Sleep was not in the cards for Rocki. She managed to fall asleep after at least two long hours of lying in beds, then woke up before the sun and was unable to sleep again. When she saw the sky lighten outside the window, she gave up on achieving any more rest and finally sat up, quietly stretching her arms and wings.

Her leg was sore to say the least. The painkillers had clearly worn off and the wound had stiffened. It could be worse. At least my wings aren't still sore. Maybe I'll be able to learn to use them soon.

She sat in bed, looking out the window for what seemed like a long time, waiting for Kofi to get up. She was getting hungry, but she usually skipped breakfast at home, and she didn't want to go anywhere without her guide. She wasn't even sure if she could walk very easily anyway.

Eventually, Kofi rustled on the floor, taking in a deep breath that ended in a yawn. Rocki didn't say anything, only watched as he kept his eyes closed for a few more minutes before finally stretching and sitting up. One of his wings hit the wall and the other struck the bed as he stretched, testifying to the smallness of the room.

He looked up, flinching a little when he saw she was already watching him. "Well, good morning, gorgeous." He stretched one arm up, muscles flexing, and the other hand rubbed his messy, yet unfortunately attractive, blond hair. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." She shifted her injured leg to prove her point but grimaced at the pain that shot through her entire limb.

He scoffed. "Yeah, I can tell." He stood up, stretching again before yanking the blanket off Rocki.

"Hey!" She tried to grab it back from him, but he dropped it on the floor. Since she hadn't gotten a change of clothes, one pant leg was long and the other was short, so the cool air immediately gave her goosebumps.

Kofi touched her knee as he inspected the bandages around her thigh. "Does your leg hurt? I can get you pain relievers."

"I'm fine," she said again, crossing her arms.

"I'll go see if the inn has bandages." He edged towards the door. "Are you hungry? I can see if they have breakfast as well." His voice was light, but his eyes seemed worried, like she was going to die from the pain if he wasn't there.

Rocki shook her head. "Not really. Thank you though."

He dipped his head and left. From the sound of his retreating footsteps, he was booking it down the hall to get to the desk.

Rocki managed to get out of bed and limp her way over to the window, doing her best not to whimper at the pain. There wasn't much to see, just an alleyway between two buildings. But, if she edged far enough around the window, she could see the street the alley stemmed off of. There were sariun and valicara walking among each other like their kinds had never fought.

Two figures ducked into the alley. It looked like a female sariun and a female valicara. They leaned against the wall, chatting and smiling as they hung out away from the crowds. The conversation seemed so casual, they didn't have any concern about being seen, in fact, they waved to several people passing by.

They're... friends. Different species don't seem to be particularly important here. It's insane that on one planet, it makes all the difference and on another it makes none. Rocki watched the duo until Kofi returned with a roll of bandages and a tray of food.

"I've got fruit, light meat, and juice," he said. "You eat while I check out your wound." He placed the tray on the bed as she limped over.

She sat down next to the tray. "I told you I wasn't hungry."

He chuckled. "Well, in my experience with women, they always say that they don't want food and then they eat half your plate." He knelt on the floor, carefully beginning to unwind her bandage.

Her breath caught. His hands on her leg brought goosebumps to her skin and a shiver in her stomach. She didn't like the feeling she got having him so near. It reminded her of Kahinu. But when he glanced up at her, a smile beginning to form, she almost melted into his dark eyes. Her heart picked up speed and she almost wanted to lean into his warm presence.

Almost.

No. Nope. We're not having a repeat of Kahinu. I don't need this right now. She pulled her leg onto the bed, gritting her teeth at the pain. "I can do this myself."

The faint smile beginning to bloom on Kofi's face wilted. He took her ankle, turning her to the side so she was parallel with the bed, but her leg was still bent. "Just... let me, okay? I think I have a little more experience."

Rocki pursed her lips, glancing away as he started unwrapping the bandage again. She pretended not to notice the way his hand ran soothingly over her leg when he had to jerk the last bit of the bandage off due to the dried blood. It hurt like a direct blow to the wound, but her skin appreciated the fresh air.

"Try to eat something. Maybe it will distract you," he said, nodding at the tray as he looked closely at the injury.

I don't need distracting. Rocki kept the thought to herself and picked up a foreign fruit slice. It tasted like seawater, which was at least familiar, but not the greatest taste in the world. She tried a couple of the fruits while Kofi tightly rewrapped her leg, her favorite being one that was similar in flavor to candy grapes.

"There you go." Kofi patted her leg and stood. "We should probably get to the ship. I may have overslept a little." He shrugged. "I'm sure Durck won't mind."

Rocki would have panicked if she had overslept and was late for an appointment. That was one of the many differences between her and Kofi. What if Durck leaves because we don't show up? We might not get the ship fixed today! "We should go then." She pushed herself out of bed, grimacing when slight weight was put on her leg.

He grabbed a handful of fruit, then led the way out of the inn, making sure she stayed close. The difference in length of her pant legs was driving Rocki crazy, but there wasn't much to do about it. She only had one pair—it wasn't like she had time to pack before being kidnapped.

Maybe Kofi has some extra I can borrow. Although he is much taller than me... I don't think they would fit very well. Stupid height. I'm only five-four. Kahinu was five-eleven. I wonder how tall the little guy will be. If it is a boy, he'll probably be tall, but if it's a girl, maybe she'll be as short as me. How long until I'm able to find out? I'm only about a month in, so I think I still have a while.

"What are you thinking about?" Kofi interrupted her pondering.

"None of your business."

"Calm down, I'm just making conversation."

"I'm fine with silence."

"All right then." He allowed quiet between them for the rest of the slow walk.

When they finally arrived at the ship, Durck was leaning against it, waiting. "I was just about to leave," he called when they were close enough. "You're very late."

Kofi shrugged. "Sorry. Travelling is hard on the body. Are you ready to work on the ship?"

"Been ready."

Rocki sat down outside while Durck and Kofi went into the ship. She leaned against the exterior, running some sandy dirt through her fingers. Around the town was flatland, but she could see a forest not too far away. The tree trunks were straight and uniform, but the leaves seemed to be all different shapes, sizes, and colors. It looked lovely to walk through.

When Rocki glanced back towards the town, she saw a female valicaran that looked to be about the same age as her coming towards the ship. More specifically, towards her. The female waved, beginning to jog, but waited to speak until she was closer.

"Hello! Nice ship!"

Rocki glanced back at the vessel. "It's not mine, but thanks."

The female smiled. "We don't get a lot of visitors here, so it's exciting to see a new face. I'm Sains."

"Roxanne."

"Rocki?" Kofi called, stepping onto the ramp. He raised his eyebrows at the figure in front of her. "I thought I heard voices. Can I help you?"

Sains shook her head. "I saw your ship yesterday, but there wasn't anyone inside. Since you're out here now, I wanted to say hello. We haven't had any new valicara here for a time. My name is Sains."

"I'm Kofi." He nodded at her. "How long have you lived on Bey-Ark?"

She flicked her long ponytail off her shoulder. "My whole life. All of my family has. My grandparents were some of the first immigrants here. We had one of the oldest homes in town. Until yesterday at least. I'm sure you heard about the collapse."

Rocki glanced at the blond valicaran. "Didn't the lady at the inn yesterday say a house collapsed?"

"She did. Said the whole family had to stay in the inn."

Sains grinned. "That was us."

"You're not upset about the house?" Kofi asked.

"Not too much. We've been wanting to build a newer, bigger one anyway. This is our chance now. It was hard trying to get my things out of the rubble, but at least no one was hurt. We were out for the day when it happened."

"Did you find out what sariun did it?"

Sains tilted her head, eyebrows pushing together. "What do you mean?"

"Well, there's no way the house just fell apart," said Kofi. "Valicara houses are built too well. So, a sariun must have done something to make it collapse."

Her dark eyes sparked a little. "Those sariun you are accusing had nothing to do with my home collapsing. It was over eighty years old and made with very crude materials. It's a wonder it's survived this long with so many of us living in it. Those same sariun you seem to hate are the ones who have offered the most generous donations of food, money, and any kind of assistance they can offer. If you plan on staying here, you had better get your mindset straight because that sort of prejudice will not be tolerated here." She glanced at Rocki. "It was nice to meet you."

"Bye," Rocki said faintly as Sains stormed away. She looked up at Kofi. "You made her really mad."

He was still staring after her. "It's a good thing we aren't planning on staying then."