiwKCsE
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?”647Please respect copyright.PENANAHRy34rylab
“Fair point,” Ama says, pointing at Klef. “I like the way you think, Mister Thief.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAIlVvK2gAy7
“Why thank you, Miss Wizard,” Klef says with a laugh in his voice.647Please respect copyright.PENANARddcjGEe81
“Careful not to get too cozy,” I tease. “If you do I might get jealous.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAv6f4tpXEnx
“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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANA5i4f3s3A69
“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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAu1ejsNQMkx
Klef laughs. “I love you, Ride. Platonically, romantically. I just love you.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAZDpIhYujV7
“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!”647Please respect copyright.PENANABOszbpn9g9
“Aw, c’mon, Ride! Live a little!” he protests, continuing to tickle me.647Please respect copyright.PENANAbn4e0dOU5d
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!”647Please respect copyright.PENANAvdcaY5BmEV
“Okay, okay! I’m stopping!” Klef surrenders, holding his hands up.647Please respect copyright.PENANAg3uaxTSW9i
“You’re ridiculous,” I tease, still laughing from the surprise attack.647Please respect copyright.PENANARImCZLqHTV
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.647Please respect copyright.PENANABm6mP63CQA
“Don’t be,” Klef groans, rubbing his back. “I’m fine with getting bowled over by you any day.”647Please respect copyright.PENANARD1BZHtAOk
“Flirt,” I laugh. “You’re such a flirt.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAhfXPJglzam
“Always, my dear,” Klef says with a wink.647Please respect copyright.PENANAFf7evJapLX
There’s a groan from the other side of the carriage along with a gag. “Do you two mind?” Hibiscus groans.647Please respect copyright.PENANAW6vHLsWLVa
“Seriously, we’ve been over this,” Ama adds. “It’s only cute for so long.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAIY1aLh29Ly
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?”647Please respect copyright.PENANAp34aM1OWzu
“I do,” Flo interjects. “Ryhte and I would not shut up the first time we met.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAx1AYvvUXB2
Rythe sighs. “Oh, those were the days. Back when you were fine with my relentless teasing you and flirting in general.”647Please respect copyright.PENANA1f5nT2FFHs
Flo rolls her eyes. “I’m still fine with it if you don’t embarrass anyone, but lately you’ve been embarrassing everyone.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAJpJ2hHxccm
“What’s wrong with that?” they ask.647Please respect copyright.PENANALLtiFQu6gw
“Everything,” Flo says. “You need to respect people’s boundaries.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAisAkGX9rdm
Rythe shrugs. “I can’t tell people’s boundaries if they don’t tell me when enough is enough,” they reason.647Please respect copyright.PENANAJ4dCPLMFOH
“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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAjUjILByHJq
“Not a thing,” Rythe teases, bopping a finger on Flo’s snout.647Please respect copyright.PENANAtqXp7xYvz8
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.647Please respect copyright.PENANAR0mHL4yp8v
She looks up and chews her lip. “Oh, I’d say… 10 minutes? Maybe 5, if Bobbi can convince the horses to go faster.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAlTfJB04NgD
There’s the sound of yelling outside the carriage and we pick up speed suddenly. Ama smiles. “5 minutes.”647Please respect copyright.PENANApXKqF6jSJ0
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.647Please respect copyright.PENANAsSCYPdlpLm
Klef blinks once, snapping to attention. “I’m awake,” he says. “I’m awake.”647Please respect copyright.PENANA2eUDwj0uaY
“Barely. How much sleep did you get last night?”647Please respect copyright.PENANA5nlq35EIig
“Ugh. Not enough,” he groans. “I feel like death.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAPforOhalzw
“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.647Please respect copyright.PENANARkKknUXwVs
Lightning cracks a mile or so behind us, and everyone jumps. Ama groans. “Looks like we’ll be using my magic to teleport. Great.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAEJMUN2vlWE
Rythe groans in response. “Ugh, but teleporting makes me sick to my stomach.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAVb1IxY9gBJ
Ama shrugs helplessly. “If it helps, I doubt I have enough in me to take us all directly to the base.”647Please respect copyright.PENANA2mtWeNZ1a0
“Could you use some of my Sight as sort of a boost?” I ask.647Please respect copyright.PENANASN18EViVNm
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?”647Please respect copyright.PENANA6pjVgIgrb9
Ama nods slowly. “I might know how to do it… it might be painful on your end, though.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAPiwgST2kBx
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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAkbuVqbM4vN
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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAiS01g32SFl
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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAJZ8xh3ANvL
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.647Please respect copyright.PENANA6i7RxTc4Mr
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.647Please respect copyright.PENANATfAmvKTfyp
I shrug. “Eh, nobody’s trying to kill us yet, let’s see where this cave takes us.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAeX7T5MsqB8
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.647Please respect copyright.PENANAl9n8PdaDKa
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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAa0bUlWB7Kv
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.647Please respect copyright.PENANABrWdix6RXS
Klef looks down at me innocently. “I know, Ride.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAJj6uZSDek9
I narrow my eyes. “I know what you’re doing. Stop patronizing me.”647Please respect copyright.PENANALIeX3y9N74
“Me? Patronize you? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Klef laughs, continuing to move forward and upward.647Please respect copyright.PENANAeQ16YYsRDO
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!”647Please respect copyright.PENANALUOnl5cLXR
“But you wanted to be my protector so bad, and I didn’t want to hurt your feelings!” I tease.647Please respect copyright.PENANAmQXCc1PnIU
“What?” Flo asks from behind me.647Please respect copyright.PENANAxCrlhMrDVS
“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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAjugkWoHBFQ
“It’s not that they did that, it’s that they said those songs were the real ones!” Klef calls down.647Please respect copyright.PENANA8a7aScJvJq
“Hey! Is that my favorite thief I hear?” Ank calls. “You’re not still mad at us, are you, Klef?”647Please respect copyright.PENANAnKAElxuwyx
I giggle as Klef pulls a face and glares at me. “This is your fault,” he mutters half-heartedly at me.647Please respect copyright.PENANATdWnDgbhPw
“Why, I have no idea what you’re talking about, Treble,” I tease.647Please respect copyright.PENANAQvR3Vun96N
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?”647Please respect copyright.PENANAZnfEeWI199
“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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANA0T1mueq9kH
“Ugly?!” Ank asks indignantly.647Please respect copyright.PENANAxKRb4IqRwh
Klef grins. “Like I said, hard feelings.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAqK8X2KpXcz
I walk up behind him with a smile. “Long time no see, Ank.”647Please respect copyright.PENANA9rhAhlQmj5
“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?”647Please respect copyright.PENANAguaNBtleyn
“Shut up!” I laugh. “Just Miss, thank you very much.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAt6iHbiwKJS
Ank clucks his tongue. “Shame. I was hoping you had found a man who would treat you right since we met last.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAGUjdKKkSAt
“I never said I was still looking, I just said I wasn’t married,” I point out to him.647Please respect copyright.PENANAQ3mxRiYK7u
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?”647Please respect copyright.PENANAtjMxZmA8CS
“Depends on your definition of settling,” I say vaguely. “Half you crew wouldn’t seem to think so.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAZuyBGnNogl
Cheers erupt around the room. I hold up a hand. “And Geo treats me right.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAEod3twvncs
The other half starts cheering, and Ank shakes his head at me. “You, my dear, are devious to the extreme.”647Please respect copyright.PENANATvS1jcw2Er
“Thank you,” I say with a curtsey. “I’m glad you think so highly of me.”647Please respect copyright.PENANANcHtPBUBqW
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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAbGcSGY03BB
I sigh. “Yeah, sure, fine. Tell ‘em.”647Please respect copyright.PENANACCtESi9d8Q
“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!”647Please respect copyright.PENANA64vXyMIZJx
I nudge him as soon as the room erupts again. “Did you have to phrase it like that?”647Please respect copyright.PENANAk6QRqQHZ1o
“Did you have to say Geo?” Klef retorts.647Please respect copyright.PENANAP1XXkio9Cd
I roll my eyes. “You. Are. Ridiculous.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAmaEVzyTqcA
“Thank. You,” Klef says, turning and leaning towards me with a smirk.647Please respect copyright.PENANAl4UbeSjWtn
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?”647Please respect copyright.PENANAoXzMigKSKj
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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAXsZKZLwlpH
I nod. “You’ve got it, ma’am.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAx1pYIjQ9ga
She nods and leaves, and I take a shallow sip, coughing slightly. “Strong,” I rasp. “But it’s not bad.”647Please respect copyright.PENANASX4JG93Jft
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.”647Please respect copyright.PENANA2w3WeZ5Z7Q
I nod and laugh a little. “Thank you for the offer, I’ll keep it in mind.”647Please respect copyright.PENANA35Iuhyiu0i
Klef’s lips twitch a bit as he sits next to me. “Can I have a sip?” he asks.647Please respect copyright.PENANAgwPmAsBgpa
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.647Please respect copyright.PENANAQ6vwInXPch
“That’s something alcohol will do, yeah,” I say, taking another sip.647Please respect copyright.PENANA7K634izRGL
Klef glares at me and sulks on the counter, waving to the bartender. “Could I have a root beer, please?” he asks.647Please respect copyright.PENANAHjBE8z3SlP
I grin. “Aw, how cute. You’re still asking for soda as a grown adult.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAiwyGUHdPFo
Klef sticks his tongue out at me. “Root beer is good, no matter your age.”647Please respect copyright.PENANAueQYDnSPZy
I shake my head and take another sip of my rum. “Agree to disagree,” I mutter.647Please respect copyright.PENANA4UbdS5aOg4
Ama walks over and sits next to us at the bar. “You two know what we’re doing next?” she asks.647Please respect copyright.PENANA7Ts8e4t1xi
“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?”647Please respect copyright.PENANA6jOg79fmFq
Ama nods. “Maybe you have thought this through more than I originally assumed you did,” she admits.647Please respect copyright.PENANAPKRXOZP2UZ
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?”647Please respect copyright.PENANAKgjyJ0GyyA
Ama smiles.647Please respect copyright.PENANAeEbSunSzoi