Welcome to Gaia! ::

High in the branches of a tree, Nehanda painstakingly cut buds from a vine twined around the higher branches. It was an interesting one she hadn't seen on Cetalu, and so wanted samples to look at. The vine itself was of a dark, inky green color, with shiny green leaves only a few shades lighter. There were thorns here and there, and the swan girl swore and lifted a thumb to suck on the pad as she found such a thorn in an unfortunate way.

"I think that should be enough. Stupid thing's certainly taken enough of a chunk out of me!" Nehanda rolled her shoulders, trying to relieve the knots that had tied themselves there. Perching like this was no longer quite as easy as it had been when she was a small child, but her wings simply weren't fashioned for constant hovering in the air.

After securing the vine samples in her bag, she unfurled her wings and prepared to take off.

Half-posed to leap into the air, Nehanda was startled by Oleo's cry. She hadn't realized anyone was nearby! The sudden loss of attention caused her to over-balance, and she yelped as the weight of her wings caused her to fall backward off of the branch where she had perched.

"Eeey!" Down through the thinner branches she fell, scrambling for purchase. Oh, pleasepleaseplease, don't let me hit the ground! was all she could think. Reaching out, she caught a sturdy branch as she passed it, and she clung with all her strength.

It was just enough. Nehanda came to a jerking halt just below the leaf line of the tree. Gasping for breath, she looked down. A pretty young woman and a gryphon stood almost directly below her!

"Um . . . hi . . ."

Nehanda laughed shakily as she dangled, collecting heself. "No, I'm fine. I'm . . . uh . . . really sorry about that. I'm not used to my bigger wings yet, and I didn't realize anyone else was around. Your gryphon startled me!" With a smile, she dropped down from the branch. A contolled drop was ever so much easier!

Once on the ground, she shook out her wings and ran a hand through her braid, trying to calm the mess ruffled up by her fall. "I'm Nehanda. I live with Foenixfyre over on Cetalu, but I came over for the day to collect plant samples." She looked back up at the tree and shrugged ruefully. "I'm usually a little more graceful about it, though."

Feeling much more together now, she offered a hand to Oleo, so that the little guy could examine her. "I know a lot of the people here, but i don't think we've met yet.

((After this post, I'm gonna be off to do lunch. I'll be back in a bit!))

Nehanda blushed heavily as she thought back. She'd met so very many people that day . . . But now that Air brought it up, she did remember them! She brought Oleo up to her shoulder, where she thought he might be more comfortable. "That's right. I'm sorry i didn't remember. But yeah, Pueblo was there, and Osu, I think. Pueblo's grown too, by the way. We just got back from . . . well, I'm not really allowed to say much about what happens. But I'm obviously still getting used to it!" She laughed lightly now.

"It's nice to see you again. And who's this?" She leaned over to get a better look at Keen, putting a hand up to steady Oleo.

Nehanda nodded as she straightened. "For the most part, it's really nice to be so much taller. And I can fly again. We can't fly as kids; our wings aren't strong enough. but Foenix has recently been sending me back and forth between Cetalu and Ar'Idil delivering letters and stuff. It sounds like there are a lot of gryphons ready to become kids!" This thought placed a huge grin on her face.

She raised a hand to idly stroke a finger over Oleo's soft fur and feathers. He really was a handsome little thing with those bold colors. "I'm doing just fine, thanks!" she said in response to his question. "And how are you?

Nehanda giggled as Oleo played with her hair. It tickled! He'd done the exact same thing the first time they had met; how could she have forgotten? She reached up and tugged playfully at his tail.

"I'd be more then happy to help if I can. And Foenix has tons of stuff at home if I don't have anything with me. I could always stop over here again tomorrow. What's on your list?" While her own list of items had been blessedly short, Nehanda knew that some of the Aerandir had incredibly long lists. She didn't really understand why that was, though.

Nehanda jumped when Oleo nipped at her ear, and laughed. "Boy, you're a stinker, aren't you?" She mulled over the list as Air read it off to her. The only metal she carried was attached to her bag. The same went for fabric. She didn't have any twine, but . . . "I think I can help!" Reaching up, she gently detached Oleo from his perch and handed him back to Air.

Nehanda's tail was unlike many of the other Aerandirs'. Most had solid, fleshy tails. She, however, was part horse (sort of), and her tail was comprised of long strands of hair. It was almost the same as that growing off her head. She reached back and grabbed her tail, and paused for a moment to pull the worst of the leaves and twigs from it, running her fingers through the knots.

It barely hurt at all to pull a small hank free. She tied the long ivory strands into a loose knot, and handed them to Air. "That should do it!"

Nehanda couldn't help herself; she had to laugh. "It was nothing, really! I'm just happy I could help. Most of the time, my tail just gets caught on things, so I'm glad it's useful for once. I'll have to stop over and say hi once Oleo's a kid. Then we can play!" Yes, so she was a teenager now; that didn't mean she couldn't play like a kid anymore!

She glanced up at the sky, and grimaced. "I hate to run, but I told Foenix I'd be back in time for lunch. There's no way I'll make it unless I leave now. She worries, you know?" She began to move out from under the tree, because ground space and open air made it easier to fly. "Say, do you know who else needs anything? Like I said, I've delivered item from Foenix, but it would be pretty cool to help out someone else on my own.