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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcFVj75cEU
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.” 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZn4mI16QJ
“Eh? What makes you say that?” The eyes in question flickered to her as he turned to face her in his saddle.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmph463tLg
“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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7qXhlLvY4
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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqG2myuh9Wy
“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. 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYELFZiWZwL
“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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjIKlrWjLW
"Everything?!" she gasped. "That’s so… uh…" She seemed stuck on the word to use, then just gave up and grinned.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkfcd6Tm1tK
He nodded. “I know.” Redirecting the conversation, he asked, “What’s your world like?”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGLvFbpJb0
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!”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg00jlkLkvH
”So does their element depend on where they live, or is it random?”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJqDMN8HGNC
“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!” 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CxGRks4Ml
”So who’s Fia?” 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKIerfGoL9
“”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!”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79zfjWkC1n
”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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUwcq3OY86p
“No, we know the destination to go to! Neoma’s sister, Ee, was messing with the portals and sent us through…”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKyKFKkUKM
He grinned a bit. “Bet a certain bitch wasn’t so happy about that.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKuRT5oM07
”Heard that!” Neoma growled.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjKUecYBuHc
“Good.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoTkdujIX0
She giggled. “She’s going to killlllll her!”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyeuo7BKrc
”Hah, sounds fun.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nifM52sEC
”I like Ee, though…” Luna pouted a bit. “Her lap is reeeally warm…”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWT0lvei6k
He was quiet for a few moments, then abruptly changed the subject. “What about you? You’re a familiar, right?”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzTfozvug7A
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…”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTTEtoBTBQJ
”What’s your village like?”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqO61KPq0V
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!”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaGBLOj3Cd
”How?”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoENzvkfgeL
”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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GhgyvlGo4
”Sounds pretty simple.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6UttweVVG
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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuT7ukPYFQS
Huh, that was surprising. “You guys would just let them go?”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2zH6iya5s
”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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0clLLLc9D
Truest statement he’d heard all day. He nodded. “Doesn’t sound like that bad of a way to live.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhv93BJ8qP
Neoma shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at the two. Luna only nodded happily. “It was!”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTwggtdTL6
”Was?” The shifter looked over at her.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34J63mZFgR
She bit her lip and nodded. “Was. What’s your home like?!”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PSgVHCFki
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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDAs94kvawm
“There’s a pretty much to that, though,” she prodded, smiling.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVfQFaC3aE
”Not all shifters do. I do.” He gave her a flat look, much preferring for her to drop it.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOiEOUuiYLw
”Oh.” She pouted. “But Earth’s boring!”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwbNQ7Lyfu
”In your opinion.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrKrAkqDYn
”In a lot of people’s opinions!”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCiD9KrLk8
”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.)715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0PUga1lSm
She pouted again, glaring. “Well, your opinion’s stupid.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52J8jI5t7b
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I can say the same for yours.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyo6mGrIa7p
”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!”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQRDD1P13f
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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroaMzcLhDg
She had a blank face, then stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms in defeat. He grinned, and she started to giggle.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3p6lgbuWDG
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* * * * *715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotULRU7mKe
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5hkNRAvU8
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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUr6HGa7Sxo
He looked over at the elemental. “So. What’re we even doing here?”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1uh8VaVMf
“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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQl8Q789u6b
”We spending any time in this town?” he sighed.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHPsR0gNT3
“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. 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbsAXxXQHP
“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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5A8B8BNHjj
Neoma rolled her eyes, pointing to a store “Stay here okay?”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjXlxDoFRu
“Why?”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpqcSU2H88G
“I’m not talking to you, asshat. I’m talking to Luna.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9r1uQiSez
“Yeah, I know that,” he grumbled, annoyed. “Why’re you leaving her there though?”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡafOWltWSlE
“Because we’re going into the store to get food.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXHbXm0bmw
He huffed. “Took her last time. Whatever, let’s just hurry.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOhFVn1DZd
“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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxiV7BV3MWi
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.” 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjH7ipJzlx
He gave her an irritated look. “Can’t you pick yourself?”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQS3EiY9IsH
“‘Course, but you have to eat sometime.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKsscU24yH
“I don’t CARE what I eat,” he complained. “Unlike some people, I’m not picky.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkI2SqsPHL5
She scoffed as she began to pick up a few fruits. “Riiiight.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU68P36bxA1
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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzb3w4p6kpW
Outside, Luna was completely immersed in her thoughts until Neoma spoke. “You okay there?”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUcnLXPrF9
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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3fdZPuyWJ
Penana
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