The Streets of Kiyonai

A flash of light fills an alleyway, depositing Tsatsa and Mordred. She stands up from her knees, and peaks around the corner towards the gate. “Still open.” She sighs, relieved. Then turning to Mordred, she asks “Should we go?” in a tone suggesting that yes would be the right answer. Her hands starts sparking with magic, the outline of two horses appearing.

Two men appear from the opposite way of the gate. "We saw you fight back there and have a job for you. We must leave now though. The gate is too risky, follow us." The men left without waiting for a response. Sticking to the shadows as they crept along a building.

"Come on, what harm will it do? Worst case scenario, we kill them and teleport back here anyway."

Tsatsa nods. That did make sense, why do all this to get rid of them when calling the guards would achieve the same effect. "That makes sense, and I see no other reasons for doubt." She says, dispelling the magic. She follows them to the crawl space, struggling to fit with her abnormal height. "Where are we going?"

Kazue

After having visited the shrine Zu Fu no longer seemed burdened by the many miles he had traveled but sure felt hunger growing inside his stomach. Kiyonai was a bustling city and everything here was somehow in fast motion all the time in opposition to the peaceful and natural activity in the countryside and forests. Even though the lesser spirits around here governing earth and plants tried to follow the quick pace of the people, they seemed to have difficulty doing so. It was a shame that so few people attended the lovely Kita Shrine because then the people might learn to slow down and - in time - learn to listen to what the air, earth and water had to tell them about themselves and life.

For Zu Fu however this pace was kind of thrilling - like running down a hill at full speed not knowing when your legs couldn't keep up anymore and you were going to fall and tumble the rest of the way down. This was what he reckoned most people here felt and he recognized that feeling inside himself. On the way he would go out of his way to greet beggars, merchants and samurai alike with the same friendly smile always. It was usually the beggars who returned the widest smiles though. There was always this feeling about the merchants and samurai that even a smile was something inconvenient - something that disrupted their daily routine of more or less mindless activity.

After a while Zu Fu of walking the streets the twilight slowly enveloped the city and he would find a small food stand with room for a handful of people behind the short curtains.
"Good evening good sir." Zu Fu said and smiled at the chef behind the counter. "I'm a traveler and I have little in the means of gold, but I've walked more than thirty kilometers today and I'm feeling quite hungry." he said to the guy behind the counter. The guy looked as if he was weighing the truth of Zu Fu's words - but whether it was those or the wrinkles the man nodded and agreed to cook him a bowl of rice and noodles on the house.

"Errhm... I don't mean to sound needy, but I'm very fond of nuts. Do you have a few you could spare I could take with me on the road?" he asked politely. The guy behind the counter sighed and found a handful he gave Zu Fu with the words that he 'should be very grateful since he wouldn't have gotten free food had their been other guests around'. Zu Fu was grateful, but instead of putting all of them inside his backpack, he put one on the ground behind him and one on the seat besides him.

Yes he knew that the kitsune spirit hadn't sated her curiosity yet and that she had followed him to this place in the shape of a squirrel. Of course Kazue probably wouldn't want to eat the nuts even though she was in her squirrel form, but it was a clear invitation nonetheless.

Zu Fu would certainly feel when she stopped trying to hide her energies and the following annoyance of being figured out of which he chuckled a bit. He did however not see the nut being flicked into his bowl of soup causing drops to splatter around the bowl. Zu Fu slowly turned to his head towards the spirit hearing her voice in his head. He was as surprised as he was amused by Kazue and his grin would show it. Spirits were usually unpredictable, but this even more than usually.
"Are you that surprised?" he said with a wry but warm smile as he carefully picked the nut out of the soup. The shop keeper would notice the old man talking to nobody and splashing his soup around but seemed to mind his cooking as he slowly shook his head in pity.

"You're probably mad at me for not telling you anything am I right?" Zu Fu asked the spirit and continued to eat his soup. "Also I've eaten soup with more dirt in it that this!" Zu Fu said as if he didn't care, but the shop keeper it seemed as if he was almost about to turn around and give Zu Fu a peace of his mind for criticizing free food when he decided not to anyway. The elderly in Tawakoshi were often held in high esteem, and even if they became weird one were to respect them and the life they've liven. Zu Fu was intrigued by this spirit as she was somewhat different that most other spirits. He was certain she had seen more trouble than many other good willed spirits. "But there is something you don't tell me too isn't there?" he asked casually and continued with his rice.

"Disturbed?" Zu Fu said softly. "I'm not that easily disturbed by a shadow, Kazue." he said and chuckled a bit thinking that it was an odd apology for her to make. The truth was probably very different but Zu Fu had the tact to not ask more about it right now. "Well I have seen many things too and maybe more than you." he said and paused for a while. "Which things did you see?" he then asked with a great smile. "I find that the things we are usually disturbed by are the fears that we share. It's fun to think that what I fear in my fellow man is exactly the link we share and that connects us together." he said and gave Kazue a warm smile.

"Like this guy for instance." Zu Fu discretely pointed his finger towards the shop keeper who was stirring the pot viciously - probably so he didn't have to listen to Zu Fu's 'ramblings' too much. "The friendly shop keeper is only hesitant to give an old beggar like me free food because he's afraid that doing so would take him down a road where he'd end up in the same place as me due to losing money." Zu Fu explained. "For a spirit like you who's light shine so bright for all of us, the darkness of course appears untrustworthy. And by seeing the people being mean to each other, you fear that you will have to be mean to those people to protect the good people and thus bringing you down the same road. Am I right?" Zu Fu said as he pushed the bowl of rice away.

"Thank you very much for the meal good sir!" Zu Fu said as the shop keeper mumbled something about 'being welcome anytime'. "Maybe I'll even take him up on his kind offer and get to know him better in the future. Now, should we proceed?" he asked and got up from the chair and out into the streets, which were now illuminated only by the lanterns at the side of the road as the sun had already set.

"You say that I'm the only source of your power. Is that why you're following me?" he asked gently as he continued to stroll down the street with a faint smirk on his face. "I don't think you're right though. I believe I am no source of anyone's power, but because I'm willing to share what was passed on to me it seems to me that what I get back from that is of even greater magnitude - and importance." he said and continued. "And it seemed liked I chose the right one to share with. I noticed that you shared your power with some of the spirits when you were still nuttin' but a squirrel." he said and chuckled to himself before reaching for his bag and grabbing a nut. "Sharing your energy makes you stronger somehow. I wish I could explain better, but it kinda comes back around to yourself. More of the same - but through other channels. I don't think that man had shared with me if I hadn't shared with you." Zu Fu said as he heard a muffled curse from the food shop behind them.

"You share both good fortune and anger it seems. A trickster of heart you might say, but whatever prank you just pulled... Did he deserve it? Will you get it back?" he asked as he stopped and looked right at her.

"I did enjoy my soup." Zu Fu said with a smile while listening to her. "Well humans and spirits aren't that far apart, Kazue. Humans have to share too in order to survive. If we didn't share food, words, love and sometimes even hatred, we wouldn't have been able to grow. Even hardship can be a nourishment for a human being. The problem is however that humans have a tough time understanding balance - but then again spiritual beings are much better naturally adept at that." Zu Fu said, his voice being even milder than before. "I find it profound to see how you are sharing with the humans and the humans are sharing with you though." he said and pondered her last answer.

"When you say 'selfish', does that mean you don't wish to share with humans?" Zu Fu asked curiously. "You may think he deserved it, but I also think he deserved a 'thank you', because he did something might not normally do. He actually considered 'balance' instead of being selfish." Zu Fu argued. "Anyway, I think this place looks comfy, wouldn't you say?" Zu Fu said and nodded towards the Sauyrihana Inn. "I'm gonna see if they have room for an old geezer like me. Maybe I can pay in nuts?" he said jokingly before entering the establishment.