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.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9tKmitZtN
  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.” 810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMzIdXK7RZ
  “Eh? What makes you say that?” The eyes in question flickered to her as he turned to face her in his saddle.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlCB7Owsv0
  “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.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejOQabii69
  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.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7BxbqoTZ0
  “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. 810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWj4SCLHFm
  “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.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUieN7dZKFz
"Everything?!" she gasped. "That’s so… uh…" She seemed stuck on the word to use, then just gave up and grinned.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49lHGwwFLl
   He nodded. “I know.” Redirecting the conversation, he asked, “What’s your world like?”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAg0UvHAqj
      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!”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfHJZDfp3z
   ”So does their element depend on where they live, or is it random?”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbKervLhUq
      “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!” 810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIpJ1UdtL1
   ”So who’s Fia?” 810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBsIiesQF7Q
      “”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!”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOisTAJixS
   ”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.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Yzsw41f4n
      “No, we know the destination to go to! Neoma’s sister, Ee, was messing with the portals and sent us through…”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCg1M2odE2
   He grinned a bit. “Bet a certain bitch wasn’t so happy about that.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1IkOlPLmb
   ”Heard that!” Neoma growled.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2IWFaFCPmK
  “Good.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLw7FHkiwK
  She giggled. “She’s going to killlllll her!”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYnxy8ke4p
   ”Hah, sounds fun.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5Z3wuNuKh
   ”I like Ee, though…”  Luna pouted a bit. “Her lap is reeeally warm…”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9TMxXZ5Sp
   He was quiet for a few moments, then abruptly changed the subject. “What about you? You’re a familiar, right?”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3jogN30vk
   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…”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HHPgH8nSW
   ”What’s your village like?”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPJl0mMrDP
   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!”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6y2HkgEfEq
   ”How?”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0pT6sDeNZ
   ”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.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkzNxc92d1
   ”Sounds pretty simple.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzwSo1haNK
   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.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4g2Hgf5A7
   Huh, that was surprising. “You guys would just let them go?”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQKpzxgDKcZ
   ”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.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCnSKOXSM2
   Truest statement he’d heard all day. He nodded. “Doesn’t sound like that bad of a way to live.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH4fPmLjiDI
   Neoma shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at the two. Luna only nodded happily. “It was!”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlx4Ah3Dg3
   ”Was?” The shifter looked over at her.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7XtlN6dh8
   She bit her lip and nodded. “Was. What’s your home like?!”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6EjGIO1cO
   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.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIS2OozwVAI
      “There’s a pretty much to that, though,” she prodded, smiling.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnePzMDUzcY
   ”Not all shifters do. I do.” He gave her a flat look, much preferring for her to drop it.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIr2IzeAGx
   ”Oh.” She pouted. “But Earth’s boring!”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1voyjYiHj
   ”In your opinion.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9RA04cqyy
   ”In a lot of people’s opinions!”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pOVodqqy9
   ”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.)810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbYkW6mmMF5
   She pouted again, glaring. “Well, your opinion’s stupid.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDRgOQREJA
   He raised an eyebrow at her. “I can say the same for yours.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSSHhyf2b7
   ”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!”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RZlhX6BYw
   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.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtg1dPqroFe
   She had a blank face, then stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms in defeat. He grinned, and she started to giggle.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wVxUKZHOx
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*   *   *   *   *810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9NumdiAq8
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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.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtRQ6shxak
  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.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQaj0cWpiR
  He looked over at the elemental. “So. What’re we even doing here?”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqASSpPRl6h
  “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.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2Vu7x6hg8
     ”We spending any time in this town?” he sighed.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEy5iF3lrr0
  “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. 810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPLeIs2jw2
  “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.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmQodly0Vp
  Neoma rolled her eyes, pointing to a store “Stay here okay?”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡijj1EHXj0Z
  “Why?”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Q4QzkBr4x
  “I’m not talking to you, asshat. I’m talking to Luna.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0NSfQs8D9
  “Yeah, I know that,” he grumbled, annoyed. “Why’re you leaving her there though?”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9sxCenvoS
  “Because we’re going into the store to get food.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3C9sbDwoE
  He huffed. “Took her last time. Whatever, let’s just hurry.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPUoKhecNhv
  “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.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVY9pss2rA
  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.” 810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwyUuLl40wk
  He gave her an irritated look. “Can’t you pick yourself?”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmofa1tdzV
  “‘Course, but you have to eat sometime.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxnS1B8VRjd
  “I don’t CARE what I eat,” he complained. “Unlike some people, I’m not picky.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF87Z3V8cmg
  She scoffed as she began to pick up a few fruits. “Riiiight.”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAcFE7SmPy
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.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhhoMthrQj
Outside, Luna was completely immersed in her thoughts until Neoma spoke. “You okay there?”810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFzirqOSBv
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.810Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOoETjGdxCT
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