"Yeah. I wonder what it'd be like if I went to an entire different world - like, is there even an answer to 'which way and how far to Earth from here'?"

"There was a... transition. It was more like falling than like taking a bus but not very much like falling either."

"What's a bus?"

"A mode of group transportation for people who can't fly or anything cool like that."

"Oh. Yeah, that kind of thing is useful."

"Yep. Were you busy? Should I be asking for directions to civilization rather than interrogating you?"

"No, not really, I was just out for a nice early evening flight. What do you mean by 'civilization'?"

"A population center? Possibly with buildings."

"I guess maybe Silver Falls, then? That's the capital city - sort of the only city - they're kind of a Day thing, cities."

"A day thing?"

"Oh - like the Kingdom of Day, I mean. This is the Kingdom of Night. The world is a circle and the north half is the Kingdom of Night, ruled by the Moon Queen, and the south half is the Kingdom of Day, ruled by the Sun King. They have a lot of cities and bureaucracy and stuff, it's terrible, Night is way better."

"Humans find cities pretty useful but maybe they aren't as good for nonhumans."

"Night folk who like cities live in Silver Falls. I've been there a few times. It's nice to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. It's good that it's there for people who want it, though. Things being there for people who want them, that's - important."

"I agree. Where do people who don't like cities live?"

"Oh, everywhere else. Like I have a place with my family in the Moonrise Hills, and I stay with my squad most of the time otherwise - most species have at least one or two places that are just how they like it, and that's where most people of that species grow up, and then when you're old enough to go and see the world you do that if you want to and stay home if you don't, and join the army if you want to and not if you don't, and if you really like the quiet life you move to the mountains where people who really like the quiet life live - the war has never ever ever in the whole history of the world got as far as the mountains, it's safe there. Most other places are mostly safe too, if they're not near the border, but - safe is the point of the mountains, you don't go there if you're the type to scuffle with the neighbours."

"Is there a lot of call to join the army?"

"Well, sure, we're - oh." He shuffles awkwardly on his perch. "We're at war with the Kingdom of Day all the time but I guess there's no reason you'd know that."

"There is not. What for?"

He blinks at her.

"...well, because we don't like each other, I guess? It's been like that forever. Night gets ahead in winter and Day gets ahead in summer and it all comes back around. Sometimes somebody thinks they'll really break the cycle this time and it never works."

"It's not that bad - everybody who really doesn't want to be bothered can go live in the mountains -"

"Are there military objectives associated with this war that aren't 'express dislike for each other'."

"...I don't know what you mean?"

"Like, humans sometimes have wars, which are usually about making sure some humans don't have access to scary weapons, or that they stop doing horrible things to their own citizens or their neighbors, or that they secure economic control of some resource, or that they follow through on their promises to protect other groups of humans that they are allied with, or something like that. Countries that merely don't like each other might find an excuse to have a war but they would need an excuse."

He tilts his head at her. It goes quite a ways over, being an owl's head.

"There's something - not matching up - and I can't quite figure out what it is," he says. "You have wars, we have a war - your wars stop, I think? They start and then they stop? Ours just goes on."