Jade did walk to the door, too curious not to investigate, and paused as the voice washed over her. It felt like an ocean's wave washing through her, leaving behind unneeded things. She stood in the door, quiet as she tried to follow the voice, slowly wandering with one hand rested against a wall so she could find her way back by way of remembering that she kept her fingers in contact with that wall.

Everything was beyond her in this place, and it didn't take long for her to simply stop and lean her shoulder against the wall. She stood there, without pants or shoes, and let herself reflect on her situation. She was... out of her league here. A neanderthal among aliens.

But, even fully aware of that, she also held onto the awareness that she needed to learn about this strange universe, for in doing so, she could better learn to handle other universes. She pushed herself back upright and continued her slow exploration, brows furrowed with determination as she carefully took in every detail she could—sights, sounds, scents, and even the texture of the wall against her fingertips.
 
There was a definite direction in which the voice was getting stronger. It was difficult to sense given that it was already strong enough to wash over Jade and make her feel as if she was standing in front of a speaker while attending a heavy metal concert, except she was at no risk of being rendered deaf even temporarily. What could create such a powerful voice? From the sounds of it, it was Ríváné speaking, but it did not seem like this could originate from a human. It was far too unique, too precise, not to mention it reached too far to be the voice of a human, yet as Jade continue on her way along the smooth walls, she could see her host reading from a holographic projection in front of her. The letters in front of Ríváné were familiar, because they looked just like óníc characters that she had read so much.

But there was an additional layer to the text that almost looked as if Ríváné was reading from a sheet of music, but at the same time, it was so completely divorced from music that it might as well have been written in Chinese. Or perhaps some long-extinct language that was only ever spoken by a handful people while they still lived, yet it was somehow preserved. Either way, the combination of strange characters and symbols made no sense to Jade, but Ríváné was reading them fluently and without the help of any device that the small woman could see. The songweaver was the one responsible for the voice which reached to Jade's very core. This close, it was even more powerful, though before Jade could listen to it for too long, Ríváné stopped.

"Good morning, Jade," said Ríváné as she turned around. Jade would note that the colourful woman had changed her clothes from the risqué outfit yesterday to something more appropriate: a colourful t-shirt and a pair of shorts of the same colour that reached to Ríváné's knees, covering much more of her body than before. Still, the songweaver did not seem surprised at Jade's appearance.
"I am sorry if I woke you up with my practice," she apologised as she dismissed the holographic projection then waved to the little room around her.

It was the point of the house which was furthest from Jade's place of rest and as usual, it had little furniture besides the cupboards and the counter lined along the wall, plus a small table which stood between Ríváné and Jade. The furniture was painted in a pleasant mixture of vibrant colours that clashed, yet were completely harmonious. Come to think of it, the colourful themes were somewhat of an ever-present thing in this house. Everything was painted a multitude of colours that could have easily ended up making eyes bleed, but through sheer trial and error or perhaps artistic skill, the mixture was ultimately pleasant to the eyes with gradual shifts of one colour to another.

"Would you like something to eat or drink, Jade?" asked Ríváné as she stepped towards the counter, highlighting the fact that this part of it could serve as a stove to heat or make things. "I can make something in about ten minutes."
 
Jade blinked as she watched her host, head tilted as she tried to decipher the hologram and the language, but both evaded her utterly. Ríváné truly was the singer, and had a beautiful, powerful voice. When the woman suddenly turned, Jade jumped, red eyes wide. "Good morning, Host Ríváné." She inclined her head as she pulled away from the wall. "Did not wake. Body could no longer rest." She paused at the question of food, and nodded. "Please. Very hungry. Very thirsty." A whole day of sleep did that.

She paused as she thought about how Ríváné spoke, then tried out a few of the intonations and pronunciation that the other woman used. "Your voice is very beautiful." It seemed to her like a statement, but to Ríváné, it may have sounded like a question or exclamation, or possibly even sarcasm. She tried again, and managed a more neutral tone. "Your voice is very beautiful."

Yes, much better, she thought, though only Ríváné's reaction would help her know for sure. Her mind felt more keen today, but that could be one of its tricks, as far as she knew. Brains were assholes.

"What was that song?"
 
Ríváné did not seem to be very surprised at Jade's hunger and opened one of the many cupboards to rummage around for a few seconds before she retrievedd an at least two-liter bottle filled with clear water. It was obviously intended for Jade as the songweaver deposited it on the table between them before she looked up at her guest and had to stop herself from frowning in dismay. Perhaps it had been a bad idea to start practicing ránei while her guest was still sleeping, because of course Jade would be curious about something that sounded so beautiful. Now, how was Ríváné going to tell her that what she was doing had nothing even remotely common with singing? It would be best to tell the truth...

"It was not a song, Jade," said Ríváné as she opened the water bottle before she nodded at her guest's attempts at conjugation as well as tone. "Your sentences are strange in tone. The first one was too crazy, the second one was too calm. But your grammar improved!" With that, Ríváné turned back towards the stove before she started searching the cupboards again for a nice, tasty and fulfilling breakfast.

"I was speaking ránei. It is the language of ítéra, umm... I do not know if that word has a meaning in English," she said as she retrieved a couple strange-looking foodstuffs from the many compartments above her. They looked like an egg, some sort of meat, the colourful berries that Jade ate yesterday, but much to her surprise, her host retrieved more than a couple small vials that held inside them all sorts of strange substances. "I was practicing how to order the destroying of different things." Needless to say, Ríváné was cringing on the inside, especially as she knew very well what was it that she ordered destroyed when Jade stepped into the room. She dearly hoped that Jade would not ask about that, because it would make ránei seem dangerous and her people absolutely bloodthirsty.
 
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She was improving! Good. She decided for now, to err on the side of 'too calm' rather than 'too crazy', since typically, a calm utterance carried much more power than an impassioned one.

The calmer one was a bit easier on her, as well. She nodded at her host's praise and offered a brief smile, then watched the woman open the bottle. It was a rather large bottle. Was she expected to drink from it directly? It was larger than her thigh. They had similar bottles at home, but... mostly shut-ins drank syrupy, sugared-up drinks from them while playing out fantasies on a screen. She watched Ríváné and listened as the woman began to explain. Two more words she didn't know, again with no English counterparts—or they were ideas that didn't exist in English.

She somehow doubted Ríváné would have other Earth languages to fall back on, so for now, let that drop. "The destruction of things?" She tilted her head. "Things of what sort? In what manner?" Again, her intonation was very calm. She watched Ríváné closely. "It is a very..." She sought for the word in her mind. "Pretty way to order destruction."
 
At the moment Jade asked as to what things Ríváné had destroyed, Ríváné froze. Oh dear heavens, no. Anything but that question. But she had to answer. There was no way she could skip on her explanation as Jade could have recorded what she said and played it to another songweaver at any time, who would undoubtedly tell her the whole truth about just what the songweaver said. Wavering where she stood, Ríváné reluctantly accessed the local AI to look up the meanings of different words in English while she resumed her cooking. For the most part, at least her movements were normal and seemed close to what Jade would see at home as Ríváné prepred breakfast.

Then, after a few moments, Ríváné launched into a detailed explanation as to what exactly she ordered. Laced with English words for the sake of easy understanding, Jade would hear that her host had basically ordered every single building to be reduced to dust in various creative and utterly devastating ways. It was as if Ríváné was crushing a whole planet with her mere words, something that was confirmed as soon as Ríváné ended her minutes-long spiel with 'And then pierce through the planet's core and unload three hundred hydrogen bomb missiles into the opening'. Oh dear god, that was the worst of it.

What would Jade even think? For once, it was Ríváné who was on the edge about her guest and not vica versa, because she did just describe herself utterly annihilating an entire planet, all in a language that seemed to be as beautiful as a swarm of butterflies.
 
Jade's eyebrows rose slowly higher as the explanation continued, growing more and more destructive.

At the end, Jade mimed an explosion with her fingers. "Boom." She murmured in English, torn between amusement and horror. Thankfully, it seemed to only be practice—she doubted her host had actually destroyed an entire planet.

Clearly, though, Ríváné was not a politician. Even if she could not lie, clearly she could not filter herself. It almost... reminded Jade of home.

"I have not been so... thorough... but I can see why you would require practice for giving such an order. It is difficult, especially since each..." She frowned as she thought about the proper word, then shook her head. "It is difficult to order such destruction." One corner of her mouth trembled for a moment, and she clenched her hands into fists slowly. "Painful, sometimes." She released her fists as she felt her fingernails press into some of the scars on her palms, and slowly unclenched them, relieving the pressure, but not the newly-thrumming pain that came any time she remembered her scars existence.
 
Now it was Ríváné's turn to be absolutely surprised, so much that she almost forgot about the food she was making for Jade. She had half expected her guest to start running away and screaming her head off, but instead, not only did the small woman play along with a noise that sounded as if something exploded, but she also sort of commended Ríváné. Granted, Jade was doing it in a calm, somewhat monotonous manner, but the songweaver's sensitive ears could pick up on the fact that the small woman empathised with her to a degree, which may have lead some credit to Jade's claims. The measure of understanding that Ríváné got was more than enough to make her wonder if her guest had been witness to the annihilation of a planet.

"Are you not scared, Jade?" asked Ríváné after a pause that she used to season the food she was preparing. It was almost done, but it would need a few seconds to cool lest she want to burn her guest's poor lips. "I thought that if you heard what I said, you would run away," she said honestly as she pondered at the difficulty of destroying a planet through ránei commands. True, it was not easy to systematically order the destruction of everything, not to mention that the rules of ránei made it difficult even without the emotional attachment. That was precisely why it was such good practice. In case Ríváné ever needed to make the order, she would have to be able to do it in a blink of an eye, without hesitation.

Abandoning such thoughts for later or better yet, completely, Ríváné plated the food she made and she handed it to Jade along with one of the little metal utensils which changed shape according to what her guest wanted to eat. It was a rather large, but simple breakfast-type assembly with some sort of fried meat divided up into smaller pieces and the colourful berries which she had gotten to know yesterday. A couple of fresh slices of some bread-like product were also delivered to Jade.

"Eat, Jade! Then we can practice óníc before visiting Two-Stars-Weeks-Away," said Ríváné with a smile on her face. Though her guest still caused her never-ending headaches, she was far more understanding and tolerant of the situation than before. Back then, she was angry that she was given baby-sitting duty. Now, she was starting to be intrigued and interested.
 
Jade shook her head at the question of fear. Ríváné sounded like someone she'd met before, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Perhaps one of the worlds? In the end, her host changed the subject, however, and introduced food. "Thank you. This looks delicious." Despite her own monotone, she did pay close attention to Ríváné's intonation and pitch, though she chose to hold off on using them until such a time as conversation might become more passionate. It was... difficult for her, to raise and lower her pitch often.

Even speaking as much as she was, her mouth felt tired already. At home, she rarely conversed with others, but here, she was around people who didn't know her quirks, didn't know about her habits, and didn't know about how her mind worked. She would have to speak.

She paused as she thought back to the destruction, but decided perhaps it was best a topic dropped, especially at mention of visiting the leader. "Could you tell me about Two-Stars-Weeks-Away? You hold much reverence for them. Are there any customs that must be observed, or any rude acts I should avoid?"

For all she knew, greeting with a handshake and eye contact might be seen as an act of war, and none of her Hunters were present to protect her.

... None of her Hunters were present to protect her. Suddenly, she noticed her naked legs, and felt like she even lacked the protection of her jacket's hardy exterior. Only Ríváné was here to keep her safe, and even then, she barely knew her host, barely knew if her host would turn against her at the order from someone higher. She'd not felt so unprotected in her entire forty-four years of life. She realized she was staring with dead eyes, and quickly shook her head. "Thank you for the food." She managed, though there was a tremor to her voice as she began to eat.

Though the tastes should have caught more of her attention, she found her mouth felt too dry to truly taste them... until the berries. She closed her eyes and forced herself to relax as she held them in her mouth. They weren't cherries, but they were... nice.
 
Despite Ríváné's advice to put a little more life into her speaking, Jade continued using her relative monotone, which lead Ríváné to believe that she was not used to the subtle shifts that óníc used. She would have to give a few lessons to her when they had finished talking to Two-Stars-Weeks-Away, because not everyone was as trained to pick up on small differences between sounds. However, based on the information the songweaver dug up about English, it might not even be possible for Jade to mimick the shifts without a lot of practice, in which case she would be always noticed as a foreigner and lways stir up attention. That would be unpleasant, but maybe the small woman would not even interact that much with civilians.

Speaking of civilians, Jade did mention Two-Stars-Weeks away, which made the gears in her head start turning. Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, she was lost in thought when the small woman displayed her fear and terror, only capable of nodding when Jade started to eat. Wait a second. Did not Jade say that she was thirsty? Why did she not take the water in this case?

"Why did you not drink, Jade?" asked Ríváné as she observed her guest. "I thought you were thirsty and ábévárkírón are not enough to fill you up. You should drink," she said, gesturing at the bottle of water she had placed on the table before she took a seat opposite of Jade on a chair that automatically folded out of the ground for her, just as it had done for Jade. But how could the songweaver explain what to expect when conversing with a Ruler? She had looked up the meanings of óníc words that pertained to the situation, but their meanings were often transcribed as entire sentences and she was not sure they would convey the same meaning as simple words.

"You should not be afraid of Two-Stars-Weeks-Away, Jade," she ended up saying after having thought about it for a while. "I have told them that you are not from this culture. If you want to be respectful towards them, then you should not touch them and if you want to show that you respect them as Two-Stars-Weeks-Away, you can do this," she said before she got off her chair, then she crossed her arms in front of her so that her left arm would be vertical and her right arm would be placed horizontally at the rough middle of her left arm. Ríváné's fingers remained stretched out as if she was forming an arrow with her hands and notably, she was looking straight into Jade's eyes with her colourful hues.

"You should look straight at Two-Stars-Weeks-Away. But you do not have to do it, because... I am sorry, I do not think that the English translation is accurate for áratidéfíl. The best way I can explain it is that Two-Stars-Weeks-Away will know who you are." That was an incredibly clumsy translation at best and a horrifically inept one at worst. But seriously, English lacked so many of the necessary words to describe a meeting with a Ruler! Except for one that might help Jade understand the situation. "And please understand that you will be meeting a 'soundmason'." There. Would that explain the situation to Jade adequately? If she remembered the dictionary definition of soundmason, maybe it would help.
 
Jade looked at the bottle, then blushed as she reached for it. As tiny as she was, a two-liter bottle was just... too clumsy. "May I have a cup? I am very small, and would prefer not to spill."

At the more in-depth explanation, Jade yanked her attention from the drink and her bout of fear to pay close attention. Now, she didn't fear the ruler. What she did fear was the sudden realization that she had only one ally, and that person was one Jade did not yet know well.

Knowing how to show respect, that was important. Jade mimicked the gesture carefully, looking between her arm position and Ríváné's. "So, Two-Stars-Weeks-Away will be able to look into my eyes and, essentially, see into my mind and self?" It made her uneasy, but... "I trust Two-Stars-Weeks-Away will not divulge any of what I consider secret?" Soundmason... That one seemed familiar. "And please refresh my memory on 'soundmason'. I remember reading the term in the dictionary, but my memory is hazy on its definition."

Without a thought, she reached for the bottle of water, still thirsty, and pulled it toward herself, before she looked at the mouth and remembered the reason why she was waiting. With her hands on the bottle now, she sighed and gave it a try. She shifted it carefully, and then stood when she couldn't get the leverage. Her lips met the bottle's mouth, and she lifted it near the bottom for a sip... that quickly became a gulp. Jade's eyes widened as she felt too much water in her mouth and quickly lowered the bottle back to the table, cheeks full of water as she stared at the vessel.

Much too large for someone not even five feet tall.
 
In retrospect, the large bottle of water may not have been a good idea. Ríváné had thought that she would just fill it up so that Jade could drink from a completely separate vessel that would not be shared between them so as to prevent any sort of contamination from taking place. Even like this, there was a risk that Jade would catch some disease that she was not adequately protected against, but the established baselines along with the observations that had been made with her consent would help her a great deal. Two-Stars-Weeks-Away would also be able to help, but that was still some time away.

Then Jade lifted the bottle of water and actually struggled with it before Ríváné could as much as put into words the explanation about the soundmasons. Rushing to the counter and retrieving a rather large glass for Jade, Ríváné quickly placed it onto the table before she shut her eyes and tilted her head to the side in apology. Oh dear stars, she had screwed up again! She did not know if Jade would be able to swallow the large mouthful that the tiny woman had ended up with, but she was more than prepared to wipe it off the floor or... even herself. That would have been gross. But Ríváné would deserve it for not thinking of how small Jade was.

"I am sorry," she said as she opened her eyes. "Do you need help?" she asked, obviously putting off the answers to her guest's questions for later, when she was no longer drowning in water.
 
Jade looked up at Ríváné with wide eyes, then covered her mouth and slowly swallowed a tiny bit at a time—a handy skill to have, when... certain adult situations came up, but also handy when her mouth was too full. Only once her mouth was emptied did she make a noise beyond quiet gulping, and that was to pant and cough into her hand.

Jade shook her head briefly, coughed again into her hand, then forced a deep breath. "No..." She cut off to breathe. "It is fine. I was too impatient." Some water shone on her chin, and her shirt had some darkened spots where the water dripped onto it despite her efforts to avoid a mess.

She shuddered as her body protested to taking in that much water, that quickly, and her lungs hurt from having to hold her breath to drink her way through the mouthful.

"I am unharmed. Please, continue." She managed, despite her panting. For her, the information was more important. "Thank you for your concern, also." She nearly forgot to acknowledge that yes, her host had been worried, and that she was thankful her host wasn't so cold as to ignore her struggle... That would have left awkwardness between them.
 
Thank goodness, it did not look like Jade would spit the water up. That was good! Nevertheless, Ríváné was concerned about her guest, especially the fact that she seemed to be out of breath and possibly thirsty, so in a fit of genius, she applied a holographic label to the glass that only her eyes could see before she took the two-liter bottle to fill it completely for her guest. There. That would have been much easier to handle for the small woman, as the glass was standard sized... though somehow, even that managed to look a little large in comparison to Jade. Poor woman. It was probably difficult for her to get around and to live in a world where everything was so big compared to her! True, humans have been growing larger for a while, but Ríváné still sympathised with Jade's situation.

"Thank reason!" said Ríváné, her voice flooded with clear relief as she capped the bottle again so that it would not get spilled. She was immensely glad that her oversight did not end up causing too much trouble, but she waited for Jade to regain her breath before she attempted to explain the phenomenon to her guest again.

"Soundmasons are accidental creations of humanity," said Ríváné after some thinking. She was clearly a little overwhelmed as she had to put a very complicated concept into very simple words that Jade would understand. "They are like humans, but at the same time, they are different. They think and behave in a way that normal humans can not understand and they are much larger than humans. They also have their own language. But... I am not sure I can explain áratidéfíl." How did one put a feeling into words? Óníc had to invent a completely new word just to describe being in the presence of a soundmason, especially for the first time someone met them. Damn the lack of foresight in people who spoke English! Did they not think of the future, when new things would be created?

"Two-Stars-Weeks-Away will not look into your brain, Jade." In the end, it was perhaps best to try and explain it in a different manner rather than attempting to capture the sensations that an individual encountered in the presence of a soundmason. "But they will see who you are. It is something that you can only understand if you understand how ítéra works and I do not want to bore you with mathematics and physics." Would she understand? Ríváné doubted it. Had she heard the very same explanation that she had given to Jade, she would have been confused as well, but the lack of necessary terminology tied her hands.
 
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Jade closed her eyes, trying to imagine large humans. She saw vague dark shapes crawling along in the shadows of dark rooms in her imagination, singing a song as they looked down on humans with what she assumed was benevolence.

"It sounds vaguely..." She trailed off, then used the English word. "Spiritual." She couldn't remember if that was a thing in this society, according to the dictionary. It sounded as though the sensation for Ríváné was almost religious. She opened her eyes, trying to approach with questions that might aid in understanding, even if they did not grant a full picture.

"'Spiritual' as in a thing that is difficult for humans where I am from to describe using scientific and mathematical terminology, but they feel inside their core." She paused to try to think of an example to which Ríváné might relate, but her mind could think of little. Instead, she tried the English words. "Miracles. Prayer. Meditation." She paused. This was getting away from her now. She could scarcely remember-- Oh, right. trying to understand what Ríváné meant about the Soundmasons.

"Does any of that relate in any way? Forgive the injections of English, I do not recall if I saw those words translated, or I may not have paid attention during my search, since those topics are not common in conversation among people recently met where I live."
 
As soon as Jade started speaking in English, Ríváné opened a holographic window in front of her and tried to match the voice sample to the myriads of words in the dictionary that could be the equivalent of it. She did not consider excusing herself or to apologise, because Jade herself was very well aware of the language barriers between them as she had just demonstrated. Either way, it did not take too long to find the óníc equivalents of the words, which made sense, but at the same time, they puzzled the poor songweaver. Meeting a soundmason was definitely not a religious or spiritual experience, because that would imply that it was somehow invented or perhaps connected to a force that was not of this world. Except that soundmasons and their existence could be described within the rules of science.

"I think that you will understand the word if you meet Two-Stars-Weeks-Away. I can not explain what will happen properly, unless you want me to try and explain the four great ways of thinking. I do not know if that would help. And umm... here are the words you mentioned," said Ríváné as she flipped around the projection she had summoned, displaying the English words and their óníc equivalent to Jade. They had both phonetics and writing, not that the two differed very much given the peculiarities of ónic.

As for Ríváné, she was clearly not sure if she was doing the right thing by trying to explain to Jade how the people of Civitatem Lucis thought. It would introduce her guest to a fairly important phenomenon in her culture, of course, but she could see no way how that helped in the explanation of something that Jade did not even have a concept of. Of course, Ríváné could have just tried to summarise her personal experiences, but she always felt that when it came to second-hand accounts of dealing with soundmasons, they were not nearly close enough to the real thing. It was always the first encounter that gave one a true sense of what to expect for the next time, not the words of poets who tried to capture the feeling time and again.
 
Jade mouthed the words to herself, though made few other attempts at memorizing them. The only time they would likely come up would be if Jade for some reason required the presence of a gambler. As long as nobody outright told her they disbelieved in luck, she believed she would be fine.

Troubling though was how none of those words she offered did anything to stir further explanation, save an offer to explain something about four ways of thinking... the Four... branches? She needed another go at that dictionary. "The Four..." She trailed off and tapped her head. "I need more time with that dictionary. Reading through it tired did very little to keep the words in my memory. Perhaps in doing so I will better understand your meanings."

She wanted to understand, but... "However, if there are plans to visit Two-Stars-Weeks-Away, I do not wish to delay those. It is important for representatives from far places to meet when they are in the realm of another, to assure that peace is the intention."

Perhaps that was too much? Ríváné didn't seem to believe a word of Jade being the watcher over the multiverse... she likely wouldn't believe Jade was an empress's daughter, or the leader of a security organization, either. Frustrating.
 
So Jade did remember something of the Four Philosophies, but as soon as Ríváné was about to brighten up, heer hopes were dashed. Jade did not remember about them at all! They were fairly important aspects of life in Civitatem Lucis too, which made the situation a little bit worse. Fortunately, Ríváné's rather small guest was eager to read and learn about them again, probably because she did not want to feel lost in a world that was unlike anything she had seen at home. That thought hit the songweaver rather harshly as she realised she was talking to someone who had no idea about anything in this place and she had to pause a little bit to let the whole thing sink in. It made her pause in horror for a while after Jade had mentioned plans to see Two-Stars-Weeks-Away.

Snapping out of her momentary reverie, the songweaver looked at Jade and the still quite packed plate in front of the small woman.

"I will send a message to Two-Stars-Weeks-Away that you will be visiting them, Jade," she said as she connected to the local AI and then reached for the connection that she had previously established to the Ruler. They were very interested in her guest, so it was likely that the two of them would have about enough time to eat and get clothed before the escort arrived. "You should eat until then! I and some of the military will escort you to Two-Stars-Weeks-Away." It was then that Ríváné paled for a second, giving a pause in the conversation, then she continued right away without giving Jade a time to respond. "Do not worry, Jade. Two-Stars-Weeks-Away is just being cautious, but this planet is not dangerous."

Right. She was saying that, but the escort that Two-Stars-Weeks-Away assigned to her guest would not be out of place in a war zone or even worse, a rahn'fehr skirmish when they successfully managed to link with their home system. Why Jade was considered to be such a vulnerable person, she had no idea, however, she hoped that the woman would not be scared of the best that Civitatem Lucis had to offer.
 
Jade nodded and began to eat and drink in earnest. Once she finished, she glanced down at her bare legs. "I should wash and dress. I wish to give a positive impression." She watched Ríváné a moment before she stood. "I think I remember how the bathing facilities work."

With that, she offered a brief smile, and then hurried on short legs back to the room she'd been in, using her fingertips on the wall to find her way back, just in case. This was, after all, only her second time travelling through this place. On making it back, she quickly bathed and found a small spray bottle she'd nicked from... probably some poor Hunter's bedroom. She sprayed her pants and jacket, and got fresh underwear, socks, and shirt from a pocket before she tied her dirtied clothing into a bag and stuffed it into a pocket.

As she dressed, she took some time to read over more of the dictionary—words she might need, memory refreshers, and a look at the Four Philosophies.

She was dressed rather provocatively, but all she had was a tight-fighting baby tee and the jeans she'd brought, along with her jacket. She quickly sprayed her shoes, put on the clean socks with them, and finally, brushed and re-braided her hair.

It was probably the best she could do for now. The rest would have to come from careful posture and enunciation...

And from careful use of the language.
 
If only Ríváné could explain that there was no such thing as a good impression to a soundmason, she would, but the barriers of language tied her hand again, so she just left it alone. She would let Jade try to follow the few traditions and gestures of Civitatem Lucis that she had the opportunity to learn, because they would be seen as her willingness to learn, not to mention that the Ruler would definitely appreciate even the small things. Not that it would matter in the end, but there was only so much that Ríváné could do before she actually started commanding Jade as if she was a robot or a device susceptible to ránei.

With that thought, the military woman nodded to Jade before she headed off to dress herself appropriately for the occasion. She tied her long, green hair with the blonde highlights back, then arranged it into a simple, tough braid so that the blonde strands were arranged to one side and the greens to the other. It created a rather interesting image, but order was always a good thing to subtly emphasize when meeting someone in an important position. Then came the military clothes that would signify her official visit as a songweaver, not to mention that they would transform her from a casual citizen to someone from authority over Jade's significantly oversized escort.

Consisting of a dark blue jacket trimmed with light blue lines which united at the middle of the garment before running up to her neck, the cloth was clearly divided in the middle. To the right of the division were many, small, gold circles while to the left rested a white four-point star with arrowheads for its points. A matching pair of dark blue trousers and gloves capped Ríváné's outfit and she had to spend a few minutes on adjusting it so that it looked smooth, proper, but also approachable enough so that Jade would not jump out of her skin when she saw her. Then, she sent her message to the military so that they would arrive on time, betting on the fact that her guest would take quite some time to make herself presentable.

Surprisingly, Jade was ready fairly quickly and though her clothes were quite casual, at least they were arranged well on her save for a few small details.

"Can I help you a little?" she asked as she gently reached out towards her guest. "It will be a few minutes until our escort arrives. We can speak a little until then." If Jade would allow Ríváné to help her, then the songweaver would adjust the small woman's clothes to be a little more symmetrical and arranged her braid so that it would sit right at the middle of the woman's back, along her spine. Despite the rather intimate nature of the gesture, however, Ríváné would be rather casual about it as if it was an everyday occurence.