The Sayurihana Inn

Kiara was used to just sleeping in all her layers of clothes. She woke up before Tika but was quiet most of the morning.

Kazue

"Ahh... indeed they do. Their prayers are usually no more but a way to protect themselves. But it sounds to me that you know how fragile the life of a human is, Kazue? What would you do in a world where a single bad harvest could see you starve and even tripping over your own doorstep could see you crippled?" Zu Fu asked, this time a bit more to the point than earlier. As he stepped in, he would ask to be given a seat at the window to the street. "I hope a window seat will not leave you feeling cramped?" he said to Kazue.

"I'd like to order a bottle of sake please." Zu Fu said in a friendly voice as the female servant nodded and complied. "I remember this inn from last time I was here. It's cosy, has nice rooms and serve some good sake at a fair price." he said as he took a small sip of the sake. Zu Fu immediately felt the heat of the sake inside him as his muscles relaxed and his smile grew wider. "And some people call this a sin!" he said and chuckled while shaking his head thinking of such a silly sentiment. "But I'm being rude here... would you like a taste, Kazue?" he asked with a friendly smile. "Sake gives you a silly feeling in the head, but it warms the heart too." Zu Fu explained. And though suggesting something like that to a spirit might sound like a joke, Zu Fu's crystal clear gaze revealed that he was far from that drunk yet.

Zu Fu had been used to many kind of reactions to his presence. He had been both ostracized and worshipped, so looking like an odd old man wasn't something that discouraged Zu Fu. Rather he probably had just as much fun doing it as Kazue had looking at the bystanders' reactions. When Kazue changed into the shape of a beautiful young woman, he couldn't help but smile a little and wonder if this was yet another one of her tricks trying to get as much attention as possible and making people think what 'that old geezer was doing with that beautiful young woman'. he didn't frown though but was rather intrigued about what would happen then.

"I haven't paid for this bottle of sake yet, have I? I only ordered it." Zu Fu said friendly but firmly. "You're making a lot of assumptions now, aren't you?" he said and chuckled a bit, knowing that he was probably in for a few more 'nut in the soup'-tricks if Zu Fu kept on hiding his intentions to her. He had to admit though, that this was the most fun he had had in a long time.

"Human pleasures? Now are you sure you don't fancy that just a little?" he asked with a soft but wry smile. "I for one consider messing with people a very human pleasure." Zu Fu added. "I think the least you could do for an old man who tasted your... original interpretation of the classic soup... is to do him the same favor." he said with a sparkle in his eye. 

Zu Fu smiled and took another sip of the sake. He wasn't sure if he was going to drink a whole bottle of sake, but it was pretty certain that he had gotten her riled up. Zu Fu chose not to answer but simply lifted his eye brows in a jovial manner. She was a serious spirit this one, but Zu Fu found that the earnest way she expressed herself was refreshing. It was far from every spirit that had her sharp opinions.

"I am always trying to be polite, Kazue-san." Zu Fu said and grinned. "Humans spring from mother nature and you could say that they themselves are akin to a trick played. Their traits must be inherited by their parents I think." Zu Fu contemplated.

"Oh great, then have a taste!" Zu Fu said and poured some more in the cup and offered it to her. "Good! You'll get used to the taste. Now put your hand in mine." Zu Fu said now sounding a lot more up beat than he had done earlier as he put his hand on the table palm up. "I'm going to give you the full experience. Don't be afraid, it's just a human pleasure." Zu Fu said softly. If Kazue dared to touch her hand she would suddenly feel the effect of the alcohol too and become slightly tipsy on top of the effects alcohol had on your vision and motor control too.

It was 'a trick' of Zu Fu's being able to bridge the spirit world with the human world and have spirits experience the same sensations as humans. But even though Zu Fu did this with some excitement, it wasn't just a party trick he did lightly. No, he wanted this spirit to experience just a little of what it would say to be human, to make her understand - if only a little - what was so hard to get if not experiencing it.

"But of course! As a spirit you wouldn't be either comfortable with that sensation or crave it!" Zu Fu exclaimed. "I do think it was brave of you to put your hand there and try it. Just about any other spirit I've met have declined a similar offer - even if it was to feel the sensation of wind on the skin or the physical effects of love." Zu Fu said and his voice became a bit more mellow. "But you chose something you knew may not have been pleasant. How come?" Zu Fu asked and put his own cup away looking at her intently, but still with no intention of pressuring her towards any particular end.

"I think my day is coming to an end before long..." Zu Fu said with a sigh, his age finally somewhat showing through his voice and eyes. Heavy clouds had been drawing together outside and the rain started pouring down leaving little moonlight coming through. Zu Fu glanced out of the window with a sidelong glance. "I guess you're not one for the small rooms are you?" he said with a smirk. "Now, I think we can do just one last little thing before we part ways. It's a shamanistic ritual that requires... That the users have some amount of alcohol in their body." Zu said and moved his hands down to his thighs and straightened his back before closing his eyes. To conjure the spirit of the moon its earthly equivalent - being alcohol - had to be present in the shaman's body.

"Now just sit like this and relax. The more minds who focus the better." Zu Fu instructed calmly and started humming slightly in different tunes - as if he was both slowly singing and but communicating at the same time. If Kazue wanted to participate, Zu Fu would lend just a small portion of her power and as she closed her eyes, she would experience an inner image of dark clouds all around her preventing her from seeing much. But slowly the clouds would dissipate and a cool, blue light would shine through until at the very end, all traces of the clouds were gone and the bright image of the moon would fill her inner vision - growing until it was all moonlight and she would open her eyes again.

"What a beautiful moon tonight, wouldn't you say?" Zu Fu would said with a soft smile, seemingly having observed her - but how much time that had actually passed would be difficult to judge, though no people seemed to have left since they started closing their eyes. Looking out of the window any traces of clouds would be gone and the large and clearly glowing full moon would be impossible to miss.

Zu Fu couldn't help but chuckle seeing Kazue change her mood that drastically. She had found out that he had somewhat tricked her into drinking alcohol, but this time it was a laugh of joy and it pleased Zu Fu to see that along with her face so full of surprise that the weather had completely changed.

"The weather is only a phenomenon like everything else. Just like a nut can go from the ground to the soup awfully fast, the weather can go from 'soup' to dry equally quick." he said with a slightly wry smile as he tapped his finger on the table.

"But it's time for us both to rest now I think. Right Kazue?" he said and called on the waitress who had served him. "Thank you very much for the sake, it was most lovely and my friend here enjoyed it too. I would like to rent a room for the night - just for me though." he said as the waitress scribbled a few things down.

"Yes of course, how would you like to pay?" the waitress asked and looked at him and raising one eyebrow in a skeptically fashion every so slightly. "Ohh I'm not paying. They are." Zu Fu said and pointed out of the window towards the Hizashi mansion in the distance. "Unfortunately this young lady distracted me from reaching my destination while their gates were still open, so now I need to spend money I hadn't planned on spending. I already arranged for her to have a pleasant night somewhere else." Zu Fu said with a grin and discretely winked at Kazue. Now was the time for Kazue to help Zu Fu a little by backing his story up, which was not a lie - only clan Hizashi didn't quite know yet that they would be employing him.

The old man looked ragged but the young women very decent. Who were they and what were their intentions? Were they scammers, the waitress seemed to think.
"I suppose I could do something like waiting to receive the charge for a couple of days, but I'll charge a little bit extra for that and would like you to leave something of value here." she said as her gaze went from Zu Fu to Kazue and back again. She seemed content with Kazue's and Zu Fu's explanation though.

Zu Fu smiled. "I have few things of value with me, but..!" he said and reached for his back pack. "This..!" he said and handed the servant a six sided wooden dreidel with kanji markings on each side which was quite nice work, though the wood work in itself was probably not nice enough to be anywhere close to paying for his stay and the bottle of sake.

The waitress sighed. "Alright... you can stay here for tonight, but remember to come back with the money!" she pressed as Zu Fu nodded content. "I'm happy! Just don't spin it okay? I mean it's a gift to someone, so I'd rather not have it looking worn." Zu Fu said as the waitress shrugged. "Sure. Your room is the third one to the right on the top floor." she said and left them again.

"Thanks for the backup, Kazue-san. To some people that dreidel could be worth more than this establishment." Zu Fu said to Kazue and smirked. "I really do hope she won't spin it as it attracts elemental spirits in the area, and they can get quite troublesome if they aren't controlled. You may have met elemental spirits like those of water, fire and wind before... let's just agree that their mental capabilities aren't as sophisticated as ours." he said and winked.

In Tawakoshi the kitsune spirits were among the most intelligent and closest- and often slightly superior - to human in terms of intelligence, while the elementals were spirits governing a the primordial elements and often had a strong will towards protecting a certain lake or forest, and that will had to be dealt with when calling upon them. At the same time, their intelligence are mostly based on instincts and willpower, making them terribly hard to reason with.

"Ohh people often take warnings and heeds for challenges - best keep those sounding as boring as watching dust settle. Well... unless you really wish for them to try it out." Zu Fu said with a slight smirk, thinking that Kazue would have some sort of experience in tricking people to do what they were told was a bad idea merely because she made it sound interesting.

"The moon is indeed lovely and we might both enjoy it tonight from different places." Zu Fu said and smiled as he got up using some amount of effort pointing to the fact that he was indeed an old man. "I hope I'll see you outside the inn tomorrow morning." Zu Fu said and would nod at Kazue and then at the servant as he headed up towards his room for the night. However while Zu Fu had hoped that his dreams would be tranquil and clear as they so often were, this night too presented him with the same dream as he had since he left the Temple of The Wind Singer some weeks ago.

Zu Fu saw a dragon spirit cursed to encircle the moon in ever changing patterns and in anguish speaking about how it was not able to fulfill its true destiny with its three brothers. The dream made Zu Fu restless and he would wake up a few times at night looking out at the moon, though he would find no answers in mediation nor in contemplation.

The day after Zu Fu would exit the inn after reassuring the inn keeper that he would indeed bring the payment he owed. The sun was shining from a clear sky, and though not his particular doing, he was satisfied to breath in the fresh morning air and still feel the warm rays of the sun on his skin. This day seemed to bring him more rest than his night had done. Zu Fu looked around trying to see if he could spot Kazue in any direction wondering what shape she would take today.