Ok, now that that's out of the way, let's get to today's part.
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"Hi," Ronja said to the fish saleswoman. "Any chance you have some cod livers?"
Alaia was letting her do the talking. Ronja wasn't a huge fan of the idea, but Alaia reasonably pointed out that Ronja's Fjellish was infinitely better than hers. It would be weird enough that they were trying to find cod livers, but if a foreigner did that, it might be seen as even weirder. Or maybe not. Maybe the weirdness would be explained away by her being a foreigner. Either way, it would be a lot easier and faster if Ronja did the talking.
Alaia had lost count of how many times today she had thought she had gone crazy. The Imp, Tove talking to them from another plane of existence, having to gather cod livers, because apparently that was what had the most vitamin A in the fish. If anyone had told her a story of something like this happening, she would have thought that the person had gone completely insane, or just coming up with fiction. Because there was no way this was happening. None of it made any sense. Cod livers. Seriously. Cod livers. That had almost been the final nail in the coffin to convince her she had lost it. Because there was no way. The only thing keeping her believing was that Ronja could see Tove too. Then again, she supposed it was possible she was just imagining being in this with her, just like she was imagining talking to Tove. But she had decided to go along with it. Because why not. If there was no way to distinguish between reality and imagination, she might just as well act as if it was all real. So she had settled into not thinking about it too much.
While Ronja negotiated with the saleswoman, Alaia looked around the marketplace. It wasn't the same market place as with the winter market. There were multiple market places in the city. This one was near one of the harbors, and was mostly used to sell whatever the fishers brought back with them.
"We got some more," Ronja said and drew Alaia's attention back to the present. She handed Alaia a package. Alaia put it in her bag, along with the rest of them.
"I think we might have enough," she said, showing Ronja how full her bag was. She nodded in agreement.
So they left the marketplace, heading to Alaia's place. It was the closest place they had where they could stay and wait until it was time. And then, all they could do was wait.
~X~
"I miss Tove," Alaia said. They were sitting side to side on the floor of Alaia's living room, staring into the dying fire. They had been quiet for a long time. At first they had been talking, just to keep each other awake, but the conversation had eventually dwindled. Not that Alaia needed being kept awake. She was nervous, and full of longing, and there was zero chance she would be able to sleep even if she tried.
Ronja let out a sympathetic grunt. She checked the time.
"It's time," she said. "Let's go."
They got up from the floor, got dressed, and started on their way to the dead-end that was actually some sort of soft spot between planes, where Tove had a few days ago followed the Planar Imp and been dragged to the other plane. It wasn't a very long walk. The whole way Alaia felt like she should say something. Restart the conversation from back at her place, but she couldn't quite find the words. She was too nervous. And soon they were there anyway.
In silence, they emptied the packages full of cod livers into a bucket they had bought with them, and placed it in the dead-end. Tove had said it would work as a bait. Alaia mentally shook her head again as they left the bucket there. There was no way... No, she wouldn't spend the energy to go down that road of thoughts again.
Then they hid. There was really no other way. They needed a place where they could see the dead-end, but where they wouldn't alert the Imp to their presence. Yet. They had agreed they shouldn't be the ones to try to catch it, they were the only ones with no experience with it, but they should corner it off enough that it would jump planes.
And they waited, quiet.
"Ronja?" Alaia said after a while.
"Mmh?" was the answer.
"Do you know any heat spells?"
"A couple. Why?"
"It's getting kinda cold. So I was wondering if you could weave another spell into my coat."
"Ah, I don't really know how to do that. Not off the top of my..." she trailed away.
"Ronja?" Alaia turned to look at her.
"Hush," Ronja whispered and pointed to the dead-end.
There was a black, dog-sized thing slowly creeping towards the bucket, as if it was wary. As it should be. It clearly wasn't stupid, or it would have been caught years ago. And yet, somehow, the people on the other plane thought this would work as a bait. The point was to put the bucket in a corner, to seem like it was trash, though there wasn't trash lying in the corners of dead-ends elsewhere in the city, but again, Alaia had decided to not think about it too hard and just go along with the plans the people more knowledgeable on the issue had come up with.
"Come on," Ronja said, and pulled her out of their hideout, directly where the Imp would see them.
It turned, and for a moment it looked directly at Alaia. A cold feeling rushed through her. There was something in its eyes. A twinkle, but one that made her extremely uncomfortable instead of happy, as a twinkle in the someone's eye usually does. And in that moment that Alaia saw its face, she could have sworn the very non-human face had a knowing smile on it.
And then it was gone.
Alaia tried to tell herself there had not been a smile on the Imp's face, but the uneasy feeling wouldn't leave her alone.
"And now we wait. Again," Ronja said.
They couldn't leave now. They had to stay here, and make sure the Imp didn't come back. And if it did, stop it from leaving the corner they had gotten it into. But that might mean they had to stay here for a long time, and stay alert so as to not let it slip away. They had to wait.
"How long do you think we need to stay here?" Alaia asked Ronja after a moment of silently staring at the point where the Imp had been just moments earlier.
"I have no idea. I hope not too long," she replied.
Fifteen minutes went past. Ronja figured out how to add a weak heat spell to their coats to keep them warmer. An hour. They glimpsed the Imp once during that time. They barely had time to react to its presence, and then it was gone again. It seemed to simply have been checking whether there was still someone there. And there was. Two hours. Despite all the excitement and worry and nervousness, it was almost four in the morning and Alaia found herself growing tired. She simply wished she was in her bed, warm and safe and soft. Not out here in the middle of the night, in the cold and the dark, simply waiting in case a plane-jumping Imp showed up.
But then finally, finally, Tove appeared as a misty figure in front of them.
"It's done. You can go home," Tove told them. "And I can come home soon too."
Alaia broke down crying in her relief.
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Ooooookay. One more part to go.
The last topic for this year is Home.
~matu
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