Welcome to Gaia! ::

There was a brief pause before the voice said sheepishly, "Sorry ... this place is still a maze to me."

Amalirahc frowned. "Who are you?" he demanded. "You're not one of our group, but if you don't know your way around then you're not one of the family either. So who are you?"

"Ah, I apologize." There was another slight pause. "I am Kiara, fiancée of Prince Egleriad. I know Miyuki already, but what is your name?"

"I'm Amalirahc," Amalirahc said simply.

"Don't feel bad, Miyuki," Kiara laughed. "We only spoke once, and it was several days ago. You've had a lot more people to meet between then and now. Unfortunately, I can't accompany you at the moment, I'm due to meet Egleriad and his parents, but I think I see someone coming ... perhaps he can help you?"

"Who is it?" Amalirahc asked curiously.

Kiara hesitated. "I'm afraid I don't know his name ... a human, though."

"I guess we'll find out when they get here," Amalirahc grinned. "Thanks, Kiara. Can you flag them down for us?"

"They're coming directly here," she replied; but she called out obligingly, "You there ... would you mind helping the children?"

"Looks to me like they're training," came Luk's voice. "Are you sure we should be interfering?"

"Of course!" Amalirahc beamed, causing both Luk and Kiara to laugh.

"Well, I'll take them off your hands," Luk said, clearly speaking to the future princess. "And if I can't lead, then perhaps I'll follow and just give a word here and there. How does that sound?"

"Yes please!" Amalirahc spoke up immediately.

Kiara laughed. "I'll see you all later then," she told them; and then she was off.

"Yes, but you are forgetting that she has been doing this her whole life," Luk pointed out. There was the sound of something rustling ... soft paper perhaps, or cloth. "You've been doing this how long? It's something you've got to train yourself for."

After a pause he said, "Amalirahc, you need to turn a bit to the left, and Miyuki, towards your right. Quarter circle each."

Amalirahc turned as instructed and felt something different on his face - he couldn't describe it, but it felt as if the space in front of him were more ... open.

"And off we go," he grinned.

"Indeed?" Luk was amused by the comment. "Well, to be fair, a good number of the people here don't move around much, so they're easy not to hear. How are you at sensing presences, though? Life, magic, power, those sorts of things."

"Mama says I'm pretty good at it," Amalirahc said proudly. "But she says it's probably because of my gift, 'cos I can see what people are but even if I'm not looking at them I feel it."

He tapped his way forward, just about running into a guard before correcting himself.

Luk blinked. He was a little surprised that no one had spoken with Miyuki about these things; even for him, it had been a staple of his childhood education.

"Knowing people are around you without seeing or hearing them," he explained. "Feeling them without touching them. Just simply knowing that they're there by identifying their sensation. Most people have the ability, and just need to be taught to use their ability. Some can only sense certain things, like how powerful someone is, or how much magic they have ... others can identify individuals, even in a crowded place."

He paused.

"Think of it this way," he concluded finally. "You can tell people apart by looking at them because they look different. By hearing them, because they have different voices. Perhaps by smelling them, because everyone has a slightly different scent. I won't even suggest tasting them, though some people who smell particularly strongly can impose a taste in someone's mouth without having put anything to their tongue. But everyone also has a slightly different ... well, a different aura, for lack of a better word, though I'm not fond of the connotation. So if you're open to it, you can sense people by their aura, or the sensation around them."