“Um, missy, you need to leave if you're not buying...” A portly man in an apron put his hands on his hips. While he looked firm, he didn't seem like he was angry. Wary would be the better would to describe this man, obviously he hadn't seen one of her kind before, although Lumenaria didn't seem to be paying him any attention. She was currently in the markets of Navire, just recently arrived, and was currently perched on the high railing of a pen that was holding primarily yellow bird creatures, with a few of different shades or colors dotting the congregation. Not any kind of creature Lumenaria had seen before, that much was certain. She spoke to them in squawks, chirps, and caws, and they with her. They were having a rather lovely conversation in fact, though they seemed afraid of the man in the apron and all huddled away from where she perched when he walked over. 

Lumenaria addressed one of the older bird-creatures – chocobos they called themselves – and pointed a clawed finger at the man while she spoke in bird common. [b][i]“Why does he imprison you so, bird-kin?”[/i][/b] She hadn't truly asked that question yet of them, as they had just been talking about their kind. Not many chocobos had seen a caelestis, which hadn't surprised her. They were extremely curious about her life in Caelum as well. The chocobo Lumenaria had addressed sighed deeply before speaking. [i]“This human wishes to give us to others so they can get on our backs and make us carry them around, or to pull around big wooden things, or as f-food!”[/i] With the last statement, nearly all of the chocobos began to cry, save those too young to understand, though they joined soon after. The ruckus inside the cage was loud enough to cause the man in the apron to begin making rude gestures at Lumenaria and shouting for her to get down before he called the guards.

She vaulted off of the top of the pen holding the chocobos and landed next to the man, her clawed feet digging into the earth and her wings extending to their full length, blocking any exit the portly man may have tried to take. [b]“Ye dirt muncher, do be allowing these [i]chocobos[/i] their freedom from their shackles, else ye may find I do be doin' it meself.”[/b] She said awkwardly, not having much practice in her west common. [b]“Ye do be so cowardly as ta trap yer prey with no fight? No honor?!”[/b] At this point, Lumenaria was shouting and a small crowd had gathered to watch the debacle between the stunned man in the apron and the tall bird-woman. 

“N-n-now lady, you s-seem to be new here, so let me just tell you s-s-something. Those chocobos are my wares, you have to b-b-buy them from me.” He gulped audibly, though he tried to remain firm underneath Lumenaria's intense gaze. [b]“Yer wares?”[/b] She looked back at the chocobos, beginning to understand. [b]“Ye mean like the bone harpoons Benume do make?”[/b] She reached a clawed hand up to scratch behind one of her wings, and she waited for the portly man to nod slowly in agreement. [b]“I can no say I agree with yer practices, but things do be different here in Navire than they do be in Caelum... If that it is the way it do be, let us duel each other. If I do win, I get all yer chocobos. If ye do win, ye get me shinies.”[/b] She indicated to golden bracelets floating around her wrists, held there by some invisible force. The man looked from his chocobos, to the unexplainable golden bracelets, then scanned Lumenaria. There was no visible weapon on her person, and Lumenaria had little place to tuck hidden weapons in her outlandish, yet somewhat revealing garments. At her side was an odd looking harp, but not much else. 

“N-now there, uhh... miss, why not just trade me your [i]shinies[/i] for some of the chocobos? We don't need to fight, do we?” The portly man said with his sleaziest grin, rubbing his hands together. [b]“Ye do no understand honor, do ye? Perhaps it is done differently in Navire, but we do fight for our goods in Caelum. I do be duelin' the honorable luthier, Kaewyn Losni, for many months for me harp.”[/b] She tapped the harp strapped to her side. When he paled and opened his mouth to argue further, Lumenaria had had enough. [b]“Fine, I do no duel cowards. I do be expectin' more from Navire than what I do be seein' so far. Me blood-sister do no take cowards as allies.”[/b] She scoffed and retracted her wings. The portly man visibly relaxed when she stopped blocking his way out, though he still stared at her with more caution than before, and seemed ready to bolt at any moment for help.

[b][i]“I'm sorry, I cannot get your safety at this moment because he will not duel me. I do not understand how these ground-dwellers live with their cowardice, but I will try to figure out a way to free you from this cage.”[/i][/b] Lumenaria, despite her intense urge to break the cage apart with her powers, knew she couldn't honorably do it. They were his wares, just as the harps that Kaewyn Losni made were her wares. Freeing the chocobos would be the same as stealing a harp. The thought of doing so turned her stomach.

She reached her arm through the bars of their pen to comfort as many chocobos as she could, tears streaking down her face while she did so. They were bird-kin to her, and should be free, seeing them like this was heartbreaking. Navire was truly different, and horrifying.