A few days ago, Bhuz had persuaded Roho that it would be good for them to take a little trip, with vague words about villages hidden away in the mountains that would be grateful to see a doctor – he hinted at secret ruins as well, which might contain treasures for travellers lucky enough to stumble upon them. Just an hour ago, Bhuz had gone ahead to scout through the trees and see if there was a brook nearby to refresh their water supply…

Now however, Roho's sensitive fennec ears pick up a distant sound of bushes being trampled and rustled as Bhuz rushes back to join him, and his nose picks up fear scent. It seems something has frightened his fellow traveller badly.

Roho stands up quickly, and starts to pick his way in Bhuz's direction, "Bhuz? What happened back there?"

The trees shiver beneath a heavy wind that carries sweet lilac-like leaves past Roho's nose.

Bhuz bursts out from behind a bush. "Crimmy! The forest's alive!"

Roho bites down on a grin, "Alive, huh? I suppose you'd prefer a nice swamp with dead trees?"

"I prefer anywhere that doesn't frammin' howl at me or nip me on the rump!" Bhuz seems to be almost running in place. "I think I've changed my mind about all this travelling scrud."

Roho's grin fades, "Howl? Nip? Where was this?"

"Back there in the woods!" Bhuz yowls. "In the opposite direction I'm going. You can go try and niffle out the spook… or whatever the freep is back there. I refuse to step in that forest again."

Roho leans on his walking stick, looking indecisive. "You won't go back?" He thinks… "Living forest. Bhuz, I… well, I need to check it out myself. I've never heard of anything like it. You're welcome to come along, or if you like, I can catch up to you later… "

To Roho's senses, the forest is a healthy one with small creatures hunting their meager day's meal through the underbrush, and pleasant if strange perfumes wafting from the ferns that cluster about the root of trees. The ground is rich loam and gives only a little beneath the press of his walking staff. Certainly nothing that should scare a feline such as Bhuz appears to be.

Roho's traveling companion thinks for a moment before answering. "I… I think I'll wait for you here. Maybe you can crack out whatever is spongin' in there and then paddle back when it's chilly for me again."

Roho starts following Bhuz's backtrail by smell, walking slowly and steadily the way Bhuz came. He keeps his ears pointed forward, and stalks as silently as he can.

The trees become thicker and the wind whispers through their leaves, rustling, making it harder to tell which noise is vegetable and which is animal… There's water nearby, if that distinctive tang in the air means anything.

It smells to Roho as if Bhuz went this way, the cat's natural oils having been left on some of the trees up a series of rocky slopes.

Roho stops for a moment, and scans around in a full circle, sniffing and listening.

A deep "Whoooooooo!" resonates through the treetops, like the groaning of some sort of animal.

Roho flinches in surprse, and listens, trying to figure out if the noise is animal or plant. He stalks slowly along Bhuz's backtrail, paying greater attention to the treetops than before.

Nothing large seems to be near, at least that Roho can smell. The wind blows down the mountain and ruffles his clothes with cool fingers. Where the sound comes from, he can't be sure – it's as if it's coming from everywhere…

Roho's fur stands on end… o O ( Sakh, this is strange… )

*SPACK!* Something strikes Roho's shoulder. Something small and probably dull, as it leaves no wound.

Roho spins around, bringing his staff up in both paws out in front of him, "Who's there!"

It must have come from… That way? That? A little behind, and with enough force to sting. The forest whines softly under the breeze. Perhaps it was a seed pod knocked loose… But perhaps it wasn't.

Roho stands upright, and strikes his walking stick into the ground before him, face hard, "Show yourself, in the Spirit's name, unless you're afraid of an old fox!"

The only responce is the deep thrumming "Whooooooooo!!!!" from the treetops.

Ghosts… Others said they were only stories to scare little children into staying inside at night. In this forest that creaks beneath a stiff wind from the mountains, where only Bhuz's and Roho's feet have touched in years, it becomes much easier to believe in the old tales.

Suddenly, a sharp blast of wind strikes Roho from behind, strong enough to shove him forward a few paces. An instant later the breeze, or whatever it was, is gone.

Roho turns slowly, then continues in the direction he had been walking before. When he comes to a clear enough spot, he starts to carve a circle in the dirt with his staff.

Odd. He smelled someone just then, though the wind is carrying the scent away quickly.

Roho cries out hoarsely, and spins around again! He snarls, "Quit toying with me… either show yourself, or have done with me now!"

*PF!* *pf* *PF!* Three more sharp stings, striking Roho's backside. A voice booms from the treetops along with the droaning moans, "LEAVE HERE! OR HORRORS UNIMAGINABLE AWAIT YOUR FOLLY!"

Roho tries to grab at what's stinging him, to figure out what it is. He shouts, "I HAVE LIVED MY WHOLE LIFE WITH THE FOREST! If you wish me to leave, you'll have to do better… "

Nothing there.

Roho steels his shoulders, and walks deeper into the forest, abandoning his attempts at concealment now, but moving in a low crouch.

The droning increases to almost a roar, as if the treetops themselves were howling in anger.

Roho ignores the roaring. He tightens his grip on his staff, and sniffs the air, walking steadily.

Something there… A familiar scent. One that Roho smelled just a little while ago.

Roho freezes, and tries to place the scent. His hackles rise…

From somewhere a bit distant and far above, there's a high-pitched "*achoo*!" accompanied by the sound of wing-beats.

It smells like… Eeee. One of the bat-winged creatures that Roho has met and even treated a few times. Or perhaps more than one.

*PF!* Something strikes Roho square on the nose. There's more of the strange hissing noises that seem to accompany each sting zinging past Roho's ears as well.

Roho walks along, "I can smell you… and I can hear you flying. What do you fear?" He blinks at the hit on his nose, but refuses to give any reaction.

There's a small hiccup of a gasp straight in front of Roho. As if someone else was just as surprised by the noises overhead as the fennec.

Roho's keen ears pick up rustling of leaves far away. Someone's in the trees that way then… And here the roaring has faltered, and there's enough of a scent for him to be sure there's an Eeee nearby, perhaps up in the branches.

Roho jumps back a few feet and levels his staff, "Who's there?!"

Roho uses his staff to point at the tree he thinks the Eeee is in, "You, up there… why won't you answer me?"

The voice of the forest booms out again, although considerably weaker and a bit less sure of itself by the sound of things. "These trees were not meant to be seen by people such as you! Turn from your path and go back from whence you came!"

Another voice, from up in the branches, squeaks, "Aaaaah – gnh. Sorry. I was about to sneeze."

Roho laughs, despite himself, "Well, then, calm down. I can't see them anyways!" He turns his face up to the treetop, "I don't wish to steal anything. Or hurt anybody."

"Yipe!" Squeaks another voice, about in the same general area as the booming came from. There's a gentle *klonk… rattle* on the ground below the voice, like the sound of something being dropped.

Roho walks over to what was dropped, pawing around at the ground in a crouch, so that he can stand at a moment's notice.

Something smooth… A horn? It's tied by two leather straps to a smooth-rubbed stick, the straps tied so that they are free to turn within shallow grooves around the stick.

There comes a "Hmmmmm" from somewhere above, followed by a number of apparently nonsensical words chanted in a lower voice.

Roho picks up the horn and chuckles, standing and facing the treetop he's under, "I think you dropped your sling… "

"Hey! Gimmie that back!" Squeaks a feminine voice from above Roho. "That's my horn! It took me weeks to make that!"

Roho smiles, "Come down and talk, first. I don't need the horn, but I want to know what's going on!"

The voice above Roho suddenly gasps, and shouts to… somebody. "What are you doing! No magic!"

The chanting goes on… It sounds ominous to Roho, tickling the sensitive fur inside his ears and raising his hackles. Maybe there are ghosts in the woods… And they don't take kindly to imitations?

The wind starts to hesitate, then eddies about picking up leaves as if it has become disoriented.

Roho slings the horn over one shoulder, "If you don't wish to talk, that's your choice. But I'm moving on." He tries not to show his fear as he walks deeper into the woods.

*Pf!* *pf* The fennec's ears pick up more hissing noises, although none of them are in his direction for a change.

The chanting abruptly dies off with a long raspberry, "Pbbbbbt!" followed by a clap of hands.

Roho stops moving… he wonders something. "Up in the trees… are you okay?" . . o O (Who else could they be firing at?)

The eddies in the air fade away, to be replaced by the strong wind from off the mountains. It almost seems to be… chuckling.

"Go away!" Shouts the other voice.

The previously chanting voice retorts, "Oh? And haven't you any manners, little miss?"

There's some more rustling and another flapping of wings, as something descends to land near the fox.

Two definitely different voices… Roho would guess that the closer one is younger, perhaps eight or ten, and the other is a little older but not by a great deal, and is wearing clothes of a strange woodsy scent. The horn tied to a stick rests in his hand, cool as ice.

Roho picks up a stone, and loads it into the sling, and starts swinging it. "I heard you, whoever you are. Leave her alone… I assure you, it only takes one word to get a bearing… " He thinks . o O ( Please let it believe that… )

The older voice mutters, "… kitlings… ", but then picks up, "Hey! Watch it with that! You'd best not be planning to use that on me! I'll take exception to that, to be sure!"

Roho swings it slower, "So, you can talk… " He lets the horn drop to his side, "Then you can tell me what's going on."

There's a second rustling, this one lands in front of Roho. "You're trespassing!" A higher pitched voice squeaks. "I'll get in trouble with the master if he finds out I let you two into his forest!"

The slightly older voice hmphs. "Well, perhaps I'm not the one to do the explaining here." The speaker turns to face the youngest one. "So, who might this master be? Allow me to introduce myself – I am Wynona Windcaller, assigned to the Lalee-Papu."

Roho takes the cue, and introduces himself as well, "I am Roho… I'm assigned to nobody, I wander where I please. Normally."

"Your turn," says Wynona. "So, what are you doing, trying to play tricks on your elders?"

The younger voice sighs. "I'm Skiree. My master is Zahirinee." The voice humps at Wynona. "I'm just doing what my master told me… keep pesky people away from him so he can study in peace."

Roho chuckles softly, "Have you ever considered just asking?"

Wynona hmphs. "I am NOT pesky."

"Would you mind terribly… " Skiree asks to Roho, "giving me my horn back?"

Roho rasps, "Not just yet… what does your master study?"

"And just what were you planning on doing with that tube you were pointing at me, young kitling?" Wynona chides in a "Now, young lady" voice.

Skiree squeaks, "My master is a great magician!" The little Eeee's voice almost bursts with pride. "All sorts of important people ask him all sorts of important things. Which is why I keep as many people away as I can."

"The important ones, too?" Wynona says with a "raise an eyebrow" tone of voice.

Roho chuckles and turns to Wynona, "Well, I might've been inclined to be polite if I'd been given a polite greeting… but what do you think of paying him a visit?"

Wynona's smile is evident in her voice. "Well! I think I might have a word or two to say to him about little Skiree here… "

The little bat blinks at Wynona, she pulls a small tube out from behind her, pops someting in her mouth, and aims the tube at a nearby tree. With a soft *PFFT*, the little bat shoots a nut from a branch.

To Roho's ears, the sharp crack and the fall of a nut suggest a slingshot, but it's obvious that Skiree didn't wheel a sling about.

Roho smiles, "Skiree, will you lead us? Or do we have to find it ourselves?"

Skiree squeaks in surprise. "The master can't be disturbed! I'll get in trouble if you bother him!"

The little bat tugs on her ears nervously.

Wynona grins, "And this is supposed to dissuade us?"

The older bat sighs. "What was his name again? And what Sphere does he specialize in, if I might ask? If he's from the right Sphere, I might have to see if he could get word back to Rephidim for me… "

Skiree chews on her fingers and fidgets. "I can't stop you from seeing him… " She sighs. "I guess if you're determined to bother him, I might as well show you the way."

Wynona's voice betrays a frown. "You aren't … going to get into SERIOUS trouble, are you?" She taptaps a foot nervously, sighing.

The little bat blinks up at Wynona. "I dunno for sure." She grins for a moment. "You're the first two who haven't fallen for my haunted forest trick."

Roho smiles at the young Eeee, "We'll just tell him that we didn't give you any choice, if he gets too mad… "

"I think that Master Zahirinee will prolly just make me wash out all his stinky bowls again… like he did the time I caught that Creen and tried to keep it as a pe-… er… nevermind." The bat flashes a toothy grin at Wynona and Roho, her foot traces little circles in the dirt.

Wynona's tunic rustles as she shrugs. "If he's too difficult, I'll just have to pay my respects and leave promptly, I suppose. But I do think I would like to pay him a visit. And I'm not just trying to be difficult. I'm afraid that some sort of accident put me … rather far off course. I'm not even entirely sure where I am right now. I think we're still in Aelfhem or thereabouts, aren't we? I think Raveekrahna gets tired of all my questions."

Roho chuckles, "I guess I don't really have any official business with him, but as long as he's already getting one visitor… I'd hate to have nothing to show for the bruises on my back and nose."

The little bat walks up to Roho. "C'n I have my horn back now? Please?"

Roho nods, and hands the horn over with a smile, "Just no more rocks, okay?"

"They weren't rocks!" Skiree squeaks. "They were dried out peas. I got dirt in my mouth when I tried using rocks. Bleah"

Roho chuckles, "Sorry… all feels the same from behind."

The little bat squeaks at Wynona. "You're in the borderlands of Ashod. In the mountains north of Aelfhem. I dunno if the master can help you any… but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask."

Wynona huffs, "No PEAS, either. Or else I just might… " Wynona pauses, stopping from her usual threat to magic-fearing little kids, but figures this one might know too much about magic to be overly impressed. "… be very annoyed."

Wynona says, "Ashdod, hmm? Well, I hope that means I'm making progress… "

"Sorry about that." The bat squeaks sheepishly. "It's just that when I used a sling I kept hitting my ears or my wings."

"C'mon," Skiree motions down a partially hidden path. "I'll take you to Master Zahirinee… I hope he's not gonna be too grumpy."

Roho doesn't move at first… he waits for someone else to start moving so he can follow.

They stop by a lake like a mirror, so perfect and reflective that it might well be a vast circle of glass laid out over the ground, showing the tops of trees and after a while, their heads. Fish swim beneath the surface in an odd double vision, as if silver shapes flitted through the leaves. Nearby, three huge slabs of rock outline the entrance to an earthen dwelling set into the side of a hill; a wood bark chimney serves to pipe smoke out and away from the fire that burns within.

A taller bat stands outside the dwelling looking toward his new visitors, his fur stark white and his eyes black as if they have burned out from looking at the sun too long. He leans upon a staff from which jingles an arrangement of seven bells hanging from a triangle, plain brown robes draping over his thin arms and shoulders.

Skiree takes out her horn and bellows into the house with it. "I'M HOME, MASTER ZAHIRINEE! AN' I BROUGHT VISITORS!"

Wynona cringes. She mutters, "… and he's worried about VISITORS disturbing him?"

Roho grins sidelong at Wynona.

The bat flattens his ears, then lifts them again. "You're late, Skiree," he complains in a surprisingly deep voice. "I expected you back an hour ago. Have you been terrorizing the travellers again?"

The little bat grins up at Roho and Wynona… it's really amazing how the horn turns her little voice into such a deep rumbling thing.

"I had some trouble." She gestures to the pair behind her with a wing. "Did I miss dinner?"

Wynona walks up to the entrance, and as she approaches, she stops and bridges her fingers together, bowing to the elder mage. "Greetings. I hope that we are not disturbing you with our presence."

"I expected you two days ago, Wynona Windcaller," Master Zahirinee says flatly. "Though you are on time, Roho."

Roho walks towards the older bat as well, and presses his arms to his sides, making a small bow, "I apologize for… excuse me?" He straightens back up.

Wynona blinks at this. (Not that Roho could hear this … but it almost seems audible, the way she does it.)

"My p-pardon," stutters Wynona, trying to regain her composure, "but I was unaware that I was running late."

"I'm not surprised," Master Zahirinee says grumpily. "I have strived to instill a sense of timeliness on the part of my apprentice here, young Skiree, but like most of our kind, she continues to be… Flighty." He shakes his staff, setting the bells to jingling. "Skiree! You will find a leather scrollcase on my desk in there. Please fetch it out for me."

Wynona looks at the little bat, a fleeting and silly thought crossing her mind that it would be pointless to try to blame the little one for delaying her with those tricks. She smirks.

Zahirinee adds, "Though I had expected that you would arrive with a larger male Eeee… " He frowns to himself, looking across the lake.

Skiree peeks through her horn like a telescope and watches Wynona talk to the master. She squeaks suddenly as he gives her an order and rushes into the house to fetch the scroll.

Wynona shrugs. "Raveekrahna. I don't think he likes me. And, really, I think he's as glad to be away from me for a bit as I am to be from him. If you'd like, though, I could fetch him."

He mutters to himself. Something obscure, that sounds like "Perturbations in the weave of the world. Unpredictable strange attractors, of course, but still… "

Roho chuckles, "Speaking of companions, you scared mine off fairly well… he probably thinks I'm tree food by now."

"No matter," the batbat mage says. "He is unimportant in the matters to come."

"He's not bad at all, really. In fact, I admire him, especially in light of – " Wynona's voice trails off. "Just how much do you already know about me, anyway?" She abruptly softens her expression, eeping softly, and covering her mouth. "Sorry. I don't mean to forget my place."

A loud *THUD* comes from inside the house, followed by a high pitched "Oops!" There's some scrabbling noises quickly after.

Roho rests the tip of his staff on the ground to his side, "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but… can you tell me how you were expecting me? And for what?"

Zahirinee looks at Wynona and Roho sideways from one black eye. "The universe is formed from chaos and order, young Eeee, forces which move all we of the living kind." He twitches an ear at the house. "I sometimes think that it is chaos more than order that moves my apprentice."

Wynona smiles abashedly, and covers it with one hand, hoping to avoid any judgement from the elder mage about which characterizes HER life…

The white bat sits upon an outcropping of rock and gestures for the others to seat themselves likewise – with an afterthought, he adds, "And you, doctor. Sit."

Roho smiles and takes a seat gratefully.

Wynona obligingly takes a seat, fidgeting silently and unconsciously.

Footsteps issue from inside the house, and the little brown Eeee bursts out from the doorway, she carries a leather scroll in each hand. "I forgot which one you wanted me to get, Master. So I just got them both." Skiree smiles happily at her inventiveness.

The white bat opens his mouth, about to begin a long story… When he catches sight of Skiree's two scrolls. He closes his mouth, then sighs and holds his hands out. "Bring them here, Skiree."

Skiree trundles over to Zahirinee and hands him the two scrolls. One of them has a bit of sticky something on it, it smells like peppermint. More if it is smeared on the bat's hands… she obviously made a stop by the candy jar on her way in.

Zahirinee raises an eyebrow at Skiree, but says nothing for the moment… Instead, he takes the scrolls in their leather cases and examines the wax seals embossed over their sides, then places one on the ground and displays the other. "Imagine that I were to throw this scroll in the air," he advises Roho and Wynona. "Can you envision how it would leap up into the air, and then rise to its highest point and fall back?"

Roho nods slowly, but says nothing.

Wynona nods. "Though it would make a significant difference if you unrolled it first," she smirks, then ahems and makes a more serious nod. "Yes, sir."

"That is the universe, ruled by order," Zahirinee says taking on the tone of a professor. A lecture that Wynona remembers – though at the time, she'd managed to sneeze rather explosively and been ushered out by her fellow students against her preferences. "But imagine that the wind were to gust suddenly, and cause the scroll to fall not into my hand, but to the side. That is chaos."

Wynona stifles any inclination to comment or ask questions and just nods in response.

Skiree quietly listens to the master. She pauses to lick peppermint gunk off of her hands when he's not looking.

The white bat continues, his gaze passing from Roho to Wynona to Skiree and back. "It is these forces that struggle through the grand sphere of our lives, that toss us to and fro on the winds of fate." His voice hushes. "I am convinced that the First Ones, those who came before us, knew these secrets and became… Not slaves, but masters of these forces. Think of it! To control the very underworkings of the universe!"

His gaze returns to Roho, and then he snaps his fingers. "Ah, but you want to know what this has to do with you, don't you?"

Roho nods, "I'll admit to being quite curious now… "

Zahirinee's black eyes glint, the bells on his staff chiming shortly in the breeze. "It has nothing… And everything to do with you. You are a part of this world as are we all, borne on the winds of order and chaos. But magic is a power that stands outside of these winds. With it, it is possible to look upon their workings. Pierce the veils that hide the true secrets of the universe from our mortal eyes. With my arts, then… " He looks toward the lake. "I have found this place, one that is strong in the energies of order. It allows me to pierce not only the veil of distance… But that of time as well." He stands. "I will grant you a boon, Roho, lest you doubt my abilities. And you as well, Journeyman Wynona Windcaller."

"Ask of me one question," the white bat says with an intense look burning in his eyes. "Ask what you will. It is a rare gift that I grant my visitors, those who… " He turns with a grin to look at his apprentice. "… are fated to reach this place."

Wynona's mouth is open as if she were about to ask a question, but she suddenly bites her lip, as the white bat's explanation registers.

Roho rasps, "I have nothing to ask beyond that which I have already asked."

Zahirinee watches his visitors, the bells of his staff chiming in ones and twos on the breeze. "Very well, Roho," he says flatly, and then turns to Wynona.

Wynona gulps as this seems to pass the hot potato to her. So many questions … and … to think that she's actually taking this SERIOUSLY! Why, this must be a jo – No, not a joke … but …

Wynona continues to bite her lip, her ears turning red.

Skiree looks at Wynona, wondering what she'll ask. So many people ask the master all sorts of strange questions.

Zahirinee continues to study Wynona closely, neither impatient nor ruffled.

Wynona looks down at the ground. "I know you'll think me a fool for asking this … and there are so many more important things to learn … but I suppose I should learn them the proper way regardless, like everyone else… "

"Curiosity," Zahirinee says, "is a powerful force."

"But … I have to know … " Wynona gulps, tears threatening to form in her eyes. "The Lalee-Papu … what … happened to it? I have to know … if … it was my fault. Something bad happened … and I don't remember a thing, and here I am … clear across the planet."

( I asked him where he hid my candy once and he never told me… but he answers everyone else's questions. Hmp. ) O o . Skiree thinks to herself, wrinkling her little nose.

Zahirinee's eyebrows lift and a weight rises from Wynona's shoulders mysteriously, as if she were physically no longer under the burden of scrutiny. "No deep probing inquiries into the secrets of the universe? No question about what will come in your future?" He begins to smile. "Indeed, the heart is truly the focus of chaos. Come with me to the lakeside then."

Wynona looks down. "If you told me any deep secrets about the universe … I don't know if I'd really believe you. That's … supposed to be part of my journey. I can't … cheat."

Wynona nods and stands, whispering, "I don't want to know the future, anyway. I don't want to be like one of those people in the myths who learn of their own doom … but, no matter what they do, are fated to meet it BECAUSE of their own actions."

Roho nods at Wynona, "I have a burning curiosity about so much that I've come across in the journey so far. That's why I can't ask you about it."

"All depends," Zahirinee says shortly. He walks up a series of sandstone-carved steps and to a globe of some pure blued glass that rests in a contraption of an incredible amount of metal, brass glinting beneath the yellowing radiance of the daylight. It stands at the center of a crescent of carefully painted lines, tangents which whirl away to form nearby circles. A sense of power fills this place, which looks over the mirror-like lake.

Skiree idly watches a little yellow winged butterfly flit by. She's seen the lake thing hundreds of times.

Wynona looks at the contraption with unconcealed awe and wonder, many more questions forming in her mind and protesting the undue attention given to the other.

Zahirinee motions Wynona to stand beside him, then begins to chant a deep and sonorous spell. Magic gathers slowly and burns bright through the lines, then stretch out from the crescent to circle the lake in a repeating webwork of power, changing colors from red to yellow, blue to white, and beyond that to invisibility. The sun courses slowly as Zahirinee gestures about the globe…

And then the globe itself sparks to life with a storm of lightning inside it. The lake's surface, hitherto a remarkable reflection of the sky, shows a dot approaching in it… That is not in the true sky.

Wynona's attention is anxiously divided between the globe and the pool, fidgeting between one and the other.

The dot grows larger, soundless, sprouts wings and forms the image of a butterfly… No, an airship beneath an array of balloons. The Lalee-Papu. It grows to fill the lake, the sky tinting to afternoon's gold behind it… And then blazes into fire! It smoulders…

Zahirinee stretches his hand out to Wynona, motioning for her to take it quickly.

Skiree crawls closer to the lake and peers in… wondering what Wynona's answer is.

Wynona gasps, shielding herself with one wing, but notices Zahirinee's hand, and – without thinking – takes it.

The view fades to black, and then slowly lightens to show a scene aboard the Lalee-Papu itself. From where Wynona would have been standing, and then from a little behind her, showing the spell that she is weaving with chalked lines and words inaudible through the medium of the lake. Zahirinee squeezes his hand around Wynona's as if drawing from her the measure of familiarity that he needs to tie the vision to one place.

An argument. A fox, a poodle and his bulldog bodyguard. Two cheetahs, one carrying a torch up to the balloon… deadly flame, that would cause an airship to be devoured in scant seconds. The fox exchanges unheard words with the Savanites, and then with the poodle, gesturing wildly.

The little brown bat tips her head sideways as she looks into the pool.

Wynona gasps, overwhelmed by the vision. "Kazhir? Jarik? Doc?" She looks to the Savanites. "What … They're MAD!"

The bat screams at the vision, "Stop arguing! Please! DO SOMETHING!"

As if prompted by Wynona's words, the vision fades to a viewpoint near Jarik and Kazhir, the poodle noble. A servant brings the poodle a backpack – a parachute, Wynona sees. There are harsh words exchanged as Kazhir prepares to abandon the ship; the fox dives beneath the bodyguard's legs, then tackles the poodle…

Wynona covers her mouth with a hand, watching the scene with wide, terrified eyes.

Two canines, falling into the endless sea of sand… And then the viewpoint changes again, to the Savanites' grim ascension. The crew shouts voicelessly against the deck; one of the cheetahs thrusts the torch up as the other, whom Wynona recognizes vaguely as being named Ramid, bares his fangs. The torch sears the hide that covers the balloons, flames licking eagerly over the slick skin…

And then with a sudden silent explosion, the lake flashes to white.

Wynona's eyes fill with tears now. Her mouth moves, but, no words come out.

Skiree blinks at the sudden brightness. She crawls a bit closer to Wynona.

Black again, and then a vision of pink candy forests overhead, like clouds floating over the sky. The leaves grow vague, begin to fade back into the sky.

The globe crackles and then flickers out, magic retreating back into the natural currents of the world. The lake once again reflects the sky flawlessly.

Wynona collapses to her knees, covering her face, her wings shaking and closing in tightly about her as she sobs.

Zahirinee slumps as he weaves the spell to an end. Then turns to Wynona with sadness, kneeling to place a hand upon her shoulder. He says nothing.

Wynona, between shakes, chokes, "I … guess you told me what … but I don't suppose you could have possibly told me why… "

Skiree nervously places her own hand on Wynona's other shoulder. The little bat offers her hanky to the older bat.

Wynona ignores the kind gesture of the proffered hanky, and just stays there for a while … the shakes coming a little less frequently. She sniffles.

"Desperate people are driven to desperate actions," Zahirinee says. "When the heart rules, chaos rules." He looks at the lake again, as if wondering what desperation drew Savanites to destroy an entire airship.

Wynona sniffs again, and says, voice quavering, "Thank you. I … I'm not happy, of course, but … I … I had to know." She looks down, whispering, "They're all gone." She closes her eyes tightly, saying through gritted teeth, "I … I could have done something. If only I weren't wrapped up in that spell! I … I could have shook the ship or blown out the torches or … "

Skiree holds the hanky out for a few moments longer, then tucks it away in her pocket again. She sits close to Wynona, keeping quiet.

Wynona sniffles some more, then shakily gets back up to her feet. "I … Well. That's that. Uhm-hmm." She nods her head a few times, and struggles to make her voice sound controlled and even. She fails. "I … have to report back to Rephidim. Of course, the odds that they'll believe me … " She bites her lip. "But that doesn't matter. At least I know." She nods a few more times for emphasis.

"Perhaps," Zahirinee says after a moment of thought. "Do you know the burden of the Scryer, Journeyman? It is that we may see… But we are not gifted with the ability to act. To change the world… We can tell you who held the knife that killed a king, but we cannot stop the killing and make it a thing that never was. We can look across a continent, but we cannot speak. That is a magic beyond us… "

Wynona's shoulders slump at the mention of "the knife that killed a king". "I'm so selfish. I … I could have asked who wanted the Captain-Astromancer dead … "

Zahirinee says, "We are given many regrets. In time… We learn to live with them." He takes Wynona's hand and conducts her down from the stone platform, back to the outcropping where he left the scroll meant for her. "Wynona Windcaller, I ask you to take this with you to Babel in Ashod. Deliver it to the Guildmaster at the College Esoterica. Tell them that it is from Master Zahirinee."

Wynona nods. "Of course. I will be very careful with it, and I'll make sure that the seal is not broken." She makes to tuck it away, but then realizes to her shame that she doesn't have her old, familiar robes anymore. She sighs.

Zahirinee pauses, and then turns to Roho. "You have asked no question, but I shall give you an answer nevertheless."

Skiree scoots after Zahirinee and Wynona. She notices Wynona's predicament and begins fumbling with her belt.

"The ruler of Babel, Sabaoth, who is said to live forever… " The white bat pauses. "He has fallen ill with a strange disease that appears to consume him from within, until he may become naught but fur and bones. It is not a disease. It is a poison that is brought to him daily by his chief attendant, Thath."

Wynona gasps, vaguely remembering tales of Babel and the Sabaoth, ruler of the greatest of Eeee cities.

Wynona feels a gentle tugging on her clothing from behind. Skiree holds out a belt with several pouches attached. Scattered at the little brown bat's feet are the results of her "cleaning" it quickly… spilt peas, rocks, little bugs.

"You kin have this if you want. It's really good for putting stuff in." Skiree squeaks.

Wynona looks incredulous. "For … me?" She looks at little Skiree with a new appreciation.

"I used to have several pouches of my own," Wynona quietly confides, "… but … ah … well, the fire… " She grimaces. A few still-singed patches of her otherwise white fur attest to the incident.

"What you do with this knowledge, I shall not pretend to foresee," Zahirinee continues to Roho in a stern voice. "I shall send Skiree to guide you to Babel. Your erstwhile friend, Bhuz, has already gone ten flights beyond the reaches of this forest, and I suspect you will not find him again." He glances over to the horn on a stick near the house, then nods to himself. "Yes. A little trip will be good for her."

The little bat smiles and pushes the belt into Wynona's hands. She gets a sudden attack of the giggles and runs over to hide behind Zahirinee.

Wynona sticks her tongue out the corner of her mouth, checking one of the pouches to see if there are still any other bugs in there, then putting the scroll safely inside, and trying on the belt for size.

The belt's a tad tight… but not uncomfortably so.

Wynona sucks in her gut a bit and smiles for Skiree. "Perfect!"

Skiree pokes her head out from behind her teacher. "I get to go traveling? Will I get to see an airship? Is Babel really as big as people say? Is it dinnertime yet?"

Looking over to Skiree, Zahirinee mutters, "Perhaps a little trip will be good for me as well… " He grumps off to the house again, leading Roho inside it to discuss the nature of the poison and the remedies that may prove efficacious… At least for a little while.

Wynona sighs. "I suppose Babel should be the way for me to head as well. Oh! Raveekrahna. I forgot – Oh, well, he'll get along just fine for a little while longer."

The gray-haired bat looks down to Skiree. "In any case, I've never been to Babel. At least … I don't remember it, though perhaps when I was a very young kitling. But, rest assured, there will be airships." Wynona looks away. "There'd BETTER be."

The little bat folds her arms behind her back and looks up at Wynona. "Ohhh! I always wanted to see an airship! Do you think they'd let me ride on one? I had a model airship once but I accidentally dropped it in the lake."

"Hmm?" asks Wynona. "Is it still down there, then?"

Skiree watches a bug flit by her nose. "I dunno. I looked for it, but never found it. I think the lake ate it."

Wynona laughs. "And Master Zahirinee would not help you find it? Not even as an experiment of training? I presume you are his apprentice, no?"

The young bat glances down at her feet, "Well… I sorta… wasn't… er… I'm not allowed to play near the lake."

Wynona mouths an "ohhhhh". "Hmm. Well, I don't know much about this lake or the magic with Master Zahrinee's … contraption." She looks around conspiratorially. "But you haven't even an inkling of where it might have fallen in? Lakes don't usually have strong currents to move things about, after all."

Skiree looks out across the lake. Her little face scoonches up as the tries to remember just the right spot where her model was lost.

Wynona whispers, "Would Zahrinee object if I poked around a bit, do youthink?"

"I don't think so." The little bat whispers back. "As long as you don't try and mess up anything."

Wynona nods. She pauses a bit, wondering about the wisdom of this … but she certainly can't just shy away from something as simple as finding a lost toy…

Skiree points to a spot near the corner of the lake, a rocky bank with few plants. "I think that was the spot."

Wynona nods and walks along, scanning the lake as she goes.

"So," Wynona asks, "are you going to be a Seer some day as well?"

Skiree walks alongside Wynona, picking flowers and tossing pebbles into the lake. "I dunno. If it means I haveta get grumpy like master Zahirinee then I don't wanna. But mommy and daddy said this would be good for me, that I'd get all edjumacated and stuff."

"Grumpy?" Wynona muses. "He doesn't seem NEARLY so grumpy as some I've known. And, I must confess, I got terribly grumpy, being cooped up in the College Esoterica myself. I was very glad when I got my first assignment on an air ship and could get away."

Wynona sniffles. "I … ah … Well, I don't think the College was very good for my health. I figure being out and getting some fresh air might be better for me. My hearing isn't quite what it used to be. … or my nose." * sniff*

"Do you have a cold?" Skiree asks, wiping a bit of dirt she's gotten on her hands off onto her shirt.

Wynona sits down near the area Skiree indicated. "Oh … well … sort of. I just have one all the time, that's all. It's my allergies. And colds. I can't hardly tell the difference, though. It all sort of runs together." *sniff* "Like my nose."

Wynona says, "So … this is it, right? Or pretty close to it? Hmm. Let's see… looks fairly open here… You'll probably get bored, though. This is going to take a long time. At least an hour."

"Ew!" The little bat squeeks, rubbing her own nose.

Wynona raises an eyebrow. "Well, you needn't hang around, if that sounds like too long. You might even be able to have your dinner and come back before I'm done." The mage bat begins clearing out a space on the dirt and marking it off.

"I was divebombing some frogs with it… " Skiree looks around, and then points to a muddy spot near the water. "Right there."

"… but, I'll need your help to LOOK once I cast my spell, or it won't do much good. I'm going to try to get a peek under the water by pushing it out – with air." Wynona explains. "Mine is the Sphere of Air, you see. This would be much easier if I were in the Sphere of Water, but there you have it."

Skiree's eyes widen. "Ohhh! You mean I get to see you cast a SPELL?"

Wynona eyes Skiree. "Yes, I suppose so. Surely you know not to interrupt me while I'm casting, though. That could make things go wrong." Wynona frowns. "And spells gone wrong are no fun."

The little brown bat's head bobs up and down rather quickly. "That was one of the first lessons I learned."

Wynona smiles. "That's good. As far as the Spheres go, some aren't very impressed with what the Sphere of Air can do … except when the spells go awry. You remember what Master Zahiree was saying about chaos – That certainly describes the weather and the air, and he even used that in his example."

"It's very hard to make something so chaotic do what you want it to … and even then, you never have complete control. But you don't really NEED complete control to do things which are useful," Wynona explains, "like just pushing some of the water out of the way so we can see what's underneath."

Meanwhile, the gray-haired, white-furred air mage bat starts scribing out a magic circle, carefully making the geometric shapes that form the lines bouncing along its interior.

"I like the air sphere." Skiree squeaks happily. "We had an air mage visit once that made bubbles appear for me."

Wynona smirks. "Oh, I can certainly manage that. But let's focus on your model airship first."

At last, the magic circle is completed. Wynona settles herself down in the center, taking several deep breaths. Her nose wiggles a bit.

The little bat vigorously nods her head and scrabbles to the edge of the lake. She does an impressive job at keeping quiet; any other nine year old would pale at the attempt.

"Nosturnoqx viaxr qo… " Wynona begins chanting, eyes closed, hands slowly tracing signs before and about her.

Skiree glances at the water for an instant, then looks back at Wynona.

Wynona keeps on chanting, her nose occasionally wiggling, but her voice not faltering.

The little bat fumbles over the strange magic words, wondering if she'll ever understand them.

Wynona continues, as the minutes drag on, having to rhythmically time her breaths so as to not interrupt the cadence of the syllables.

Skiree fidgets, a child's patience is a rare thing to come by after all. She still keeps silent, although it's obvious she's having trouble doing so.

The droning, chanting, nonsensical words continue. Nothing magical shows for all the effort … yet.

The minutes drag on … until … finally … "… vrxannoq Zxor!" Wynona finishes her chanting abruptly, clapping her hands together loudly.

Skiree JUMPS at the clap! She slaps her hands over her mouth to muffle her squeal of suprise.

A wind stirs and builds in intensity, blowing over the lake. Some particles of dust are picked up by the breezes that pass over the banks, causing them to begin to swirl and spin over the edge of the water, where Skiree indicated earlier that her airship model might have been lost.

Skiree crawls across the rock and peers into the water.

The water begins to depress and swirl underneath the onslaught of the magically-bound winds, forming an eddy that turns into a whirlpool … that begins to press outward, forming an ever-widening funnel of air thrusting down into the lake and to the still-wet earth forming its bed. It's a fairly narrow channel … but just enough, from Skiree's perspective, to allow her to see to the bottom, if she cranes her neck a bit.

Wynona breathes heavily, still within the circle, eyes closed in concentration. "You'll have to help me guide it, Skiree. I have to stay here and keep the spell going. I'll move it around a bit … If you see anything, tell me to stop, and which way to go back."

The little bat stares wide eyed at the 'hole' in the lake. "Okay." She squeeks.

The fish scatter, keeping clear of the disturbed waters, flitting under the lake's surface.

The whirlpool begins to move, slowly, tracing back and forth, moving out from the initial position, scouring the corner of the lake.

Skiree continues watching the whirlpool, her little ears droop a bit. "Still nothing."

The pocket begins to expand, sending ripples out across the surface. Wynona squints harder, her face strained. Her hands move about, directing the flow of the spell, the whirlpool drifting in some relationship to the movements.

Wynona gasps, "Something's wrong. You're sure you can't see anything? I don't think I can hold this much longer… "

Skiree's head snaps up from the water. "Nothing. I don think it's in there."

A white bat face sticks out of the house. "Skiree! Wynona! What do you think you are doing? You will disturb the lake for months! Stop that immediately!"

Wynona frowns, her shoulders slumping. "I'm sorry, Skiree. Back away… "

The little bat starts at the sound of Zahirinee's voice, she suickly crawls away from the edge of the lake.

The air mage brings her hands together in front of her, her muscles straining, as if she's pressing inward on a physical resistance. The whirlpool begins to wobble and shrink.

Zahirinee radiates visible grumpyons.

At last, the whirlpool becomes nothing more than some waters that swirl around slowly, finally stopping as a single drop launches up from the center, reaches a high point a few feet above the water, then lands back in with an audible *plunk*.

Wynona slumps forward, exhausted and disappointed.

Skiree squeaks nervously to Wynona. "I think we'd better head back now. I don' want YOU to haveta scrub out the stinky bowls too!"

Zahirinee buries his hands in his wings. "Months," he groans. "It will take months to fix this. What were you trying to do?"

"We were lookin' for my model airship." The little brown Eeee replies.

Wynona sniffles and coughs, and slowly rises. She looks down and scuffs out the marks on the ground. "I'm sorry, Master Zahirinee," she says, not looking him in the face. "I … wanted to demonstrate the Sphere of Air by probing the bottom of the lake."

Wynona bites her lip, looking at Skiree. "That, too."

Zahirinee grumps. "Why didn't you ask me? I found it already and put it on your bed when you were asleep… " He mutters a cantrip, taking Skiree's hand, then says, "Ah. You knocked it over and it rolled behind that thing you call a teddyBromthen." He sighs.

Wynona lets out a long sigh, too. {Way to go, girl! What a wonderful way to endear yourself to the one who offered you something you'll never have a chance at like that again… ANSWERS. }

Skiree blinkblinks. "You mean it was behind Mister Porky the whole time?" Her ears droop. "I'm sorry if I caused any trouble, Master Zahirinee."

"No," says Wynona. "It's not her fault. It's mine. I should have stopped to think that this … wouldn't be such a good idea. It was my idea to look. And I'm terribly sorry for the trouble."

"Well. A mage's life is full of regrets," Zahirinee says. "Please ask the Guildmaster to send back a water mage and a chaos mage when you return, Journeyman Wynona. I can only hope that their influences will help in restoring the lake's natural tranquility." As he stumps back into the house, Wynona's ears catch his muttering. "That is, if I can count on them to move a finger within a year… "

Wynona looks down. "Of course, Master Zahirinee… "

Wynona walks over to a tree after the other two head back to the house, and introduces her head to it several times. "Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb! … Ow."

Skiree follows alongside Zahirinee. "At least you kin take that vacation now you always say thatcha need, Master Zahirinee. Especially now that I won't be here to play monster anymore."

Zahirinee perks up. "Mm."