Re: Going through Gemia - 119 4A

by **Kara Winters** Sat Jun 06, 2015 8:23 pm

If it had been a decade ago, Holly was pretty sure she would have thought Shiro and Kaito cute. Which was an odd thought, she had been spending nearly as long avoiding any courtship in the town.

"It's a preference of ours," Holly replied not taking the bait.

Glad she ditched the hoop skirt and just went for an under skirt, Holly took a seat, carefully arranging her skirt and her tail underneath.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Jun 06, 2015 8:30 pm

"Well, everyone has one," Shoneah smiled. She was one to speak. Didn't matter where they were, somewhere safe or otherwise, she always kept a hunting knife in the back of her pants. But she also kept her goggles around her neck, no matter whether she needed them or not.

Then again, everyone had preferences of some kind that others probably would think strange.

Rose was a bit slower in sitting down, her eyes wide as she looked around at them all.

"What ... what are all of you?" she asked.

"Neko!" Kaito grinned immediately. "Angelic neko, to be specific. My brother here is yokai neko. I'm Kaito, and this is Shiro."

Others went on to introduce themselves and their races, and of all the races that were named, Rose's greatest shock came from finding out that Kyrie and Khetal were siblings and both half human, and that Lancaeriel was half-blooded as well. She had never heard of mixed races before.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Jun 06, 2015 8:40 pm

Being up close allowed Holly to study everyone as they made introductions, she stared openly because she figured everyone would think she was just in as much shock as Rose. Of course, she could never have the exact same expression as Rose, mixed races weren't new to Holly.

In some ways she envied Kaito though, to be able to freely tell a person what race he was without fear of being hunted or someone having a major freak out. Granted, she figured that one would have to be a moron to attack a group this big, there was safety in numbers.

The more she studied them, the more she was sure some of them were Gaian. Neko was really a name her race took on as their own, it was Japanese in origin to mean cat. Yokai was also a Japanese word if she recalled correctly, which she suspected was used because demon was unacceptable. Angel and angelic were very Gaian concepts.

Nevermind the fact they were sitting with a kitsune and a slightly Asian looking angel.

She was willing to bet her whole stock of lace that these people were from Gaia.

"I'm Holly," the neko spoke up once the group was finished with their introductions, "And this is Rose."

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Jun 06, 2015 8:47 pm

Rose smiled at everyone, feeling better now that they had all been introduced. She was realizing that she hadn't quite thought through her idea of coming to see the group - she had wanted to see them, but only when she'd sat down had she realized that there just might be something to be afraid of.

Not that it was lasting.

"What are you all doing here?" she asked curiously. "I mean, I know you're traveling, but where are you headed? Where did you all come from?"

"Most of us are from various countries in Arkandia, some from another continent called the Four Lands, and a few are from a land called Gaia," Kyrie explained with a smile, not at all taken aback by Rose's curiosity. "Our goal is simple. Explore."

"Or find a place to live in safety," Jassin added quietly.

Shoneah smiled faintly, her eyes on Holly. "Or finding a way back home," she murmured.

Perhaps it was her imagination, but she thought she saw the same kind of look on Holly's face as she had seen at the plantation. Her reaction to seeing the group and to hearing where they were from was very different from anyone else's reactions. She was neither surprised nor curious. Simply ... what? Happy? Eager?

She couldn't help her curiosity.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Jun 06, 2015 8:54 pm

"Find a way back home?" Holly questioned.

She wondered if Shoneah was like her or if she had been kidnapped (or some rot). It was the other reason why Holly didn't travel away from the town on her own as soon as she could. She had been told a lot of horror stories, though the neko admitted she couldn't tell which was true or not.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:00 pm

Shoneah's eyes narrowed slightly as she analyzed Holly's question and tone. She couldn't be certain of course but she had the strangest feeling there was something more behind it.

Then again, no one else in the group seemed to be noticing anything, so it probably was her imagination.

"I and one other in our group - he's inside - came here from Gaia, through a tear between worlds," she explained quietly. "We just ... fell through. We ended up together and found these people. They have a way to return us home, so we joined them."

It was a very quick and not very detailed explanation, making a very long story very short, but she didn't want to end up going over their heads. They probably didn't even know there was more than one world, let alone that there was a way to travel between them.

Though part of her was curious to see Holly's reaction to her answer.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Jun 06, 2015 11:08 pm

There was a mixture of understanding and utter confusion, though it was the confusion that shown through. Magic was not something Holly studied, though she accepted it as a possible career path, it was just never her career path. The idea of a tear between worlds was new to her and hard to imagine.

Despite the fact she had a funny feeling she fell through one of those tears years ago. Did this mean that this was normal?

"I think... I see...."

Holly at least saw the possibility of returning home, even though she wasn't sure if she could pick up where she left off.

"Sorry, it's just so hard to imagine!"

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Jun 06, 2015 11:23 pm

Shoneah's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, unnoticeable by anyone who wasn't paying one hundred per cent attention, especially in the dark. There was definitely something there. But one more thing that was obvious was that the girl was trying to hide whatever it was. She couldn't just call her out on it.

Or maybe she could.

While Rose was making her own comments about the tale, Shoneah spoke casually in English, her head turned towards Andarien as though she were speaking to him, though her words clearly showed she was speaking to Holly.

She of course had to avoid using names or race names that Rose had just heard, and it took a bit of imagination, but she tried anyways. She just hoped that Rose didn't understand it.

"Do you speak English, girl in the bonnet?" she asked in a conversational tone.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Jun 06, 2015 11:35 pm

Holly didn't say anything, she couldn't with Rose nearby and Rose was a bit too quick. Fortunately, the last Holly checked Rose didn't know English. There was a quirk of the lips though.

Fortunately the conversation topic had changed again, as Miyuki had to ask.

"I've been meaning to ask about the dresses here," Miyuki explained, "They're really pretty, and unique. I was wondering if there was a tailor I could go to while we're here."

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Jun 06, 2015 11:44 pm

Now that was definitely something.

Perhaps she could try again later.

Rose grinned at Miyuki. "That would be Holly, here!" she beamed. "Holly's been making clothes for the town since she came, and we've all really come to love it."

She took almost as much pride in Holly's work as Holly herself - or maybe even more, since Holly was really a modest woman.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Jun 06, 2015 11:49 pm

"I'm a seamstress," Holly explained, "And have a shop in town. Feel free to drop by sometime. I won't be able to do anything really complicated in a few days, but I can come up with something that doesn't require a complicated dye job."

She resisted the urge to call it a print, which wasn't really accurate.

"Great!" Miyuki grinned, "I'll try dropping by tomorrow, I think it'll be fun."

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Jun 06, 2015 11:56 pm

"You should see if your aunt wants to go with you," Lashrael suggested quietly to Miyuki. "I think she would enjoy the experience, and the opportunity to ask questions, if nothing else."

Iorlas and Daeron had long since gone to bed, so Iorlas wasn't around to ask on her own behalf. But being a tailor - at least, learning to make clothes - she would probably be quite eager to go with Miyuki. Besides that, this way Miyuki wouldn't have to go on her own.

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jun 07, 2015 12:03 am

"I'll ask in the morning, we'll make a full day trip of it," Miyuki replied, "It'll also give me a chance to see what else there is here."

Miyuki would never pass up the chance to find new goods that she could take somewhere else.

"Come early in the day, most everyone else would be busy, so the shop itself won't be that busy," Holly suggested.

Normally early day was when she worked on clothes because everyone else was busy working.

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jun 07, 2015 12:07 am

Earendil chuckled and reached over to ruffle his daughter's hair lightly. "Miyuki's an early riser," he grinned. "I'm sure we'll be there bright and early."

"Though on that note," Kyrie grinned, "it's well past the hour when most regular people - business people especially - are fast asleep and resting up for the next day. Is there a reason you came to visit us so late?"

"My fault," Rose laughed. "I wanted to avoid being lectured again."

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jun 07, 2015 12:18 am

"Rose gets lectured very often," Holly explained, "And really, this isn't appropriate for us in truth..."

It was just that Rose didn't care and Holly really didn't care at the current moment.

"But now that you mention it we should get going. Here, I brought some cookies and a brick of tea, and I'm sure we'll see you in town tomorrow."

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jun 07, 2015 12:44 am

"Oh, why thank you!" Kyrie beamed accepting the basket on behalf of the group. "And yes, we look forward to seeing you then!"

The group bid their farewells, and as Rose and Holly headed out, they used the soil of the field to put out the fire and headed inside for the night.

The next morning, several in the group were sleeping in, but Shoneah had made sure to be up early. She wanted to go with Miyuki to Holly's shop, hoping that no one else would be there and that she could check out her suspicions - but she also wanted to make sure Miyuki wanted her along.

"Good morning, Iorlas," she greeted the woman as she entered the kitchen.

Iorlas was sitting at the table with Amir, feeding him his breakfast, and she smiled back at Shoneah. "Good morning," she murmured. "I hear it was quite late by the time you all came inside last night."

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jun 07, 2015 12:54 am

"We had two unexpected guests last night," Miyuki explained, "One of them is a local seamstress. I'm hoping to go to her shop today to request a dress. I'm really interested in the style here..."

She wasn't sure about the really puffy dresses but all that lace, and the patterns on some of them were just interesting.

"Would you like to come along? They seemed really nice so I think she would be happy to talk about tailoring and the like."

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jun 07, 2015 1:40 pm

"Oh, yes, I'd love to come and meet her!" Iorlas beamed. "I'm always up for learning more about sewing, I still have so much that I don't know!"

"If you don't mind," Shoneah spoke up, "I'd like to tag along. Something about her ... bothers me."

Iorlas was surprised. "Oh? In what way?"

Shoneah frowned. "It just didn't seem like she was surprised at ... a lot of the things we were talking about. And when I asked if she spoke English, she definitely reacted."

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jun 07, 2015 2:44 pm

"Really?" Miyuki asked, "Reacted in what way?"

That did sound odd, most people were surprised by them and their stories. To Miyuki there wasn't anything odd about the girl, she was really nice. Or maybe it was the fact she seemed to treat them more like anyone else that was probably a bit odd.

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jun 07, 2015 2:55 pm

Shoneah's lips tightened as she thought about how to explain it. "It's ... not really something I can put into words," she murmured. "Something ... about her eyes ... she didn't look surprised to see us. Or the variety of races. It was more like ... hope. Excitement. Happiness. I don't know. And when I asked if she spoke English, her facial muscles twitched. There was definitely something."

She shook her head and reached for some fresh fruit from the bowl on the table. "It was easy to see that Rose was thrown completely for a loop, but even at the plantation, when Holly first saw us, there was none of that. She's practiced in hiding it, I think, but she was not surprised."

There was simply no other way to put it. She had been trained to watch people as much as everything else around her, and that was what she had seen.

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jun 07, 2015 2:57 pm

"Huh...."

So not negative emotions, but positive ones that was kind of weird. Miyuki thought about it a bit and then recalled something that Holly had told them.

"Holly said to come early in the day, there shouldn't be anyone else in her shop because everyone else is working..."

She wondered if that was on purpose.

"I guess we won't know until we get there right?"

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jun 07, 2015 3:05 pm

"I suppose not," Shoneah murmured softly. "I suppose we'll find out."

"Perhaps we should just speak in the Common Tongue when we go in and see if she joins in the conversation," Iorlas suggested with a giggle. "Just a thought. Do you think she would mind if Amir came with us? I mean, I'm sure she wouldn't mind Amir, but of course that would mean Kaede would be joining us ..."

Shoneah chuckled. "Well, she seems a friendly sort," she agreed. "Brought us a basket of cookies and tea last night. Probably one of the warmest welcomes we've had."

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jun 07, 2015 3:10 pm

"It was," Miyuki laughed, "Bring Amir and Kaede along, I'm sure it'll be okay. If the shop's empty like she said even better."

That way no one was going to be put off up a kid and his Pokemon. While Rose and Holly were quite nice, Miyuki didn't miss the stink eye a lot of other townfolks were giving them.

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jun 07, 2015 7:45 pm

"Then perhaps we should go right away," Iorlas giggled. "If she won't speak in front of others, we want to make sure we're the first ones there."

"Well, I'm ready when all of you are," Shoneah smiled.

Iorlas looked over her shoulder at Amir. "Amir, ready to go meet someone new?"

Amir looked up at Iorlas and blinked. "Out?" he asked.

"Yes," Iorlas laughed. "Out. Come."

The boy pushed himself to his feet and patted Kaede on the head. "Come, Kaede! Out!" he beamed.

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jun 07, 2015 7:53 pm

Miyuki chuckled as she watched her cousin and his Pokemon. Grabbing her bag, Miyuki held the door open for the other.

"I'm ready as well."

Meanwhile Holly was passing the time tatting the lace she had been working on last night. There wasn't anything else she could work on while waiting at the counter. Normally she would have an apprentice man the counter, but expecting company she had all of her apprentices work at their residence in other things that didn't require the workshop.

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