"Hurry up, now," Pete hummed at he rode in front of the others, keeping the same pace as them, but staying out of their reach. Pete ought to be safe even if Kala tried something like a sudden forward leap, and if either of them increased their speed, Pete would increase as well.<br/><br/>And then Koralheim grabbed his leg.<br/>Pete's blade was at his throat.<br/>And the world turned inside out.<br/><br/>Pete truly believed that variety was the spice of life, and he was determined to try everything at least once. This was Pete's first teleportation and he could not say that he cared for the feeling. For a second it felt like his organs rearranged themselves, shifted form and merged into new organs altogether, and then the next second he was in a new place, intact, with two kidneys, one liver and a totally unencumbered heart. He was undamaged, but slightly out of breath and his self-confident appearance had been compromised. He maintained enough self-control to stop himself from flinching; he did not drop his gentle smile and his eyes held no signs of anger at Koralheim, despite Peteâ€™s hand still holding the sword that was pressing against the soft skin right about where the mermanâ€™s jugular ran. Despite not having changed his expression, Pete could not prevent the color in his cheeks from draining, and his mouth was suddenly very dry.<br/>His mind felt scrambled and he took longer than he liked in processing the data and coming to a conclusion on how to act.<br/><br/>He lowered the weapon slightly and took two quick steps back, making sure he was out of Kala's reach, and freeing Koralheim from any immediate fear of death.<br/>"Aa-" he spoke and his jaws slammed together with audible force. Peteâ€™s eternal smile dropped as he found himself unable to speak. Behind the tightly closed lips he wiggled his tongue about frantically trying to produce some much-needed saliva.<br/><br/>Koralheim did not speak, and Kala did not explain the situation, though Pete had guessed the most of it. No doubt the two were communicating telepathically again, and Pete was severely displeased with having no way of eavesdropping. At least when they signed he had a way of determining that they spoke, and now all he had to go on was the subtle reactions on their faces, most notably Kala's.<br/><br/>Pete calmed himself down. Breathed slowly and waited until he felt ready to speak. The nausea was slowly residing.<br/>"You are not a foolish man," Pete said dryly, and without looking amused. This trick had caught him off-guard completely. "You would have known I could harm you when you grabbed me," Pete purposely avoided the word<span style="font-style: italic">kill</span>, "and yet you brought me along, at personal risk. I surmise that the unknown danger of the waste was catching up to us with such haste that trying to convince me to let you teleport would take more time than you were comfortable with."<br/>Pete briefly broke eye contact to look out the window, and confirmed that they were in Northpeak.<br/>"If you wanted to dispose of me, you would have left me to the unknown danger. You took a personal risk to save me, and for that you have earned my trust." Pete lowered his sword completely and his smile returned in full, quickly followed by a shiver.<br/><span style="font-style: italic">Unless, of course, you knew you could not outrun the danger, but my horse could.</span><br/><br/>Pete started walking around the room, looking for blankets or something else to keep warm. Koralheim had switched to hand signs in the meantime, so Pete guessed Kala would soon explain them, and welcome him to the conversation. It seemed they had two systems: telepathy when they did not want Pete to know they were talking, and hand signs when the conversation was open to him. If they wanted to seem inconspicuous while talking telepathically they should learn to act naturally during the process, but Kala was likely too inexperienced in using her mind.<br/><br/>"I heard you lived in Razorplain," Pete interrupted, looking out the window again, "so I am a bit surprised you can afford a house here in Northpeak, too. But I suppose the place came cheap, seeing as how it is bordering the local cemetery." There were only one visitor on the ground, and she appeared to be mourning, rather than digging up any corpses. â€œWhen you are not home you could rent the house to the local authorities, so they could catch necromancers as they get materials. Provided the authorities want them caught.â€ Pete mused. â€œI do not suppose toy-making pays very well, so it is just a thought in case you need another legal font for your operations.â€