But what if he wasn't as benevolent as Nautilus? What if he said no? If I didn't get this blessing, would I ever feel whole?
I grabbed for the nearest ledge, but I was distracted and my hand was slick with sweat. I slipped and fell backwards.
"Quinn!" Farley yelled.
My body reacted instinctively, shifting me into fox form. My fluffy tail acted like a rudder and I righted myself, digging my claws into the dirt—but not before I took a couple hits from rocks on the way down. I landed with a groan.
Farley fluttered above me. His eyes were wide. "Shit, are you okay?"
"Fine." I shook the dust off my fur. "Only my pride is wounded."
I didn't know why, but Farley looked more upset than I was. "Are you sure?" he pressed. "No broken bones or anything?"
"Nope. It wasn't much of a fall, it just startled me. I should've been in this form in the first place." I sighed. "I guess I'll just deal with the heat."
Farley glared up at the sun, then turned back to me. "We shouldn't be doing this midday." He nodded towards a shaded alcove ahead. "Look, there's a place where we can rest until it cools off."
"Well, I don't want to be bothersome," I said. "If you have somewhere else to be, feel free to leave. I can always get to the peak on my own."
"No," Farley said firmly. "I'm not leaving you."
My heart skipped a beat before I realized how silly I was being. Geez, being around Zak and Kamari and their constant romantic schmooze was rubbing off on me. The words were nice, sure, but Farley clearly didn't mean it likethat.We barely knew each other.
"I mean— " Farley exhaled. "If you want to be alone, I can go, but I thought you wanted my help."
"Yes, I do."
Farley regarded me for a while, then grumbled, "Then come on."
We settled into the cool shade. I let out a long sigh of relief and stretched my paws. "Oh, that'swaybetter than cooking out in the sun."
Farley was still fluttering in the air. He looked uncomfortable, mumbling to himself irritably. There was nothing in the alcove for him to perch on except the floor but I got the feeling he didn't like being low to the ground. If there was a perfect time for Farley to shift into human form, this was it. Yet he wasn't doing it.
"Why don't you shift?" I asked straight out.
Farley froze.
He slowly fluttered to the opposite side of the alcove and stood on the floor. He wasn't looking at me. Had I said something wrong again? I didn't understand. Shifting was natural and easy. Unless—
His leg band. A jolt of shock ran through me. Was it preventing him from shifting? That explained why he was so cagey about it. It all made sense now. I felt stupid for not realizing it before.
Farley still hadn't responded. He was glaring at the wall so hard I was surprised he didn't burn a hole through it.
"Farley?" I called.
He whipped his head towards me. "What?"
I needed to step cautiously. Farley was proud, so bluntly bringing up the fact that he was stuck in one form wouldn't help. He needed to be the one to breach the topic, not me.
"Ah, nothing," I said, trying to ease the conversation in a different direction. "So, um... How do you know Mistral?"
Farley made an expression I couldn't read. "I stumbled upon him once by accident is all. Nothing special."
I supposed that even if therewassome grand big tale, Farley wasn't the storytelling type. "Fair enough."
I yawned and stretched out my limbs, trying to work the tension out of them. The climb was rough and it would only get harder from here on out. But it made sense that finding a spirit wouldn't be easy. From what I heard, Zak and Kamari had a hard time rescuing Nautilus. I wasn't a pushover, though. I'd make it happen.
As I arched my back into an upward-dog position, I pushed down to balance myself with my front paws.
