Welcome to Gaia! ::

Maia wiped the last residue of her meal off the sides of her mouth with one finger, stretching her legs out before her so she could stretch her arms above her head. Her joints cracked and she gave a contented sigh, twisting to get more comfortable on the large rock she had decided to stop by and have a break. By her calculations, she was at least a weeks walk from Neued, maybe more. Maybe less. She never took a map with her when she left, relying on her own good sense of direction, years of playing in the woods as a young things having strengthened her ability. Small things stood out to her easily, helping her mark her passage. Plus, a really good memory didn't hurt any.

Brushing the crumbs off her pants, the young Shifter rose to her feet, bending down to grab the bag by the straps. She shuffled it onto her back, its weight not yet noticeable. Too early in the current job to have much to it. All it contained were the food rations she always kept handy in case she couldn't find anything to scavenge for that day. Not today. Today she had gotten lucky with a few fallen fruit, the whole reason she had decided to stop for a bit. She was never one to let an opportunity go by. Her rations wouldn't last forever if she had to keep eating them, after all.

It was time to get back on the road. Metaphorically speaking. The world around her was quiet, telling her there wasn't even a village nearby. Total isolation. Just the way she liked it. Cities and towns were so noisy. Listening to the quiet of the outdoors, it was easy to get distracted. Until something shiny catches your eye.

Steering a little off her straight path, Maia walked over to something sticking out of the ground and reached out a hand to pull it out.

“Mmm.” Kieran found himself agreeing even though his gaze was on everything except for Kaimana. The Yaeli had a parchment out, his silver gaze studying the outline of his freshly made map for the area as he continued moving them forward. This area was new and unmarked on the other maps so he was hopeful that it would be what they were looking for. If they could find the remains of the village then they could surely gather any of the rare herbs that the healers had described. The Yaeli let out a soft sigh before tucking the map back into his own satchel before Kaimana’s outburst caught his attention.

“What’s going on?” Kieran’s steps slowed as he casually walked up towards the young shifter. “You should be careful about that.” He warned as he crouched and studied the slender piece of pottery that the girl had been reaching for. “It’s very jagged and actually could be quite valuable in the right hands. Do you mind if I inspect it?” If this was a true relic and not just someone’s trash then it would mean that surely they were in the right place!


[Kieran 1]

A flustered flush decorated Kaimana's cheeks as he watched Kieran handle the situation. If it had simply been him today then there may have been more of an argument, but the Matori's shoulders relaxed when he watched the Shifter allow Kieran to study the piece of pottery. "Do you just pick up anything you find on the ground?" He found himself musing as he slowly approached and stood to the side of Kieran, his amber gaze focused on the stranger. Not like he hoped to recognize her considering how rarely they were actually in Jahaur. Maybe if they were in Matori...well even then the countries were so big it was hard to not find someone new on every journey.

"Or are you actually researching the forgotten village too?" Kaimana raised a brow as he studied the Shifter as if appraising her. Maybe they had found a fellow adventurer? She had just seemed so casual about picking up the piece of pottery that he had to wonder. It was like a child picking up a shiny rock...not that he was one to judge considering all of the things he rushed to pick up whenever they caught his attention. The very thought made Kaimana's cheeks darken a bit more as he tried to hold onto his resolve, his arms crossing slightly as he turned his gaze back towards Kieran. "Does it look like anythin' you're looking for?"

"Y-yeah?" The young Shifter answered awkwardly, her pale eyes drifting back to the younger of the two. Was she not supposed to do that? No one ever told her otherwise. How else was she to find things of value if she didn't pick them up and look at them? She decided over this train of thought she didn't much like the implication behind the tone of voice of the Matori. It made her feel rather...Small. And childish. The feeling only doubled as the Yaeli took out a brush. Something she never thought to bring herself. At least not most of the time. It wasn't like she was rough with anything she found, but clearly she didn't take the necessary tools for the job, either. He had a much more professional look about what he was doing with the bit of pottery,

"I don't know anything about a village, actually," Maia admitted, fiddling with the bottom of her shirt. "I've seen some ruins before, but I've never purposely went looking for them. Is that what you do?" She addressed this last bit at Kieran, as he clearly was the more mature of the two and thus had more authority in her eyes. "I'm Maia." She glanced once more at Kaimana without speaking, already uncertain about this claim despite having just met the guy. Had she been a bit older and not still prone to the stubbornness of youth, she might have been able to brush it off. As it were, she was not and felt easily insulted even by the smallest implication that she still had so much to learn that she was barely as experienced as she actually felt. Nonetheless, she was intrigued by this duo, as she was intrigued by anyone who showed an interest in the past.

"I wouldn't mind joining you." Might even be something she hadn't seen yet. Jauhar was huge, with so much space to cover on foot. A mount was not something she could afford. "I like seeing and learning about the past." Okay, that was a bit of a childish thing to say. Maia frowned and took back the pottery, distracting herself from her embarrassment by tugging it away carefully in a small pocket of her backpack.

Kieran simply shook his head at Kaimana's antics. "It's nice to meet you, Maia." He nodded his head towards Kaimana. Kieran had originally offered to allow her to tag along so it would be foolish to pull back such an offer and the risks of being in the deeper jungle made him feel a bit more protective even if he was adverse to saying so. "Liking the past is always a good start. It's how I began my own journey after all." Kieran replied with a chuckle as he shifted and gathered his belongings again since it looked like they would still have a bit of a walk."Learning to deal with the dangers just comes with the territory, but that's also why Kaimana is here. He's good at taking care of threats." Not that Kieran was lacking in his own resourcefulness, the steel tipped whip hanging from his side attested to that. Neither of them had brought their snaptrotters or other familiars along on this particular trip though since they hadn't thought the ruins would be too far away from the village they were currently staying at. Even without the beasts to help fight with them, Keiran felt confident that they would be fine to take care of themselves and their new companion.

"May I ask which direction you came from? I'm thinking if we head towards the north it may be a better option. The village was probably in an area with less foliage since they worshipped the moon goddess and raised rare herbs connected with her." Kieran mused as he studied the path, his expression thoughtful as he pondered the piece of pottery and the potential location of the village. It had to be nearby, right? "The plant we're looking for in particular is prone to blooming only under a full moon, the pale petals almost silky while the stalk sports crystal thorns. The myths suggest that the villagers would have grown them centuries ago and hopefully the ruins still have some of the flowers growing there."

[Kieran 3]

Kieran's words made Kaimana nod. He was here to take care of dangers and to sketch whatever they found along the way for reference materials, but he didn't know how he felt about adding a stranger into the mix. What if she got in trouble? Kaimana trusted Kieran to take care of himself since he had seen the older Yaeli in action, but the shifter was completely unknown to them both. What if she even tried to interfere in their investigation or took the plants for herself? Still, he was not one to fight Kieran's judgment and so he simply listened as Kieran asked about directions. The sassy commentary from Maia was not missed, Kaimana making a face towards her behind Kieran's back whenever he had a chance. "Well, good to know that you recognize the names then. We'll see about how you can handle the dangers that you're so familiar with." He murmured before sighing and crossing his arms again while Kieran finished explaining what they were looking for. "The vines supposedly have a silver sheen to them and grow low along the ground. If you are tagging along then seeing that along with anything like those pottery pieces could be helpful."

[Kaimana 4]

Oh, she did more than recognize the names. Was he so salty that he was forgetting the fact she naturally lived here? Maia might not be able to fight, and probably should learn, but she knew how to avoid. A natural skill picked up from wandering the woods for almost her entire life, she paid attention to the world around her. Listened to the sounds of the animals. Looked for their marks on the ground or against trees. She didn't go to his home and imply he knew nothing about it, did she?

"Well, I should hope you're not foolish enough to wish a pack of Radaku to come down on us," she answered, tilting her head slightly up as she regarded Kaimana coolly. "Maybe a Menzuri will shoot a web at us. Wouldn't that be fun." Shifting the bag on her own shoulders, the Shifter fell into step with the men. She thought on the description given for a bit. "No. I usually spend most of my time out here than I do back in the city. I live alone and have no friends or family to miss my absence."


"Is it so rare, it only grows in a specific spot in Jauhar?"

“I see.” Perhaps it was the fatherly aspect of Kieran but he couldn’t help peering over at Maia with concern. Even though he wasn’t overly superstitious like most Yaeli, maybe it was somehow fate that they had run into the Shifter like this. Kieran liked to believe that he was a good judge of character and the girl seemed honest enough with a passion for the very work that he also adored. So why not partner up? It never hurt to have an extra pair of hands in situations like these. “Then you are more than welcome to continue tagging along with us if you find an interest in the work. Kaimana can share a tent with me while you borrow his until the next settlement, unless you have something of your own for camping out.” The tents were spacious enough and even though he felt the look from the Matori, Kieran knew that he wouldn’t protest long over any changes in their sleeping arrangements.

“The plant is very rare. The name that I found was Datura wrightii, more commonly known as the bloom of the moon.” Keiran explained. “It’s a delicate flower that could only flourish under the watchful eyes of the villagers that used it in rituals to the moon goddess. It may be a stretch, but I’m hoping that there are hints of the plant still growing within the ruins where the jungle has not completely overtaken the land. The actual lore does not explain exactly how the flower was brought in, save for legends that Serin gifted it to a dedicated follower so that she could communicate with her every full moon.” Kieran shook his head just before the buzzing reached his ears, but thankfully Kaimana was already twisting into action to chase the insects away. A frown crossed the Yaeli's lips as he watched the swam disappear into the jungle. What would have caused such a stir? Had they made too much noise while entering the area?

“We’ll probably be stirring up more things that aren’t used to actual earthlings wandering through from here on out.” He advised as he shifted his belongings, his hand carefully wrapping around the handle of his own weapon - a worn leather whip with a sharp edge of its own. “As I was saying, the flower is a delicate thing that grows along silver vines with white petals that supposedly glow faintly in the moonlight whenever it fully blooms. There should be a full moon tonight which will be in our favor as we seek it out. Once we find the ruins we should set up camp and wait for nighttime so that we can hopefully harvest some. Just be careful as it may be toxic and I’m not certain what will happen if we do not handle it correctly.” He was assuming that like some other herbs, the medical properties of this particular flower were more for numbing things with a high chance that it could cause hallucinations hence the desirability for shifters using it in rituals to contact their moon goddess.

[Kieran 5]