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las, no place have I," the woman says in her odd dialect. "Perhaps at the fort might be what I seek. Have much need of advice, I, and messages to carry. Easy to get lost in these woods, it is." Her eyes go to So Fooyan, measuring him. "Also lost, are you?" "Are we not all lost?" So Fooyan asks. "Few there are who truly know which path they seek. Fewer still, I have been told, have the courage to walk their path. Lirixa blinks, apparently puzzled by his metaphor. But then, So Fooyan supposes that the ways of his order might well be unfamiliar to a stranger. "For the nonce, it appears that I must walk the path of vengeance and war. It is not the path I would have chosen, but who can tell how the cobbles will feel before they are actually underfoot?" "Since I was expecting to return fairly late, I prepared for a cold meal before I left. Such as it is, you are welcome to share it." Finally noticing that she has not yet done so, she removes her hat and puts it away. If they accept, she puts some water on to heat, and gets out some food. Rice cooked with onion, pine nuts and some local herbs, also pickled cabbage and goat cheese. The water is for tea, and washing up. With the stool that she fetches from the workshop, they can all sit at the table. Gratefully, Lirixa accepts the meal. She speaks a blessing over it in a tongue that Shakra does not recognize. Then she looks soberly at Shakra and says, "A poor guest, I, who brings no offering for the hearth. Still, I will find a way to honor your hospitality." After they have started eating, Shakra turns to So Fooyan. "I am Shakra Amal, and this is Lirixa, who arrived on my doorstep this evening not long before you did. If I may ask, sir monk, what are you called?" "So Fooyan, lady." "You're a ways from home, aren't you?" Shakra asks, wanting to ask about what has brought him here, but not wanting to push on what sounds like it may be a sensitive topic. Vengence and war--definitely trouble involved. After they have eaten, and Shakra has poured them tea, she says, "The fort is not too far from here, and it would be possible for me to get there tonight, but I am very familiar with the way. Even so, it would be getting very late by the time I got there. If you came with me, in the dark, we would go slower. It might be best if you stay here tonight, and allow me to guide you to the fort tomorrow." Lirixa tastes the tea thoughtfully, and Shakra catches her making a face--but she makes no complaint and drinks it all. Shakra offers Lirixa the bed in its alcove with a sliding panel, brings out a sleeping mat and blankets for So Fooyan, and take her bedroll into the workshop. Lirixa is grateful for the offer--not to mention the warmth. She curls up and is immediately asleep. She takes a light with her, writes a summary of her evening on the back of the commandants letter, folds it, and tucks it into hiding under the fur trim that she has not quite finished stitching onto the second of a pair of boots. Just for the night, and just in case. She settles for the night in a corner. The room is full of stuff, traps, frames, tools. Even she would have a hard time moving through it in the dark without stumbling over something. She settles herself in a corner away from the doors, and blows out the light. Shakra's sleep is as easy as it ever gets with strangers in her home, and there are no wandering footsteps so far as she could tell. So Fooyan accepts the hospitality of the hut for the night--perhaps his dreams will not be so odd the rest of the night. Shakra rises early, retrieves the letter, and quietly goes out the outside workshop door. She stretches, then walks about a little, as if getting some fresh air to help her wake up. She stops, and sits on the doorstep of the family workshop to adjust her boots, and slips the letter under the door. Her dreams, the letter, and this strange arrival of travellers has her worried, and she wants the family to know where she is headed and why. Then she heads back, packs her bedding, and after a bite of breakfast (bread and cheese?), grabs her pack and head off with her visitors towards the fort, watching for anything else out of the ordinary. [Karen's note: I see Shakra's work area as being devoted to traps, and to cleaning, curing, stretching and otherwise preparing the furs. Except for a few items for Shakra to work on at home, all the actual making leather goods would happen at the family shop, which only works with finished skins.]
Back: So Fooyan & Shakra's Prologue 6 Flame image courtesy of Mystiqal's Animated Icon Library.
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