Passenger

Chapter 18

A few hours later, the excitement of Krys' growing wings began to fade as we continued our travel along the roads. That was about when it occurred to me that, as exciting as the growing wings were, they might be a problem.

Right now, Krys didn't have much issue passing for human, so long as no one paying attention was well-versed in what an Avian looked like. But now that Krys' wings were returning, they would quickly start attracting more attention. Rose's wings had been nearly twice her height in wingspan – there was no way Krys' would be any smaller. And there was no way that would go unnoticed.

I made sure to bring it up to Krys. "okay, we need to start thinking of a way to hide your wings." I told him, folding my arms. "right now it's not too big of a deal, but soon enough it's gonna be. Any ideas?"

Frowning, Krys shook his head. I frowned as well. the problem right now was that Krys' shirt was designed to leave room for his wings to poke out the back – important, but made the wings pretty visible. If we could do something about that...

As I mused to myself, Neb suddenly perked up. "Krys, you smell that?" he said, looking around.

"no...I don't smell anything." Krys replied, frowning still. "what is it?"

The Gnoll sniffed the air again. "smells like...sulfur." He remarked curiously. "yeah, sulfur. I think...I think there might be a hot spring nearby."

Krys still looked confused. "a...hot spring?" he repeated. "what's that?"

Huh. Guess they didn't have that sort of thing up in the sky. "they're like these natural pools that form around pockets of hot gas, or volcanoes." Neb explained. "at least, I think that's right. I hear they're quite good for cleaning you fur – er, my fur, I suppose."

"oh." Krys looked around for any sign of them, seemingly curious. "can we see them? I'd like to know what they are."

Neb grinned and shrugged. "why not? I don't think it'll hurt to take a little detour."

Actually, it might, if Sarah was right on our tail or the hot springs were full of piranhas or something. But Krys looked intrigued and Neb was clearly excited, and I didn't have the heart to say that. Drat, Krys was making me go soft.

So with Neb in the lead, the two headed towards the hot spring, breaking away from the road as they did so. I followed, obviously, but made sure to keep an eye out from above them as we did. last thing we needed was another nasty surprise of some sort.

Thankfully, it didn't seem like that was going to be the case today. I think I was actually the first one to spot the hot springs, too. It wasn't much to look at – a few pools of water that bubbled and simmered slightly on the surface, fed by a slow-moving stream that came down from one of the nearby hills. It seemed to be tucked away from the direct view of anyone from the road, so it wasn't a bad place to camp out, either.

Neb and Krys found it soon after I spotted it, heading towards the nearest pool. Neb's ears perked up in excitement, tail wagging as he stepped to the edge of the pool. "a good and proper bath! This'll feel great!"

Without hesitation, he pulled off his shirt and promptly dove into the water, sending droplets spattering Krys and through me. "huh." I remarked, amused as Neb surfaced with a toothy grin on his face. "just like an actual dog."

Krys quietly nodded in agreement as Neb shook himself vigorously, then waved to Krys. "it's only a few feet deep, and it's nice and warm. Come on in!"

"uh, okay." Krys stepped to the edge of the pool, then hesitated. "should I...take off my shirt, too?" he asked hesitantly, tugging at the article in question.