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.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzPiZHGpVqq
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.” 821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZofhsLHRaC
“Eh? What makes you say that?” The eyes in question flickered to her as he turned to face her in his saddle.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRx50fuILS
“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.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUG494PSXtV
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.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIPjPZF10E
“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. 821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UB4DxP6kK
“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.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAwkvtmxmy
"Everything?!" she gasped. "That’s so… uh…" She seemed stuck on the word to use, then just gave up and grinned.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0jVrnrg5O
He nodded. “I know.” Redirecting the conversation, he asked, “What’s your world like?”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgx4D1lPgI
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!”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NqHCUoVki
”So does their element depend on where they live, or is it random?”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCoExmZYBZx
“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!” 821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGhbeDpOJa
”So who’s Fia?” 821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YQjJEUBMu
“”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!”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2fpXTc3DP
”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.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRXtjnes4w
“No, we know the destination to go to! Neoma’s sister, Ee, was messing with the portals and sent us through…”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1NbL1u5j5R
He grinned a bit. “Bet a certain bitch wasn’t so happy about that.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxakPi8Zle4
”Heard that!” Neoma growled.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2hKP8AuxJ
“Good.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT40vloe78l
She giggled. “She’s going to killlllll her!”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXjzPOD1iT
”Hah, sounds fun.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZa6zGgnbTE
”I like Ee, though…” Luna pouted a bit. “Her lap is reeeally warm…”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekFwFq5k2r
He was quiet for a few moments, then abruptly changed the subject. “What about you? You’re a familiar, right?”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJIQ4540zxw
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…”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImJjxwC6vO
”What’s your village like?”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5bAjI0499
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!”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHioM20T0uZ
”How?”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbm0eFRog3
”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.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEPcfsC4Sh
”Sounds pretty simple.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XBk7SXQet
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.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVobzosl2AF
Huh, that was surprising. “You guys would just let them go?”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7zCrc7jOg
”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.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOhVu5yxLF
Truest statement he’d heard all day. He nodded. “Doesn’t sound like that bad of a way to live.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pMfj9ocpg
Neoma shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at the two. Luna only nodded happily. “It was!”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakwY7BcL2W
”Was?” The shifter looked over at her.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dHFlL4ZA6
She bit her lip and nodded. “Was. What’s your home like?!”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaP9Qc4T5x8
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.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfCVn0dOSn
“There’s a pretty much to that, though,” she prodded, smiling.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOx2BOt7GW
”Not all shifters do. I do.” He gave her a flat look, much preferring for her to drop it.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Dx7pbiTAf
”Oh.” She pouted. “But Earth’s boring!”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81g2NUB1wL
”In your opinion.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSvTtq2wp8
”In a lot of people’s opinions!”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVXGTVXMnW
”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.)821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5nEAmE3ok
She pouted again, glaring. “Well, your opinion’s stupid.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKGC7ZSOdz
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I can say the same for yours.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDkjnWBJSw
”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!”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoGExUE4iG
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.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGruG9Tb6kI
She had a blank face, then stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms in defeat. He grinned, and she started to giggle.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfEW4H9bjo
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* * * * *821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpa6nh98IL
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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.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwayECeAfwf
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.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0FoaKzqX5
He looked over at the elemental. “So. What’re we even doing here?”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqkquRajlvz
“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.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkaFcFhwDg9
”We spending any time in this town?” he sighed.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUbUXBKOzZ
“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. 821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOeXCYW1RBF
“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.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMskPFshll8
Neoma rolled her eyes, pointing to a store “Stay here okay?”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadPgcDDQOR
“Why?”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Q7dodV2sI
“I’m not talking to you, asshat. I’m talking to Luna.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0aEURyTlS
“Yeah, I know that,” he grumbled, annoyed. “Why’re you leaving her there though?”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UAr1zRLO8
“Because we’re going into the store to get food.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXtUu4hYKPw
He huffed. “Took her last time. Whatever, let’s just hurry.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTrtWE17GnW
“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.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfl22P5qDI
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.” 821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVzfVPwi63
He gave her an irritated look. “Can’t you pick yourself?”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5a9zMg5zLj
“‘Course, but you have to eat sometime.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rgIc6PU8k
“I don’t CARE what I eat,” he complained. “Unlike some people, I’m not picky.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43jhwVmQ5H
She scoffed as she began to pick up a few fruits. “Riiiight.”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8X8T7AnRWg
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.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXYizWasaod
Outside, Luna was completely immersed in her thoughts until Neoma spoke. “You okay there?”821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLREBCnyvH4
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.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxAyXlXVVg6
Penana
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