Time ticked by as slow as a snail, increasing the birds nerves with anticipation and fear.
Just as Kristen was about to do something incredibly stupid, Lucia pried open one of the crates and told them to go in for some extra security.
Finally with something to do, all of their nerves went down slightly.
They quickly dashed inside the opening and climbed on top of the various clothes, meats and who knows what else. It wasn't like they were experts on the various shenanigans that the humans got up to.
Inside of the wooden box it was cramped and much hotter than the outside, so it was a good thing none of them had claustrophobia.
Well Kristen actually did, but Olivia and Lucia didn't mind. Or care.
For what seemed like an eternity the three of them just sat there, tense and ready to jump out at any moment.
Kristen had it the worst, since she went from a nerve-racking situation to one even worse.
Muffled sounds could be heard from outside. The crashing of the waves against the shore, urgent shouts and most of all, the thick stomping of feet.
A gruff man with a thick beard and tired eyes stopped before their crate and hauled it up onto a trolley, pushing it up a ramp and onto the ominous ship from before. It was a strange experience, to be moved so normally yet have such anxiousness from it all.
That was what the trio of birds felt inside, Olivia's and Kristen's hearts beating loud like drums.
Lucia was as calm as ever.
'Does she have a condition or something? How is she so chill about all this.'
Suddenly the crate lurched as they went down into the ships storage, the impact when the crate hit the lower deck floor rattling their bones.
Dust puffed up through the thin slits between the wooden planks, filling the cramped space with the dry scent of old timber and damp rope. The air shifted and was less salty, but more stale.
Then came the sound that made Kristen's stomach do backflips.
THUNK!
The lid was hammered shut. It went completely black, but thankfully they each had a fraction night-vision so they could see. Barely.
"…Okay," Kristen whispered, voice barely louder than the rustle of cloth beneath her claws. "Now it's officially kidnapping."
Olivia shifted beside her, feathers brushing fabric. "Shut up."
Footsteps moved away. More crates were dragged in. Something heavy rolled across the floor. A door creaked. And then silence.
Well, not complete silence. The ship had its own language.
Wood groaned softly like an old man stretching. Water lapped rhythmically against the hull. Ropes above creaked in slow, strained breaths. Somewhere far overhead, someone barked an order and received a chorus of replies.
They were on the ship.
Kristen swallowed.
She had expected panic to swallow her whole, but instead a strange thrill bloomed in her chest. This was insane. Completely reckless. And she loved it.
Minutes passed, and then an hour.
Sweat dripped down off Kristens feathers from the warmth of the cramped space. At first, it felt like an escape from the cold outside but then, it became suffocating.
Just when she was about to punch a hole in the wood the ship leaned forward and then back. Then it swayed and bobbed.
'I think we just left the harbour. First time doing this, kinda nervous.'
The shouts from before had died down to regular conversation, but the birds weren't to hear because of the walls between them.
The chaotic noise of the port had faded, replaced by the steady rhythm of open water. The creaking deepened. The air shifted again, cooler drafts slipping through microscopic cracks in the wood.
"They left port," Kristen said.
Olivia let out a slow breath. "Obviously."
'OKAY! Damn, does she not like me today?'
There was a slight tone of annoyance in Olivia's voice.
"Wait until night." Lucia, who had been utterly still until now, finally spoke.
Kristen frowned. "For what?"
A pause.
Then Lucia's voice came again, calm as always.
"We're not guests here."
The meaning settled heavily in the air.
If they got caught, it was the end of the road for them.
Time crawled by so slowly that Kristen was honestly considering sleeping. But no, if she did that then she might end up missing whatever Lucia had planned.
She tried not to think about the scholarly woman with the knowledgeable aura.
'A pirate captain and a strong one at that. Maybe a cultivator? Are there other types of people with power in this world? There must be. I wonder if she's one of them.'
These thoughts raced through her head and distracted her from the boredom of just sitting there. The time also raced by and soon night had fallen outside.
Lucia, somehow, was able to sense this and told Olivia and Kristen to follow her once more. Both her and Olivia shared an ability called [Shadow Flash], but they didn't use it that often as it consumed a quarter of their energy.
Lucia wrapped her wings around the other two birds and slipped into the shadows and out of the crate, bringing them with her.
The storage hold smelled of damp wood, iron, and something faintly rotten that had seeped into the planks over the years.
Lantern light swung lazily from a hook overhead, casting long, swaying shadows that stretched and shrank with the motion of the ship. Barrels were stacked in uneven towers. Coils of rope lay like sleeping serpents along the walls. Nets hung from pegs, still crusted with salt.
It was just… storage.
The view that they were met with was slightly depressing but it didn't faze them.
"What are we going to do?" Kristen whispered.
"First, I need to cover this room in an illusion so no one notices we're here." Lucia responded.
She went to work almost immediately, focusing her mind on the task until satisfied.
'Huh. Thats weird, I think she just made the illusion but I didn't sense anything.'
Kristen thought with confusion about what had just happened.