Nanami found herself doodling on the spare parchment from her studies. Pages of calculations and herbal studies were sitting to the side and now as evening wore on the girl had started to become more and more distracted, her mind wandering to all of the recent rumors she had heard as of late. The arrival of the foreigners had stirred quite a bit of gossip and now there were even stories about strangers and even other Kahi arriving with traits that were not exactly common. Others called them legendary, not in mockery but more in awe, as those that came with these strange traits had gone through quite a number of adventures to acquire them. At least that was how the stories were told with people having more shimmering scales, longer horns, more fins and things like that. Some stories were absolutely ridiculous though by giving adventurers wings and glowing skin or things like that which truly had not been seen…at least not yet from what Nanami had gathered. She could only imagine what it must be like to undergo such a change! Would she one day have a grand enough adventure to get legendary traits of her own? Could she bear to have such changes happen when she hated being the center of attention? It was hard enough living as the daughter of an esteemed family in their little settlement, Nanami constantly wishing she could be like others her age who had less cares and could actually spend time freely playing without having to sneak outside away from their family’s watchful gaze. If anything, lots of families seemed to encourage their younglings and teens to play, to have fun while they could before the duties of life started to press down more on them. A soft sigh left Nanami’s lips as she continued sketching the outline of a hapuna woman with long flowing hair and flowing fins that were slightly different from the normal.

If she dared to draw herself then perhaps she would have a longer horn with more elaborate markings that glew faintly along her skin like the crystals that decorated their underground homes. She would look like a goddess coming down from the night sky to light up the area like the shimmering stars. Nanami had always been fascinated by astrology and loved the nights when her older brother had sneaked out with her to go and study the night skies throughout their childhood, the pair always pointing out the stars that seemed to shine the brightest and didn’t show up as many times as the rest in the sky. It was their rare appearance and ability to seem to actually have some form of color, some reddish while others like her favorite were more blue, that made Nanami adore those larger stars the most. Maybe she could shine like those stars one day, her skin glowing as she lit up the deeper passages that made up their underground settlements. It would be nice to not have to rely upon the crystals for once. Magic was always helpful as well though Nanami didn’t think her mother would approve if she ever mentioned such a thing. It was only useful if she could use it as a scholar and work with the magic to help their community, strengthening her family’s role within their settlement. If she talked about adventuring with magic…well then that was a completely different story which her mother could not accept.

“Maybe if I came home with a legendary trait then my mother would be impressed.” Nanami sighed softly at the thought before placing the spare parchment aside, the edges crumpling up in her fingers as she tucked it out of view to avoid any future arguments. It was best to just behave for now and focus on her studies. Nanami found her gaze darting towards her bed where she had tucked a leather satchel beneath the feather mattress. One day that adventurer’s pack would have use….right? Nanami chewed at her bottom lip thoughtfully. It would be nice, but she worried about leaving home. Was she even capable of doing such a thing and could she bear the feeling of disappointing her family? Another soft sigh left her lips and the girl found herself shaking her head. This was not the time to worry about silly rumors, not when her mother was planning on quizzing her tomorrow when she returned from her meetings! Nanami nodded as she reached for another book to read, the study materials once again piling up as she prepared herself for another long night of reading. There wasn’t enough time for sleeping, not when dreams just filled her mind with distracting thoughts that could easily get her into trouble!

[790]