Welcome to Gaia! ::

It seemed a sudden thing to Maia, this sudden bloom in interest for treasure hunting. It was strange for her, someone who dedicated their life to doing this as a steady form of income, to see people she'd never seen before going out into the rainforest to dig among the roots and rocks for anything strange to find. Part of her hoped they didn't find anything worthwhile, that what they found was useless and whatever possessed them to do this evaporated. For surely a lot of people suddenly hunting around the wilds wouldn't do her own business good. But whenever these thoughts creeped up on her, she always managed to squash them back down. It was rude to think such things. Maybe this would get more hunters started. That would be a good thing, right? More people to trade with and more history being found.

Still, as the Shifter walked among the trees, watching all the crazy fools thinking they'd found something when in fact they had not, this didn't suit her introverted nature. The rainforest suddenly felt so crowded. As another peel of excitement came from behind her, Maia looked up at the canopy, watching animals dart between the branches, chasing one another in a simple game of tag. She decided she'd get a bit further away from the city before she started her own hunt. It was difficult to get in the mood with all this noise around her.

It took a little while before the sounds disappeared on the wind and she was left with nothing but the peaceful sounds of nature. Now with an easy smile on her lips, Maia moved her pale eyes down to the ground, sweeping back and forth over it as she always did when she was searching in the most basic way possible for anything that might be lying out in the open. She'd mark off an area to do this, starting from one tree and moving towards another, than another, until she had covered a small square of land. Once the surface had been inspected, than the real sleuthing began. Bending down at the waist, she'd walk slowly back over what she had previously gone through, this time pushing aside tall grass and looking underneath rocks. With a small shovel in her hand, Maia would stab the ground in a few places, hoping to feel a hard lump underneath the soil that might indicate something worthwhile. Though most times it just ended up being a large rock. Like now. Dozens of stabs into the ground had only produced a rock. Seeking treasure was not always that easy.

On what felt like the 50th time she'd done this, Maia pulled out a rock. Or what she thought would be a rock. It certainly looked like a rock. It felt like a rock. But it was far too shiny to be a simply rock. She turn it over in her hands, watching as the sunlight glinted off it like a shiny coin. Now, this was a find! Maia instantly knew it to be silver, having found minerals and gems a few times before. Not enough to make heavy bank with, but enough to help fund her new house. And this, this would help her fill that house. At least a nice bed frame would be the first priority. After years of sleeping outside on the hard ground, to now have a warm house and still be sleeping on the hard ground was ridiculous. Than maybe a table and a chair. All she'd managed so far was a small cupboard, a basic cooking stove, and some new cooking utensils and bowls. She still had a good bit of money stored away in the bank. Having lived simple for so many years, Maia wasn't used to having a lot of anything around her and wasn't sure what she might need to support just herself. She didn't need more than one chair or a lot of cabinets, as she didn't have a lot of anything to show off. What she did find, she usually sold. Money was more important to have than knickknacks. At least money could help her out more quickly in an emergency than trying to sell something she had.

Maybe that was what she'd do after getting a proper bed frame. Store the rest of it away in the bank until she needed it for something. She felt content with her home for the moment, even if it was still almost completely empty. It was just her, after all. She didn't even have a pet to take care of nor friends to invite over. What use was a fully decorated house to her?

Maia happily put the piece of silver in her bag and continued looking around. There was no point returning to the city with just one thing to sell.