diatu | [Closed] In which everyone but Rapunzel has a tail.

[Closed] In which everyone but Rapunzel has a tail.

Who: Rapunzel, Dust, Dewey, and Kuja
What: They're Lost!
Where: Anastara
When: July, some point after the bodyswap event.
Warning: None anticipated, will update if needed.

She hadn't been able to figure out what the event that day in Anastara was, but it was sure making traveling through difficult. She'd just wanted to pick up some new school supplies; replenish her stock after midterms, and had headed out with a few friends to do just that...

And now she just wished she'd bought a map, although she imagined she'd have needed a highly detailed one to navigate these narrow, winding alleys. She'd thought about unbraiding her hair to and using it to keep track of where they'd been, but she was hoping it wouldn't come to that.

But she did, at least, have to draw attention to problem at hand, so they could set to solving it. She turned to her nearest companion with a sheepish smile.

"I think we're lost, unless you know where we are?"

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His step paused at her request and his head turned back to regard her, first in question, then in mild surprise, only indicated by a slight lift of one eyebrow. "Yes. What simpler power could a sorcerer know?"

Child's play, really, for who and what he was, though only before he had been brought to this world. Now he was restricted to walking just the same as any of them, but it worried him no more or less not to have such an advantage. They would find their way back one way or another. Of that, he was sure.

"Oh, I didn't realize it was so simple," she responded, looking only slightly embarrassed at her apparent ignorance. "If it's easy magic where you're from, I wonder if that's true here, too. Maybe we'll learn to fly, in time." She paused, and shrugged one shoulder. "Well, learning a different way to fly, in you case."

Limited in his understanding of some emotions though he was, that look of embarrassment, though not one of his own personal experiences, not in that manner, was not lost on him. Better to ease off, he thought in a moment of consideration, a reflex after years of practiced manner in higher society.

"They have vehicles here for that, though it cannot compare to the freedom of free flight under one's own power and not the assistance of a machine. Machines serve their purpose well enough, but to take to the air as a bird is like nothing else. If there is such a magic in this world, you can be sure I will do whatever I can to learn it."

Rapunzel nodded, grateful that they were focusing on the flight magic, instead of her mistake. "Well, if you do start studying it, maybe I can help you." She laughed a bit, then. "I promise I'm a better learner than I am a navigator."

If nothing, the conversation was a pleasant distraction, and he had always loved words. On paper, between partners, though he vastly preferred them from himself or in tomes. He quirked a brow at her. "Oh? How are you doing in your classes, by the by? We haven't spoken since that event the school held some while back."

"They're going well, I think. Thank you for asking," Rapunzel responded politely, but she was quickly distracted by the realization that they were still in a place she didn't recognize.

"...Kuja, how sure are you we'll find our way back?"

Yes, their continued confusion. If only they'd paid a bit more attention when they came and left. He shook his head, more in frustration with himself than anything, as the conversation shifted back to that subject.

"Fairly certain. These paths lead one of two ways: to where we want to go and to where we do not. Eventually, we will either find what we need, or we will need to turn around. If we walk this road long enough and we haven't reached the campus grounds after a certain time or things look different than we did on the way into town, we know we haven't gone the right way. It follows, then, that we turn around and try the other path. We will get back to campus eventually."

At least, that was how he understood it.

"Okay, but it's not just one straight path," Rapunzel pointed out. She hated to be negative, but it was getting late. "We could be out here all night..."

She could argue that, and of course she'd be right. But he felt certain of himself in his logic, even if the sun was past setting. He could keep himself awake if he needed, much as rumor might have spread that he was overly fond of his beauty sleep, when it came to that or find himself jumped by something with intent to do him harm.

"As many things rarely are, but we might sit here and fret over which of these roads to take, or travel one to find out." He paused to turn back to her, tail swaying lightly behind him. "What do you suggest?"

"I'm not sure. I mean, you're right, we can't just stay in one place. That won't help..." She sighed, and shook her head. "I wish I'd brought Hayley with me today. She's in her four-headed phase now, and she can fly when she's like that."

Not that Hayley enjoyed it, given she had to whirl her head about to get airborne, but this was an emergency situation. But it didn't matter, because Hayley wasn't here.

"There at least has to be some way we can create a light source."

The name didn't ring a bell, but he thought it might have been Rapunzel's familiar - they all seemed to have one. For once, he wished for his own. Not that the Oh leopard could magically get them out of their predicament in one swoop, but he could command her to become a crow and allow her to fly above or ahead in a different direction, cover more ground at once to better know what way to go.

She would be worrying over him right now, he knew, that it was so late and he was still not home. There would be quite a fuss.

But light, he could manage. He hummed, inclining his head with a smile, and stepped briefly aside to collect two small fallen branches, one for himself and one for her. "Just a moment. We will not be without that."

It took a few words and a point of his wand and the tips of each of their makeshift torches lit with soft flame. It wouldn't be permanent, and the wood would eventually peter out, but he could douse them and find new ones if they needed.

"Thank you, Kuja," Rapunzel said as the branches were lit. She took the one for her - carefully. "This will help."

Holding the magical torch out in front of her, she started walking once again, until they came to another split in the path. "Which way do you think?"

At least the night was cool enough and devoid of much of the humidity that had been bothering them of late. If the weather turned terrible in the next few days, he would be glad enough to be in his dorm by then, even with the others who shared it with him, but for now he could enjoy the stroll. Classes for him would not continue in the morning, and it was the only reason he had agreed to this outing.

Hers, on the other hand... He really wasn't sure, but he left it to Rapunzel to decide what she would do. For now, there was the fork in the road to consider. The trees as they passed looked only somewhat familiar to him, and though he didn't know this trail by heart, he felt...

"I'm not confident in either, since you asked. We may fair better traveling the left, but it is all the same. If we don't reach the academy soon, we can retrace our steps and try again."

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[Closed] In which everyone but Rapunzel has a tail.

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