Welcome to Gaia! ::

Wren smiled at Miyuki. "Thanks. I'll do that."

It wasn't much longer before everyone else (with the exception of Kaito) was awake. The noise was enough to keep most people from sleeping. Lancaeriel faithfully prepared breakfast for everyone, and while she did so, Wren asked around to see who would join her at the festivities.

Shiro was mildly interested and Andarien not at all, but Iorlas and Daeron were keen on the idea. Lancaeriel politely declined as well, but Earendil was interested in seeing what the celebrations were like here.

"What do you think, Lin?" he asked her with a grin. "It will be a nice change of pace."

"Pity we haven't learned much of the language yet," Earendil commented as he reached for his coin pouch. "Still, I'm sure we'll enjoy ourselves."

"Iorlas is coming as well," Wren offered, "so she can translate for us. And who knows, maybe we'll run into Kyrie and Ahkshi. Or Ahkshi's mother, she knows the Common Tongue."

"Ready to go?" Daeron asked, coming up behind the three of them. Iorlas was with him, and this time it was Daeron who had Amir in the sling around his neck, while Iorlas had her hands free.

"Off we go, then," Wren grinned. "Come on."

They started towards the city, all of them eager to see what was going on there and what it was going to be like.

All of the streets were filled with people, though the closer they got to the middle of the city, the more activities they found. There were musicians on just about every corner, and every street had people dancing, games to play, snacks and drinks being passed out, and various wares for sale. There were certain streets cordoned off from the crowds for different competitions - strength, speed, skill, and more.

There were far more people in the city than there had been two days previous, and it was clear which people were just visiting the city, and which had seen the Four Landers before: the familiar faces more or less ignored the group, while the others stared openly and tried to avoid them.

Yet for the all the noise and the crowds, it was an excited atmosphere, and very friendly.

"Kyrie wasn't kidding when she said it was quite the celebration," Wren murmured, looking around. "Though I still find it hard to believe that it will continue all through the night. Can they really last that long, with all this energy being put out already?"

"I feel sorry for the people who must be spending the entire day preparing the food and making sure it doesn't run out," Daeron laughed. "Don't worry so much, Wren. Just enjoy yourself. If you get tired, you can always head back to camp."

Wren laughed. "Oh, hush, you." She reached over and whacked her cousin upside the head. "You're one to talk."

Earendil chuckled. "I'm up for a dance if you are," he grinned, his eyes bright. "Come, my dear. It sounds like quite a lively one."

He led Lin off towards the area where many people were already dancing.

"Would you like me to take Amir for a bit so that you two can join them?" Wren suggested to Daeron and Iorlas with a grin.

"If you don't mind," Iorlas beamed. She helped Daeron to take off the sling and helped Wren to put it on, pressed a kiss to Amir's cheek, and took Daeron's hand. The two of them followed after Lin and Earendil.

Wren grinned and watched them go. A part of her wished she also had someone to dance with, but part of her was simply content to watch and be helpful by taking care of Amir.

Suddenly she blinked in surprise. Was it her imagination, or had someone else disappeared into the crowd after them?

She dismissed her thought immediately. With crowds like this, there was bound to be someone behind them.

After a few songs, Earendil suggested to Lin that they check out some of the other things that were going on, and they found Daeron and Iorlas, who wanted to join them as well, and made their way back to where they had left Wren.

Wren had found a relatively empty space beneath a tree and was playing with Amir, and when she saw the others looking for her, she waved them over.

"Enjoy the dance?" she grinned as they approached her.

"Well, people watching is always interesting," Wren grinned. Iorlas knelt next to her to take over playing with Amir, and Wren stood up and stretched. "It's funny how even halfway across the world, people are so much the same. And then there are -"

She cut herself off mid-sentence and stared off into the crowd behind them. There was that person again ...

But when she blinked, the person was gone once more. She shook her head to clear it. "I must be seeing things," she muttered.

Wren hesitated before she slowly answered, "Well ... I don't know. Earlier I thought I saw someone follow you into the crowd, and just now I thought I saw someone follow you out of the crowd."

She shook her head. "I don't know, maybe it's my imagination. We've been traveling for such a long time now, maybe I'm too suspicious."

"Then again, a healthy dose of suspicion never killed anyone," Daeron pointed out. He glanced at Iorlas. "Maybe we should be careful here. Kyrie has told us repeatedly that people here won't trust us, and there's no telling how they might treat us."

"Should we go back to camp?" Earendil asked, glancing at Lin.