Soon To Be Royalty

2:Nicknames and Adventure

"This is amazing~" Aria moaned, munching fervently on a large, cooked snake. "I didn't know you could skewer snakes."

"You knew they were edible though?"asked Ja'far.

"Mhmm. I love reading about things other people consider unimportant."

"Are you sure you don't want any of this meat I found?" Questioned Mystras.

Aria sweat dropped, remembering the near mental breakdown Mystras had gone through because Sinbad and Ja'far didn't wish to escape from the valley. He had then wandered off and found a piece of meat lying on the valley floor.Admittedly, Aria found it strange that the both of them were content with living like naked savages for the rest of their lives.

'Speaking of naked....' she thought.

"No, thank you Mystras. But um, may ask why all three of you are naked?"

"You don't really mind that do you, Ria?"Sinbad said, flexing his muscles.

Aria face-palmed while the young whitenette hit his incurable flirt of a leader, upside the head.

"Stop it Sin."

"Wait a second, what did you just call me?"Aria asked incredulously.

"Ria." Sinbad answered with a smile.

"Why?"

"I thought it was a cute nickname."

"Oh."

Aria couldn't really come up with a counter argument because for some reason, she actually like the name Sinbad had decided to call her by.

Deciding to be honest she added,"I like it."

A smirk appeared on Sinbad's lips, "I knew you would. So, do you want to call me by nickname aswell?"

"Not really." The female replied coolly.

"You really are cruel Ria."

Aria couldn't stop the laugh that escaped from her lips. Her new friends smiled.

They spent the next few hours exchanging stories and jokes. Though she had already speculated as much, she discovered that Mystras was a Sassan Knight. The fact that Sinbad was the leader of the expanding Sindrian Trading Company also came to her knowledge. They told her of their previous adventures and about how they met each other and their companions from far away lands like Imuchakk.

Finally, it was the boys' turn to question the raven haired female.

"So Aria, why are you here?"

"Well, I thought it would be fun!"came the cheery reply.

The males looked back at her with dumbfounded expressions.

"Huh?!"

"What?"

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I can assure you that I am speaking very seriously Ja'far."

"What made you think that Artymera's infamous Valley of Death would be a good place to have fun?"

"I was just looking for a bit of adventure."

Mystras and Ja'far exchanged glances. They recognized the spark in Aria's eyes when she spoke of adventure. It was the same as the ember that threatened to burst into flames in Sinbad's copper-gold orbs when he told people about his dream of building a nation from the ground up.

"I was always cooped up in my own country when I was younger. Seeing the outside world was the only ambition I ever possessed. Now I'm finally able to realize that dream. Even if that sounds silly to others, it's what I want to do. To me, that all that matters.
I'm sure that you guys have felt like that at some point aswell. Haven't you?"

The breathless female directed her steely gaze to the three seated around her. Her query hung heavily in the air.

"I've experienced the exact same feeling of curiosity Miss Aria. I'm glad to have met someone like me."

Aria looked at Mystras surprised. Her expression softened as she smiled at the redhead.

"I'm glad too Mystras."