True to Ward's prediction, Ria had barely begun to skim the book that Faye had found for her before Lynne was back in a whirl of laughter and energy. She had pulled Ria away from the book, citing that she had been studying for days and that she needed to learn how to make dima, which was a popular regional dish that was one of the first dishes that everyone learned to cook. Ria had made a great show of grumbling and dragging her feet but she was secretly pleased to be invited to learn classic dishes.

Faye had seen right through her act and had just laughed and tossed her an apron before directing her to start dicing onions and various vegetables. As the dish progressed, Ria discovered that it was very similar to bouillabaisse, with adjustments made for the obviously different ingredients. She was just glad that Faye ended up taking care of the fish, she was not ready to deal with her food looking back at her.

By the time that the dish was finished, Ward had returned from his sweep around the village and the rest of the evening was spent talking and laughing. Lynne had pouted a tiny bit when Ward told Faye about the hiba encounter, although she recovered quickly and joined in teasing Ria for how she'd 'yeeted' the hiba into the forest. Ria had the sneaking suspicion that she was going to regret introducing that word to Lynne, but if Earth could survive the texting generation she supposed that Audrilandre could survive the introduction of a few random words here and there.

As she slipped into bed that night, she was surprised to realize that it hadn't even been a week since she had first come to Audrilandre. However, before she could get melancholy, sleep already claimed her.

X

A few days later, Ria wasn't anywhere near as relaxed. She was sitting at the table with a candle flipping through the creature book yet again, not even bothering to flick open the guide or world encyclopedia, frustration pricking at her fraying nerves.

She jumped when the chair across from her was pulled out and Ward dropped down into it. She hadn't heard him enter the room and had thought that the entire Kiftan family had turned in for the night hours ago. She blinked at him and he gently slid a mug of tea across to her, keeping the other one for himself.

Closing the book and setting it aside for the moment, she wrapped her hands around the mug and savored the warmth. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

He shook his head, "No, not at all. I just came down to get a drink of water and happened to see the light. Having trouble sleeping?"

She frowned, taking a sip of her tea as she glanced around for a clock, "It's not that late, is it?"

He shrugged, "It's after midnight. Usually, you don't stay up this late, is something bothering you?"

She set aside her mug and pulled the book in front of her, drumming her fingers absently on the cover. "I'm fine, not having trouble sleeping or anything. I'm just, frustrated."

He nodded, settling more comfortably in his chair. "What are you frustrated about? Maybe I can help. You've been studying really hard lately, haven't looked up from this book or the guide in days. You've only been here for about a week, you don't want to burn yourself out trying to adjust to Audrilandre."

She stilled her hand, trying to organize her thoughts in a way that would make sense to someone else. Taking a deep breath, she said quietly, "I learn best by absorbing a lot of information, the more information, the better. Even if ninety percent of the information ends up being irrelevant or unneeded, the ten percent that is useful is worth all the time I spent mining the information in the first place."

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Information is my foundation, my basis, for well, everything. It is how I navigate my life and my surroundings. There has never been a situation where I wished I had less information, only a few where I wished I had more information. Those situations mainly happened when I was young, which is why I am so intense about studying and gathering as much information as I possibly can. And I'm very good at information gathering, I've learned to take minuscule amounts and turn it into successful campaigns or whatever needs to be done."

He nodded as she spoke, following along intently as she tried to find the right words to explain what she was struggling with. However, as she struggled to find the words to explain her frustration, he asked, "So, information is very important to you and how you interact with the world. So, what in particular is bothering you? Are you struggling with reading? Cause I can translate if you're struggling with the book or anything."

She shoved the book aside and sighed, trying not to snarl. "I'm doing fairly well with the reading and the guide has been helpful when I need something translated. It's just, the information here is absolutely worthless."

He raised an eyebrow at that, "I know that it's a little outdated but the book should still be helpful."

She opened up the book and flipped through it until she found the page she wanted. She turned and placed it in front of Ward. He picked it up and skimmed over the entry, noting that it was about hibas. While simplistic, it seemed to cover the basics about hibas, their paralytic bites, and their basic habitats. He read it twice just to make sure he'd gotten all the information before setting it aside.

He refocused on her where she was waiting expectantly, "Well, it is a bit simplistic but it covered the basics."

She shook her head, "No, it doesn't. Reading that entry, I would not equate what attacked us with what is written there. There is no sketch, no description, nothing about how many there are or where they live. Yes, it has basic habitats but that means nothing to me, where I'm not familiar with Audrilandre. And the guide and world encyclopedia are no more help. Yes, there is usually more information but it is all spread out and you have to hunt it down. And there is no rhyme or reason. Monsters and skills are scattered throughout it and you can either search through page after page or try and look it up by name. There is no use trying to search for it by name because I don't know most of them and going page by page is a lesson in futility. According to the front of the guide, there are over a million entries and there is no way to cross-reference, there is no table of contents or index to help direct it."

She gripped her mug in a death grip. "I have been at it for I don't know how many days now and I have learned about fifteen monsters, the only one that I'm sure is even in this region is hibas and I have barely any information about that. I have learned about three skills, two of them being mine and the other one that I accidentally tripped over when I misspelled vompa."

He reached across the table and gently pried her hand away from the mug as it creaked ominously. "Woah, deep breath. It's okay."

She huffed a sigh but allowed her hand to relax in his warm one. "Sorry."

He shook his head. "Nothing to apologize for. You are frustrated, legitimately so. Not only were you taken from your world without warning, which is something that the guardians are still researching, but you've been thrown into an entirely new world unprepared. Now you've found that your method of survival and protection doesn't work well in this world, at least not with the tools that you currently have. Anyone would be upset."

She slumped slightly in her chair at that as she rubbed her face tiredly with her free hand. "I've always had access to multiple resources, to be limited to just the guide which is difficult to navigate and this single book is a struggle. I don't suppose there's a library here?" He shook his head and she sighed. "No, I'd thought not, Faye would've mentioned it by now if there were. It's just, I'm lost. I don't know what to do, where to go, from here."

She swallowed hard, hating the vulnerable edge she could hear in her voice, "It scares me, not having a plan. I want to get home, my father and Charlotte are undoubtedly out of their minds with worry about me. And I'm sitting here uselessly because I can't figure out the right question to ask or the right word to search for. There's got to be something to help me get home, but I just can't find it!"

He squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Hey, you aren't sitting around doing nothing. You are working very hard to try and get back to them. We all see it. And if your family knows you as well as we do, which I'm sure they do, they'll know that you're doing everything that you can to get back to them. So, since you've hit a roadblock, let me take over for a little bit, hey?"

She debated it for a long moment, but he had taken care of her since she'd first woken up in a strange place and she felt safe with him. She allowed herself to squeeze his hand back, just a fraction. "Very well, I'll trust you. What do you suggest?"

He smiled at her, pleased with her trust. "For tonight, I'm going to take that book and you're going to finish your tea and then try to get some rest. Then, tomorrow, we'll head out into the village and find some alternate sources of information for you."

She tilted her head, "Alternate sources of information?"

He nodded, releasing her hand and snagging the book. "Yep. You said that you were having no luck with the guide and this book hasn't helped any, so it's time for some different sources. In this case, people. Tomorrow is market day, it'll be our best bet for learning anything worthwhile."

She felt her mind starting to calm and settle now that she had an alternate plan. She opened her mouth to agree when she suddenly yawned widely, exhaustion crashing over her. Feeling her cheeks heat, she stood and gave him a small smile. "I think I'm going to take a rain check on that tea and head on up, seems like I'm ready to sleep now. Thank you for listening."

His expression was serious but warm as he nodded, "Of course. Anytime. Sleep well, Ria."

She nodded, calling softly over her shoulder, "You as well, Ward. See you in the morning."

If nothing else, it would be interesting to see more of the village.