Welcome to Gaia! ::

"They are," Leilani smiled, changing Miyuki's past tense to the present. "They still live, Miyuki, and they still sing. Not to create, but for pleasure. They still have much to teach, but there are few who are willing to learn from them."

Fewer still had the opportunity, to be fair.

Leilani smiled faintly, her eyes growing slightly sad. She turned away from Miyuki slightly so that the child couldn't see her expression.

"Sometimes it is not a matter of want," she murmured quietly. "Sometimes it is simply not possible. But it is true," she added, turning back to Miyuki again, her voice stronger now, her eyes clear once more, "there are those that believe that they do not need the aid of the Valar anymore. They believe that they know enough, or that there are enough people here who know enough."

Leilani laughed aloud at that comment. "How true!" she giggled, her blue eyes sparkling brightly. "But there are some people who do believe that they know enough, that there is nothing else that they can learn. And I believe that their lives are emptier for it."

She giggled again. "At any rate, we'd best be getting ready to set off. We've a fair distance to travel again today."

Earendil held his arms out to Miyuki. "Let me take Andarien," he murmured. "You need to pack your bag up, all right?"

Earendil looked around. "It looks as if Elros and Aethos are already taking care of that," he smiled. "Better get our things out of our tent before they get to it. Can you do that for me?"

He cradled Andarien in one arm and picked up the music box with his free hand. He didn't know if he wanted it to stop playing ... he was afraid that Andarien would start crying all over again.

Before too long, everything was cleaned up and they were preparing to be on their way.

Alene made a comfortable couch-y area on one of the wagons where she and Lin would be able to sit with the infants without getting cramped or sore. River had offered to drive their wagon, and Daeron was driving the other.

By the end of the week, everyone was starting to feel a bit tired, and it waas with pleasure that they arrived at their first town: the human village of Ethuil. It was about average for a human town: not very large, as a rule, perhaps a hundred thatch-roofed houses with small yards, children running through the streets, women tending small gardens; since it was the middle of the day, many of the men were outside the town taking care of fields, while others were tending their businesses.

Their language was one that the Gaians had never heard before - other than Shiro, who had insisted that Elnara teach him every language she knew before he headed out on their journey.

They attracted many stares as they passed through the streets - and it wasn't just the Gaians: the elves were getting just as many incredulous stares as the others.

River held the reins tightly in her hands, feeling a big edgy from the stares they were receiving from the humans.

"I don't know," she murmured quietly to Miyuki. "I've never seen anyone stare like that before. It's like we look funny or something."

Earendil rode his horse closer to the wagon. "Careful," he murmured to the girls in Common Elvish, since he knew Miyuki didn't speak High Elven. "It looks like elven visitors are rare here. They could be dangerous."

A few children with dirty faces and ragged clothing approached the group carefully, keeping a wary distance. There was amazement in their eyes, but it was mixed with distrust. One of them, a boy a little younger than Miyuki or River, called out to them in the human tongue.

"He's asking us where we're from," Earendil replied as Elros answered the boy. He held out one hand, and River pulled the wagon to a stop, her eyes curious.

"Getting directions," Earendil explained further as Elros continued to talk with the boy, and then the boy's mother, who had approached them. "Looking for the livery and inn."

His brow furrowed slightly as he listened. "It seems they don't have so much of an inn as a tavern ..." He looked over at Lin. "I don't think I like the idea of staying in a tavern."