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Earendil smiled and looked at Lin. "Should we head back to the inn, then?" he asked her. "Or maybe see if there's somewhere else to eat?"

They would probably be at the inn for most meals as it was, and even if they didn't find somewhere else a walk wouldn't hurt them.

As they wandered around the village, they spotted various other members of their traveling group here and there. Leyenda and Kelirahc were sharing a meal while they watched Amalirahc playing with some of the other children; Shiro and Kaito were wandering the marketplace; Leilani, Aric and Remiel were heading into someone's house, and the woman they were visiting was holding Remiel in her arms; Iorlas was wandering, seemingly aimlessly, on her own; Alena and Elros were teaching Shiloh to walk in the yard of the inn; only Daeron, Aethos, Alassëa, Halmir, Arthael and River were nowhere in sight.

They passed many interesting places as well: the inn, of course was familiar to them, but there was also the marketplace, three mills, the blacksmith, glass smith, tannery, bakery, tailor, shops that specialized in various types of products such as soap, candles, and other tools; and and a few that specialized in services, such as builders and fletchers.

"I don't think I've seen anywhere else to eat," Earendil finally said, nearly two hours after they'd started looking. "It's a small village all right."

Andarien had grown very tired during their walk, and Earendil was carrying him on his back. He had his head on Earendil's shoulder, and he was staring out at nothing.

"Hungry," he said softly.

Earendil nodded and continued on, since the inn was just ahead of them now.

"Perhaps sometime we could stop at the bakery and perhaps picnic somewhere?" he suggested. "Maybe where the other children were playing, I think it might be good to see if Miyuki could meet some people again."

Sure, Chansond'eau had been something of a disaster, but that didn't mean things were like that everywhere.

Earendil caught Miyuki's look, and he grinned at her. "Come on, they can't be as bad as the children were in Chansond'eau. We passed them while we were looking around, remember? It looked like Amalirahc was having fun with them, at least."

Though to be fair, Amalirahc seemed to enjoy himself no matter how bad the people around him were. It was like a gift. He just didn't let anything get him down.

When they entered the inn, Halmir, Arthael and River were eating lunch at a table by themselves. Daeron was also in the dining room, but instead of sitting at a table, he was seated on a comfortably padded chair near a window, looking outside, deep in thought.

River smiled when she saw Miyuki hurrying to her, and she shifted over a bit to make room for her friend to join her.

"Hi, Miyuki!" she greeted her. "Where have you been? We didn't see you anywhere all morning!"

Earendil saw Lin's quizzical look, and he followed her gaze and spotted his brother by the window. He looked back at Lin. "What are you thinking?" he asked her quietly.

River giggled at Miyuki's first comment, but when Miyuki said that they'd found Alassëa's father, she squealed, drawing peoples' stares.

"You did?" she exclaimed excitedly. "That's so great! How did that go? I bet she's so happy! She's been looking for him since we found her!"

Earendil grimaced slightly. "I've only spoken to him a few times on the trip ... and to be honest, I still can't figure out how things are with them. I have to say, I've been hesitant to ask - though the fact that they're not together our first day in a new town."

River blinked, and an anxious frown crossed her face. "That doesn't sound good. I hope she's okay ... it's not fun when people make you feel unwanted. Like Darren and the boys in Chansond'eau, when they were mean to us the first time we met them ... that wasn't nice at all."

She hoped that Alassëa's family would be nicer to her, that they would get used to her, but she knew that sometimes people just wouldn't change, like some of the boys in the large city.

Earendil tilted his head curiously at Lin. "You think so?" he asked her. He looked back at his brother, who was staring motionlessly out of the window. "Maybe ..." he murmured thoughtfully.