Well... it hadn't really worked so far, Letia supposed. At least, not well. But no matter; she at least had a few more little ideas, beyond clearly needing to study up a bit more. One thing, at least, that she was quite good at. "It will be before long, I am hoping... I may yet have to clear out a few things in the meanwhile," Letia mused for now.

Still, she was plenty content to move on for the moment all the same, a little grin forming on her face as she started to lead the way over to the small forested area where the pond was to be found. "Just drinking and cleaning up a little; the basic things, really," she replied. "It's another thing my brother has helped at least a little with, I confess; both in helping to grow it out a little more, and making sure the water itself is perfectly clean. Well... I can't exactly say I don't rely on him a fair bit," she added with a slight giggle.

And the pond itself, though relatively small, was clean and practically crystal clear indeed. Albeit interrupted, not long after, by a call out from around the main area from what sounded like a somewhat older female; Letia's mother, it would be easy to guess. "Ah... I suppose we've taken long enough that they're done," the Rito hummed. "Shall we get moving, then? If we take too long, I might expect my father to come out and make sure nothing's happened," she suggested with an embarrassed little grin.

Klara

"Well... in a certain sense, I suppose," Letia mused, giving a small shrug. "We do... tend to disagree on several matters. And as I'd said previously, he can be... annoying. But we're family; we still take care of each other," she added, putting on a small grin.

Still, with that, she started to lead the way back out of that wooded area, back toward the middle where the beginnings of 'town' rested. Back to where a few tables were set up with no small amount of food, much of it some form of baked dish, though there were a few other selections besides; most all consisting of fish and some manner of fruits and vegetables. "Ah, as I said, then, they really did make quite a lot," Letia offered with a little giggle, when everything came into view and she gave a small wave to an older male Rito standing taller than any of the rest, his feathers a somewhat darker shade than Letia's own while the only other female bore a somewhat more bluish shade. Besides them, a pair of male Rito; one practically matching Letia's father but for height and apparent age, the other bearing feathers of muted red.

"Alright! Before everyone pipes up to chatter -- and yes, I know I'm usually the first one to do so," Letia spoke up when they got nearer, casting a look to the Rito that was undoubtedly her brother out of the three other males, "introductions, yes? My father Levin, mother Lenor, brother Renol, and his partner Vigil," she offered, in turn giving a small nod to each Rito in question, ending with the reddish-feathered Rito.

"So what exactly are you two, then? Friends?" Renol asked of apparent curiosity, the first question to come so far.

Klara

'Sir'... to that, Renol let out a small chuckle, stopped in part by a small bump from his mother. Though all the same, he shortly after let out what almost seemed like a small, disappointed huff as the fuller answer came.

"Oh, no, do feel free to just call us by our names!" the older female Rito replied, though not missing the implication that it might not be the most... comfortable act for Klara. "Or if you wish, Mr. and Mrs. Relicht will do; that's what people tend to do around a bunch of the surface, I'm aware, though none of us have ventured out to the desert," she offered in turn, just in case.

"'Cause some of us would bake," Renol freely commented, not wasting time in the meanwhile in grabbing a bit of food and starting to contently chomp down on it. "Probably easier without the feathers, right? Well... not that you'd be able to compare to anything, I guess, since they don't exactly make clothes out of bird or kargaroc feathers..." he suggested with a small shrug. It had been a thought, at least, if one that probably wasn't going to get anywhere.

"Like I said, he can be annoying," Letia offered with a slight smirk. "Ah, feel free to dig in in the meanwhile! Can't let the food get too cold even if everyone likely has their curiosities, right?" she suggested in turn. There were utensils offered for the purpose, at least, though between the food itself, and Renol already taking some time to dig in, much of it was still quite easy to eat with one's hands if it came to it... including the Ritos' larger, feathered hands.

"If I may, what sort of social event?" this time, it was Letia's father that was the one to ask, while the others started to go for a bit of food. "We... try to get her out more, as you might have heard, but she's stubborn and usually goes off to one of her projects instead," he suggested with a pointed look to Letia herself, who simply reached for some food itself with a small, embarrassed expression on her face. "And seeing that you're here, you must be someone who'll at least let this daughter of ours talk their ear off, huh?"

Klara

"Of course; please, eat as much as you like! We're expecting to have plenty left for dinner later anyway," Lenor assured... and indeed, for how much there was, there might have been little doubt of that unless every one of them was a big eater.

"We are trying," Levin offered to that last point. "She wanted to go along and take an unconventional route, try and bring more plants from the surface and see what happens first instead of a few of the plants from back home," he suggested with a small sigh, glancing once more to his daughter, still occupied as she was with awkwardly avoiding eye contact for the moment. Though between that, and her skyships, and seeking a village in the sky shared between Rito and surface-dwellers, there was little conventional to be found of much of Letia's projects. "Besides, judging by the fact that you both got back just fine, she got that ship of hers safely through the desert, did she? If there are any transport issues, that's what she's making them for, even if it's just surface to surface," he suggested in turn.

"But maybe it's no wonder she brought you here if you're this similar," the mother in turn suggested, with a small grin. 'But we can't be the only curious ones, surely? Especially if you are anything like our daughter here, that won't leave anything alone that she can get her hands on?"

Klara

"For now, at least. I do need to make a bit more certain of the filter I'd put up, likely make a few methods to more easily remove and clean it... ah, just musing, really!" Letia herself offered with a little grin. One of many small things to still adjust, but the fact that it had made the trip just fine with the modifications she had made thus far was still quite encouraging, in its own way.

Still, Lenor, at least, couldn't help a small giggle to Klara's first question to come. Not something she'd much expected, but not exactly unwelcome all the same. "Caring for them is simple, really; just a specialized brush, or just our beaks if we feel like it. Some of us can still fly when we're a bit water-logged, but it's not something most would recommend; not when it weighs down our feathers and makes it more difficult to hold them in place where we need them," she added to that point.

"Ah, that is something I can answer, I suppose?" Letia spoke up to the next question. It was, after all, her project, in the end. "There are plenty of walking paths and ramps and the like back home, but yes, there is a lot of, well... shall I say, stacking things on top of each other, in a certain sense," she mused. "It does make things a bit easier to get to by wing than by foot, but we do still have to account for the younger Rito that can't fly yet, or others that might have a hard time flying. And well, since not everyone that will come here will be able to fly, I'm modeling it a bit more after surface villages I've seen," she further offered, before giving a small, thoughtful hum. "Ah, not to say it won't build out further and start looking a bit like a mix of home and the surface, but that may come a bit later," she concluded on that particular note.

"What about the desert, then?" Renol chose to ask after. "Some folks have said they have some sort of... special animal or something to get people around? Since I hear horses don't do well there," he curiously added... much as none of them really knew very much about the desert in general. Not when they'd not even gone there themselves.

Klara