Welcome to Gaia! ::

The man smiled at Lin. "I'm sure you also know by experience," he murmured, gesturing at her wings. "Tell me, were you born with them?"

He had never seen anyone with wings before - other than the nekos which he had brought back to the castle with him the last time he had come to the ship.

Aurin nodded slowly as he tried to let the information sink in. This girl was definitely no ordinary human ... but that begged the question, what was she? And the bigger question ... how to ask without being rude?

Which of course there was no way to ask, since it wasn't his business, and so he simply kept quiet.

"Not at all," the soldier said hastily, startled by her question. "No ... I only wondered ... forgive me for my forwardness, I truly do not wish to be rude ... but ... I wonder, my lady, if you are ... not quite human ..."

He blushed again, as if he were ashamed of his question. And with reason - after all, if she were human, she would be gravely insulted - it would be like confusing an orc and an elf!

Aurin was visibly relieved that Lin didn't take offense at his question, and he smiled warmly at her.

"I see," he said. "I have never heard of your race before ... what region are you from? Are you a newer race?"

His questions were interrupted by Earendil's return with Rhea by his side. The moment the prince appeared, Aurin seemed to snap back into soldier mode: he stood straight at attention, and saluted Earendil when he came close.

"At ease," Earendil said immediately, saluting back. He glanced at Lin. "You think he'd get it by now."

Rhea smiled and nodded at Lin. "Whisper's still with Haldia, I just wanted to check on them before I left," she explained. "And of course I had to grab my bag."

She motioned towards the bag that was around her shoulders.

Earendil nodded and turned to Aurin. "We are ready," he told the man. "None of us have used harnesses before, so you may have to show us how to use them ..."

Rhea looked at the bird thoughtfully. On the one hand, she could fly on her own if she wanted to, and she wondered if it might be a bit safer. On the other hand, the roc was certain to be faster, and she was sure that it would be an unforgettable experience. She didn't count her flight on Haldia's roc: it was a spirit, and was entirely too predictable. She wanted to know what it would be like on a real roc.

With a grin, she stepped forward towards the roc. Yes, she would ride on it.

Aurin cleared his throat a bit awkwardly, then moved to help Rhea up onto the roc's back.

"Gently," he murmured. "Just go ahead and take a seat, I'll harness you in once you're all up there ..."

Once Rhea was up, he held out a hand to Lin to help her up as well.

The roc lifted its head from beneath its wing as the girls walked across its back and sat down, watching them with an eye the size of their heads.

"Really hope we don't pull any feathers," Rhea murmured as she sat ever so carefully.

Earendil was right behind Lin. "I suddenly have the image of someone using a roc quill," he quipped. "Though could you imagine the size of their primaries? The quill would be as long as a person is tall!"

"Bigger, I'm sure," Rhea replied as Aurin began harnessing them all in.

Earendil nodded at Aurin. "Why don't you ask him?" he suggested to Lin. "He's the one who would know."

Aurin could of course hear what they were saying, but he couldn't understand their speech, and as he finished harnessing Lin to the roc's back, he looked up at her questioningly.