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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMU8PsMnhNC
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.” 678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6dWcJDRmmA
“Eh? What makes you say that?” The eyes in question flickered to her as he turned to face her in his saddle.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbCX9j1vpt
“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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MR11IhpAD
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.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdEqj0K06i
“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. 678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVNbaravhrB
“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.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkfI0EI7PJk
"Everything?!" she gasped. "That’s so… uh…" She seemed stuck on the word to use, then just gave up and grinned.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfvCIHH4E2
He nodded. “I know.” Redirecting the conversation, he asked, “What’s your world like?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡve8HJE3BEW
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!”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Qij3TpqeF
”So does their element depend on where they live, or is it random?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0eGNKAxTq
“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!” 678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq39OXp1M7l
”So who’s Fia?” 678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYo9KjBPXn
“”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!”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWNhQx0AMu
”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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgWwrqHNYF
“No, we know the destination to go to! Neoma’s sister, Ee, was messing with the portals and sent us through…”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYV6iSyAut
He grinned a bit. “Bet a certain bitch wasn’t so happy about that.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BjrEAKcQq
”Heard that!” Neoma growled.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgG9fqgMxtA
“Good.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35jwe7qfCd
She giggled. “She’s going to killlllll her!”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2loLXNFjTw
”Hah, sounds fun.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ErjXkmq7a
”I like Ee, though…” Luna pouted a bit. “Her lap is reeeally warm…”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HpZdkDCkh
He was quiet for a few moments, then abruptly changed the subject. “What about you? You’re a familiar, right?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ci1PnGaqQ
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…”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wgiMH0UJx
”What’s your village like?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFayntT5dmQ
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!”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0n8fNGKSG
”How?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV7tawiGsWR
”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.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvA5UtVVo4g
”Sounds pretty simple.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11dUQSuWe9
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.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLr14wGNn4t
Huh, that was surprising. “You guys would just let them go?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXg1zVe9PgG
”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.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYRJP6mMSh
Truest statement he’d heard all day. He nodded. “Doesn’t sound like that bad of a way to live.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAUk4AybbZ
Neoma shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at the two. Luna only nodded happily. “It was!”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiASZTS3Kw
”Was?” The shifter looked over at her.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VE01kLpfl
She bit her lip and nodded. “Was. What’s your home like?!”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUGaQYiva5
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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVndpB2r8Rt
“There’s a pretty much to that, though,” she prodded, smiling.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIRgu8IZIy
”Not all shifters do. I do.” He gave her a flat look, much preferring for her to drop it.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4KOqNZLjUx
”Oh.” She pouted. “But Earth’s boring!”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakUbmwuOBA
”In your opinion.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUVVv1PRgZ
”In a lot of people’s opinions!”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfIoWH7tB3
”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.)678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTq0EJimIkY
She pouted again, glaring. “Well, your opinion’s stupid.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3k83qDr1O
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I can say the same for yours.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Y33i5eWLF
”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!”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uWlOsSXaI
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.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT37O8RNGn5
She had a blank face, then stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms in defeat. He grinned, and she started to giggle.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZnjcJmGIJ
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* * * * *678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANhDD5Xxx9
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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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjSEyiTal3
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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitHA5WRcXz
He looked over at the elemental. “So. What’re we even doing here?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhK1xFI0qfi
“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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWsioTlnt6
”We spending any time in this town?” he sighed.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDj3BEmhw0M
“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. 678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOuiYAfWkNr
“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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6wOhqf9vJ
Neoma rolled her eyes, pointing to a store “Stay here okay?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6b2FRoiggh
“Why?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSrMckDcRk
“I’m not talking to you, asshat. I’m talking to Luna.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡznvQDoBQXd
“Yeah, I know that,” he grumbled, annoyed. “Why’re you leaving her there though?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3Ch9mHNBU
“Because we’re going into the store to get food.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNO3qzS6Mh
He huffed. “Took her last time. Whatever, let’s just hurry.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspiBvatYsd
“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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1VuqXSGudN
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.” 678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsceiPaZOB9
He gave her an irritated look. “Can’t you pick yourself?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBYN81AOwCX
“‘Course, but you have to eat sometime.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKm7NX4EYGD
“I don’t CARE what I eat,” he complained. “Unlike some people, I’m not picky.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fYhUZkr8v
She scoffed as she began to pick up a few fruits. “Riiiight.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwJ8KMnfez
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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB0rXz5maUS
Outside, Luna was completely immersed in her thoughts until Neoma spoke. “You okay there?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqqZZW5GSB
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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1qg26pI3Q
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