Dear diary, sleep is so underrated.

Hammocks are fun in their own way. It is comfortable and easy to set up, something I probably need to consider taking with me when I leave this place. I roll around trying to sleep a bit longer, but the events of yesterday are still rattling around. After meeting the other traveller, she showed me around the base.

The small tent camp is just there as a gathering point. Most of the actual facilities are deep underground. And includes a lot of people, weapons, and ships. The conversation about why she needed all that stuff was a bit awkward, but I am pretty sure that was mostly because she wanted to tell me something that I did not get whatsoever.

She was cagey about a lot of information, including how she lost the plate and how she got imprisoned. Something about telling me stuff that happens in the future is bad. I guess I kind of understand, but not really, and I am not sure the other traveller really understands it either.

The basics of it is that time is not linear or set in stone. The past can change, and so can the future. The only thing that you should not change is the past or future of a time traveller. Something about ripple effects that does not mean we cannot help each other when we meet up. It just means that we can’t tell each other anything.

I sigh and sit up in the hammock. What to do? I would love some kind of advice, but the person most capable of giving it does not want to. I roll out of bed and start looking around for breakfast. As I leave the room, Kuro joins me.

“So what is the plan, captain?” he asks.

“Captain? I thought you wanted to join Big Red?” I ask the little creature as I scratch him behind his ear.

“I mean, I always wanted to go on an adventure with a traveller, but from the two of you, you are more like the story than she is.”

“So you felt that she was strange, too?” I ask. As I sit down at a table with some of my breakfast, some kind of oats that are extremely slimy, making it feel like I am eating jello.

“I don’t know, exactly. She just feels really angry for some reason. Was she like that when you met her before?”

“This is our first meeting, but I agree that she is very angry.”

Kuro puts one of his paws on his chin. “I wonder what could have caused her to become so angry.

“Well, considering she could have been anywhere before she came here, a lot of war, genocide, slavery, and a whole other list of things that I don’t want to think about.”

“That is true, but this somehow feels more personal, like someone personally offended or done something to her.”

“Well, they did stick her in a cage. Not sure if that counts, but I would at least be annoyed,“ I say. While cleaning the bowl and putting it back.

“So what is the plan now, then?” Kuro asks.

“Not sure my amulet will probably be charged today so I can leave, but I want to make sure that Lucy will be taken care of.”

“What about me?” Kuro asks

“You’re a smart kitty. You can figure it out,” I say while sticking my tongue out.

“So you are not staying for this entire rebellion thing?”

“It is not my fight, and no one asked me to join it, so I think I will stay clear until I have figured out what actually is going on.”

“I see. So where are you going to travel next?” Kuro asks with big kitty eyes

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“I have absolutely no clue. I always end up somewhere random, and if there was any way to control it, I don’t know how, and nobody is telling me.”

“So it really is just like the stories then.”

“What stories?”

“You know the stories about the traveller, a mysterious person travelling to all kinds of mystical planets helping whoever asks,” Kuro explains almost in a Zello's fever.

I am stopped from responding because I spot the another Traveller in the distance and decide to head over.

“Hey, red, how are you doing?” I say with a smile once I approached.

The traveller frowns. “You seem in good spirits today.”

“You know how it is. Having a good bed to sleep in is the great joy of life.”

Red smiles at me. I look of longing in her eyes. “You are really still so young,” she says as she pats my head.

“Is that a bad thing?” I ask.

“No, it is a good thing, but it kind of reminds me of my early days and how I would be excited every time I travelled to a new place.”

“You no longer feel excited?”

“I do, but it started to grade somewhat. It just feels like a string of endless goodbyes at some point is going to break me.”

“I guess, but we can always come back right, so it is less a goodbye and more a see you later.”

“That is true until the last day. The last day you set foot on a planet or in a person's life is the hardest” Her eyes become a bit teary. She wipes them dry and then looks at me. “The girl that teaches you how to use fire don’t fall in love with her.”

“Why not? I feel like I am getting conflicting information,” I say as I narrow my eyes at her.

“Because it will only hurt when you let her go.”

“Of course, it is going to hurt! It should. That is why it is important you miss the time you can no longer spend with them, but that is better than never having met at all,” I shout at her in anger.

She looks at me confused, and then falls to her knees, crying. I am not sure what to do, so I just wrap my arms around her.

“It’s okay. Just think of the happy things that happened,” I say with a smile, trying my best to calm her down.

After a while of being like this, we let go of each other. Traveller gives me a long, appraising look.

“Thank you. I needed to hear that more than I thought. So why did you come up to me in the first place? Did you need something?” she asks.

“Uhm yeah,” I stammer, still a bit out of it, “I wanted to make sure that Lucy was taken care of. She is a good person, and I would hate to see something happen to her.”

“Of course, you have nothing to worry about. She is currently helping the maintenance crew. You can go there to say your goodbyes.”

“Goodbyes?” I ask, confused.

“Well, your abacus just became charged, and you are still clean and have never killed anyone before, so I don’t think you wanted to start with it now.”

I nod. “Thank you. I will be off then; see you again someday.”

“You bet ya,” she says with a smile.

I go down to the maintenance hall. It's a short ride with the elevator, and then we are at a giant shipyard with millions of ships ready to go to war. I find Lucy working on our ship. Well, it's not actually ours, the one that we reappropriated.

“Lucy, how are you doing?” I ask when she takes a little break.

“Ooh hey, I am doing great. Some of the mechanised helped me load in some new registrations into this beauty, meaning that it is officially mine now.” She says with a big smile.

“Well, that is great. So, are you planning to leave once you are done with that, or are you staying here?” I ask, a bit concerned.

“I stay here for now. They are lacking mechanics, so I will help them out for a while, but I probably leave once the fighting starts,” she says with a smile. “How about you?”

“I am about to leave. actually, I got all my stuff, including a hammock, so after our goodbye, I will be off.” I say a bit awkwardly.

“That is a shame, but it is okay. I hope to see you again,” she says, giving me a hug.

“Yeah, me too; make sure to do what makes you happy,” I say as I hug her back.

After I break free of the hug, I take one last glance around, looking for the little black cat, but he is nowhere to be seen. What a shame. I take out my plate and activate the sequence: green, blue, purple, green. Suddenly, the noise of spaceships being built is replaced by the street of a beautiful city. The smell is a bit of a putting, but it is not the worst. There are big columns and artfully decorated walls that make this place look amazing. I quickly get out of the middle of the road and just start roaming around.

“So where are we,” a familiar voice suddenly asks me.

I turn around to see a familiar black cat. “Kuro, what are you doing here,” I ask in excitement.

“Well, I thought that I might be able to travel with you if I was in your shadow, so I tried, and it worked,” he says in a smug tone.

“You know you could have just asked, right?”

“I was concerned that you might say no,” he says as his ears droop.

“Why would I say no to someone capable of carrying my bag for me,” I say as I drop my backpack on him.

He hisses before disappearing the pack away. “I see your point then; back to my earlier question, where are we?”

“I have no clue, really it looks a bit roman to me, but I don’t know a lot of history,” I say

“So how do we find out where we are?” Kuro asks.

“We look around, I guess, and try our best to blend in and gather information,” I say as I start to head off into a street.

“I am starting to feel way less confident in you.” He says with a chuckle.

“Hey, you were the one that decided to come along.”