Welcome to Gaia! ::

She was letting Sal slide a lot on the 'Little' business. Mostly because she couldn't garner a taunting tone to his voice when he referred to her stature but that didn't mean she was pleased about it. She dug around on the ground a bit idly and uncovered two round pebbles to add to her little pile of resources. She approved of her brother's hard work even though she wished she wouldn't tire himself needlessly by carting around the heavier things like he was now.

Yuzhi let Tseng do as he pleased.

It wasn't until she was content with the placement of her items that she answered Sal's question (mostly so she could answer in a friendly tone), "I am a Scholar. I specialize in the area of learning about cultures and their folklore, while learning more about my own as well in the bargain."

She looked over at the one named 'Fai' and gave a small nod, "Pleased to meet you and Sal," as they are the only two that offered up a name. Her manners slipped at times. Oops.

Nodding to Sal, Tseng continued to grin as he searched for more materials to bring back to the reserve. As he did so, he couldn't help but notice Mengyao coming on in to help out. He was a little less familiar of their cousin than his sister, but he did see him around now and then.

Frowning lightly at the guy as he tended to get Yuzhi kind of riled up, the soldier soon noticed a small pile of leaves near his feet. Carefully, he bent over and picked them up. They were pretty dry. Maybe they would make for good tender for fire. Deciding that this was indeed their purpose, he stuffed them into the satchel he brought along.

Had Sal known she was irritated by his nickname for her, he might have considered stopping. Maybe. Or at least expressed it was not a jab at all, he thought it was cute because she was cute. Frownyfaces were always the most adorable things in the world. Next to maybe emaciated puppies.

"A Scholar?" Sal gasped out, suddenly more than interested. "Little Yuzhi, I do believe you are my new best friend! I would love to hear any stories you possess!" As he picked through this and that on the surrounding trees (and startling rather loudly as an unusual creature popped out of a bush in front of him and bolted off), he took notice of the loud one - Tseng - and his insisting on carting around all the things.

"I admire your energy, Lee Tseng." He praised, wondering if it would ever be possible to borrow him for errands one day, if he was nice enough to the boy. "How much do you think you could carry before getting tired?" It was an important question, probably. His searching was disracted at best, trying to do two things at once; find materials, and figure out what to make of the rag-tag group of survivors. Were they on the islands, or were they away? Did they know eachother? Had they lost Family? Friends? So many questions, and yet now seemed inappropriate to be completely outright about it.

"And you, my dear?" His red eyes focused on the Death Horsewoman, who was still quietly scavenging in their wake. Everyone else had introduced themselves, and he was now curious about her and her silence. Perhaps she was unfamiliar with crowds? He didn't get too much of a chance to dwell on it however, as someone new arrived on the scene.

"Ah! Another one." Conquest, probably. He just radiated with their culture, right down to his ridiculously unnecessary clothing. Then again, layers were also Sal's friend, and he had to be a little jealous at the heavy looking fabrics; he was feeling the chill of this climate. Not only the male though, a female seemed to be following close behind! Interesting. Ever-polite, Sal bowed his head to the unfamiliar pair from Conquest "Welcome to the scavenging party, ah...?" Hopefully, the other tall man (finally, someone he can see eye-to-eye with!) and the woman would catch the hint and give a name. Now that their little group was majority Conquest, he decided now would be a good time to get a chance to observe them from a distance; he never did spend much time on their Isle, so this was a good opportunity.

Or it would have been, had his fingers not stuck together with very sticky tree sap, giving him something else to focus on and collect at the time.

The crackle of leaves under her feet had Lan scowling. It was not the noise, but the simple fact she did not enjoy the fact everything was so 'untidy'. They were horsemen, and only famine and war were untidy but even they had a method to their lands. Here in halloween no one tended the trees or shaped the plants. No one really did much in terms of beautification. She didn't like it, like being reminded with every single last detail that this was not home. This was not where she had been born and where she had belonged.

Pulling a makini from her robes she set it on the ground. No need for her to dirty her own hands by digging in muck or the emperor only knew what else. No, she'd let her pet find the supplies. Lan would carry, it was a rather simple plan, but, it was satisfactory.

Looking around at the other clans members she paused as she saw a few of her own and then, others. One in Particular- "Mengyao do not tease. There is work to be done. Though you're not one I would think to want to be out here. You seem more the architect type." A small nudge against her leg and she looked to the makini as it ran to an oozing tree, sap running thick down it's side "Er I'll get it later." Lan sighed. "Makini while beautiful are not exactly ideal for this sort of work."

"Brilliant! It's a date then, Little Yuzhi." Sal chuckled, clapping his stained hands in front of his equally stained scarf-wrap. A chat with a scholar, how exciting! His mirth melted away for a moment as he realized the area was becoming overrun with fine clothed Horsepersons. Being overrun with Conquest was well and good, but deep down he wished more of his own Clan would arrive soon; it was just him and Fai so far, and Fai was on a rampage for material elsewhere.

"Perhaps not, my dear." Sal smiled at the Conquest Noble he didn't know - Lan - and her minipet. "But, at least it's giving the ol' college try, so to speak. There is something much more satisfying about doing the work with your own two hands~" The Sage smiled cheerfully, not an ounce of malice in his simple opinion. He liked getting dirty; you had to get sometimes get dirty to get results, and there really was nothing like building something with your bare hands.

Even if it did backfire on you sometimes.

"It's refreshing to see someone so eager." He was taking a liking to the loud one - Tseng - who had become less loud and more focused; also a good thing. A very good thing. "Don't you think?" He inquired of the others, not looking at any one Horseman in particular. A tickle hit his throat and he made a noise to attempt to scratch it before it could worsen, but as he leaned down to strip some loose but thick tree bark, the tickle turned into an outright need, and he began to cough. It didn't take long for it to worsen into a near bark, his thin frame wracking with each hard cough; eventually he had to sink to a knee, bracing himself with one hand on the tree he was stripping, the other pressing tightly against his mouth.

A small glower was directed at Mengyao, "Certainly you came here to be of use to everyone, right?" Please let him say he was here to work just as hard as she and her Brother w--Nope. She watched in disappointment as a minipet was called upon to do some work. Disappointment. She felt it.

Turning her attention back to Sal she still felt a twinge of annoyance at the word 'little' but she said nothing, "I will be delighted, perhaps after scavenging we can arrange a moment, hm?" Yuzhi said happily. When Sal observed Tseng's working habits she felt pride overtake her disappointment in her Cousin as she spoke up "My brother Tseng has always been a hard worker. I am very happy to call him my Brother."

"Mother and Father instilled in us the importance of working hard so that we may keep what we earn," She said as she peered around on the ground a bit more only to find yet more bones she plucked them up and put them with the pile as well.

"I would suggest not pushing yourself too far too quickly," Fai said to Tseng as he bragged about his lifting ability. "We have a lot to do when we return to the tents on top of this scavenging. You need to conserve your energy, especially since you are one of our guards on top of this work, right?"

He was crouching down next to a tree, picking up leaves. They would make good fire kindling, and Fai was desperately looking for the warmth a fire would give them.

Items Collected:
1x dried moss
1x minipet bones
1x tree bark
1x wispy leaves