Rethia laid awake for most of the night, listening to the soft breathing of Isatha. The nest was, in fact, quite comfortable. But she wasn’t used to sleeping in the same room with someone else. That the silk monkey was curled up next to her didn’t make it any better, now that she was aware of his constant company.

Her thoughts were whirling.

A Traveler. A job that wasn’t talked about, unless one truly felt drawn to the open skies. Exploring the lands, gathering everything they deemed important or merely interesting, and delivering items and information when they were drawn back to the flock. In exchange, they were given the same amenities during their stay, as everyone else enjoyed. And apparently, they did special missions?

Well, whatever. Not that she would get any special missions so soon. She was still wet behind her ears. She knew nothing of this Traveler job. She couldn’t even outfly three wyverns! Much less fight with them, like one of the warriors.

At least the prospects sounded much better than the other jobs. She would be free to fly where she wanted, do what she wanted, and search for her memories and her forgotten family.

Yes, she had a family and a home now, but she had a nagging feeling that it was important to find out about her past. If she didn’t, she would never be truly free.

She sighed and turned, staring into the darkness until her eyes grew heavy.

“Rise and shine!” crowed Isatha cheerfully, standing before her.

Rethia growled at her and covered her head with a wing to block the piercing light from assaulting her poor eyes.

“None of that! Today is you first day as a Traveler, and I fully intend to show you as much as I can. We have a city to reach and the guild to visit, so up you go, lazybones.”

Isatha pushed Rethias wing away and pulled her up.

Rethia stared at her through bleary eyes: “You’re a horrible owl.”

Isatha only laughed and pushed her up the stairs, onto the roof.

“Someone didn’t sleep much, eh? Come on, you’ll feel better after getting some food. Take care not to fly into anyone, yes?” and with that, Isatha took off. Though she hovered nearby, keeping an eye on Rethia.

With a huff, Rethia rubbed the sleep from her eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. The sun was already a quarter-wingspan over the horizon, so it wasn’t even that early. Isatha had let her sleep in.

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She took another deep breath and took to the sky. The movement and the air woke her up enough to fly to the communal cave without accidents. She did feel Isatha nearby, keeping watch.

Food did wake her up completely, but she still felt somewhat groggy. If only her thoughts hadn’t kept her awake for so long!

They took off directly after breakfast, Isatha wearing a harness and carrying a backpack in her talons, which Rethia had never seen on the owl before, with a monkey clinging to her back.

She herself also wore a harness, to give her monkey better maneuverability. On a whim, she decided to call him Sven.

A day of leisure flight later, they spiraled down to a town, landing in a respectful distance to its massive gates. It was a veritable city, and Rethia saw the soldiers follow their downward path with drawn bows – until someone hollered something and they suddenly lowered them in unison.

“This city is called Nitia. It’s under the rule of a neutral merchant kingdom. All races of Yurazia are welcome here. Our own merchants regularly come here, so the natives are used to the sight of harpies.

“All are equal here, and all have to abide to the same laws. If you start a quarrel with another race here, you’ll quickly land yourself in jail. Sadly, hateful glares are not forbidden, so be wary.” Isathas monkey pulled two big folded cloth-pieces out of one belt pouch, and Isatha threw one over, while drapping her own cloth around her shoulders, pulling her wings close beneath it. “Here, put this on.”

Rethia copied her, draping the cloak around her. “Why are we wearing this?”

“While we can do without clothes because of our feathers, the Landbound are quite picky. We’re doing this to avoid strange looks and pointed fingers and some idiot newcomers from whispering that we are barbarions because we don’t wear clothes. Seriously, they should just grow fur or something, then they wouldn’t freeze.” Isatha shrugged and walked up to the gate, settling into the short waiting line in front of it.

The sun was close to setting, but they should still have two hours of light, if Rethia had calculated it correctly.

It was a really short wait. A brown haired, bearded man had joined the two guards in the time it took them to inspect the five people in from of them, letting them enter the city.

“Isatha! It is good to finally see you again! You already had me thinking that you wouldn’t come this time, too,” said the bearded man with a happy smile. Then he added with a curious glance at Rethia: “And you brough a friend this time.”

“Greetings, Captain. Meet Rethia, my latest pupil. She had her coming-of-age feast just a few days ago, so I pushed my trip back a little to enjoy the celebration. Rethia, meet Jon Estroan, Captain of the Nitian Guard.” Isatha did the introductions.

Jon put his hand forward in a gesture Rethia was unfamiliar with, so instead, she bowed in greeting. Jon twitched at that, closed his hand into a fist and put it over his heart, bowing back at her.

“So you finally found a pupil that is going to pick up your adventuring trade? Greetings, Rethia. Welcome to our fine city.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

“Isatha, do you have time for dinner, this time? Or perchance lunch tomorrow?” asked Jon with a hopeful tone.

“There he goes again,” muttered one of the guards.

“I’m sorry, Captain, but I have to decline. I want to introduce Rethia to the adventuring guild and get her on the proper track. Maybe another time.”

“That’s too bad… I’ll wait for next month, then. Enjoy the city.” He waved them through the gate and waved after them, as they walked down the main street.

Rethia couldn’t help but look back several times, before other sights caught her attention.

There were people everywhere! Humans, elves and various beastpeople. She even saw a group of three dark elves, their pale skins sticking out among the mixture of generally darker skin tones.