Welcome to Gaia! ::

Morning was long in coming for those who tossed and turned all night, and especially for Earendil, who checked and re-checked his bags periodically through the night. Unable to sleep, he even went for a walk to the river for a while, but it only cleared his head, rather than make him tired enough to sleep.

When the first streaks of light appeared on the horizon, he knocked on the doors of the others to wake them up.

Earendil chuckled as he listened to the noise on the other side of the door. "Lin," he called out, knocking a bit harder. "It's time to get up! Come on, Lin, they've probably got the ship loaded already."

The noise served to wake some of the others as well: Rhea, because of her elven hearing, and the nekos, because of their feline hearing. All four of them (plus Whisper) joined him in the hall, but only Rhea was dressed already. It looked as though she might not have slept either.

She giggled. "Senka reminds me of Whisper when she was a kitten ... only louder, and in only one language."

Earendil chuckled at Lin. "I'm going to take a guess and say you didn't get enough sleep last night," he grinned at her. He ruffled her hair affectionately. "Don't worry, I'm sure no one will mind if you sleep on the ship."

"Let's grab our bags," Kaito grinned at the other nekos, and the three of them hurried to their room to get their things.

Rhea already had her bags in hand - two bags, which seemed very little considering how much she had with her, and the fact that no one from Gaia had given her a bag. Nor was she carrying her special staff ... or any staff at all.

"I wonder how we'll all fit on one ship to get to the big ship," she murmured thoughtfully as they waited for the nekos to return. "I mean ... with all of the previsions and such ... and if we need such a large ship for our journey, how will we get everything there at once?"

"Maybe they have some of it there already?" Earendil suggested with a shrug.

Earendil blinked and looked down at Rhea. Over the course of her four years at the palace, he had rarely seen her without it ... and come to think of it, he hadn't seen it since they had begun traveling. She hadn't had it when they were riding, or in the city ...

Rhea smiled. "It's in my bag," she replied, dismissing the question easily. "Along with everything else."

"Rhea," Earendil ventured hesitantly, "at home, you had enough stuff to fill your entire room ... walls and all ... where did you put it all? Did you leave most of it there?"

Rhea giggled and shook her head, holding up her bags. "One for clothes, one for everything else," she winked. "I sort of picked up how to do it the last time Kara visited us at the Borderlands."

Rhea giggled a bit, amused by Lin in her sleepy state. "Yes, my gift," she affirmed. "Then it was just a glance at Cindy's bag to see what the rune looked like, and that was about it. Ah, and I sent a letter last night to let her and Mother and Father know that we were finally on our way. They should get it in a few weeks."

The nekos returned with their bags then, and Shiro smiled at the others. "Shall we?" he asked.

Earendil smiled and leaned down to pick up Senka, holding her in his arms and stroking her softly. "Then off we go," he smiled at the others.

After paying for their rooms (an expense which Earendil took care of himself), the group headed off towards Arwen and Roydon's place.

By the time they arrived, the sun was beginning to show and the sky had lightened quite a bit. The docks were quite busy at this time: already, several fishing vessels were out on the river, and there was a line of people bringing barrels and crates from a storehouse to four small ships at the docks where Roydon's business was.

Leyenda was overseeing things from the house, and she turned around to look when she heard the others approaching from behind. She smiled warmly at them. "Oh, good, you're here," she beamed. "Excellent. They're loading the ships right now, we should be loaded in an hour or two and then we should be able to reach the coast by tonight. You have all your things?"

"Anything you want us to do while we're waiting?" Earendil asked. "Any way we can help?"

Leyenda looked around, then pointed down at the ships. "Mother and Papa are over there, ask them where you can stow your bags and see if they need any help with the loading," she told them. "Here at the house, I just have to make sure Celeb is up and ready to go, and Storm and Starr. I'm letting those two sleep as long as I can, they're a bear to wake up sometimes!"

"There they are," Rhea pointed, seeing them standing on the docks and giving direction to the men who were loading the ships. "Come on then."

When they arrived there, Arwen was the first to notice them, and she smiled warmly at the group. "Good morning!" she called out to them, waving them over. "Here, we're going with the first ship, the other three are for the supplies."

She turned and called out to one of the men, who came over to join them, and then she turned back to the group of travelers. "Galion will take you to your quarters, you can stow your bags there. We're hoping to be there by nightfall, so don't worry about claiming a bunk."

She was distracted sudden by someone who was carrying a large barrel, and she called out to him, directing him to one of the others ships.

"Caravels," she muttered shaking her head. "So small ... fine for trade, but when you have this much to move ..." She sighed, then smiled at the group. "All right, off you go then."

Galion, a muscular dark elf, motioned for the group to follow him. "This way," he called, leading them up the gangplank of the first ship.