Welcome to Gaia! ::

How many days had she been out here? Chibale and Juahar were familiar places with familiar cycles and seasons, flora and fauna, but even so, she'd never found herself so incredibly alone before. Day still came and went with the changing of the sun and moon, but otherwise, nothing reminded her of home. Lanwezi had struck out several turns of the moon ago, alongside her sisters, unbeknownst to them. And so, just as they hadn't known of the stowaway trekking in their midst, they too were unaware when the girl was suddenly not alongside them anymore.

It hadn't been a purposeful separation, of course. Wezi was once intent and following them all the way through to Tale, in the hopes that she may see her mother, despite the raging battle. She needed to know what became of the older woman and also what the new fate of Tendaji would be. But her entourage had disappeared early in the morning, leaving the sleeping girl to wake alone, with only the sound of cawing birds and rustling trees to greet her.

Fear had set in quickly after, and in only a short span of moments, the young Alkidike was shrieking for help, tears falling from her dark eyes as she fled with all deliberate haste through the trees, in the direction she only hopedher sisters had taken.

To no avail.

Wezi's efforts were all but worthless. Once she'd exhausted her supply of effort, she sank down into the hollow of a nearby tree, shivering despite the warmth of the forest as she tucked her knees to her chest and buried her face against them. When the sound of footsteps approached, her head lurched up in fear, and she muffled the sounds of her sobs against her arm. Just as her earlier struggles proved fruitless, so too did these, and within moments, she was staring into the orange-feathered face of a bird hoping around on the forest floor.

It tottered out in front of her, wings flicking and beak opening in chirps. It was groomed, soft, and had the widened, friendly eyes of a creature long-since accustomed to people. Hesitantly, she reached for it, and when her fingers touched it, a figure formed through the trees. Larger than her and the bird put together. Wexi looked up, recoiling instantly at the sight of the Shifter boy. And she swallowed down a nugget of fear at his approach.

Lanwezi's head tipped down, a swatch of dark dreads falling over he shoulder and creating a coarse curtain to shield half of her face. Only half. Her eyes squeezed shut, lips pinching together and causing the skin at the corners of her lips to bunch unattractively. Her mother had always said much frowning would turn the most beautiful of Alkidike ugly, but the child could not even bring herself to mind the words. The boy, the unfamiliar Shifter boy, stared at her. His bird had sought out the anomaly of her scent. Were they hunters?

A radaku would likely make a better companion than a kinfa, but she wasn't entirely intelligible about the species outside of Juahar to know for certain... Briefly, the shadow cast by his presence disappeared, and Wezi allowed her black eyes to open in inquisitive hesitance. The young Alkidike peered from her hollow, casting her attention to the only part of the intruder she could see: his feet and his ankles. His skinny, skinny ankles. She'd expected hunters would have a more lithe and agile frame. Shifters as a whole should be adapted to tree-climbing enough that it hardly seemed feasible for one to have such a scrawny structure.

She plucked warily at the fabric on her pants, raising a hand to dust her dreads out of her face again. And then the Shifter was leaning back in, pressing forward into her hovel with soft-voiced concern. He was quiet, disarming. Even his bird held a chipper attitude, though perhaps that was common for them.

Lanwezi leaned back, stalled from further retreat only by the thick bark pressed into her spine. She took a calming breath, one deep inhale before tipping her head to meet his gaze and answering his greeting with a polite, "Good day," of her own.

'Black hair,' she noted as her attention collected as much detail about the stranger as she could. An interesting and unusual trait for a Shifter, if not completely unlikely at all. 'Small round nose, thin lips, arched brows, high cheeks, and black hair.' Out of pure, thoughtless action, she swiped her arm across her nose, smearing away remaining traces of sadness. If nothing else, weakness was something the Shifter did not need to see.

He had such a quiet voice. Was that common? She’d never even seen a Shifter, let alone spoken with one, at it seemed peculiar that a people who her sisters despised could sound so… gentle. So soft. A ruse, perhaps. His tone of voice and smile alone should do nothing to sway her. Anyone could alter those things with ease, despite their intentions.

The kinfa, however, was another matter entirely.

Animals could be crafty and intelligent. When paired with a human companion, they could be even worse. Trained animals should not be taken lightly. But in her limited experience, useful trained animals were rarely infants. They rarely, she noted with a pinch of her brows, had broken, crippled wings incapable of flight. She watched the bird as it drew near. Had the Shifter done that? Harmed it to that extent? Her fingers brushed against orange feathers, crumpling them lightly as she rubbed against their natural flow.

No, she decided firmly. It trusted him too much. It was too happy to be at his side to have undergone such treatment. And- she squeaked as it tottered forward, nudging her shin with a soft cooing sound- it seemed fairly happy to be around her too. Suspicions aside… The pair was probably fine. The boy was too young and skinny to be an effective hunter. His bird could not chase her through the air. If things turned ugly, she could escape them.

Wezi heaved a sigh. She slowly shifted to all fours, knees and palms buried in the thick coat of mud that lined the bottom of her hovel. She crawled out, moving stiffly so as not to jostle the kinfa as it stuck to her side. When she emerged, she peered up to the boy as she rose to her feet. He certainly seemed taller now. And maybe even skinnier than she’d feared previously. “I am not hurt,” she whispered. “And… my mother…” Her face burned, red rising like the tide to overtake her cheeks and nose. “M-my mother…” Her nose bunched, eyes clenching shut. Lanwezi looked down immediately, shielding herself from his view of the tears she felt forming at the corner of her eyes.