Hatchling

Coldly Charming, the Ceramist and the Doctor

Fundy nodded appreciatively and the woman nimbly hopped down from the raised portion of the foundation. She started leading them around the house in an eastward direction with the rays of the rising sun blinding them.

They walked for a couple of minutes before a blur of clay brown ran to the woman, the girl who had just run over, and almost crashed into the older woman, was hunched over as though catching her breath. Fundy's eyes almost popped out of his sockets as she flipped the cinnamon-brown hair that had fallen over her face. Her face was completely smooth and devoid of any facial features, it was the same colour as muted clay and, to say the least, it was quite unnerving.

"Mer, what are you doing here?" The woman exclaimed with her eyebrows lifting slightly in surprise.

To everyone except the woman's surprise, her face shifted with deep lines gouging themselves into the smooth surface and suddenly she had a face. A clock face. Fundy stared in awe as the minute hand rapidly spun around to all the numbers and a triangle housing a single exclamation mark was situated off to the side where her jaw would have been.

"Late?" The girl, now identified as 'Mer', nodded vigorously. "By how much including the time taken to get there."

'Mer' held up a hand and her fingers spanned out, the five digits turned into six, then seven and the number kept climbing until she had thirty fingers, all on one hand.

The woman's cold expression quickly shifted into one of panic before her glacial facial features settled on a determined expression.

"Set your hand back to five minutes," The woman commanded, rolling up her sleeves and unsheathing her sword. "That is how long it'll take for all of us to get there, or my name isn't Lin Chan Xue!"

Lin Chan Xue's sword flashed in the light of the sun, the dark metal curving slightly and fundy and his uncle, Techno, watched in interest as the point disappeared under the wet soil, she dragged it through quickly and methodically, going around the small group.

She kneeled in the centre of the perfect circle and her hand twisted behind her as she pressed the hilt of the sword against the lines that met at the centre. Her mouth moved as she silently uttered some sort of prayer and the ground froze over at the lines carved into the ground before covering the whole of the circle.

Fundy felt an odd falling sensation which transmuted to dizziness accompanied by an overwhelming sense of nausea. He blearily looked at the scenery around him but was too busy stopping himself from throwing up to be surprised at the scenery change.

They had been dropped on the outskirts of a pleasant-looking village, the houses had ample space between them but weren't too far away from each other, the cobbled paths were well masoned, some windows had flower boxes hanging off them and it gave the little village the appearance of ruins which had been expertly restored. Fundy wanted to explore more but a sense of shame welled up in his gut at the thought of his cousin, he pushed the excitement away and steeled himself to focus on the situation at hand.

"Miss Chan Xue?" Niki asked, her eyes flitting from house to house and critically observing her surroundings. "Do you know any inns with open rooms?"

"You won't be able to book a room at an inn, as most of the residents are, most likely, attending an event," Lin Chan Xue stated, heading off in a direction that looked to take her deeper into the village. "Also, please refrain from calling me by my name, we are not that close. Call me Lin,"

Confusion passed over Niki's face but the expression was gone as quickly as it came replaced again with an impassive expression.

"Miss Lin! Polemer!" A voice called out. "What are you doing here?"