Naia stared upwards when she awoke, wondering where she was. She sat up slowly, thinking through possible scenarios. Her first thought was that maybe this was a dream, but a quick, stinging pinch of her forearm quickly disproved that theory. Then she thought that perhaps she had been kidnapped, to be ransomed for a large sum of money, but then she realized that they would have contained her somewhere far better than in a tent. If she was to find out what had happened to her, she would have to uncover more information.

The brunette observed her surroundings, taking in the sights and sounds, making a mental checklist of what to investigate. She stood slowly and carefully so as to avoid making a sound. First, she observed the contents of the tables, quickly looking over the titles of the books. After a quick observation of the old man, she moved to the flap of the tent. She picked up the lantern, looking at it closely. The color of the light was very pretty, and the markings, though strange, intrigued her as well. What stood out the most was the source of the light. Naia knew that there were no eggs that should be able to glow like that.

Then, holding the lantern in one hand, she peeked outside the tent, pulling the flap back just enough that she could peek outside, but not enough that anyone would notice. She took in the sight of the creatures, which looked like beasts of myth. Naia, always a lover of stories, listened for a while. In doing so, she realized that they spoke of the sunlight in their stories as if there hadn’t been any for a while. She stored that theory and the stories away in her mind, and retreated back into the tent.

Processing the information she had unearthed, she came up with a conclusion. She was nowhere near home, in a foreign land with many strange things. That realization, that she was seemingly far away from home, far away from her mother and father, far away from the desk and chair she loved to sit at and write stories on late into the night, it both saddened and frightened her, and yet, at the same time, this new place intrigued her, and ignited in her a curiosity that burned like a wildfire. Then the frightened feeling won out as she realized that, in order to discover what happened to her, and where she actually was, she would have to talk to people. Her grip subconsciously tightened around the handle of the lantern, which she still had not realized was still in her hand.Pulling herself together, she walked over to the mattress, where the old man slept, and kneeled down.

“Um, excuse me, sir? Uh, hello?” she said, trying to wake him up, hoping he could help her. Her voice, though normal volume, seemed quiet and nervous, but clear.