Feeling the boy relax is a good sign. As long as he doesn't nod off and leave Atreyun stranded in this unfamiliar place. Well, he'd wake Akihito if that happened. It seems that people still navigate visually (wait until he learns about GPS!), albeit with perhaps more stationary points of reference than the sun and stars. It doesn't seem as if these traffic lights move or shift by the hour.

Lefts and rights are fine. Traffic lights are fine. Those references will get them where they're going and that's ultimately what matters.

"What were you doing?" Before he was attacked. What was he out for, Atreyun wonders.