Welcome to Gaia! ::

The day had started well enough. Bright clear weather that was neither too hot nor too cold and that meant that there would be lots of people at the park. A rather good day for a meal. And a good meal it had been too. Replete, the Sigel was about to head home when something amongst the crowd of busy pedestrians caught his eye.

It was another Raevan, a frei to be exact.

Xiu paused in his track to observe his kindred.

While all raevans were special in their own right, the frei in question was aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Stunning wings, interesting markings around his eyes and a head of hair most shampoo models would be coveting to have, the Frei was attracting the attention of many of the passersby while it seemed that the frei himself was oblivious to their stares.

Which was a cause of concern for the Sigel. The awestruck manner in which the Frei was conducting himself with his surroundings hinted at his inexperience.

No, not inexperience, the Sigel corrected himself. Rather the youthful wonder of experiencing the amalgamation of sights, sounds and smells in which people (and older Raevans) tended to take for granted for the first time.

So where was his guardian?

Xiu scrutinized the crowd once more. While there were many onlookers, no one seemed particularly inclined to claim responsibility over the young frei. Which meant that through fraternal obligation, Xiu would have to step in.

“Hello,” the Sigel greeted as he approached the other. “I don’t believe we have met before. My name’s Xiu and you are?”

The Sigel was a little unnerved by the quiet intensity of the Frei’s gaze. Xiu knew that different raevans have different abilities. For a moment the Sigel wondered what kind of powers did the frei have or better yet, what were the components that made him as that itself would sometimes hint at a raevan’s abilities.

When Aadhira spoke, the Sigel inclined his head politely. “ It is a pleasure to meet you, Aadhira. I will try my best not to spoil your first impression of us raevans then,” said the Sigel, only half in jest. If the frei had yet to meet any other raevans, it was best if a good first impression could be given. Xiu figured he’d be as good a role model as any. Well, he hoped so at any rate.

“Are you with your guardian?” enquired the Sigel with another cursory glance at his surroundings.

As Xiu listened to the young Frei’s explanation, a small smile appeared when the Sigel noticed a fib that had slipped into Aadhira’s recollection of the day’s event. While he had not been intentionally seeking out lies from the Frei, Xiu had been born with the ability to detect when someone was being less than honest; - and for a brief moment the Sigel was tempted to call the Frei out on it. But the lie had been a small one and it was done to (no doubt) avoid some of the more probing questions that would have arose had he been telling the truth.

Which meant that he was dealing with a rather wily Frei.

“Do you know what kind of purchases your guardian would be making today? Perhaps then we could search for him in relevant stores,” suggested Xiu.

"Lion logo? That must be George's Grocer," said Xiu recalling the store's lion logo with the caption “At roaring good prices”. Xiu himself shopped there occasionally. Their weekly discounts and value products were indeed, competitively priced.

“I know the place. It isn’t very far from here. Perhaps we would be able to meet your guardian then,” said Xiu with a nod. “This way please,”

As they floated along, Xiu kept a watchful eye open just in case Aadhira’s guardian should appear. No doubt he would be relieved to have his raevan back.

At Aadhira’s enquiry, Xiu went silent for a moment. While there was certainly no harm in asking what he came from, Xiu was generally reluctant to reveal it on the principle that having blood as one of his components made people squeamish. Another awkward question for the Raevan would be “So what do you eat exactly?”

Now that was a question he had trouble answering at times.

But then again, this was a fellow raevan.

Giving Aadhira a glance, Xiu smiled. “Thank you, Aadhira. I am honoured you’d think that but a knight I am not. My fel essence is White Blood while my soul is that of a Pi Yao. Apparently my guardian came across one guarding an old temple,”

“And if I may be so bold…you seem to possess some interesting looking features as well,” said Xiu with polite curiosity. It was up to the Frei if he would like to disclose his origins.