Azza awoke before the first song bird even had time to preen its feathers of morning dew. It would an hour until the first rays of the sun caressed the land and embrace it in warmth. Until then, Azza make her bed, realign her various stuffed animals, and then go wash herself. When she was almost done, she heard the loud groan and yawn of her father from across the hall. Promptly following it would be the sound of a slap, a mock cry of pain and her father running to knock on her door.

“Rise and shine, kiddo!”

Poking her head out of the washroom as her door opened, Azza tracked her father with her forever curious eyes. Then, she nodded.

A pair of slender arms looped around her adoptive father’s neck, followed by the face of her adoptive mother placing a small peck on his cheek. “Hun, she wakes earlier than us.” Turning her attention to the growing girl, she offered apologetic eyes. “Tobias will be by later; dad and I have some things to attend to today.”

“Augh, again!?” came the usual whine from her father. Azza giggled at his reaction, but gave a nod to mother.

“That’s a good girl, Azza.” Pulling away and dragging her husband-to-be behind her, Azza could still hear the jest filled complaining of her father. A smile crept onto Azza’s lips as she returned to finish washing her face with a soft cloth.

Days at the Ixian Castle were always like this and it was only in rare moments when her father and mother could spare time for her. Azza never blamed them though. She understood well enough their profession and that should she ever tag along, she could only hinder them. Wringing her wash cloth dry, she hung it onto the handle to the washroom and stepped into her room once more.

It was more than she had ever wanted, and in truth, she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the entire room to herself. Her life had always been about sharing whatever she had with others in the orphanage. Here, in the Ixian Castle, she didn’t have to share anything and the concept was new to her.

Today, Tobias would be her caretaker and that meant there would be a few hours before the elf was free to come by for the girl. Until then, Azza was more than happy to wander around and have Tobias find her. She always would eventually, as there were only a few places Azza ever wandered: The courtyard, the playground underground, the mess hall, and the castle library.

Recently, Azza had been amusing herself with the books in the library rather than running amuck in the courtyard. While she never did cause any harm or hinder those about, the usually solider was relieved to learn that they could cuss and swear without having to worry about children in earshot any longer.

In the library, Azza would spend the next few hours browsing and consuming the words on books that seemed interesting. Her selection had been random at first, until she began to discover a taste for legends and creatures. Slowly, her focus shifted to the lesser known things; older tomes written in forgotten tongues and partially translated texts. It was here that Azza discovered a possible way to seek what she was.

“Hiya Azza, what are ya reading?” Looking up from the large book in her lap, Azza blinked as she stared at the green haired woman before her. Tobias: the perky elf that like to pilfer things as much as she liked to help others. Tilting herself, she looked at the book Azza was reading and made a small frown. “Can you even read that?”

Azza laughed and shook her head, “Nope. Just looking at the pictures.” While it was true that Azza looked mainly at the pictures, she could make out certain words when she concentrated long enough. She wasn’t exactly sure why or how she could and she wasn’t even sure if it was correct! But somehow, there was feeling that it was right.

“Mmmm…” accepting the answer, Tobias stood and stretched. “Well, what’dya say about getting outta here and picking up a few apples? The farms nearby says they might need a few extra hands.”

Closing the book, Azza took a long look at the title before looking back up to Tobias. “Alright! Let me just put this back?”

“Sure thing, I’ll wait outside. A bit stuffy in here for me.”

Azza watched the woman leave before getting up from the squishy chair she had been sitting in. Stretching her own body to awaken it, Azza then looked to the title for another short while before moving to put it back. Finding its place on the shelf was easy, being the only book removed from a secluded row in the back.

It was peaceful days like this that Azza had accepted as her way of life now. Yet, the longer she stayed within the Ixian Castle, a feeling that she should be moving built within her. It wasn’t quite wanderlust, but whatever it was, Azza was content to cherish these days for however long she could.