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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigCY0FnPh9
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.” 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiAHOaZubcy
“Eh? What makes you say that?” The eyes in question flickered to her as he turned to face her in his saddle.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2mvAsJcNGk
“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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDcyAJDchR
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.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfuOvCtnYbk
“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. 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmSQy71UB4
“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.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCv1iH9ZRhz
"Everything?!" she gasped. "That’s so… uh…" She seemed stuck on the word to use, then just gave up and grinned.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXVRUveuV2
He nodded. “I know.” Redirecting the conversation, he asked, “What’s your world like?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikyDp9fCmU
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!”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5F4pnUar79
”So does their element depend on where they live, or is it random?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkleKdvvyna
“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!” 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwB6kVBG6ZW
”So who’s Fia?” 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbybVvNnqo7
“”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!”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu1yAnfy5Nk
”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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡADJpdC6QFp
“No, we know the destination to go to! Neoma’s sister, Ee, was messing with the portals and sent us through…”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYuVzBGL6qR
He grinned a bit. “Bet a certain bitch wasn’t so happy about that.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAt9UvcUig1
”Heard that!” Neoma growled.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddRX2VEqnI
“Good.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnTi6o5nUd
She giggled. “She’s going to killlllll her!”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGSVJRmmaRL
”Hah, sounds fun.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgn4XI3xg5
”I like Ee, though…” Luna pouted a bit. “Her lap is reeeally warm…”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNVQRnpXqG
He was quiet for a few moments, then abruptly changed the subject. “What about you? You’re a familiar, right?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH881cOKc00
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…”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwodlkx83t
”What’s your village like?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ675khamPfG
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!”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDCmAjmq5l
”How?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CCrusFcsO
”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.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5oxKkIzEvd
”Sounds pretty simple.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2P6pGRIXdA
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.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEAl4qFjWV
Huh, that was surprising. “You guys would just let them go?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFAWx9Q7mP
”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.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFLAPJOL4n
Truest statement he’d heard all day. He nodded. “Doesn’t sound like that bad of a way to live.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNE9SAY3bUE
Neoma shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at the two. Luna only nodded happily. “It was!”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAnxS1WajPC
”Was?” The shifter looked over at her.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgKCoYEYoE
She bit her lip and nodded. “Was. What’s your home like?!”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4qw3eTMYO
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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnhQbmrnG7R
“There’s a pretty much to that, though,” she prodded, smiling.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpP2rijXeaB
”Not all shifters do. I do.” He gave her a flat look, much preferring for her to drop it.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotbZhT8z8c
”Oh.” She pouted. “But Earth’s boring!”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtQYh67MPg
”In your opinion.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QC6loNVye
”In a lot of people’s opinions!”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCaRWjglaV
”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.)701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM055nZnLST
She pouted again, glaring. “Well, your opinion’s stupid.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2uFb1ugCD
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I can say the same for yours.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHeLbfhNDkl
”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!”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwIrBw267s
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.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJp2DzOGJR
She had a blank face, then stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms in defeat. He grinned, and she started to giggle.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡme5kMq7eyZ
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* * * * *701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡelmSu72u5V
701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWLQUuNreV
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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6t6FefxrH
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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5W0UUnD4k
He looked over at the elemental. “So. What’re we even doing here?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzy2cfq8VQV
“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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYKZ7UzB3A
”We spending any time in this town?” he sighed.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9F1dHjCb6
“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. 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxR26IqzQs
“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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhCJAzYu9h
Neoma rolled her eyes, pointing to a store “Stay here okay?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvo9BsGWPb
“Why?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsbMdw89jg
“I’m not talking to you, asshat. I’m talking to Luna.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5EJ7vPKIMr
“Yeah, I know that,” he grumbled, annoyed. “Why’re you leaving her there though?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99HULWSfRR
“Because we’re going into the store to get food.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1z66G7bEQH
He huffed. “Took her last time. Whatever, let’s just hurry.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LZOFZp8Eg
“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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDXCJlt3uk
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.” 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvUtE9HmIt
He gave her an irritated look. “Can’t you pick yourself?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEb1IIHf3pn
“‘Course, but you have to eat sometime.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXlpnXoT4i
“I don’t CARE what I eat,” he complained. “Unlike some people, I’m not picky.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlGRBmZ5dK
She scoffed as she began to pick up a few fruits. “Riiiight.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNaoPq8i3q
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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSHNioogvL
Outside, Luna was completely immersed in her thoughts until Neoma spoke. “You okay there?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3h1nqS4SzA
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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRY5erMGXA
Penana
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