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.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0vfvqOX3x
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.” 699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxhKVmpZQD
“Eh? What makes you say that?” The eyes in question flickered to her as he turned to face her in his saddle.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxir3K2LblL
“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.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXB4LGWXyTZ
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.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84C2cQKTql
“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. 699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzl0QUNDDs0
“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.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDG7ncSQWgG
"Everything?!" she gasped. "That’s so… uh…" She seemed stuck on the word to use, then just gave up and grinned.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6xIFrfHNa
He nodded. “I know.” Redirecting the conversation, he asked, “What’s your world like?”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzCqRx16M8
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!”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVF1PiDSEu6
”So does their element depend on where they live, or is it random?”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxiq1pJqOTI
“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!” 699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZfxP60CGZ
”So who’s Fia?” 699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKKRutW5ASH
“”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!”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYJ4s565hp
”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.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3s246wfp8
“No, we know the destination to go to! Neoma’s sister, Ee, was messing with the portals and sent us through…”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLO6TAQNOF
He grinned a bit. “Bet a certain bitch wasn’t so happy about that.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDiGMbMsSl
”Heard that!” Neoma growled.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9sLVUXGcI
“Good.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Ir1DeNxI3
She giggled. “She’s going to killlllll her!”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNS8RgTfwq
”Hah, sounds fun.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeeGuL0wst2
”I like Ee, though…” Luna pouted a bit. “Her lap is reeeally warm…”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXNYqliSls
He was quiet for a few moments, then abruptly changed the subject. “What about you? You’re a familiar, right?”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH1lEC9Wq9i
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…”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRp60GclK1A
”What’s your village like?”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcaMBpwOnQD
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!”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9xa17E5hV
”How?”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhH4YBTuZuA
”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.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYx1jjhoqr8
”Sounds pretty simple.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfyhaLMeSq
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.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmNSagvLX7
Huh, that was surprising. “You guys would just let them go?”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMcfHTrS2D0
”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.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyK9C7CRAK
Truest statement he’d heard all day. He nodded. “Doesn’t sound like that bad of a way to live.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eLR2TB9VD
Neoma shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at the two. Luna only nodded happily. “It was!”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNubdD5ffpW
”Was?” The shifter looked over at her.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9E68bUjKeB
She bit her lip and nodded. “Was. What’s your home like?!”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwjfRx4bOR
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.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyoozIt6fHP
“There’s a pretty much to that, though,” she prodded, smiling.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDFaJSm6L5
”Not all shifters do. I do.” He gave her a flat look, much preferring for her to drop it.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3igmtuwOj1
”Oh.” She pouted. “But Earth’s boring!”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRbDFetggms
”In your opinion.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu9qkp6hMxV
”In a lot of people’s opinions!”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0uE3A6LBx
”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.)699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8E7FRsJPW
She pouted again, glaring. “Well, your opinion’s stupid.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDoNYXYfF2
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I can say the same for yours.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfi8jIY7Afy
”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!”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpa9HroyZgE
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.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡktonasbFR2
She had a blank face, then stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms in defeat. He grinned, and she started to giggle.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2mDc2VEkjJ
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* * * * *699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK149azSkgn
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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.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoB9WHAzieZ
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.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYl2l2ATdj
He looked over at the elemental. “So. What’re we even doing here?”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGILSF3DZvB
“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.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGjsoUhiQ5x
”We spending any time in this town?” he sighed.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dfnBxvr4n
“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. 699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfFcr7aIgl5
“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.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMEmxV9hg8
Neoma rolled her eyes, pointing to a store “Stay here okay?”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJo4np35r8
“Why?”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hmo2Ozrk1
“I’m not talking to you, asshat. I’m talking to Luna.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfome83Y9SA
“Yeah, I know that,” he grumbled, annoyed. “Why’re you leaving her there though?”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHavoY72r0d
“Because we’re going into the store to get food.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUR1xROQemV
He huffed. “Took her last time. Whatever, let’s just hurry.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBT58VKP3c
“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.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXLVMua4mO
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.” 699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXlDcvhZU0
He gave her an irritated look. “Can’t you pick yourself?”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiBp5BgAUW
“‘Course, but you have to eat sometime.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMV83jaEBWL
“I don’t CARE what I eat,” he complained. “Unlike some people, I’m not picky.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSJwOE0Sl8
She scoffed as she began to pick up a few fruits. “Riiiight.”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9eI1WFrKD
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.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9QpAM6i7X
Outside, Luna was completely immersed in her thoughts until Neoma spoke. “You okay there?”699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz85MTwBGck
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.699Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzBFwOZC8vg
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