A Sense of Clarity (open)

Mayrah let her thoughts drift her away. The only reason she noticed the cloaked figure in the distance was because Orin gave a warning growl. Her brown eyes went from the path in front of her feet to the distance, where a cloaked figure approached. She couldn't tell what the figure was until they removed their hood and waved. Mayrah paused in her steps as Orin gave a yip and ran to her side where he took up a position around her legs.

Orin was very good-natured on a usual day but after a few trips with Mayrah to Asgard, he quickly learned to be cautious of new people. Not everyone was as friendly to foxes as Mayrah. Especially in this area where foxes were more nuisances than friendly neighbors. Mayrah knelt and petted him and handed him a treat to keep him from fluffing up his fur. He instantly relaxed but he didn't move from where he had firmly planted himself, which meant Mayrah couldn't move forward to close the distance between her and the person who stood a little bit away from her.  

She gave a little wave, as she stood making sure that the back of her skirt didn't go up with her by keeping her hand on the fabric as she stood. Only then did she really get a look at the girl in front of her. She didn't look to be much older than her. There was something about her though... something that Mayrah couldn't quite make out. Still, she smiled genuinely. 

"Good day to you too. Where are you heading?" 

In this part of Crystal Coast, the citizens tended to be a bit friendly to each other and the occasional visitors. Mayrah couldn't help but start a conversation maybe because it had been awhile since she had seen someone who looked like she was around her age. As of now, the only people who frequent the farm were the inn family and the occasional passerby so that left Mayrah with only her parents, the farm animals and Orin to talk to. The only other time she really got verbal communication was when she would be in charge of going to Asgard with produce for market. Even that had become rare thanks to the "hired help"...

The small talk was something that she only really dealt with when dealing with the merchants of Asgard. Her father dealt with the money so the merchants dealt with him in that regard and would occasionally strike up a conversation with the young girl who brings the goods.

Mayrah wasn't very good at small talk but she gave a friendly smile and nodded her agreement about the weather. She wondered what would make this girl leave her home to take to the road. Mayrah herself could never picture wanting to leave. Which is why she was having such a hard time right now. She shook her head and waved her hand as if to dismiss her next statement. 

"Don't worry, if anything startled me at that moment it was Orin responding how he did." She shot a glance to her furry friend who yipped as if he knew he were being talked about. And as it would seem, the stranger was curious about Orin.

She smiled wearily. "Yes, Orin is a fox and he's tame enough I guess." She rubbed the top of her head as she spoke and glanced down at the fox again. "Though sometimes I think he sees more like his mother than his master." 

As if on cue, Orin seemed to lose interest in their conversation and unwrapped himself from around her legs and began walking a distance away to play around with some high grasses. Her gaze followed him. 

"Yeah, he isn't very well liked with other farmers but since we adopted him on our farm we haven't had many encounters with other foxes, except for the occasional girlfriend of course."

She smiled at that statement. He had only recently gotten attention from the female of his species, though Mayrah has seen that the fox doesn't quite know how to respond. In truth, she is scared that he will run off one day and she won't see him again. All she can do is watch over him until he decides to rejoin his kind. She was more like Orin's mother than she had thought...

The question caught her off-guard. What to do for fun? She thought about what she did in an average day and found herself amazed. She didn't actually go out and have fun that often. Sure, she had fun caring for the animals and watching the baby animals have their learning curve moments. Like when a baby horse sniffs at the door only to have it open and send them neighing back to their mother's side.

She thought about what kind of answer this person would probably expect and found herself at a lose. "Well... I just tend to try and find something fun in what I do every day, although I do hang out at the beach a lot to go swimming and collecting seashells." 

She smiled apologetically. "I might not be the best person to ask since I love working on the farm so much that I consider it fun. Orin is probably the funnest out of us two." Orin yipped before taking off in another direction. Without having him near, she felt a bit more exposed. She wondered if she was looking more and more like a country bumpkin to this girl.

She found herself wondering what her life was like. Did she have a lot of friends in the city? Did she love her home like Mayrah loves hers? Only then did it occur to her that they were having a conversation and hadn't even introduced themselves yet. She offered her hand to the other before saying. "Oh, I forgot to tell you my name. I'm Mayrah Antaeus. Nice to meet you, Ms..."

Mayrah's smile faltered at her name. Had she heard that right? This girl in front of her was Lycoris Sotiris? What could she be doing out here? Well, she did say she was just wandering around but could that really be true? The princess of Heim had found her way to the Crystal Coast.

From looking at her, Mayrah was surprised, a look that was visible on her face. She hadn't expected a princess to look so usual. She wasn't quite sure how she should address her now. Then there was the fact that her mother wasn't exactly the most friendly of people. How could someone who seemed to friendly be the daughter of such a horrid person? It was baffling.

Mayrah seemed to recover from her shock, though it took her a second to do so. If Lycoris had been polite and friendly up until this point then Mayrah had no reason to change her attitude towards her. If her title mattered all that much to her than she would have corrected how Mayrah was addressing her but she hadn't. That was good enough for Mayrah to assume that she didn't have to be formal to her.

It wasn't like she personally went and killed an entire castle full of people.

"Official business? That sounds very... boring." She gave her a smile, a genuine one. "No wonder you had to get away to find some fun. Though you may not have come to the best place for it. And I'm fine with talking though I doubt I'd know anything useful to you." She rubbed the top of her head as she said this, a doubtful smile on her face. And in all honest, she was speaking the truth. Mayrah hardly ever left home except for her occasional market trips but that was work so she never really got mixed up in the current happenings.

Suddenly she felt that maybe she should listen in on the gossip at the market more. Maybe then she could actually have more conversations.