Welcome to Gaia! ::

The thought of leaving for Zena was surprisingly difficult. It meant leaving behind the life that she had fought tooth and nail to build for herself. It was only temporary, but, deep inside, it reminded her of the last home she had left- no, been torn from, and had never seen again.

This time, it was her choice. If one could call it a choice, really. She had to go back to Zena. She had to find out if her mother was okay, and if her old friend was alive...

"May the gods watch over you," her friends had said when she left. The gods.... Her gods were different from those who lived in Oba. Would they hear the pleas of those who did not pray to them? Besides that, she had little doubt that the gods of her Oban heritage gave her no consideration. The gods were as bad as the rich lords and ladies in her opinion. Eyes rising up, forgetting herself in the path, she snorted and shook her head. "You just keep on paying me no mind up there. I'll have none of it from you on my way."

The trip ahead was a daunting task. After all, she'd never made such a journey alone! Besides the journey itself, the anticipation of finding out what was at the end was nerve-wracking. Would she last until then?

A damp touch to her leg brought her to a halt, head snapping down to look at what had touched her. When her eyes fell on the furry little beast, one hand flew to her chest before she stood frozen in place in shock. What... what was that? "Well... hello," she started slowly, eyes finally lifting to see if someone was going to lay claim on the creature. "I've never seen anything like you before."

While her nose did wrinkle at the feeling of the creature's drool slipping into her sandal, she wasn't put off as much as one might expect. She'd had her hands in much worse over the years. In fact, the resulting canine grin just made her laugh.

"Ill? I am sorry to hear that." She accepted the cloth and balanced on one leg to clean up the other foot. "If a collar is troublesome, perhaps a harness of a sort would work better for him? It would be off of his neck while still securing him to you." She cocked her head slightly as she slipped her sandal back on and held the cloth out. "If I may, what is he? I've never seen the like of him before."

Aari gave a small nod, happy to have helped. While her own pet was a giant bug that she never bothered leashing up, it was common enough to see pack animals and the like with body harnesses. If it worked on the big animals, why not the small ones? "I am sure the stable would be able to make one for you." Even as she spoke though, she took in the other's features. That was a solid woman in front of her; basically her physical opposite. She was willing to bet the woman could make her own harness if she wanted to!

"A duruf?" What an odd name for an equally odd creature. With the explanation, Aari found her heart ache a little. "I do not doubt that someone with more coin than sense decided to invest in an exotic pet without bothering to learn how to care for him and grew careless." Realizing her tone had sharpened slightly, she took a step back and let her smile lighten up again, leaning to focus on the duruf. "Or he was a sneaky stowaway on one of those airships and decided he wanted to stick around."

The duruf was certainly a good distraction. She chuckled again at the slobbery creature and nodded. "He certainly looks happy. My own pet is.. much less expressive. I suppose that comes with having mandibles versus a muzzle. A maglardilla can be surprisingly cuddly, but they certainly don't smile as far as I can tell." The critter had been left back home since she was uncertain how it would fare in the cold of Zena. She already missed its consistent, silent presence.

"And we can't have you getting lost to the crowd," she cooed, wiggling her fingers at the duruf. It was so.. ugly cute. Cugly?

Like with the slobber, Aari found herself more amused than anything else at the young woman's reaction. Indeed, a maglardilla had never been on her wish list, but it had come when she had needed something to focus on. The rest was history. "Yes, it is so," she confirmed, resisting the urge to laugh out loud.

Given the go ahead, she dug her fingers further into the eager canine's fur. It certainly was a nice change from the hard shell and pointy little stick legs. The festival? Oh, right. "There is no need to apologize. I quite enjoyed meeting you two."

She couldn't help noting to herself that they had arrived to stop her right after she had told the Oban gods to keep to themselves... Whether coincidence or karma, she would perhaps have to watch her tone a little closer when talking to the spirits around them. "I do not doubt that you have more to attend to, so I won't detain you any further."

"A day off is always a treat, is it not? I hope you enjoy the rest of your day then." She leaned in a little closer to make kissy faces at the pleased duruf. While such play wasn't in her usual behavior, she had also never had an animal to entice such expressiveness from her. When the offer came, Aari felt herself go two different ways. The one was eager to continue on her journey, having intended to simply pass through the festival only for a brief refreshment. Yet, the other direction... She found her smile warming happily. "Honestly.. I would love to," she assured. A playful glint came to her eye and she pressed a finger tip to the duruf's nose gently. "That is.. if I may hold him for a short time~"