Kareet tilted her head as she looked over at Zey. “Like…heights?” She questioned. She had heard the laughs from the Humans, and by this point and could guess that there had been a joke, even if she did not understand it. “Sorry, I don’t think the question, or…expression translated well.”

[hr]

Now that they were on the river, there were only a few days ahead of them on their journey. It would not take long after leaving Ertiseda for Kareet’s comments about the river to be seen in practice, as it was a busy waterway, all things considered. This river in particular connected the Ascendency to Lake Núr, which could connect to over half of the nations on the continent. It was the less popular of the two rivers which connected to the Lake, but it did provide a shorter path to Kerak Núr and most of the major cities in Avko. Riverboats carrying goods, or soldiers on patrol, were a common sight, though it did not truly start feeling crowded until they reached Lenkik. The city sat at the convergence of two rivers, and three major trade routes. Not to mention, commoners of Lenkik who made their living on the water added to the traffic on the river. Especially considering the small fishing boats, there could have been hundreds of boats on the water at once. No doubt, the Humans in plain view on their boat caught the eyes of many as they passed by, but it still felt like they were almost lost in the crowd as they moved past the city. The last leg of their journey, between Lenkik and Arcaeda, was on an even busier stretch of the river than the first. While not so densely packed as the area immediately surrounding Lenkik, it was rare for there not to be another vessel in view. 

[hr]

Kareet sat back on one of the seats near the rear of the barge, looking up at the bright blue sky above. It was close to midday, when she would [i]normally[/i] be fast asleep. The Humans seemed to prefer to be active during the day, so ever since making contact with them, she had adjusted her schedule to match. Tekeri in some professions and places had adapted to sleeping almost entirely at night, but she still felt strange being surrounded [i]constantly[/i] by such bright light. It was unnatural, and a bit unsettling. Nellara and her soldiers did not seem to be as visibly bothered as Kareet had been. They were professionals who were accustomed to rough conditions, she supposed. Granted, she was no stranger to such conditions, but she also tended to have control over her own schedule.

After a while, Kareet was snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed some of the soldiers were starting to become uncomfortable for entirely different reasons. It took a while for her to figure out what was unsettling them, as no matter where she looked, she could see nothing that stood out around them. Eventually, she realized it was the “nothing” that was the problem. There was not another boat in sight, and for this stretch of river, that was rare. Not impossible, of course, especially for just a short time, but she had not been paying attention to how long this had been going on. Not to mention it was…quiet. The usual constant chirping of birds from the forests around the river during the day was conspicuously absent. For that, she had no explanation.