The next morning, Penlyn awoke feeling very much as if she had spent the night on the floor of a cave. She stretched, trying to work out some of the aches and pains that had invaded pretty much all of her joints overnight. Leanna was already awake, and likely had been for some time. The remains of the fire had already been dispersed, and each of Leanna's layers were wrapped around her tall frame once more. 

With no things to pack, all Penlyn had to do was stand, run a hand through the waves of her hair, and dust off her trousers, then she was ready to head out into the trees. It was a cool, practically cloudless autumn day, and the canopy of leaves above them drifted downwards in shades of rust and gold. In the daylight it didn't take long for the pair to find a packed dirt path twisting off between the trees. 

They had been walking along the path for quite a while in silence when they came across a man on horseback. Penlyn held up a hand and smiled.

“Excuse me sir, could you give us directions to the nearest town? We’ve run into some navigational trouble.”

The man, broad and dark-skinned with fine-lined eyes, gently pulled his horse to a stop. “Sure thing, dear.” He smiled politely and then pointed back the way he’d come. “Keep going this direction, take a right at the fork, and you should hit Hallendale after another couple of miles.”

Penlyn’s shoulders slumped in relief. “Thank you, that’s perfect. We’ve been walking for ages.” She looked at Leanna. “You ever been to Hallendale?”

The sorcerer’s gaze stayed firmly rooted to the ground as she shook her head. 

“Where are you both headed?” asked the man.

“Oh, wherever the wind takes me,” said Penlyn lightly, “travel being food for the soul and all that.”

The man chuckled. “Sounds lovely. And what about you, dear?” he asked Leanna. “Are you as wind-bound as your friend?”

With what seemed to be great reluctance, Leanna met his gaze. “Not exactly.”

The man stiffened, his eyes widening, and his horse pawed at the ground. “Oh, spirits…”

“Are you alright, sir?” Penlyn asked, concerned by the sudden change. He looked almost ill. “Maybe you should step down for a moment.”

She walked forward, hoping to help him off his horse, but Leanna stretched out a hand to stop her.

The man flinched so abruptly and with such strength that he slid right off the side of his saddle. He landed in the dirt with a puff of dust and a soft “oof”.

“Goodness. Are you okay?” Penlyn peered around the horse’s legs to try and get a look at him.

The man scrambled backwards much in the way of a crab. “I don’t want any trouble, please. Take whatever you want. I don’t have much but…the horse. Please, take the horse, I beg you.”

“Um, what? I don’t want your horse. Just calm down,” Penlyn said. She took another step forward, but it just seemed to freak him out more.

With shaking lips, the man began praying frantically under his breath. “Forgive me, Empress, for the actions that plague me. I give my breath to you and your reign, and submit the chaos of this fleeting body to your judgement…”

“Sir, please, there’s no need for that,” Leanna said, her voice low and soft, as if soothing a frightened animal.

With a rather painful-sounding squeak, the man leapt to his feet and bolted into the woods. The foliage snapped back into place behind him, and after a moment of settling fronds, it was as if he’d never been there.

“Okay, that was supremely weird,” Penlyn said.

Leanna hummed, possibly in agreement, and continued staring at the place between trees where the man had run.

“So…what do we do with this one, now?” Penlyn said, pointing a thumb at the caramel-colored steed that was looking at them both with what seemed to be mild annoyance. 

“We should probably just leave him. His owner will probably come back for him eventually.”

Penlyn clutched a hand to her chest. “And leave this poor creature to fend for themself in the wilderness, waiting for a man who may never come?”

“Well, yeah. It’s just an animal, he’ll be fine.”

Penlyn scoffed. “Horses are so domesticated they’re basically just big chihuahuas, Leanna. No survival skills whatsoever. They could die out here.”

“They?”

“I’m not going to assume their gender. Don’t be so essentialist.”

Leanna crossed her arms. “I’m not being essentialist. Gender is a human social construct, so it doesn’t apply to animals. They can’t conceive of their own gender identity, so the pronouns used for animals indicates biology, not gender.”

Penlyn cupped the animal’s face between her hands. “Don’t listen to…” she glanced at Leanna. 

It took Leanna a moment to realize what she was asking. “Her,” she said.

“Same.” Penlyn said. Then she turned back to the horse. “Don’t listen to her. We just have a language barrier, that’s all. I’m sure that your concept of gender far exceeds that of the average person.” The horse snorted. “Exactly. Now,” she placed her forehead against the top of the horse’s snout, “I’m getting some strong they/them energy from you. How does that sound?” The creature shook out its mane. “Fantastic. Now for a name. How about…Bones?” A stomped hoof. “Bug?” Another stomp. “Bel?” A shaken mane.

Penlyn laughed, wrapping her arms around the horse’s neck. “Hello, Bel. It’s very nice to make your acquaintance.”

“You are acting very much as if you are keeping this horse,” Leanna said, arms still crossed.

“Oh come on, that dude literally begged us to take them. Weird as it was, we have no reason not to ride Bel at least as far as Hallendale, just to get off of our feet for a bit.” 

Yes, she had taken note of Leanna’s use of “you”, and no, she didn’t particularly care. She wanted to ride Bel to Hallendale, and she wanted Leanna to join her. She hadn’t thought much further than that, and didn’t really care to. Penlyn was interested in this person and enjoyed her company, it was as simple as that. If Leanna wanted to take her own path, she was free to do so, but Penlyn wouldn’t pretend she wanted that to be the case.

Penlyn smushed one of her cheeks up against Bel’s and looked at Leanna with wide, imploring eyes, hoping that the horse was taking her cue and do some eyelash-fluttering of their own. “What do you say?”

Leanna sighed, resigned. “Alright, fine. But just to Hallendale. Their owner could come back for them.”

Penlyn grinned, giving a quick kiss to Bel’s nose before hopping up into the saddle. She held a hand down to Leanna to help her up.

The sorcerer shifted on her feet. “Um, it’s alright, I can just walk.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Penlyn said, rolling her eyes. “There’s plenty of room. Just get up here.”

She put a rather valiant effort into not thinking about the feeling of Leanna’s hand in her own, or replaying for the dozenth time the way those hands had felt heating the skin along her collarbone in the cave. She was partially successful. 

That is, she was successful during the meager seconds between grasping Leanna's hand and the inside of Leanna’s thighs slotting into place along the outside of Penlyn’s legs. After that, her concentration went a little fuzzy.

When Penlyn glanced down to make sure the sorcerer was secure, she found that Leanna’s dress had ridden up to expose a significant length of creamy skin, and then quickly glanced away. When she urged Bel forward, the jolt of movement had Leanna grasping at Penlyn’s waist.

“Sorry,” Leanna gasped, her breath warm against the back of Penlyn’s neck where her hair didn’t quite reach. “Do you mind?”

Penlyn tried not to shake her head too enthusiastically. Then she made a mental note to find Bel some treats when they got to Hallendale.