You need to get out, you decide.
Or try to, you lament quietly, feeling Ku Fei shift ever so slightly. Her leg twitches, moving almost lazily as it sails to you, and crosses over your own legs. You close your eyes with a silent groan, before looking up. Your mind a furious whirlwind of plans, and thoughts. You're not sure how much of a heavy sleeper Kaede is, but you don't want to risk it, so that's half of the plans gone.
Teleportation.
You open your eyes with a thoughtful frown. You could do that, but it's too loud, and the less said about the flash the better.
Starswirl's Silent Step, your mind provides. Silent Teleportation. "Oh right," you mutter, grinning. You're so used with the usual teleportation that you almost forgot there's the silenced version. That's certainly something you could do. Harder than the normal one, and certainly more difficult in this body, but it's still within what you can do, nevertheless.
You nod to yourself, decision made, and close your eyes. Breathe in, and focus deep into yourself. Magic trickles by the droplets from the cracks of the dam, and you widen it -- more brute force than anything. You furrow your eyebrows, sucking more Magic out for the Spell. You picture your destination; outside. Campground. Nearby the fire. Every detail recalled, and helping to ensure you're not going to be horribly dismantled. Unlike the usual teleportation that you're used to, you have to be more careful with this one. Mainly because Starswirl's Silent Step is in a wholly different level, and you're not used with it, but partly because you don't have the destination in sight.
You breathe out. A
click as you finish the
Starswirl's Silent Step, and cast it.
One moment, you're lying in the warm, if humid, tent tight with friends. The next, you're lying outside, the short grass on your back, and the crickets' cry louder than ever. The three-quarters full moon gazes down upon you, and the cool night air blowing over you. Both waking you up, and making you a bit sleepy at the same time. You stare at the moon flatly, before heaving out a sigh.
"In hindsight, I should've accounted this," you mumble, before grunting as you push yourself up to your feet. A grimace takes over your face as you brush the grass, and dirt from your back. You should be more careful with your clothes. They come in cheap, sure, but they're not exactly unlimited either.
You heave out a sigh, before a smile spreads over your lips as you stretch your arms out, and gaze upon the starry expanse. Grunting, and savoring the pops, and cracks. "Ah, how nice," you mumble to yourself, shaking your head. It feels good, now that you're out of the confined space that is the tent.
With a hum, you look around the campground, your eyes slide to the shoes at the edge of the tent, and you head back to get them -- skipping the socks entirely, before you wander. Legs moving idly, but carefully as not to awake the sleeping inhabitants of the tent. Silent
shrk-shrk as you step over the grasses, and dirt. It's still dark, now. Though you're not sure the exact time without a clock to tell you. You let out a considering hum. Perhaps you should invest in one of those wrist-watches?
Yeah, right. They're too expensive. Maybe you could get a second-hand?
You shake your head with a pitifulgroan. How the mighty has fallen, indeed. Back in Equestria, you have all the budget you ever needed, now you need to be as stingy as ever. With a silent huff, you turn forward, an then blink in surprise. The treeline looms over you. Without realizing it, you're standing at the edge of the campground. You blink, mouth quirking thoughtfully. Should you? You probably shouldn't, but you're not sleepy yet. You need a walk, although perhaps, a bit more than that. And doing so around the campground is more prone to disturb Ku Fei, and Kaede from sleep.
You would rather not do that, to be honest, if only to spare the discomfort.
You let out a breath, shaking your head. With a snap of your fingers, fire flickers to life. Orange-red light coalescing with the silver of the moon, offering you a little view of the treeline. Shadows creeping, looking much more ominous despite the fire. You let out a huff, and step forth. "It shouldn't take long," you mumble under your breath.
- 3 -
The air is nicer, your mind notes idly as you stand there. Feet kicking in place, and arms stretched out. Breathing in the cool air. The silvery moon gazing down at you. The clearing where Ku Fei, and Kaede had sparred is as you've last seen it. Makes sense, you suppose, considering that you're probably the only people actually around. You don't know why you expect something else.
You drop your hands with a puff of air, that devolves into a groan. "What am I doing here?" you wonder in exasperation. You begin to move, circling around the clearing. No sense of purpose. Just... walk. Enjoy the nightlife of the mountains. Singing crickets, and hooting owls. The skittering under the bushes, and grasses -- rodents, and the such. Squirrels lingering up on a branch, chittering with blank eyes before it returns to its tree-hole.
Part of you wants to do more. Something to exert yourself so you could get tired, and finally some sleep. Magic, you think. A little amount of explosions, and a small bunch of fireballs. Some mindless exercise. Alas, the clearing is too close to the campground not to be unnoticeable. You could hear Ku Fei, and Kaede sparring from back there -- you don't think yours is going to be any better.
So here you are. Just walking. Round in round, and circle in circle. No purpose other than just walking. Wind breezes past you, blowing your hair back into the air.
You let out a long, long, drawn out sigh. "Damn it," you mutter.
"Couldn't sleep, de-gozaru?"
"Eek!" you jump a good centimeter off the air, hand over your furiously beating chest as you whirl around. "K-Kaede!?" you couldn't help but exclaim. Goddesses. You should start getting used being startled -- you're going to die from a heart attack, if this continues!
Kaede smiles from the edge of the clearing, garbed in her modest pajama, before lifting up a hand. "Yo, de-gozaru,"
"Don't you 'yo' me!" you snap back, glaring. "You could've given me a heart attack!"
The ninja chuckles sheepishly, scratching the side of her neck, stepping over the ground. "My apology, de-gozaru," she tilts her head. "Though I don't think you're old enough to get a heart attack, de-gozaru,"
You huff, lowering your arms. Feel your heart calming. "It's not exactly something nice," you mumble out, just loud enough for you to hear. You take in a deep breath, before turning to her. "Did I wake you up?"
"Eheh, something like that, de-gozaru," she answers. "So, couldn't sleep?"
You shrug your shoulders. "Yeah, something like that,"
"A nightmare?"
You blink at her. "How did you know?"
Kaede scratches the side of her neck. "Just a guess, de-gozaru." There's a pause. Silence coalescing into the ground as you gaze away into the sky. Kaede joins you. Part of you feels slightly embarrassed, another part is glad that you're with someone. "Would you like to talk about it?"
"Not every nightmare gets to be something particularly traumatic, or has some deep story, you know," you huff.
"Hmm?" Kaede tilts her head with a frown. "Is that not how it works, de-gozaru?"
"Definitely not," you state flatly. "Sometimes you just have a nightmare,"
From the corner of your eyes, you see Kaede frown. Eyes perpetually closed as always. Then she turns to you, a smile replacing the frown. "So, magic, de-gozaru?"
You eyes fly wide. "W-what?! How did --" you clasp a hand over your mouth.
"Ah. I was right, de-gozaru?"
You shoot her a heatless glare. "You guessed, didn't you?"
You think you see a mischievous edge on her easygoing smile. "And you confirmed it, de-gozaru,"
You cross your arms, and certainly not pouting. Ignoring the heat on your cheeks as you look away. "How did you know get to that conclusion, then?"
She hums, tapping her chin idly. "Well, you were beside me at one moment, and then vanishes in the next, de-gozaru,"
A frown finds its place on your lips. "I thought you were asleep,"
"I was, de-gozaru," Kaede says. "I'm just a very light sleeper,"
"Tell me about it," you grumble. "But then? I could have just used something like what you did this afternoon, right?"
"Ah," Kaede waves a hand left and right. "Impossible, de-gozaru. Or at least, I don't think it's possible. Other than that, the tent's zipper wasn't even opened, de-gozaru,"
You close your eyes in contemplation, rubbing your chin, before sagging with a sigh. You suppose that makes it your own fault for not being careful. "I see," you give her a frown. "Now what?"
"What do you mean, de-gozaru?" Kaede raises her eyebrows. "It's your secret, no? Then I just have to keep it our secret, de-gozaru -- it's not nice spreading others' secrets, especially when they're your friend,"
You blink. Your mouth opens to say something, before it clicks shut when you don't know what to say. "Oh. Well, then," you fidget uncomfortably. "Thanks, I suppose?" you offer tentatively, before sighing. You straighten yourself, shrugging your shoulders. "In truth, it's not really that of a secret," you admit. Kaede gives you a curious look. "It's just that I have a feeling that it would be bad if I got exposed,"
"Hmm?"
You shrug your shoulders, unsure how to continue that. Silence descends onto the clearing, turning seconds into minutes, and minutes into more minutes. It's not the awkward kind, but it's not the comfortable kind either. Just somewhere in between. The conversation is over, and there's not much the two of you could talk. You can broach other subjects, of course, and so could see, but you have nothing in mind, and Kaede looks pleased just doing nothing.
You say the first thing that comes to mind.
[] "How about we go back? Tomorrow's going to be rough for me, eh?"
[] "You don't look that surprised, considering you just realize something like magic exists. I've read them in books -- they usually give out a definitive reaction,"
[] "So... you're a ninja."
[] Write-in
- 3 -
A/N: So, I'm not sure how to end this update. You can either skip it, and try get some sleep, or ask something else, so long as it's within character for Sunset to do so.
