Rin and Zane

[Andre]

" Why.. I don't know ! " the man suddenly blinks in surprise.. " I knew my name just a few seconds ago..... damn name, always seems to be flying away from me. My hat too.. I came up here looking for it.. I figured if there was some place my hat was hiding it would probably be high up in the mountains.. I'll find that son of a bitch yet ! " The old man declares indignantly, rotating his head left and right presumably in search for his hat.. which is perched quite squarely on top of his head.

" Anyways what did I walk up here to tell you? Oh yes.... " The doddering old man look fades away for a moment.... the lunatic looks deathly serious for a moment as he grips Zane's arm tightly " This is a pivotal moment for young Rin .... he needs to learn that there are GOOD people in the world Zane Castor... even if he's too young to remember his mother will tell him stories of the strange human who helped Rin and Vesalun in their time of need despite the fact he'd never met either kenku before in his life.... the story will stay with baby Rin.... and he'll grow up to be a man different from the rest of his kin....

" She's not herself right now, to put it mildly, so she's not going to tell you that she needs your help.. but she DOES.... do your father proud young Castor.... stay with them a while...."

The old man winks at Zane then turns and starts wandering around the countryside again shouting at the top of his lungs " COME HERE YOU SON OF A BITCH I KNOW YOU'RE OUT HERE ! THINK YOU CAN HIDE FROM ME ? I OWN YOU ! " An odd situation - most people don't assume items of clothing are sentient beings.

[blahness98]

((Yep.. Fizban is crazy as ever..))

Zane briefly thought to let the old man know that his hat was on his head, but something told him that might be a dangerous thing to do, given how he was already ranting and raving a little bit. Listening to what the old man said however, something caught his attention.

"Wait.. how do you know my name? Who are you?" Confused, Zane watched the old man walk away appearing to not have heard a word that he had just said. 'I was going to stay for a little bit anyway. I feel a little responsible for what happened to Rin's dad,' Zane thought to himself. Poking his head back into the house to check on Rin and Vesalun and seeing them both still on the floor of the kitchen, Zane decided to take a chance and hunt for some food for the three of them.

In the half hour that he was gone, Zane did manage to scare up some food for the three of them. Not his best effort by any means, but he was rushed as he was worried about the pair of birds back at their house. Not that it really mattered much, as they both were still on the kitchen floor, Rin looked a bit annoyed at being forced to be in his mother's arms for that long. After cleaning the few rabbits that he managed to kill, Zane walked over to Vesalun and carefully stood her up and walked he into a nearby chair. "Do mind if I take Rin for a moment? I will be right there in the kitchen with him. He looks pretty hungry. Do you like rabbit Rin?"

[darkalloy]

Rin tilts his head in his normal bird like manner looking at Zane.

"'Do you like Rabbit?"'

He repeats back to in Zane's voice.

[Andre]

(you guys go ahead and RP this out I don't want to interrupt - strange as this sounds however I'm going to flash-forward this a bit given Zane meets the PC's again in the "present time " of the campaign next week Tues which is coming up fast ... still if you like go ahead and post a reply back to Rin re: the rabbit first Zane on your reply below )

A week flashes by before Zane even realizes it.. slowly, certainly, Vesalun regains her senses, comes back to reality... though there's a haunted look about her that wasn't there before. Vesalun taps Zane from behind on his shoulder.. " Thank you human --- ZANE, thank you Zane. I'm here now " a bitter note creeps into Vesalun's voice. " Thank you for taking care of my boy.. for hunting for us, keeping us fed... but I can take it from here."

Vesalun sits down on a chair, her gaze far away and distance. " Do you believe in karma Zane? I never used to until now.

" My husband." Vesalun seems to choke on the words, grief twisting her face... it vanishes replaced by a more firm look as she continues in a more resolute tone. " My husband told you that the activities of the kenku are .. not entirely wholesome. But I don't think he told you the whole story.

" We're slavers Zane. We specialize in capturing people, breaking their wills and spirits and selling them for maximum profit. THAT'S what my people do.

" Among the kenku I'm one of the best in the field .

" Maybe that's what drew me to Rin's father. We all need a counterbalance, someone who complements the other half of our personality, who has the traits that we ourselves are missing. Aintak was more of a warrior , the "muscle" in our organization so to speak.. but he never loved what we did for a living , you could tell.. normally the other kenku would drive someone that weak out of our flock.. out of respect for me they didn't. I LOVED my husband Zane, I loved that innocence in him.

" And now that innocence has been taken from me. I never stopped to think about WHO I was enslaving before Zane, if they had thoughts, feelings.. at the end of the day it was about profit and making sure my needs --- and more importantly my family's needs were met first." For the first time in a week a small smile seems to enter her voice as she looks fondly at baby Rin, too caught up in playing with the wooden toy Zane had carved for him to overhear Rin's words.

" And then one of the very same kind of people I would hunt and capture for a living.. a human of all things... steps in when I'm at my weakest and takes over for me, takes care of my BOY "... Vesalun's voice trembles with emotion.... gratefulness to Zane, grief .... " And now I'm without my beloved Aintak...forever. My son will grow up without a father.

" So now I'm a believer in karma. I separated families Zane, I split husband aside from wife, parents aside from children - whatever got me and my fellow kenku the most coin. And look where it got me. My husband murdered by another kenku ... the only race I saw as being worthwhile up until now, the race that murdered MY HUSBAND ! ... and despite that there's you... swooping in and saving the day in your own way... "

Vesalun, astonishingly given her earlier hostility only 7 days, suddenly embraces Zane tightly... " You're a good man Zane... thank you for ... ENLIGHTENING me if that's the word for it. I don't think I'm going to have a taste for the slave trade very much longer. My boy will grow up knowing something different than the family business. And " Veslaun looks Zane straight in the eye, Veslaun's own eyes wet with unshed tears " He'll grow up knowing all about you Zane ... and how you were here for us when we needed you.

" Go now Zane . Sooner or later the other kenku are going to show up looking for me... you don't want to be here when they do. Know that you have my thanks and heartfelt gratitude.. call on me if you feel the need and I will try to repay this debt to you however I can."

[blahness98]

Zane listens as Vesalun talks, somewhat relieved that she has somewhat come back to her senses. She still did look bad, but Zane did believe that she could handle being on her own. "Thank you for telling me about your race and your past," Zane replied when the woman paused. "Your husband did not tell me everything you just did. I am just glad that I could help. Though, you will probably still have your hands full taking care of Rin."

Zane glanced over at Rin, "I don't think that even if he didn't know about me, something tells me that he would have grown up being different like your husband. He has a special gift, and hopefully he is able to use it one day." Zane walks over to Rin, ruffles his feathered head before gathering several items from around the kitchen. "You should have enough meat for a few days before you will have to get more. Here," Zane hands over several stalks of the sweet plant that Rin likes so much, "in case he gets completely out of control." Smiling, Zane walked towards the door, opens it and walks through. "Hopefully we will meet again, under better circumstances."

[Andre]

" Not sure what would bring my boy and a man searching for dragons back together again " replies Vesalun " But you're welcome in our house anytime Zane... THANK YOU " she says the words with great emphasis...

(Rin if you like you can give Zane a final goodbye here and I'll wrap up this thread )

[darkalloy]

Rin giggles when Zane ruffles his feather but just sits there playing with the wooden horse, after all Zane has gone hunting many times. Rin is none the wiser that he is actually leaving.

"Rabbit!"

Rin says looking back to Zane as he steps out the door.

[Andre]

(Great RP'ing as always folks

Rin, Zane each get 50 XP and 70 RP )