Melody of Ice

She laughs, a reserved smirk quiet and half stifled.

"That's alright. " she returns the gesture, falling into a slightly higher bow herself for a moment. As is in Tal'he tradition, such a gesture indicates the accepted apology of an equal.

Minori giggles and runs away into the shrine

Kori walks over to the lake, putting his finger into the water as it instantly freezes around his finger, so he pulls out his finger "Also, i've never seen your Race around these parts. The Empire never comes around here themselves, not even for the crops they grow here. So if it isn't too much trouble, may i ask why you're here?" by the time Kori finishes talking, Minori comes running back and hands the lady a couple rice balls from their storage

"I live in the city, at the moment." she responds, cutting her answer short, somewhat evasive of the query.

Xen politely decines the offer; she still has the bread and hasn't seen polite chance to take a bite.
"Since I sense you're going to continue to question me, would it be rather forward to ask to go inside?"

under his breath he mumbles something but very faint "Actually im done with the questions, Minori, will you show our guest around the shrine, i have some business to attend to. Oh and Miss, while you're here if you notice some humans coming along please hide yourself, this Shrine is suppose to be unlivable." Kori leaves in a hurry leaping onto the shrine and then leaps toward the cliff where the waterfall is, disappearing.

Minori guides the guest to the shrine. In the front room of the shrine, a place for prayer can be seen. "Here is where they bend to their knees and do something, sometimes i think they're sleeping but then they wake up and leave." guiding the woman around the corner, into a open courtyard with a giant Cherry blossom tree in the center, with a little pond like area naturally made from the roots of the tree. Water frozen inside it even though its mid summer "That's Kori's tree, he's actually quite attached to it..." she continues down the hall with her guest

From her view, the shrine does not seem to be anything particularly extravagant. Still, it has its own simple beauty quite unlike the almost gaudy, intricate murials and plentiful hand-crafted art of the Tal'he. Such peace is quite rare so close to the cities.

"I take it I've caused offence to your... companion?" Xen finally queries, seeming a quite absent minded to the surroundings as she considers the correct term for the stranger who may or may not be related to the small female.

the girl stops before a room, a smell of food coming out of it, as she turns to look at the...rather tall woman "nah, Kori just had to go check on the river where the waterfall is coming from, the beavers of this mountain have been making their dam up there. The waterfall looked a bit...slow when we got here so he went to make sure it wasnt the beavers. oh! you're probably thirsty!? Would you like something to drink?" she asks humbly of her guest

Kori gets up to the second lake on top of the cliff, only to notice the dam, so he relocates it by freezing the water around the dam and moves it to another river, he also switches back to his fox form when hes done "now beavers, please stay away from the river heading to the waterfall..." he finishes and leaves back for the house

"More than a little. I would be grateful." She responds, a slight smile embracing her lips.

Her stomach growls, and she remembers her hunger. It seems untoward to stand and eat, though.

Minori giggles a little and takes the woman to a living area, with a older styled table where you have to sit on the floor. "En old Elf used to live here, making his living off of the fish in the lake next to the shrine, this part is actually the house he lived in. The humans in the city added on the front place we walked into earlier years later" Minori comes back into the room with a class of juice and a plate with what looks like chicken on it. "here you go~!" she smiles calmly, placing the plate in front of the lady

rustling from the tree comes from the courtyard "Hey, i'm back!" Kori comes around the corner to the living area. "i hope my little one here didn't cause you too much trouble"

While the younger girl talks, she finally bites into the bread. It is soft and pleasant, but she is wary of such a free meal; As a younger girl - and a common beggar -, the only food tossed to her feet had been spat on in least and sunk with poison at first. Their accommodation makes her uneasy, but she senses no real malice.

When the plate is placed in front of her, Xen eyes it. "Fruit juice..?" one girl turns to the younger, noting the captivatingly sweet scent. "I'm sorry, I can't drink this... I think you mistake me for one of the aristocracy." she laughs, as if her statement would make perfect sense to the stranger.

"Your... smaller one has been a delight. Is...." she pauses, a moment for hesitation "...this girl your servant?"

Minori looks down shyly "i-i just thought it tasted yummy...soo i thought you'd think the same....the village makes it themselves" shes still looking down shyly.

Kori shakes his head putting his hand on Minori's head "no she isn't, i happened to save her during the winter months from nearly freezing to death. However i had to reincarnate her into a fox spirit. We're connected and unable to split from each other. Or rather we can tell where each other is, i don't believe she wants to leave either"

"I'm sorry. It does, however where I am from the wines and juices are considered too fine and delicate a gift of nature for some of us..." the last words spoken with some subtle hint of sarcasm.

"I understand."
The taller female seems reassured by this fact.

Minori sighs sadly, but looks back up "i-is there a particular drink you would want?"

Meanwhile Kori takes the unwanted drink and heads to leave the room "you should probably eat the chicken" he walks out of the room, and jumps up into his tree, laying down on a branch"

Finally, the unwavering unfamiliarity of the pair's hospitality caves on the female. She shifts back a little, uncomfortably; a noticeable change in her demeanor, wavering on a fear-driven hostility.

Tal'he survival rule #2... trust no strangers whose motive cannot be discerned.
She rises, ignoring the girl - less out of rudeness, than distraction - and moves rigidly towards Kori, her eyes set on the door through which he left like a beast stalking prey.

"What do you want from me?" She questions abruptly, in such a way which demands, not requests, a reply.
"If your intentions are impure, I advise you now remove them from your mind... else I show you to regret it."

Kori looks down at the woman "you said yourself you lived in the town, so where else would they look for a thief? their house of course, so why not lay low up here, soak up as much food as you want, kitchen is just around the corner. There's a wash house outside by the lake too." being quite quick with his answer so he can nap

"What do you want from me?" the voice repeats as it drops into a low growl, animalistic in tone.

The woman steps forward, left fooy ahead and splayed outward from her right.Leant forward, as a cat ready tl pounce, her arm tenses from shoulder to artificial first.

"I don't want anything from you, just showing you hospitality because i embarrassed you in town." he moves his left hand across his lap, yawning tiredly.

Minori ups and runs away without saying anything

The female backs down a little, but her aggression does not subside. Her shoulders are still raised in a defensive stance, though her physical form otherwise returning to relaxation.

"I live in the city; I don't have a house. I was theiving apples to stave off starvation; you expect i afford a home?" She mocks, venom near washed aside by coy amusement.

he sighs "i've never been out of these mountains, so i have no clue what the city is like. I apologize if i upset you. You do know im not holding you here, you're welcome to leave if you wish, however night time is coming and i feel more comfortable if you stayed" Kori shrugs off the bit of aggression he senses in her words "what i wanna know though, is how you can see Minori and I in our spirit forms"

"The city is... full of delights." comes the sarcastic response.

"No, I'm sorry. The first time I had kind company, a man tried to force himself on me." she lowers her head a little, and relaxes with the apology before laughing a little to herself; his attack had been quite vicious, but the memory does not seem to phase her "He soon learned from his mistake."
Indeed he had. And the lesson had only cost him his wallet.

Kori's question is ignored, perhaps deliberately evasive... or simply interested more in her own question.

Minori now passed out in her room

Kori jumps down from his tree, holding out his hand in greeting to the woman "i'm a spirit, i have no wishes or intentions of doing such a horrible act"

"Horrible..?" she seems strangely confused, as if not expecting such a strong reaction.
"You know very little of the Tal'he, don't you? Shall I tell you about my homeland?" she has slunk down against the doorframe, arms folded across her body... but raises her flesh hand limply nonetheless.

he laughs a little, admittedly she was correct, he knew nothing "again, never been out of the mountains, never saw your kind here...so yes, please tell me about your race. only other races i know is Human and Elf"

"Well.." she begins, a pause for thought as she stands, dusting herself off.
"...in my homeland, my kind are a taboo, ostracized." Xen continues, before hurrying to add "Not the Tal'he, that is. The scarred and wounded..." she averts her gaze, grasping her metallic arm and curving her tail about herself.

"They seem to see us as vermin, a problem to exterminate through neglect and exclusion."

Kori creates a chair from the ice in the pond from the tree, listening to her story, tilting his head a little bit when she grabs her arm "s-so a....i don't wanna say warlike, but...fighting kind of race?"

"No." Xen states, firmly and almost defensively.
"The Tal'he are largely a diplomatic race, although renowned for our military power since the ancient days."

She looks back up her strange companion.
"Our cities are well off, and safe. But the old ways die hard, and there is such prejudice against the lower... end... of society. There is a passive disdain to those considered wotthless; you could lie naked and murdered in a gutter, and the crime would be considered just a fact of life... if you looked like myself."