Long Time, No See|Flux

[Kender Bard]

"That can happen," Wisdom murmured as soothingly as he could, stroking Master's head softly. "I'm not entirely sure where Fiest went off to. If you like, though, we can go bother the Curious to find out." He glanced at the Curious with them, but she shook her head and shrugged.

[Darastrix]

Master sighed and nodded. "I'd rather know when he's coming back, but I'll take whatever they've got."

[Kender Bard]

"Come along then," Wisdom urged Master, taking his hand and tugging gently before heading off to the Curious wing, his Generous-Curious companion running ahead to tell everyone. By the time Wisdom actually got there, the place was in a general tizzy (of course, it always was anyway) and several flocked around their guests, chattering away with a million questions.

Wisdom smiled and let the sound wash over him, most of it not even reaching his ears. "Hello all," he said, and handed a random wooden trinket from his pocket to the Curious closest to him.

[Darastrix]

The priest accepted the bauble with a smile and tucked it into his robe. "Who'd you bring with you, Wisdom?" he asked, peering at Master. "And what path are you? What temple did you come from? Have you ever been to Flux before?"

"I should say so," Master replied, looking faintly amused. "I was born and got my training here. I'm Master Bates, one of the Lustful."

A priestess tittered at his name.

"Bates? Are you related to Fiest and Imobel? Did you know their mom di--ow!" The priest rubbed the back of his head and pouted at the priestess who'd smacked him.

"Ah...yes and yes," Master said, his smile dimming. "She was my mom, too."

[Kender Bard]

Wisdom gave a small frown at the Curious currently flapping his gums at Master. "I didn't bring him here to get interrogated... this time. We need information first; where did Fiest go? And when will he be back?"

[Darastrix]

The Curious opened his mouth, as though to answer, then stopped and looked back at his pathmates. "Where did Fiest go?"

"He left to find some of his family," one priestess, a Curious-Lustful, spoke up from the back of the crowd. "He missed everyone a lot after Jackie died."

"So...anywhere?" another said with an apologetic shrug.

"I think one of them actually settled somewhere...Khelek! A Wrathful set down there, 'cause all they had were Proud, a Sloth, and Greedy. No Lustful, no Wrathful, no Generous, no Curious!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Nuh-uh. She wrote and asked a bunch of people to visit and have a temple party once, remember? There was a Curious there then."

"Oh yeah...."

"That's Shard," Master put in before they could go on more. "And the Curious is Khelek's princess." He started to add that he'd met her and the prince in Anarlina, then realised he'd likely get bombarded with more questions.

"Oh, right!" the first priestess exclaimed. "So, I don't know for sure, but since he knows she's there, he probably went to Khelek."

"Do you know when he's coming back?" Master asked, his expression hopeful.

"He did say not to look for him before Sinfest," she said. "So it sounds like he's planning to come back after that."

Master sighed. Sinfest was a ways away. "Thanks," he murmured.

"Now can we interrogate him?" one of the others asked Wisdom.

[Kender Bard]

"No," Wisdom said, holding up a finger. "Me first." He slung an arm around Master consolingly. "Are you planning on staying here and waiting for him... Or would you like to get to Khelek? You know, there's a number of Minds here who wouldn't mind taking you. Or if you don't mind the travel time, there's a whole lot more priests who would keep you company on the trip over there."

"Can I come?" a little child acolyte asked, grinning from where she sat on a rug. "Please?"

"See?" Wisdom laughed.

[Darastrix]

Master smiled a little and nuzzled at Wisdom's shoulder. "I'll wait here for him; I miss being in Flux. And while I'm here, I can send out a few letters of my own and see if I can't get the rest of them to come."

[Kender Bard]

"Not a bad idea," Wisdom agreed. "All right then. Why don't you stay with us a bit longer and then you can head on over to the Lustful wing. I'm sure they'll all want to say hello to you too."

[Darastrix]

"And I'd like to say hello to them," Master said with a smile as he thought of being drawn into a crowd of his pathmates. "What's been happening the past few years? What've I missed?"

[Kender Bard]

"Well, Soahc came to visit that one time," Wisdom remarked. "Annd... the Proud nearly tried to kill us all, so I hear, or we almost tried to kill them? I'm not sure, Prophet would know more. Oh that reminds me, he's the high priest now. Before that was Tiger. She's a Coward. And before her was Fiest actually."

[Darastrix]

"Wish I'd been around to see that," Master said. "I've been here and there and everywhere, but I think Anarlina was the most interesting place. The high priestess' pretty little bird didn't know anything about sex, and her lover'd just left when they couldn't figure things out, so naturally, she came to us. I give her a night of pleasant education, and the next day, her bird stomps into the wing, all pissed off. One of the Wrathful took the fight out of him pretty quick."

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Stupid man, it was for his benefit. But the next thing you know, she's quit the priesthood and left to be a maid in some noble's house. Then a while after that, turns out she's pregnant and either of us could be the father, so I hung around to see which."

[Kender Bard]

The Curious, who had fallen quiet during the story, now clamored almost in unison. "Then what happened?! Then what?! Who's was it? Tell us!"

Wisdom chuckled, wondering if Master had deliberately baited the Curious like that.

[Darastrix]

Master, who'd paused for dramatic effect, looked a little startled at the response. He'd nearly forgotten what wing he was in during the telling. "It was mine," he told them. "A son. That's really all I know. They weren't keeping him; they gave him away to a pretty bird Clear and her lover."

[Kender Bard]

"Oh, well, congratulations, I guess," Wisdom remarked. Most of the Curious seemed somewhat relieved or satisfied that they'd been given their answer. A Curious-Lust had even given a sigh that sounded vaguely like a moan.

One Curious tilted her head. "Don't you wonder about him now?"