Treasure Hunting [Paisely]

[Nascha]

32th of Spring 507 AV

Endrykas was, for Nascha, something of a gift. She had had no expectations of finding food when she had set out that morning, and had assumed that the smell of warm food was her imagination playing tricks on her. As such, stumbling upon the Drykas camp had been a lucky find. No one had stopped her as she entered, though some were slightly interested by her dark eyes, which were staring around curiously at the tattooed faces of some of the surrounding people, watching large family groups with a hint of jealousy.

She bought herself a little roll of bread with the money she had, and set about chewing it while she wandered through the camp, trying not to stare too much at her surroundings. Of course, Nascha stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of the book vendor. Well, not so much the vendor as the picture on one of the books he was selling. On the cover was a multitude of different birds, which made Nascha automatically step closer.

She didn’t want to touch the book at first, but when she saw that other people were doing so with other volumes, she gingerly lifted it up, her fingers stroking the cover carefully as she opened it. Although Nascha couldn’t read any of the words, she enjoyed looking at the pictures and understanding that birds which had a certain shape or feather pattern ate a specific kind of plant.

“You like that one?” the vendor asked her politely, and she nodded, smiling a little bit, but more at the book than at him.

Nascha’s attention was drawn away slightly when she noticed a book being looked at by a peculiar figure that seemed somewhat… insubstantial. Unsure of whether she was more interested in the tiny book or the person reading it, she tried to crane her head subtly to get a better look.