Welcome to Gaia! ::

Jess was happy with that, and he smiled widely. "Thanks."

"Hey look!" River exclaimed, pointing back at the door that led to the cabins. "There's Uncle Luk!"

She waved to her uncle, who waved back, an amused expression on his face.

Luk's appearance was, as usual, impeccable: freshly washed, hair neatly combed; and yet, for all that, he was slightly pale, though in the bright sunlight of the early morning, everyone seemed a bit paler than usual.

"Good morning," he called back, smiling. He moved to join them. "I'm doing well, though I'll be better once I'm more awake. It was late to bed last night but I'm afraid I'm not used to sleeping during the day anymore. How about the three of you? I noticed you all went to bed last night instead of helping."

"It was that or we'd just be in the way," River pointed out. "You really think any of us would be able to carry those crates, or know where to put them?"

Only after she'd finished her defensive protest did she catch the twinkle in her uncle's eye.

Luk chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah ... back when we first met. I was the only one in the area who knew the region outside the city, so when people wanted to go out they needed me to be their guide. The only time I knew I wouldn't be bothered was at night, since no one ever wanted to go out at night, and so that's when I did my own thing. Slept during the day instead."

"What kinds of things did you do for yourself?" River asked curiously.

"Uh ... things that seem somewhat less important now," Luk admitted. "You have to realize that for a long time, I was pretty depressed. My family was gone. I had no friends. Now that I know I'm not alone, I don't want to go back to living like that."

"Oh, absolutely," Luk replied without hesitation, beaming. "I have every intention of showing you all around the city and introducing Arthael to people ... everyone will be so glad to meet her! When our parents disappeared, it hit the whole city hard, nothing like that had ever happened before ... I'm sure they'll be happy to meet Arthael! She's back from the dead!"

River giggled. "It's just so weird ... I mean, none of them ever met Grandmama, did they?"

"No," Luk admitted with a chuckle, "but they all knew that she was on her way. So even if they didn't know her by name, they did mourn for her."

Luk smiled broadly and closed his eyes, remembering his home.

"Yes, Caras Galadhon is only the capital," he murmured. "I have experienced only a bit of the country outside of the city. In the area where I lived, to the north of the city, I would take people out and act as their guide, when there were no senate meetings. Honestly, we didn't meet often, maybe once every week or two. The countryside is beautiful, though ... lush forests, thicker than the Westland forest ... and the mountains are so filled with silver and precious stones that you can see it all sparkling from the city. Aside from that, my knowledge is more ... well, textbook, as Shiro would say."

He looked back at Miyuki and smiled. "Forests, hills ... several other settlements, though few are even large enough to be considered towns, let alone cities. Most of them are along the coast, though there are a few that are inland. None are near the borders of the country. It's not safe, for the most part. There are still many people who think that interracial marriages are an abomination and should be avoided, and since of course Caras Galadhon - the entire country, not just the city - is based on the idea of freedom to choose whom to love, we really do tend not to get along with our neighbours. Of course, some are worse than others," he added as an afterthought.

Luk's expression probably said it all, but he answered Miyuki's question honestly, as it was his personal opinion that everyone deserved to know the truth, no matter how grim. Besides, in this case, it would be murder not to prepare the travelers for their future.

"Yes," he said succinctly. "The White Elves, especially. There is one person who I know is able to travel safely throughout all of the lands and may be willing to help you, but ... well ... it's been centuries since anyone's had word ..."

He trailed off and shrugged. "I wish I could offer you more," he apologized. "But many of the people in the city have had to travel through hostile lands to reach it. Perhaps they could help you."

"True," Luk grinned. "Very true. We do have a very large country. I believe it's the largest country on the continent. At least you'll have a good, safe beginning to your trip."

"Part of me wishes I could go too," River said softly. Then she looked back at Jess. "But ... part of me doesn't want to go anywhere else. I missed my family last time, and ... well, I wouldn't go anywhere if Jess couldn't come."

Jess's face flushed brightly, but he smiled widely. He tried to speak, but words didn't seem to want to come.

River giggled suddenly. "At least Jacinthe and Jeremiah weren't too hard to convince to let Jess come with us here!"

"Mama and Papa and I went with Serenity to get Princess Wren," River explained, smiling warmly. "We went to her first, of course, but after we'd let her know that it was time to go, I took Mama and Papa to visit Jeremiah and Jacinthe. It was a really nice visit. We explained about the trip, and they kind of already knew a bit about it because I'd told Jess about it on our first visit, because we kind of knew then already that we would be going with to take Uncle Luk home again, and I think they were a bit worried at first - you know, what with Jess going so far away and for such a long time, even longer than our trip around the Four Lands! But Mama and Papa assured them that it would be perfectly safe and then they said Jess could go."

"After you said you wouldn't go if I couldn't," Jess added with a grateful smile.

River blushed, something she rarely did. "Yeah ... I think maybe they felt kind of sorry for me for that ..."

"Either that or they saw the looks on your parents' faces," Jess grinned. "When you said that, I thought your mother was going to faint!"