The floor is covered in varying amounts of paper, candle wax, and string as Ama flips through the pages of the book she was looking through earlier. "It has to be here, I know it does," she mutters. "Teleportation spells don't just up and disappear!"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7d1tWmGHM
"Well..." Klef starts, and I rib him. He looks over innocently. "C'mon, Ride!"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUR4NdOv6A
"No," I tell him, looking at Bobbi. "Your girlfriend usually get this anxious about a spell?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2J2t9BfAo
"Not usually, but this one's a doozy," Bobbi says, putting a hand on Ama's shoulder from where they're perched on a table behind her. "It's going to take a lot out of her, and she knows it, so she's a bit frazzled."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66zbwhF6yR
"I am not. Frazzled," Ama says through grit teeth.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCF6NmHXwI
"Whatever you say, babe," Bobbi says with a slight laugh. "So long as it doesn't hurt you, whatever you say."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6FFil45OT
Ama mutters in a disgruntled tone, but nobody catches exactly what she says, not even Bobbi, who just looks at us helplessly. "Okay. I think I've got it," Ama says, pointing to some wording on the book that looks like it's written in a different language.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8AVCIppylP
"Is that even Human?" I ask. "It doesn't look like Human writing."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ndE3rRLgJ
Ama shrugs. "Eh, it's not really. It's more wizard-based, though it has Human elements in it as well. But that doesn't mean that I can't read it. Just takes some more effort."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXBfocKgxw
I nod. "You're bilingual?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpOuhUl8Ok
Ama nods proudly, grinning. "Yeah. Took me forever to read the scraggly handwriting of the other wizards, but it was totally worth it.:799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6u3qF04NIv
I smile back. "I'm the kind of person to try and learn my Deuxlife's language but can never get the pronunciation right, and I figure my vocal chords are close enough to a human's that it doesn't really matter."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xsxAkN8JQ
"Represent," Rythe laughs, holding out their hand, palm up. I high-five them and they grin. "That's what I'm talking about, Iri."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzyy3XQtDS
I grin a little and turn back to Ama. "Are you going to need me?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTs9pV25EH
Ama nods and picks up a piece of string off the floor from a pile that hasn't yet been scattered around, pulling a face and putting it back. "Not long enough," she mutters, digging through the rest of the pile until she finds a piece that's to her satisfaction. "Give me your wrist," she says, holding the hand with the string out.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9proXP6Bpt
I place my hand in her palm and she wraps the string once around my wrist, before wrapping it around her own and tying it. "If this works right, the magic will learn to travel from you through skin contact to me, but it might hurt, so we have to force our hands to stay together."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3NX4ek3m1
"Okay," I say, feeling a little nervous. "If that's what we have to do in order to get this to work, let's do it."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZKKPD95yw
Ama nods and looks over her spell book, starting to mutter an incantation. My hand heats up slowly, slowly, and then all at once, and it's one fire and I gasp in pain, instinctively trying to jerk my hand away, but Ama's hand stays tight against mine. Ama's speech rises in pitch and intensity and she taps her figers against the outside of her book. A wind starts to pick up through the room and the sailors and travellers who were talking to each other disinterestedly at the bar before glance over at us. Klef grabs everybody's things and hands out bags to anyone who has free hands to take them. The yarn and papers on the floor start to pick up and blow in the wind, and the candle wax is crawling across the floor to everyone's feet. Klef shies away from it, before Bobbi holds up a hand. "The wax will keep us together while travelling. Don't move away from it."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivb1NiqjrN
Klef pulls a face but stays still as the wax moves closer and closer, entrapping his feet to mine on his left, and Flo's on his right. "This is going to be interesting," Hibiscus breathes.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdx9LXV0SS
Ama is still chanting, until the yarn and papers have been flung to the far corners of the room, and the room itself seems to be fading from reality. I blink several times and try to focus on it, but it's becoming more smears of color than an actual room. And then those smears of color are starting to change, from the browns of the tables and bar and the varying skin tones of the people watching, to the browns and greens reminiscent of the forest. I look around worriedly. "You're just seeing a bunch of color too, aren't you?" I whisper to Klef.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPOEl0swHKL
"Uh, in a way, yeah. But those colors are also shapes," Klef says worriedly. "I see two places at once, but they're both distinct. Why? Can't you?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7qoxd8YRf
I shake my head, biting my lip. I don't know what this means for me, but I doubt that it's anything good.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKldTWbiU7p
Eventually all the colors from before are gone and the green and brown I saw before solidifies. Ama sighs and unties the yarn joining our wrists. I blink rapidly, and slowly my sight comes back into focus. "That was a trip," I say shakily.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsEjw26xvsg
Ama's legs wobble. "Someone, please... take me inside," she whimpers, before her eyes roll into the back of her eyes and with a soft sigh she falls forward to the ground until Bobbi catches her.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllFL7bBIej
"We're here," Flo says, pointing into the trees.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Gg7rPl38M
I squint, and see in the distance a building that looks like it's made out of growing trees. “Woah. That’s cool.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowxrprOB5e
Flo looks over at me and smiles. “It is good woodwork, isn’t it? Beautifully crafted. There’s this one Yeti who can make wood look like it has come to life, it’s truly amazing. I think he helped with the work on this site.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGxilEPiXT
“I can believe it,” Rythe says, walking toward the building. “It’s really intricate. Small scale for a Crusader’s base, but intricate.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7g1vCvTon
No one’s outside that I can see, so I walk forward a few steps to get a better look. It’s at the edge of a clearing in the trees, but the branches from old trees stretch over any open air that might have been there, so the whole area is cast in shadow, with only small shapes of light sifting through the leaves. “It’s… fantastic,” Klef breathes behind me. “The descriptions of it just don’t give it justice.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3V81m1E57Z
I nod and continue walking. Klef’s footsteps are quick to follow. “Hey, Ride, let me go in front! You never know when you might be attacked!”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtSxUiKDym
Before I can retort, my stomach lurches and I’m falling backward, my arms flailing wildly before I land squarely on Klef’s chest, at which point he wraps his arms around me. My feet feel for the ground and find a small circular rock where I was just walking. “Congratulations, Treble,” I say, extracting myself from his grip. “You protected me from a fall where I tripped on a rock. You know, you couldn’t have done that if you were in front of me.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEIfmW3ddv
Klef rolls his eyes. “Ha. Ha ha. You’re a riot, Ride.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkukt2xOFPA
I laugh.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5cl6NpDyt
Klef rolls his eyes at me again and walks next to me the rest of the way to the base, a silent compromise. A someone walks outside the door to the base as we’re approaching, with a cross between a scowl and surprise on their face. “Eh? Who goes there? No one ever appears here anymore!”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUofYPk1Y4
“Hey, Alar!” Ama calls. “It’s me, Ama! I brought a few friends, we have things we need to talk about!” Ama turns to me. “Alar’s not one for sharing pronouns, so I’ll beat you to asking. He/him.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7cQUXuF7a
Alar brightens and walks over. Upon closer inspection, it’s clear that he’s actually a dwarf. “Ama! So good to see you, my dear!”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpf2zHs4tl
Ama smiles and walks the rest of the distance to Alar, hugging him tightly. “Hello again, brother,” she murmurs.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagb0gWBRYw
Bobbi looks on with a slight smile of approval. After a minute, Alar breaks the hug and leans back. “What is so important you had to show up in person, sister?”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCEC1lgn4s
Ama looks over to me. “Well, you may have heard of the Oracle? She is here, and it was proven to us that there is a network of traitors within the Crusaders. We have come here for her own safety, as well as the safety of our most important assets.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQa36jK8G5c
Alar scowls and rubs a weathered hand over his face. He has dark brown skin and prominent frown lines which have only worsened since Ama spoke. “I wish we could be meeting under better circumstances, then, sister,” he says finally. “Let us go inside.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vNtrHUIVL
All of us walk to the base. In addition to the tree-like look it had when I first saw it, I now notice several platforms stretching into the tree branches, and different cabins built into the trees. Some people are staring out windows, or paused on platforms as they watch us approach, eyes marred with distrust. I swallow. “Not a very friendly bunch,” Klef notes.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Oq5USjEkR
“Eh?” Alar says, glancing up into the trees. “Oh. Nah, they just like to act hostile until they know what you’re here for. It’s ‘for the aesthetic’ last I heard from some of the younger ones.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHvkzRJVKz
I laugh. “Oh, I totally understand aesthetic.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmiALsE1ZU
Alar looks over at me and smiles slightly. “You have a very nice voice,” he compliments. “Do you sing?”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUVMDbip2xC
“Oh! Um, thank you,” I say, taking one arm and rubbing it against my other shoulder. “I’m not a good singer, despite what everyone seems to think when they hear my voice. I like singing, I’m just not that good.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNOZ40b4AR
“I would argue against that,” Klef says. “I’ve heard her voice, she’s beyond amazing.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevlMNG5huz
“You’re biased. You’re my boyfriend!” I laugh.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpO7kmkFZX
Klef shrugs.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGLnFKqX8ZU
We walk inside and are immediately met with the smell of sawdust and the sound of hardware being used. “We’re a small base,” Alar says as he walks around. “No one greatly minds. Our main function is to build and invent tech that the rich either are working on or were working on but stopped. We’re pretty tight-knit, as well. I can tell you that it would be hard for one to not know if there was a traitor in the group.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadM4grKCpS
“Well that’s a relief,” I say.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QwAyLIRY6
Everyone in the group murmurs agreement. Alar nods in thought. “It’s almost night here, everyone is just getting to their quarters. Let me show you to some empty rooms.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxG15WLRo5D
Without another word, Alar changes course down a hall and up a stone stairway to a second floor of the base. He waves to the first room on the left that appears down the hall we walked into out of the staircase. “Here we are,” he says. “It’s more of a barracks than a guest room, but if someone had actually told me you were coming,” he glances pointedly at Ama as he stresses each part. “We could have avoided all this and have rooms prepared.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwtfBhW4HV
“The barracks will be fine,” I say with a wave of my hand and a smile.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAbgWWZlbz
Alar nods but lightly slaps Ama’s hand as he passes her anyway. She turns and calls, “Love you too, bro!” after him.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCdJje1KR1U
Klef chuckles and shakes his head. “Sometimes I wish I had a brother or sister to talk to about that. But if Latro happened to give me any half-siblings, I don’t know about them.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIXVJVnE27
I wrap a hand around his shoulder. “If you ask me, siblings would probably not be worth the hassle. To be honest, I’m just gald I get to be with you. You’re like an annoying younger brother half the time rather than my boyfriend, anyway!”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeP8uw5RnrH
Klef barks in laughter. “Is that really all you think of me?”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2FpJ9BF2M
I shrug. Hibiscus shoves past us. “Stop flirting in the doorway and let us see where we’re going to stay!”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaHZlnqRb4
We do stop, and walk into the large room. There’s 5 beds on either side of the walls, and a window, with tinted glass, in several different colors. “Huh,” I say. “Haven’t seen these kinds of windows in ages. Never at a Crusader’s base, though.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5W2cTcDEd
Flo walks over and inspects it. “That’s interesting. Especially considering you can’t get a lot of sunlight to filter through it anyway. Unless it’s used to send a message to those approaching from eslewhere?”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLxhdWkvs3
“What, like a No Vacancy sign on an inn?” Klef asks.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnAwe2Vdg6
“Probably,” Flo agrees. “Okay, enough talk. I know it only feels like early evening, but if we don’t at least try to go to sleep now, we’ll keep everyone up half the night trying to entertain ourselves.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePqptn9EZ4
Rythe walks over to her and hugs her. “Sweetheart, there’s a bed with our name on it the next room over, it’s another barracks.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVFJUyhj03
Flo looks over at them, clearly torn. “But if these guys need our help…?”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6sZ0ydja2
“It’s 5 feet away, babe. No harm in it,” Rythe reasons. “Besides, I know you don’t like sleeping where you think people might be able to watch you. Even with me, though I’m glad that’s not as extreme as it was.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFG8vgOXHSc
Flo sighs. “Oh, all right. Fine. But at the first sign of trouble, we come over here.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMm2ydLeFUI
“Of course,” Rythe says.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIgH0GHnWD
They leave the room after saying good night to everyone, and Hibiscus jumps on the window next to the bed. “Dibs!” they call happily.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9KgjazxuGL
Klef chuckles and plops down on the bed that’s on the opposite wall and closest to the door. “I’ll sleep here, y’know, in case anyone sleepwalks.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXo8asllPPT
I cross my arms. “Oh, c’mon, Treble, that’s a single bed! I’d have to sleep somewhere else!”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw77Yxob12d
Klef waves a hand. “Bye.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOhfBs7dh1
“Oh, I see how it is!” I say in mock-offense, going to the bed next to Hibiscus’. “I’ll just sleep over here, then!”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pTQ11IO1u
“You two are children,” Bobbi says, picking a bed at random and flopping down on it.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLGbk7IUlm
Ama takes the one next to theirs. “Be nice,” they warn.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59V7RLgOmn
“I am nice,” Bobbi says, sitting up.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCBp9jIH2C
“You’re really not,” Ama laughs quietly. Then she sighs. “I’m still drained from using all that magic. I’m going to sleep. Good night, all of you.”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nzmtjQGII
"Night," I respond, before Ama rolls over. When she does, I shift on my own bed. "You know, sleep doesn't sound like a bad idea right now."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3H9uYOhdl
"Mm," Bobbi hums. "I can understand wanting to take a 12 hour nap at 3 in the afternoon. 3 in the morning is when all the really wild parties start to get good, anyway."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjvyeUr5mH
Hibiscus laughs. "I remember that!" they whisper, leaning forward on their bed. "That was so great!"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUUcXZoejL2
Klef looks between them. "Wils party?" he asks.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGOEm2NKAPV
"Some say," Hibiscus says. "Others say that it was just Bobbi getting hopelessly drunk and doing all types of karaoke!"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHrXEYSAVK
Everyone in the room giggles, save Ama, who is already asleep. I lean back in my bed and stare at the ceiling. "I think I'll try to get some sleep too. We have to figure out our plan of action in the morning."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOr4Dj9qJGh
"Sounds like a plan," Hibiscus says.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTsUpxZAS9
"Agreed," Bobbi seconds.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWUPw1ugJ1M
"I'll try to sleep, but I'll most likely be guarding the door for several hours instead," Klef says. "But you guys can sleep now if you can manage it on your own."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnP59iV7NQ
I lie down fully, and roll ove onto my side so that I'm facing the window, and I'm out like a light before I even realize what's going on.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdZg0UV6nc
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