Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Like a star," Nova confirmed. She eased them forward another step. She could see the mouth of the cave now, though it looked like a pinprick in the distance. She hadn't realized until just then how far she had gone before she considered turning back. Or maybe it just seemed like a much further distance now that she was supporting someone. "My parents named me after my aunt... well, she's not really an aunt. She's not really a she. Have you ever heard the legend of the Wishing Star?"

"That's it, basically," Nova agreed. "Mom used to tell us about the star a lot when we were growing up. She refers to it as Aunt Astrid, though. Not sure why she chose to call it that, exactly, but she's a strong believer in the Star. No reason to doubt her, I guess. Not with the proof she's got. Now, I've never been out of the valley before, but my sisters and brother have, and they've told me that most full sized soq can't have children with minis like us. But Mom and Dad wished on the wishing star, on Aunt Astrid, and they were blessed with my older sisters, Akis and Addy. Then with Akis and Addy grew up and took off, Mom made another wish and Wolf and I were born. So it's not really a matter of belief, I guess. Anyway, Mom named me Nova in honor of the star. She talks to Aunt Astrid once a month, at least, still."

For a second, Nova was offended. She shook the feeling off quickly enough, though. Looking at the situation from the outside, she could see how it all seemed a bit off. So, instead of snapping, she shook her head. "Nah, if you saw us all together, you'd see that we're related," she assured Duga. "I've got Mom's eyes, and Akis and Wolf have Dad's. Plus I look almost exactly like Dad, except for the eyes and size. And even if they weren't our parents by blood, they'd still be our parents. Mom's not big on formalities. You'll see when you meet her."

"Well, not right away," Nova admitted as they moved forward another step. They were getting closer to the exit now, and she could see that the sun was pretty far in the sky. She had started exploring in the morning... it looked as though more of the day had passed than she realized. "We'll go to Midagi's place first. He's closer, and he's got better supplies. Once you're fed and rested, I'll n** back home and see if Mom wants to come to you or if she wants you to come to her. Pretty much anyone who stays in the valley for any real amount of time needs to talk to Mom. She's pretty protective over her family."

"Ah, I didn't mean to imply..." Nova shook her head slightly. "You'll need time to rest and recuperate, regardless. So you'll be staying that long at the very least. We don't really have a healer, not an official one, anyway, so there's no one to tell you you're not ready to leave when you want to. You can head out at any time... or you can stay as long as you want." Provided Nova's mother didn't mind, though Nova couldn't think of any reason she would.

"Do they?" Nova asked, curiously. "I didn't know that... we're not really a herd. Not officially. Mom is just working with some of the other soquili in this valley. She seems to feel that there's safety in numbers or something. Would we need a healer if she decided to make us all a herd?"

Nova thought about that as she eased them forward another step. Having a healer made a lot of sense. It was something that her mother had been grumbling about for awhile. However, there wasn't much that could be done about it without leaving the valley. They were in a a small, isolated patch of the world. Those that came to settle there either found it by accident, like Duga did, or settled there deliberately to get away from the world, like Nova's parents. Or, like Midagi, simply hadn't thought about how far apart their little valley was.

"We're almost there," Nova informed Duga, putting the concept aside for later thought. "Just a few more steps. How are your eyes holding up?"