Our first way lead us back to the inn. There we divided up the coin as Quu'za suggested. I still felt a little bad about it but she was insistent. She just kept telling me how it wouldn't be right for her to take all the reward money for the ogre extermination. As far as she was concerned we already did her and her people a great service. Kaele on the other hand had been terribly quiet on our way back and at times it felt like she was glaring daggers at my back and that was killing me. Even the cat gave me the evil eye. I noticed when I dared to glance their way once. I sighed. “Kaele, I have told you that I'm sorry and I'll tell you again and again even if you don't seem to believe me.”

That didn't really calm her down. No, it didn't brighten her mood at all. The only reason why she wasn't chewing me out right now probably was because we were back in the public, browsing through the various clothing shops along one of the more lively roads of Caer'zha. Which meant that it was positively crowded here. She just huffed and handed me another tunic the shop clerk had recommended. “It doesn't really matter how often you apologize. I understand you were in a desperate situation and had to do desperate things.” The words seemed to really pain her. “That has been happening a whole lot lately and somehow I doubt it will end happening anytime soon.” I voice was shaking. “So far we have been pretty lucky but one of these days you might just not be.”

I couldn't really argue against that. She wasn't wrong after all. Not being lucky once more often than not was enough to kill a warrior very dead. It was an all to common element of many great and heroic stories. At some point the hero simply ran into a spot of tough luck he or she couldn't prevail against. Very dramatic. I had cried a few tears myself when Kaele had read me some of these stories when we were younger. And the thought that my life might take a turn like that made me feel uncomfortable. I didn't want to become a tragic hero. In fact I probably could do without being a hero altogether. Could I really keep doing the right thing, which ironically often enough was considered heroic, without being a storybook hero? Try as I might, these thoughts just wouldn't leave my mind.

I held the tunic up against my body. It was a little too colorful for my taste. Even worse, if I wore it under my armor no one would even get to see all the pretty colors. Such a waste. I didn't dare object though. Finally I made up my mind. I handed the colorful tunic back to my sister and picked up one of the plainer ones she had suggested before. The main difference between it and the one I was currently wearing was that it actually reached my knees. As I did that I made up my mind regarding the other matter as well. “You are right Kaele.” My words cut through the dense atmosphere between us like a knife. “We will probably end up in many more desperate or dangerous situations and I will be fighting tooth and nail to get us out of them again. I will keep doing dangerous and reckless things if I see no other options because what I will never do is to just lie down and wait for my fate, doing nothing.”

That was the honest truth. Doing nothing in the face of grave danger just wasn't an option. And we both knew it even if Kaele didn't like it, judging by the way her shoulders slumped. I tugged at the tunic I had handed back to her. “Why don't you get that one for yourself. I'll settle for this other one. The colors would be wasted on me.” It was a rather plump attempt at cheering her up and that as well was something that we both knew. My sister most certainly knew anyway, given the way she raised an eyebrow. I decided not to give her the opportunity to complain though. “Look, there is no way to prepare for all the pitfalls ahead of us on our path in life. We can only deal with them as they come. At best we can prepare to be surprised and make the best of it. Until then we just live our lives to the best of our abilities.”

I pulled her into a hug, careful not to squish the cat, and stroked her hair. It came as a little surprise when Quu'za joined the hug as well. We only knew her for a few days. She wasn't one of our livelong friends. Despite that it wasn't unwelcome. I ruffled her feathers a little as well. I turned to the shop clerk. “These two tunics, please.” She nodded in return and wrapped them up in piece of plain cloth for transport. I accepted the package after handing the human girl some coins. Enough to cover the price of the two garments and then some. I felt that she deserved it since we had troubled her for quite a while. I held the package close and turned to my companions. “Where to next? Do you want to get changed? Or should we get something to eat first?”

My sister shrugged, uncertain about where to go from here. She probably was still a little troubled. “We could go looking for a spellcaster that can perform a proper analysis of your weapon, like you mentioned, as well.” She paused and frowned. “Although our chances to actually find someone with the necessary level of skill will be better in the capital.”

I nodded. She was right. I had mentioned that and it was something I really wanted done sooner rather than later.

I was still thinking about it when Quu'za perked up. “I heard that some bakeries here have a kind of specialty, a double baked bread. I think they make it because it keeps really long. You people use it for travel rations and the likes but us harpies we actually really like it because it is extra crunchy!” She looked at me and Kaele with big eyes. “Can we get some while we look for your wizard?”

“Sure. That shouldn't be a problem.” Did they really like it that much? Sure every once in a while it could offer a welcome change to our diet but in the long run we only ate it because we had to. After a few days of nothing but double baked hard bread anything else was more than welcome to us. On most days I would rather have fluffy, fresh bread. Well, if she wanted it, we would get it. First things first though. “We should head back to the inn first though. If we actually find a wizard that can perform an in depth analysis I want the glaive along for it. And when we are back at the inn, we might as well get changed into our new things.” I frowned as something else occurred to me. “And we probably should ask if they received any messages for us. Just in case.”

No one disagreed. It wasn't terribly likely that the caravan already arrived but asking anyway didn't cost any effort worth mentioning and it was the sensible thing to do. By my estimates they would arrive in the evening at best. It was more likely that they would arrive at the gates some time tomorrow though. In that case we wouldn't depart before the day after tomorrow. Would that be enough time to analyze my glaive? I had no idea. I had never paid attention to that particular school of magic. Kaele was no expert on it either although she at least knew some basics. “Do you think a proper analysis can be done until the morning of the day after tomorrow? That is, if we find someone capable of it.”

My sister shrugged. “Maybe. We will find out. If we find someone.” Then she stopped dead in her tracks in front of another little shop, a mischievous smile spreading across her lips. They were selling hair ornaments and simple jewelry here. The actual jewelry was beyond our budget but she had her eyes on something else anyway. She picked up a few long strips of bright red cloth with yellow and orange embroidery. They were some of the most basic hair ornaments. Usually they would be woven into braids but they could be used in other ways as well. I had seen them used as horn ornaments a few times as well. What was she planning? Well, whatever it was, it apparently was contagious.

Quu'za followed her example and started picking up some of these colorful strips of cloth as well, although she went for different colors. Ones that would go well with her feathers.

I sighed. Somehow I started to suspect that more than a simple change of clothes lay ahead of me. Well, it could be worse. A little color wouldn't hurt anyone. Right?