Kire woke with a start at Ruli’s nudging, a frown already creasing her features. It took a few blinks for her to slowly realize that she had asked him to wake her. Still frowning, she squinted at him, looked him up and down, and declared, still woozy with sleep, “We’re buying you boots. No buts. You look like an overgrown child in those.” With a nod, as if in agreement with herself, she stood, strapping on her sword belt, slung the waterskin over her shoulder, and double-checked to make sure she had the allotted coin with her. She was about to say she was ready when she saw he had already turned away. Frowning again, she walked briskly to catch up. 

“Alright.” She already shuddered, thinking about the cold of the shadows they were about to walk into. “So, is it just this ‘shadow-walking’ that your magic can do?”