Welcome to Gaia! ::

Shiara gasped and shifted back against the head of the bed, gripping the blanket more tightly to herself. Her eyes were wide in amazement. "You - you talk!" she gasped at Saki.

Ahren chuckled softly, startling Shiara, and she looked at him sharply.

"I'm sorry, Shiara," he smiled at her. "I don't mean to laugh. Saki has been with our family from the beginning, for longer than I've been alive. She is what's called a Fluffy Cat. Her kind have the gift of speech."

Shiara was amazed. She had never heard of anything like it before - but then, she wasn't aware of the existence of other worlds, let alone the idea that it was possible to travel from one to another. She stared down at Saki.

Shiara clutched more tightly at the blanket, her expression anxious.

"It's all right," Ahren murmured, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. He reached over and gently stroked Saki's belly. "She's not going to hurt you."

Shiara watched Ahren and Saki, her expression guarded. She was curious ... but wary.

Ahren chuckled and kept stroking Saki. "Come on, Shiara," he urged the girl with a warm smile. "It's all right."

Shiara bit her lip nervously, and then slowly, tentatively, she reached out with one hand and, with one finger, she brushed lightly against Saki's head - just once.

Slowly, Shiara relaxed a bit, and she kept stroking Saki's head with just one finger. Then, after a few minutes, she used a few more of her fingers, and then she used her whole hand to gently stroke Saki's head.

Ahren watched Shiara, his eyes warm. He was glad that she seemed to be accepting Saki. Sure, Saki wasn't elven, but it was a step.

"Saki," he said softly, leaning closer to her, "I think it would be good if Shiara would go to sleep for a while, she's very tired. But perhaps if you would stay with her ..."

Shiara looked at Ahren, then back down at Saki. For a moment she just watched her, but then a slow smile spread over her face. "I would like that," she said softly.

Shiara smiled and lay down again, rearranging the blanket as she did so, and then she patted the space beside her pillow.

Ahren rose to his feet. "Then I will leave you," he said softly. "Sleep well, Shiara. When you wake, come downstairs. Or, if it is night, I will be in the next room."

Shiara looked surprised for a moment, but then she nodded. "I understand."

Shiara settled into the bed, one hand on Saki's back, and stroked her gently as she closed her eyes.

"Saki," she murmured softly. "That is a pretty name ..." She opened her eyes partially and looked at the cat. "What kind of place is this?"

Shiara kept stroking Saki's back, but her face grew worried.

"People?" she asked in a soft murmur. "Are there many people here? A very great number of them?"

She wasn't sure if she liked that idea. She couldn't remember a time when people had been good to her - she couldn't remember her parents, only the destruction of their home, and the dwarfs who had abused her for so long. Until Ahren, she had not known kindness ... And to be honest, his kindness frightened her. She was still rather uneasy around him, though she did have a bit of trust in him now ... and only him.

Shiara wasn't entirely sure what "good people" meant. Did it mean it was safe? Did it mean she would never be abused again? Or did it mean that she had been taken from one place of torment to another, where she would simply be treated a bit better? Sure, Ahren was kind to her, but she still didn't understand what he was all about.

"What will become of me here?" she asked Saki fearfully.