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[no_onebetter]

First, she blinked. Then, she pinched herself. Finally, she simply stared upward at the unfamiliar canopy looking down upon her.

"...splendid!" Lute shaded her eyes with a hand and laughed aloud. Splendid? More like...like...marvelous! Unheard of! No one had ever thrust themselves through a cosmic wormhole - at least, no one who'd ever bothered to

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[whatoncewashers]

"Be as it may, lady, I still answered," Flynn drawled, jerking his thumb in the direction he came. "Because if everyone's luck in this place is anything to go by, whoever you were yelling for isn't going to."

Flynn had accepted that much out of this place, even if he wasn't entirely convinced of the 'no way out' part. He just wasn't set on the whole 'pick a destination and start walking until you find the exit' strategy. Maybe if he found a horse or something...

That train of thought came screeching to a halt. ...Escort. Guide. What did he look like to these people? He dropped his hands and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Right. So this conversation was shaping up to be exactly like the last one he had with a girl, only with less hair and frying pans in.

"Yeah, I'm your escort," he deadpanned. "And you can take it up with the proper channels when we get to where we're going." He turned on his heels and started stalking back to the barracks- best to get her there and hand her over to someone who actually knew what was going on or pretended to, so he could go back to figuring out where his life went wrong. "And it's Flynn. Ryder." He enunciated carefully, glancing over his shoulder. There you go, Miss Spectacular Intelligence. Remember that one.

[no_onebetter]

Logic: clearly, this man lacked it. Of course Artur wouldn't come; she'd called for him and he had not appeared as he usually did. That meant that he wasn't here, which was what she had assumed because this was clearly not her world. (But she'd still called for him...they would be conveniently ignoring this fact.) Getting caught in trivialities, though, was both unbecoming and unproductive. It was best, sometimes, to let stupidity roam free if it wasn't doing any serious harm.

"And where would that be, Flynn Ryder?" Lute asked as she meandered curiously behind him, poking a leaf occasionally or stopping to examine some other curious thing before racing to catch up with the man she'd latched onto for the time being. The black, mysterious object, meanwhile, went in her pocket.

[whatoncewashers]

She even said his full name like Rapunzel. Mental note: Don't introduce the two. It would only end in tears and pain... For him. He just kept walking, glancing back every now and then to make sure she was still following and pausing only for moment to dig a rock out of his boot.

"There's a... Town... Thing," he explained... Completely inadequately, straightening up once his boot was back in place. "Look. I just got here, myself. Kiiiinda new to this whole... Guide thing."

[no_onebetter]

"A town." Civilization! Hopefully, it would be more interesting than Flynn Ryder had made it seem; if this forest was any indication, it seemed that it would be. "How interesting! Do many people live there? Are they natives?" It occurred to her that although this was a different world, she was still able to understand and communicate with those around here. Something to investigate, then!

"And--" Lute dashed forward so that she was ahead of her self-appointed guide and spun around so she was walking backwards briskly. "It was improper to forget to introduce myself. I am Lute, magical prodigy, and I would offer you a hand in greeting, but I don't believe that would be wise at this moment." And then she turned around again and returned to the nature around her.

[whatoncewashers]

"Yes. No. I hear the natives are a big no-no on the communication front. Something about them turning people into animals and I... Dunno. I was thinking about something else when I got that whole spiel." Flynn responded in the sort of tone one would use when talking to a parent who insisted on hearing every detail of their day-

OH HELLO. GIRL IN FRONT OF HIM NOW. Flynn stopped short and just stared at her, despite the fact that she continued walking. He tilted his head and arched an eyebrow. "Okay then. Lute. Why don't you use your 'magic-'" he wagged his fingers in scare quotes, "-to get us all out of here?"

[no_onebetter]

Turning people into animals? That sounded like a wonderful thing, provided it didn't happen to her - but yes, she certainly would not mind observing such a feat, although if the natives were going to be even more anti-social than she usually was, Lute wasn't sure if it was worth the risk and effort.

"Magic isn't just something you can use however you like," she said in a tone that suggested that she was about to launch into a massive lecture - which she was. "It takes great control and years of practice to manage high-level spells like that; the spells I can cast are usually used by those far older than I." Why yes that had been a touch of narcissism right there.

"But, I can understand why you might think otherwise. Most people are unaware of the rigors and dangers of magical studies," Lute finished with a sigh of despair, but not before adding something that sounded suspiciously like "for good reason" under her breath.

[whatoncewashers]

Oh.. Oh crap. He knew that tone. The woman who ran the orphanage used that tone on him all the time. He almost expected Lute to start it with Eugene William Fitzherbert.... His middle name wasn't actually William- that was... A long story that he didn't want to get into.

"Yeah, yeah. Magic is really hard. Let's go," he finally said, clapping a hand on her shoulders, and attempting to turn her around so she faced the front again so she could march herself straight to the barracks and not be a blight on his life anymore.

[no_onebetter]

"I'm glad you--hey!" Lute jumped as Flynn's hand came down on her shoulder and turned her around. "Please keep your hands to yourself," she hissed as she attempted to brush his hand off - a little difficult, since she had all of a sheltered fifteen-year-old girl's muscle, which wasn't much.

Actually, almost none.

Lute was half-tempted to light him on fire for his nerve, but given their proximity, that seemed to be a bad idea. Still, the idea had its merits..."If you wanted me to face a certain direction, you need only ask. I do hope this isn't how you treat every young woman you meet." Most of them probably weren't armed with a book that allowed one to shoot flames, either.

[whatoncewashers]

"Only the really loud ones," Flynn said. The tone was cheerful, the grin was sincere, the words were insulting and he damn well meant them. He had no idea she had the power to set him on fire, but even if he did... He'd probably still put his foot in his mouth. It was pretty much the default location for his foot.

"Just keep walking, missy," he said, heading off in the direction of the barracks. "It's not that far and then you can find someone who knows how to treat a 'young woman.'" Someone who wasn't him and didn't have better things to do or things to steal.

[no_onebetter]

For all her intelligence, Lute still had difficult telling when people were actually insulting her; thus, Flynn's comment went completely over her head. "That doesn't seem like a very logical criteria." Lute arched an eyebrow, and left it at that. Lesser beings were so petty and strange...

"This does raise one important question, you know," she said after some time. "If you don't know how to deal properly with young women, why even approach one?" It really did make her think that Flynn's intentions had not been exactly pure - which made sense, considering the way he'd introduced himself. He hadn't done anything shady yet, though.

[whatoncewashers]

Flynn glanced at her. This would continue until morale improved... Or until his dignity came back. "Most young women don't yell at me." He paused, awkwardly. "There's usually a bit more swooning, involved..."

Of course... That hasn't happened in awhile, since he met Rapunzel. It was like she spread the word to cockblock him as soon as possible. Of course, Lute was turning out to be so far from his type that if his type was dying and her type was the cure, he'd choose death.

...Then again, he figured she had the same opinion of him. No big. It happened. They'd just get to the barracks and part as unlikely acquaintances.

[no_onebetter]

"Oh, I see. There is a high probability that a woman you meet will be attracted to you physically," Lute observed candidly. "So I suppose it would make sense logically to assume that every woman you meet would follow this trend--although, a small piece of colloquial advice, I find, applies more often."

She glanced up at him. "'Expect the unexpected.'"

In the distance, Lute was beginning to see the shadow of what looked like a miniature fort, complete with high, foreboding, stone walls. It almost reminded her of her hometown, which was rather disappointing: she had been hoping for something more exotic.

"That is the town you mentioned?"