The spirit, for lack of information, regarding their words quietly.
As Zaofan once more reaffirmed who they were, guests, the figure tilted her head.....and though the cook could not see it through the visible blur that came with her ethereal form, he could sense something akin to growing happiness. The being suddenly glided forward, emitting an child-like cry, and wrapped its ethereal arms around Zaofan. There was a tingling sensation...but beyond that he could feel the mass no more then if a regular child were hugging him.
"Finally someone is here!" The ghost cried softly. "Its been so long.....Its been so long....Thank you....Thank you...."
Slowly, through his senses and skill, Ochazuke began to unravel something of the being that was now attached at Zaofans hip.A slow, soft feeling fell upon Shochu's shoulder, and quickly grew quite warm upon contact.
Apparently, Zaofan needed to get a grip on something.
"Sh-she's looking at me," Zaofan said, a high, strained whisper peeking through lips pressed in an awkward, thin smile.
Adjacent to the two, heavy footsteps pressed forward, crunching through the snow.
"We're headed to the mountain," Ochazuke said curtly.
"I think she can hear you, Ocha." He looked over his shoulder at the martial chef. His eyes caught the light of Erosa's fire for a moment before they moved back to the shimmer woman amid the ruins.
"We're headed to the mountain," he repeated, "because there is a matter of great peril we must attend to. But if these are your lands, surely you must understand."
As he spoke, his subtle sense brushed against her very form, as he attempted to discern her nature with Kyokushin Keihatsu. This etheric body...is there a connection with what lies beneath?
The newcomer, Shochu, seemed to have her bearings about her. Perhaps she too can see a little more than is apparent. And Zaofan, though he shivered like the last leaves on the balding trees, he knew would continue to press forward if it came down to it.
"And surely we have not been the only travelers to come through here."
It was a ghost, there was no proper ki in her being. Rather....she was formed more from coalesced magic. The same sort found to a much greater effect in Erosa. Etrina had referred to it on countless occasions...magic that could bind conceptual beings into physical manifestations. The being before them was a Familiar, or at least shared something in common with familiars....only a mage would know for sure.
She shared nothing in common with the energies that flowed around her...no the corruption in the grounds, which seemed to make her something of an oddity.
Clearly this fact has not been lost to Erosa...but the Id was somewhat preoccupied with throwing territorial glares and hissing at the ghost to comment.
"Going to the mountain? But you just got here." The ghost looked to him now, arms still around Zaofan. "Stay awhile....oh dear the place is such a mess.....Hang on."
The girl releases Zaofan, floats back, extends her arms and briefly channels some sort of spell before.....something quite bizarre takes place.
Firstly Ochazuke, who had been observing via his senses, felt an extraordinary amount of magic suddenly spill forth from the girls form.
Secondly, Zaofan, Shōchū, Ochazuke and Erosa would all be momentarily blinded by the intense light of as etherial light similar to her own filled in the space around them...filling in the gaps in the wall, forming complex shapes and finally taking on contextual shape.
"Ok...much better." The ghost clapped her ethereal hands. "These old places are never in a condition to receive guests......eehh." The ghost quickly realized the place where the group had started their fire had been directly under the original position of the table and quickly banished it with a hand wave. "Welcome to Avalon, Honored guests. I'm Morgan."