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.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zBQhZWIsc
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.” 814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGi42GDB0k
“Eh? What makes you say that?” The eyes in question flickered to her as he turned to face her in his saddle.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHaelSqZhk
“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.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9IgeG7Urz
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.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcV6uMwuQzb
“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. 814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrXdscHOSFy
“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.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEvGfsl240
"Everything?!" she gasped. "That’s so… uh…" She seemed stuck on the word to use, then just gave up and grinned.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWM2ujU0EW
He nodded. “I know.” Redirecting the conversation, he asked, “What’s your world like?”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT9htz53lPM
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!”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQ0XmJrzzH
”So does their element depend on where they live, or is it random?”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4MB9Hi19IP
“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!” 814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDII1JqvDg
”So who’s Fia?” 814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzMwJ5gEoU
“”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!”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxF0CaY8Sw1
”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.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgTN8zlW85
“No, we know the destination to go to! Neoma’s sister, Ee, was messing with the portals and sent us through…”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIlRoAlWE1
He grinned a bit. “Bet a certain bitch wasn’t so happy about that.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tXkVfBmFu
”Heard that!” Neoma growled.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSwOQirrzo
“Good.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9glCB8V0x
She giggled. “She’s going to killlllll her!”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftEtHveode
”Hah, sounds fun.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95F03F8qqI
”I like Ee, though…” Luna pouted a bit. “Her lap is reeeally warm…”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8wQjqpvcg
He was quiet for a few moments, then abruptly changed the subject. “What about you? You’re a familiar, right?”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblWoOWCEQu
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…”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtoXIRjTeo
”What’s your village like?”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqF7veeXZH
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!”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGcKO4w5I3
”How?”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFRoQWlHQV
”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.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtJHULje88
”Sounds pretty simple.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPoVaT3x5UF
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.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfaaCD2L1qQ
Huh, that was surprising. “You guys would just let them go?”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUOf1JnjUir
”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.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7pu8UOIgr
Truest statement he’d heard all day. He nodded. “Doesn’t sound like that bad of a way to live.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAMWbe8yK9
Neoma shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at the two. Luna only nodded happily. “It was!”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT29sPZ4uhZ
”Was?” The shifter looked over at her.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9iGg3l85w
She bit her lip and nodded. “Was. What’s your home like?!”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YBQqxnFiu
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.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLptkUXI3vu
“There’s a pretty much to that, though,” she prodded, smiling.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAhQyNmSAi
”Not all shifters do. I do.” He gave her a flat look, much preferring for her to drop it.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEybZwa8lNp
”Oh.” She pouted. “But Earth’s boring!”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqOETktYGj
”In your opinion.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOuGld63ENx
”In a lot of people’s opinions!”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRcCNG89DN
”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.)814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzNDGsrXKv
She pouted again, glaring. “Well, your opinion’s stupid.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0G49JLvL0D
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I can say the same for yours.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJQajMWfjA
”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!”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqx1P3IEQfl
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.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHS6PKs7Ur
She had a blank face, then stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms in defeat. He grinned, and she started to giggle.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqtEzg28rA
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* * * * *814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXon886qp0j
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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.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fhTdA6x8q
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.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqg3cedhZsE
He looked over at the elemental. “So. What’re we even doing here?”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBULF2LiESx
“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.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewthvgVXay
”We spending any time in this town?” he sighed.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6qGFhaT5l
“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. 814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7nUCbRpf2
“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.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrS8z9RAo0E
Neoma rolled her eyes, pointing to a store “Stay here okay?”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Gu6T6yIQj
“Why?”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1wPZFU3nns
“I’m not talking to you, asshat. I’m talking to Luna.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYadVNqBN4B
“Yeah, I know that,” he grumbled, annoyed. “Why’re you leaving her there though?”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjc3LZ8VUt
“Because we’re going into the store to get food.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdqhKoa6hc
He huffed. “Took her last time. Whatever, let’s just hurry.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkD8w3jo6q3
“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.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2BTjc7IgB
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.” 814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe4PLCYmlto
He gave her an irritated look. “Can’t you pick yourself?”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCigDz9TtD
“‘Course, but you have to eat sometime.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWcvhvfnOs
“I don’t CARE what I eat,” he complained. “Unlike some people, I’m not picky.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlO7G2bkgfo
She scoffed as she began to pick up a few fruits. “Riiiight.”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0BaaRuCTaq
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.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBA3bBNXzr
Outside, Luna was completely immersed in her thoughts until Neoma spoke. “You okay there?”814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd670SclvJC
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.814Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlcxUM6utd
Penana
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