Hinote felt the moods been a little down lately. Rightfully so, as Runealy told him the truth about things. Being stuck in an old rundown store can't be good for that mood, either. He can't make things better, but there are things he can do to lighten the mood. SO THUSLY, he's gathered Runealy, and Gaofele and has lead them into Penguin park, and towards the Library. He takes a deep breath and smiles. "This is the local library." he insists.
"I figured that, you guys still don't know a lot-- so taking you here to read up can help! We can even get you library cards so you can borrow books if you want." he asides.
"Besides information, there's a bunch of fun make belive stories--- works of fiction to read, that might help you pass the time, too." he asides. He lets the other two catchup as he smiles. "How easy is to come upon books where you're from, Runealy?" he asks in that vauge 'we're in public' way, as he looks between Runealy and Gaofelle.
"I mean, you seem familar with them at least?" he asks.
Rune's mood has indeed been pretty low, and recent events have not helped. Still, she was willing to go along to the park - to anywhere, really, she hated being inactive since it meant being able to stop and /think/ about everything that has happened instead of being able to shove those thoughts and feelings aside.
So when they arrive in the library, she takes note of the decor. "Tokyo has birds I've never even seen before... Gao, none of these are in the forests back home, right? I mean, giant kittens weren't, so what about these?"
Then her gaze lowers as if rebuked by Hinote's questions. "We have books back home, you know. Fiction, history, knowledge on how to do things, we have all that. The castle has a library, and I think the city right outside it has a smaller one... or at least places you can get books on specific topics."
Classes and exploration have been keeping Gao busy, especially in keeping an eye out for trouble around Tokyo. It's been more or less productive, but it has been wearing on him; taking a break sounds like an excellent idea.
The decorations of the library give him pause, particularly in conjunction with Rune's question. "They don't have the right coloration for the forest, no," he agrees. "Especially since they look like they'd be flightless -- the more colorful birds can fly away from predators, while the flightless ones have to rely more on hiding."
He nods in agreement with Rune. Even his clan has a collection of books, although they tend to be logbooks and tomes of family lore instead of entertainment. "It's still impressive to see this many books in a single public facility," he murmurs.
Hinote Kagari taps his chin. "Hey, just making sure! Here um..." he goes to say 'on Earth', but then he stops short. "Well around here, books weren't really easy to come by until not that long ago. They were all written by hand, and that took time. Then someone invented a printing press or something, and then books could be copied in large amounts easily." he taps his chin and laughs.
"The bird is called a Penguin, they live in arctic and colder regions, and yes, they don't fly--- they do swim." he insists. "Which is like flying, but underwater." he says.
He walks on over to the nonfiction section and motions for the others to follow. "Come here for a moment." he says.
"I know you guys have gotta miss home, and I was thinking how I could... kind of help with that..." with that as he looks through the various books, ah! He pulls one out a book on Medevial England. He nods a bit, and pulls out a few more books. "These are... books about the Medevial period in Europe...." he asides. "I'm thinking that--- this is going to be pretty close to what you know. I'd like to share, if it might help..." he says, holding the books.
He looks down at the books. "I just... I dunno. I just think it's wrong you guys are so far from home---" he says lowly. "I figure this might help a little!"
"Wow, I never thought of it like that..." Rune is quietly impressed by Gao's grasp of bird traits. And when Hino fills in the gaps, she feels compelled to defend the matter: "We know what swimming is. We have fish. And birds. Maybe not the same ones you do, but... we know basically what things are, even if electricity was new to us."
She nonetheless follows along on this tour, curious about what he found. For a second or two, her mood darkens. "It /is/ wrong. We shouldn't be here, and we wouldn't be if..." She cuts off as he tries to steer things in a more optimistic direction, and leans in to check out one of the books Hinote is holding.
"...Well, we're here regardless, so... if you're thinking these would be reminders of home, that's... that's really nice of you." A slow, single nod confirms she has calmed down from what was almost an outburst.
Gao gives Rune an encouraging smile, then looks at the stack of books that Hinote has. Having a way of seeing familiar stuff, even if it'sjust loosely familiar, just might help with homesickness.
Might even help with getting used to Earth, too, come to think of it...
"What about books about forests?" he asks Hinote. "Or other wild areas? It might help me learn about the plants and animals of... er, 'local' plants and animals." For certain values of 'local', naturally.
Hinote Kagari feels bad during Runealy's outburst, he's trying really hard, but maybe-- maybe he's not good at this whole thing. But she manages to calm down and he nods. He looks a little ashamed, which is off for him, for sure--- but he manages to clear his throat. "Good reminders of home." he says as he grabs one book and manages a smile. "Come along." he says, carrying his small stack as he walks over to the Biology section. "All sorts of stuff on..plant life. and animals." he says. He picks one out simply labeled 'The Forest' with some pithy subtitle. He offers to Gao, as he walks along to a table and places the books down. He begins opening pages of the Europe book, showing various paintings from time gone by-- and actual pictures of surviving castles from different periods- aswell as olden villages.
"See... this is.. the stuff I grew up reading. That my dad would have me read, as many of the plays he performs in are set in such periods...." he says as he motions to the various pictures, which should be familar looking to Runealy and Gaofelle, at least in the sense of similar styled locales they're familar with.
He looks over to Gao. "I have a feeling I'm going to be so lost on plants and animals when I get over to your guys side of things." he admits. "I'm going to need your help to figure things out."
"Come to think of it, when you mention local plants, local animals," Rune tilts her head down slightly in consideration of Gao's words. "I haven't seen as many of them here in Tokyo as back home. The people here have special parks set up for those, we just... have them out in open view, pretty much. I wonder how that turned out so different here?"
Then she looks along with Hinote at the table, checking out the book... and blinking at the similarities. "This is pretty close. There are plenty of things they don't have quite right, but if this is what you saw in your mind's eye when you made your promise to help, if this is what you thought you were going to protect, then..." A single nod to Hinote, a tiny smile forming. "This is close enough. Soon, it's not going to be something you see in paintings. Whether it's the ones like these, or the ones that are so good they look just like the real thing... you're going to be there. You'll hear how quiet it is and it's going to be the best near-silence you've ever... um... 'not heard'?" Her wording stumbles near the end. "You'll love it. It's real."
Gao reads through the offered book, occasionally turning a page or making a small facial expression. There's lots to learn, even in just that single book: several things in common with Waldia and the Barrier Forest, as well as several differences; sometimes both in a single thing!
He does look up at Rune's question about special parks. "There's also a lot more people here," he notes. "Maybe that has something to do with it? More people, more land /used/ by people; land for every purpose..." A shrug. "The larger a town is, the less likely you are to see certain animals." And Tokyo is by far the largest town he's seen!
Hinote Kagari laughs a bit at Runealy. "I never really thought about that. I guess there's always noise in the city--- there's cars and the buzzing of electricty and radios..." he mumbles. "Even when the electricty goes out due to an accident- there's always some sort of noise." he muses on this.
"That'll take some adjusting." he laughs. he nods. "Yeah. That's how it is in my head. But I wanted to show these to you, so you can look at this, and think of home, and look forward to getting back there." he smiles. "Things are already a little different it seems, since you have books---- things around this time..." he motions to the books. "Well things were, like ,written on scrolls still." he says, flipping a motioning to the next page of the book, showing a typical scroll, with it's two big wooden handles with the rolled up paper.
He thinks. "Well. We're not near many forests here." he asides. "If you want I can... see about getting us bus passes and taking us all to a forest. A really big one. Deep." he smiles. "The parks are for the benefit of the people. I'm not sure about the animals." he admits.
"I guess... it sounds really crass, but people don't often care about the animals here." he asides. "Heck, some even try to eradicate them if they're messing up thier home-- like rats and mice." he says.
"Larger," Rune repeats one of Gao's words, almost incredulous. "I know you're right, but Tokyo isn't 'larger', it's... I still can't get over it, it seems impossible. To have a city with millions, plural, of people in it. I don't even know if we have /a/ million, total, in all our cities?"
Then Hinote brings up a lot of interesting things all at once. "Wait, electricity can 'go out'? As in it stops working? How does that even happen? And a bus pass to the forest... you know, we came from one. Made a best guess which direction to start walking, and got here. If there's a faster way to get back and forth, maybe we should do that. I know what a bus is, it's that huge carriage that stops at specially marked places. Is there something faster than those, for what we need?"
Talk of how animals and parks fare in Tokyo are mostly met with quiet contemplation. She heard the words, they made sense, she's just not sure what to say about all that.
"Rats and mice... some things /are/ universal," Gao chuckles. "A good mouser is always appreciated, especially by farmers, and even a housecat can help defend against rodents." He smiles slightly, thinking of the grey fuzzball back at the store. She's still growing, but she's a happy little kitty, and always eager to play with string and other toys.
The mention of bus passes as a way of travelling to and from the forest quicker brings an intrigued look to his face. While it would make it harder to do a detailed patrol, most of the time that kind of recon isn't needed -- just a check on the portal's location, and if he could do /that/ faster...
Having more time for other things is sounding more feasible.
"Bus passes might be a good idea," he nods to Hinote. "And a visit to a forest might be a nice change of pace from Tokyo, come to think of it."
Hinote Kagari thinks. "Well, you've seen the wires in the air? From poles in the ground? Electricity is carried through those, though, sometimes, those wires are underground too. If something cuts the wire... well Electricity can go out for a block, or half the city, depending where and what is cut." he asides. He nods. "Buses require a fare to use, but it's cheaper to buy a pass that's good for a month, or one really long ride." he smiles.
"I dunno the forest you guys were dropped at, but there's bigger ones further out from the city." he asides. "We could go camping once even, if you guys felt up to it." he asides.
"No hustle and bustle around out there." he asides. "Easier to see the stars, too." he nods.
"Then we're getting bus passes or whatever else works. That's coming out of our expedition budget, it saves too much time compared to walking everywhere." Which Runealy had been mostly doing, not immediately delighted at the idea of stepping into 'steel carriages with no horses' strewn about Tokyo.
"Camping, huh... we used to do that sometimes, back home." She nods over to Gao as the topic is brought up. "I don't know if we have time for a lot of that while we're here, but... maybe just once is okay?"
Hinote Kagari smiles. "Just once won't hurt. I'm sure of it. You can't be... thinking all the time about the hardships. That's bad for you- even if they're very very important. Besides, I'd like for you guys to see a little ways out of the big city, too, for a little bit, so you can see what it's like before we go." he beams.
"Anyways, I'm going to check these out, so you guys can look at them and read them a bit back at the store. Don't be afraid to grab any other books you find intresting." he says as he smiles. He goes up to check the books out, and supposedly, they'll be ready to leave after that!
"Good to stay in practice," Gao agrees. Growing up with the techniques does tend to make them second nature, but using those skills is what keeps you adept with them. Besides, having a chance to sleep outside of the store? It should feel good, at the very least.
He does check the shelves near where Hinote found the forest book. This one looks like it focuses more on the animals, and that one seems to talk about the different kinds of forests... and did he just see a book about other terrain types and climates?
Looks like Gao has some studying to do...