Travel by foot.
The engine revved, the truck started forward with a puttering noise. The tires kicked up dirt and rocks leaving a noticeable depression in the road before it was finally set into motion. Daniel gave chase with a deliberate ease that should have felt unnatural given she did not even have this body for long enough to sleep in, and yet she was just as practiced as she had been when human. Exactly like the early morning stretching out her wings and limbs in the clearing. Exactly like first learning to fly, after a while it just came naturally. When one saw how easily the twenty foot tall sphinx kept up with a slow moving truck it would be hard to assume this was just a teenager trying out a new body for the very first time.
Daniel wondered, briefly, if that could have something to do with the fact no one here believed her. As if a mythical beast diving out of the sky to ask for your smores and steak was perfectly normal and reasonable, yet the idea that it was just a transformed human was too out of bounds with reality to even entertain. It made so little sense, but then these three weren’t the average people so it might have been something specific to their way of thinking. She was sure she’d figure this out. It was just a simple matter of getting home, finding her friends, and explaining everything.
“Whooo, that’s a lot faster than I was expecting.” Angel muttered, her hair flying back with the breeze when she pokes out one side, only to be entirely covered when she ducks behind the human shaped head. Daniel glanced to see the car to her side had sped up, and she matched pace without even needing to think about it.
“You do realize I have not yet begun to run, correct? This is still a walking pace for me.” Daniel politely informed, speeding up just enough to take up the opposite lane, then lowered her head to look in the car window.
“Good job Lion-Lady, whatcha gonna be when we get ta the road? Runnin er flyin?” Charley drawled, having to shout to be heard past the wind and the roar of tires on dirt.
“There are two sisters whom I shall avoid this eave, one whom gives birth to the other, and she, in turn, gives birth to the first.” Daniel answered casually, only to immediately drop into a frown. She didn’t have the slightest clue what that sentence was supposed to mean, and it didn’t come anywhere close to what she’d intended.
“Night and Day. If you’re avoiding them that means you’re on land.” Keth answers instantly. “Guess this means you’re back to riddles now huh?”
“Bwah, what’s night an day got ta do wit sisters?” Charley muttered, hands on the wheel and eyes on the strait yet wide dirt road.
“It’s a Greek and Roman thing.” Came Keth’s reply. “In their language night and day were each feminine sounding words, so that’s where they get to be sisters. Night gives birth to day, then day gives birth to night. That’s an old and obvious one.”
Not so obvious to Daniel, came the Sphinx’s grumble, yet when she nodded to the two in the car and kept on the path with them, the answer was clear enough. Message received.
“We’ll be getting to the paved roads soon, coming up towards the highway.” Angel muttered solemnly. She didn’t have to shout nearly as loud, for her the sphinxes massively oversized ears were directly in front of her. “Can you take a lane behind Dad to avoid stepping on traffic?”
With a nod, Daniel easily sidled behind the truck and kept at a leisurely, if lopping pace. She shoulders were perfectly stable, as was Daniel’s neck and gaze, even while everything else was in fluid motion. It left Angel with a smoother ride than those inside the car, if a bit windier and much warmer given close contact with the heated fur.
“So you’re back to speaking riddles? That’s too bad Daniel.” Angel hugged a little tighter. “I’m sure you’ll be normal once we come to a stop.”
“I hope so.” Daniel sighed, the head leaning forward a bit and the ears folding back. Sudden recognition.
“Tehehe. That’s the shortest riddle I’ve ever heard.”
“Wha, but I … that’s not … that’s exactly what I …” Daniel felt like her brain was going to explode in the futile effort to figure this out. Was it purely random? Was it only when talking to boys? Did cars in motion play some weird role?
“I think.” Angel whispered, the close hug might have been interpreted as intimate if not for the fact it served a clearly utilitarian purpose. That of keeping the human firmly attached and not dangling down one side. “I think that because I’m riding you, I’m not considered a traveler? After all I’m staying perfectly still, its you who happen to be going somewhere.”
“Makes as much sense as anything I guess. You sure you can’t just cast a hocus spell and magic me back to normal?”
“You look pretty normal to me.”
“I meant human! Change me back to a human!”
“Then how on earth would you keep up with the car?”
“More magic. Duh.”
“Pftt- Well I’m all out I’m afraid, so you’ll have to think of something else.”
“Fine. How are you holding up back there?” Daniel inquires. “You’re grip seems a little tight.”
“Oh fine, fine, everything’s wonderful. Uh don’t panic but my knots came undone twice already.”
“What!? Slowing down right now- …”
“No no no, I got them back in place and tight as a school budget now. Besides I think we’re about to speed up, I can see the road ahead.”
Daniel gazed forward with all reluctance, wanting to instead check on the necklace and finding it was impossible without dexterous hands. Pawpads just were not on the same level as fingers. Not even close. But seeing the swerving black lines opening up in the rows upon rows of carefully maintained trees, Daniel slowed down to match pace with the truck about to make a turn.
Daniel saw a wave through Charley’s window as he turned onto the road and swerved into the proper lane.
As soon as the Sphinx got in behind him, with no bumps to worry about no soft sand to slow them down and no dirt to get in the way, things sped up.
Daniel was forced to break into a run.
Written by Arbon on 23 September 2016
