Welcome to Gaia! ::

Mailon nodded thoughtfully. He had never considered that before. Free will. Something that was so taken for granted ...

"You give me much to think about," he said at last. "I am grateful. Being in one place for so long is ... not easy. But to have something to think about, a goal to achieve ... thank you. I do not know how I might go about this, though."

He smiled sheepishly at her. "Speaking with others ... does not come easily to me. Even without connecting."

He had never been able to speak with people. That was one of the reasons he had always been alone, even when he had lived with his people. Been the most important man in the village. The one that was most looked up to.

Mailon nodded again. "Your parents do seem ... quite talkative," he admitted with a faint smile. "You are very like them. I don't think it matters to you if people don't feel talkative, or if they don't wish to speak with you, does it? Somehow you will manage to elicit a response, if not a full conversation."

He didn't understand how they did it, he would never understand how they did it; all he knew was that they did it.

While Miyuki was so busy for all those weeks working on the mobile home for everyone, other things were being accomplished as well. Shoneah had begun hunting with Daeron, Kyrie and Wren, and though their discomfort had been evident the first few times she'd eaten the hearts of the creatures she'd killed, none of them had said anything negative, only assured her that it was fine, and then they had grown used to it. After that, Shoneah let herself enjoy the hunts with the others.

Andarien eventually forgot about the incident at least enough that he was willing to practice archery with Shoneah once she had her own bow again, and in his spare time he kept working on a design that he refused to show anyone, saying that he wasn't sure if it would work and that he wasn't going to tell anyone about it until he made the item in question - which would take a while of course, considering that he still had no forge to use. He did also train with his Pokemon, though it was noted by several that he did let Kaede spend quite a bit of time playing with Amir - who, though he was still not talking or even trying to, had begun giggling lately, especially when playing with the playful Leafeon.

Earendil was frustrated by his inability to join the hunts, but he tried not to let it get to him. Instead, he spent his time poring over the maps that Kyrie had provided him with, learning about the lands around them, and asking Kyrie about the route they would eventually be taking. Of course, he also spent quite a bit of time with Lin, and even though he couldn't hunt he didn't want to let his skills get rusty, so he practiced with her as well.

Lancaeriel and Cael, aside from helping Miyuki, spent a lot of time alone together, though they always made sure they were around for Lancaeriel to help with meals. She also provided musical entertainment, especially in the evenings when people just enjoyed relaxing.

Wren enjoyed her time hunting, but she also spent time in the city, and with the money she earned selling the meat from the animals they hunted - since they needed so many furs, their group couldn't eat all of the meat - she combed the city's shops, carefully searching for things to help out those back at the camp, or souvenirs for herself, or gifts for her family back home. Still, she was very careful in what she spent, and rarely came back with anything at all.

Iorlas spent her days caring for Amir, learning how to cook better from Lancaeriel, tailoring for herself, Amir and Daeron, and keeping an eye on the boy while he played. Amir was growing very well, and in the course of those few weeks even his hair grew quite a bit longer. He had started playing with Daeron's things when Daeron wasn't looking, so Daeron had made him some toy weapons to play with, in the hopes that when the boy was older, he would show some interest in learning to use real ones. Of course, that time was a long way off, but he wasn't going to let Amir use his weapons now, and this was the best substitute.

Kaito was Kaito, the walking paradox. Lazy and bursting with energy. Insanely busy or doing absolutely nothing. He was still helping Andarien with his kenjutsu, but he was usually pestering Shiro if anyone.

Shiro still spent his time researching anything that entered into his mind to research. Using his tablet, he had long since begun an encyclopedia of the world of Arda, and he was continuously creating entries and filling them with as much information as he could get his hands on, including photos of the items in question. He also managed to finally get an answer back from Ura about Suki's new and unexpected form: Sylveon was a newly discovered evolution of Eevees, even back in Gaia, and it seemed that it was one of the types newly classified as Fairy. Apparently Fairy types were particularly strong against Dragon type Pokemon, and Shiro wondered if that would translate into Suki being a very effective defender against actual dragons as well, since they had discovered that dragons were a very present threat in this world.

Overall, it was a very productive time for everyone, and by this point they were beginning to make plans for traveling again. Not that they expected to be leaving soon, but Summer was over and Autumn was going quickly, and Fading was fast approaching - and Winter would come soon after that. And of course, once Winter was over, they would be on their way again - so the more they prepared now, clothing, food and everything, the less they would have to do once the snow melted.

Shoneah was having some downtime, greasing the string on her new bow, when she saw Miyuki moving through the camp. For someone who had lately been serious and busy, it was unusual, and she couldn't help but lower her bow and the cloth she was using and watch Miyuki curiously to see what was going on.

"Did something happen?" she asked finally, unable to curb her curiosity any longer as Miyuki drew nearer to her. "You haven't been this carefree in weeks."

She had also opened up a bit in the past several weeks, as she had gotten to know the group. There were still those to whom she didn't speak very often and thus was quieter when she was with them, but Miyuki was someone she couldn't stay shy around.

Despite how much Shoneah had protested when Miyuki had insisted on not only making a room for her but also furnishing it and providing her with clothes and everything else that she needed, she had to admit that she was curious to see what the whole thing would look like - her room included.

Knowing Miyuki, it would be more than Shoneah had asked for.

"When do we get to see it?" she asked with a grin.

"I think most everyone's around somewhere," Shoneah offered, looking around. "Wren might have gone into town again, but other than that I think everyone's here."

She looked around. "And ... Kaito and Andarien might be off, training, I think," she murmured.

Which meant there was no telling what kind of mood Andarien might be in when he got back later.

Shoneah smiled. She recognized the look on Miyuki's face.

"Why don't you get your parents and aunt and uncle," she suggested, "and I'll track down Lancaeriel and Cael? We should be done about the same time, and then we can all go see your tent together."

She set aside her bow and cloth, folding the cloth carefully so that it wouldn't get dirty on the wrong side, and rose to her feet.