Welcome to Gaia! ::

Caoimhe was getting fat. And she knew it. It wasn't that being overweight was a real concern for her; no silly thing like needing to buy extra clothes could make her put down a donut these days. But last week, when she was trying to escape from her house at night, Gristla had not only been able to hear her trying to get out of the window from a mile away, but when the selkie Fa'e burst into a run, her much slower guardian was able to catch her. For the first time. Ever. It was humiliating to say the least. So, feeling the weight of an extra thirty pounds sagging around her midsection, Caoimhe bought a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants and decided to put herself on a strict diet and training regiment. It had to be done.

Since she came to Gaia and no longer had to fend for her life on a daily basis, the lost Fa'e had replaced her usually daily work-outs and weapons training with four course meals and the television. It was this place's fault, damnit! People just had it so easy. Sure, it had taken her some persuading. Part of Caoimhe was always scared that this was some dream, and that, if she believed it too strongly, the Eninac would show up and finally kill her. But days and weeks and months and years melted away her trepidation, letting her reflexes grow soft and unused. The girl barely noticed the change in her physical self. She was too absorbed with learning more about the strange new world and just why she had been brought here in the first place.

For today's exercise, Caoimhe decided to head to the park. No amount of culture shock could kill her love for the great outdoors, and when she was outside, if she closed her eyes, she could imagine that she was back in Aranorn, running through the forest. She didn't know if it really helped her, but her muscles felt more charged after trying it. Besides, it wasn't that she hated her old world, just the people.

Stepping on to the edge of the park, Caoimhe let her eyes follow the wide sidewalk that wrapped around the pond in the center of the space. A tall fountain sprayed a fan of water into the air at the middle of the water, probably to make the pond look less stagnant. A few Mallard ducks quacked their way through the water, and round turtles scurried into the water at the Fa'e's approach. With the heavy wind that day, the trees swayed lazily back and forth, brushing branches with one another where the growth was thick.

The park was active that afternoon. School had let out and tall and short teenagers sprawled out on the grass and threw stones into the small pond. Two mothers pushed strollers around the path, laughing one second and checking on their babies the next. The usual vendors shouted for customers to come try their food, and Caoimhe felt a rock in the pit of her stomach. But she would be strong. No funnel cake for her, no matter how loud the vendor yelled or how delicious it smelled.

Or maybe it could be a reward after her run? Yes, yes, that was it. If she ran an extra few laps, she could have the funnel cake.

In mid-afternoon with all these people in the park, Caoimhe remained at ease. She had gotten used to having lots of people around all the time in Gaia. She could even stomach the sight of dogs... to some extent. It was an assimilation process that was nearly complete, and it had happened without the young teen even noticing. Her guardian, too, had grown lax, grabbing a job as a security guard at a boutique in Gambino Isle. Not too many people wanted to rob a place with what appeared to be a tiger on duty. It kept Gristla busy for most of the day, which kept Caoi happy.

The wind picked up, rustling her wavy hair, and the petite girl quickly pulled it back into a pony tail. Sidestepping a thin man speeding by on his bicycle, she found an empty bench and took a seat, taking time to double check that her shoes were tied. Yesterday, she had faceplanted on the cement when she forgot--shoes were kind of a new thing for her--and she did not intend to repeat the humiliation today. Taking in a deep breath, the selkie Fa'e finished off the last bite of her granola bar and began stretching in preparation for her workout.

With one foot propped up on the bench, Caoimhe lazily slung her arms over the lifted leg, letting her free fingers tug at the tight sneaker. Shoes were not her friend, but she would have to get used to it. As she pulled the laces tight, a strange tingle pulled at the back of her head--a familiar feeling for a girl who was used to scouting and being scouted. She was being watched. Blue-green eyes shot over to the direction where she felt the tug, and there, standing between her and the pond, was a...thing.

A black thing. A black sparkly thing.

The Fa'e narrowed her eyes, pressing her fringe of lashes upward, and rose to her full height--still shy of five feet. So she stretched taller, unconscious though it was, and placed a hand on her hip. Caoi might have wondered if the kid was looking at someone else under normal Gaia conditions, but this thing's stare was so direct and hard that it was clear he was looking at her. The better question being: why?

She didn't sense danger, not really. Plus, he was definitely younger than her, despite how petite she was for her age. She could take him if she had to, even if she was out of shape. The wind picked up again, pressing her loose shirt tighter over her waistline. It was a great day for running, it really was, but the curious side of the selkie Fa'e forced her to confront this boy. Or at least, that is what she thought made her speak up.

"Are you lost?" she said, returning his stare with her own. Normally she wouldn't even address an onlooker, maybe just drop some underhanded insult as she ran off, but there was something strangely familiar about this boy, though she was certain he was a stranger. It was odd, off-putting, and Caoimhe wanted to know why, whether she admitted it to herself or not. And like most things in her life, she probably wouldn't.

Caoimhe held her composure as Dustin mirrored her, finding her natural instincts for a challenge returning slowly. He still seemed relatively harmless to her, sword and all, and the exchange reminded the teen Fa'e more of wrestling with other Enilef in her old world than an actual fight. Just her and bunch of kittens, rolling around, basically. Of course, they were bigger than the traditional cat and packed a bigger punch. But this kid probably did too.

Come to think of it, Dustin kind of looked like a kitty. Caoi didn't notice it at first, but when he slicked back his ears, she felt a prickle of familiarity cross behind her eyes. She wasn't really aware of it, but it made her think positively of him, just slightly. He was reminiscent of her home and the closest thing she had to family; it was hard to think negatively.

Of course, Dustin could probably change that.

She listened to him, keeping her face as expressionless as possible. "You're the one who was staring at me," she said, dropping her hand to her side. Her Gaelic accent rolled off her tongue with the words.

Sea World? Caoimhe furrowed her brow. What the hell was that? A water...city. Yes, that had to be it, right? Still, the selkie Fa'e had done a lot of exploring around here, and she was pretty sure she would notice some watery village. Regardless, she had no intention of admitting to Dustin that she had no idea what he was talking about---so she went on the offensive. "Yeah, and I can drop you off at the zoo on the way. One of the big cats is out sick." Caoi smirked, proud of herself. So, proud, in fact, that she continued, "They'll throw you a nice steak, I'm sure." She wasn't exactly an insult master, but she made do.

"And you were the one staring at me," she reiterated. Waiting for a response from the boy, the teen made a mental note to figure out what Sea World was. The place didn't sound so bad, if it was real.

Caoimhe kept her smirk, though the corners of her mouth wavered. Behind Dustin, an old couple walked by, holding hands, but the selkie kept her eyes on the other Fa'e. She would not break her stare; it showed weakness, unless made purposeful by an eye roll or a nonchalant roving glance. It had been a long time since Caoi had talked to another person close to her age. Most of her interactions were with her guardian or their neighbors. To be blunt, she didn't really have any friends. Most people her age had been in Gaia for a while now, and the young teen found it a little hard to explain her past. Once the words "from another world and dimension" left her mouth, most people just nodded with wide eyes and excused themselves from the conversation as quickly as possible. Lying wasn't exactly the girl's strong suit either so she was stuck playing catch with herself and gravity or going for walks. Yeah, Caoimhe definitely needed to meet some people who didn't scare so easily.

Honestly, she didn't mind this attention, not at all. It gave her a breath of freedom from the monotony. And this kid wasn't too bad; she liked people who had a little fight in them. Of course, she assumed she had more. Always.

Still, it wasn't in her to back down. Get too hungry to fight? Sure. Too sleepy to keep speaking? Maybe. But Caoimhe didn't just quit, not when her pride was at stake. With a full stomach and a good night of rest behind her, the teen Fa'e just smiled at Dustin, cocking her head to one side in mock innocence and saying, "Last time I checked, there were leash laws in this park, too." She paused, contemplating her next move. Taking a few steps backward toward the bench, she added, "Does your owner know you're out without a collar?" and took a seat--just to show how little she cared about this tift. To make it more clear, she crossed her legs and propped an elbow up on the armrest, reclining with a sigh.

He could puff-up all he wanted. She would just act like she didn't care. It was an airtight plan. Couldn't fail. Probably not.

Maybe.

The nonchalant roving gaze. Time to unleash it. As Dusty began his rant, Caoimhe let her gaze wander around him. Oh, look, a lovely bush off to his left. Are those ducks splashing in the pond just out of sight? Certainly sounded like a bird flapping around in the water. And the mothers seem to have finished their first lap around the pond. Still listening 100%, the selkie Fa'e tried to give the impression that she was doing anything but--that is, until he spilled his name.

Dusty? He seemed clean enough. 'Shiny' or 'sparkly' might have been better titles. Still, Caoimhe was pleased enough to see that she had clearly gotten to the boy so she tallied a win on her mental slate and decided to relent. The "nobody tougher" almost made her sneaking grin fall, but she held it, issuing only a small, "Well, I don't really know anyone to ask." As much fun as the bickering was, Dusty had made the Fa'e curious enough to actually want to have a normal discussion.

"KEE-veh," she articulated, ignoring Dusty's condescending tone. "And if you're so tough, what are you doing hanging around a park full of pregnant moms and babies and ducks? Looking for a fight with an equal, eh?" She paused and then pointed off toward the Mallards floating around at the center of the pond. "Those ducks are pretty mean. I'd tell you to go after one of them." Her tone had softened, less biting and argumentative, more flippant. On the bench, she tucked a stray piece of waved hair behind her ear, pulling absentmindedly at her ponytail.

Caoimhe snorted in response to Dusty's claim of being unequaled, but the noise was fairly ambivalent. She might have pressed the issue, but given her abnormally flabby state, she wasn't exactly at the top of her game. No need to brag out loud, not today, not when she was unsure whether she could prove it. So, instead, the Fa'e welcomed the move toward a civil conversation, and despite her generally awful people-reading skills, she thought Dusty was relaxing too.

And then there it was. The g-word. It had been the bane of the Fa'e's existence when she first arrived in Gaia. Guardian this, guardian that. Don't stray from your guardian or you will disappear! It was like a spooky ghost story told to teach kids some lesson. Hansel and Gretel? Go into the woods without parental supervision and a witch will eat you. Yeah, this was definitely right up that alley. Still, Caoi had never heard a fairy tale about a Fa'e, and on the off chance the story was true, she planned on staying very close to Gristla. For now.

"I hate that word," she blurted, letting her big eyes go a little wide at her own admission. "I mean, I just get sick of hearing it all the time. My first day here, it was all about guardian stuff, why they are so important. And I didn't even know I had one, not really." Feeling a little embarrassed for how candid she was being, Caoi tried to retract her need to share. It had been ages since she had talked to anyone close to her age, let alone another Fa'e. Dustin probably had no idea how excited Caoimhe was just to talk to him, and she would do her best to hide it.

Clearing her throat, she dropped her long lashes and said, "But yeah, she nags. She works all the time too though so I have a lot of freedom to get away from her." The selkie Fa'e wasn't exactly good at being covert either. She wanted nothing more than to sit on the bench and share everything she knew about Fa'e--maybe Dustin could tell her something new? It seemed like she would never know everything about it, but knowing that other people were going through what she was... well, it was a comfort.

She had thought something seemed familiar about Dustin. Maybe this was it. Could she sense other Fa'e? That would definitely come in handy, she thought, but she had to be sure. "So, you're like me," she began, trying to remain nonchalant. "You're a..." Caoimhe let her words fall off, hoping he understood what she was saying.

At Dustin's point, Caoimhe narrowed her eyes at his extended finger. She wanted to bite it in reaction, but over of a year of social grooming from her once completely bestial graces had taught her that to bite someone was not really okay. So, instead, she clamped down on her tongue, excusing his aggressive pointing if for nothing else than because he was a Fa'e. Just like her. And she didn't even have to be the one to say it! She tricked him into being the one to really admit it. She tallied another win on her mental scoreboard and relaxed her eyes, nearly smiling.

Turning to face her fellow Fa'e in his new position on the bench, the selkie teen had a hard time controlling her excitement. The last Fa'e she had made contact with was Shina, and that had been months and months ago. Shina was older too, and Caoi definitely played to a younger crowd, maturity-wise. So Dustin was a little bejeweled savior, whether he knew it or not.

"I used to live at the Fa'e HQ actually. For a while. Too long, really. You been there? The fridge is always full." Caoimhe curled a leg under her before continuing, "I live on Gambino Isle now. Our house is a little beachside place at the intersection of Eucalyptus and 7th. Kind of hard to miss. We have seagreen shutters with little clam shells bordering the windows." Behind Dustin, a man ran by walking his dog, and though Caoi shuddered at the smell, she was too focused on her current conversation to let her gaze stray.

Sun Creek road? Hm, there were a lot of Sun-this and Sun-that around the area, and the Fa'e usually didn't pay much attention to road signs in her wanderings. "Sun Creek? I might have passed it walking around maybe, but I don't know exactly. What's it around?" Dustin was the first Fa'e who seemed remotely interested in seeing Caoimhe again. Most people just shared a brief conversation, and then that was it. No more contact. Could he be... friend-material? The excitement burbling in her throat almost made the teen giggle. Of course, she stifled it. That would just be inappropriate and embarrassing.

Perhaps it should have occurred to Caoimhe that all Fa'e would know where the Fa'e HQ was. It seemed to be Fa'e central, seeing as though it was where she popped up after Conrad ripped her from Aranorn. "I lived there for a long while. Gristla--my guardian--and me just holed up in the Blue Room until we could get situated here in Gaia." Which had taken much longer than expected, actually. Caoi was glad to be free of the HQ. For all its 'headquarter' status, the selkie teen actually did not run into too many of her brethren--at least not as many as she had expected.

"It was kind of boring, actually. Other Fa'e only came around every so often. It was mostly just me." She paused. "It's definitely better to have your own space." Her little shack on Gambino Isle had become home to the Lost Fa'e, a place where she finally belonged. The Fa'e HQ had just been a waiting room to a life she was afraid to start anew.

Caoimhe listened carefully to Dustin, trying to trace his directions mentally in her head. She had been all over Barton when her and Gristla first started looking for a place to live, but honestly, the houses were too expensive and Caoi didn't like the closed off feel of the only ones that they might have been able to afford. But a golden mechanical pony? That she would have remembered. Come to think of it... she did? "Weird... I think I might have passed your place." It had been ages ago, but the selkie girl vaguely remembered it. To think that she had been so close to a fellow Fa'e and didn't even know it.

"Barton is a stuffy place, too far from the ocean for me. I like to feel the breeze," she said, thinking back to the soft waves and beautiful sunsets. "Plus, I kind of have a knack for collecting really nice-looking sea shells and corals and stuff. I've made a little business making jewelry out of it so I need to be able to comb the sand in my spare time." To prove it, she lifted her wrist to display the thin bracelet that hung there. It was simple enough, some braided hemp with two pale blue, translucent shells. A tiny pearl served as the knob for the clasp. It was simple, but lovely in a very basic way.

To justify her favorite pastime (and squash any girl-y connotations), she added, "People buy them. I make money." That was true enough. She would just let Dustin wonder how much money, and probably exaggerate if he asked her for a number value. Gristla held on to most of the cash, putting it away in some fund that Caoi wouldn't have access to until she was older and forcing the Fa'e to stick to her allowance so, truth be told, the girl didn't really know the total, though it likely wasn't too much.