The Home of Zou, Mentor and Musician

[Aura Thesin]

Aura only slightly wilted under the disapproving look of Zou. Oddly, she felt better because of the approval that was clear on Koloque's face, though she avoided looking directly at him.

She leaned back, not wishing to interrupt further while she waited for the gnome and shifter to finish talking.

Through sheer willpower, she didn't start more than an inch when horns sprouted from Zou's forehead, exactly where they would be on a goat. She listened to his words, a sad tale about shifters and their persecution, though she didn't and couldn't follow the names of places, which left her in a directionless map in her mind. Aura frowned in concentration, using her exceptional memory to lock names of places and people in her head.

When Zou finished, Aura leaned forward, only looking briefly toward the horns that had recently vanished as she touched his shoulder.

"I hope you don't think that I agree with what this Enoch and his men did. I mean, there's no way that I could ... know any of that history." Aura looked briefly at Koloque and Naris before continuing. "Defending oneself helps keep you from being a victim, but it doesn't mean that you need to go out and destroy those that might be a threat to you in the future. That's simple tyranny."

Aura leaned back, breaking the contact with Zou, having momentarily forgotten how her touch might affect him. She murmured quietly, "I don't mean to interrupt your conversation, I just want Zou to know that. As for the book," Aura shrugged, "Zou's agreed to help me, and I imagine anyone he recommends will be a great help to you."

She smiled at both Naris and Koloque.

[Jaspenellar]

"I thought I smelled goat!" Naris exclaimed quite absurdly, or perhaps not so absurd if one had ever lived so intimately with the caprine odor as the Jaspenellar siblings. No matter how fastidious Zou was, he was, after all, a goat.

Koloque strove not to laugh out loud at the horns and his sister's statement. The image of their docile host in full goat form, a silly, bearded, cud chewing critter, horizontal pupils and all, was almost too much for the large man, who had grown up herding the farm animals. With his efforts at maintaining his composure, largely so as not to seem rude, he nearly missed Aura's startlement. Given her previous reaction to Naris's feat of magic, the blond man decided she trusted the goat-man. Not trusting himself to say anything non-offensive, Kol turned his eyes away, biting his lip.

The fact that Zou was some kind of a goat-shifter was inconsequential to the gnome, as clearly she was pursuing only one train of thought. Her mind was filtering through his words. "Seeing your friend is a step in th'right direction. I suppose you're prob'bly correct and trekking northward with slim chances t'find anything useful does not sound like an 'fficient use of our time. Now, we've just arrived here in Marn and, please, despite my... haste, I really 'ppreciate all you've told us so far. At your leisure, 'm sure you've got other business t'attend."

[Zou]

"Defending oneself helps keep you from being a victim, but it doesn't mean that you need to go out and destroy those that might be a threat to you in the future. That's simple tyranny."

Zou tilted his head in what was more of a bow than a nod, and smiled at Aura before rising up out of his seat. "When all of you are ready, we may go together to visit Czeyla. I shall take with me one or two tomes of reference, and prepare a gift for her. It has been some time since I have seen her. So please, do not make haste to rise. There is more tea to be had."

Zou walked over to the little bureau by his bed and pulled out a drawer. The drawer was compartmentalized into many cubicles, and each one was home to a different root, herb, trinket, or bauble. He drew out a little pouch, and emptied into it the contents of one of the cubicles.

[Aura Thesin]

Aura watched Zou's back for a moment before turning to his guests. For some reason, the urge to play hostess washed through her, and she plucked up the tea pot, offering to pour for both Koloque and Naris. She waited until she was done pouring for them before she poured for herself, filling her cup three quarters full before running out of tea. She stood and smiled to the gnome and human as she brought the cup towards the kitchen.

She altered her path in the middle and went to Zou, pausing behind him as he sorted through his herbs. "Zou, do you want me to come with you to this Czeyla's place?" Not giving him time to really respond, she quickly went on. "Also, I'm going to make another pot of tea. Where do you keep it?"

[Jaspenellar]

Naris impatiently fidgeted with her tea cup, forcing herself to drink. The silence that ensued from Zou's departure from the table felt uneasy, but as she was trying to think of something to say to Aura, the girl finished the pot of tea and removed herself as well.

Koloque, of course, only smiled dumbly after her, his blue eyes following her as she diverted from the kitchen to move closer to their guest. He sat back and looked back to his sister, sensing her trying to contain herself. "So Naris, what're we supposed to do after this visit?"

The gnome shrugged. "I guess depends on what we find out 'bout th'books."

For better or worse, Kol had nothing to suggest. He wasn't as concerned about setting a future goal; as long as his sister needed him by her side, he would be there. The blond man had only tagged along with his youngest sister Lo'en, and after she parted ways with them, he was left with taking care of their gnome sibling. With no other ambitions or inclinations, Kol would bend to Naris's desires.

[Zou]

Zou picked up on Naris' impatience, and hurried up his preparations. When Aura offered to make more tea, he stood up. "I believe our friends are eager to walk their path of discovery, and I wouldn't want to keep them waiting. If you wish to remain here, please feel free to treat my quarters as your own, with the exception of the bookshelf above my bed. Otherwise, I have no quarrel with you accompanying us."

He moved to the door as he spoke, and tucked the pouch of herbs into his robes. Looking outside, he smiled tranquilly. The morning was brightening.

[Aura Thesin]

Aura nodded to Zou, trying not to look guilty at the mention of his private bookshelf. She failed, but she thought that Zou was a little too busy with other things to notice.

The girl quickly brought the teapot to the kitchen, then went to the bed, beside which were her travel bag and supplies. She scooped them up and pulled the strap of the satchel up over her head, adjusting the bag until it was just slightly behind her right hip.

Moments after Zou was standing at the door, Aura was standing beside him, ready to go. She hadn't even had to think whether she wanted to go with him or not. This was another opportunity to perhaps find out about her own little problem. She couldn't pass it up.

[Jaspenellar]

Naris brightened visibly as their host moved to the door. Carefully packing away her books and shouldering the large pack, she practically lept from the chair, though that may have been due to the height more than eagerness. Koloque followed suit and stepped out of Zou's cozy house into the bright street. Both Jaspenellars would have been completely surprised if they knew their wayward sister was wandering aimlessly a few streets away, making her dazed way down to the heart of the business district.

[Zou]

Zou himself, like the other two, was perhaps a tad eager to depart, and this caused him, as he was turning, to stumble. As luck would have it, the wooden pins supporting the potted tomato stalks that were positioned right by his doorstep, were angling towards the door. Had they been angled the other way, Zou would have suffered little more than a bump on the head, but on that morning, fortune decreed for the gentle goat shifter a fate most impossible and callous: Two wooden sticks soundlessly penetrated his eyeballs, plunging deep into his brain and snapping off as the weight of his body crashed downward. There was very little blood, but the potting soil into which his face collapsed was stained, in two dripping piles, with the violent elixir of soft, purple eyes now lifeless and without form. It took all of one second for the whimsy of providence to show itself in this scholar's senseless and unjust passing, and in the next second, Zou was no more.

[Aura Thesin]

Aura gasped as Zou stumbled. Being much farther behind him as he was grabbing her pack, she had no opportunity to try to prevent the fall.

For several moments, she stared at his unmoving body, waiting for him to get up. When nothing occurred, she moved towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder. The soft, unyielding movement of his flesh beneath her hand told her what she needed to know before she saw the instruments of his death.

With a stifled cry, Aura ran out of the building. Confused, she didn't know what to do, except that she knew she didn't want to be anywhere near this place when the authorities arrived. She knew that if the authorities caught her, they may not let her go for a long time, if ever.

Turning blindly down streets, she gave no thought but to put distance between herself and Zou's house, never once wondering what the siblings were going to do. Tears streaming down her face, she darted between people in the late morning crowds.

[Coax]

Gerda watched her grandfather stagger briefly under the weight of the fresh teas leaves. "Let me help you," she said. She moved as if to take his pack fashioned of pine and rope. He just laughed heartily and waved her off. "Girl, see to your own pack!" Love and affection for his granddaughter mixed with the hint of command that lingered in his voice.

Anyone else who saw Ken Zu would see a man spry and fit. Although he rapidly pushed seventy, he moved with the easy grace of a much younger man. The tempered steel sword that hung at his side perfectly positioned in case of need. But when Gerda looked at her grandfather, she saw a doddering old man who could keel over at any moment. She had lost her parents and older brother at a very young age to raiders. Now, she expected life to take anything she loved.

Ken knew that his granddaughter remained firmly convinced of his feebleness. If she had any say in the matter, he would have sat gently on a porch while she staggered under two packs into town. But he also knew of her deep love and affection for him and that tempered his approach to her delusion.

Looking up, he saw a woman obviously distraught. Gerda saw the same woman and her eyes immediately darkened with suspicion, one hand moving to her own sword. In life, Gerda expected trouble from just about anyone. But Ken held up a hand and in a bluff, hearty voice asked, "May I render any assistance? It would be my great honor to help if I can." His voice still held the authority of those days when he had commanded regiments.

[Aura Thesin]

Aura stopped her blind run, pausing to look around her. A few people were looking at her, probably wondering about her headlong run through semi-crowded streets into the market.

As she took a moment to collect herself, forcibly pushing the images of Zou impaling himself on the two sticks holding his plant upright, she heard a voice sound out from several paces in front of her.

"May I render any assistance? It would be my great honor to help if I can."

Aura glanced around, finally spying the old man and the young woman eyeing her from close by. She forced a smile through her tears, though the tears still flowed freely. Hitching her pack back up onto her shoulder, she shook her head.

She turned to walk away, but her legs were burning and watery from running for several minutes as fast as she could. It had been too long since she had run at all, and as she took a step away from them, her left leg nearly collapsed, causing her to reach out with one arm to steady herself in the doorway of someone's home. She forced her leg straight again, though it wanted to just give out.

Moments passed in which she fought the sudden urge to just sit down and give up then and there, and let fate have it's way with her. She would sit in this doorway until she starved to death, or someone in this awful city killed her.

She forgot all about the man that had offered to help her as she swayed unsteadily on her feet, looking on the verge of collapse.

[Coax]

She forgot all about the man that had offered to help her as she swayed unsteadily on her feet, looking on the verge of collapse.

Ken Zu watched the girl reject his offer of assistance. His brow showed his troubled thoughts. He hesitated to interfere for each of us had the right to choose their own path in life. At the thought, his faded hazel eyes briefly glanced at his granddaughter and he shook his head. Yes, he thought. Even my granddaughter has this right. But then the girl nearly fell before taking a seat in a citizen's doorway.

Amazingly, Gerda was the one to move forward. She pulled a flask of water from her pack almost bruskly shoved it into the stranger's hands. "Drink this," she said and without pausing to see her response, she pulled out a loaf of bread and cheese made from the milk of their goats. "Eat," she said. "Then do what you want." Her tone wasn't rude, but it wasn't exactly friendly either.

Gerda had never dealt well with strangers unless. In fact, her usual response to strangers was to challenge or attack them. But in the presense of her beloved grandfather, she had to temper her actions. At this point, Ken Zu made his presence known. "You should come home with us. You can help out on our farm and take a few days or longer to strengthen your body." He bowed to the girl. "I am a simple swordmaster who now grows tea and teaches a few students. We have room and you would be most welcome."

Gerda stared at her grandfather. Did he just invite a stranger to their farm? The thought couldn't seem to sink in. Why would he do something insane like that? Then she realized, he saw me being 'nice' and sees an opportunity to socialize me. Bah, she thought. Last time I show any kindness to a stranger if this is the thanks I get. Gruffly, she told her grandfather. "She may have family to go to or a husband who needs her, grandfather." Turning to the girl, she added, "Please don't let my grandfather bully you into doing someting you don't want to do. I'm sure you have a very busy life. We don't want to pull you away from your own duties. My name is Gerda by the way. The old busy body is my grandfather Ken Zu." She cast a glance at Ken Zu, only to see him smiling at her impertience.

[Aura Thesin]

Follow Aura, Gerda, and Ken Zu at "With Help - Friends?"