New Friends along a lonely path

Walking through the door she happened to run into that party from earlier.

having an idea, she smirked before ducking off to pull her hood down before looking at them, this time not averting her gaze. 

Feeling another gaze on them the party looked over to see a small girl who looked to be around 7 years old looking at them.

 Seeing those curious gray eyes, one of the girls in the party waved and smiled at Shiy, she looked to be a water mage. 

Seeing an opportunity Shiy slowly walked to the woman and looked up at her with admiration in her eyes.

Looking at them all, Shiyanna asked. 

"Are you at an adventuring party? I didn't mean to snoop but i overheard you guys need a place to stay if it's not too much you guys are welcome to stay with me"

 she said with a little smile in her tone. 

Taken aback by her question, the party looked at each other weighing the pros and cons before the young woman couldn't help but quickly grab Shiyanna before hugging her and twirling her around.

 Caught off guard by her sudden change in altitude Shiyana didn't struggle but instead wrapped her arms around the lady's neck to feel more secure. 

She knew the woman had no ill intent, so Shiyanna indulged in her this once.

Being overwhelmed with cuteness at a small child looking up to her and to top it off feeling such small delicate arms hugging her back she couldn't help but squeal. 

Feeling left out, the rest of the party couldn't help but protest. 

"Hey! hey! What about me little sister I'm an adventurer too!" 

"Me too!" 

 "Don't forget about me"

Secretly peeping from the woman's neck, Shiyana couldn't help but sigh and wonder if she made a mistake...

 Feeling her newfound treasure being spied on, the woman quickly hid Shiy from the rest of the party. Feeling a headache coming on, the leader of the party quickly shut them up before instructing the woman to put the kid down.

Pouting, she reluctantly put Shiyana down before introducing the party. Pointing at herself she said

 "I am the beautiful, lovely Elise, I am 23 this year and I'm the water/ earth mage of the party. That wild looking man over there in the black coat is Mark, he's the eldest one in our party, he's 26 years old and he is the fire mage/ Archer." 

pointing in a different direction she continued. 

"That cute, adorable lady over there in full armor is Melody. She's 22, she's our elemental berserker. Although it's such a shame *sigh* such an adorable baby face is wasted by such a violent personality." 

ducking at the oncoming fist Elise continued "that teenager over there in the clerical robes is Quinton, he's 17 and our healer. And lastly the big handsome stoic man over there is our Leader, you can call him Peirce, he's 25 years old. He's a magic swordsman he's reallyyyyyy strong"

Looking at the party with a look of amazement Shiyana decided to reward them by saying.

 "I have never met such strong brothers and sisters; I must have hit the jackpot in luck heheh"

Overloaded with cuteness the party could help but gush over her before Elise asked her about herself and if It would be a bother to her family if they stay.

"My name is Shiyanna, and I am now 12 years old this year. I live alone at the very edge of town; due to some circumstances I no longer have anyone to call family haha..but it's not too bad since I'm not treated like a dog anymore. But to be honest the reason i want to invite you guys is because I have always wanted to hear more about the outside world"

Looking up at the members, every one of the party members' smiles dropped and they looked at Shiyana like they just had their soul crushed, each member showing various emotions on their face. 

Elise burst into tears before grabbing Shiyanna, they all thought this child was 7- or 8-years old max but she was in fact 12. To imagine what kind of scum could do this to their own flesh and blood. 

Shiyana didn't want to admit it but she secretly enjoyed being cared for like this, even though she's well over the age to receive this treatment. 

"It's okay, I'm no longer hungry everyday so I'm okay. As long as they leave me alone, I will have no worries, in fact they probably still think I'm dead and long eaten by beasts in Barrow where they had left me haha. But since you guys agreed to stay, I hope you don't mind that my house is small but if you guys want, I can cook you guys a nighttime snack."

Happy that she had an opportunity to learn more detailed information firsthand she gleefully led them to her place chatting with them along the way. After the long trek to the cabin the adventure party was surprised with how remote it was. Shiyanna led them inside and told them to get comfortable.

Heading to the kitchen she whipped up a tasty snack that is light on the stomach, remembering she had to chase Elise out of the kitchen multiple times with the reasoning that she is the host. In reality the party could help but lament at the little girl's odd personality but remembering the bits shiy had told them it was amazing she turned out the way she did.

Passing out the snacks and drinks Shiyanna saw that they weren't too tired and began chatting with them about where they had gone and their experiences. She got along best with Elise, but every member was great and unique in their own ways. As the chat continued, she no longer regretted inviting them and began to just enjoy their company.

 The cleric Quinton was very interesting, but he told his experiences from a very insightful point of view. Mark mainly talked about all their past excursions. The berserker Melody enjoyed the cute things she found while adventuring and the Leader Pierre was relatively quiet and just watched from the side but from the bit, he shared you could tell he was a very caring leader and on a pursuit for strength to protect what he values.

 The party ended up spending two nights with Shiyanna telling the adventuring stories and their experiences. 

Before they left, Shiyanna handed Elise a package that contained books for each member. The books were not thick, but they got straight to the point and would help each member in its own way. 

After listening to them she gauged what each member was working to improve on or needed more insight on and secretly wrote it down with some extra for each of them as a thank you for accompanying her these few days. Saying their goodbyes, Shiyanna instructed Elise to open this and follow the notes once they got to their next rest spot. Her excuse was that it was a surprise, and they had to wait. 

Watching them leave left a small sense of loss within Shiyanna that she was reluctant to part with, but she understands that not everything can be forced. Shiyanna sent out a secret hope for their safe travels and returned back to daily training and preparation for the exchange coming up.

 With twelve days left until the theory exchange Shiyanna decided she would draft up some basic rough theories she's conjured up so far. 

The topics will mainly focus on elemental theories since that's what she's currently engrossed with.

Although she really has no choice at the moment but to focus on these. At current her body can only suck in elements crazily as if it's trying to replenish lost nutrients.

A while ago Shiyanna got bold and wanted to try and experiment dealing with space and almost un-existed herself.

Thankfully she now knows to focus on building a foundation before trying it again. 

So far what she's gotten from the books she's read is the practitioners are given few options or paths to try.

 She wants to give information that may not be available and see what she can add and take away from this exchange. 

This is the first time she's ever gone to something like this so she's admittedly looking forward to this. Her very first time doing something of her free will has her bursting with a sense of joy that her herself didn't know she was currently radiating.

 She just hopes they will not be biased due to her age but seeing how that old man saw through her and still invited her she's not too worried. Afterall she still has a lot to learn and learned to never underestimate anyone. This may be a backwater town in the whole continent as a whole, but this is no longer the world she is familiar or knows so it will be wise to remember that.

 After spending the last eleven days writing and testing her theories and getting a good grasp, she's come out surer that the knowledge from her past lives will greatly benefit in this life. Stretching her aching joints she stands up and saunters over to the window.

Looking out of the window and the setting sun spotting through the overhead trees. Listening to the sounds of nature chirp and rustle in from the forest she has a thought appear... 'This really isn't so bad. Maybe whatever threw me here isn't such a bad being after all.'

Yawning, she decided to clean up and take an early rest to get up early for the exchange.