Kiera's POV

"Wake up, sleepy head," a voice called, gently shaking me. It was Zia. I'd fallen asleep on the boat from the Ship Master at some point. And judging from the tied looks on everyone's faces, everyone else had too. It was almost morning now; I could see the faint light of the sun that comes before dawn. "We're here," Zia told me. "Really?" I asked. Flint nodded. "Yup, Welcome to Furui, the oldest Fey town in Kurea," he announced. "Woah," I said. It was very different from Dairiseki. For one thing, it was old and crumbling, the ancient city looking like ruins, but functioning like a city. We docked quickly. The boat then floated away, probably back to the Ship Master to pick up the next set of travelers. Just after we got out, a Faerie man approached us. "Salve Quid Furui te adducit?" he asked. "Uh..." I didn't know how to respond. "They mostly speak Old Fey here," Zia informed us. "Homines. Ne quidem scire potest quod lingua," the man sneered. "The people here are very old fashioned, and there is constant discrimination between the Fey and the humans," Zia stated. "Maurice!" a voice called, "Discedere homines solus." A Fey, looking very similar to the first man, Maurice came up to us. Maurice hmffed and left. "Sorry about that. My name's Carson. Nice to meet you. I try to help people passing by, so I know Fey and English. Some French and Spanish too," he told us. "Nice to meet you," I told him. He grinned. "Nice to mean you too. Come with me, y'all look tired. I own an inn in town. You guys look tired. Come stay at my inn?" Carson offered, "We're having a party tonight. We'd love to have you." "I don't know, we have somewhere to be..." Zia tried to explain. "Come on! When else can you party in Furui?" Carson asked. "Well, it may be fun, and we do need a break," Flint agreed. "And it would give Cale and Quinn sometime to catch up," I added hopefully. Zia sighed. "Alright," she agreed finally. "Good. We can't wait to have you," Carson told us, leading us towards the inn. When we arrived, Carson showed us to our rooms. I lied on my bed and fell asleep.

Cale's POV

I woke to the Ship Master entering the shed. "The ship's back. Wake your friend and let's get a move on!" he announced. I sat up tired. Quinn has somehow slept through the loud announcement. I reached over and touched his shoulder gently. His eyes snapped open. "It's time to go," I told him. He nodded and sat up. Quinn stretched out his wings a bit. They were completely healed. Then he hid them. If I hadn't seen his wings, I never would have guessed he was anything but normal. "We ready to go?" I asked. He nodded. We headed for the dock. "You ok?" I asked, noticing that Quinn was still limping. "Yeah, I'll be ok," he told me. "I didn't as if you will be ok, I asked if you are ok," I responded. "And I purposely avoided your question," Quinn replied. "Yeah, ok," I caved, letting him not answer. We made it to the boat. "Hop on in," he told us. We obliged. The boat started sailing over the river as a fog began setting in. I thought of the question I'd been wondering about since last night. "Look, this may be rude of me, and you do not have to answer, but is your being a Fey the reason you don't like being touched?" I asked. He didn't answer, not for a long time. Finally, he said, "No. My being a Fey is not why I dislike being touched." "Oh," I responded, not quite sure how else to reply. We sat in silence. The fog was getting thicker. "That is why I have my hair long though," Quinn admitted softly. "What?" I asked, not quite sure what he meant. "My hair. I have it long to hide my wing lines," he explained. "Oh," I responded again. That made sense. It would be pretty bad if someone saw them and asked what they were. "At least no one makes fun of it," I offered. Quinn looked at me. "They do. Constantly. No one knows nor cares that I need my hair this long, so they make fun of it," Quinn told me. I hadn't realized that, but it made sense. "Well if it makes you feel any better, I like your hair," I told him. Quinn blinked in surprise, then he looked away, reddening. "Thanks," he told me, barely audible. We rode in silence again. Dang, conversation was haaard. Then I remembered something Kiera had told me. "Hey, did you leave camp the fist night we were in Kurea?" I asked. Quinn nodded. "I needed to stretch my wings. I have to stretch them at least once a day, or they get too sore to fly. So I left. Out of curiosity, who saw me? Because I know for a fact you were asleep," he told me. I paused. I wasn't a snitch. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. I'll be more careful next time," Quinn said. I searched my brain for a conversation starter. "Where did you live when you lived in Kurea?" I asked. "Dairiseki," he stated. "I didn't know that," I replied. "How could you have?" Quinn countered, "It's not like I told anyone." "Gah, I hate it when you make sense," I told him. "So you always hate me," he concluded. "No. Only when I feel like it," I told him. He actually laughed. "You keep doing that," Quinn said. "I will," I replied. He laughed again. I grinned at him. He smiled back. "So is your mom the Fey or is it your dad?" I asked. He looked away. "Never mind. But you know, you only answer the questions you want to," I know told him. "I know. And I gave that right," he replied. "Well, yeah, I guess you do. Sorry," I apologized. "It's ok," Quinn responded. "So, you lived in Dairiseki? Did they like have a Faerie school there?" I joked. "Actually, yeah, there are several. I went to Gakkia Prep for 3 years," Quinn admitted. "Wait, really?!" I gasped. I hadn't even considered a Fey school. "Yeah. Of course, I was hiding my wings and everyone thought I was just human. Most of the students hated me because I was the only 'human' at that school," Quinn told me. "So what you're telling me is that you're Miss Unpopular at all schools?" I teased. "That's Mr. Unpopular to you," Quinn responded, pushing up his glasses and making a serious face. Then we both burst out laughing. The fog was getting pretty thick. "How long do you think it'll take to get there?" I asked. "I believe we will be there by tonight," Quinn told me. "Alright. Let's hope we can catch up to the others," I hoped.

Kiera's POV

I woke up around sunset. I yawned, and looked around. Carson had shown us to our rooms and I'd fallen asleep. I quietly stepped outside. Zia and Flint were in the hall talking. "Hey," I waved. They turned, surprised. "Oh, hi Kiera. Did you just wake up?" Zia asked. "Yeah," I admitted. "I just got out too. The dragon lady's been out for hours," Flint admitted. Zia sighed. "Serpent," she told him, annoyed. "Whatever. Serpent lady doesn't sound as cool as dragon lady though," Flint argued. Zia rolled her eyes. Alan walked out then. "Hello," he greeted us. I waved at him. Carson walked up to us. "Howdy! I see you're awake. Good. The party will begin soon," he informed us. "Yay!!" I exclaimed. "Can't wait," Carson agreed, "Do you guys have anything nice to wear?" "No, sorry," Zia apologized. "Well, just do what you can then. It won't really matter, but you might as well look nice," Carson suggested. "Sure thing," Flint replied, only half sarcastic. "Great, the party's in an hour. I'll see you there," Carson told us, stalking off. "Well then, let's get ready," I said.

Cale's POV

The fog was getting thicker and thicker by the second, which I didn't think was possible. "Ok, what's going on with this fog?" I asked. "No idea," Quinn said. Suddenly, water leaked into my shoes. "Wha?" I looked down. "Shoot!" I yelled. The was a whole in the side of the boat. A couple actually. And they were getting bigger and more numerous by the second. "It's a Wooderline swarm, not fog!" Quinn realized, standing up. "Wooderline swarm?! What's that?" I yelled, standing up as well. "Wooderlines are pests that travel in thick swarms. They do so in search of their food, which just so happens to be wood. It also happens to be what this boat is made of," Quinn explained. "Can you fly us out of here?" I asked. The water was up to our knees. "No. I can't lift you, my wings aren't strong enough, especially not with our water logged clothes. And with this swarm, I couldn't even fly myself out of here, the swarm is too thick," Quinn explained. I began, "Well, what if we-" The boat cracked apart. Quinn and I tumbled into the river. The current pulled us apart and we were forced away, further down the river.

I was going by to make this a really long chapter but I cut it in half to allow more room for events in the next chapter.

Bye!
   -Dell