Welcome to Gaia! ::

Anya stared around with wide eyes; this was the first time she was on Chibale islands! Her mothers had told her and her sisters that they would travel to Chibale for the annual festival once they were old enough. Finally it was here.. and she was conflicted about it. She was in her people's homeland! There was a big party to prepare for and festival on the way! But there was also a bunch of angry people, loud people who were very aggressive in their arguments. She knew her parents tried to keep her away but it was hard to ignore them!


So she tried to just sneak on by, avoiding conflict as she looked for a place where scrolls or books may be. She missed her growing collection and wished she brought some with her.

Anya stood on her tip toes to peer into one building's windows that had a sign with an inscribed scroll hanging above the door. Was this the place? She could barely see inside it though, curtains hung in her way, leaving only a small bit to peer through. Drat! Why bother to have a shop's windows covered? How was she supposed to know what was inside then!

She sighed and hopped backwards, running into someone behind her.
"Oh! I'm sorry," She said as she hurriedly skittered forward and turned around, looking at the person she'd bumped into.
"Woah.. that's a lot of piercings..." She said as she stared at the older girl. "Don't those hurt?"

"Hmm..." They looked cool... and if they didn't hurt like her mother's kept telling her.. maybe she could get some when she was a bit older?
She tilted her head; what ask about her mothers?
"They're... at grandma's cleaning up the rooms for us to use. Why?" She'd always been fine wandering about on her own.. of course that had been back home! Did this person need to speak with her mothers?

"Oh! I'm Anya." She offered a hand, "Forgot my manners there!"

Anya shook her head;
"Looking for books actually! Or scrolls... or something to read. I've never been here before since this is the first time our mother's decided we were old enough to travel safely... No clue where to look. I was hoping this one would have some..." She looked over her shoulder at the sign again.

"Are you from around here?"

"Really?" Good! "Do they sell or can I just sit in there and read them? I don't have that much to trade on me." She sighed. Being a kid meant she couldn't buy or trade for all the books or scrolls she wanted.


Anya wrinkled her nose when the tongue came out; "That's weird! Why're you playing with that?" Wouldn't it get torn out? Didn't that hurt? It was stuck in the skin after all! Did this girl like pain?

Anya was disappointed that the shop wouldn't be open for too long; she hated being rushed! The disappointment vanished when offered the item; "Really? You sure? I mean.. I don't have anything to give you back!"

And it'd be rude to just take and not return something right? Anya scrunched her nose up when the other girl had to share such details. Gross! I think I'll stick to simpler stuff.. that looks all to painful and messy...
"Doesn't it get int he way of food? Or food get into it? Does it whistle as wind blows by it?" It was a hole.. so things could get stuck right?

Anya smiled and held the string of shiny beads carefully; how generous! "Thank you!" I wonder how many scrolls or books I can get for it? Or how many parchments and ink.. I'm almost out! There was a festival going on and yet she would rather stay away and read or write. Festivals were nice.. but noisy, crowded, and she could only handle so much of it. Easier if she had her sisters, but apparently they'd all ended up going different ways this morning and she'd lost sight of them.

At Ariya's laughter, she wrinkled her nose. "What's so funny? They're honest questions!" She didn't see what was so funny about them!

Anya sniffed and tossed her head; "The only stupid question is one you don't ask, and the only silly one is one you've already asked!" She was a great believer in asking questions... and getting answers. Though they were rather.. silly now that she thought of it... But how was she to know? It was a hole! Holes whistled if wind blew by them and things would always fall into them... She smiled slightly, acknowledging that she did know she was being a bit silly.

"So it really doesn't get in the way or anything? Wouldn't it be a weakness in battle though? Mama said that if someone smacks a piercing it hurts no mater how lightly you hit it. Though.. I suppose if you got hit with anything in the face it'd hurt..."