Sada immediately noticed that something was up as soon as she landed in the usual meeting spot with Winged King to wait for Turo's arrival together. The snow was high and had been falling without pause for a couple of days now. Every time they landed, the dragon would usually clear some space to set the campfire up by sweeping his long tail, the warm scales easily melting the snow away. Staying close to him was pretty cozy, at the least. This time, however, she noticed the dragon was looking around with a nervousness she hadn't usually seen on his features. His head twitched left and right, and it rose to his hind legs to smell the air with both his nose and his tongue briefly darting out.

« What is it?» she asked, moving to his side, one hand grasping her spear tight.

The creature growled, the throat sac vibrating with a low rumble, his pupils thin slits as it still looked around. Sada felt a twinge of anxiousness overcome her as she turned to look at Winged King's opposite side, covering his back. Was there a creature nearby? He had never acted this nervous before, until... Until the time he had been attacked. That was the only time she had seen the dragon look distraught. She scanned the edge of the clearing, passing a couple of white blue feathers that had fallen to the ground...

She froze, realizing what she had seen a second too late.

They were too far away to be Winged King's.

A familiar sounding roar echoed through the air and Winged King's head shot up in alarm. Sada copied him, only to find herself suddenly thrown to the ground by what felt like a heavy punch. She rolled to her feet as she half sunk through the deep snow, watching something drop heavily over the dragon from directly overhead. She realized that Winged King must have pushed her away with his tail just in time, to avoid her getting caught in the attack.

And there, over the figure of the dragon she had been living with for quite a while now and could only see as a true companion, was... Another Winged King. Even bigger, the feathered crest on his head sporting a longer fringe, a big scar running from his left brow to the side of the snout.

Was this... What had attacked her companion? She had never seen other creatures of the same species, so she just assumed that they usually lived far away. This one must have either followed hers, or had simply happened to wander in the same area. Now she understood perfectly why the dragon had been hurt; it had been a battle for territory... And now the other Winged King seemed to have come back to definitely claim this area as his.

The two creatures were roaring at each other as they struggled in a tangle of limbs. Winged King was pinned underneath, trying to get the other dragon off him; it finally managed to rear one leg up and violently kick his opponent in the stomach, sending the other dragon flying. It quickly got back up, as did her partner, and the two dragons sized each other up for a moment, before the rival got down on all fours and rushed close again, swiping at Winged King with his claws. This time however the dragon looked ready: it roared and stood his ground, grabbing the opponent with both front legs to stop its charge, and both creatures were sent crashed against a tree. After that, it became a furious exchange of blows; snow flew all around mixed with feathers as the dragons thrashed around, swiping and kicking at each other. They both seemed intent to try and block the other from taking off into the sky, and Sada understood why after she thought back to all the times she had seen Winged King land by dropping heavily onto the ground from high up. The rival had used the same approach when it had arrived: whoever managed to land such a heavy hit would have a good chance of winning the fight.

But Winged King had already been hit once... To save her, of all things. He had already been injured once by this dragon, and had only been cured thanks to Turo.

She... She couldn't watch him get hurt again in front of her! She had to help!

« Leave him alone! This is his territory!» she took out a couple of hard berries wrapped in leaves from her pouch, and took careful aim. They were pretty small for berries, but had an hard and spiky outer shell. She threw one towards their opponent, waiting for the split second when the two dragons would pause briefly to catch their breaths.

It hit him on the side of the head with a loud noise, and a moment later, a horrible, harsh scream filled the air, forcing her to cover her ears. Giving a quick glance to the dragon as she stumbled back, she saw it furiously trash around, clawing at his face, one eye shut and bloddy. It turned his head to look at her with his remaining eye, and she felt herself freeze in fear for a moment for the very first time. She was used to fighting creatures, to carefully observe their actions. She knew that when a creature attacked, it was either for self defense or because it was hungry.

She had never seen a creature look at her with hate like the dragon was doing now. It snarled, then launched himself at her with all his strength, raising one clawed arm high.

She flinched, but managed to grasp the spear with both hands and held it high to intercept the blow. It got brushed aside, the stone tip broken off by a furious claw swipe, and barely did anything to stop the creature as its claws descended toward her side.

She suddenly felt hot. So hot... Everything burned... The last thing she was aware of was Winged King's furious roar as she collapsed to the ground, holding her side.

---

After that, she had been barely aware of what was happening. Winged King had taken her in his claws and dragged her to a cave, curling himself up around her, a low keening noise coming from his throat. Then Turo had arrived... She had tried to speak... She had to warn him about the other Winged King... It could attack him too... she wasn't sure of what had happened next.

She thought she saw two Turo, but that was... impossible... Then a sharp pain in her shoulder, followed by warmth spreading all over her body.

Turo's whispered words, that took her a moment to understand. The button... What is a "button"...?

There's something under her fingers, that Turo had guided her hand over. Smooth and hard, with lots of little ridges... It was a bracelet. Like his.

But he had said.... She couldn't use it or... Or she would die... Sada felt herself slipping away, and in one last moment of clarity, decided to blindly trust him and pressed the button.

---

She regained consciousness very slowly, fragments of sounds and sensations coming to her like through fog. She was somewhere warm, and soft. Voices were whispering something near her.

She strained her ears to understand; some words sounded familiar, but they were speaking... too fast, in a foreign tongue she didn't understand.

« You've been by her side for hours, you need to go to sleep.»

« I can sleep here.»

She felt a warmth spread in her chest at the second voice, because that was Turo's voice, and he sounded right next to her.

« Really Turo, you can leave for an hour or two. Go eat something. Take a nap. We'll stay with her. It's not like she's going anywhere.»

A pause, then a tired sigh.

« All... All right.»

She wanted to... To move, open her eyes, talk to him, but she found herself drifting off again as she heard him move slowly away from her.

When she regained consciousness again, she was definitely more lucid, able to think. Her limbs felt less heavy, and she was more aware of her surroundings. There was... A curious lack of sounds, except for the same whispering voices from before, coming from somewhere near her. She couldn't hear the wind, the rustling of leaves, and it didn't seem to be snowing. Winged King had dragged her away... Where was she now? The cave...?

No, she was... Something else had happened before she lost consciousness... And she was laying on something that was way too soft to be the floor of the cave.

She cautiously opened her eyes... And had to immediately squeeze them shut again. Everything was so... So bright. Pure white everywhere, even whiter than snow. She slowly opened one eye again, then the other, getting them gradually used to the light. There was... What looked like a blanket over her, but it didn't look like it was made from any pelt she knew... Or made from pelt at all. It was extremely thin and light, and of course white in colour, like almost everything else around her. She looked up, and her eyes widened when she saw a bright blue sky, with clouds moving slowly across it, a complete difference from the heavy clouds she had gotten used to seeing almost every day for the past few moons. But... There were also what looked like smooth walls around her. What was the point of building something if you didn't put a roof over it?

Sada suddenly noticed that something sharp was stabbing her in one arm. She looked down, to see with some alarm that she had what looked like a thin, long cord coming out of it, something slowly dripping through it right into her arm from a see-through pouch. She grew agitated.

She had seen bug creatures do something similar to their prey, stabbing them with long tendrils to inject the poison that made you unable to move...

« Um... Paleo Girl is up, what do we do?»

Sada quickly turned her head towards the voice, eyes wide and body on edge. The words had come from a man that looked a bit older than her, who had been sitting next to where she was laying, with curly black hair that fell partially in front of his face. Next to him was a woman with hair as red as fire.

Who were this people...? What were they doing to her?

She put her other hand over the cord, ready to rip it out, only for the red haired woman to jump up and grab her hand with both of hers. Sada glared at the woman.

« Argh, no! Can...can...you....speak...?»

Sada stopped, surprised. She... She recognized those words. Spoken clearly, more slowly... That was Turo's language. And these people... They had the same unnatural, weird looking cleanliness to their faces, their hair, as him, that had almost struck her as wrong, creepy, the first time she had seen him. She had grown accustomed to it now, found it endearing in a way. It had given him almost an air of... Childlike innocence, together with his cluelessness about so many things. She looked down to her arm, where the woman had still clasped her hand in hers. Her hands were both tidy. Perfect. Impossibly so. And... She was wearing the same kind of smooth skin clothes as Turo, except in a different, light blue color. So... If this were Turo's people... Quick impressions came back to her one after the other.

The two Turo in the cave, his words, his hand pressed on hers, the bracelet... the bracelet.

He had made her use it. Which meant...

« Yes... Not many... Words.» she answered like in a daze. She was used to speaking mostly in her language with Turo, usually at the village , or a weird mix of the two when they were alone. Having to use only his words felt weird and unnatural.

But it looked like they had been understood, because the woman smiled brightly.

Her teeth shone as white as everything else around her.

« Good. Don't touch this-» the woman nodded towards the thing in her arm.

« It's... helping you. »

She didn't quite understand what she meant, but she was still too stunned to care. If... if she had really used the bracelet, and not died... Wait. She squirmed her hand away from the woman's hold, and grabbed the blanket that covered her to throw it off. She was wearing a thin light blue robe. Where were her clothes? Where was... The blood? ... The wound? She touched her side, and her eyes widened when she couldn't feel anything different. Not a scar, or a single scratch, ot even a single drop of blood; the skin was completely dry.

She looked back up towards the two, her eyes wide.

« H... How...?»

It was exactly like with Winged King's injury.

The man sitting beside her sighed.

« Turo, of course. He's completely fallen for her, the fool.» he muttered in a lower voice, too fast for her to understand. Her heart still skipped a beat at hearing his name. Right, she... She had heard his voice.

« You... Know Turo?»

The man didn't answer, but simply looked away, and Sada had the distinct impression that he was trying to avoid talking with her as much as possible. He was actively trying to not look at her right now, and she had no idea why.

She had never seen this man before,and had simply asked him a question.

The woman with red hair answered in his place after a couple of moments of silence.

« Yes. He is... A friend.» she cautiously sat back right next to the man, and Sada found herself staring at them.

Turo's friends. From... The future. She looked at their arms, searching for bracelets similar to his, but they didn't seem to be wearing them. One question was suddenly more urgent than anything else.

« Where is he?»

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The woman smiled gently again before answering. She seemed to be making more of an effort to actually make herself understandable, talking slowly.

« He is resting. Oh, umm... Sleeping.» she added when Sada furrowed her brow, not recognizing the first word.

« I'll call him.» the man commented, seemingly only to the woman, and he got up from where he was sitting. She watched him walk towards one of the walls, and then the part of the wall directly in front of him suddenly moved, leaving her stunned. It had moved on it's own, sideways, somehow disappearing inside the piece of wall right next to it. It seemed to work quite similar to how they woud roll up a piece of pelt from a hut to make an opening, but... That had to mean they were inside. But then how could she see the sky?

She looked back up again, and the woman seemed to notice her perplexity.

« Oh, that is just ... A drawing.» she made a strange gesture with her hand, and the blue sky immediately disappeared, revealing what actually seemed to be a roof after all, same pure white colour as the walls. So what she had been looking at wasn't actually the sky? Was it seriously a drawing? It looked so real... And it had been moving!

The future was incredible.

The woman looked towards where the wall had opened just before, then back to her, her eyes suddenly slightly alarmed.

« You... Don't move, all right? Stay here. I have to, um... » she didn't finish the phrase, also disappearing through the opening.

« Where's Ortega-»

Left alone, Sada immediately got off the strange, raised platform she had been laying on. Part of it looked like some smooth blankets sewn together and stuffed with something to make it soft, but all around there were lots of little pieces she couldn't understand the meaning of. There were the letters that Turo had taught her, but they didn't spell any word she could understand. She cautiously tugged at the tube in her arm, and to her surprise the little bag tied to it followed her, floating in midair. She tried to move her arm around, and the bag always followed as soon as the cord got stretched too much. It looked like it was always trying to stay right by her, the liquid in in dripping through the cord little by little. She poked it, fascinated. It didn't really hurt.

So was this medicine? Would it leave when it got completely empty? Was it some strange creature? It... Didn't really look alive, but it was moving, so...

She cautiously moved some steps, eyes wandering all around the room in curiosity. Where actually was she? Was this their version of a hut? Narjik would sometimes keep people in his tent to look over them if they got hurt, maybe this was a similar place?

She had asked Turo to describe his home to her a couple of times, and he had spoken of... Villages that were many, many times bigger than hers, with people and creatures living in it together to the point that there was no need to build fences or be on guard against attacks. She had tried to picture it, and this... Wasn't exactly what she had had in mind, admittedly. Her eyes fell on an object that had been left near her side, and her eyes widened when she recognized it. That was Turo's notebook! So he was here! A part of her wanted to look over it, but her curiosity to explore this new, strange, place was much stronger. She cautiously approached the opening of the room, and flinched a bit when it suddenly slid open. Across it, contrary to what she expected - to step outside, and see other huts, or other similar constructions -, were... More white walls. Perfectly smooth and straight.

She frowned. It was almost starting to get a bit tiring on the eyes.

People here really loved pure, immaculate white, didn't they?

She looked around, to see the two who had been with her hurriedly discussing something. In the stream of strange, fast spoken words, she only caught a couple, and they both whirled around as soon as she stepped out.

And there, right behind them, speaking with the red haired woman and just now turning around to look at her, was...

«... Sada.»

She had never seen Turo's face just light up like it did in that exact moment. He stumbled towards her, raising both hands to gently touch her face, almost as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

A moment later, right as she was about to speak, he suddenly held her close against his chest; she could feel him take a deep, shivering breath, and so she simply closed her eyes and embraced him. The cave, the wound, Turo holding her as she felt herself getting weaker and weaker... It had all been real. She would have died if he hadn't brought her here. If he had arrived just a little later... And judging by the way his arms were refusing to let her go, he was probably thinking the same thing.

After a couple moments, she noticed that the dark-haired man had been anxiously watching them.

« Turo... She needs to-»

Whatever he meant with that, Turo's response seemed to be to just hold her closer. She looked between the both of them. She had the distinct impression she was missing something important. A crucial detail about what was going on.

« Just... One day, Ortega.» Turo whispered, looking up at the man.

« Please.»

"Ortega", as he had been called, took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. The red haired woman just shrugged her shoulders.

« What difference will one day make? »

Ortega lowered his hand again, and after a moment narrowed his eyes at Turo.

« ... One day. Not one hour more. »

He threw her one last look - no, it was a look directed to both of them, an equal mix of exasperation and longing, then he walked away, disappearing after turning around more white walls.

Sada stood still, not quite sure of what had just happened, but Turo was now smiling as he took her hand.

« Let's go back to your room... There are clothes for you there, and then we can go. »

She followed him back into the room where she had woken up. Go... Did he really mean what she thought he did...?

« Go...? » she repeated, just to be sure.

His smile got a bit wider.

«... To see my "world".»

---

They had to wait a bit before she could actually go. Someone wearing an all white cape similar to Turo's came in to look at her, before nodding and removing the tube from her arm. She looked at the floating bag curiously to see what it would do, biting down questions upon questions.

"They can't know where you come from. If anyone asks, you are Vega's cousin from Kalos." Turo had whispered to her before the "shaman" had walked in, stopping her from asking what a "cousin" and "Kalos" were.

So she had kept mostly quiet, letting the two natives of this place speak; now she kind of understood how Turo must have felt at her village, not understanding what people were saying, but definitely knowing that they were talking about him. She felt herself blush slightly like he had done at the time. But it was all so... Fascinating! She wanted to know how they had closed her wound so fast. How did that bag work? What was inside? Some miraculous water? If it worked on any kind of wound, she could... Bring it back to her time. But it probably only worked here...

She perked up when the shaman had left and "Vega", as the red haired woman had been introduced, pretty much pushed Turo out of the door.

W-wait, why...? What was going on now?

« All right!» she said, turning back around and clapping her hands once. She grabbed what looked like a bag and opened it up, before pushing it towards her.

« Take these off...» she motioned removing the robe she had been currently wearing, then pointed to the bag.

« ... And wear these.»

Oh! Now she understood why she had pushed Turo away. Curious, she glanced into the bag, and her eyes widened when they saw another pair of their smooth, scaley clothes like those that they were both wearing. She grinned as she took it out of the bag: she always wondered how they felt to wear! It was a warm orange color, and following Vega's instructions, she slipped into it with some difficulty. At first, she thought that it was too small for her, but to her amazement, as soon as she finished putting on one part it would stretch around her bare skin with a slight hissing sound, fitting perfectly. It could change size to who wore it! With a little smile, she suddenly realized why Turo had looked so uncomfortable when she had wanted to take his measurements. They didn't need to do it! No wonder he had acted so perplexed at first!

As soon as she was finished putting it on, the same glowing lines that Turo also had suddenly lit up, but in a similar orange hue to the rest of the robes.

She had thought that it would feel sticky and suffocating, clinging so close to her skin, but it was the exact opposite. It felt incredibly light, and perfectly comfortable, neither too hot or too warm. Compared to the layers and layers of furs and coats she was used to wearing, it was almost like she wasn't wearing anything at all. And that made her stop for a moment and turn towards the redhead.

« My... My clothes...?»

Vega simply smiled.

« Turo has them, don't worry.»

After she had finished getting dressed, Vega called Turo back inside. He stopped as soon as he had entered the room, staring at her with a weird expression. He looked... Conflicted. The little smile that came to his lips was happy, but it took a long, heavy moment to reach his eyes.

There was still... some crucial detail she was sure she was missing about what was going on.

But then he moved closer, looking at her with so much warmth and pure relief that she decided that it could wait until later.

« These clothes feel so good! And the lights, how do they work? And the way it stretches... I need to see what they are made of!»

Turo simply laughed softly, taking her hand in his as he lead her again toward the exit of the room.

« I'll explain. I want to show you... so many things.» he answered after a moment. The fact that, for once, it was his turn to take her hand and lead the way as they left wasn't lost on her. It had been her role for so long, she had done it so many times; she was used to hearing his steps (and more than occasional tripping) stumble right behind her, to have to steal glances at him over her shoulder, watching over him, that finding herself in the opposite role felt completely novel, almost surreal. She wasn't used to seeing him look so... confident, in a way, she thought as she stared at his broad back, quietly illuminated by the glowing lines on his clothes.

She... liked it, she realized. Sada had initially fallen in love with his more awkward side, his strangeness that had made him so endearing... but she also really liked this side of him, the one he had started to show as soon as he had told her the truth about where he came from.

She walked quietly behind him as they walked past more and more doors and walls that looked just like the one she had woken up in, often crossing more people dressed in similar white capes.

« Are these all shamans...?» she whispered to him, eyes wide. If so many people's role was to watch over who got injured, then it was no wonder that they were able to cure so many types of wounds like hers.

« They are called "doctors" here. And yes, they all work here.» he answered, and she couldn't help but marvel at the idea. This place was so big, how many people were part of his tribe if they had so many "doctors"?

The answer came to her shortly after, as they walked out of the "hospital" and she found herself, for the first time, outside in Turo's time. The fact that they had been inside all this time had also amazed her, thinking about how much time and resources it must have taken to built that entire place, but all of that got washed away like branches floating down a river during a flood by what was suddenly thrust in front of her eyes. Her first impression was "bright". Too bright. Everything seemed to shine and sparkle and move, in a dozen of different colors that she simply wasn't used to seeing. And everything was... too much, in a way. Too spacious. Too loud. Too big. She felt unable to breath as she stared at the dozens and dozens of people all around her, the towering buildings made of shining stone that completely dwarfed the hospital they had just come out of that rose in front and all around her. Her chest hurt, her eyes hurt, and she felt herself start to tremble in simple shock, overwhelmed by everything going on around her all at once.

She didn't know... she had no idea that... there could be so much...

« Hey-» and then Turo was suddenly in front of her, cupping her face in his hands.

« ... look at me. Just me. All right? Breathe... » he instructed her, and she slowly resumed breathing, focusing on his face. His eyes, now filled with worry as he caressed her face, then annoyance as some people gathered around and he shot them a glare.

« She's fine, just a little overwhelmed, kindly give us some space-»

He positioned himself so that she wouldn't have to look at anything else but him, and she slowly regained some semblance of control over herself. She felt foolish, having gotten so... overwhelmed by simply stepping outside.

« Let's take this... slowly. Remember when you saved me from that Brutal Fang?» Turo was talking and she focused on his voice as they resumed walking, grateful, as she followed him with quiet little steps. Was he trying to distract her? Or did he simply want to make her think back to that moment?

« I... also felt so lost in that moment. Every noise in the forest was new, and scary.» he added, and she realized that yes, he was trying to both make her calm down and to comfort her by retelling his own experience. Right, of course... for him, coming to her would have been as difficult and maybe overwhelming as it was for her now.

« I didn't think... there could be... so many people... all in one place.» she answered after a moment, hazarding a little, almost fearful glance all around. It just... made her head spin, to think of all these people that were walking by. How did they even manage to organize their life? How did they decide who did what? Where did they get enough food to feed everyone? There was no way you could speak personally with everyone.

« Are these all... your tribe?»

Turo turned around, a trace of his little sad smile on his lips again.

« Yes... and no. Tribes are bigger here... but you only know a small part of the whole tribe.» he explained, and she quietly thought about it for a moment. She had to admit that she didn't really understand the purpose of calling it a tribe, then... but she appreciated that he had still explained it. That was another thing she had always liked about him. From the very first times they had met, when they both knew only a handful of words each and could barely communicate with each other, having to resort to drawings and plenty of miming, he had never thought her... incapable of understanding something. Sometimes he would avoid the question completely, but it had never been because he thought her too stupid to understand. And she appreciated it, and had done the same in return, teaching him how to light a fire or recognize tracks from various creatures... all the many, little things she had thought had to be obvious but obviously weren't.

She suddenly jumped a bit, startled, when she suddenly saw some strange creature following a group of kids. She had a quick moment of panic as she tried and failed to instinctually grab her spear only to find none, before she realized that the creature wasn't a threat. Small and birdlike, it had a smooth, shiny skin with glowing blue lines. Half of it's body was red and the other half was white, and it had a big, round tail that glowed blue and looked almost filled with water. It waddled peacefully after the three kids, with glowing eyes that looked like they were made from many little dots of blue light, almost like an insect's. Sada stared at it as they walked past; it really paid them no mind, not even turning around to look at them. The creature made her remember something else, and her eyes widened as she walked a bit faster to get to Turo's side, suddenly frantic.

« Winged King! He was attacked... is he all right?»

He hadn't gotten injured again, had he? Turo reassured her with a small smile.

« He is fine. He is waiting back... in your time. You'll see him tomorrow.» he added, looking away towards the nearest shining construction they were walking past. Sada looked at him for a moment - something in his words had struck her as strange- but right as she opened her mouth to ask him for more details, the next wondrous sight distracted her from what she wanted to say and she couldn't help but simply stare in amazement. As they were walking, the wall had lit up and a great number of pictures and writing had appeared on it. It flashed too fast for her to read, but she was more enraptured by the pictures. They were so lifelike... and they were moving, and talking! Was this why Turo was so good at drawing things? If people here were able to draw pictures that looked like this... that had to be the reason!

« It's... it's moving!» she stopped herself just short of pointing, but she couldn't help the amazed whisper that escaped her lips. She looked up at Turo, eyes shining.

« Can you make drawings move? How does it work?»

He looked at her for a moment, then to the wall, and smiled softly.

« ... It's simple, actually. I will show you. But first... I want to show you another thing.» he answered, leading her toward one of the many, incredibly tall buildings.

By now, she was used to the opening sliding open, but she still wasn't really ready for what was inside. It looked like some sort of communal place, because there was quite the number of people inside, sitting on colored seats in little groups. A delicious smell was in the air, even if she could see no signs of fire or anywhere else that suggested that something was cooking.

« Is this where you eat?» she asked in another whisper, and he laughed as they sat down in an empty corner.

« Yes! Here...» he moved his hand, and she jumped a little when a glowing... sheet? It looked a bit like a notebook page, materialized in front of him. It was full of writing and other incredibly realistic drawings. She watched, fascinated, as he moved his hand in the air, and the drawings moved reacting to his command. She timidly raised one hand and tried to do the same by touching the glowing page, but her finger passed right through it. What... could only Turo touch it? Why? She tried to poke it another couple of times, a bit disappointed, before Turo took her hand in his and guided her into making the same movement. This time, with his hand wrapped around hers, it worked, and the drawings started to move, sliding in front of her one after the other. They were all kinds of food she had never seen before.

« "W-a-f-f-l-e-s"?» she read outloud after a moment, pausing over a drawing in particular that caught her eye. They looked so strange... perfectly square but soft, with what looked like some kind of colored berry juice over it.

« ... you eat this? Really?» she asked, a bit skeptical as she stared at the little squares. But... she figured that he had eaten with them often all the times he had visited, and never complained, so she could do the same and trust him. She watched as Turo touched the drawing, and it disappeared.

So they could just... pick a type of food and it would be ready? She figured that someone's role was obviously to prepare it for everyone, but... That was still incredible. How did they get so much food?

« How do the drawings move?»

Turo made another glowing page appear, this time empty. He drew a tiny, heavily stilized human figure, with both arms and legs spread out.

« They... don't really move. They are called a "video". A video is made of many, many, um... drawings.» he explained in a low voice, drawing another human figure, this time with one arm half raised over it's head. And then another, this time with the arm completely raised.

« If you look at the three drawings really fast...» he moved his hand again, and the three drawings started to move in a circle in front of her, one after the other. After keeping her eyes on one for a moment, she understood what he meant.

« They look like one drawing that moves!» she grinned as she watched the little figure wave. With just three drawings, the illusion was pretty crude, but if you supposedly showed... dozens, or hundreds of pictures in a single moment... it was brilliant. Such a simple idea, but... brilliant.

« But then... how can it talk?» she immediately asked, and Turo's smile dimmed a bit. With a little amusement she recognized the telltale signs of him getting embarassed as he looked away.

« That is... more difficult to explain-» he confessed with a grimace, and she laughed. Meanwhile, their food had arrived... or it was better to say her food, since it looked like Turo hadn't gotten anything.

« You aren't eating?» she asked, and he just shook his head. She cautiously looked at the "waffles". The smell was... really good actually, and they were still warm. She hesitantly picked one up with her hands breaking off a piece -missing Turo's suddenly alarmed face- and stuck it in her mouth.

Her eyes grew wide with shock. It was... sweet. Just so sweet! She looked at the weirdly gooey substance that had been dripped all over it with new eyes as she hungrily devoured the rest of it, her body instinctually craving the sweetness and rush of energy that came with it.

« You... always eat this...?» she asked almost in a daze when she was finished. She felt ashamed by the fact that she had pretty much... ignored him in the (admittedly very short) time it had taken her to finish eating every last crumb, but... she had never eaten anything like it. Something that tasted so good and made her focus on nothing else but just wanting more of it...

« No... too much is bad for you.» Turo answered after a moment with a little smile.

« But... just one time... it's fine.» he added as he looked away, so low that she almost missed it. What... did he mean by that?

« Turo... what is going on...?»

There was a little pause, and he smiled as he stood up, taking both of her hands in his.

« ... nothing. You're fine. Everything's fine. Come... I want to show you... a very special place.» there was still something she couldn't place in his smile. It felt forced, like he was putting up a front. Like he had put on his old mask, but instead of the carefully neutral and controlled expression, this time it was a pained smile.

« What... what place?» she asked.

What could be more incredible than everything he was already showing her?

Turo turned around as soon as they had stepped outside, and now she could see that his smile had become genuine, his eyes crinkling the slightest bit. For him, it may as well have been the equivalent of erupting into laughter. He pointed towards the sky, and she followed his finger up... and up... and up, her eyes widening when she they landed on something specific. But... there was no way... he couldn't really mean...

« The Moon.»