CRASH!
Kristen smashed into the wall as she dove towards the disappearing figure of Lucia, failing to realise that it was just a fake.
They had been at it for 6 hours straight, from 8 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon, the time had flown by without her even noticing it.
Kristens feathers were slick with sweat, her muscles quivering from the intense exhaustion, she was about to try again before Lucia's voice resounded from behind.
"Lets stop for now."
Even she was tired from the training, the bigger bird talking in a weary voice.
"Come back to the main cave for lunch and some rest."
She continued.
"You look like you need it."
Kristen rolled her eyes at these words but still complied, picking herself up and slouching down the passageway. The bright light of the sun hit her face as she walked toward the sitting circle where the others had already gathered.
She plopped down in the middle of the two and gulped up the dried meats on ground in front of her, unknowingly eating the others portions as well.
The other two stared with shock at her massive appetite. Licking her beak she turned to them and caught them staring.
"Hmm?"
"You just ate all of our food."
Lucia looked at her with a mix of disbelief and humour, finding it hard to believe that someone literally smaller than her had managed to eat all of the food.
Looking back, Kristen realised that she had indeed devoured everything and mumbled her apologies to the both of them.
Olivia shook her head at the both of them and cleared her throat in an attempt to discuss something actually important.
"Ahem! Anyway, we've almost run out of food. Turns out my calculation was wrong due to her immense appetite.
Shooting an annoyed glance to Kristen, she continued.
"Which means we need to either hunt for some more or, go down to the human city and take some of theirs. I prefer the second option."
Lucia nodded at her and voiced her opinion.
"I've been watching those bandits from before and I found that they're planning to target a rather large load of cargo that is travelling with some very rich merchants.
This is a good time to go down and reap the rewards of their battle"
The two nodded and turned to Kristen to see what she thought but, well, she was currently zoning out and missed the entirety of what they said.
Whipping her head up she found that Olivia and Lucia staring at her.
"What?"
"Do you agree with the plan? You know, going down to the northern road tonight?"
Confused, she tried to recall her memory of what Lucia had said but unfortunately it was a complete blank.
'FUCK!'
"Oh um, yes! Definitely! Sounds great to me."
Lucia stared dubiously at her for a moment before resuming her conversation with Olivia.
'What did I say yes to? OH GOD ARE THEY GONNA SELL ME AS A SLAVE LIKE IN ALL THE COMICS BACK ON EARTH?!?!'
She was internally panicking like crazy, but didn't let it show on the outside, her composure seemingly normal. Olivia began outlining roles right as this happened, adding more fuel to the chaos running rampant inside Kristen.
"l can destroy the protective formations on the carriages while their distracted. They're all pretty strong so it will take a while.
Lucia nodded at this. "I'll make sure no one comes near you while you work."
Kristen swallowed, still not knowing what was happening.
"And me?" she asked, trying to sound casual but failing spectacularly.
"You'll be the one going into the inner storage areas."
Kristen blinked.
Inner.
As in… the deepest part of it. As in… the most danger.
'FUCK!'
She screamed internally about her awful luck.
"Oh," she managed to croak out.
Olivia tilted her head in amusement. "You're the smallest so it won't be hard for you to slip into the humans vehicles and take their goods. Make sure to grab whatever you can; dried meat, pills, and, if you can find them, any spirit stones.
The words entered one ear and went out the other, forgetting everything due to her nerves.
"OH! Umm okay I can do it."
She hesitantly answered.
And with that the meeting was over, leaving Kristen full of confusion.
The cave slowly emptied after that.
Lucia went to sharpen her talons against a slab of dark stone near the entrance, scrapes echoing through the chamber. Olivia disappeared into one of the side tunnels, probably preparing the small stash of tools in her satchel that somehow always went unnoticed from Kristens view.
Kristen remained where she was.
"…Inner storage areas," she muttered.
Her mind, extremely unhelpfully, supplied images from every cultivation manhua she'd ever read at 2am back on earth.
Captured spirit beasts.
Contracts.
Auction houses.
"Why did I say yes so fast?!" she hissed under her breath.
'Ughhhhhhhhhhhbbffbf why meeeee.'
She groaned and flopped onto her side, wings splayed dramatically.
'Okay, think Kristen, its not all bad I mean.....'
Her stomach growled and interrupted her train of though that was, admittedly, going nowhere
'Traitor.'
She glared down at it.
'This is all your fault.'
Soon night fell over the mountain, causing the three birds to leave the cave and descend down into the real world.
The northern road went throughout the city that Kristen still hadn't found the name of and cut past it, going off into the horizon.
A group of merchants were approaching the city with massive vehicles behind them, filled to the brim with resources.
They circled just out of their view and discussed their game plan.
"They don't know," Olivia murmured.
Lucia gave a low hum of agreement. "The bandits are waiting at the bend ahead."
As if summoned by her words, shadows moved in the trees.
Then all of a sudden the road erupted into complete and utter chaos.
Dark-clothed men rushed toward the carriages in an instant, causing the horses to jump up in fright. The bodyguards that had been hired for the trip formed a circle around the cargo and started clashing swords with the bandits.
The road erupted into battle. All of them were common folk and as such possessed no cultivation or powers.
"Now," Olivia said to the both of them.
Diving down, the wind roared in Kristen's ears as they descended into the ruckus.
They quietly swept down to the rear carriage and waited for Olivia to make an entrance for Kristen.
A small hole appeared in the thin veil of light that was almost unnoticeable to someone who wasn't looking for it.
"Go...I can't hold it for long."
'Wait what? What do I do ermmmm-'
Lucia pushed the nervous Kristen through the hole just in time. Moving her head around frantically she took a few steps forward, gazing at the crates full of food with uncertainty.
'What did Olivia say to bring back? Hmmm I think it was dried meat and...pills? Okay I'm just gonna get those.'
She moved through at a faster pace, checking out everything and deciding what was worth taking and what wasn't.
Picking up a bag of meat with her beak she continued and was met with something that made her drop it onto the ground with a loud thud.