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Stepping carefully amid the windswept brush, Shai balanced the tightly woven basket against one hip...eyes on the tangled ground that offered no true path. Elle had mentioned that it would be dangerous, especially alone, but the warning was a gentle one. The walk would be good for him, and the joy of a rainless evening had yet to lose its charm.

The reminder made him smile, bright against sundark skin. This land was old, healthy...the dark sky was clear of cloud and curse. Night meant little to him, wrapped in his corona of luminous glow, and solitude was an old friend. Adjusting the basket, careful not to snag his gilded robes, Shai pushed up the last of the rise.

Lavender trimmed the slight ridge, softening it with sweet nodding heads. The smell clung to him, warm and light, as he pushed through it...over the rise, and down towards the lake. It was beautiful, just as Elle had promised. A spot of moonlight shone almost perfectly in the center, a rippling spotlight on a glassy and unobtainable stage. Pausing for a moment, taking a breath, Shai's smile deepened at the corners.

Perfect. Despite the hours spent walking, he was glad he came. Only the wind seemed sad, a light keen of regret washing over the moors. As the faint wail ended, Shai paused...smile vanishing with parted lips and wide, glowing eyes. The wind had ended where it met the water, with a splash and disturbance upon the shore. Last he checked, the wind kept to the sky, and the water to the lake...

Brows knitting under spunglass hair, Shai took one step forward, and then another. Elle's warning walked with him, silent and insistent. Shai pushed them aside and called out softly, a children's rhyme in his own ancient tongue.

"-One for the sky,
Two for the rain,
Three for laughter
and four for pain~"

Though he half hoped for the answering call, Shai knew there would be none. He missed little Gera's voice suddenly, and folded one hand over his stomach in memory. At least the sad wind had fallen silent, and he continued his path to the shore.

Shock jolted through him at the screech, and Shai dropped his basket as he froze. It sounded for all the world like an animal, hurt and trapped at the water's edge. The thrashing only confirmed what he feared, and Shai left the basket as he pushed forward in concern.

He could see the disturbed ripples now, edged with golden light in the shallows of the lake. Hurrying forward, prepared to jump into the frigid waters if need be, Shai reeled suddenly backwards as a figure burst forth in a cacophany of shrieks.

Demon?! He thought, and the thought stilled him somewhat. Evil held no sway over him.

Woman? Came the second thought, at the shapely silhouette, and this time he hesitated.

Both. At this conclusion, Shai swallowed uncertainly, and slowly spread his hands in a peaceful gesture.

He was up to his ankles in the cold waters, arms open, and more than a little confused. The lake spirit seemed angry, furious, and he spoke quickly to calm it. Her.

"No...no harm. Sorry. I..." His vocabulary was failing him, accent heavy as he jumbled his words. Focusing for a moment, letting his hands fall, Shai took a step back. Maybe Elle had been right. This was a dangerous place.

The shards of the Tzohar raised slowly, fanning evenly up and out. As the light dispersed, the shadows receded...illuminating the shore with a more gentle light. Shining baubles spun gracefully at the ends of their tethers, casting brighter motes of light across the water's surface.

"Okay?" He asked tentatively, worry writ in the corners of his bright eyes. The worry was replaced by easy kindness as he took a closer look at the young woman, struggling in the shallows. "Need...out?" He offered one hand slowly, a sheepish smile settling in place of the shock. He had only been startled, not scared...if she was a demon, the Almighty would watch over him, as He always had.

Shai accepted her hand, holding him self steady against the pull. His eyes were still wide, despite his offer, irises drowned by the light that seemed to push forth. The lake seemed to protest her exit, water sloughing and weeds pulling as though the separation was painful.

"Per...vit?"As they slogged back a step, onto shore proper, Shai finally took a look at the creature he'd fished from the lake. Her eyes were huge, captivating...luminous yellow, as though they held a light of their own. Strands of dark hair were plastered to her cheeks, twining like shadowed creepers across skin much lighter than his own.

For a moment, he simply stood, watching her drip. He certainly didn't know the word ********, but cold was on his list, and hearing it startled the youth into movement. Of course she was cold...the lake was freezing! Unclasping his cloak, kaleidoscope colors shifting in gentle waves of blue and midnight purple, Shai offered it to her with an easy smile.

"Sorry." He nodded once in apology, cloak still extended. "I am Shai." Pausing, running over her accusations in his mind, Shai tilted his head in consideration. "Shai Adi! Of...Fa'e, not of b*****d."

Did demons know of the Fa'e? Surely that was what she had to be...she even had pale horns, flattened against her skull! Blinking as one flicked, Shai gasped, cloak still offered as he leaned forward to stare. Those weren't horns, they were ears! -"Katul!"- He whispered in his old tongue, shocked and delighted.

"You are welcome." Nodding as she wrapped herself in the color changing cloak, Shai watched silently as she stood. The girl, the Fa'e, looked so small...cold and miserable as her face screwed into tears.

He was still standing quietly, sad for her sadness, as she turned to walk away. To hear the word katul upon her lips, however disdainfully spoken, drove a bit of the sadness away. She said it almost perfectly!

"Yes! Ah..." There was no real time to explain, she was off again, this time in a language he'd never heard. It was pretty, in its own way, deep and powerful, with fluid undertones between words...but the meaning was lost.

Tilting his head, Shai simply shrugged...laughing a bit at his own confusion. "Sorry. Stay, warm...yes, Katul?" Surely it was a dangerous idea to step back into the winds, still so wet and cold! Ah, but she reminded him of the solitary cats that used to prowl the shattered docks, wet and matted and utterly dignified. He used to leave out fish skins for them with Gera...they'd wait for hours trying to tempt one close enough to pet...

Smiling at the memory, Shai patted his pockets, looking for something he'd almost forgotten. Finally he found what he was searching for, and lifted it to the light. An old wooden comb, with thick teeth, fine and straight. It was one of the only things he'd brought from his home, where wood had been as rare as sun.

"Fix? All wet..." Ah, but it was difficult sometimes, speaking in a language so jumbled! Perhaps it was his fault that she was so distraught, and that idea sat very poorly with Shai. He wanted to tell her to sit, rest a while...he could catch some fish, as he'd come to do, and they could share them together! He wanted to ask why she was crying, why she was running, but none of the words were there.

Instead, he offered the comb with both hands, and tried to make out her expression, at the edge of his circle of light. "Katul, don't go..."

Still holding the comb in one hand, Shai found himself looking down at the top of Keir's head. He wasn't very tall, but she didn't seem to be either...this close, he could see her ears clearly. And her tail, for that matter...lashing for a moment as though it wished to yank free.

He wasn't sure about most of her rant, but the words katul and fix seemed clear enough. Relief washed through him with her sharp command. She wasn't going to run! She probably wouldn't stay long, though...standing, dripping wet, didn't exactly look comfortable.

Pausing for a moment to reach back for the basket, Shai dumped his assorted gear into a pile on the trampled underbrush. It wasn't the hooks or line he was after, though, but the basket itself. When turned upside down, it made a fine seat...one he offered willingly to Keir.

Guiding her down, if she allowed it, Shai thought on her words. Neither her temper nor her vile vocabulary seemed to deter him. "Katul? Hmm..." He didn't know the word in this language, it seemed...but he did know the noise when Aki called one? He started the comb at the bottom, tugging at the snarls with a sure and gentle hand, as he thought. "Kikiki? Little. Careful." He didn't know much about cats, he supposed. The Temple never officially acknowledged them, even if the fisherfolk thought them fair luck.

'But...not wet. Sorry." Smiling at his own attempt at a joke, Shai smoothed the comb a bit higher, one hand lightly between her shoulder blades. It certainly put him at ease, having something helpful to do. Combing the hair of a stranger by a lake didn't feel strange at all. It was the tone in her voice that caused him concern...that constant, edgy balance between anger and tears.

"Child? Second chance...is fortunate." He rather liked that word. "Second isn't last." Shai's voice was warm and low, with a tone that spoke of wisdom. In truth, it was probably just confidence...both in the Almighty, and in the fact his vocabulary was stronger here. His lessons were paying off!

"Not last!" He agreed enthusiastically, bringing the comb down for another slow pull. "Um..." Shai wanted very much to explain himself, but communication was difficult. He recognized the sarcastic tones she used, some things were universal, but he certainly didn't begrudge his new companion her attitude. He was also aware, on some level, that he probably sounded like a simpleton. It simply didn't bother him.

Thinking back on the words she had used, Shai fit them as best he could to his answer. "You have got...screwed up?" Shrugging, the shards tinkling lightly, Shai let the blame roll away. "Okay. Second isn't last. Try again!" Stated so simply, Shai made it sound easy. To him, it was. He was glad to share what measure of grace he could with Keir...a grace that he knew was unshakably extended to every last one of them. All she had to do was accept it.

By the time he'd brought down the comb again, he'd learned her name...and the word he'd been searching for. "Cat! Katul, ha! Cat Fa'e!" The revelation was joyous, and the smile echoed in his voice. How very similar the words seemed to be! Apparently that was not the only thing they shared...Shai's gentle strokes stilled as Keir extended her hand.

The light that rose from it was breathtaking, twining and streaking as though it longed for the heavens. Beautiful to the eye, but the shards of the Tzohar swung discordantly. This magic was new, the light strange...

...and Keir's next words explained exactly why. An old sadness creeped into the corners of his eyes, drawing his brows close in worry. A witch. That word, everyone knew.

The comb dropped to the bank, forgotten for a moment. Shai settled to the ground as well, kneeling at her feet silently. The moon settled behind her head in a perfect, celestial corona...throwing her features into a vivid wash of dark and light.

When he finally spoke, Shai's voice was low...heavy with sweet concern. He lifted one hand as though he wished to settle it upon her shoulder, but let it hover...a half offered reach. "Oh, Keir..." It had been such a simple admission from her, almost casually spoken. No wonder she seemed to be crumbling!

If he could lift the darkness from her with a single word, he would. Such things were not easily undone, however, and Shai let his hand drop back to his lap. The concern faded, replaced with gentle faith. "I will help, yes?" It wouldn't be easy, but in this world, all things were possible.

Shai rocked back a bit at her ranting, but his expression didn't sour. After all, Keir was in trouble, and it showed. He wasn't sure what the problem with her feline nature was...after all, he'd identified it pretty quickly...but they both knew that wasn't the subject at hand.

"Abuse?" A new word to Shai, and he said it tentatively. Shaking his head, either at the term or at her accusations, the young Fa'e ended up with a sweep of pale hair across his forehead. It made him look younger, and as honest as he was.

Clearing his throat, attempting to speak louder for Keir, Shai shook his head again. "I do not judge." There wasn't a speck of pride or haughtiness in his voice, just humble and well understood truth. He met Keir's eyes with no fear, and his smiles deepened with new fondness at the corners.

"But...you are...not happy." Understatement of the year, it seemed, but Shai didn't stress the point. "Saddening needs fixed." He'd shared that word with her before, fix. Remembering his comb, tht he'd fixed her hair with, Shai lifted it from the grass, and held it carefully upon his lap with both hands.

When he lifted his eyes back to Keir, they were brighter than they had been. The shards of the Tzohar drifted up and out, fanned again like the eyes of a peacock tail behind Shai Adi. Still kneeling, he took a long look at the angry, distraught, beautiful girl before him, and made a decision. It was rare to be needed, and as best he could tell, Keir needed. The very hope made him sway the slightest bit, hands tightening on the carved wood.

She was katul, and in any world, katul were the same. On one hand, they were fierce, independent, willful. But on the other...

"If you want...I will be there. To help. To comb!" His meaning was clear. Whatever she needed, Shai would do his best to provide. After all, that was the nature of a tool. "And if you don't want..." It was turning into quite a speech. Shai was glad the words came so easily. "Well. I will say goodbye, and wait to see you again. Yes, ka-...Keir?"