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For as long as she could remember, Cerith's memories of home in Matori had always been bright and shining, of scratchy clothes and sore fingers from picking cappa grass, but the pleasure of making something beautiful from the silky strands within - of happiness with her family, and of pride for her homeland and its beautiful waters and sights.

Her homecoming only proved how silly of a child she had been. Traveling all this time, and becoming horribly lost as she tried to find her home in Setal, Cerith had left her fear of wild beasts behind her, and instead embraced a growing discomfort with the unfamiliar lands that were her 'homeland'.

That and the growing realization that there really were no solid road systems between the settlements, unlike Oba where there were long maintained paths for trade, despite the shifting sands that tried so hard to hide them. Try as she might, Cerith couldn't seem to make her way east to Setal - and instead was forced by natural blockades south towards the water line, where she hoped she could find a boat.

Approaching the outskirts of yet another Matori village, Cerith felt relief crush over her. She could hope that the Matori ex-slaves here would offer free room and board out of kindness, but she doubted such kind actions would last long - eventually businesses like inns would have to pop up just to accomodate the influx of Matori and outside visitors, surely. The Matori settlements were built to house those who were enslaved in name, but not in actuality - the few free Matori who continued life here, by the grace of Oba, before slavery was ended.

Soon expansion efforts would have to begin, and no one would have the food or supplies to freely offer. So instead of heading instantly towards the settlement, Cerith moved to stand in the salt water, hissing as it stung her road-blistered feet, but knowing it would help fend off infection. Once the stinging abated, she continued to walk along the beach, leaving footprints and allowing herself this one luxury, occassionally dipping to scoop up a shell. Most were fractured and imperfect, but she piled them in her ragged, torn skirt nonetheless, no longer so picky about keeping her clothing pristine - she was so road bedraggled that it was a fruitless effort to try and stay clean.

Cerith was so focused on the shells that she didn't notice someone else doing the same until she reached down to pick up a shell and instead touched a foot. She instantly shot upwards with a surprised noise, losing her grip of her skirt so that the small collection of shells fell with quiet splashes into the water.

"Ah -- I'm so sorry! How embarassing!" She laughed and hastily backed up a few paces, feeling mortified.

For a moment, both girls skittered back, chests heaving in alarm at their surprise. But eventually they regained themselves - Cerith into forcing up a smile, with just a dash of wide-eyed helplessness for good measure, Kani drawing up a mask of hospitality. Cerith prided herself in being a good judge of character, but nothing seemed offputting about the girl - and why would it? So Cerith instantly dismissed any ideas of Kani as a force to be reckoned with, and instead moved to settle on her knees in the sand, reaching to scoop up what dropped shells she could salvage.

It was proof of how un-Matori she was, at least in this - she had memories of plucking shells with pearlescent shines inside, silken and velvetine and slick to the touch - perfect. But now she didn't have the eye for it - just seeing the beauties Kani had plucked from the sea, compared to the sorry shards Cerith had found, shouted out how much Cerith had lost her affinity for the seashore.

And while there was a swell of jealousy, she also didn't mind it much - in retrospect, collecting seashells was such a silly thing for her to do. If Matori here did it frequently, what hope did Cerith have of finding anything worth while to barter with? Their apparent value gone, Cerith lost interest in the shells and instead went about picking up those she could, before standing and carefully holding them out for Kani to retrieve.

"With my eye for picking them, I'm not surprised I couldn't tell the difference! I'm Cerith." Cerith said with a soft laugh, her humor self deprecating but honest.

The other Matori woman was so... polite! Cerith deposited the shells in her hands, then took a step back, giving her space, smiling somewhat hesitantly. After traveling in quiet for so long, having someone to talk to was pleasant - but also strangely off putting. She felt so strange around her people - as if she was somewhere she didn't belong, somewhere she shouldn't be.

Making a face, Cerith crossed her arms over her chest, thinking. "My family lives... a few settlements away - but no. No, I don't think I..." She trailed off, looking aside, then came to her senses - laughing it off in embarassment as she looked at Kani once more. "I'm sorry - I'm sure you're not interested in all that. I honestly don't know where I'm heading - but I didn't think I would find anywhere to stay out here - I didn't really take any money with me..."

A town meant she could sit, think - but without money to barter for a room at an inn, or somewhere like that, it wasn't likely she'd find a place. Cerith could try and work for her keep, but what tasks there were doing she may not be a good hand with!

Turning her attention away from herself, Cerith instead stepped a few paces away in the sand, dropping her arms to clasp in front of her, the smallest bit shy - but more out of her feeling out of place and unsure how to interact with another Matori that wasn't a slave. They were simply... standing infront of eachother, gauging the other. "Have you been back long? Or... did you..." Had Kani grown up here in Matori? Or was she, like Cerith, a pilgrim coming back home?

'Lucky', Cerith should have said instead. But really, she felt a small amount of sadness. For most slaves, escaping Oba was a good thing - returning home was triumphant, welcome. Freedom must have tasted so sweet. But for whatever reason, Cerith didn't know what to do with herself now - she preferred having someone tell her what to work for, where to go. She knew her own desires - to raise in rank, to become useful, to steal secrets from the lips of clients and make some money for the family that was her workplace, her owner, her Matori siblings that worked in the same place.

It hadn't been always nice - not by a long shot. Most of the time it was uncomfortable, stressful. But she'd prefer it to this horrible, stressful trek back 'home' to a place she didn't care for or remember, to people who, for all she knew, had waved her away and never thought of her again.

Mood dampened, Cerith forced a smile - pulling it off, in her opinion, thanks to having to hide her feelings for such a long time. Thankfully, her own strained silence wasn't too horrible seeing as Kani was thinking too. But the suggestion took Cerith by surprise. Plenty of slaves, in her time, offered help - tried to do good by their enslaved brothers, offered food or free places to rest. She'd done the same before plenty of times. But they were free now - now, they could operate on their own, could take what they needed, just as Obans could. And she was still offering her home for the night?

"I... yes! Yes, that would be..." Did her people have beds, like in Oba? She couldn't remember - but the promise of a roof over her head, and warm food compared to the stores she'd stolen the night she escaped, seemed too good to be true. Stepping forward, she smiled in relief, her entire being softening - travel didn't suit her, especially not traveling alone. "I'm rather good at cooking - and at house work - I won't be a burden on you, I promise!

Opposite of Kani's concerns, Cerith preferred when the other woman was talking. It was information about what she was getting into - something to cling to and focus on, while she puzzled over what her riotous feelings might mean. Shaking her head, Cerith tilted her head, watching the girl. The shift of her expression had been slight, but she'd seen it - and it put the previous soft smiles in a new perspective.

Cerith hadn't been around too many children in a long while, not since she began working at her most recent inn - besides, as rambunctious as eight year olds could be, Cerith would prefer that to a toddler any day. "I'm sure I'll manage." She responded with a soft laugh, trying to forget that her siblings would be that age about now, a little older. Trying to forget that that had been how old she was when she had been taken to Oba.

"You really care for your brother." She blurted out before she could stop herself, though if the stricken, wide-eyed expression she gave after was any indication she'd had no intention of voicing it out loud. Not that it was some horrible revelation, far from it, but having lost her train of thought alarmed her, after keeping a tight reign on her tongue for such a long time. She must have been lonely, after traveling for such a long while! Sighing at herself, Cerith shook her head, then smiled once again.

"It's a relief to see you're still together, the both of you - you're very lucky - as I'm sure you're aware." An incendiary thing to say, but a small shred of jealousy slipped into her tone, without her quite realizing it.