"Hurrah!" cheered Birdie. "Scholars you may be, but I couldn't really see a couple of hobbits burying themselves in a musty, dusty library on their first day of 'shore leave'. Time for books tomorrow, eh Kali?" Kali smiled uncertainly, not quite certain what Birdie might have planned for them all.
"But first we must pick up another passenger." Birdie pulled up on a raised road that ran beside the river and looked around carefully. Then spying no one but themselves in the evening dusk, she threw a rope over the side of the cart and into the water. The rope tightened with a weight, and slowly, Levanto pulled himself out of the water, his wiry muscle flexing with the strain. Reaching the top of the cart's side, he flipped over and landed with a thump in the cart bed, looking half like a fish out of water.
Birdie handed him a soaked blanket to wrap around his tail, and threw a cloak over his shoulders. "Comfy?" she asked.
"Hardly, but I am not here for comfort, but for education. I am the first of my people to venture into a Men's City. When I return home, I shall publish my observations for all to read! This," intoned Levanto, "is an historic occasion for all of Mer-Kind."
"Well, send us a copy of your book when it's finished." laughed Birdie. "But where is Pio? She certainly wouldn't miss out on our soujourn?"
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