Amanda woke that morning finding herself in a bed, and for a moment she thought she was home. For that moment she forgot about the trip, about her sickness, and opened her eyes ready to climb from her bed. It was only a moment, but it all came back so soon, this room was not hers, and she still got ill.

One good thing had come from all the practice she had tried to do, at least she no longer emptied her stomach at the first motion. In the meantime, she sat there, eyes closed inspecting the room around her, which fit mostly into her senses.

The first thing that drew her attention however was what lay below. The bed was much softer than hers, It was light and fluffy. Curiosity filled her, and her senses went into the bed, finding that it was full of feathers instead of furs. That was only the beginning, as she found that there was a sack that had been under her head that was likewise full of feathers. She laid back down, and found that it was unbelievably soft. So she just let herself sink into it. While she did that her attention drifted.

The room she was in was unfamiliar, and sparsely furnished, the bed she lay in, a table to one side, there was a wardrobe as well. The walls were all wooden, but different then the homes in the village.

Unable to continue her exploration from the bed, she got up. Going to one wall to extend her senses in one direction. She couldn’t help peer past the walls to see what was beyond. In one case she found a sleeping woman, on the other side she found a bed that was empty. Finally she lowered herself down to the floor, and found that below her was a room full of people chatting and eating. She couldn’t make out any of the conversation, it was all just a distinct growl to her, but just sensing people eating was enough to make her stomach growl.

That was when she first realized that her father was not in the room. Amanda quickly returned to the bed she had woken on and wrapped herself up in the blanket. She wasn’t sure what to do, and she wasn’t sure where she was. The moments lengthened, and she pulled her blanket tighter. She had to be brave. She reminded herself several times, but being somewhere she didn’t recognize was something she had to admit, was quite scary.

Then the door opened, and she opened her eyes for the briefest glimpse of the person she already knew it was. Without thinking, she charged to and wrapped her arms around her fathers legs. She nearly tripped on the blanket in the process, but somehow avoided doing so.

“What's wrong?” He asked, placing his hand comfortingly atop her head.

“You weren't here...” Amanda said, almost in tears.

“I was just buying your medicine.” He said, pulling her up, and taking a seat on the bed. She was placed onto his lap. “I told you before I left.”

“You did?” She asked, not remembering.

He nodded, “You must really have been tired from all that walking for you to have fallen back asleep so soundly.” He said rubbing her back soothingly.

Amanda sniffed for a few moments, trying to recall, and to calm down. She simply didn’t remember.

“Well it's alright in any case, I’m here now, and I’ve got the medicine.” Her father explained.

Amanda nodded, and recalling what the medicine was for she perked up. “Where's the medicine?”

“You want to try it now?” her father asked.

She nodded, even if it tasted like her shoes she would take it.

At that her father pulled free a vial, and popped off the tiny cork at the top. “Open up.”

She complied, and in truth for medicine it didn’t even taste that bad. It wasn’t good, but it tasted more like old Annara’s tea than the medicines she made.

Easily enough it was downed and she grinned, but before she could open her eyes to try out the medicine, her father clamped his hand over her eyes, “Hold on there.”

“What?” Amanda asked, confused by the reaction.

“It takes a little while to kick in, and I knew the moment you grinned that you were gonna do something reckless and end up puking all over us both.” He explained.

“I was not…” She said, though her feelings were not in it and it came out mostly a whisper.

“Honestly I’m happy that you were ready to practice, but before we do that, why don’t we get something to eat. Best to take things slowly.

Her stomach agreed, so she replied, “Ok.”

Down stairs was quite the hub of activity. The smell of bread and butter was everywhere, it was amazing. Her father didn’t make bread very often, they mostly ate meat, berries and cheeses her father bought from traders, but from time to time he would make something different, or he would get something in the village. That old Annara could make pies, and those were delicious too.

But wherever they were, the smell of bread was everywhere, and it had Amanda drooling before the food was even plated. What was more amazing is that they just sat down and people brought plates to them after her father asked. Amanda had heard from the village kids about something like this. So after the person that gave them plates left she looked up to her Father, “Are we important?”

“Hmm? What makes you ask that?” He said, using a knife to cut up a sausage on her plate.

“They brought us food, the boys in the village say that people who are important have people to do that sort of thing.” She conveyed.

Her father chuckled, “No, I’m afraid it's not quite something so grand. We are simply paying customers, and two meals are included.” He said with a warm smile.

“Paying?” Amanda asked.

“Yeah, I paid them with coins, so they in turn are letting us stay here, and are feeding us.” he explained gesturing to her fork. She instead ignored the fork, and grabbed the sizable biscuit that had butter laying atop it melting. It created quite the impression in the aura as the steam swirled around it. The impression of the butter where it met the bed created a sensation not unlike a rainbow, where the cooler butter was at the top, and it got warmer near the bottom and it spread out.

Once she got started however, she forgot all about everything else and consumed the biscuit, that sausage and some really light and fluffy pieon eggs. She was stuffed when they finally climbed the stairs and returned to their room. She couldn’t even remember when she had eaten so much.

Her father didn’t waste any time however, and had her sit on her bed before outlining what they were going to do next.

As it turned out, it was the same thing they had been doing, but with the medicine in her it was easier. In fact that was an understatement as the more time she spent at it, the simpler it became. By dinner she was slowly able to make her way around the room with her eyes open. Even when she went a bit fast she didn’t get sick, instead she just tended to fall over, which was why her father would catch her with his invisible hands.

That night they ate down stairs, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, she was able to stare at the world around her. This new place was like pie for her eyes, people she had never seen before were everywhere.

There were huma and gobi everywhere inside. She was struck by just how many different looking people there were. Most of the people in the village had lighter skin, pale to clayish brown. Here there were people with similar colors, but also darker tones, even some darker colorations she had never seen before, even among the traders. Of course her village had only one gobi family, but there were quite a few chatting around the building, some brown and some greenish brown. Everyone looked so different to her eyes, but to her aura sight they all seemed much the same. Unique, but different, in the same way that she was different from her father.

Aside from the people there was more to see. Table cloths, fancy clothing, pictures hung on the walls. Then she spotted the same crystal lamps that they used at their home. Which was both different and familiar to Amanda. “Are the people here magus too?” she couldn’t help but ask her father while they ate.

“No.” He replied as he smiled, “But there are magus that live in the city, the people that live here can pay the Magus to refill the crystals.” He explained.

Amanda still quite hadn’t worked her mind around the whole idea of paying for things. Though her father had further explained it while they had practiced up stairs. But she was starting to get it, or so she thought. “So if they came to you they would pay you to fill the crystals? Then you would pay to stay and eat here?” She asked.

Her father chuckled, but nodded, “That is the idea, though I have no plans to run a business, especially in a city.”

“How come people in the village don’t use crystals? They could pay you to refill them.” Amanda asked, voicing the a question that made the whole prospect not fit right in her head.

“The village is small, so we don’t really use coins much, but the truth of the matter is that there are no crystals near by, or else I’d probably have given them to the people that live there. The ones in our home I traded for.” Her father went on.

Amanda frowned, “Why not trade for them for everyone else too?”

Her father tilted his head, “One simple reason, they are expensive.”

Amanda didn’t understand, “What's expensive?”

“It means they want a lot of coins for them, and I only have so many coins.” He explained.

“How many?” Amanda asked.

“How many do I have? Or how many do they cost?” Her father asked.

“Both!” Amanda demanded.

“Hmm… Enough, and too much.” He replied vaguely.

Amanda glared her disapproval at him, unsatisfied with the answer.

“I honestly don’t know the full answer to either. I have a small pouch with me, but I haven't counted it's contents. And There are no traders here selling crystals.” He explained.

“Could we go look and see?” Amanda asked.

“I suppose we could, but perhaps we should save that for tomorrow or the day after, you’ve had some more time to get used to things. You’re still pretty wobbly.” He noted.

Amanda took a breath and nodded, before shoving the steaming loaf of bread into her mouth and tearing a sizable chunk free with great effort.

As it turned out they were stuck in the inn for another three days. Amanda tried to take it in stride, but it was getting boring walking around the same room over and over again even with her father to chat about all the new things. The truth was that Amanda didn’t want to talk about all the new things, she wanted to see what lay outside, and hear the sound of the water and the ships, and smell the fish and the other wonderful foods!

So it was on the fourth day that she sat on her bed, bouncing up and down. She was waiting for her father to return with more medicine. Her medicine had worn off but on the bed it wasn’t so bad, it only got bad when she was standing and moving around now. Amazingly she wasn’t puking anymore, even if she did get queasy or dizzy.

But with the medicine she could walk around no problems, it was amazing! She just told her father to buy a bunch of it and then they could just go and do anything they wanted. However he shot down her obvious idea with the similar logic, “That would be too expensive.”

She was still bouncing when the door opened, her father appearing in the doorframe.

Not stopping her continued abuse of the too soft bed Amanda voiced her demands, “I wanna see the city!”

Her father eyed her from the door, as he pulled free a fresh veil of medicine and uncorked it, “I’m not sure you’re ready to walk around town yet.”

“I’ll be fine with the medicine!” She asserted with the force only pure boredom could encourage. Her continued movement had started to take a toll however, and she was forced to close her eyes.

“I think you’ve proven my point for me.” Her father said.

She groaned, “With the medicine! I’m bored...”

Her father let out a long breath and after sitting down next to her, he held out the veil, “Open up.”

Amanda didn’t need any more encouragement, and downed the medicine easily. “It will be fine!” she announced.

Her father stood back up and walked across to the far side of the room, “Alright, if you want to go, prove to me that you can walk without throwing up.”

“In a bit?” She asked.

“Now.” He said sternly.

Amanda sulked, only able to open her eyes after a few more moments of resting.

“We’re not going to see the city until you can manage well enough without the medicine, and since you’ve already taken it you better hurry and prove it before the medicine starts working.” Her father said standing firm.

Amanda took a deep breath, and focused, “Fine!” she yelled in complaint. She stood up, careful not to go too fast. Once she was standing she had to try and stand tall and not sway. Then as bravely as she could, she put one foot in front of the other. Then again, and again. She picked up the pace a little at a time. And before she knew it she had reached her father, and she was only a little dizzy.

Amanda's face exploded with a grin and shouted, “I did it!”

“When did I say that you just had to walk to me?” Her father asked.

Amanda was shocked, “But!”

“Go on, back to the bed, then to here, two more times.” He went on.

Amanda managed to get back to the bed, but on her return trip she felt faint and her footing failed her. Her father’s invisible hands now visible to her caught her easily enough, but she sniffled at her failure, “I...” she said looking up at him with tears blossoming in her eyes.

Her father looked down at her with a complex expression, and after a moment he relented, “We can go, you did alright.”

Amanda blinked the baby tears away, “We can!?”

Her father nodded, “But until then, we keep practicing.”

True to her fathers word once she was able to walk back and forth five times in a row without getting dizzy they left the inn for the first time.

To Amanda’s surprise the inn was only one small building in the whole. She was struck with awe for the city. Buildings that went both ways, the ground was even made of stone, and not the same stone that their house had been made from, stone blocks fit into a path. There was even something under the path, but what was before her eyes drew her more than what was exposed to her newer sense.

Amanda stuck close to her father, clinging to his side and watching everything. As they walked her father offered tidbits. He explained why the shops had both pictures and words, he showed her shops selling clothing, metal tools, leather goods, fabrics, there was a store that sold pictures, the list went on and on.

The city was not only alive, it was chaotic! Groups traveling this way or that way. Carts being pushed, wagons and lyzards, the place was an exciting beautiful mess! Overhead smoke rose from chimneys, the sound of hammers on wood, or metal echoed in the distance. The sound of people was everywhere, whether it was huma or gobi the place was practically bursting with life.

Amanda got so caught up in her gawking as they went it was hard to keep track of time, or location. They made a few stops when Amanda was particularly drawn to a street cart that had crispy fish for sale. Or when they had come to the harbor and they stopped to watch as huge nets of fish were dropped to the side and sold as they continued flopping about on the ground.

Amanda even saw a few people that had ears like she did, one even had a tail. Though it was only in passing and before she knew it something else had caught her eye.

It was an exciting day, and before they knew it the sun was already on it's way down. So they changed directions, heading back towards their inn.

That was when something caught her fathers eyes and they stepped into a strange shop. There were counters with strange bits and bobs all around. Nothing that Amanda recognized however. She peeked back out the window to see the sign. It was a strange shape she didn’t know. Like a wheel with teeth. And there was a little crystal in the middle.

She wasted a minute glancing around at what her father was looking at, before the girl behind the counter caught her eye instead. The girl about the same height as Amanda was working on something with a needle and thread.

The bright green gobi girl noticed her attention and spoke, “Welcome!”

Her father was captivated by the strange items around the shop, as usual he always seemed to be moving at his own pace. So while he was doing that Amanda couldn’t help but rush over to the girl that had greeted her.

“Hello!” Amanda said with a big smile, excitement causing her to nearly vibrate as she hadn’t played with anyone in what seemed like forever. “Whatcha doin?” she asked, trying her best to look over the counter at what the girl was working on.

The gobi girl held up her little project, “I’m making a bag.” she replied, clearly not quite sure what to do in response to Amanda.

“Oh.” Amanda said looking at the bag, “Isn’t it too small?” she said remarking on the visible size of the cloth.

“Well I’ve not gotten that far.” Replied the girl, her cheeks color deepening slightly.

“Don’t mind her, she's naturally curious and if she's not being shy she tends to speak without thinking.” Her father spoke.

Amanda stared at her father in disgruntled annoyance. She always hated when he told people things like that.

Her father just kept going however ignoring her protest, “Don’t bother her, she's probably got three years on you you know.”

“I know that…” Amanda complained. Though perhaps she hadn’t thought about it. There was just that one family of gobi in the village, but they had quite a few kids that Amanda would play with when they visited. Gobi finished growing early so this girl probably would only get maybe a foot taller if that.

“She's fine.” said the girl behind the desk pleasantly. After a moment she seemed to get an idea of her own and smiled at Amanda, “Do you want to see something neat?”

Amanda nodded enthusiastically. Conspiratorially Amanda followed the girl into the back.

Her father shouted after her, “Don’t cause them any trouble!”

“Okay!” Amanda cried out as she followed the girl into what was clearly a workspace.

All around the room on tables were strange boxes and objects that looked like the stuff littering the room her father was looking around in. Crystals glowing to her aura sight were set into some of them.

Amanda couldn’t help but be drawn by her senses, “What are these?” she asked curiously.

“Oh, that's just stuff my papa is making.” The girl noted, clearly not so interested. Instead she pulled out a box, and lifted out a crude contraption from within. Amanda couldn’t help but notice the crystal within this too. Around the crystal were bits of color, maybe rocks, but she could see through them. She couldn’t help but reach out and poke one. “What's that?”

“They are glass. The glass blower throws out bits like this a lot, and my dad helped me make this.” She explained, while picking up the rainbow colored covering that covered the crystal within.

“Oh..” Amanda mused, she had seen the glass in the windows and asked her father about it earlier. But this glass was colored, and pretty. Amanda shifted mental focus, and looked at the rest of it, she wasn’t sure what was neat about it.

The girl then tapped the crystal inside with the metal striker. It was the same as the one Amanda’s father used at home, or back at the inn to ring the crystal lamps.

Light flowed freely from the crystal, and then the girl set back down the color glass over it. It made the shadows in the room suddenly change color. Amanda glanced around, distracted by the colors.

The girl continued her show however not quite finished, and she drew back the thick curtain cloth that was pulled aside to let light into the workshop. Then she moved on to the next, and then the final one. This meant that the only light in the room was the bit from the front shop, and the glowing crystal.

The whole room was a spattering of strange colors that made Amanda grin. “That's pretty!”

Running back to the where Amanda was next to the contraption on the ground she put one of four fingers to the colored surface, and flicked to the side. The colors spun with the motion. The entire room seemed to spin around them.

“Whoa!” Amanda exclaimed watching as the light around danced. It even danced in her aura sight, if in a different way, light was more a shimmering in the air to her new sense, whereas her eyes could see the light on all the walls. Combined it was quite the sight and experience.

“Neat right?” The girl smiled back at her.

Amanda nodded, “Yeah!”

“Hey, what's your name?” Asked the girl.

“Amanda.” She replied simply, “You?” she asked in return.

“Buni!” She said back with a grin.