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.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ColglUZMQ
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.” 624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9PSBRUEhYA
“Eh? What makes you say that?” The eyes in question flickered to her as he turned to face her in his saddle.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnzGmho4KA
“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.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH89Tm0IyBn
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.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0uF23Jvpsp
“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. 624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJcVd6YZRx
“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.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDt2n88nj1A
"Everything?!" she gasped. "That’s so… uh…" She seemed stuck on the word to use, then just gave up and grinned.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4JqdPpFYbv
He nodded. “I know.” Redirecting the conversation, he asked, “What’s your world like?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnsGSFRl4C
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!”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡarSFNGuTFz
”So does their element depend on where they live, or is it random?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrAh6vdstI
“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!” 624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOAyFLeNzT
”So who’s Fia?” 624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9oy8IU8bR
“”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!”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzRq17TW8T
”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.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1GoDRQBLq
“No, we know the destination to go to! Neoma’s sister, Ee, was messing with the portals and sent us through…”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtjiuppabw
He grinned a bit. “Bet a certain bitch wasn’t so happy about that.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrJfp0Npta
”Heard that!” Neoma growled.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMinSPa0FER
“Good.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61tPwsDzVb
She giggled. “She’s going to killlllll her!”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoW3zOB8Nhi
”Hah, sounds fun.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwVH30oXYI
”I like Ee, though…” Luna pouted a bit. “Her lap is reeeally warm…”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOh9YBBulX
He was quiet for a few moments, then abruptly changed the subject. “What about you? You’re a familiar, right?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZaJgEnwlR
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…”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhdCO3PLuZ
”What’s your village like?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYC8DvCJfhr
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!”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDzZYOPfqpZ
”How?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZezWM14yWJ
”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.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZFd3hbskwK
”Sounds pretty simple.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5EoZJh8oD
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.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOY1VGaW5W9
Huh, that was surprising. “You guys would just let them go?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWFL47JUfT
”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.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95TnGiLgEU
Truest statement he’d heard all day. He nodded. “Doesn’t sound like that bad of a way to live.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRt8O0nc1MZ
Neoma shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at the two. Luna only nodded happily. “It was!”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTVFKePL6X
”Was?” The shifter looked over at her.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpqUwrwueJ
She bit her lip and nodded. “Was. What’s your home like?!”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZYbGHnLtC
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.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpk80XTSPle
“There’s a pretty much to that, though,” she prodded, smiling.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAhTuOTE0r
”Not all shifters do. I do.” He gave her a flat look, much preferring for her to drop it.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxDu5FgL33
”Oh.” She pouted. “But Earth’s boring!”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIHxyHSbIf
”In your opinion.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtJYxgTMyR
”In a lot of people’s opinions!”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEcr8fpSCRe
”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.)624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAzBWNBlfqG
She pouted again, glaring. “Well, your opinion’s stupid.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJP5dMUQxr
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I can say the same for yours.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsuPR9ywYu
”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!”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5uZw0yBZr
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.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeEw6EkI3zU
She had a blank face, then stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms in defeat. He grinned, and she started to giggle.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDYLvMlMVX
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* * * * *624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVruHRSabf
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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.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaqFPqOnah
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.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAhJzC9K3k
He looked over at the elemental. “So. What’re we even doing here?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKyda6ig94
“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.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFuBqsSa2z
”We spending any time in this town?” he sighed.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqIwWsaBIB
“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. 624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0RPDUd6Td
“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.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡek74Y8N4vl
Neoma rolled her eyes, pointing to a store “Stay here okay?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCynR88UmmA
“Why?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXjv0U0bCP
“I’m not talking to you, asshat. I’m talking to Luna.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIXaGwJTWp
“Yeah, I know that,” he grumbled, annoyed. “Why’re you leaving her there though?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmnGIF5w9O
“Because we’re going into the store to get food.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflPSYlZNsb
He huffed. “Took her last time. Whatever, let’s just hurry.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDqf28Dimv
“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.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7QcrjoUDRS
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.” 624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVezi8RDBhZ
He gave her an irritated look. “Can’t you pick yourself?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHO5n2Vc3z
“‘Course, but you have to eat sometime.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2mkoXv8PFh
“I don’t CARE what I eat,” he complained. “Unlike some people, I’m not picky.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01H4QzYfFK
She scoffed as she began to pick up a few fruits. “Riiiight.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDx31fsMAm
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.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpSFelzRiBv
Outside, Luna was completely immersed in her thoughts until Neoma spoke. “You okay there?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPugS6s6Lc
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.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1cxSgFdLD
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