#anywhere

"That pooka was adorable... See? We're villians now. Happy?"

"Ethics are subjective when your belly is empty!" THe right says

"And the pooka might have been adorable, but I bet he was even tastier than he was cute" Right adds

"Ah, but are you subscribing to Aristotelean or Deontological systems?"

"Oooo she's educated, and not in that 'I know three Koans and am there forewise' way" Left head says

"I don't give a damn, this isn't a university and I'm hungry" The Right says "And so are you, we share the same belly"

She looks at left. "And thus, you would be complicit, benefitting from my murder."

"Ye gads!" Left says appalled "I think she's right"

"no, I'm Right" the right head says "You're an idiot. Can't you see she's trying to save her skin? "

"Don't call me an idot, who got that goat caught in their throat?"

But Zara.. is gone!

"I was starving! Like I am now"

"Oh so now you're going to get someone with a NAME stuck in your throat.. brilliant!"

"I don't care she has a name and she doesn't have horns " and then "SHit, she's gone! You moron!"

"Glutton!"

"Wimp!"

"Brute!"

...and Zara makes her way on up knowing which area to stealth or veil through next time

Oh indeed!

She travels on up when she sees... chimerical snow

and a riddle forms

the flakes spell out "Names give power, Magic to control. But what is broken, by naming it?"

"Silence." She whispers.

And the snow flurries ahead of her, turning left at a fork of three.. guiding her!

"Thank you." She follows. Manners matter.

They actually slow their pace

And allow her to keep up. They come to a yurt. It's not a fancy yurt, and easy to miss, but there it is. A yurt

"Hello?" She ventures.

"No one here but us mad hermits"

A voice calls out

"Perfect. I have brought tea, which seeks water to steep. May I find it here?"

"I have yak's milk.. and snow. Snow can be water. If it chooses too. I can talk it into it? "

"I have never tried yak's milk. Would it be good in tea?"

"It can be bitter.. much like an ex lover" Heh "When you live alone your jokes are always funny" The door has yet to open

"In truth, I have only ever had one. I cannot speak to it. May I join you?"

"Come in, avoid the bottomless pit of doom"

Zara enters. "Thank you for the hospitality."

THe mad hermit looks like one might expect, in mortal guise.

But to fae eyes , he's much taller.. and rather fluffy!

"So, what wisdom.." His eyes go wide as he sees Zara, this decaying figure who like him is tied to the dreaming

"Namas..." Eyes widen as she takes him in, and sparkle with delight. "-te!"

"Ghost girl!" he falls back in a panic "It is not my time. This life is not over! Begone, ghost girl. Take another! "

"I shall not harm you. I have accepted your hospitality, it would be poor manners."

Easily troll big, he clucthes a hand over his heart "You are not here to punish me for my sins, to walk my soul to the next turn of the wheel?"

"I am here for tea and conversation."

"Well, then, we shall see if you like it with Yak's milk." And it turns out, he knows how to prepare tea... "Namaste, forgive my fears, but we Yeti's can be a shy lot and do not handle surprises well"

"I have never met a Yeti." She offers out a sachet from her pack - it is fragrant, well-cured black tea. One of her favorites.

There is enough there for many bowls, not just this batch.