Time Cave - a Fanfiction Crossover

Paninya

After my meeting with Ryker I returned with Alya and Ziffe to Filbert's Inn. It wasn't like there was anywhere else to go, and besides, the food was great. At dinner there was one extra table, so the Elric Brothers didn't sit with me. Instead, Zoya did.
    "We need to talk about your magic training," she said, leaning from across the table and speaking softly and seiously.
    "Um, OK," I said, wondering how this was going to work. I still hadn't told the others about Ryker. I wasn't sure if I should, or what I should do about any of this.
    "There is a man named Rumplestiltskin-"
    "Yes, I've heard of him," I interrupted, "is he the one that can teach me magic?"
    "You sure are smart, Ronda!" said Zoya, "Indeed he is. I've planned a trip for us to visit him tomorrow."
    I supposed I was off the hook for my next meeting with Ryker. I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.
    Zoya continued: "He sometimes lives just on the other side of a town called Rush Valley, and is returning there today. But you'll have to be very careful -"
    "Not to make any suspicious deals with him?" I finished.
    "That's right. And don't let him make you evil. He'll teach you magic, but he'll try to pull you over to the dark side. Just remember, you are in control of how you use your magic."
    "I'll remember," I decided. It couldn't be that hard.

{4}
"Oh, come on, my magicmail stopped working again! And it wasn't even because of some dramatic circumstances - I was picking up a fork!" yelled Ed. He sounded like his normal self again, but when I glanced back at his face, he still had that odd, distant expression like something was off.
"Well, we were thinking of paying Winry a visit soon anyway, weren't we?" I ventured.
Ed slammed his fist down on the table, spilling water all over me. I jumped in surprise, as well as a suit of armor can.
Ed took a breath like he was trying to calm himself. "Sorry," he said.
"I - I'm fine," I said, mopping the water up with a napkin, "So should we go tomorrow?"
"OK."

{1}
The next morning we set off on horseback through the misty forest. Filbert and Zoya led the way, with me in tow, and Janina, Ziffe, and Alya in the back along with a few others.
As we headed farther Southeast, the terrain became dryer and rockier. The trees turned from firs and cedars to firs and pines, to pines, to the occasional pine amid spires of rock.
After a late lunch Filbert said, "We're almost there!
I heard a horse's neigh behind me and turned to see Alya and her bay standing stock still.
"I heard something!" hissed Alya, "something back there!"
She pointed behind a rock arch just in time for me to see a girl running full speed towards us. Before anyone could do anything to stop her, she grabbed both mine and Janina's horse's sacks. Mine held my phone.
"Stop, thief!" I called desperately, dismounting my horse, " I - I've got gold! Come back!" I couldn't let her steal my phone!
I ran down the long incline of orange-tan rock after her, not caring how much I slid. Even my top sprint wasn't nearly enough for her, but this time I kept going regardless of my need to breath. This time my life was at stake.

{6}
    Alya and Ziffe, always faithful, were already in hot pursuit of the unusually fast girl. Ronda was chasing her too, for some reason like her life depended on it, so was actually going pretty fast. She'd started behind, though, and was falling behind further.
I wasn't sure if she wasn't on horseback because she knew that forest horses weren't accustomed to steep rock, or if she'd forgotten about her horse altogether. Some things we will never know.
    I'd heard of this girl before, her name was Paninya, the Rush Valley thief. She was just a harmless girl. Unusually fast, but harmless.
    The Future One was still running full throttle, and looked like she was about to pass out. She was just about to disappear behind a large outcropping.
    "Everyone, retrieve the Future One!" I yelled, and they obeyed like dogs. I, Filbert, Janina, Moira, Tyler, and Marian all dismounted our horses and bolted down the slope, only one goal in mind.

*  *  *
A/N:

This shoutout goes to Iheartnaps for being a great follower who votes and comments!

For some reason I'm really proud of this chapter. It was one of those ones where I didn't know exactly how it was going to go until I wrote it.

To comment: who's your fav character so far?

Keep readin'!

-MantisCat😎