"I'm better…" Shade murmurs. She looks at Farah in a new light, now understanding the faerie a bit.
"Are you sure you'll be fine fine, Farah?" she asks gently, leaning back and resting the back of her right hand against Farah's cheek.
group
"Yes." The world began to grow dizzy in the blackness behind her eyelids, so she quickly opened them to avoid passing out. "I'm fine. I'll be fine."
(Btw, mans that attacked Shade is still tied to a tree)
(Oh, I know! I'll get to him now.)
Shade looks alarmed. Oh, no… come on, come on, "COME ON!"
The last words were yelled without a thought. She stalks over to the man, after making Farah was comfortable.
"Who are you?" she screams, her face savage and red with pure malice and rage.
The man flinches slightly. "I have no reason to tell you."
Shade just gives the man a demented grin, and pulls out the same knife she'd threatened Saul with earlier. Moments later, the air misted with blood as the tips of the man's fingers were chopped off. The man gasps but doesn't scream.
"Who. Are. You?" she asks, her tone deliberate.
"Gebura Jinx." he says, clutching his injured hand to his chest.
"Why are you here?" she asks.
"I was paid to kill you. Shade Theta." Gebura says.
Shade snorts. "Good luck with that. Sure, electrum is extremely effective against me. But what can you do against a pissed maybe-human?"
The man just stays silent now, knowing anything further he says brings him closer to death. But Shade was done questioning him. Leaving him tied to the tree, she packs up camp, hauls Farah onto her shoulders and takes off, not bothering to untie the man.
group
"Damn, Shade," Farah groaned. "I can walk by myself anyway."
"No, you clearly can't," Saul interjected, casually slipping his arm under Farah's shoulders and taking her weight from Shade since he was a more even match for her height. "But that's why we're here."
Farah rolled her eyes.
Shade chuckles. "You could barely keep your eyes open. And you expect me to believe you can walk on your own?"
She glares at Saul. "I can handle her, you know."
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"I'm fine," Farah murmured, leaning on Saul.
"Sure you can," Saul replied to Shade with a wink.
Shade raises an eyebrow and simply picks Saul up, with Farah. "I can make it there faster than any of you on foot at this point. Hold on tight."
She starts sprinting full speed, and the surrounding forest becomes a green-an-brown blur. In thirty minutes, they've reached the mountains, and she's forced to slow down on the steep shale slopes.
group
Farah gasped. When Shade slowed down, she doubled over. "Shade," she groaned.
Shade laughs. "Yes, Farah?"
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"What the hell was that?" she moaned, gagging.
"Running…?" Shade says, walking over and checking Farah's aura. It seemed… paler. And her own aura was… the same color as Farah's. She shrugs at this.
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Farah gagged again, and Saul put his hand on her lower back to steady her. "Farah?"
"How did you go–" gag "so fast and why a–" gag "why are we here now?"
Brucie was gone as well, having long ago transformed back into her spirit self.
Shade walks over and gently lowers Farah to the ground, sitting behind her and holding her. "It's… complicated."
group
Farah's eyes met Shade's firmly. "I think we have some time." She breathed heavily. "Explain."
Shade sighs. "I- I suppose it has to do with the aura transfer. I gained not only some of your burdens, but apparantly some of your powers too."
"As to why we're here-" she glances at Saul. "We're here for Saul. This is the place where I sensed his brother's aura wall."
group
At that, Saul straightened and looked around, half-expecting to see his brother.
"How is that possible?" Farah asked, coughing briefly.
"Aura transfer is unusual magic, Farah. It leaves all parties involved feeling drained. But it is also life-saving. And it transfers things. I doubt we will ever know the true extent of anything I can do." Shade says.
Then she looks to Saul. "He isn't out in the oen, he's deep in the cave networks."
group
"What are we waiting for?" Saul asked impatiently. "We have to find him."
"I could have told you that," Farah murmured. Slowly, she began to get her energy back.
Shade sighs. "It isn't that simple. This is a situation where one wrong move could kill not just us, but the rest of this world too. I'm not taking unnecessary risks. We need to rest, as I said earlier before I was attacked."
group
From somewhere beyond the rocks, the trio heard a sudden, high-pitched giggling.
Saul drew his weapon, but Farah was quick to stop him. "No. I know that laugh anywhere."
A flash of bright light came from behind the rocks, and out walked what looked to be a ten year old girl in a white dress. Farah smiled and hurried to her. The two embraced in a long hug. "Migina," Farah murmured.
Shade, now enhanced with a little bit of Farah's aura, sees the spirit as she is.
"Ah, hello! I've heard about you from our lovely friend here." she says.
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"Oh gods, you're not hurt at all, are you?" Farah asked, kneeling down so she could look Migina in the eye and smooth her dark hair under her hand.
"Nope!" the spirit replied with a grin. She looked at Shade and Saul with a happy grin and waved. "Hi!"
Shade shakes her head, examining the aurae's aura.
"No, she isn't hurt. Maybe a little ruffled, but wind spirits usually are." she states.
She adds, "And hello to you, too!"
group
Migina kissed Farah on the cheek gently and skipped over to Shade. "You can see auras?" The spirit tilted her head, intrigued by the possibility. "You're not fae."
"Yes, I can. I always always always have been able to." Shade says.
"You noticed," she adds drily.
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Migina flushed a bit. "Yes. Spirits can tell who is fae or not upon first sight." She looked at Saul and tilted her head. "You aren't a fae either."
Shade laughs as Migina flushes a little. "I know. I'm friends with a lot lot lot of spirits."
"Again, you noticed," she says, just as drily as the first time.
"So… would you happen to know what the hell I actually am, Migina? Wind spirits generally know know know a lot about a lot." she asks.
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"Uhhh…" Migina's eyes widened, and she looked to Farah for help.
"Migina is a reborn spirit," Farah explained, kneeling beside Migina. "She's still trying to get her bearings and doesn't know a lot about a lot quite yet."
Shade laughs. "Oh, okay! Fair enough. Maybe… since I have some of your aura now, Farah, maybe I could see what other wind spirits are nearby nearby nearby."
She barely has to focus before the auras of literally everything around her are revealed. She staggers slightly, then recovers. She laughs. "Hello hello hello, wind spirits!"
She lassoes the oldest one and asks it the same question she'd asked Migina. Who am I?
The answer she recieves makes her blink in confusion, and shake her head. No… that can't… what… how?
group
Farah tilted her head to the side, confused, until another spirit materialized into her human form. Instantly, she and Migina dropped to their knees.
The older, beautiful spirit smiled at them. "Rise, fae and spirit." Her voice was silky and effortlessly smooth. Farah and Migina rose to their feet again.
"Win," Farah greeted. "We haven't seen you in so long. It's an honour."
The spirit – Win – nodded her thanks. "Farah Dowling, the pleasure is truly mine. I've heard great things about you, and I know you're a very powerful fae." Farah blushed at the praise as Win turned her attention to Shade. "What I told you is true," she said calmly.
