Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hewque didn’t climb off the wagon so much as a planned and almost well executed tumble. He landed on the ground and he didn’t have any cuts or bruises and nothing was broken. So it was a success! Getting up and padding off the dust he knew his mother wouldn’t mind if he explored so long as he stayed out of trouble and was back before dark. And if anyone gave him funny looks he was supposed to head right back to the wagon. Hewque knew what he was supposed to do by heart he had been doing it for so many days now. Moving along mostly out of sight he noticed another who was as small him alone. Curious Hewque snuck up on him as best he could to try and see what the other youngling was doing. He had strange, but really pretty hair.

The other child was just drawing in the dirt all alone? That made a small little furrow find its way to Hewque’s forehead. As the hair was flipped back he noticed how it was shiney and wondrous even in the shadows. Not thinking he reached forward and tugged on the braid gently curious. “Huh, I it’s even softer than it looks.” He grinned at the shifter boy. “And it looked like moonlight to start with which I think would be really really soft.” His hand let go of the braid quickly but the smile on his face remained.

Plopping right down where he stood Hewque mouthed the name trying to commit the funny sounds to memory. “I’m Hewque. It’s nice to meet you.” He looked over at all the scratches in the dirt and didn’t really look all that good, but he didn’t think he could really do better. “So what cha makin’?” He followed a swirl near him with a finger but didn’t mess up the other’s pattern.

Nodding enthusiastically Hawque relished the idea of getting to play with other younglings. “Yes, Thank you.” That was the boring thing about traveling with his mom. There weren’t any other younglings his age at all! Taking the stick he looked over the drawing so far. It looked really nice and kind of made him think of a river in the sky. He moved to the side a bit so he wouldn’t mess up what was already there, but he could add swirls to the pattern and make it grow.

As he drew he focused on his work and had to keep sweeping his hair out of the way. He should grow it out like Issi and tie it back.

Still focusing on his work when the other spoke to him Hewque looked up a bit confused while a ribbon was tied around his forehead. Reaching back he could feel his bangs and his own small side braid were kind of sticking up a bit but that was fine. It was a lot nicer to be able to see! “Thank you.” Reaching forward Hewque gave the other a quick hug even though he was still kneeling down when he did so. He liked giving and getting hugs and since his mother and the wagon owner never minded the thought that it wasn’t ok to hug someone or that they might not like it never dawned on the youngling. With his bangs aside it was easier to see the crystals on his cheeks that helped mark him as different even if he had hidden the others.

He noticed the necklace that the other had for the first time and thought it might well fit into what they were drawing. When he got back to work he added that pattern as some swirls he was making.

Satisfied with his portion of swirls Hewque went throw and started to add little dots here and there it was then he noticed what looked like a boat and smiled. “It is a river in the stars!” He glanced at Issaly and spread his arms wide. “I bet if we took all day we could cover the whole area with it.” He chuckled. “Of course then no one would wanna go anywhere or they would be scared to mess it all up.” Reaching up he tugged his impromptu head band off carefully so he could hand it back to his friend. “So after coloring what did you wanna do?” He glanced at all the other younglings who were playing their games and saw a few staring back at them. He ignored the looks and glanced back at Issaly trying to think of something fun to do in a place he didn’t know well.

It really was pretty hair. Hewque wondered why the other didn’t let it just flutter in the breeze, but then as long as it was maybe it got tangled a lot. Having grown up in the desert more than this place Hewque blushed a bit. “I’m not used to climbing trees.” His toes wormed their way into the soil while he didn’t like to admit he didn’t know how to do something he knew it was better to be honest then to lie. He looked up at the other smiling just a bit glad to be able to talk to the other youngling about something he did know very very well. “I’m from Oba. My mother goes and travels with what used to be our master and he travels and sells lots of things in all the places we stop at.”