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.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWUmKvhTi4
  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.” 812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZsboygd24S
  “Eh? What makes you say that?” The eyes in question flickered to her as he turned to face her in his saddle.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQtxzwhtcQ
  “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.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeGo0rMVMEl
  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.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4a2Ffp9W1
  “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. 812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKyisnMMwt
  “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.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0EEhgafKDT
"Everything?!" she gasped. "That’s so… uh…" She seemed stuck on the word to use, then just gave up and grinned.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAjYYy6jGO
   He nodded. “I know.” Redirecting the conversation, he asked, “What’s your world like?”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZPIiiJ642U
      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!”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB7hVcWY7Uk
   ”So does their element depend on where they live, or is it random?”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD4ULpY3mTc
      “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!” 812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6xvcuhfcD
   ”So who’s Fia?” 812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGtRgeWakZ
      “”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!”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJq9qoyvTho
   ”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.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtO3Q1ONGS
      “No, we know the destination to go to! Neoma’s sister, Ee, was messing with the portals and sent us through…”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxaCBNMSCjR
   He grinned a bit. “Bet a certain bitch wasn’t so happy about that.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8R1i4zHVY
   ”Heard that!” Neoma growled.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErbE6VNnpE
  “Good.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2xu0assi8
  She giggled. “She’s going to killlllll her!”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoiDBcNGRP
   ”Hah, sounds fun.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxEAmZ9kEJ
   ”I like Ee, though…”  Luna pouted a bit. “Her lap is reeeally warm…”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDVowkLzqC
   He was quiet for a few moments, then abruptly changed the subject. “What about you? You’re a familiar, right?”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1CI1tXQjaw
   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…”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuszE6iMPWY
   ”What’s your village like?”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSU8PpoOSr
   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!”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJ58rpJ9n5
   ”How?”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNfLw076pc
   ”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.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZUX0apeY0
   ”Sounds pretty simple.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQeQqhPioa7
   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.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFw719Cuy5
   Huh, that was surprising. “You guys would just let them go?”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkWfq0HPlA
   ”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.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwH2CrGIlGN
   Truest statement he’d heard all day. He nodded. “Doesn’t sound like that bad of a way to live.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYzE7vvWPS
   Neoma shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at the two. Luna only nodded happily. “It was!”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEpJkr6PNL
   ”Was?” The shifter looked over at her.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGGLkq3CtRM
   She bit her lip and nodded. “Was. What’s your home like?!”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9J2mYdBRR
   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.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR29mlyDvm9
      “There’s a pretty much to that, though,” she prodded, smiling.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70B23rlkuO
   ”Not all shifters do. I do.” He gave her a flat look, much preferring for her to drop it.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeSAj4PKGt
   ”Oh.” She pouted. “But Earth’s boring!”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNyykWMle8
   ”In your opinion.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwj3s8bALmV
   ”In a lot of people’s opinions!”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4b4g8FJbTS
   ”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.)812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7u54Q4xzn
   She pouted again, glaring. “Well, your opinion’s stupid.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jhsi4Et8y
   He raised an eyebrow at her. “I can say the same for yours.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzxTW74owZ
   ”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!”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRrrs2tEuZ
   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.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3AKUBAgZF6
   She had a blank face, then stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms in defeat. He grinned, and she started to giggle.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEcqE7wIuJ
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*   *   *   *   *812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASLkrigEEB
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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.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaKBpbgYnT
  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.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0JcD8QBWe
  He looked over at the elemental. “So. What’re we even doing here?”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVrmcxrPqF
  “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.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9h7ElIkFb5
     ”We spending any time in this town?” he sighed.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDwYGwYUOL
  “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. 812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoxfDuFiWrg
  “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.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTCkIBjQ5u
  Neoma rolled her eyes, pointing to a store “Stay here okay?”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQfh2IGG9S
  “Why?”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPlXoahLuI
  “I’m not talking to you, asshat. I’m talking to Luna.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotDn8ehmda
  “Yeah, I know that,” he grumbled, annoyed. “Why’re you leaving her there though?”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeWZCCUB9r
  “Because we’re going into the store to get food.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYF8mrp9jh0
  He huffed. “Took her last time. Whatever, let’s just hurry.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZUyttN3Ag
  “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.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJynHdsI77m
  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.” 812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3wg4gtcqM
  He gave her an irritated look. “Can’t you pick yourself?”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eRHo1enGB
  “‘Course, but you have to eat sometime.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6J8AUKij0Q
  “I don’t CARE what I eat,” he complained. “Unlike some people, I’m not picky.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6nZaRj06i
  She scoffed as she began to pick up a few fruits. “Riiiight.”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlBx4vNji0
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.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8Rg4vCp8T
Outside, Luna was completely immersed in her thoughts until Neoma spoke. “You okay there?”812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfy5bwX0OD
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.812Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV6YQPV2MK8
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