OOM: Mineral City, 1888 -- That's why I hang my hat... -- for Rachel

[ikissdhimbck]

Kate doesn't try to draw attention to herself, but it's kind of hard to sneak through the bar leading a 15-hand pony. Beaut's not fond of hardwood, truth be told, but convenient doors to Texas aren't always to be found from the forest outside.

"Come along, sugar. Not far now an' there'll be dirt under your hooves again."

Beaut issues a dubious snort, sidestepping when a waitrat ventures a little too close. Kate swings around to steady her, arm brushing a piece of yellowed paper she's got tucked into her britches. She knocks it loose, and it flutters to the floor behind her.

"He ain't botherin' you. C'mon."

She moves a little faster. The quicker she gets Beaut outside, the better. Opening her door, she grins as Beaut's ears twitch forward in recognition, and lets her mosey out first.

"No, no. By all means, let me hold the door for you."

The two disappear.

But the yellowed map remains.


As does the door.

Comments

[theresnodoor]

Most days, the balcony is a perfectly good means of exit. Especially since she figured out eating isn't entirely necessary. But sometimes, there's a need to be seen, if not actually spoken to.

For those times, Rachel goes to the bar to request magazines. She walks over calmly, head high, reaching out to touch the wood, eyes barely glancing over the rest of the occupants and--







There's a door.

There's a door where there never has been before.

Ever.


Slowly, her arm falls, almost floating to rest at her hip. She takes a step, soft and slow. But as gentle as everything else is about her right now, her eyes are sharp and focused.

The dead have no door. So it's someone else's. It has to be.

There's a soft crunch beneath her shoe but it takes a long moment before she actually looks down.

Paper, yellow and old.

She glances over her left shoulder, her right. Quickly, not wanting to draw attention. Just enough to make sure no one is watching her too closely. Only then does she look down.


It's a map.

It's not of Milliways.








Her eyes flicker back up to the door. She stretches her leg out slightly, wedges her foot in the crack. Pulls it a little further open.


Sunlight. Wind. Dusty landscape and a wave of heat.

Definitely not Milliways.




There's another glance or two over her shoulder.


...she'll make it up to him.



And a moment later, the door clicks shut, and disappears entirely.

[ikissdhimbck]

It's past midday, and the sun is cutting a harsh slant in the western sky. Kate would reckon it to be about three or four in the afternoon; sticky, but not unbearable. Sweltering, but — that's home.

Beaut digs in the dirt like she's trying to work it into her hooves, remembering what it's like to feel at home. Maybe if she digs enough it'll lodge there in the creases beneath her shoes, and she can carry it back to the strange grasses of Milliways.

"All right. Let's git. Y'do remember how t'run, doncha?"

The horse snorts indignantly, and Kate laughs, setting her heels to her sides.

[theresnodoor]

Oh man, it is hot.

Rachel peers up at the sky, shading her eyes with a lifted hand but still needing to squint. The heat is completely miserable and the jacket she's wearing has got to go. Convenient, since it means she can use it to wrap up the rest of her clothes, too.

She definitely needs to morph. It's figuring out which one that's the issue.

Examining the map again, Rachel frowns. Yellowed and dusty itself, it shows rivers, small towns, some weird little trails. And in large, impressive letters...

"Texas? Seriously?"

She glances at the sky again, highly unimpressed by the sun. And at the map again.

1887.

"If I'd paid more attention in history, I'd know if that was good or not," Rachel mutters to herself, kneeling in the dirt. There are a few tracks, still fresh despite the wind. She can start with that.

The fact that they're horse tracks gives her the best clue.




Shortly after, there's a large, well-muscled, surprisingly sleek horse running in the desert, doing her best to follow tracks she can barely see with crappy horse vision.

Running with a package of clothing and a map tucked into her jacket - and held in her mouth.

So smooth, Rachel.

[ikissdhimbck]

Soon, she should be able to make out a dust cloud with her crappy horse vision. They're descending from hilly country, heading south past Beeville where the land starts to smooth out. Big sky, flat land, and miles of desert between.

Kate's not riding hellbent for leather today. She's confident there ain't no one following her, and it'll be hours before they come across town. So, there's no need to exhaust Beaut in this weather.

[theresnodoor]

Please allow Rachel to shatter that confidence.

The problem is, while the horse can smell another horse, and vaguely a human, it still can't see. Rachel has no idea if she's catching up with someone from Milliways or stumbled across a native.

And if she puts her bag down, she may not be able to find it again without demorphing.

Well.

She'll run faster.

And see if this person finds it strange that a very clean, strong horse is carrying an overnight bag.

[ikissdhimbck]

Once she's about one-hundred feet away, the sound of competing hooves grabs Kate's attention. She looks behind her, hand going for her piece...



Beaut starts to slow, and by the time the show horse overtakes them she's going no faster than a canter. Kate's eyes are round, and her expression is completely confused.



Well.


You don't see that every day.

[theresnodoor]

The problem with picking your morphs up at a race featuring Kentucky Derby stars: it's an animal that's going to be noticed.

Rachel tries - with much difficulty - to focus on the person she's overtaking. Is this someone she knows? A possible Milliways person? In the middle of a Texas desert, riding a horse, leaving maps behind?

She can kind of see blonde hair. Long, so probably a woman.




Oh, forget it.

<Hi there.>

[ikissdhimbck]

"Jesus, Joseph, and Mary."


It's not the first time Kate's heard a talking animal. It is, however, the first time she's been in her world when it's happened. Her first thought is she's finally plumb lost her marbles. That's it. She's bona fide crazy, just like the papers say.

Her second thought is only slightly more rational, if you constitute reasoning that this animal must come from a magical bar at the end of the universe anywhere in the realm of rational. But how'd she — no, Kate has a glance, definitely a he — get here?

"Please tell me you're from Milliways."

[theresnodoor]

Ha! She totally called it.

And the horse, while definitely male as Kate can tell, is also speaking with a female voice inside her head.

And blind enough not to have noticed that glance.

<Yeah. I think you dropped this.> Not the makeshift bag of jacket and clothing, but after she noses in it for a moment, Rachel presents the map to the woman, held between powerful teeth.

She knows the voice. The woman's definitely familiar. And after a moment:

<Oh. Kate?>

[ikissdhimbck]

"Yes?"

She's fairly certain she'd recall a talking horse.

[theresnodoor]

<Rachel. You're going to want to close your eyes, okay?>

There is nothing but utter seriousness in her voice.

[ikissdhimbck]

Oh.

Well, that makes a good deal more sense. She dismounts, more at ease with her own sanity now.

"Miss Rachel! How did you — why?"

[theresnodoor]

<Trust me.>

When she does not immediately act, Rachel sighs in Kate's head. <Look, if I didn't like you, I'd want you to see me demorph. I'm trying to save you some screaming nightmares.>

[ikissdhimbck]

She could ask what exactly a 'demorph' entails.

She could also point out that she's got enough 'screaming nightmares' to feel pretty secure nothing Rachel could do would be worse than what she's already seen.

Instead, she chooses to focus on Rachel admitting she likes her.


Pardon the smug grin on her face just before she obediently turns around.

[theresnodoor]

Yeah well-

She can just-

That is, it's-





Shut up.


Rachel waits until Kate has fully turned before focusing. Kate's horse will really not like what she's about to do, but it'll calm down when she's done.

Probably.

Morphing has nothing to do with pain, usually. But that doesn't negate the sound of cracking bones, the slosh of moving organs, and the way her tail shoots inside her body at the same time blonde hair sprouts from her head.

Yeah. It's a really good thing Kate turned. Rachel has horse teeth up to the last second of that demorph.

[ikissdhimbck]

Beaut nickers, pinning her ears and taking a few steps back before Kate steadies her. Those aren't exactly pleasant sounds coming from behind her. She considers turning around for a moment, just to make sure Rachel's all right, but she holds steady.




"Is — is everythin' all right?"

[theresnodoor]

Huge horse teeth in her mouth. Oh man, Kate has no idea how lucky she is that Rachel looks out for her.

She take the map out of her mouth and runs her tongue over her own teeth. That was a weird sensation.

Nose wrinkled, she glances at the map again and nods. "Yeah, fine. You can turn around now."

[ikissdhimbck]

Well, that's more like the Rachel she knows.




"You're in your drawers."


... Just slightly less covered.


Giving Beaut one last soothing pat, she moves closer to see the paper Rachel carried all this way.

"Does it hurt when y'do that?"

[theresnodoor]

Rachel blinks and looks down at herself. There's nothing especially scandalous about her morphing outfit, other than it being a two piece. Her actual underwear - most girls' underwear, in her age group and time period - would be considerably less.

So Kate gets frowned at for a moment.

"No, it doesn't. It just sounds horrible."

[ikissdhimbck]

Rachel should be glad Kate knows enough about some future clothing not to be shocked by things like that anymore.

"This — ah, it must'a come outta my pocket. Thank you, I'd of literally been lost without it."

She frowns at the girl.

"I don't know how I'm gonna get you back, though. There ain't exactly a number'a doors 'round here."

[theresnodoor]

Rachel does not have a crafty little smirk at all. She is doing her level best to keep it purely in her mind as she shrugs.

"Don't worry about it. It's not your job to get me back anyway, I knew that when I picked up the map. Besides, I'm supposed to just snap back at some point, I guess."

[ikissdhimbck]

"That's what I'm worried about. Y'could 'snap back', or y'could also fade away."

Three days. It's all they've got, and Kate's heard of it going either way.

"An' bringin' you t'town like that... You'd either be very popular, or very unpopular, an' I don't think you'd like it either way."

[theresnodoor]

Rachel hasn't even heard that limit - just 'eventually,' she'll go back.

"Why is that worrying?" she asks, frowning a little with her hands on her hips. Her clothes are still in a pile by her feet, but?

It's hot.

Even when Kate's words have her wincing, glancing down at herself again. "It's that bad?"

[ikissdhimbck]

"Sweetheart, not even a doxie shows their midriff."

She glances at her map, and then at the pile of clothes. Sighing, there's really nothing to be done but let her stay. They'll just have to figure things out as they go along.

"'Fade away' implies not comin' back. Ever. Let's try an' avoid that, all right? What didja bring?"

[theresnodoor]

Blue eyes narrow and Rachel frowns. Her intention was to pick up her clothes and at least get something on before heading into town. Now she's considering staying just as she is, out of spite.

One of the last things she's going to do is admit she doesn't know what a doxie is.

"No, when I 'fade' I just go back to Milliways. That's all."

Or at least, it's what she's been told.

What she brought gets a glance and a little more of a frown. "I didn't 'bring' anything, that's what I was wearing when I found your map. The one you left behind. In the bar."