Wanderer's Refuge

Chapter 5: A haven, found

The crew was finally reaching the original destination of their journey, non-specific as it was. They were finally approaching the sea.

After the close call near Sunhill, Lawrence told them it would probably be unwise to land too near to any towns, especially big ones, if they intended to stay more than just one day, the others all agreed, and so they looked for a beach hidden off the beaten path, but not too far so it would be possible to go get supplies on foot once in a while.

This led to a thin beach off a cliff face at the extreme west of the country. It was the early evening by the time they left the train and the girls were all excited to explore their new surroundings, this was the first time any of the three of them saw the sea, after all.

The symmetrical stars, shining as bright in the sky above as in the sea below them were a sight to behold. Lilith excitedly rode Floof into the sea, splashing around and trying to drink some water before quickly spitting it out after feeling the taste of salt water.

Ursa gently wheeled Agatha through the sand, taking her to the border where the foam of the waves barely reached her feet close to the sand, Agatha pulled Ursa close and timidly whispered a request, which Ursa answered by simply smiling and picking her girlfriend up in a princess carry and slowly walking into the sea, going deeper into the water until Agatha was able to start swimming with her arms, just floating upright on her own, though Ursa still held onto her in case anything happened.

The feeling of being able to move just with her own body and muscles was overwhelming, so much it almost made Agatha cry right then and there. She laughed out loud, a joyous, contagious laughter that infected Ursa and then Lilith, who came bounding over on Floof and started splashing the other two girls with water.

Agatha and then Ursa fired back, soaking the two heads of Floof and the bottom of Lilith's dress, this started an all out water war, which rapidly escalated until Floof was using it's huge paws to make big waves, Ursa was creating big jets of water using burst of steam and Agatha had somehow made a big water gun that used a metal piston. All of this use of magic would be considered extremely dangerous and frightening anywhere else, but here the group knew none of them would hurt the others.

Lawrence just sat on the sand and smiled contentedly. He soaked in the feeling of being entirely safe and unobserved, as he laid on his back and stared at the stars, he knew that this was freedom, real freedom, not being locked to a position or forced to keep running at all times, just being allowed to stay and breathe for a while, with time all to themselves.

This moment of tranquility was interrupted by the quiet sound of sandals in the sand, startling Lawrence for a second and making him sit up and turn as fast as he could.

In front of him stood a woman in a green jacket with a blue handkerchief around her neck and small, round black glasses on the bridge of her nose. She crouched down in front of the alarmed Lawrence and gave him a gentle wave. "Easy there, kid, I'm not a cop. Just wanted to know what brought you lot to this beach."

"We... walked here, we're journeying to the next town over." Lawrence answered in a hurry, he hated telling a bad lie, it hurt his pride in his work, this is one of the things he's supposed to be good at!

The woman rolled her eyes and adjusted her glasses. "Alright, maybe I wasn't clear, I know what brought you here, It was the flying train," she pointed to the Wanderer's "what I really wanna know is why you're here. This isn't the most popular beach you know?"

"Well there's not a lot a lot of places you can take a flying train these days." Ok, she knew about the Wanderer's, not very surprising, but if she didn't seem hostile now she probably wasn't too against magic, still, best to keep your guard up. "What are you doing here? Who even are you?"

"I live here, you can come by if you want" The woman gestured to the cliff behind her, looking closer Lawrence could see there was a cave in the rocks, "And I'm doctor Alexandra Keys, pleasure to meet you."

Lawrence stood up, dusting off the sand from his suit and regaining a bit of his composure before shaking Alexandra's hand. "Lawrence, and the pleasure is mine. Let me call the others over. Fellas! There's someone you should meet!"

The rest of the Wanderer's crew came over, approaching cautiously, this person could be a threat, and they'd been lax in hiding their abilities since they came here.

"These are Agatha Clarke, Ursa Martin and Lilith Hughes. Gang, this is Alexandra Keys, she seems fine with us and lives inside the cliff."

"If any of you are injured, I'd be happy to help. Also, I'm very interested in those machines of yours." Alexandra turned to Agatha."I've been researching the applications of sorcery in daily life and it looks like you've really figured out how to use it to improve your daily life."

"Yes! I've been learning a lot recently and I believe that sorcery can adapt to a person's needs and wills, it "knew" my desire for mobility and evolved to accommodate me." Agatha beamed as she spoke of what she knew.

"Fascinating, I've often wished for supernatural healing abilities of some kind, but those haven't manifested." Alexandra's head hung low for just the smallest moment.

"What are your abilities, doctor? Have you been able to use them effectively in your daily life?" asked Agatha excited.

"Well I've gained some mobility too, and I can also use it as a sterile tool in my work."

Ursa chimed in "speaking of which, how did you get down here, can you fly or something? Or are you just incredibly skilled at climbing those rocks?"

Alexandra gave Ursa a cheeky smile before raising her hand and answering "Yes I do climb... The stairs!" she snapped her finger dramatically and about 50 light blue constructs made of something that didn't seem to be any known material appeared parallel, arranging themselves neatly into a staircase, they were perfectly horizontal just floating in the air, and seemed so thin they were almost entirely two dimensional.

"That's so cool!" Said Lilith, less concerned with the mechanics of the sorcery than the spectacle.

"Very interesting, I've never heard of magic taking the form of matter that isn't analogous to anything outside it, the closest parallel I can find at the moment is some form of blue glass," commented Agatha.

"My ability is "command force", I believe it relates to my academic background in allowing me to manipulate objects with minimal unwanted effects using non-conductive, sterile, mostly transparent tools that are very precise," Hypothesized Alexandra.

"So, what do you do around here, lady? This isn't exactly a hospitable place to live." Ursa raised an eyebrow, narrowing her eyes just a little.

"Well, I'm sure you know the country doesn't have the most positive outlook on sorcery or, well, doctors like me," the woman gestured to her dark skin and long curly hair, "so I come out here to do my research and treat anyone who comes by. I think I've actually started to get a reputation around outlaws and runaways from the area, no questions, they just come in, cure what ails them and go."

"Could we come live with you and help, big lady?" Lilith asked something the rest of the group had already thought, but felt unsure about saying to the doctor, who really was significantly taller than any of them.

"Sure! I'd love to have a few helping hands around, and I'm anxious to know what you kids can do." Alexandra smiled warmly and gently rubbed Floof's heads. The crew felt reassured, a part of them that most of them would like to hide still felt safer having a real adult looking out for them.