[quote]"Eh? You're at Gryphon's Roost, little lady! At least, I hope you are. If we're someplace else I think I might be in trouble with my mem'ry again. An old coot like me don't keep up like he used to, hah?" He wheezed a laugh and slapped his knee.[/quote]

Naia smiled, partly to be polite, as the man was laughing, and partly because it was a joke. Gryphon’s Roost, huh? That sounded like a good name. The man continued, and Naia looked at him as she listened, until he mentioned the glasses adorning her face.


“Oh, they’re just my glasses. They help me see,” she said. His next words after glancing at the lantern intrigued her. Sun-child? What did that mean? However, before she could ask, another girl interrupted. So he was a captain? Naia listened to their conversation, not wanting to interrupt. She didn’t understand some of the information, but that didn’t stop her from storing the information away for later.


Then the old man addressed her. She listened intently to his instruction, picking up the lantern when she was told, holding it close. He had been nice to her so far, and he was a captain/leader, meaning he clearly knew what he was doing. She watched as the man hurried past the other girl, whom she now gathered was Palla, lightly tugging on one of the fingerless gloves she always wore, as they made it more comfortable to hold a quill with and kept her hands warm during the cold nights when the only heat came from a single candle.


When Palla motioned for her to exit the tent, she began to stand. Upon the mention of covering the lantern, Naia quickly grabbed the sheet that had been wound around the man’s legs, wrapping it around the lantern as she began to walk out of the tent.


“Oh, um, my name is Naia, and, er, I’ve been told I can run pretty fast. But if we’re running, maybe you should save the explanations for later?”