"...cultivators. Most human cities are swarming with them, and this one won't be any different."
Kristen grimaced at the thought of those humans from before. Just because they were hot did not mean that she had to like them. Mostly.
The water shimmered softly below them, moonlight dancing across its surface like a ballerina, softly swishing around. Trees rustled in the icy wind, making Kristen turn around in anxiousness.
'This place gives me the creeps.'
Looking around one more time, she moved back into the group.
"We've had trouble with them before, so we can handle it the same as last time." Kristen offered.
The other two looked at her dubiously, as if wondering if she really thought their same techniques would work in every situation. Sure they might be able to sneak into armouries and treasure hordes easily enough, but they always had planned it out before and made sure that there would be minimal security.
Imagine if a stronger foe locked onto them, it would spell certain death for them if they believed it would all go fine.
Lucia knew that it wouldn't be as simple as Kristen had said but didn't speak up as she thought that maybe she was just being negative. Who knows, it could go perfectly well if they got some stroke of luck. Hopefully not an actual stroke though. That would be bad.
'Wait a minute, whats Olivia's ability? I've never seen it.'
"Hey um, Olivia, I just wanted to ask, what is your ability?" She blurted out.
"Oh, well, basically I can conceal the presence of living beings. Thats why we usually don't get noticed by others. Come to think of it, whats yours?" She answered.
"Oh ummmm, I can like, gaze at something and it lights on fire. Basically. Yeah." She tripped over her words.
Olivia lightly giggled at Kristens stuttering and nodded in approval, thinking that an attack type ability would come in handy when in a tight situation.
When talking about ways to prepare for their trip, the trio realised that they didn't have much to actually plan for as almost all of their weapons were their own abilities and it wasn't like they had a place to store any weapons.
Back at the carriage was all a crate of goodies that the three birds had been looking forward to using but unfortunately it had been lost in the rush of battle.
'UGH! This sucks! We went to all that work for nothing, just more bad things!'
"Okay, we leave in 5 hours. Make sure to get some rest, its a long journey ahead." Lucia called out while making a bed of leaves beside the big boulder that they had landed on.
A frown creased over Kristens face, making her miss the fact that the meeting had already ended. Picking herself up awkwardly she leapt down from the rock and trodded up to the water then looked upon the stars.
'This hasn't been that bad. I actually think I have friends here, not something I thought I'd say in my life hehe. '
Aside from all the violence and drama that had happened with the humans, she knew that if she had Olivia and Lucia then she would always be safe.
They had only know her for a month and a bit but it felt like they were sisters already.
The last time that she was standing in front of the water and the moon she had been crying about her past self, but now, she was fully embracing the newfound kinship and adventures that his would had brought her.
A gale of wind brushed past her like the regret and sadness she had felt when she was a human, like instead of trying to get rid of these feeling, she was just accepting that she had them and moving on.
'It's time to live my fucking life.'
A smile slowly formed on her face as she thought this, making an internal promise to never let Lucia and Olivia down.
If they hadn't asked her to join them she would still be sleeping alone in a cold, unfeeling forest.
For that, even if they didn't think it was such a big deal, she was eternally grateful.
Trudging up to where Lucia's bed of leaves was she made her own from a nearby pile, grabbing the soft leaves with gentle movements, careful not to squish or break any. A minute went by and soon a new bed was sitting next to Lucia's.
Olivia was gathering food for the journey while this happened.
She returned not long after, wings full.
Berries clutched in folded leaves. Two small river fish skewered neatly on sharpened twigs. A handful of bitter nuts she'd cracked with precise strikes.
She laid everything out in a tidy semicircle between them.
"We will travel light," she said, practical as ever. "Enough to keep us moving, we can forage once we're closer to the roads."
Kristen rolled onto her side on the leaf-bed she'd carefully constructed. "Look at you being all responsible and stuff."
Olivia gave her a flat look. "Someone has to be."
Lucia, already half-settled into her own nest of leaves, lifted her head slightly. The faint gold-white shimmer along her feathers had dulled to embers, barely visible unless the moon caught them just right.
"Eat," Lucia instructed quietly. "You'll need the energy."
They ate in relative quiet, the earlier intensity of their battle making them too exhausted to talk about anything else. The river murmured below and the temperature started to drop even further as the night went on.
The food that Olivia had brought back wasn't exactly amazing, but it wasn't bad either.
After a while, Kristen broke the silence again, though softer this time.
"So… Olivia hides us. Lucia mentally traumatizes people." She nodded thoughtfully. "And I set things on fire."
"You 'gaze at something and it lights on fire,'" Olivia corrected lightly.
Kristen winced. "You're never letting that go, are you?"
"Probably not."
The short dinner went by quickly after that and once the last nut was eaten they went to their makeshift beds. It was cold so they had built them so they were right next to each other for extra warmth.
As soon as her head hit the soft leaves she went straight into a dreamless sleep, the same going for the other two.