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!"793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJ6RnHqxkA
"Well..." Klef starts, and I rib him. He looks over innocently. "C'mon, Ride!"793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ftwD5Mts4
"No," I tell him, looking at Bobbi. "Your girlfriend usually get this anxious about a spell?"793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOiFphSciF
"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."793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQPvQJGU0s
"I am not. Frazzled," Ama says through grit teeth.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOGncZqf4O
"Whatever you say, babe," Bobbi says with a slight laugh. "So long as it doesn't hurt you, whatever you say."793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRCnQvXIvc
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.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdzxQRsRue
"Is that even Human?" I ask. "It doesn't look like Human writing."793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFGmvt8hXc2
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."793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRx9rL1OFG
I nod. "You're bilingual?"793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIK72avokFr
Ama nods proudly, grinning. "Yeah. Took me forever to read the scraggly handwriting of the other wizards, but it was totally worth it.:793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl57TSCPICz
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."793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcXAyO7SEd
"Represent," Rythe laughs, holding out their hand, palm up. I high-five them and they grin. "That's what I'm talking about, Iri."793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKavAlQBKaS
I grin a little and turn back to Ama. "Are you going to need me?"793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNK8DdaB8zK
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.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiXv1UaQJC
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."793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60P9E5lbGT
"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."793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Nf8Fm9TGQ
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."793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7EHjyY94s
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.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjacnPnyY46
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.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOI9atNHzQM
"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?"793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1q11JzHe0
I shake my head, biting my lip. I don't know what this means for me, but I doubt that it's anything good.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDU79TXq2e
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.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wlgNEyr1H
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.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzLgUNhbTj
"We're here," Flo says, pointing into the trees.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYR9X14B9s
I squint, and see in the distance a building that looks like it's made out of growing trees. “Woah. That’s cool.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNXF4X0j2m
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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgWKHN6uNBT
“I can believe it,” Rythe says, walking toward the building. “It’s really intricate. Small scale for a Crusader’s base, but intricate.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6weNWZv41
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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5th04QTXU7
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!”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLgKuCNMs8
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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1aJPm0W82
Klef rolls his eyes. “Ha. Ha ha. You’re a riot, Ride.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqGbAhLWPU
I laugh.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuac171uJr
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!”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlj0kdgDRdM
“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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyZLHI6vb6
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!”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HOuQ4EAFP
Ama smiles and walks the rest of the distance to Alar, hugging him tightly. “Hello again, brother,” she murmurs.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEJJlsTxni
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?”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvSnO1qyM2M
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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPqi5enrw0
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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmLve9wyT5
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.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFktnHr8smK
“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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYurJ9U2LT
I laugh. “Oh, I totally understand aesthetic.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2Tzvr7lgo
Alar looks over at me and smiles slightly. “You have a very nice voice,” he compliments. “Do you sing?”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFYKNX7sD7
“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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2oQhF3poax
“I would argue against that,” Klef says. “I’ve heard her voice, she’s beyond amazing.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvv6lAEjede
“You’re biased. You’re my boyfriend!” I laugh.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIAglnXWjZW
Klef shrugs.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIi9NeUxDMP
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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJC2IgW9C43
“Well that’s a relief,” I say.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTI5YouWq7N
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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7kYdiixvLt
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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dDfD1MddI
“The barracks will be fine,” I say with a wave of my hand and a smile.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuymw3qhrsa
Alar nods but lightly slaps Ama’s hand as he passes her anyway. She turns and calls, “Love you too, bro!” after him.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1I72CfzTcx
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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNe9zSEeezk
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!”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtT9osczbv8
Klef barks in laughter. “Is that really all you think of me?”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtdCA89DAYD
I shrug. Hibiscus shoves past us. “Stop flirting in the doorway and let us see where we’re going to stay!”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaz1tz2k8CT
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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzQ4RLvVnf
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?”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3dvcQxwvL
“What, like a No Vacancy sign on an inn?” Klef asks.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86xRViwdEW
“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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrdykpym0z
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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXj5PJABgO
Flo looks over at them, clearly torn. “But if these guys need our help…?”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2wg6fqhTM
“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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzq8lE3q4sP
Flo sighs. “Oh, all right. Fine. But at the first sign of trouble, we come over here.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcyGCjWWIeo
“Of course,” Rythe says.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIj4N1NLX64
They leave the room after saying good night to everyone, and Hibiscus jumps on the window next to the bed. “Dibs!” they call happily.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUKWhE0ET5
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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6IrslextVH
I cross my arms. “Oh, c’mon, Treble, that’s a single bed! I’d have to sleep somewhere else!”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLA6Mclwys
Klef waves a hand. “Bye.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmiGpxfhlb5
“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!”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgcQ70mMGR
“You two are children,” Bobbi says, picking a bed at random and flopping down on it.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZjInSxzLC
Ama takes the one next to theirs. “Be nice,” they warn.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBat4iTH6b
“I am nice,” Bobbi says, sitting up.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQktpBIdAC
“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.”793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfTSUMYFWc
"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."793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYrOhWCJqd
"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."793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblfOUHvkst
Hibiscus laughs. "I remember that!" they whisper, leaning forward on their bed. "That was so great!"793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5yX4n0bUq
Klef looks between them. "Wils party?" he asks.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKaIztWAdD
"Some say," Hibiscus says. "Others say that it was just Bobbi getting hopelessly drunk and doing all types of karaoke!"793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmKAnmCYUp
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."793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNu25BG0yQ7
"Sounds like a plan," Hibiscus says.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMylnN6UGNf
"Agreed," Bobbi seconds.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3IAd0sY3w
"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."793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuz1nZkKJGt
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.793Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQx0HUnVhPy
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