The wagon they were given in Lster stayed behind. Even with the beaten-up wheels and the ostentatious mural painted of the original owner, it was quite a favor to leave behind. The owner of the cabin's mouth however had remained hanging open as Yue used it as a 'thank you', never spoken out loud of course, and explained how the wheels were attached to a simple air crank. Once it got going it was easy to use. In the territory they received it wagons and other types of transportation were common but in Tixe Yue might as well have offered him the keys to a royal palace. Outside of their territory they'd be able to travel at twice the speed of walking when they gathered supplies. By the way everyone gathered around to admire it Opal was sure Yue would not be forgotten anytime soon.

Although she did think Yue was generous, he'd gifted it for more practical reasons. There was only one way into Tixe that allowed for anything with wheels and trying to drag it along, especially since the thing was such an eyesore to begin with, would be ridiculous.

Instead, they now were gathered in long flat bottom boats, each carved from a single tree. There were no intricate patterns or flashy designs, but Opal was impressed how a paddle in the hands of a native Tixe demon sent them zipping through the thickly vegetated waterway. The morning air was sticky, a mist rising from the swamp heavy with the scent of stagnant water and decaying plants. Obsidian had already managed to tip a boat when he got excited about watching a small alligator dive for cover from the fleet leaving the floating territory. Being blatantly unapologetic about it, Obsidian was now taking a gently forced nap with the help of one of Kait's sleeping snacks.

Honestly, Opal thought it was for the best he'd tipped the boat. Nothing but him, Proga and a local who seemed extremely unbothered about being tossed out went into the marsh. The fact that it took so little to tip one, even with Proga as a counterweight, warned everyone else to let the local demons do their jobs and enjoy the ride without moving too much.

And despite everything, Opal was enjoying it. Slippery looking animals, turtles, fish and what looked like large snakes flanked the boats. When they first left some of the younger demons with their fins or long flowing tails chased them, playing whatever games small demons tended to play. Now it was nearly silent other than the soft 'plip' of the paddles held in expert claws and the whine of flying insects.

"What's that, Piro?" Opal kept her voice low as she addressed their rower. He glanced to where she was pointing and a wicked smile went across his scaled face.

"Letz see, eh?"

The boat slipped towards one of the banks where Opal watched what looked a particularly fat alligator's back burrowing in the mud. He pulled a long branch with his paddle and offered it to her, nodding towards the creature. Opal felt perhaps she was falling for something but was pretty sure he would not put her in danger right in front of the prince. She prodded at the mud. The stick exploded into splinters a moment later as giant beak attached to the longest neck of any animal she'd seen snapped it in half.

The boat nearly tipped when she jumped back, letting out a shocked scream that turned into laughter.

"Opal! Are you ok? No- go that way. Now."

"Jus' a little turtle." Piro promised, standing up straighter now. Opal's laughter faded when she saw the demon captaining Proga's boat looked terrified as she swung around to pull up beside them. His gold-ish eyes were narrowed. "She screamed. Why."

"I'm ok Proga. It was a joke- no really I asked about it."

"I see. The boats tip. Maybe now is not a good time for jokes." He kept his arms crossed, staring at Piro, mouth a thin line. "Lets go."

"Sorry Piro..." she lowered her voice, watching the other boat pull out to join the others. Piro gave her a weak smile in return and tried to reassure her it was his fault but she could see he was shaking a little. Opal sat and tucked her hands under her knees, watching Proga's boat fall back in line. How was that the same demon who'd voluntarily jumped into the swamp as a joke a few weeks ago?

It was mid-day when they stopped to visit with the small group of demons who'd found the shed skin. The tiny village made Tixe look like a thriving metropolis, in fact for a moment Opal thought they'd merely stopped over at a particularly thick grove of twisting trees until a trio of demons crawled, swam and flew out to meet their boats.

Their level excitement at having a Guardian Candidate and his cohort made their grandiose host's response in Lster pale in comparison. Opal got the impression the whole town prepared feverishly for them since they got wind that Yue was even considering coming by. As their hostess walked them through the twisting paths Opal took in the difference in clothing styles. Here Yue's previous splendor in Lster or even Tixe would have appeared gaudy. Now he still stuck out in his well-made costume but without much of the jewelry. Still, Opal could see the slight strain on his face as they were seated on the ground, or, on the massive stump of a long-gone tree and offered food from an enormous, shared platter. At first, Opal thought that perhaps he was uncomfortable using his hands to eat as she imagined that wasn't so prince-ly but after Gabbro bent by his side briefly, Yue's confidence returned. He picked up a portion of a huge fish with long whiskers and offered it to the youngest of the hostess' children.

"What did you say?" Opal asked when Gabbro and Obsidian joined her.

"Just helping the prince remember his manners. I guess a few years in the human world made him forget some."

"What do you mean?"

"Pretty Prince couldn't remember who he was supposed to offer the first bite of the fish to or even if he was supposed to eat it himself." Obsidian sighed. "Big brother came to rescue him."

Opal shook her head.

"I'm honestly impressed he remembered at all." Gabbro slid a piece of flesh from the fish bones onto the wooden plate he held. "This is nowhere near any territories he would ever have Guardianship over. I wouldn't expect most Royals to bother learning hospitality customs for an area like this."

"Why do you know things like that?"

"While I've never been invited to sit at a Royal's table, I do know etiquette for many of the less flashy tables I do sit at."

"Even ones Yue barely studied?"

He gave her a hint of a smile. "I get the feeling I've impressed you."

She felt her cheeks warm. "Maybe I know this stuff then too."

"Oh yes." Obsidian offered her a bite of food. "Big sister is very smart. She knows more than everyone but she got a lot longer to study."

"I did? What do you mean?"

Obsidian blinked vaguely and then frowned. "Open open!"

Opal took the bite of fish, making a note to try and ask Obsidian the next time he was making sense.

After the meal Yue, with Proga at his heels, was once again whisked away to discuss the matter of finding Lor's shed scales leaving the rest of his cohort, and the Tixe demons who escorted them with a still festively-minded community. Music started, played with reed and wood instruments that looked to be freshly made and peeped a peppy whistling tune. Then, to Opal excitement, dancing began. It was a very fast-paced raucous style. Obsidian immediately joined them, not so much in dancing as watching the dance moves so closely that he nearly made some of the dancers trip over him. A smooth fermented berry jam was passed around to the onlookers along with some type of sausage that made Opal's mouth burn so that she needed to slurp up more of the syrupy drink. She wasn't sure when her brain started to make it seem like a good idea to join the dancing group but when she went to stand she felt a hand grab her wrist.

"I don't think we should."

Opal turned vaguely unfocused eyes to Kait's silver ones which were completely clear. Her shoulders were up near her ears. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Its just... not very appropriate for the cohort of a Candidate to do these kinds of things."

"Its not?" Opal looked around. No one seemed to be doing anything too outlandish. In fact, other than herself and Kait, almost everyone was up and moving, singing, dancing or playing the bright music under the sky turning maroon at the edges. Spark seemed to be enjoying himself with a group of demons whose conversation included plenty of breaks for roughhousing and drinking in between words. They even seemed excited after an ill-timed shove caused the fire-demon to lose his drink. In response he furiously sent a quick snap of flame into the swamp. A cheer went up, laughter following. Even Gabbro was involved, standing mostly still while holding the hand of his brother and another young demon while they twirled around him. Sure, not all of these demons were fully clothed and the dancing seemed to become rowdy at times but it seemed more inappropriate to just sit and watch. Kait wrinkled her nose when a demon who was still holding a plate of food spilled some as he ran to join one of his friends in the chaos.

Opal offered Kait some of the berry syrup, hoping maybe that would help her relax but she shook her head firmly.

"Don't mind her." Spark appeared behind them. He grabbed the cup from Opal's hand, swallowed it down and half tripped when he went to sit. His face was shining with sweat or swamp mist, yellow eyes bright and amused. "It's beneath her to dance with us ordinary demons."

Opal laughed. "Oh, so that's what's going on."

"N-no! I'm just- its getting a little rough out there, isn't it?"

Spark rolled his eyes. Apparently, this made him dizzy because he then promptly toppled backward, arms splayed above his head. "Ya such a geek, Kait."

"I want to dance." Opal said.

"Really?" Spark sat back up, giving her a lopsided fanged-grin. "Lets go."

Opal sized him up. "You able to keep your flames to yourself, even if you are tripping over your own feet?"

"Pfffffft. Sure."

"No, you promise it or I'm not coming."

"I promise!"

"Fine then. Kait- come on." Opal offered her a hand.

"No. I'm good. Really." She crossed her arms.

"Please?"

"Nah nah... ya gotta bow and stuff. Classy girls like that." Spark bowed low, then stumbled forward on the declining hill and caught himself on a tree branch with a laugh.

"Oh, like this? Ahem, dearest, Kait. Fairest demoness in the swamp!" Opal bowed and offered Kait a hand. "Please, come join us."

"Knock it off you two."

"Lemme try again. What you'd say? Fair?"

"That means 'pretty'."

"Oh- gotcha-" Spark bowed again, this time low enough his hair swept the ground before he came back up. He caught Kait's hand as she tried push him backward. "Fair demoness, please, come dance."

Kait glared at him and Spark looked back to Opal for instruction.

"Maybe you should try..." Opal shrugged and put her knuckles to her mouth, thinking.

Spark squinted at her, looked back to Kait's hand and cleared his throat. "Fair Kait, please dance with me." He pressed his lips to the back of her fingers. He looked back to Opal. "Like that?"

Opal covered her mouth with both hands, giggling at Kait's jaw hanging open. "No- I was thinking of what to do! I wasn't telling you to kiss her you dummy!"

"Oh." Spark looked vaguely annoyed about this. "Ok, hold on she's still thinkin'. Sorry about..." his words left him when he faced Kait again. She was very cute embarrassed. Opal felt a keen note of jealousy that Spark was still holding her hand but he didn't seem able to release her. His yellow eyes had almost turned black and he appeared to be having trouble taking a full breath. He leaned closer to her and Kait's silver eyes went wide but she didn't try and stop him. Opal stared, unable to look away even though it was making her feel itchy with discomfort- until Spark lost his balance completely and had to dive over the top of Kait to keep from falling on her.

Opal burst into raucous laughter and was able to close her eyes at last. She was still laughing, in part due to relief when she felt a sharp pain on her face. She'd been slapped.

Kait's eyes were bright and her lower lip was trembling. "It's not funny." She whispered. Pulling her cloak up over her silver hair she disappeared in the direction of the boats. Many of the demons had paused to watch the scene.

Opal touched her cheek, confused, a slimy sense of guilt filled her gut though she had no idea why she should feel bad about something so silly. Kait was the one overreacting, slapping someone over that?

"She mad?" Spark was back on his feet, oddly steadier than he had been only seconds ago. He kept blinking and shaking his head, reminding her vaguely of Obsidian.

"I guess. You need to slow down on that juice."

He stared into the darkness where their friend had gone, as though deciding on following, took four steps then snorted. "Whatever." Instead he went back to join the new friends he made leaving Opal alone.

Her own head felt clearer after the slap as well and she no longer felt in the mood for the festivities. She didn't understand why it happened. Everywhere she went she was lost. The second she thought she understood how a place worked, they moved. She thought she and Kait were becoming closer but apparently not. Opal pulled her cloak tight around her and wedged herself into the base of a tree so she could watch at a distance. That seemed to be where she belonged. Why was she even here? Oh, right, because she had nowhere else to be. She found herself watching the blinking bugs in the air instead of the throng of demons. Suddenly she wished she had not bowed. No- more than that, she wished Gabbro and Obsidian hadn't. If she asked, would Yue let her leave?

With the sun down the sticky heat shifted to a creeping damp that spread from the moss under her toes up her legs. The other demons were still celebrating but she could see it was winding down. The slap of feet on the mucky path made her turn. Someone was moving towards her. Maybe Kait coming to apologize? Opal crossed her arms. She didn't want to hear it, she decided. If she tried to apologize she'd tell her to keep it to herself. But it wasn't Kait.

Obsidian was galloping on all-fours, muttering something to himself. He skidded, apparently seeing Opal's feet sticking out from the tree but ended up rolling in the mud.

"Big sister, I saw what little sister did." He shook his mud splattered head. "Hitting isn't good. Nope. Do you want me to break her arm?"

"No- no please do not do that, little brother." Opal squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face with a hand. "I'm ok... ugh..."

Obsidian had thrown his arms around her in a tight hug, transferring a decent amount of the mud onto her. Opal shuddered but patted his arm in return. Maybe she should shove Kait into the mud next time. Before she could chastise herself for the nasty thought her brain conjured up an image of how fast Spark would burn her alive for that. She pulled away from Obsidian, stomach lurching. The thought was so disturbing vivid. She felt the pain, but worse for an instant she could smell fat bubbling away on her own body.

Opal took a sharp breath in.

"Ob, where are you?"

"Right here big brother! I found her I found her I foooound her!"

Gabbro's frame was silhouette against the fires burning closer to the marsh. "Did you ask her if she wants company or did you jump on her?"

Obsidian stuck out her lower lip. "She was upset."

"It's ok." Opal decided. "I actually wanted to talk with you both."

"Yes big sister, what is it?" Obsidian pulled his legs in tight, a childish pose.

"I... think I made is a mistake. Bowing to Yue. I was thinking of asking him about letting me go."

Gabbro leaned against the tree, keeping his clothing well above the muddy line. "Why do you think you made a mistake?"

"I-I'm useless. I'll just drag everyone down."

He glanced down at her. "I don't think that's the real reason."

"Yes it is."

"Forgive me, Opal, but you've started to learn magic. What makes you more useless than before? Tell the truth." He dropped to a crouch, face close to hers. "I think you're pouting."

She pulled back, heat filling her cheeks. "I'm not. I just- I want to help Obsidian." She pointed down towards the gathering. "They don't even care. Have any of them even offered to help you with Obsidian?"

"No." He cocked his head. "I don't think that's it either."

She had a strong urge to shove him. At the same time she wanted to pull him closer. She bit her lip to keep it still.

"You haven't asked to try and remember anything since we found the young prince dead."

"No."

He ran a finger across her hand. "Why?"

"Obsidian offered... he offered to kill for Yue. And Proga said anyone traveling with a shifter is dangerous."

"He's quite the hypocrite isn't he?" There was a nasty edge to his voice.

"I don't think we fit here. I want to find out who I am but not with them. Not if they will hate me for it. We should leave."

Gabbro was quiet, watching his brother make piles of mud and sticks. "Unfortunately, its not so easy now. Remember the pact I made with Proga before?"

Opal recalled them standing in the bar and Yue's expression afterward. "Yes."

"Bowing back there was similar to making a pact, but stronger. Until Yue is approved or denied training for Guardianship we are beholden to him. Even if he agrees to let us go it would be difficult to leave."

"What do you mean?" She shivered, eyes wide. "What would happen?"

"Breaking a pact drives many demons insane if the agreed upon end point isn't met quickly enough. Its like a hunger that gnaws, nothing would satiate it other than working towards the goal you promised. I apologize for not stopping you."

"What about if Yue wants us to leave?"

"Even if he dismisses us, the physical reaction is the same. He can expect it too."

"Gabbro- your turn to tell the truth. Do you think if we remembered everything they'd hate..."

"You?"

"...yes."

"Do I scare you?"

Opal stared at his smirking face. His eyes were bored, the corner of his mouth quirked up ever so slightly in a constant look of knowing amusement. He licked his lip and tipped his head back to look down at her. It made her shiver. She crossed her arms. "No."

"In that case-" he leaned forward, hovering by her ear. "Yes. They should."

Opal caught her breath. He was trying to distract her and it was working. "Tell me why."

"I don't know that. But as I said- I'd do- did- anything for my brother. If we were friends or..." his eyes lazily looked her over, "more. I don't think we ran with the self-righteous Royal crowd. Yue, Kait... Proga don't see much gray as far as I can tell."

"Who cares?" She did. Opal realized to her frustration. It didn't hurt when Kait hit her, it didn't feel like she'd tried to cause pain. She was so upset and Opal didn't know why. But she cared what Kait thought. And Yue and Proga and even that lunatic Spark. His expression catching her with Gabbro made her wince whenever she remembered.

"You don't actually want to run, do you?"

"No."

"Good. Learn to care less about what others think of you. Ob- lets leave Opal alone for awhile and get you... clean." Obsidian must have rolled in the mud while they were distracted. He was absolutely covered.

Easy for him to say. He knew who he was. He would never have to make friends only to realize they might actually hate the real him. He'd never worry that his personality wasn't real, was based on who he was with. He wouldn't have to worry he was lying about everything. Opal wanted to scream in frustration. She'd trusted Ermine and Gray when they described her, but she couldn't help but remember the fearful looks they'd given her- saying she changed. Saying she frightened them sometimes. Who. Am. I?

Opal slammed both her hands down in the mud. To her surprise, she felt a ripple under her palms. The mud slipped aside, drying into dirt. A stream of water, divided from the mud collected in neat puddles. She stared down at it, both wide awake and exhausted. As she tried to understand what had just happened her eyes rolled back.

A voice filled her head.

"Oh good- we can finally talk!"

--------------

I am trying to decide what kind of dances everyone would do. We already know Opal doesn't even need music. Yue would be graceful, obviously, but I feel like Proga might be a little dangerous to be a dance partner. He might get overly enthusiastic.

I decided to leave you with a little mystery this time. :) Thank you for reading!

-Andi