Tales of Norbul: The Foreign Traveler

A traveler has come to the shore of an foreign land. He has traveled across many seas and walked many roads. Just to find a place he can settle in peace.

He finds a river in a forest far inland with a mountain on the short walk from there. He decides to set a camp here. Perhaps this is the spot he has been looking for.

Then he hears something coming from the bushes. He readies his knife and readies himself. Then he sees a horned woman coming from the bushes with a sword on her hip. She starts to speak to him in a language he doesn't understand

- "Who are you? What is your purpose here."

- What? I don't understand.

The woman thinks for a moment.

- "You don't speak dialon, huh."

She thinks for a moment.

- Do... you... understand... me now?

- Yes. I do.

- Then, who is... you? What is... the purpose... you here?

The man lowers his knife.

- What's my purpose? Well, I'm just looking for a place to settle. As for who I am. Well... let's go with Shade for now.

- Settle... Shade... I see, then... you are... here to... not make... harm?

- Cause harm? No, I'm just here to set my camp and settle down. I don't plan to cause any trouble.

- Don't plan... I see... Don't look like... A liar... I keep... eye on you... for now. If planning to stay much... then ready to... give... money.

- Money, why?

- I am a... lord of this... land. So... I get money from... people... from time to time. ... Name is Amirasha.

- Oh so you are the lord. I apologize for my intrusion to your land. I will give you compensation from time to time during my stay. I will call you Mira for short.

- Intru-sion? ... Com-pen-sation?... Don't understand. But understand your... willingness. But Mira... I let you... use that.

- May I ask what the lord of this land is doing in the forest?

- What doing? I... on... walk and... felt... someone... near.

- Oh, I see then don't mind me and go enjoy your walk.

- Mind? What does... mind... have to do... with. Forget... I now return... to... village nearby. Be careful... with the others. Most don't speak... this talk.

- I understand. I've had some meetings with other locals here. But I will manage. Safe travels

- Lo-cal?... Ma-na-ge?... I see. Will leave now.

Then Mira leaves Shade to himself.

Shade prepares to make his camp while Mira goes back to her house. When she is back home, she informs her attendant Aisha, a white winged beast folk, about the meeting she had.

- "I met a human stranger out in the woods who doesn't speak dialon. I don't know if we can trust him. Keep an eye on him for now. And if he does anything suspicious, inform me about it."

- "As you wish. Were you okay with talking with him? I know your common is a bit rusty."

- "I think I managed to get myself across."

- "Well, good thing we prepared for this then. If you need any help talking to him, then please ask me."

- "There were a couple of words that I didn't understand. Can you translate them for me?"

- "Certainly"

They talk about the translations Mira is unsure about.

- "Do you understand now?"

- "Yes I think I got it."

- "For now at least."

- "Aisha."

- "Yes?"

- "Keep your snarky comments for yourself."

- "As you wish, my lady. I will return to my duties. Oh, and you got some paperwork you need to sign."

- *sigh* "I get it. I will get it done."

And so Mira spent the rest of her day doing work. In the meantime, Shade got his camp set up and hunted his evening snack. A deer that will serve as his breakfast and dinner as well.

The next day, while he is fishing for his lunch, Shade is met by a couple of kids from the village nearby. Two boys and a girl. The wolf tailed boy starts talking to him.

- "Haven't seen you around here. What's your name?"

Shade looked at the kid and said slowly.

- I don't speak your language.

The kids look confused. Fox tailed boy says.

- "What did he say?"

The wolf tailed boy asks again slowly.

- "What is your name?"

Shade shakes his head. The fox tailed boy says.

- "What's his deal?"

The girl with a fox tail says.

- "I don't think he understands us. Maybe it's another language."

Fox tailed boy:

- "Well he doesn't have a tail, horns or wings, so maybe he isn't from here."

Then Shade interrupts them and waves at them. Then he points at himself and says.

- Shade. I'm Shade.

Girl says.

- "I think his name is Shade."

Then the girl points at herself.

- Yui.

Then she points at the fox tailed boy and says.

- Yun

Then the wolf tailed boy realizes what's going on and points at himself.

- "Name is Kai. Kai."

Shade nods and repeats their names while pointing at them.

- Yui, Yun and Kai.

The kids smile and start talking to themselves. Meanwhile Shade starts drawing in sand with a stick.

Kai: "We got to tell him our names. Now what?"

Yun: "I think we should go, we aren't supposed to be this far in the forest anyways."

Kai: "My pops won't mind. Don't know about your parents."

Yui: "I think they would get a bit mad if they knew. But I'm more interested in this Shade right now. I wonder where he's from."

Yun: "Sis. I don't think we should be here much longer then."

Shade taps Kai's shoulder and points at the picture he just drew on the sand.

Yun: "What is that?"

Yui: "It looks like some kind of map."

Shade points with the stick at what looked like an island. He then points down to the ground with his finger. Then he draws a line to an island and widens his hands, points at the island and then points at himself.

Kai: "What did he just do?"

Yun: "I think he tried to communicate with us."

Kai: "I got that much! What I mean is what he meant."

The kids think for a while.

Yui: "I think that he tried to tell us how far away he has come from."

Kai: "How did you figure that?"

Yui: "The island he first pointed at was our island by the way he pointed at the ground. Then he drew a line and widened his hands indicating that is the way he came from and that it is from far away. Then he pointed at an island and then himself, meaning that he comes from there."

Yun: "You got all that from that?"

Yui: "I just think that is the best answer."

Then Kai's stomach grumbles.

Kai: "I think it's time to head back."

Shade then taps at Kai's shoulder and shows that he is fishing. He also points at other fishing rods he had made earlier.

Kai: "Does he mean that he wants us to fish with him?"

Yui: "I think he does."

Kai: "Heck yeah I want to fish. I let you know my grandpa comes from a fishing village."

Yui: "I only see three fishing rods. Maybe one of us can wait for the others."

Yun: "I'm fine, thanks. Feel free to fish without me."

Then Kai, Yui and Shade began fishing together. An hour has passed and they got themselves enough fish for all. Then Shade starts a fire and starts cooking them with some of the plants and mushrooms he had found and puts them in a pot with water. He made sure before that they were safe to eat.

Kai: "I can't believe I only got one."

Yun: "Look at the bright side. You at least got one."

Kai: "Well I wanted to get at least more than Yui. But she ended up getting three."

Yui: "Well Shade got five, so I aren't the best of us."

Kai: "You are the best among us kids."

The kids start playing tag with each other while waiting for the food to get ready. Then Shade gets their attention and the kids get to eating the soup.

Yui: "Delicious!"

Yun: "It's not as good as mom makes, but it's good."

Kai: "My dad makes better food in his restaurant, but this is good at least."

Shade sees all of the kids smiling as they eat and then takes his first bite as well. After they have eaten, the kids decide to head back home. Then Shade starts to make some runes for keeping the food fresh to eat later.

He also has noticed that he was being watched but he didn't care. Later he put the pot near the person watching him with some eating utensils. The person watching him understood that Shade knew about them, so they decided to dig in while still hiding.

Shade guessed that they had their pride, so he didn't expect that they actually would eat it. He wasn't surprised that he was being watched as he was a stranger from afar.

The rest of the day went uneventfully and Shade got a good night's sleep in his tent. The next day he was woken up by Mira who came to see him.

- Shade... awake!?

- Am now. What do you need?

- Came to... understand more... what you... were doing.

- So what do you want to know?

- These... drawings on... rocks. What are they?

- They are runes for many purposes. Such as keeping the food edible for longer, making sure animals don't come eating them by erasing their smells and making sure animals don't come attack me at all. Which begs the question, how did you get inside?

- Runes? What are they?

- We have to start from there, huh. *sigh* They are spells that are put into an object to do something. Understand?

- Y... Yes... Spells on... Objects? What is an object?

- You know, a thing that you can possibly grab. Or something.

- I see. Then... Era-sing? What is that?

- Making something disappear. Anything else, my lord?

- Nothing else. And... I just don't... know all words... so... needed to... ask.

- Okay then, I understand. Then let's get back to my question. How did you get past my runes?

- I just... walked... Felt... uneasy for... moment, but... just kept walking. Also, I not animal.

- It's just supposed to repel any unwanted visitors. I have confidence in my rune making, so you really are someone powerful.

- Confidence?... No matter. I am lord of land so... must be powerful.

- I see. Confidence means having faith in your abilities.

- Faith... I see. Then... how you can make... runes? Why are you... able to do?

- I was trained to be a shaman. Meaning I was meant to know a lot of magical stuff compared to a normal person in the area. Runes, curses, healing, I got some knowledge on all of these and more. I was briefly a student of a druid, so I also know some other magic as well.

- Healing... Curses... So... sha-man is mage?

- Of sort, yes.

- Hhm, you also... felt... a person watching you... I understand.

- Yes, I was trained to detect such a thing from a young age.

- I see. Well, I still keep eye on you. That all today.

- Okay. See you later.

- Oh... reminded me... one watching you... thanked the meal you... gave.

- Pleasure.

- Pleasure? No matter. Later.

- Later.

And so went the day with nothing more eventful happening.