Corn Pop’s Farm, 5 days since Posada and Skystar were sent back in time.
“...and done! I think that’s the last board nailed in. That should be all for the day, Skystar. Let’s head in and tell Corn Pop we’re finished fixing up his porch.”
***
Stepping inside the house the duo see Corn Pop sitting at the dinner table, the equipment we showed them 5 days ago tightly and neatly packed into four saddle bags. “All done, huh? Well, that was the last bit of work, as I promised. Figured you’d be wanting to head out soon as possible, so I got everything packed up all nice and neat for ya. Can either leave tonight or tomorrow morning it’s up to you folks. I must also say I’m mighty appreciative of the work you two have done for me, made my old and dreary life a whole lot easier.”
The pair smile at the elderly hippogriff, just glad they were able to find someone generous enough to let them stay and eat for free, alongside giving them a full set of supplies.
“Thanks for everything, Corn pop. We won’t forget your generosity, I promise. I think we’ll head out in the morning we’re rested for the start of the journey. That sound good with you, Sky?”
“Yeah! No point in heading out right while the sun’s going down. We’ll be all ready and set to go tomorrow!”
***
The sound of hooves and claws pitter-patter’s on the hard wood floor, followed by jingling and the sound of cloth rubbing on fur.
“You get your saddle on all right, Posada?”
“Mhm, I’m all set. You?”
“Same. I guess this is it! Let’s head outside.”
The front door creeks open before slamming back shut. The duo now standing outside of Corn Pop’s house, saddles adorned and fully loaded with all manner of equipment, food, and water. A short dagger sheathed on both their waists.
“We’re too heavy to fly with our supplies so we’ll have to travel on hoof.” Grabbing the compass she has strung around her neck like jewelry, Posada checks the direction they should head, “North is this way,” she says pointing towards the dirt road heading into a forest. “So we’ll follow this path until we see signs for Northpoint or a settlement that’s close to it. It takes about, what, 2 hours to get there via train in our time, right? So we should be able to get there in no more than 2 days time. Sound good, Sky?”
“Yep! I’m ready and set so lead the way, Possy.” The cream and teal hippogriff says to Posada, walking closely beside her as the two exit the village.
***
The forest they enter surrounds the path with trees. Leaves lightly rustling in the breeze casting shadows as the sun attempts to break through. With birds singing their usual tune. The smell of pollen and sap fills the air as the duo travel north. Off the beaten path is an assortment of old brush, twigs, and now long gone trees. A haven for bugs and plants, not so much for other creatures.
“Man, you don’t see stuff like this back home, do ya? We’ve torn up so much of the forests to make way for development, it’s crazy to remember that Hippogriffia really used to look like this.” Posada says while moving her head around, taking in the beauty of the forested path.
“Do you ever regret doing that?”
“Doing what, Sky?”
“Pushing for so much development, urbanizing more rural areas. I know my Mom did a fair share of that herself when she was Queen, but I don’t think she ever put much thought into how she was changing the landscape. She was pretty disconnected from all that.”
She thinks for a moment, “No, I don’t think I do. Getting rid of forests like this is unfortunate, but improving the quality of life for the average creature was more important. We never would have been able to house everyone on the Hippogriffia mainland if we didn’t expand and terraform some areas. Housing for a poor family comes before nature, I’m afraid.”
Skystar nods her head in understanding, before replying, “I see… But what about the creatures that lived here? The wild creatures and animals. Wild bunnies and bears. Squirrels and timber wolves. I know they aren’t sentient like us but… surely disrupting their habitat counts for something.”
A look of mild surprise and shock hits Posada’s face, “I never really thought about them, honestly. When I’m signing off on plans in the capital I don’t think about that kind of stuff, I just think about how it’ll help our people. That’s an interesting way to view things for sure, but my feelings still stand. I would take housing for a poor group of creatures sooner than I would leave wild areas like this alone.”
“Ah… I disagree with you pretty strongly there, Posada. But I see where you’re coming from. Just seems such a shame to displace and potentially kill how many wild animals for our own gain.”
“I know, Skystar. But there’s always sacrifices to be made. You’ve learned that well with your time advising me, I’m sure.”
“Mhm…” she mumbles under her breath, looking away from Posada and to the ground ahead of her.
***
2 hours later
Having traveled mostly in silence for the past couple of hours, with only occasional small talk, Posada decides to bring up a new topic.
“Um, so… Sky, I wanna talk about my visions a bit, if that’s okay. I told you I’d let you know when I was ready to talk more about it, I think I’m ready right now.”
Her attention turns to Posada, eyes glancing over to her as she moves her head slightly to the right, “sure, go ahead.”
“Thanks, Sky. I mentioned that not all the visions are things that can become true, so to say. But they’re more like made up scenarios, dreams. With one of these dream-like visions I uh…” her face blushes red, attention turning away for a second before continuing, “I was out shopping at local stores with you. We stopped at one of those novelty shops that has a bunch of weird stuff. In there you picked out this silly looking alien figure that was bipedal and gray and bought it for me. Then we got on the train and headed back to my place. It was just us in the cabin, you cuddled up next to me. And then we talked about our upbringings, destiny, fate, things like that. It… was really cute. I look back on that vision very fondly. Even if it wasn’t real, it felt like it. I felt so… happy. Complete, even. And when I woke up from the vision I was laying on my back, staring up at the ceiling. It was over, just like that. And I was alone again…” She says somberly. “So the visions aren’t always bad… even if I ended up depressed after, it was still something I’m glad I saw.”
Skystar continues listening intently, giving Posada her full focus and attention, “I have a feeling that’s not the main reason you told me this story, Posada.”
“It isn’t… Sky, I know I’ve told you this before, and I know you said you don’t feel the same way but… I still really like you. I just want to give us a try. Even if it doesn’t work out, Skystar, I want to at least try. I can’t see myself ever liking someone the way I do you.”
Skystar looks down at Posada, the both of them now stopped in their tracks. Giving her a neutral look. “Posada… I knew you still had feelings for me, but I didn’t think you’d choose now to be so up-front about them. You’re a great friend, you really are. Probably my best friend… And I think I’m willing to try a relationship with you. I don’t know if it’ll work out, honestly. Especially given our circumstances,” she laughs. “But I’m willing to try long as take it slow. I’m not a big fan of rushing into things as you know. That sound okay, girlfriend?”
Her ears perk up upon simply hearing the words “girlfriend” come out of Skystar’s mouth. Her heart racing, body temperature increasing, and legs weak as she realizes what this means, hardly able to believe it. “O-okay, um…” she goes speechless, unable to put into words how she feels right now.
Skystar responds by simply hugging her new partner, arms wrapped around her as they embrace, Posada’s head resting on Skystar’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, you don’t need to say anything.” She says calmly. “We should probably keep moving though, plenty of time to talk as we trot.”
Letting go, they both continue their way north, walking just a bit closer to each other.
***
Later that evening
“We need to come up with date ideas for when we get back. I already have some pretty good ones that I totally haven’t been holding on to for the past year or so. I don’t wanna spoil them though, so I’m not telling!” Posada smirks as she talks to Skystar.
“I can only imagine what you have cooked up, Possy. Especially with all the time you’ve had on your claws,” she giggles. “Do you think we should stop and setup camp? We’ve been walking most of the day, can’t say I would mind some rest,” she says, stopping on the path and stretching her legs.
“I’m still raring to go but if you wanna stop we can, hun. We can camp a bit further into the woods if you want, less chance of getting seen by bandits or whatever.”
Skystar nods before following Posada into the woods, finding a clear spot to setup their tent and a campfire a few paces away from the main road. “This should do well,” Posada says.
“Yeah.. It’s nothing fancy but it’ll do I guess. Never thought I would go from sleeping in the royal castle to sleeping on hay in a tent…”
“Oh it’s not that bad Skystar, you could be sleeping on the dirt, or on a cold metal floor in an airship.”
‘True but that doesn’t make me feel that much better… I suppose you’re here, at least,” she smiles.
Posada smiles and giggles, rubbing up against Skystar and hugging her lightly. “How about we have some dinner and then hit the literal hay? We’re probably about half way there so we should be able to make it to Northpoint tomorrow,” she says.
“Sounds good, dear. Let’s see what Corn Pop packed up for us before we left…”