Arrow Lake why you rolling waves over me now, that's all i need dreaming

he was such a scrawny thing to be favored by the taotaomona. then again, qiao had found more powerful things in lesser objects. she thought of the chipmunk's skull, alive with the malicious chittering of an undone soul. this boy, however, was far from undone. the aura around him unnerved her.

she hid it well, while ephraim's tail and ears betrayed his stumbling recovery. qiao said nothing.

unwinding her way from the stone, qiao sought to face ephraim eye to eye. there was something about discourse on level ground. it pulled all pretense from the speaker, and entreated fellowship. "hm, you should trust nothing. not even what your eyes and nose insist are true. but i shall tell you this --"  qiao bent and placed her paw in the snow. around the imprint of her palm, she drew arcane figures with a single claw.

"if i had any design to hurt you, that taotaomona would drag me to the overworld with it. not even powerful talismans can banish them. they are tied to the souls they watch by powers outside of our world. the one upon you is particularly strong, hmm. there are two things i do not mess with: taotaomona, and moose." she offered a thin smile.

"you are either lucky, or very cursed. either way, you need to eat -- and i could use food too. my name is qiao. what is yours?"