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The midmorning day is amazingly pleasant. The slight crispness in the breeze all but beckons, and it's impossible for some folks to stay cooped up indoors. Out along the edges of the city, the buildings become more and more dispersed, and there are plenty of trees to lose oneself in for a while. To pretend the craziness of the city, the dreadfulness of people towards other people, doesn't really exist. An obvious lie, but a comforting one.
Usually, Dani is able to stroll out until the sidewalk drifts away, and vanish into the trees for a few hours. Today, though, she had to take a slightly different route. Likely because of the unpleasantness elsewhere in town. She also attracted the attention of a small group of unpleasant thugs, perhaps emboldened by that same unpleasantness. Dani kept to her usual walk, hoping her followers would eventually lose interest. Sigh. No such luck.
She really doesn't /want/ to hurt them, but as she reaches the trees, they start picking up their pace.
*
'Out for a stroll' is sort of Amanda's motivation today. Well, 'out for teleportation'. She's made it a point of trying to learn the layout of this positively massive city. Today is the moment to try learning the layout of the outskirts of New York. She doesn't really recognize Dani (they've only met once before, after all) but she does see the thugs following a woman into the woods. From her perch upon on a rooftop, she crouches and follows, using line-of-sight to teleport as best she can while keeping out of sight.
The forest means she needs to drop down to ground level, which she does very reluctantly, again using her teleportation to make sure she can keep up while at the same time moving silently. Thank goodness she does not bamf when she teleports. Right now, that would be exceedingly inconvenient.
*
"Stay out of sight," Danielle speaks calmly, "I got this." She surely couldn't be talking to Amanda, could she? No, it doesn't look like she's even aware the other woman is in the area. "No, I'm sure. I'll be fine, stop worrying…"
"Eeey, baby. Who you talkin' to, ha? Me'n'my boys figger a girl like you…" Right about here, it begins to trail off into some disgusting suggestions, mingled with crass racial slurs and unimaginative profanity.
As the thugs fan out and close in, Dani doesn't appear to react. Instead, she studies the young tree in front of her, before crouching to pick something off the ground. A fallen branch, thin and long, more or less straight. "Right. Let's get this over with." She sounds almost ..bored, which is the cue for two of the thugs to rush towards her.
*
That voice deos sound familiar, and that's perhaps part of what eggs Amanda on to act quickly. Her hand lift and she gestures as her fingers bend. Green energy briefly circles her hands as the reaction to her spell comes quickly. Roots grow faster, pushing out of the ground quicker, wrapping over the feet of the thugs approaching Dani. With the attention focused forward, Amanda gestures to the left, and a tree branch suddenly becomes too heavy and dips downwards, prodding one of the other thugs in the side.
*
Both of the charging thugs tumble facefirst into the grass, landing hard, with their pals staring in confusion. Dani masks her own surprise well, and rises with her stick in hand. As she twists around on the toe of one boot, she twirls the stick lazily in her fingers, and gives a firm WHAP to the nearest of the fallen jerks. "So. You had some ideas, cowboys?"
The thug who gets prodded by the branch jerks and jumps away, staring in growing consternation at the tree that poked at him. Confused and unsettled and embarrassed, the would-be attackers fidget in place until their leader decides: "She must be one'a them freaks! Get her!" He backpedals a few steps to let the other four roar and charge headfirst like the master strategists they ain't.
*
….whoops.
That was not her plan. So not her plan. Change the plan! Fingers move into new positions and the glow around her hands shifts from green to white. Trusting that Dani knows how to use the branch to defend herself, Amanda focuses on individuals - the back two men suddenly find their progress blocked, slamming into invisible shields of force that hold them back. The next move? Well, that's to step out into the open.
And all too-convenient wind blows up the long, thick white winter jacket that she wears, fading as the glow around one hand shifts from white to blue. "I don't think what you are doing is particularly nice," Amanda says, loud and clear. When she has their attention, she mock-curtsies. "Satispe," she adds. Good day. Her lft hand fiddles with a throwing knife behind her back - never leave the house without one!
*
Danielle grips her branch comfortably and takes full advantage of Amanda's unexpected arrival and assistance. With two of the thugs blocked and confused, it's a relatively simple dance for Dani to spin into a counterattack on the other two, thumping both pretty soundly around the head and shoulders until they're staggering back. More of that unmanly profanity splutters forth, as the meatheads find themselves clearly outnumbered. By two young women who have yet to show any of the fear they're supposed to, darn it.
Their leader barks out a command, and the thugs glower and leer and thump at their chests… but they gather their dazed friends and limp away with their proverbial tails tucked between their legs.
Danielle watches them with disturbingly cold eyes until they're well on their way, then relaxes and smiles curiously towards her ally. "Hello again. Those were some nifty tricks. Thanks for the help."
*
Amanda rotates, slowly, watching the retreating men. That was a lot easier than using her magic on someone that can fight back with magic. Still, she pants lightly, a little hunched over after the adrenaline fades. She smiles faintly at Dani and nods her head. "My pleasure." The knife, now unneeded, goes back to hiding in her jacket with one smooth motion. It's not quite legerdemain, but she's still quick.
*
Danielle hefts the branch one more time, before lightly dropping it to the ground where she found it. "I miss my spear. But people react poorly when you lug one around town all day." She slaps her hands together lightly and gives the other girl a long, bemused look. Considering something. "I feel a little bad. I've seen a bit of your .. what, gifts? Power? And you did come to my aid, so it feels like I should share a secret of my own. To balance the scales, hm?" But her own powers? No, not a good idea. "Tell you what… if you're not in any hurry, you can follow me.."
*
"Magic," Amanda admits, looking sheepish for a moment. The offer makes her quirk a brow. "I don't think you need to balance anything…" She smiles. "I just tried to help out, is all." Slowly Amanda walks towards Dani, though she casts a glance back in the direction the thugs fled. "…a spear? That sounds like it would be good at scaring people like that away."
*
"Magic.. Interesting," Danielle mulls, perhaps juxtaposing that answer against that whole card reading thing from a few days back. She smiles broadly and resumes her path into the trees, the thugs all but forgotten. There's not many landmarks to follow, but her path is reasonably straight as she meanders well out of sight of the city. "You'd think a spear would be a good deterrent, but idiots like those are too stupid to know any better. At least it was a good workout, I guess." She pauses, peering up at a gap in the trees, then nods. "Not much further."
*
Amanda was just waiting for a word. Like witch. When nothing is said, she looks relieved, and nods slowly. "Right. Okay." She follows, though her body language is clearly putting her on edge. Ready to teleport away - just in case. "People are terrible at judging such things," she says. "I've noticed this in many cities. They don't care if there's a deterrent, they just want what they want."
*
Danielle nods in agreement, "Sad, but true. And some of them still have the nerve to call /my/ people 'savages'." That makes her snort. Then she smiles again. "Okay.. I promised to show you one of my secrets. We're here." She steps out of the trees into a small oblong clearing. The grass is tall, the sky is clear, the sun is warm. The horse is white. Very, very white. From the tip of his nose to the end of his tail.
His large, feathered wings are also very white. His head lifts from the grass, and he whickers as he ambles closer, pressing his nose to Danielle's palm.
"Amanda, meet Brightwind."
*
Blink.
Blinkblink.
Mentally, Amanda is going over every single lesson her mother ever taught when it came to paranormal creatures. Winged horses were not in these lessons. "… I did not bring any apples with me," Amanda admits. She looks apologetic. "I could go back and get something, if you can wait for a few seconds…" There's a lot of rambling on Amanda's part, especially when she feels on the spot. "Um. Hello, Brightwind. I'm Amanda." She wiggles her fingers at the horse.
*
The winged stallion peers curiously at the flustered young woman, but dips his head in what might be a form of greeting. Then turns an expectant eye towards his partner. "She's fine, I promise. She's a friend." Dani's smile is even more relaxed with her winged horse than it was in the circus. And they do seem able to understand each other on some level. "Don't worry about it, Amanda. He gets plenty of treats as it is, and not nearly enough exercise. He's going to be the first fat pegasus in centuries, if we're not careful." That draws a very loud snort from the proud steed.
*
Amanda holds out her hand to the pegasus. She sees the trainer at the circus instructing others to do it for the horses, so makes the leap in logic to assume that a pegasus would get used to someone the same way. She knows animals are smarter than humans give them credit, so does not really think it weird when Brightwind seems to snort at the appropriate time. She does not realize the pegasus is considerably smarter than she thinks. "And he's your pegasus?"
*
Brightwind wuffles politely at the offered hand, then takes a halfstep closer to inspect Amanda more closely. Just doublechecking that there really aren't any apples hiding away, that's all. "Oya, behave yourself," Dani warns, then shrugs a little to answer the question. "It's a bit more like.. I'm his rider. He chose me, and he's likely going to be around a lot longer than I am." She's still mortal… probably. "It's a bit of a wild story, really, but .. well, he's as real as you or me."
*
Alas, no apples on her person. "I'm not sure standing out in the chilly afternoon is a good way to tell a story," Amanda says with a small grin. "If he's okay to go somewhere… I think I know where we can go without having to exclude Brightwind?"
*
The majestic winged stallion pbbbbts sulkingly at the non-appearance of treats, and earns a loving thump on the shoulder from his rider. A few flicks of his ears later, and he meanders a few paces away to investigate some of that tasty shrub over there.
Danielle watches her four-legged companion a moment more, before quirking a curious glance towards Amanda. "That does sound tempting… If you know a place, and don't mind a bit of bareback, I bet I can tempt him into carrying us both."
*
"I'm.. not sure. I've never tried this while riding a horse before." Amanda taps her chin a moment, considering options. "Okay, let's try it like this…" She steps between Danielle and her mount, putting one hand on the horse. The other she keeps free, but beckons Dani with, "Here.. hand on my shoulder, I think." Once that's done, she uses her free hand to gesture, letting a halo of white energy emanate from it. For a second it glows oh so bright, blindingly so and then…
…and then…
…poof. The world as it is vanishes, and the trio reappears within the Winding Way. A twisting blue landscape vanishes into the horizon, dotted only by a slightly lighter blue path. The trio finds themselves standing at the edge of what would be a pine forest - a pine barrens, maybe - on Earth, though the trees are yet a third shade of blue. Nearby is a large, though not particularly unique house. Unique only because it is here, in this strange place. A little bit of the banal amongst the wondrous.
*
Danielle curiously places her palm on Amanda's shoulder, uncertain what to expect. But since they seem to be exchanging secrets today… Brightwind munches happily on his snack, ignoring the odd lights. Dani shields her eyes with her free hand, then stares in cautious amazement at this new, strange landscape. "Definitely not Kansas," she remarks quietly. The horse does look up when the familiar Northeastern Shrubberies vanish, and snorts as his demeanor shifts from lazy to alert.
« Easy, brother.. » Dani soothes in her native Cheyenne, reaching over to touch Brightwind's neck. "This… is not on Earth," she deduces, casting a long, studying look towards the other woman.
*
Amanda nods her confirmation. "This is not Earth," she agrees. "It's a dimension between dimensions." Which just sounds weird. "It's like…" She considers, casting for a metaphor that Dani will understand. "Okay. Think of a river. Earth is one shore. Another dimension is the other shore. This place is the stepping stone you use to cross the river. Make sense?" She glances at Brightwind, carefully putting her hand on the big horse. "I promise nothing will happen here. Promise." She gestures to the house in the distance. "Shall we?"
*
(To be continued in Part 2)