Welcome to Gaia! ::

The sun was a bit higher in the sky by this time, but its brightness was dimmed slightly by the thin clouds that wisped across the sky. Earendil looked up and shivered ever so slightly in the cool air. "The air feels different today," he commented. "Kind of moist ..."

He stretched a bit. "I'm glad we could convince Haldia to come with us. I'm sure once she sees the city, she'll change her mind about the island. And she does know Alena, so she should know already that they're not all bad."

Earendil smiled at Lin. "You really think so?" he asked hopefully. "That's one thing I haven't been able to see yet, even though we've been gone nearly three years. I can't say as I'm comfortable with the cold yet, but that may yet come."

He looked around for Senka, but he didn't see her. "Did we leave Senka with Haldia?" he asked, blinking.

Earendil chuckled. "I was going to ask if she was going to come with us, but if it's this cold, maybe she'll be staying here. She's less fond of flying than I am."

Which was hard to be.

He chuckled again, suddenly realizing that Lin was slipping between languages. She probably didn't realize it, he knew, but it was very cute. "I think it's starting to show how many languages you've been learning. And how well you know them all."

Earendil laughed again and reached over to ruffle Lin's hair affectionately. "Don't worry about it, if it's a language from our world I'll know it. Now that I know the Ancient Tongue, that is."

Just then, the door behind them opened, and Haldia appeared. She was wearing the necklace that Earendil had given her as well as the clothes that Leyenda had made for her for the winter. It was an interesting effect: with her black skin, her white hair and clothes and the silver necklace were a stark contrast.

She looked a little uneasy, and she was fingering the sleeve of her shirt. "Well, I suppose I'm ready," she murmured, looking up at Lin and Earendil as she drew nearer to them. "You?"

Haldia smiled sheepishly at Lin. "It's not that ... it's just ... these clothes, they're so strange, and they cover so much of me ... I don't know how well it's going to work, summoning Rhiel ..."

Earendil blinked. "Rhiel?"

Haldia rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "My roc. Most people don't name their spirits, but we spend so much time together that I had to give her a name."

But as to whether or not she would be able to summon her roc through her shirt was questionable.

Earendil looked back at Lin. He hadn't watched too closely either, but he did know there was something about touching the mark in order to summon the spirit.

He turned back to Haldia. "Is there some way we can make it easier?" he asked her hesitantly.

Haldia shook her head. "I will make do. But thank you."

She shifted a bit and slipped her hand inside the neck of her shirt (something a little awkward to watch if one didn't know what she was doing) and a moment later Rhiel appeared, wings spread wide. She flapped a few times, then folded her wings and settled low to the deck.

Haldia smiled and stepped forward, speaking softly to her roc and stroking its wing lovingly.

Earendil smiled at the two of them. "That's a bond I wish I could have with someone someday," he murmured. He looked down at Lin. "Come on, let's go."

He started towards Haldia and Rhiel.

Haldia smiled at Lin and stepped aside. "Go ahead," she urged her. "It doesn't bother her."

Earendil stepped forward and made a stirrup with his hands and knelt down beside the roc. "Here, Lin, hop up," he smiled at her.