Chapter Three: Complication
Ali the Witch sat crosslegged in the cart, staring down at her homebook with dull dedication. She held the pages down against the wind, allowing sand to blow across the pages. Her technicolor infinity hat was pinned down next to her by the burnt glass orb of her magic staff. Black hair billowed around her, messy and tangled from a week spent on the road.
A week spent on the road with an unwanted companion who never gave her the chance to find a secluded pool to wash in.
She closed the book with a sigh, stuffing it into her pack. She couldn't let Dimka see it. It would lead to more questions. More of Dimka trying to 'know' her better.
Al's nose wrinkled. Actually, where was Dimka? She cast her gaze across the desert, squinting, then shading her eyes, as she noticed just how strong the wind was getting. It wasn't that far off from nightfall, and Al refused to set up a tent for two on her own.
"That loonamancer had better be back before the stars," she muttered, barely hearing her own voice over the rushing winds and hissing sands. "Prob'by off drinking herself into a scorpion's shoe. Not my problem. Not supposed to be my problem. Not even my—
magerafucker
!"
Her voice broke into a shrieking oath as she dove to the bottom of the cart, narrowly dodging a pale eyepatched blur hurtling through the air. A high-pitched "
YAAAR
!" echoed after.
Ali the Witch stared after the little monster.
"Hey, Ali!" she called.
The Carter's voice came from down in the dugout. "Yes, Ali?"
"Do you follow that, um, all that fortunetelling stuff at all? Stargazing, imp-watching, wheel-spinning, Pete-chasing?"
"A little. Why?"
"You don't happen to remember what a pirate impling at sundown is supposed to 'signify', do you?"
A pause. "The pirate is ill-got wealth, drink, and flawed sight. Sundown makes it... a loss, or an ending. But do you even believe in fortunes?"
Al chewed her lip, watching the storm rising around her. "A bit."
27-Aug-2019 04:26:06
- Last edited on
27-Aug-2019 04:33:28
by
YuBiusk Ink