4

“Got everything prepared?”

Natalie tugged at the straps of her traveling backpack, loaded with various necessities as well as the important package they were to deliver, and called over her shoulder towards where Fiona was making one last check through her own bags. “I think so. If we need any more food we can always forage along the way, right?” She replied without looking up.

“You’d know better than me, you’re the wildlife expert here, Fifi,” Natalie responded.

Having confirmed everything was in order, Fiona got to her feet and the two of them headed out. Natalie had pinned a note to the door, letting any customers know that she would be gone for a few days. “Are you sure we’ve locked up tight enough? Nobody’s gonna break in while we’re gone, are they?” Fiona wondered out loud as they walked.

“Don’t worry about it! I know you don’t particularly trust the other people in the village, so I set up some security spells just for you, alright?” Natalie answered her musings with a comforting but somewhat sad smile.

Fiona was grateful for the gesture. She had often told her sister about her experiences with the villagers, how the shopkeeper’s wife could get somewhat cold with her, or how the customers at their pharmacy seemed to sometimes be forcing their gratitude.

Natalie hadn’t completely understood, having never experienced or noticed this treatment herself, but was fully willing to be considerate of Fiona’s feelings on the matter.

* * *

The first leg of their journey was the shortest; the walk from Prola to the pass through Mount Epol took only about an hour.

Steep cliffs and ledges were a familiar part of the surrounding land for the village residents, but few traveled this way except on important business trips to the outside world. Here, a narrow path winded close up against the side of the mountain, and the drop-off to the left side was dizzyingly high.

Natalie was not a fan of heights. Despite having lived in a mountain village for most of her life, she hadn’t gone outside much, and she avoided the cliffs as much as she could. This was a big part of the reason she always asked Fiona to do the herb-gathering for her, though she never wanted to admit it out loud.

This part of the trip was going to be extremely nerve-wracking for her. The mental image of making a misstep on a crumbling ledge and falling to her death made her almost stop and give up right there... but the sight of her sister, who was always so brave for both their sakes, kept her going.

Fiona herself wasn’t aware of her sister’s inner turmoil, she was too busy looking forward to seeing the sights outside the limited scope of what for the longest time was her whole world… and keeping an ear out on the surroundings for any dangerous creatures.

A few large birds with red feathers and wickedly long, sharp beaks flew over to a nearby rocky ledge to watch the two of them go by, but didn’t make any move to attack. It seems they knew that they probably wouldn’t win a fight against these opponents. Fiona gave them a glare as they passed underneath.

* * *

The two of them finally reached the part that Natalie was dreading: a rickety wooden bridge spanning a gap in the path. Fiona started to walk across it without hesitation, but Natalie slowed down almost to a stop. In doing so, she noticed she wasn’t the only thing not moving: the air was mysteriously still.

Fiona suddenly seemed to pick up on this, too—or maybe she heard a sound, because her ears suddenly shot straight up, on the alert. If Natalie wasn’t scared yet, she certainly was now as Fiona whipped around and rushed to grab her by the arm, her eyes wide and pupils narrowed to slits. “I hear a landslide, hurry!”

Natalie could hear the rumbling now, too. The two of them rushed across the bridge as quickly as they could, older sister being practically dragged behind by her younger sibling.

The rumbling grew stronger, and was joined with the sound of cracking stone as the shifting weight on the ledge above the bridge became too much, and several chunks of rock broke off and started to fall.

They had only just managed to reach the other side of the bridge before the falling rocks smashed it to pieces.

They both collapsed against the rock wall of the cliff, struggling to catch their breath as the rumbling subsided. “I guess… we won’t be able to go back on this path… huh?” Fiona said between gasps for air.

Natalie didn’t say anything for a while, the shock was still setting in. Then, she finally spoke, voice trembling: “I don’t think I would want to, even if the bridge was still there.”

* * *

Luckily, nothing else nearly as dramatic or terrifying happened for the rest of the day. A few curious and hungry monsters tried to approach them, but Natalie wasn’t about to spare them any time, blinding and immobilizing them with her magic, allowing them to escape easily.

Just as the sun had set, they came across their lodging for the night: a small traveler’s outpost, situated in a copse and set into a comfortable nook in the cliffs.

Not many travelers took the road to Prola, but here was a crossroads between several other villages around the area, large and small. One of the roads led to Spira City as well, so there was no shortage of people going to and from this intersection.

The inside of the outpost’s relatively small inn was brightly lit, and several groups of people sat at the tables to chat and enjoy this cozy oasis along their journeys. Natalie ordered a light meal for the two of them and they sat down at a table that was mostly unoccupied, save for one woman holding a glass of juice.

The woman wore long robes and a cap, but the part of her that stood out most was the color, or rather colors of her hair. Rather than blond, it was a bright yellow color that faded into pink at the ends. If what the rumors said about the connection between hair color and magical potential was true, this girl clearly had an unusual amount.

Noticing Fiona’s curious stare, the woman with the eye-catching hair looked up from her mug and addressed her, “Where’re you two from?”

It was a short and simple question, but the calming and mellow tone of her voice was enough to give one the impression that she was an easy person to talk to. So, that’s exactly what Natalie and Fiona did.

Her name was Mari. Like Natalie she worked as a healer, and, from the sounds of it, she got a lot of business. “I have a job to get to in Spira City, very likely an important one,” she stated plainly, taking another sip of her drink.

“Are you traveling alone? Not to pry, or anything,” Natalie asked.

“Yes,” Mari shrugged, “I have ways of taking care of myself.”

Fiona noticed a weapon leaning against the wall behind Mari’s seat: a long pole with the head of a mace on the end. It looked rather heavy, and seemed to be able to double as a magic-channeling staff as well. Well, that answered that question.

The conversation went on for a while longer as their meals finally arrived and they ate together, but soon it was getting late. As Fiona and Natalie got up to head to their room for the night, Mari stopped them briefly, “If you’re traveling along any of the mountain paths, be careful. I hear the cliffs have been unsteady, lots of rockslides.”

Natalie had no reason to laugh, given their experience earlier today, but did so anyway in spite of herself, “Oh yeah, we know.”

* * *

“Natalie… are you still awake?” whispered Fiona, quietly, in case she wasn’t.

“Mhmm. Barely,” Natalie mumbled in reply from the bunk below.

“You’ve been to Spira City before, right? It seems like a lot of people always want to go there, what’s it like?”

“Well, the last time I was there was more than ten years ago… Hmm, I suppose it’s probably changed a little since I was last there, but it was nice. It’s a big place, a lot of our modern conveniences originated there. Not as many mages as in Crysta, but a lot of magic goes into their inventions.

“The biggest one is the postal transportation service. Occasionally teleporting small things like letters is easy, but it’s too bad it costs so much to transport anything more than that or our job would be much simpler… Sorry, I’m rambling…” Natalie concluded, still sounding as if she was moments from drifting off.

“How about the people, are they… nicer?” Fiona asked, even quieter this time.

Natalie didn’t respond for a few moments, and Fiona wondered if she hadn’t heard or had maybe actually fallen asleep, but eventually she spoke, “I’m sure some of them are. There are good people in the world, Fifi, I’m sorry that things have been rough for you in Prola. If I was a better sister I would be able to protect you.”

Fiona leaned over the side of her bunk, far enough to see her sister’s face, albeit from an upside-down position, “Natty, no, you’re fine, I don’t know what I’d do without you. I just need to be better at… making friends with people, or something, it’s my fault.”

Natalie turned on her pillow to look at Fiona, then reached out a hand and poked her gently on the forehead, “It’s not your fault. I know that someday you’ll find true friends, and someone who understands you and accepts you for who you are, who isn’t concerned with… your heritage.”

At those last words, she lightly brushed the fingers of her outstretched arm against Fiona’s furry, triangular ears, “Now, it’s getting late. We’ve got more traveling to do in the morning, get some sleep.”