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[table][row][/row][row][cell][sub][h1][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/MTNbUrP.png[/img][/center][center][color=black][b]A K A I A[/b][/color][/center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5333243][center][color=bca346][b]A K A I A [/b][/color][/center][/url][/h1]

[center]The Crow's Nest   ·   Early Morning   ·   @Everyone[/center][/sub][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][/table][hr]
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It was becoming harder to tell if the thoughts and feelings in her head were actually her own. This unease like a weight or a shadow looming over her that was unfamiliar and yet spoke to her in a way she could almost understand. Or at least she thought she could. A feeling like being pulled in a direction and that direction forming a word in her mind's eye. If she closed her eyes and listened closely, she could hear it...

[center][color=Lightcoral][i]...Home...[/i][/color][/center]
The past week saw Akaia traveling a slight deviation of a familiar route, checking the usual spots for Lost and seeing what if anything she could scavenge and bring home to those who needed it. For the most part, each day had been uneventful and during her time away, she had taken extra care to keep it that way. She was alone and that meant maintaining a healthy balance of minimizing risk while finding the unknown on a path she knew well. However, the day before, there had been a tug that upset that balance. The weight and shadow she'd been under that only let up when she would think about the people waiting for her to return.

[center][color=bca346][i]...This is new...[/i][/color][/center]
She had told herself, electing to ignore the sudden want. But after a few hours, that yearning for home became a voice she knew she could no longer ignore and all too suddenly she found herself turned around and headed back. A day and a shortcut later and she was climbing the hill leading to the observatory, a half filled tote slung over her shoulder and some small disappointment already buried deep within her about a trip that was only partially complete. So abrupt was the change that she had only found enough bits and bobbles for a few members of her troop. The realization that she would be without anything to give to some only further compounded the still swirling emotions inside of her. It was becoming an increasingly difficult thing to not dwell at length on her thoughts as she pressed on.

Under the light of the early morning sun did she move with a practiced swiftness and silence. The leather of her boots padding the noise of her every step. The mask pulled tight against her face muffling her heavier breaths. Travelling with the thing on wasn't always ideal but it was better this way; as a free spirit bound to rough straps and itchy stiff fabrics for her safety and others. The land under foot was no longer a part of the wild and free world that she had been born into. This place was lived and so the trees here were not hers to command. Lest she upset the surrounding flora, she moved with intentional care.

The observatory itself was nigh impossible to miss once atop the hill. Outside the city and in these parts of the mountains, it was the only remaining structure as far as Akaia knew. And as far as she could tell, it remained unchanged from a week ago. In the shadow cast by the observatory walls, the barricades remained untouched and defiant. Nearly inadequate in most regards, the small measure of safety did at least alert the Sidhe if anything untoward had been through and it seemed like nothing had. Relief was a pollen polluted sigh as she wove herself between the gaps in the barricades and approached the front door.

Once inside, the first thing she noticed was a feeling of weightlessness. Whatever force had been pulling her home suddenly vanished and in its place was a familiar warmth ever present when within these walls. Like a promise, she knew there would be people expecting her and hopefully, whatever she had brought back would bring some amount of joy to them. The second thing she noticed was that everything was very-

[color=bca346]"It is very clean."[/color] She said aloud to no one. She took another step inside and dragged more dirt in. [color=bca346]"So nice."[/color] Finally, she noticed that the foyer was empty. The garden in front of her lay silent and still though there were signs of recent care. A rather small detail that pulled a smile from the Sidhe's lips. The rooms across the garden were open and empty as were those rooms directly to her left and right. However, at the far end of the hall ahead, she could see figures moving through a partially open door and hear the soft ambience of voices bouncing lazily off the stonework. [color=bca346]"A meeting?"[/color]

The garden was stepped carefully around and the memorial paid a brief visit. Her pale hand brushed the cold stone etched with the names of those who had lived a tumultuous life next to hers. Names she would have to reminisce on at another time. She noted the flowers at the base and their satisfactory color and continued to the hall, removing her mask once she was far enough away from the garden behind her. It was only a short distance from here to the strategy room but what would have been a rather short trip was interrupted by the room to her right. What was once a vacant space was now clearly occupied. The sudden change from the norm held her firmly in place as she processed the idea that someone new was among their number. Although the comings and goings of various men and women was not a foreign thing to her, anytime it happened was cause for excitement. Already, Akaia's imagination began to turn as questions crowded into her head:

[color=bca346][center][i]...What do they look like? What are they? What stuff do they like? What do they eat? Will they pet my bird? Will they be my friend? I'm different. Do they like the garden? Do they like Share? Do they like Poppy? Are they strong like Aye-jacks? Smart like Lee-saw? Can they write better than Air-rik? Can they teach me to write because Air-rik can't? Why can't Air-rik write good?...[/i][/center][/color]
Looking forward to meeting the new member, Akaia continued down the hall... only to be stopped a second time.

[color=bca346]"...T-there are two friends?"[/color]

She didn't wait in front of the second room long enough for the answer to find her. Picking up her walking pace now with a new found determination, Akaia cleared the rest of the distance to the strategy room and pushed open the slightly ajar door. In her haste, she hadn't really thought about what she was expecting to find. Half thinking that only a few people had taken to the room, to be greeted by everyone was a small shock to her system. Cerise and Poppy's faces were the first she noticed and almost immediately she could feel heat rush to her cheeks. As her lips curled into a warm smile, her eyes fell upon Ajax and then Erik. Bounced to Lysandra and Dallas and Desmond. All heads accounted for.

[color=white]"aKAAaaa!"[/color]

Her eyes snapped to Licorice, Cerise's chosen name for her crow. The bird had clearly made itself at home perched on the woman's hand since its return, a fairly definitive reason why it had taken off ahead of Akaia earlier in the day. But while the bird had called for Akaia's attention, he had already turned away from his master and was now staring intently at something else. There being firmly held back by a foot was a very excitable...

[center][color=bca346][i]...Crow?...[/i][/color][/center]
And a series of desperate clucks from Licorice signaled the nearby and rather short girl as [i]its[/i] master.

The room around Akaia fell away. Cerise covered now in two birds. Poppy. Ajax. Lysandra. Erik and Dallas and Desmond and the other new face she hadn't even taken a notice to yet. At that moment, her entire world became a pinhole centered on Ionna and the arrival of another corvid.

She blinked.
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[center][sup]Relationship information for Ionna has been [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5333243]updated[/url].[/sup][/center][/color]