Welcome to Gaia! ::

The woman pursed her lips thoughtfully. "It sounds like a dulcimer," she said slowly, "or ... at least a variation of it ... zither, maybe ..."

She looked up, momentarily distracted as the shop door opened and another customer entered. It was Lancaeriel. She didn't seem to notice Andarien and Miyuki at first, as her eyes were fixed on the closest wall of instruments.

"Welcome," the musician greeted Lancaeriel warmly. "If you need anything, just let me know."

Lancaeriel looked over when she heard the greeting, and she smiled. "Thank you, I will."

Then she saw the children. "Oh! Miyuki! Andarien!" she beamed. "So this is what you're up to today. Are you enjoying the town?"

Lancaeriel smiled warmly. "Yes, I can see how that would be a good idea," she agreed. "You are both so very busy, it seems you hardly spend any time together."

Andarien wondered briefly if everyone thought the same thing about him and his sister, but he felt it wasn't worth pressing.

"How about you?" he asked her curiously. "What are you doing out here?"

Lancaeriel laughed softly, her eyes sparkling as she looked around the shop. "Well, I came to see about new strings for my lyre, but I must admit that I'm curious about all of these instruments now," she grinned. "There are many that I have not seen before, and others that are different from what I'm used to seeing. I'd like to try out a few of them, perhaps even make a purchase. To those with a life such as mine, music is a magic of its own classification."

Lancaeriel smiled again. "Well, don't let me stop you," she murmured. "I'll just wander on my own and listen in as you go." She turned to the musician. "Is it all right if I try out some of the instruments?"

The woman nodded and smiled gently. "Of course. And if you have any questions, feel free to interrupt."

"Yeah, we won't mind," Andarien beamed.

Lancaeriel stayed back at the music shop after Andarien and Miyuki left, but Andarien didn't mind. He was enjoying spending time with Miyuki. It was a rare opportunity.

"So where should we go next?" he asked Miyuki cheerfully as they wandered the street. "We still don't know where Ada and Nana are."

After a pause, he added, "I wonder if River and Jess stayed around or if they went back to Wing Hove."

Andarien didn't know what to do all of a sudden. Part of him wanted to go back to the glass shop and get some more information about whether or not the man could make the parts he wanted, and part of him wanted to see if there were other craftsmen who might be able to make them. But his brain was telling him that it would be a bad idea to suggest something like that, since that was what had caused the first argument between him and Miyuki in the first place.

"Uhh ..."

He didn't even know what to suggest. He wasn't used to cities and didn't know what kinds of shops he could even expect to see.

"I said we should talk to the music lady," he said at last. "How about you pick the next place?"

Andarien opened his mouth to protest - after all, hadn't she said that he wouldn't find anyone here who would be able to make the gears he needed? - but he very quickly changed his mind and closed his mouth and nodded. He wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"You think he might be able to do it, then?" he asked, rubbing his temple gently.

Andarien pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Huh ... yeah, that makes sense. Do you know where the jeweler might be? We haven't seen most of this street yet, not even half of it. Should we start looking here?"

He looked up and down the street. Unfortunately, very few of the shops had signs hanging out front of their buildings, preferring to have their shop's name painted on the front window or something similar instead.