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Rishi	The Azure Dragon is a well kept and busy teahouse. The light woods and tasteful blue accents give the open dining area a very airy feeling, contrasting with the private rooms in the back, which seem to be repurposed storage rooms instead of traditional dining areas. However, that sense of privacy they offer appeals to some and has given the place a slight reputation amongst "certain people." Having Hired the room, Rishi drinks her blueberry tea and looks across the lamplit table at the others.
Neza	A quiet place. An out of the way place. One with a private local to sit and to enjoy a warm drink in privacy. Neza retains her hat, beaded veil, and the long body hiding cloak even as she kneels and makes herself comfortable. A sweet honey tea is ordered, and she resembles quite well a coat rack with her hat, cloak and overall shape. "I do not think I've been here," she admits, "But the two of you trust this place's privacy?"
Winds and Dreams	"Trust is a strong word, but inasmuch as I might trust anything else here," says Winds with a faint shrug, head shaking as she speaks. She sits back against one of the walls, and a savvy eye might notice her fingertips gently touching said wall at almost all times. Not that she's not on guard at other times, really. She sweeps her eyes from one of the two to the other, exhaling slowly. "So. I suppose there is a proverbial yeddim in the room."
Rishi	Rishi tilts her head, then shrugs. "If you trust her Winds, then so do I." And Rishi stands and stretches, her leather cloak flinging back . The lamplight lends this a creepy tone, as her body changes, her legs and feet lengthening and becoming didigrade, her tail snaking free and her flung back cloak revealing itself to be batlike wings. She smiles, her now pointed ears quivering, as she waves to Neza. "It is nice to properly meet you.
Neza	A movement under the cloak. Neza leans back when she sees the change under the low lamplight. It is, in a way, more proof of trust in the nature of this place than any vouching. Neza's hat moves. She looks over toward Winds and Dreams. The beads rattle when she follows to look toward Rishi again. "Properly," she says with a quiet sadness. "Is this something you are familiar with as well?" she asks Winds, hesitance in her voice, uncertainty, but curious.
Winds and Dreams	"I won't claim to be much of a similar person to Rishi, but I'm fully aware and have my own oddities," says Winds simply, crossing one ankle over the other as she leans back in her seat. "One doesn't gain the aid of a creature like Asena without a few tricks up their sleeve. And- well. You might have seen me catching scent of something before sight or sound once or twice."
Rishi	Rishi has stretched and, looks much more relaxed as she resumes her seat and takes another few sips of tea. "Ahhhh.... And I am a very experienced healer." She turns to look at Neza, her head tilted and hair flowing oddly over her wings. "If you are sick or injured I may be of help."
Neza	A small humming sound comes from underneath Neza's veil. "I see," she speaks quietly. She pulls her hands from under the cloak. Thin fingers, long, bearing significant claws and a pale ashen pelt reach out to gran the front and rear brim of her wind hat. "Then perhaps it is time to remove this." The hat comes away, Neza sets it aside before looking up at the two other women with clear uncertainty and caution on an inhuman face. Elongated and narrow, the face of a rodentine beastwoman looks back. Large eyes and fine features, long ears, inhuman and framed by the pale misty grey hair that matches the fur on her. "Healer or not, this is the work of the fair folk and I'm afraid it is a wound that I will bear for my mistakes."
Winds and Dreams	A dry comment from Winds; "Note that you're speaking to two people who become animals on a semi-regular basis. No disrespect to your story behind it, but bearing the countenance of beastfolk is not going to especially jar us." She shrugs slightly, pushing from her seat to stand and tilt her head side to side, stretching her neck. "Though given the tenor of this conversation I take it there is more to it than this."
Rishi	Rishi tilts her head again, studying Neza before giving her a wide, somewhat fanged, smile. "Very cute! You have crafted your form nicely! .....Or......Ah! You do not wish this form? You feel it does not fit you?" Rishi approaches and holds out her hand. "May I touch you? I wish to examine this magic."
Neza	Neza's hand goes up and she pulls back from Rishi. "No! Please!" she winces, leaning back on her calves enough for the fine whip of a tail she also bears to stiffen enough to move the back end of the cloak. "It may not jar either of you, but the same cannot be said of most of the Realm, and especially trade towns," she speaks with a slight harsh chiding. "You cannot trust humanity with itself when they see you are not." She calms herself and closes her eyes with a large, expressive exhale. "I did not craft this. Nor did I always appear like this," she explains. "My old family. The people that raised me. We were known as the Red Scarves. A Mercenary company that ran along the rivers and served as the sword for any merchant with the custom to keep us. I was talented, moreso than most, but I was foolish. I believed I could take on anything." Her eyes close, her head lowers, nose ducking behind her high collar. "I, as you see before you, am all that survived. Nothing but a mouse reminded of how small she was compared to the power of the Fair."
Winds and Dreams	Her tones still dry, Winds points out; "Most people would scream anathema when confronted with Rishi and I. Any talk of stances on beastfolk- whatever they may be this far East- is not exactly what I was alluding to." She draws her sword reverse-handed, tossing it towards Neza such that it might land harmlessly at her feet- though if caught, it proves exceedingly heavier than its size would suggest, and the 'steel' has a certain fluidity to it. "Tell me, do you know what that is?"
Rishi	Rishi nods, then, after the sword is tossed over, moves to hunker down next to Neza, her legs smoothly bending in ways that make it look like she has too many knees. "I must put on my human face to come to this city and my homeland treats all who look as we do as slaves. As Winds says, those with the Dragon's Blood and their Pure Way servants hunt us. I know some of what you face, though my discomfort must be less than yours, as I may hide more easily." % She listens to Neza's tale, then, looks down, and says "....And was the Fair one correct? Are you a mouse that must suffer in their grip? Or will you accept a hand offering assistance"
Neza	"It appears to be a sword," Neza answers directly. "But I was never an armorer. I'm afraid you will have to be more direct." A look toward Rishi and she nods. "I cannot do what you can do. It is more difficult to hide myself and I have to take pains for it. But I've been able to, for now. Inevitably, someone will see, then I will move on." She reaches for her tea to sip gently, the tip of her nose twitching as she sniffs it. "I saw everyone I know reduced to nothing. Death was for the lucky ones. I am aware I cannot charge everything anymore. And I do not wish for anyone to suffer following me."
Winds and Dreams	"Nevermind then," muses Winds, taking the couple of steps over to side the tip of her boot under the blade and flick it into the air, catching and sheathing it before returning to her seat. She crosses one ankle over the other again, arms crossing as she watches the ensuing conversation, taking the figurative step back for the time being.
Rishi	Rishi nods, thoughtful. "I see. You are scared. And the Fair Ones do deserve such fear. Yes. It is likely safest to live in shame and fear for the rest of your days." She nods twice, clearly resolute. And then an empty silver ring appears on Rishi's forehead and her face pulls back into a feral grimace as her hand snaps out to tug on the woman's ear, pinching it tightly. "If I beileved that, I would be dead many times over! Living a fake life is not living at all! It was given to me by the charge of the Changing Lady to help people become themselves! I will not see someone refuse this quest!" She's actually kind of terrifying looking right now. This might be the first time Winds has seen her be visibly angry.
Neza	Neza's eyes close at the accusations. "I am not frightened. It is not shame to know your limita. . ." Cut off by the sudden grip, there is a change in the kneeling woman. Her eyes flash open. Her clawed hand flies from under her cloak. In a burst of sunlight a spear is held, point aiming up toward Rishi's kidney. And shining like the morning after an endless dark night, a gold ring and eight radial bars glows over Neza's forehead. The fury in the eyes of the woman nearly matching the brightness of her caste. "Do. Not. Touch. Me." she seethes through gritted teeth.
Rishi	Rishi releases her grip and backs away, still angry. "Ah, you have bite. Good. Turn that upon those who cursed you! You do NOT have to Live like this!"
Neza	Neza's eyes narrow as she looks up at Rishi. "Do you think I hide because of vanity?" she asks, incredulous. "Do you think I am ashamed of myself because I have this face? These claws?" She sets the spear down beside herself to remove the clasp of her cloak. Dropping the garment, she shows her breastplate and the clothing underneath, and the scarlet cloth at her neck. "I am shamed because this mark made me foolish. I lead my people to their deaths because I thought this power made me invincible." Neza exhales. "I was taught otherwise. And that lesson has made it hard to live as a mercenary. But I have adapted. Do you think so little of me that you think I'm that vain?"
Rishi	"Vanity!" Rishi shrieks "You think this?" she waves a hand across her body. "Is simple Vanity! This is who I AM! If your body is not truthful! It is not you! It is a bad thing, a wrongness! It is my holy calling to fix these things! You are not You!"
Neza	Neza inhales, closing her eyes. "Is a scar not the mark of a warrior's lessons?" she asks firmly. "I am who I am not based upon how I look. To run from that is cowardly. My face does not take from my abilities. These claws can still hold a spear. I may still dance." Her eyes open and she looks up at Rishi. "I will not take a coward's way for the sake of vanity. Where is the woman who fawned over my appearance before learning it was wound? I ask you to show some respect for my past and to those I failed."
Winds and Dreams	it's at this point that Winds finally stands up- and a solid silver circle blazes onto her brow as her sword comes out again. "I think that is -thoroughly- enough," she says sharply, orange, predatory eyes narrowing. "This is a foolish thing to fight over, this petty difference in visual feelings. I would suggest you take some time, calm your auras, and take a breath."
Rishi	Rishi is about to say something, but at Wind's comment, she takes a moment, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, drawing herself up, then says, "I am a healer. I fix wounds." She turns a stern look back toward Winds "and this is not a foolish or petty thing. I was trapped in a body I did not like, twice over. The Changing Lady freed me and bade me free others. It is a holy calling." She carefully inhales, then exhales, before resuming her quiet smile. "However, one cannot talk a rat from a prison of their own making. And changing someone's body in ways they do not want is a sin. a perversion. Unholy. Even if could simply ...dismiss your curse, doing it without your will would be an equal wrongness. I am sorry for angering you. I hope that, if you do wish for healing in the future, that you will allow me to help you."
Neza	Neza touches her spear, in a slip of light, it banishes to beyond. The breastplate does a good deal of hiding the rapid rising and falling of her breast with each heavy breath. "We are all anathema to the dragons. And we all wear a beast's face," she says, standing up to her full height and drawing her cloak around her shoulders and neck. "Your apology is accepted. And you've both shown me you should be capable of seeing to the trouble in the ruin. I will speak well on your behalf, Rishi," she says with an earnest bow of her head and a genuine smile.
Winds and Dreams	"The foolishness comes in you forgetting your own very next point," snipes Winds, tone icy and a little condescending, to be frank. Maaaaaybe slightly hypocritical, honestly. "So caught up in your fervor you dug deep at something before knowing if it was welcome." She looks over to Neza then, exhaling slowly. "But then, I suppose I too am being heated. So my apologies for that." Her sword goes away again, then.
Rishi	Rishi nods and says "...Yes. I am occasionally too eager to help. I apologize for this too. Thank you for agreeing to speak well of me." She looks Neza in the eyes "....My healing is not all powerful. But, you will have ALL of my skill and might on this trip. I am not a fighter, but I do have protections. I will reverse all such harm as I am able to and will not rest until all are recovered. That is my vow to you, upon my Oath to the Changing Lady, that I will Heal."