15th of Saun 720
Zemos sat meditating in his own space in the run-down ramshackle lean-to that he laid up outside of town. The Egg had been mostly silent the past few trials, whereas the half-ghost, which made itself known at Motsi, wouldn't be quiet. It insisted on pushing him out of Viden soon.
"It will soon get cold, Z" Came the oddly familiar voice of that monkey gnat that had taken to following him. It'd attached itself to him, some time out of Anther Ettyn, and become more of a presence in recent days. Most of the time it didn't speak, at least not as much as the Egg, but it seemed to do so when it did with more purpose and an agenda. Whereas the Egg was an entity of compulsion.
The creature, spirit, or whatever it was, called Motzi, wished him to leave Viden before it got too cold. Oddly enough, he felt strangely compelled to follow its advice, remembering the chill of prior seasons. While he intended to be back sooner or later, there was something waiting for him out there, something he needed to find. It lay deep to the south, away from all of this ice and precious knowledge.
Motsi was circumspect about what Zemos could expect to find there. The half-ghost evaded his questions, like a gnat that refused to get pinned down or swatted, it flittered this way and that verbally. Zemos was stricken then with the overwhelming mystery of who he must be. Who he can be, and who he was destined to be. Philosophical musings weren't really his wheelhouse, or so he thought, but lately, he'd been given to thinking more about what lay beyond that White Void that had stolen his former life from him?
"There is a means of transport in the city of Sweet Drinks, it can take you straight to the source... From there, you may learn your heritage."
But then, Zemos had already made up his mind to follow the half-ghost whither it would lead him. He only had to send word to Sophia, that he'd be taking what she referred to as a 'gap arc' on his education. The message had been delivered, as far as he knew, and so he made ready to set off on the road south of Ettyn.
He sat up out of his lean-to and demolished the structure so that there wouldn't be as much of an identifiable trail to follow him by. So he began walking, on foot, south, and west on the road, toward those distant mountains. The swarms of bugs that had been infesting Viden seemed to swirl all around him, making him feel very much at home.
The Egg was uncharacteristically silent now, for much of the journey that took Zemos from the city of Ettyn to the roads that lead through the south pass of the mountains. He knew there were dangers there, and had plans to strike out from the road and into the tundra when the going got tough. There were more dangers than merely animals out there. There were wildmen, bandits, and other villains who would kill him as soon as look at him. He had to be cautious.
He walked for breaks on the road until he heard a high-pitched yowling off toward the west. He glanced in that direction, and finally, the egg spoke, "We know that voice. A guest of Mother's house, chance to be trapped?!"
Zemos didn't know what to make of the egg's judgment but followed along nonetheless. He struck off into the untrod path and followed the sounds of the yowling. Perhaps he could make a thrall of whatever it was if it died.
"And what if it doesn't die... Surely it will feel indebted to us should we release it from whatever danger it's gotten into." Zemos nodded at Motsi. He had good ideas most of the time, and that surely tracked. But wild beasts were not half-ghosts, and couldn't always be reasoned with, especially by one not experienced in their handling.
There, in a clearing in the tundra woodlands, he found a large cat-like creature caught in a small fox-trap. The teeth of it were digging into its paw, threatening to sever the limb. The cat yowled at the skies as it attempted to find a way out of the trap. Interestingly, it slithered and tried manipulating the trap itself. Whereas most animals would try to gnaw off their own leg to escape a trap, this one interacts with the trap itself. A sure sign of intelligence.
Zemos held his hands up, close to his chest as he approached the animal. To his surprise, it spoke to him, "Begone, human! This hide is not yours to claim!" It spoke Xanthean!
"You speak!" Zemos exclaimed, throwing his hands wide. "You speak the tongue! My tongue!"
"Grrr... Yes, Xanthean... Grrlrl..." The Auri looked like it was fighting the urge to gnaw its own leg off then, but it kept its composure.
Zemos approached it swiftly and thinking it wouldn't attack since it was intelligent. He was correct, it didn't attack, but did recoil from his approach. "Calm, I can help!" Zemos said simply, and then began taking the teeth of the fox trap in his hands. With all his power and strength, he pried it open. At first it didn't budge, locked in as it was. He had to push a pedal on the bottom to release it, which he did with his foot while the hands attempted to pry it open.
With one final push as he released the mechanism that would allow it to open, he pried it off the Auri. The creature, far from grateful, used its newfound freedom to announce its name, "I am Akoko! No human shall call themselves my master, again!" And with that, he swiped Zemos across his chest, leaving three cat-claw marks on his chest beneath his roughspun outfit.
Zemos fell back, stricken by the sharpness of the feline's claws. Once he rolled backward a few meters, the Auri began bounding toward him. He shielded himself with his arms, but instead of killing him, it jumped over his body and was off into the wilderness. He watched it go, two-tails, horns, and all. Surely this creature's being here, in the far north was a sign of some kind? "Guests in Mother's house guests in Mother's house guests in Mother's house..." The egg insisted.
Zemos gasped, clutching the wound and rubbing it furiously to try and clot the blood. Yet it would not staunch the flow, he'd cut rather deep. At least he would be protected by his immunity to infection. But blood loss was still a factor. The Yithnai crawled along the forest floor, gathering up branches and twigs and leaves, trying to find enough material to make a lean-to to hide beneath. Once he had the materials, he began building it.
A break or so later, a pale Zemos had his lean-to. But something was troubling his body. Deep within himself, he felt a sudden awakening. The egg began speaking to him, "Now we show you the chrysalis, the blessed silk bed of Yithnai!"
Without warning, the Egg prompted Zemos to vomit up a white substance, all over his lean-to. He couldn't stop, even if he wanted to try, and ended up wrapping himself up in the comforting embrace of the insectoid chrysalis. The silken shell wrapped all around him and then adhered to all the corners of his makeshift shelter. There, he lay until the morning, content to go to sleep in this protective shell of silken fibers. It was unnaturally warm, keeping him safe and secure and undetected by any intruders beneath his lean-to.
He slept deeply that night, and dreamed of a promised land beyond the terrible White Void that had consumed half of his life's memories.
He thought of the Auri, and how it'd forced him to make this cocoon in order to heal and protect himself. He was indebted to the creature, just as surely as it owed its freedom to him. He would see that favor repaid someday, though he would bear the feline-claw marks on his chest for a good while.
Slowly, however, he drifted off into dreamless sleep in the wraps of his silken cocoon. The body began repairing itself in that wrap until morning came when Zemos would tear free of the shell of silk.
