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HILLS NORTH OF RESPITE - ZAYZZES' CAVE - LATE EVENING
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Narrator: North of the rocky mountains and the waterfall that give Respite's its name, out beyond the city's walls, in a group of foothills, the cave where Zayzzes has been living is hidden, though it sits open to plain sight once one has walked deep enough amongst the rampant plants and vines. Nature here is vibrant, powerful, and healing.
Narrator: One of many unknowingly awakened by the call of Yzzayt, Zota finds herself initially exiting a cave on a small island off the cost of Aephix. Her mixture of white and lilac scales having seen the sun for the first time in centuries. She yawns deeply, huffing it out. Without particularly knowing why, she finds herself drawn to the mainland proper. Driven only by her instinct, she takes what little sustenance the island can offer her before she sets flight over the ocean to the west. Once on the mainland, she hunts what she can for food, settling down for the odd nap and sleep amongst the trees. After a couple of days following her calling, she finds Respite on the horizon.
Narrator: She doesn't dare approach yet, instead scouring the perimeter for a suitable place to settle down. She's sensitive to the flow and nature surrounding Zayzzes' cave, though isn't particularly conscious or sure of why. It just seems good. She spends some time searching, until she finds Zazzyes' cave, entering it with her latest kill intending on sleeping the night there. She walks down the cave on all fours, bloodied deer carried in her mouth. The White and Lilac Dragon is long, lithe, and muscular. She stops in her tracks when she spots Zayzzes.
Zayzzes witnessed the storm, emerging from his cave for the first time when he felt the disturbance caused by Yzzayt, and watched his god's anger descend upon Aephix. He knew exactly for Yzzayt's awakening would presage... he had no future sight or prophecy, only... only an utter certainty that his people would now need to change. The storm he feared would wash Respite away had instead, in all likelihood, wiped clean his own people. Now, we let his sorrow fall upon the Flow here, where once he had tried to poison the land. He weeps for his people, for his home. He glances up without fear when the strange new creature approaches. "Have you come to kill me, then? A phantom, spirit of Yzzayt? Come to set punishment upon your most hated of children at last?"
Zota drops the deer, hunching down defensively at Zayzzes. Upon realizing that Zayzzes isn't really moving, she approaches him slowly and cautiously, like any curious animal might. At any of Zayzzes' slightest movements or twitches, she backs up a pace or two suddenly, arcing her tail, though soon relaxes again and continues to press. She does this until she's practically able to touch Zayzzes, then starts to circle around him without fear. Finally, she sits down on her hind legs before Zayzzes, lifting her front half up to idly rest the ends of her front hands on the ground like a dog might, holding herself up proudly. "Kill you? Not threat. Who is Yzzayt? Punishment?" She questions.
Zayzzes does not move, he has already accepted the inevitability of his own death at this point. Still, this is curious. He raises an eyebrow at the... beast? Its voice surprises him. "...you are correct. I mean you no harm, nor could I even I truly wished to. ...Yzzayt is... was my god. The thunder who slept beneath the mountain that was my home. His awakening heralded not our ascendance, but our destruction. I have been denied seeing my home and my people in their final hour. I may well be the last of my people..."
Zota: "Hm." Zota hums, "Sounds complicated. Not care. Cave mine." Zota affirms, turning to grab the deer in her mouth to move it before her, unceremoniously eating it.
Zayzzes sighs, "And what of you, hm? Is this all you wish? This cave? Food?"
Zota tears some of the flesh from the deer, sitting up proudly while she chews and eventually swallows it. "Yes. Long sleep. Wake recently. Came here."
Zayzzes hums, "And why come here? To this cave? Do you intend harm to those within the Walled City?"
Zota: "Not know. Seemed right." Zota replies. She's not consciously aware of what brought her here. "Saw City. No harm."
Zayzzes nods, relaxing slightly. "This is good..." He watched the creature eat in silence for a moment. "I am Zayzzes."
Zota bends down to continue ripping and snapping at the deer. Once addressed, "I Zota." She speaks.
Zayzzes: "Zota. A strong name." He thinks for a moment. "Your cave. Do you desire me to leave? I have stayed here long, this place soothes me... but if it is my time to move on, I will not fight you."
Zota pauses at the question, "Did. Not sure now."
Zayzzes hums. "I shall respect your decision." He reaches a hand out towards the floor of the cave, "Nature's flow is strong here. But I can serve it wherever I go."
Zota: "Feel. . .Comfortable." Zota replies. "Nature's flow?"
Zayzzes pours forth some of his power into the ground, encouraging a root to rise up out of the ground sprout before him. "Nature's flow. The power or... 'magic' that balances life, growth, death. The flow concentrates here, but it is everywhere."
Zota tilts her head at the sprout at first, then haunches down and leans her head in close to sniff at the sprout, poking it with her nose a couple of times. Then, she eats the sprout. "Hm." She contemplates while eating it, swallowing and returning to her proud sit. "Yes. Maybe what I felt. Interesting."
Zayzzes chuckles softly, "Perhaps that is unsurprising. Many hear the flow's call. Few listen."
Zota: "Not all I felt. Walled City, you call it? Must go there. You take?" Zota asks.
Zayzzes hesistates a moment. "They call it Respite Falls, though my people called it the Walled City." He looks down at the ground once again. "Though they will not welcome me, I will do this, if you desire."
Zota nods, unconcerned with why Zayzzes isn't welcome there, just that she's being taken there. "Yes. Very grateful." She pushes the deer over to Zayzzes. "Share food. Show gratefulness."
Zayzzes bows his head, "My people do not eat meat, but your offer honors me, Zota."
Zota: "Hm." Zota hums in response, sliding the deer back. Her posture changes some, seeming offended by the rejection, though doesn't verbally affirm it. She bows down to continue eating.
Zayzzes is wise enough to take note of this, and likewise not address it directly, "You may find that those in Respite are people of many new and different customs. They are a very diverse group, and I have only met two of them."
Zota: "Respite. People, Diverse. Hm." Zota echoes. "New, yes. Long sleep. Very long."
Zayzzes nods, "There is much new for us both to discover there, you from your long sleep, and I from my people's isolation."
Zota doesn't reply, continuing to eat. When she's finished, she pushes the deer carcass to the edge of the cave, then approaches Zayzzes again, circling around him as before. Then, she curls up around him, laying down with a grumbling but satisfied huff.
Zayzzes leans back against Zota, though not too deeply. He lets this new creature rest, contemplating fate. It is certain to him that the Flow brought Zota to here, to him, but for what purpose? When he came here he struggled at the decrees of three masters, but now, only one. And the Flow had given him a task. He would do what he could.