Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ziari frowned and sighed as the shifter turned away from them and moved away. When Lerin spoke, she blinked and glanced towards him. She gave him a half hearted smile and shook her head. “Not much in life is fair, I’m starting to realize that. There are some things you just can not change. Such as the stubborn, outdated views of an older being.” She huffed at the rest of Lerin’s words. “Tch. It’s not your fault, Lerin. You’ve been nothing but helpful to me and I will be forever grateful. It’s just a bit of coin. If it means Aemi and I will be able to heal up properly, it’s at least worth it a bit.” When Tansa returned, Ziari snapped her lips shut, lest the older shifter overhear what she had been talking about.

Ziari nodded and laid the coin down and nudged it towards the woman. “Thank you,” she said as she gathered the supplies and stashed them into her satchel. “I, however, never said I was leaving just yet.” She turned to Lerin and gave him another small smile. “Though,” she said when they were out of hearing range of the shifter woman. “I suppose I probably shouldn’t spend the night in your village. I...don’t think anyone else would be any more welcoming. I can spend the night on the forest floor with Aemi and Aser. And then we can figure out where I should go from there.”

Ziari smiled but shook her head. “I really appreciate the offer. But I can’t just leave Acer and Aemi down there by themselves. I’ll be fine. I’ll stick close to the two of them. It’ll just be one night.” She sighed and glanced back towards where Tansa’s stall was. “I should have expected to run into problems. I was stupid not to even think about it. Oh well, there’s not much I can do now.” She glanced back to Lerin and gave him a half smile and shrugged. “One night and then I won’t be around to bother your village anymore.” She paused for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip. “Will you escort me back down…?”

“I did pass through there. The night after I found Aemi. I stocked up on supplies but...obviously not enough,” Ziari said as she frowned and sighed. “I should have thought all this out better. I was stupid to think I’d be able to do this on my own.” She had been so confident that exploring the world of Tendaji wouldn’t be as difficult as it had been. She had traveled all over Oba but her parents or friends had been with her. And she’d definitely not run into the racism that she’d been shown by the shifter woman.

“Neued is probably my best bet for my next stop. I can stock up way more. Hopefully by the time I’m ready to leave Neued, Aemi will be up for carrying a large amount of supplies and I can get enough to last me for a while.” Ziari gave Lerin a small, but sad smile, when she thought about leaving him behind. She hadn’t known him even a day and yet the kindness he’d shown her had made her like him all that much quicker. He was a kind soul, that much was obvious. “Thank you for your help, Lerin. I really appreciate it.”