[Kodai]

Cat listened as Rosy spoke about her extended family's origins, though she continued pulling at the branch the entire time. Failing, she let go for a minute to rest her hands and reply. "Light and dark... That's interesting. It's good to have balance in the world, though. Without evil, we can't understand the importance of good, and without good... Well, obviously the world would be in ruins." That was a rather mature way of looking at things. "Your grandmother knows the creator-god? That's amazing! And the god is a she? Shouldn't she be called a goddess, then?" She tilted her head again. "Although, I guess when you're a deity, you can be called whatever you like. What things are called isn't nearly so important as what they are named – Baron told me that." Grabbing the branch again, Cat pulled along with Rosy's scratching, and eventually their combined efforts were enough to make the branch break off. Cat was still pulling when it did, however, so she stumbled back a few paces and nearly fell. She was smiling broadly, though. "We did it! Now let's get those eggs!"

[Shieba]

Rosy was quite surprised that Cat had such a broad understanding of light and dark already. "That's very true. In the world of my Dad, it's also the case that the dark god wants to destroy the world and the light god wants to save it, but without the dark god, the world would end, too, because of stagnation." She wondered if Cat would understand all of that, but the girl continued to surprise her. "But it's true that all what you said applies to normal people, too. You don't need to be a god for that." Rosy nodded. "My grandma, Haephnes, is the Fellox-companion of the Creator of All. And yeah, I suppose that makes the Creator a goddess. I mean, if grandma is a woman and the companions are like the gods, then the Creator has to be a woman, too. And hm. What they are named? Does that mean names have power?" That was the first she had heard of that. "When Dad talks about the Creator, he always calls Her just that. 'Creator of All'. Though She has a lot of titles."

Rosy hurried to Cat when the girl almost fell. "Great! Are you okay, though? You pulled pretty hard, do your hands hurt?" She looked at the eggs again. "I have no idea if these are real eggs. Last year, they weren't and they were super-light, so they might be again - though last year, they needed to be light in the water. But I doubt it'll be very difficult to get them out. The branch looks big enough for sure!"

[Kodai]

"Hm, well, I hope for the sake of your dad's world that the light god and the dark god continue opposing each other," Cat replied, switching the branch between hands so that she could make sure she hadn't hurt herself. "And my hands hurt a little, but I'll be fine. It just takes a little time." Suddenly the girl gave a large grin and addressed Rosy's question about names. "Oh, yes, names have great power. A name is what gives something its essence. Everything has a True Name, you know. And I don't mean the name your parents gave you when you were born. True Names are much more mysterious than that. Most people spend their entire lives without knowing what their True Name is, and that's why they remain ordinary people." As she spoke, Cat moved to the end of the log, bending over and peering inside to see where the eggs were. "If a person does find out his or her True Name, though... Why, they possess the power to become something great! Of course, it also means that if someone else finds out your True Name, they hold power over you. That's why you should never tell someone your True Name if you do manage to find out what it is." Stretching the branch into the depths of the log, Cat gently poked at the eggs, trying to roll them closer. "The saddest thing is when you manage to lose your True Name. In that case, you may as well not exist anymore..."

[Shieba]

Rosy listened attentively and also watched rather excitedly how Cat tried to get the eggs out of the log. She was glad she was having a human partner, it would have been really difficult to get these eggs otherwise. "So, how do you find out your True Name?" she asked. "I have never heard anyone talking about this before, not even grandma or father. Maybe that system doesn't exist in their world?" But that would be weird, right? "It sounds like a pretty big thing, though...I wonder if maybe they're just keeping these things a secret?" She flapped her little wings and tried to peek into the log to see how Cat was doing. "So these True Names are like magic? How does that work?"

[Kodai]

"Lots of people don't know about it," Cat answered, still poking around. It seemed like the plan was working, but it was proceeding slowly because of the uneven bottom of the old log and the fact that Cat was trying not to break the eggs. "Usually only very magical people ever manage to find out their True Names, although people that meditate and do a lot of self-reflection can figure it out, too. It's very hard to find your True Name because you have to find out who you really are. A lot of people can't face themselves, you know." Rolling, rolling, rolling. Finally Cat managed to maneuver the eggs to where she could reach them. Tossing the branch aside, she stretched out her arm and grabbed the little eggs. "I got them!" she exclaimed happily, holding them out so Rosy could see.

[Shieba]

"So it's like...an information that suddenly pops into your mind or something?" Rosy couldn't imagine any other way to find out something by meditating. "It sounds rather complicated...facing yourself." The concept was rather strange for her. What did that even mean, 'finding out who you really are'? "I dunno...I'm just, well, me. I never thought more about that matter. I mean, I sometimes think 'why do I have to have wings' or 'why do I have to have strange powers', but never beyond that. Guess I just like complaining sometimes."

She beamed when Cat showed her the eggs. "Great! And they're so pretty and colorful!" She looked at them. "No strings. Last year's eggs had strings so I could tie them to my tail. Well, I guess that would have been bad this year anyway, with no swimming but dragging them across the ground then...does your dress have pockets? I wish they would have given us a bag or a basket or something." This event was really not made for non-human people, obviously.

[Kodai]

"That's how most people think. They don't really consider who they truly are. Not that it's a problem, really. You can get along just fine in life while believing whatever you like about yourself." She shrugged. "Like I said, not everyone learns their True Name, so it's not essential for living a happy life. So long as you think you're happy, then you are happy, right?" Cat turned her attention back to the eggs. "They are pretty! Whoever painted them did a really good job!" Then Rosy asked if she had any pockets. "Uhh... Actually, I don't think I do. Hmm..." After thinking for a bit, the girl finally hit on an idea. "Oh! I know what I can do!" Pulling up the front layer of her dress (there were many more frilly layers underneath), Cat placed the eggs in the little hollow that formed. "As long as I hold my dress up like this, it'll be like I have a pocket! I'll just have to be very careful and not walk too quickly."

[Shieba]

"I guess..." Rosy pondered this. "Though it seems rather shallow to not try, really. I should ask father about it. I mean, he judges souls, which is like, the true essence of someone. So the True Name should be related to the soul. I think. I'm not too good with this stuff yet. You really know a lot for someone your age, you know? I have a little sister who is a bit younger than you are and all she goes on about are ducks. Either you are super-smart or my sister is super-silly."

Rosy looked at Cat's solution. "That's not a bad idea, but you can't ride on me anymore like that or you'll fall down. Then your dress will get dirty after all. Also, your hands will probably get tired. But it seems to be our best option indeed. Maybe we get lucky and we find eggs in a basket? Imagine if we find many more! Then can't expect us to carry all of them."

[Kodai]

"I guess you could try that, although if he's the companion of a god, he might not be able to tell you. Gods are funny like that, aren't they? But I guess they have to keep some things secret. Baron's like that, too – he knows a lot, but he never tells everyone everything." Cat gave a modest little grin. "Oh, you think so? Other people have told me that, too, but I don't think that I'm super-smart. I just tend to notice things other people don't pay attention to." She looked down at the eggs in her dress-basket. "That's true; I can't ride on you like this... but we really don't have a choice. And that would be nice, to find a basket! You'd think they would have given everyone a basket to start out with, but..." Trailing off, Cat looked back to where the Cuniflare was still standing. "Hm, maybe we're just supposed to take them back as soon as we find them? If they're only hidden alone or in pairs, it wouldn't be hard to just carry them back each time."

[Shieba]

"Well, I'm his daughter, so he should better tell me. If I have to suffer through his training for all the godly magic stuff, I better be allowed to know some secrets as well." Although Rosy secretly doubted it would be that easy with her father... "And wow, is this Baron guy a god, too?" She tilted her head. "It's still an unusual thing, to pay attention to such things at your age. Most children I have seen just like to play games, I think."

"Hm." Rosy looked back to from where they had come. "We could certainly do that, but we lose a lot of time like that if we walk back again and again. We are on a time limit, after all..." She looked around. "Maybe we can find a good spot where we can store all the eggs we find so we don't have to walk that far? If we pick one a bit more in, we can check the surroundings in all directions then. We'd just have to be careful that no one can find the spot then."

[Kodai]

"Oh, is he training you so that you can take his position someday?" Cat asked, curious. "If that's true, then he'll probably tell you about it at some point. If he knows about it, that is. But I'm sure he knows about an idea like that. And... Baron? A god?" That was an interesting idea. "I don't think so, but he does have godlike knowledge. He says he knows the Lady of the House, so maybe she has something to do with why he knows so much? I don't know for sure, though." She smiled. "I like to play games, too, but I think it's important to understand how the world works. Don't you?"

Cat had to admit that Rosy had a point. If they kept walking back and forth, they'd lose a lot of time. Rosy's suggestion seemed brilliant, though. "That's a very good idea! But now we just need to find a good spot, hmm." She started walking further into the grass. "Maybe if we can find a small hollow in the ground, we could use that and mark it somehow? With a rock, perhaps?"

[Shieba]

"Oh no, I wouldn't want that and I think Dad is kinda...immortal or something anyway. It's just I have the powers to send souls to the afterlife just like him and he says it could be dangerous if I don't learn to control them. I'm not really interested in this stuff. He takes me to Lya Pointa for training and it's just horrible and creepy. My sister is really into this stuff, though, and she actually likes to help him, so I guess it works out anyway." Rosy glanced at Cat. "The Lady of the House? Who's that? Is she a god?" There were quite a few gods in this world from all over, weren't there...? "Ah well, I think it's important to know that stuff indeed, but my Dad overdoes it with all his lessons sometimes, so everything that goes too deep into philosophical things tend to bore me after a while since Dad's lessons are so boring."

"That's a great idea. We can use the rock to mark and hide the eggs at the same time!" Rosy followed Cat, looking around. It was hard to spot things with the tall grass, though. "Oh! Eggs!" There were another two eggs in the grass, only visible thanks to their bright colors. "Looks like not all of them are so difficult to get to. They're just hard to spot!"

[Kodai]

Even though Cat seemed like she would be willing to listen more about Rosy's powers, she didn't say anything, as Rosy had just said she wasn't interested in the whole thing herself. Instead she decided to answer Rosy's question. "The Lady? Well... I'm not really sure. It's all very confusing, even for me." She tilted her head in thought as she walked. "Baron says that he knows her and that he was sent by her to watch over the House while she's away. But I've also heard him say that she's never met him before! So I thought, why would the Lady send someone to watch her House that she doesn't know? Baron doesn't tell me everything, though, so he's probably still hiding something..." Cat looked back at Rosy. "I can tell you, though, when we usually refer to the Lady... She's not a god. Or a goddess. She is very mysterious for most of us, but there are a few people who live at the House who claim to know her. I don't think they're lying, so."

Suddenly she stopped. "Oh, you found some more eggs! Let me see..." She peered through the long grass and eventually caught sight of their bright colors. "Okay, let me get those! Although it might be hard since I have to keep my dress like this..."

[Shieba]

Rosy tilted her head in mild confusion. "So you guys live in a place belonging to someone most of you don't even know and who is super-mysterious? Are you sure that's a safe thing to do then? And well, maybe Baron and your Lady are pen-pals or something?" Not that Rosy's grandmother wasn't all mysterious, but at least everyone at the Chateau knew her.

"Hm, yes..." Rosy wished she could help more. "Shall we look around for a spot to hide the eggs first, then? I think if we don't go too far away, we might remember this place here." The eggs were hidden rather well in the grass, but Rosy would probably be able to find them again.

[Kodai]

"Well, most of the residents don't actually live inside the House – they live in Whisper Forest. Baron still considers them as members, though. As for those of us who live in the House... Baron says it's all right. Although I guess it is a little weird, isn't it?" It was apparent that Cat had never really thought about it before. "Pen pals? That could be true. We do have a messenger, after all, and Baron's always asking her to deliver letters. So I bet you're right!"

Looking at the eggs they had just found, Cat thought about Rosy's suggestion. "Yes, this spot could work. If you dug a little hole, we could put the eggs in it and then we'd know where they are because there would be a little pile of dirt! What do you think?" She smiled, still holding up her dress. "I can't dig right now, so you'd have to do it, if that's all right?"