[Forest Meridian House] Friendship, jobs, and a spot of tea

[Kiska]

First day of Fall of the year 510 AV, early afternoon Kiska stood in front of the oddly shaped building. She was amazed. She had asked around the city for a good place for the two to have lunch, and all accounts had pointed her to this place, a giant sea shell. "I don't understand," she said to the other woman, "I thought they said there would be a restaurant here." She shrugged and walked toward the place, to what she thought would be the entrance. The inside of the building was as beautiful and unique as the outside. The walls were decorated with various pieces of art, and a serene light filled the rooms. The place would best be described as peaceful, probably more peaceful than Kiska had ever known. Upon entering, a small Konti woman came to greet the newcomers. "Oh hello there, welcome to the Forest Meridian House. My name's Pu'veo," She said with a smile. "Will you be interested in dining with us this fine afternoon? We have a special room for two such as yourselves." The hospitality of this woman seemed to flow from her in streams, even if one had come in without the intention of dining, they probably would have found it impossible to refuse. "Yes, thank you. That would be nice." Kiska said, her voice all too formal. She wasn't exactly used to fine dining, or hospitality like this. She usually ate whatever she could find in her pack on the road, or alone somewhere where she wouldn't be bothered. The woman led them through the shell-like structure and into a small room. A table for two was set, and a small white candle sat in the middle of the table. "Here you are," she said, waiting for them to take their seats before asking, "and what will you be having today?" She looked to Kiska expectantly, then over to Ero, and back to Kiska again. "Oh, well.. what sort of thing do you have on the menu here?" Kiska asked, unsure of herself. She hadn't asked any of the locals exactly what this place was. She had simply asked for a place to have lunch. She wasn't really worried though, as everyone who had said anything told her that this was the best place in the city. "Well we have fish, and rice, and for those who don't like fish we offer vegetarian meals. Or if you're not feeling very hungry we have snacks?" The girl had memorized her part well, she had probably been here for quite some time. Judging by how easily she repeated the menu, Kiska could tell that there were a lot of newcomers like herself that came in here. "I'll have the fish, and some water to drink please." She said to the woman, then looked at Ero. The woman, Pu'veo also turned to Ero. "And for you miss?" said the Konti.

[Ero]

Ero followed Kiska about the city as they wandered, looking for a restaurant. They stopped many times to ask for directions, for all the buildings looked the same. However, it wasn't much later that they found themselves in front of a particularly huge seashell. "I wonder what would have a shell that big," thought Ero to herself. She shrugged and followed Kiska inside. She smiled politely as Pu'veo introduced herself, and sat through the presentation of the menu, and tried to follow along as best as possible. When the pretty Konti turned to ask Ero what she wanted, the Akontak nodded and replied "I'll have the same thing." After Pu'veo left, Ero turned back to her new friend. "Have you heard of any creature that would leave behind a shell this big?" she asked. She relished the thought of taking down a beast as big as this. "I bet it was quite a fight. Unless they scavenged it." her face darkened slightly at the thought. She had come to love the rush she got in battle, the feeling of two minds behind each strike, two souls in every blow. Ero smiled at herself. She reminded herself of one of those rash young warriors fresh from their rite of passage. She looked closer at the material around her and realized something; the shell around them wasn't one piece. The huge shell was made up of smaller bits of some sort of shell material. Ero sighed mentally. It was probably too much to ask that such a giant creature exists. She re-oriented herself on Kiska. "So, you are here for the fortune tellers and the like? You know, I happen to be a bit of a fortune teller." she said a little coyly. She didn't want to let on that she was also a bit of a mage, given the prejudice Kiska had demonstrated earlier. She wondered how someone could be fond of fortune tellers, but despise magic. "Oh well, it isn't like I don't have a few dichotomies about myself." she thought wryly. She looked up as the Konti woman returned with their food and drinks on a large platter. She set it down and bid them a good meal, then quickly bustled off. "That is strange. Maybe she has other customers to attend to." she murmured. She looked down at the rice and fish before her, and dug right in. Such food she had never tasted before, and it was wonderful.

[Kiska]

Kiska looked at her companion and raised an eyebrow, "Oh? You do fortune telling? Could you demonstrate this for me?" She was eager to see what kind of skills Ero had in the ways of fortune telling. She hadn't been able to find a clue as to who or where the one she sought from the words of the last fortune teller she had spoken to was, and thought that maybe this woman could help her on her quest. Though she wasn't thrilled about telling her secrets to anyone, she did require some help in her search. To add to that, she was also just attracted to fortune tellers. She wasn't really sure why she liked fortune tellers so much, just that they were very interesting to her. She liked to know what they had to say about her future, especially now that she had been given a fate. She liked to see how that fate changed when she did things, to see if she was any closer to her goal of finding the one who would destroy her and stopping him. "Do you have everything you need to do your fortune telling here with you? Could you show me now?" she was as eager as a school girl now, excited that her new friend was a fortune teller. She could definitely get used to having this woman around with all the strange and interesting things she kept discovering about her.

[Ero]

Ero was a little cagey about working such a skill on a new friend. Such things were not always accurate, or could be interpreted wrongly She explained as much to Kiska. "Well, to be honest I'm not very good at it. Everything is connected, and therefor everything will be portrayed, but the problem is that I am not skilled enough to predict things with complete accuracy. The last time I tried to use this skill on myself it utterly and humiliatingly backfired. But if you really want me to try, order some tea, and I will try to do a readying." Ero had a hard time resisting Kiska's sudden enthusiasm and laughed a little at the way the girl seemed to be nearly vibrating in her seat. Ero thought about listening in with auristics, simply for the joy of hearing the chords and melodies of such excitement. The idea seemed so nice that before she realized it, Ero had started to enter that state of being in which she could sense the aura's of the world around her. She quickly put a stop to that, as she felt that such an intrusion would be unbecoming of a new friend. There was another option though. Ero reached down under the table and touched the mark on her thigh where Avalis had taken the woman into her fold with the rest of her mother's people."There is something we can try after we finish eating though. I, like my mother before me, have been marked with the gift of Divination. I can look into your past and learn things about you if you would like. Such gifts are very personal though, and I try never to abuse them." She realized that she was also referring to her Auristic skills, and decided that she should just lay everything out now. If she had to perpetually hide things about herself from Kiska, how could they truly be friends? "I have to admit one more thing. I am also gifted in the use of Auristics. I know that most uses of Djed are seen as evil things, but I cannot see how this could be the case with Auristics, as it is completely passive. I know you may not like magic, but it's useful in some situations." Ero looked away, hopeing that Kiska wouldn't abandon her on the spot. She had spoken with such venom concerning magic back at the library. She uncovered her uncertainty by turning her attention back to the food before she said too much more.

[Kiska]

Kiska watched Ero curiously. She had no real problem with magic users, especially not with auristicians. While some kinds of magics were bad in her eyes, she didn't think that magic users were bad by default. She had a bad habbit of saying things against them, but she honestly didn't mean anything by it. she had been raised by her family, her village, and her culture to believe that those who use magic are bad. But magic was beginning to be far more common than anyone had probably imagined it would. Sure it was still an underground type of thing in most areas, but there were whole cities devoted to magical studies now. She couldn't truly hate what was becoming such a large part of Mizaharian life. "Could you.." she paused for a moment, wondering exactly why she was asking this. "Could you show me? Show me everything you can do, I want to see it." Her eyes held a look of curiousity and astonishment. She felt as if she were a child witnessing her first birth. She was afraid of magic in some cases, but open minded towards it. She wanted to learn more about it and its users so that maybe someday she could conquer all of her fear and prejudice and see mages and magic for what they were. The waitress came back shortly. "Is everything going alright? Can I get you anything else ladies?" she asked in a pleasant voice. "Yes, I would like some tea, please, and some for my friend. Thank you," she said, dismissing the woman. the waitress scurried off to fill her request. Kiska turned back to Ero. "I don't really have a problem with magic users, some types of magics are dangerous, and some magic users do bad things with their magic, or go crazy. But those who are responsible and careful with it are fine, in my eyes." She said, then lowered her voice. "My culture is very wary of magic users. They do not like them, but I've left my people. They've not shown me that they themselves are not evil, and as such I do not believe them when they outright say that something they know nothing of is evil." This was obviously something Kiska felt strongly about. Not so much that magic users were the target, but that her culture so blindly accused anyone of being strictly evil.

[Ero]

Ero smiled happily. "I am glad that you bear me no ill will because I am skilled in magic. Too many times I have had to hide what I am, or what I am capable of simply because of ignorance." she grimaced slightly as she thought of the problems she had run into on the road from Riverfall, but brightened up as she remembered how a lot of the issues had been resolved. "At least most of the time we got a good fight out of it." she thought to her other self. "As for a demonstration of my skills, I will start with Auristics. I perceive auras with music or sound; at least I have always before now. From what I have been taught, perception is always changing, and I may one day see aura's instead of being able to hear them. Anyways, I am not so skilled as I could be, as I have mostly neglected to take any training in it at all, but hopefull while I am on Mura I can get some formal training." Ero realized she was stalling, and closed her eyes and began to concentrate. As the rest of her senses faded gently to the background, she began to hear subtle chords and notes emenating from the woman before her. They conveyed a sense of excitement. Underneath, however, lay a deep drone of distrust, as if Kiska had never really been able to trust anyone for a long time, or possibly had simply chosen not to. It was also possible that she simply didn't trust Ero completely, which was most likely. There seemed to be another theme, one that seemed familiar somewhere, but before she could look into it further, another set of music began to sound. This one was unidentifiable, as the chords and themes began to run together and clash, creating a terrible sound in her mind. With a sigh, she came back to herself, and slumped slightly. She had a slight headache, and everything was dark. Then she opened her eyes and spotted the waitress approaching the table. Ero wasn't sure what had happened that would cause her to snap out of her auristic trance, but she was pleased at how well her reading of Kiska had gone. "Here you go, ladies. If you need anything else just let me know." Said the waitress, who then smiled sweetly and stepped back out of the room. Ero was still, exauhsted for the moment. when she felt steady enough to speak, she related her experience to Kiska, doing her best to convey how each emotion had been displayed. Afterwards, she finished off the rest of her meal quite quickly, and drank much of her tea. Her appetite had returned with such a display of her skills. "That always leaves me a little tired. After you finish your tea, I'll be ready to read your fortune, if you still want me to."

[Kiska]

Kiska took her tea and took a few drinks from it. It was still really hot, so she couldn't drink very much. She was eager to begin, she loved having her fortune told. Whether or not it came out bad or good, she liked seeing what fortune tellers had to say about how her course in life was taking her, how it was affecting the fate she had once been given. "Sounds good to me," she said, still sipping at her tea. She watched the tired looking Akontak finish her meal quickly. The fish was steaming hot on top of rice. Kiska took a bite of the fish, it was probably the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. About halfway through her meal, Kiska decided that she couldn't wait any longer. She quickly finished off her tea and held the cup out to her new friend. "Okay, I'm done now." She said, still eager to begin the fortune telling. "Do you need anything else or is this all?" She asked, setting the cup down on the table.

[Ero]

Ero nodded sagely. "Yes, That is all I need. Here, let me see your cup." she reached over and gently took the cup from Kiska. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of the tea leaves at the bottom of the cup. Ero shut out all other influences and did her best to prepare her mind for absolute clarity and perception. Once she had attained a suitable state of mind, she was ready. It had taken almost a minute, but she was ready. Ero opened her eyes and gazed into the tea cup. The tea leaves in the bottom of the cup sea-sawed in and out of focus, as her eyes picked out pictures and symbols. She saw a large open book near the top, and a dark indistinct figure. Beside that figure was a star, and a circle around it. As she watched, the leaves shifted slightly and the figure became a door. That had never happened before, usually she let the tea leaves settle, and she thought she had done so this time. oh well, it was likely that it had happened for a reason. Now for the interpretation. "You will soon have the opportunity to gain much knowledge, though it will come fast and you will not catch everything. The time for you to seek out friends is now, as you will soon meet a large dark stranger who needs your help on his own path. or her path. You may have already met this stranger, so act quickly, for they will soon leave you behind if you do not catch them. If you do manage to make friends with this person, you will find a steadfast protector, and one who will help you in your own path. I see that you have a great destiny, one that can end either in disaster or joy. This stranger will help you meet this destiny of yours." Ero sighed and sat back. "That's all I really saw out of it this time. Are you happy with this?" she asked Kiska.

[Kiska]

Kiska sat and watched in amazement and joy as Ero gazed into her cup. As Ero related the telling to her, Kiska's eyes widened. "That's wonderful, well I mean, what I can understand of it. i don't know about this tall dark stranger though, I mean...the only person I've met here so far is...you." Kiska sat back now too, thinking. How could a stranger help her mett her destiny? Would it be bad or would it be good? The Konti isle was full of strangers, but the only two dark people she had seen in the entire isle so far were herself and this girl, who happened to be tall, dark, and a stranger. It had to be her, but why? "What if it was you, that the fortune is talking about?" She asked, almost in curiousity, somewhat in awe, and partly in suspicion. It could be an act to get Kiska to fall into some sort of trap. Ero could be leading Kiska to her destiny, but to that of destruction. Kiska furrowed her brow, "Can you read your own fortune?"

[Ero]

Ero shrugged at Kiska. "Honestly, I am unsure. I have never read a fortune in which I was involved in, but It isn't unheard of. Or I might be misinterpreting what I saw." Ero was a bit uncomfortable with the fortune she had just read, but for some reason she felt certain that it was closer to the mark than many fortunes she had read over the years. "As for reading my own fortune, ah..." She trailed off. When she had been young, and first learning the ways of fortune telling, she had many times tried to read her own fortune, and then act on it. At first, she was certain that it was improving how things were going, and that she would be able to live her whole life like this, slightly ahead of everyone else. Then one day she had acted on a particular bit of fortune concerning a certain boy, and had been utterly humiliated. Not only did she ruin a friendship, but she had gained an enemy, for she had humiliated to boy as well. Ero related this to Kiska and shrugged. "Since then I have never tried to read my own fortune. Perhaps I had misread, or perhaps I had been acting wrongly the whole time. Either way, it isn't an experience I would like to repeat."