'First time in a cave...kinda nervous.'
On the inside of the cave the walls were plain rock, uneven but nothing unusual. It looked like any other cave. Although there wasn't any light, Kristens eyes had moderate night vision so this wasn't a problem.
'Hehe I wonder whats down there?'
The ground sloped gently downward, packed dirt giving way to stone.
A narrow passage opened into a wider chamber. The ceiling rose higher here, shadows stretching across it in uneven shapes.
In one of the corners of the wall the other birds had built comfy-looking nests
On the other side of the wall water dripped steadily from somewhere above, providing somewhere to quench her thirst from the long journey.
'mmmmmhmmmmm.'
Kristen walked over and took a sip, finding it surprisingly refreshing.
Moving back over to the corner with Lucia and Olivia she glanced over and saw that besides the warm nests and the water puddle the rest of the cave was barren.
A wing appeared suddenly in her view and waved her over into a little sitting circle that Lucia and Olivia were sitting in.
"The joyful sect has settled in the south district," Lucia said, tapping a folded map with her claw. "Its the old financial quarter of the city. Less citizens and more private bodyguards that they can hire in this deserted place. They are gathering there to keep the sect master safe during his ascension to nascent soul stage."
"The majority of them will stay with their master," Olivia replied quietly. She was sharpening her claws, not looking at either of them. The soft scrape of stone filled the pauses in the conversation. "Its unlikely we'll get trapped."
Lucia glanced at Kristen. "The objective is simple. We take the majority of herbs and foods in their armoury while we have the chance, and if there are any humans still there we remove them.
"Remove," Kristen repeated in an almost shaky voice. "You make it sound polite."
"It doesn't need to be a spectacle," she said. "It needs to be fast."
"No chaos," Lucia continued firmly. "Quick and quiet. In and out before the sect even knows we were there, this should be a good experience for Kristen. Get her used to this lifestyle."
Olivia nodded at these words.
A silence settled over the table, Kristen was uncomfortable with it but the others seemed just fine.
The reason that the two birds had been doing these things in human cities was because in the wild, there aren't any places to find proper food sources. Almost all of it had been stolen by the humans, besides the rodents that Kristen loved eating.
This was why in Kristens life she hadn't met many other animals that were actually intelligent.
Every day more valuable resources disappeared around the Marauder Continent, plundered by bandits.
This forced almost everyone to steal as well.
Lucia stood and spoke with finality in her voice. "We move tomorrow night.
With that, Lucia went up into her nest and fell into a deep sleep.
Olivia followed but was stopped by Kristen.
In the entirety of Kristens life as a bird she had never learnt to make a bed for herself, only sleeping on leaves and dirt, but those could barely count as a bed.
"Errrr could I..."
"Hmm? Oh of course!~"
Olivia saw her confusement and pointed helpfully over at some twigs.
Kristen made her way over them and tried to pick them up but realised that she didn't even know how to make a nest.
'Uhhhhhhh lets just try I guess.'
Trusting her instincts 20 minutes passed in the blink of an eye and another comfy-looking nest was added right between the other two.
In the time that she had been doing this the other birds had already fallen asleep as all the work they had done to gain Kristen had really worn them out. Seeing that the other two had already hit the hay she followed suit and soon fell asleep as well.
.
.
'God dayam! That was the best freaking sleep that I've had in my life.'
Waking up at around 8 am in the morning, Kristen reluctantly got up from her nest and splashed some water onto her face to wash away the drowsiness.
Kristen blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust to the dim grey light that filtered faintly through the cave entrance.
The steady dripping of water continued from the night before, giving her a sense of familiarity in this new home.
Moving back to her nest the twigs held beneath her weight. A small, satisfied feeling settled in her chest. It wasn't leaves scattered on dirt. It was hers.
Lucia was already awake, perched at the edge of her nest with her feathers neatly cleaned. Olivia sat near the shallow pool of water, staring into it as if contemplating the plans for today in her head.
She stretched her wings, stirring the muscles in her body and preparing for the day.
"You're up," Olivia sleepily said without turning to look at her.
Kristen nodded at this. "Yeah."
Lucia hopped down on the floor and called out. "We need to leave after sunset. I suggest conserving your energy."
Nodding again, Kristens mind flashed with thoughts of what this mission would entail.
"What is this south district like anyway?"
"Tall stone buildings," Olivia spoke softly. "Hard surfaces and little greenery, there are plenty of rooftops to land on."
"And noise," Lucia added. "Even in the quieter places those humans are so loud. But you shouldn't worry much, we chose this mission as it was one of the easier ones to get you used to this, so it shouldn't be too hard."
Kristen listened intently at these words as human noises were still foreign to her. All she knew about such sounds was knowledge from earth and who could tell how different it would be here.
She walked over to the cave entrance and peered out into the rocky slope of the mountain beneath her and then the human city even further down.
It was very strange for her to think that in all these towns and cities across this continent, sects hoarded the majority of resources while creatures like her had to survive on rats.
Lucia stepped beside her.
"Are you nervous?"
"Yeah."
"Good," Lucia said calmly. "It keeps you on your toes."
Kristen gave a small nod.
The Marauder Continent was changing and not in a good way. Resources were disappearing. Intelligent beasts like herself were rare.
So if she wanted more than living off rodents, she would have to change with it.