Sianhai

In the village by the river and the lake, the people were hard at work. Trees were being cut and hauled to a makeshift workshop, where they were turned to lumber. Branches were put into a pile for firewood and leaves were tested to see if they made suitable teas or anything else that might be useful. Down at the river, water was being scooped into buckets, thrown into a cauldron to boil. A few sat in circle threading strands of fiber. Others were tending to the fields. All in all, the village was busy, and few had the attention to give to the pegasus until it was upon them. Only one or two noticed at first, raising their masked faces to the sky. Then, it was three, four, ten, twenty. Soon enough, the entire population of robed figures were gazing over at the magnificent sight and waded through the lush grassland toward it. One, who was tall and regal, wearing red and black robes, raised a hand toward it.

"Odd how?" asked Ti'el. "Odd like me?" She looked down below at the robed figures, brow pinching as she tried to make out faces, only to find out that there were no faces. They were wearing masks, each one of them scribbled with words the vulx couldn't understand. They did not have ears or a tail like herself that she could see, so they were odd in a very different way.

The robed figures approached Renaux and Ti'el with a patient stride. Other than their height and the color of their robes, the style of their garb stayed the same. Even the way they walked was similar.

Ti'el felt threatened by the oddness of such a sight and hid behind Renaux, ears pinned to her head.

Not one of the figures responded to the man's words, but they continued to advance. When they were upon the couple and the winged steed, they paused their stride. At the vanguard was one with robes of gold, red, and orange. The rim of their hat tilted with their head, a pose that was universally questioning. The figure was several inches taller than the knight and loomed forward, but not to belittle him. It held out a gloved hand.

Within it, there was a ball of rice.

The red-robed figure inclined their head in a nod, though they gave no verbal confirmation. They pressed the rice ball into Renaux's palm, gesturing for him to eat. A smaller one, this one in green robes, pattered up to Ti'el and did much the same. Though the vulx's tail hid between her legs at the approach, her curiosity got the better of her. She took the rice ball, sniffed it, and with some hesitation, took a bite. It wasn't a roasted strip of meat, but it was certainly better than the flower petals she'd been starving on for the last few days! She took the whole thing into her mouth but choked on it as she tried to swallow. The onlookers would raise her hands to where their lips would be as they watched.

Should the man eat his treat, he would find something sweet and tangy in the center. It was a red paste, thick and soft. Perhaps in his travels to Tawakoshi, he'd had something similar.

When Ti'el finished choking, the figures gestured to their guests to follow. Were they so inclined, as Ti'el was determined to stay by Renaux's side, they would lead the two to an outdoor platform. Interwoven pieces of bamboo kept a piece of cloth- it looked like a sail- suspended above to keep the rain out. Beneath, various projects were spread out. Most were tools, but tiny little figurines were on a few tree stumps laid down as desks. They were of all different shapes, every one of them a monster. One was a little fishman with gills spread out from beneath his chin; another was a beast with large tusks, not unlike an orc. One of them was a little fox person. Red took it up and gave it to Ti'el, cocking their head to the side while pointing. One in purple robes came up to Renaux and gave him one that would seem familiar. Not like him, but more like a Tawakoshi samurai, heavily armored, and pointed to him in turn with a questioning tilt.

When the bun was offered, Ti'el devoured it with the same ferocity as the first. Though she hardly listened as they came to the workshop, her interest became piqued when she was given the statue of the fox-person. Her ears stood straight as she turned it over in her hands. She turned to the robed figure next to her, asking questions they would not answer.

Meanwhile, the red robes turned their attention to Renaux. To the Tawakoshi question, they shook their head. To the question of whether or not they understood, they nodded, as they did before. They raised one slender, long, gloved finger to where their mouth would have been, and with the other, produced a hexagonal coin with a hole in the center. The rim was silver, while the center was gold. Right as it would have entered Renaux's palm, the coin vanished. Ti'el yelped at the display, ears pressing against her head.

"Illusion magic!" he hissed. "That is evil magic!"

After exchanging glances, a few of the robed figures clinked what seemed like tassels before, but were now revealed to be delicate chimes. The coin was produced once more and plopped into the vulx's palm. Red robes then gestured to Renaux expectantly.

The chimes played again. The noise was carefree, light, easing away at any tenseness that Renaux felt coming from Ti'el's outburst. Red Robes shook their head at the man, then turned to lead him elsewhere.

They came to the edge of the forest, where Red Robes placed a hand on the trunk. Though it was the middle of summer and the leaves were green as could be, but with a little concentration, they flushed with a rainbow of vivid reds, yellows, and oranges. Red Robes tapped the symbol on their mask, then offered to them the leaves before pointing to themself again.

Another, one with white robes, arched a hand above their head, creating the smallest stormcloud Ti'el had ever seen. From it, a torrent of snow collected into White Robes' hands, which they offered to Renaux and the vulx.

"... is the symbol Snow?" asked the vulx, perking a brow. "And are you, um, Leaf?"

More chimesound, followed by a jubilant shake of Red Robes' head.

Ti'el squinted her eyes hard and flicked her tail in as much annoyance as she had curiosity. If it was not leaf and it was not snow, then...

"Winter?"

Renaux's realization had her perking up her ears and forming her lips into a silent "o". As he asked what was winter, they both pointed to the white-robed figure. To illustrate further, Winter put their hand out, filled with snow, and Red Robed put their hand out with the red leaf. Beside that, they presented green grass, and to the left of that, a flower. With these four things in a row, Red Robes pointed to the leaf, then to themself.

"Autumn," Ti'el realized. "You are Autumn." She looked to them with a furrowed brow. "These names are unusual."

And yet again, the chimes rang out. The vulx's ears flicked back and forth as she thought. They'd done this three times now!

"Are you laughing at me?"

With jubilance, they nodded. Every single one. Autumn patted Renaux on the shoulder as they passed, walking back into the village. They came to the paddies, where the rice was still growing, and showed him the crop. They presented to him the grasses, which they were turning into a fiber. Though they had no words to give, they had much to teach. Mysteriously, however, they offered no drink except for water.

As the sun began to sink below the horizon, the denizens of Sianhai rose their heads to gaze. More hurriedly than the rest, Autumn gestured for Renaux and Ti'el to follow. The figure would lead them to one of the bamboo huts, and while it was no fancy house, the craftsmanship was expertly made. Ash planks were laid on the bare ground but the closeness of the bamboo for the walls closed them off from the elements to provide some level of comfort. Within, there were two cots made with a down of feathers and animal pelts.

Before they were kept inside, Autumn began to draw something on the wall with a stain of grass. The first image was of the village, crude, but clearly represented. Above, they drew the sun, then smeared the sun below the horizon. They drew everyone going inside, then sketched a symbol on each of the doors. It was the symbol they motioned to draw on the door to their little abode currently. They then clapped their hand on the door, pointed to the sinking sun, and cut a hand across their neck. Moving over to the wall, they illustrated a newly rising sun, then opened the door again.

They tapped their temple, as though to say, "Understand?"

One of Ti'el's ears swiveled around to point at Renaux before she turned her head to face him. Her brow pinched and her eyes narrowed. In all her life, never had anyone brought up such an issue. Back when she lived with her den, they bundled up in the back of the cave for warmth, no care for who they curled up next to. When she lived with humans, they slept in the same tents or beside each other, next to a fire. This seemed no different to the vulx, who was even more alien to the word than just the concept.

"Modesty?" she chirped, raising a brow. "To what end?"

The robed figures exchanged glances but appeared to be waiting for Renaux's answer before offering an alternative.