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Iorlas looked at the place Miyuki had indicated and smiled. "As long as the ground is flat and there are no tree roots, it will be fine. Thank you."

She took Amir back from Ahkshi so that the physician could also help out with the tent. Kaito hung back, watching them, and Lancaeriel had to shoo him away from the fire a few times.

"So what is everyone doing, anyways?" Iorlas asked curiously as Shiro, Miyuki and Ahkshi started working on the tent. "Where are they all?"

Lancaeriel smiled and took it upon herself to answer, since she was the only one who had been awake the entire time and would know (and wasn't really busy, since Andarien was training his pokemon).

"Lin and Earendil are in their tent - Earendil claimed he was tired, but it's quite possible they just wanted some time together," she began, "most of the rest of us are already out here, and Wren wanted some time alone in the tent so that she could try to contact her father."

And sure enough, it didn't take long at all for the three of them to put up the tent. Immediately, Iorlas moved her and Daeron's things inside, and then she was back outside again to wait with everyone for her husband and Kyrie to return.

An hour or so later, Kyrie and Daeron returned with two foxes, a coney, and a brace of fish. Lancaeriel accepted all of it - once the animals had been prepared for her of course - and prepared a veritable feast for everyone for dinner, inviting Miyuki to help her cook it, and Ahkshi and Kyrie to stay for the meal. Then it was off to bed, and despite being so close to the city, Kyrie warned them to have someone keep watch over the camp at night, to protect them from any animals that might come sniffing around. There were few dangerous animals in the area, but with the smell of food, who knew what might come. Then she and Ahkshi returned to their home for the night.

The next day was the last day of the year, Mettarë, and even before the sun rose, it was clear that the city was going to be quite loud that day. Already there were many voices, though the music did not start up until the sun had begun to rise into the sky.

Wren emerged from the tent behind Miyuki and stretched in the early morning sunlight.

"Good morning, Miyuki," she murmured with a smile. "I'd ask if you rested well, but with all the noise I don't know if anyone would." She knelt down and petted Yasu gently. "Morning, Yasu."

She herself had not slept much at all, though to be fair, it wasn't entirely due to the noise. It showed on her, too - her eyes were slightly red, and didn't have the same sparkle they usually had. But she was glad that they were no longer staying in the inn, which she was certain would have been even louder.

"You planning on staying out here all day?" she asked, looking back at Miyuki again.

Wren blinked, the question taking her by surprise; and then she half-smiled and sighed softly.

"It shows, does it?" she murmured. "I didn't sleep well last night. Mind racing. Thoughts. Questions without answers. Missing ..."

She cut herself off and gazed unseeingly out into the distance, and then she sighed again. "Missing my father."

She smiled sadly at Miyuki. "You know, I never imagined I would ever miss my father as much as this. I'm still glad I'm here, but ..."

She shrugged.

"Well, no," Wren replied softly, taking a seat next to Miyuki, "but ... it's by far the longest I've been away. Chansond'eau to Haven is only a week's journey, and that's the furthest I'd ever gone without him until now. Even when I visited there, I was always home within three months. Now it's been nearly three years."

She smiled again, and again it was a faint, sad smile. "I spoke with him yesterday, and we postulated about how long this trip might be. At the rate we're going - a year in Caras Galadhon, a year here - it's going to take us more than two decades to see the entire continent. I have to be honest ... I don't know if I'll be able to do that."

At that question, Wren grimaced.

"I honestly don't know," she replied. "Sometimes yes, sometimes no ... I miss my father, I miss my home ... but ... I'm really enjoying the trip itself. I love being out here, seeing all the thing we're seeing, learning all that we're learning ... and yet ... and yet ..."

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. It had grown quite a bit in the time that they'd been gone from the Four Lands, and it was now long enough to brush her shoulders, and her curls were no longer so tight, which was what made it possible for her to run her fingers through her hair the way so many other people did.

"My father and I spoke of Aranxia yesterday," she said quietly. "One of the reasons I was able to convince my father to allow me on this trip was the possibility that I might meet the person I'm destined to be with while we're here. But if I do, then either I'm going to have to say farewell to my father, my home, and stay out here with the man I meet ... or he will have to do so. And I don't know, maybe when you're with someone you love, you're content to be away from your family ... but ..."

"Well, on the bright side," Wren mused, "I suppose that if that's the case, I'll be able to tell if it's the real thing - if it happens."

She rubbed her eyes in an attempt to get rid of the burning, but the respite was brief.

"Still, on that note, I might as well go to the city and see what's going on," she ginned. "Think I'll wash before I go. There's no point in hiding out during our stay here. Do you know if anyone else is planning on going?"

She had a feeling she probably shouldn't go on her own, but she did want to see what was going on, take part of it if she could.