Welcome to Gaia! ::

Leyenda laughed and set the tray down next to Lin. "By the time we get back," she laughed, "we're going to have so much to tell, and so many new things with us, we won't know where to start."

She got the marmalade out of a cupboard and set it on the tray with the dishes, then brought out a small round tray with a lid. "Here, Lin, you can put the bead slices on here so that it doesn't get cold when you take it outside," she told her.

Rhea was peering over Kelirahc's shoulder. "Learning to write?" she asked interestedly.

Kelirahc nodded. "I'm not sure how much of a point there is," he admitted, "but it was interesting watching Shiro when he was writing."

"Well, sure," Kelriahc replied with a shrug, "but ... why write it? Why not just remember it? Our people have been retelling our history for thousands of years without writings ..."

If others were interested in his past, could he not just tell them about it?

Leyenda smiled and put one hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it," she smiled at him. "It's fine."

Rhea looked over at the tray and nodded. "Definitely," she agreed. "And if not, we can always get more."

She straightened and moved to join Lin. "We'll see you all later," she said to the others. "And we'll let you know how Haldia is doing."

She held her hands out to the tray. "Want me to carry it?" she offered.

"All right." Rhea held the door for Lin, and walked with her across the deck, again holding the doors for her to get to Haldia's quarters.

When they entered the room, Celeb and Haldia were playing cards again, but at the sight of the tray of food, Haldia sgrinned widely and set the cards aside, moving to clear the desk, where they would eat.

"Thank you so much for this," she said sincerely.

To Haldia, bread was bread and spread was spread, and she didn't care what piece she had. She just picked the piece nearest her and slopped on a generous portion of the marmalade before taking a large bite.

Rhea laughed. "Celeb," she grinned, motioning for him to go next.

Celeb was eager, but he took greater care in preparing his bread: he took his time and made sure that the marmalade was spread right to the very edges of his slice, and that it was the same thickness all the way across. Only then did he allow himself to start to eat.

"Go ahead, Lin," Rhea smiled at her.

While Haldia kept eating, even after her second and third slice, Rhea limited herself to only one, since she was planning on eating dinner with the others in just a few hours. Once she had finished her slice - which she took her time eating so that she could enjoy it - she opened her bag and pulled out the various materials that Alena had given her to work with.

And so began a very busy afternoon for Rhea, Lin and Haldia.

The busy day turned into a busy week, and things very quickly fell into a new routine of meals and sewing for Rhea and Haldia, at least, Rhea didn't need Lin anymore after the first two days, which left Lin free to do what she wanted. Over the course of the week, Alena visited the ship often, sometimes twice a day, and though Earendil was busy preparing to leave to chart the island, he never went with on the roc.

One day when Alena visited, she had a request for some of the travelers.

"His Royal Highness has returned," she informed Arwen, Roydon, Kelirahc, Leyenda, Earendil, Lin, Rhea and Celeb. "He wishes to meet as many of you as possible. He has been told of your origins, and as he has never seen those of our old homeland, he is especially eager to meet all of you."

Earendil had to admit, he wasn't surprised, but he did not want to go back on the roc. Skyel might be a tame roc, but no amount of taming could make the ride any smoother.