"Oh. Yeah. I've had lots of prac-tice doing that but maybe you havn't and it's hard without prac-tice or somethin'?"

"...it's hard because we're walking and that burns calories and I need those to do stuff."

"... Oh."

"I don't think amaliens need those but it makes sense that animals would and I guess you're sorta like an animal in some ways."

"I could try to find you berries or something but I don't know if you could eat them and it might take a while - I'm not used to finding food that's more than the food I need on my own."

"Maybe we could get a cart, and I could rest in the cart, and you could pull it because you're a perpetual motion machine. I'd still get hungry but I wouldn't get extra hungry from walking. ...but we'd need a cart."

"I could carry you but that would be slow."

"Could make a sled thing for you if we have to, that would be less slow but still pre-tty slow."

"Also I will get hungry and slower cause of that 'ventually."

"We can maybe ask for lunch next time we see a house. But they might not give us any."

"Mhm, we should still try though, I think."

Trudge trudge.

"Yeah."

The houses are actually a little more densely packed as they go, though many are set far enough back from the road they're taking to be a considerable detour on their own. Kota, already a shade browner, picks a more accessible one to try around noon.

Knock knock!

A girl who would be maybe three if she were Amentan answers the door. "Hello?"

"Hi. My friend Kota and I are far away from home and we're going to... The town nearby where there's a place for people who don't have a place for themselves but we're hungry and have been walking all day and we're wondering if there's some food we could have before we go all the way there."

The girl looks at some hidden family member inside and then turns back to Fika and Kota. "We don't have any extra," she says firmly. "You can get handouts from the angels in Velora."

"Am on our way there now, just worried about having enough food for the long walk...."

"We don't have any extra. You may glean."

"Oh, okay."

Fika is familiar with gleaning - looking for extra food left over in gardens. She takes Kota to go and look for something in any crops that might be nearby.

They don't find much, and most of what there is is on the ground and Kota is extremely dubious about it. Eventually he decides that it's best to just get to Velora as fast as possible even without lunch and forges ahead.

Fika eats one of the on the ground things, and keeps another for if Kota changes his mind later.

Trudge, trudge, trudge.

He doesn't change his mind. The sun starts to set and he goes faster, even though he was complaining that he wasn't a hiker and was developing blisters not an hour ago. The track's been getting better-maintained, at least. They crest over a hill and can see a town, a real town, in the distance.

"Almost there!"

Eefa gives him an en-couraging (but tired) smile.

"Yeah," he pants. "Maybe we can get there before it's dark and they'll have streetlights?"

"Maybe!"

Walk walk.

"Why'd you want them to have streetlights?"

"So we can see?"

"Oh. Mhm."

"I can prolly make a torch if we have to."

Almost there! Walk walk walk.

Velora proves to have some lamps, though they're not very bright. It's enough to not trip once the sun is down.

Kota asks a passing lamplighter, "Where is the Kapiel School?"

"The what?"

"Gabeel School? Or somethin'?"

"For people who don't have other places to go."