The voice replied, a female, and Lhakya relaxed a little. He hadn't truly been nervous or anything--well, alright, perhaps a little. His kind were the hunted just as much as they were the hunter, as he knew all too well. He heard footsteps and tried to gauge her distance, but though his hearing was good he still wasn't quite that used to blindness to be able to tell. Trying to look casual, he stretched out his legs and leaned back on his hands, inclining his face in the girl's direction and smiling, lips closed.
"Oh, no. Not at all. In fact, I'm relieved. I didn't think I'd find anyone else out here...wherever 'here' is..." He gave a little shrug, not seeming too bothered that he apparently had no idea where he was or where he was going, which was the truth. The only place he wanted to be was away from him, and wherever that place may be, it was all good in his eyes. Metaphorically.
She mentioned a village and he perked up--then absently swatted at some bug fluttering around his face. It was one of Celie's butterflies, but Lhakya didn't know that, nor would he have cared if he did. Insects were insects--and he rather hated the freaky little things, even the ones people called 'pretty'.
"Village? There's a village nearby?" Another thing fluttered by and Lhakya hissed in annoyance and swatted again, trying to hit it but missing. Blasted bugs! "Actually, I'm looking for a village. Well..." He pursed his lips and tilted his head. "Not looking, exactly, 'cause, well...you know." He motioned vaguely at his face. "I can't look, but--never mind."
Groping around on the ground for his staff, he gripped it and used it to help get him to his feet, then wedged it into the earth firmly and leaned against it while he struggled to get his bearings. He still wasn't fully used to blindness and sometimes it felt like he was just floating in emptiness with no sense of up or down or left or right, all those little things he'd taken for granted once upon a time. Finally, the strange sense of emptiness passed and he was able to focus on the earth beneath his feet, grounding himself. Alright. He'd gotten this far, and he could keep on going. He had to get used to this and adjusted somehow--because the alternative was capture and death.
He brushed hair out of his face. "Listen, do you know where it is? The village, I mean. Gods, you have no idea what a relief it is to run into you. I figured I'd be wandering around aimlessly for a few more days." And starving, too.