Court of Feathers

Sixteen

Word Count: 2,118

"Wow," Shiro breathed, the city taking away his breath the moment he stepped foot outside the castle.

Lance chuckled beside them. "Welcome to Altea."

The view in front of them had no words to describe how breathtaking it was. It was unlike anything Shiro imagined. It looked to be a slice of pure bliss taken out of the past, Grecian columns wrapped with delicate ivy decorated multiple houses and shops, their red-toned bricks bright in the sunlight streaming through trees that poked up out beside the sidewalks every few feet, a cool breeze blew their branches softly. The cobblestone paving the street between the shops was a dark grey in the bright afternoon sun.

Shiro thought it couldn't get much better, but that was until he noticed the people on the street.

Avians, young and old, walked through the street, some stopped to talk with others coming out of the shops, others were carrying large bags and looked to be starting their walk home before night fell. There were a few avians, Shiro noticed, who were flying gracefully in the wind, a faster way to get to their destinations and their outstretched wings only made Shiro's mouth fall even wider.

"You guys don't need to look so surprised, you know," Pidge leaned over and whispered, and Shiro noticed that they hadn't taken a single step forward the moment their eyes landed on the sprawling city in front of them, heck, they weren't even past the castle gates yet.

Lance gave her a light nudge and Pidge was forced to tear her eyes away from the two and focus on maintaining her balance, readjusting the straps of her backpack holding the heavy load on her back, nestled in between her small wings, and getting out a low growl pointed in Lance's direction, but the teen pretended to be oblivious. "Let them take it in, Pidge, this is the first time they've seen it."

She huffed and rolled her eyes, "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna stand here anymore, see ya tomorrow, Lance."

The prince waved and Shiro watched her small form get swallowed up by the crowd, quickly vanishing from sight. A moment later, he noticed a small figure taking to the skies and Shiro wondered if it was Katie.

Wait. Not Katie, Pidge, he scolded himself after catching his mistake, it was Pidge, he reminded himself.

"But seriously," Lance clapped his hands together, Keith, who had been standing beside him, jumped at the noise, quickly sending him a small glare, "You guys can't just stand here gawking, I'm planning to give you guys the full tour before the moon rises, so let's go!"

Shiro and Keith were forced into single formation as they walked through the streets, people crowded them at all sides and Shiro jumped more than once when he felt the light brush of feathers against his arm.

However, even though it was pretty crowded, the people didn't give off a feel like you would get when walking through a newly opened mall or something like that, it felt almost surreal, especially once Shiro noticed that no one seemed to mind that they suddenly had a prince walking in their midst.

He had noticed that it was strange that Lance didn't have any guards when walking out of the castle in the first place. He thought that the prince would need at least a little protection when leaving, he himself never met any royalty until now, but Shiro knew that even most celebrities were rarely seen without a crowd of people following behind them. But now that they were out on the streets, Shiro knew that Lance didn't need anything like that. It's like he said before, they're all connected, and apparently that meant the same for royalty too.

As they continued through the streets, walking past mostly shops and street vendors, Shiro began to notice something else that tore the human world away from this one. There weren't any vehicles, the only modes of transportation instead were small but graciously decorated carriages parked in front of storefronts, the beings pulling them were an array of colors that seemed to catch the light with every small movement they made. They looked like a bird, but the thing had the build of a horse instead, standing on four legs instead of just two. The bulge of feathers on their necks made them look imperial and menacing. Their beaks were a shade of gold, the same—Shiro noticed—as their claws. Each bird-like foot was tipped with deadly looking claws, and harnessed with jewel-studded straps that held them to the carriages they were to pull.