thehometree | Glimmer, glitter, shine...

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Glimmer, glitter, shine...

One by one, new adventurers now arrive in the Tree. As one gain wings and rises to the second floor, another light brings in the next person. Soon, a steady stream of people from all kinds of worlds, times and realities come to join the others. Whether confused, angry, excited or scared, your arrival is welcomed with nothing but joy as the fireflies and glow worms descend to greet their new friends.

The Tree offers no explanation and no reason, but the truth is undeniable.

As you will soon realize, it isn't easy to be tiny.

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Unaffected by the swift change in conversation, he stares at Kaoru as he speaks. He doesn't understand a single word out of his word and tilts his head to the side as a result.

"Planet....planetary settlement? What's that?"

"Terraforming. It's when you take a planet people can't live on and make it so there's air you can breathe and temperatures you can stand." What the hell was even going on? Aside from waking up in a giant tree he didn't recognize with people he didn't recognize.

"You've never heard of it?"

His brow slowly creases from the string of words that make absolutely no sense, and he shakes his head a few times. "I don't know that... Do you need the, um, terraforming? I can help you look for it!"

Kaoru was struggling with this; that actually had been him trying to break things down for Nai. He'd assumed that Nai was his age, but he acted much younger. Maybe he should try to find some common frame of reference first?

"No, that's okay. Where are you from?"

If Kaoru says it's okay, Nai will accept that, so he moves on to answer the question. Which...is also difficult, as he answers with where he was prior to coming here, not where he actually lives.

"I was in Vantnam before, with Gareki and Yogi. We were shopping!"

Well, okay. He could roll with that. He'd never heard of Vantnam, but Gareki and Yogi sounded like proper names.

"Are those your friends? What were you shopping for?" He'd just let Nai give him a few tidbits of information first; maybe he could use them and figure out where the heck this kid was from and what he was doing here.

Nai nods, his smile full of cheer as he talks about his friends.

"Yeah, both of them are my friends. Yogi took us there and he said we can buy anything we want. We got lots of clothes, and books and pencils for when I study with Tsukumo. There was a store with lots of goggles too, like Gareki's. And then we were going to the Nyanperona store!" Oh, wait. Nai's smile fades. "But I didn't go inside yet, because I came here. I don't know why."

Uh. Well. This was where he was supposed to comfort Nai, right? He reached out to put a hand on Nai's shoulder. There, there... guy.

"Don't give up. As long as we're alive, it's possible for us to get back. Your friends are waiting for you." Wow, it sounded like he'd had some personal experience with that... not that he'd go into that for now; it seemed like Nai had his own troubles to consider.

"So you're a student like me? That's good."

He looks up when he feels the weight on his shoulder, successfully comforted by the contact. Yogi does that at times and it's not half bad.

"Yeah... Yeah! And if they're going to come here too, then I'll wait for them. If I stay here, it'll be easier for them to find me." Or so he's been advised in the case he's ever separated from his chaperones.

Now, a slight look of curiosity. "Student?"

"That's probably good advice. Better than getting lost." Nai seemed a little... weird. Like he'd been raised under a rock or something, though even Kaoru wasn't rude enough to actually say as much. Why didn't he know what a space colony was? Or a student?

"It's someone who studies things. You do that with Tsukumo, right?"

He nods and smiles, happy to know hear Kaoru's agreement. Then the explanation gets a look of understanding out of him.

"Oh! Yeah, she helps me study. It's hard but I like doing it." 'Student' or 'school' are foreign terms to him. There's simply Tsukumo, a friend generous with her time who agrees with the rest of Nai's company that he's in dire need of basic education.

"What kind of things do you learn about?" At this point, Kyle would agree; Nai really did need some sort of education. He wasn't sure what sort of circumstances would leave someone his age in this state, but...

"Um, she teaches me new words every day. And numbers and math. Math is really hard when I do it by myself, but Tsukumo makes it easy. And then she told me about the names of all the days and months. That's called a calender." Very, very basic education, but he seems happy to recount those activities.

"I see..." So in terms of a formal education, Nai was more like an elementary school student?

"Usually people learn those kinds of things before they reach my age. Where did you grow up? Didn't your parents teach you?"

Nai perks up. A question regarding 'parents' is something he's been asked before, by Gareki, but he couldn't answer it then. And despite knowing what parents are now (sort of), he can't really answer it this time either.

"I lived in Niji Forest with Karoku! I don't have parents, I think?"

Oh. That actually explained a lot.

"Rainbow Forest?" Kaoru smiled; seemingly, this was something of a rare event. "That sounds like a nice place. I lived in a house by the forest for a little while. It was hard, but I was with... friends. Some of them didn't have parents, either."

While Nai can't understand the deeper meaning behind not having parents, he is happy to hear that Kaoru's lived in a forest as well. He even had the pleasure of being with friends.

"Me and Karoku lived in a house too, but it's not there anymore. But the forest is really warm and pretty! And there's always lots of rainbows. How did you know there were rainbows?"

"Because that's what 'niji' means. Rainbow." In Japanese, anyway.

"We lived in a house, too. It was called Everyone's House. We built it up in a tree by Fairy Lake." Kaoru looked a little embarrassed. "...Sharla named them. She wanted to write stories for a living."

ANYWAY, back to Nai. "What was your forest like? Aside from the rainbows."

His eyes widen in wonder at that bit of trivia, like it's the most interesting thing he's heard today. "Wow! Kaoru's really smart."

As for the rest of the conversation, he listens attentively and with a smile. "Sharla is your friend? She gave them nice names." In other words, he doesn't think Kaoru has any reason to be embarrassed. Now, he seems happy to talk about his former home.

"There are lots and lots of trees, and lots of animals, there's a big field with flowers that are all different colors. Me and Karoku would go there and sometimes we'd fall asleep in the grass. And there's water near our house too. Um..." What was it called again? "Oh, the ocean!"

"Yes... there were several of us." Nai was absolutely right; he didn't have any reason to be embarrassed because he didn't come up with the names.

"A forest near the ocean? Where did you get your water from? The sea is too salty to drink..." Yes, clearly that was the thing to focus on here.

He nods a few times but isn't sure how to answer the other questions.

"Um...I don't know. It's just there." Though now, since he's thinking about it, his smile fades. His most recent memory of the water isn't a good one, as it's connected to the last time he ever saw Karoku.

"But the water Karoku gave me wasn't salty." Granted he only learned what salt and 'salty' even were when he joined up with his now-friends.

Naturally, Kaoru totally misunderstood why Nai's smile faded and figured it was because he didn't know how to answer the question. Hmm... maybe it was better to ask about his friend?

"...What kind of person was Karoku?"

Misunderstanding or not, Nai seems a little happier to talk about this particular topic.

"Karoku and me were always together. He's kind and warm and he gave me tasty food everyday. ... But then he went away. I'm looking for him now." Nai lifts up his wrist, not the hand holding his gem but the one with a thick bracelet over it. "This is Karoku's. When I find him I'm going to ask him if I can give it to Gareki because he wants it."

"It's best not to give it away before you find him," Kaoru agreed, wondering how much the 'tasty food' part of Nai's statement rated compared with Karoku's other positive traits.

He looked at the bracelet. "But why would Gareki want that? Did he know Karoku before he left?"

Nai shakes his head. "No, but Gareki likes it, and Karoku's nice so he'll say it's okay!" There is more to it, naturally, but sweet trusting Nai isn't privy to such things.

"But when I find Karoku, he can become friends with everyone. Kaoru can be his friend too!" he says with a cheerful smile.

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