Phelan

She is a runaway shapeshifter from a circus. She met up with Dewin and they now con people for a living. She took on the persona of a kinda ringmaster for some places.






(They're human here)

'So, tell me, Phe. Have you ever been to the Earthside?'

Phelan lifted her head away from the trunk of the tree she was leaning on to look at Dewin. He had a stick with a marshmallow on the end and waved it around as he spoke. He'd taken his monocal off so now the reddish dragon eye watched her with its fill reptilian intensity.

She shook her head shuffled around so she was facing Dewin better. 'Of course not. It's illegal to go the Earthside without a permit. You'd be caught immediately by the sentries on duty.'

'Ahahahahaa, now that is where you are wrong!' Dewin had managed to plunge the marshmallow into the campfire and had yet to notice it was on fire. 'Well, no, you are mostly right. But! You do not need a permit to go to the Earthside! I've been many times. It is wonderful over there; sweet food galore and so many gullible people to put on a magic show for.'

'Why am i not surprised you've sneaked over there,' Phelan chuckled. She stretched out and tilted her head back to gaze at the cloudy sky. 'Your stick is on fire, by the way.'

'Huh? Nuuuuuuuu!' Dewin snatched the crispy stick out of the fire and batted it on the damp grass. The end flew off and hurtled back into the fire, raising sparks into the darkness. 'I liked that stick. It served me well...'

Phelan smiled. Dewin could be such and idiot sometimes, but she would change that for the world. It would be boring without some silliness.

'Well...' Dewin said, brushing his hands on his jacket. 'Would you like to go to the Earthside?'

Phe's smile broadened. 'You're going to drag me along anyway, so I haven't got much choice. But yes! I'd love to. I've always wanted to see what's on the other side of the map.'

Dewin grinned like a kid with his favourite sweet. 'Tomorrow we shall go! First light. Be ready.'


***

Dewin was not ready by first light at all. In fact he was buried deep beneath his blankets and could not be woken for another two hours. Not that Phelan cared. She loved early mornings because they were so, so quiet, and there was no one around to disturb you. Most mornings she would transform into an animal and take that blissful time to wander, run or fly for an hour.

Today she took on her favourite form; a white wolf. She ran as fast as her paws could carry her in a huge circle around her and Dewin's camp. The area was sparsely wooded so it was barely a challenging sprint, just a fast one. She arrive back by the dead fire out of breath but elated. It was just what she needed to wake herself up and be ready for the day.

When Dewin had finally woken and they'd breakfasted on some weirdly delicious cooked roots, they set out to find one of the tears that allowed people to pass from the Flipside to the Earthside. Most of these tears were policed by humans on Earthside and daemons on this side. You had to have a valid permit authorised by the FPMC (Flipworld Personage Movement Council) stating that you were allowed fair and unhindered passage from one side to the other. If you were found to have an invalid permit you would be asked to renew it, if you didn't have one or had a fake one, well... Best not to find out what happened.

There were very few tears that were unknown by the FPMC, but of course someone like Dewin knew exactly where the closest one was.

It appeared to be an incredibly dilapidated shed in the middle of a thick patch of nettles. Dewin strode right through the stinging plants and straight into the shed. The door was half off and mostly open, so Phelan got a view of him vanishing into what appeared to be thin air. To avoid the nettles she changed to a blacked, flicked over to the shed and shifted back. She edged in, being careful not to touch or even breath on the mouldy door or walls,

Nothing much seemed to changed at first when she stepped forward. The walls were still there, the dank light was the same, the smell was very similar... until it wasn't.

'Oh yes, it's disorientating the first time. I should have warned you, shouldn't I?'

Phe turned slowly round to face Dewin. He looked the same, at least. Everything around him did not. Orangeish painted walls, overhead lights, a thing that she vaguely recalled as being a printer in the corner of the square room. She had seen things like this I well of towns before, but never up close.

'Come on,' Dewin happily slapped her on the back and guided her from the room. 'We have a whole world to explore.'

She let herself be led from the room, down a short hall and into what appeared to be a shop that sold practically everything. Behind the counted sat a tall round person with their brown hair tied back in a braid. They seemed right at home in the cramped, cluttered, musty shop, like a friendly dragon among their treasure.

'Hello hello hello!' They said when they noticed customers. 'Draig, my friend, how are you? Come to hawk your rare and unique wares again?'

'Keane! How good it is to see you!' Dewin said, his accent smoothly changing to a more singsong one. It reminded Phe of the sea for some reason. 'Not today, I'm afraid. I came in to see how you were and to ask you something.'

'All the better for seeing you,' Keane laughed good naturedly. 'And please! Ask me anything. It's been a quiet day today and I need some entertainment. Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't see you there.' They leant down to smile at Phelan. She decided then and there that she liked this guy. 'Hello! May I ask what your name is?'

'Tarrat,' Phelan said automatically. She had learned that using your stage name was always better than telling your real name. 'Good to meet you... Sir.' She looked to Dewin for help. Did people use these formal titles here?

'It's alright. I go by any title,' Keane said, misunderstanding the look. 'Pleasure to meet you, Tarrat!'

'So!' Dewin broke in. 'Is the tide out at the moment? I promised Tarrat we'd go down to the beach to look for seaglass but I forgot to check the timetable.'

'Oh, that's good question. Let me check.' Keane hurried into the back room behind the counter, the bead curtain across the doorway clattering.

'Seaglass?' Phe murmured. She had never heard of such a thing.

'You will see,' was Dewin's reply.

While they waited, Phe picked up one of the trinkets on the counter. It was a swirling silver metal with a labradorite set in the centre. She tilted it every which way but could make head nor tail of it. It was very pretty though, and she had the urge to slip it into her pocket so she could later watch the colours of the crystal dance in the sunlight.

'It's out right now!' Keane came back into the room. Phelan quickly put the trinket down where it had been. 'If you go now you can get there by time the tide is fully out. I would recommend looking around the rocks for seaglass because it gets trapped there a lot.'

'Ah, diolch, Keane! You are always a treasure when it comes to finding out things.' Dewin tapped her on the shoulder. 'Time to go! It's quite the walk but it is worth it.'

'Any time, Draig!' Keane gave him a small wave. 'I wish you both luck in your seaglass hunt.'

Phelan nodded her thanks and gave Keane a smile before turning to follow Dewin, but the shopkeeper called her back.

'Here,' they said, handing her the trinket she had been fondling. 'I would prefer it to be in good hands such as yours.'

Phelan beamed her brightest smile. 'Thank you!! I'll look after it well.'

Keane waved her out and Phe hurried after Dewin, who was already striding down the pavement. Only when she had caught up with him did she realise that what the shopkeeper had said was a little odd. Prefer it be in good hands? Why? And why hers?