A Sheltered Forge [Santa, Uma]

Santa paused for a moment and had a brief moment of whiplash as she was given a rather brief description of the big ox woman! Before she knew it they had moved onto the next portion of the guide, and so Santa fell a bit silent, nodding along as she glanced to the house of the healer, and once again, that same woman Ulv came up, and the Arrancar began to .... shift a bit uncomfortably as they went on. Following dutifully elong as she allowed ma to continue with her tour, this time simply paying a bit more attention rather than speaking up. Or ... at least trying to do so.

It seemed that this Ulv woman had something to do with just about every corner of this place. And as Santa allowed Uma to finish her tour, she couldn't help the sentiment that had started to bleed into her thoughts in the sharp shape of worry. As the pair of them continued making their way through the city, Santa foud her toughts growing....distracted, and it would only be once that tour had reached it's end that she found herself speaking up.

"Uma..... you mention Ulv quite a lot. It seems like you remember just about everything she ever did almost." She pointed out, her voice was soft, almost a bit troubled as she looked up to the large woman. A question gnawing at her thoughts, but first she waned to probe just a bit more.

The Ox King

King Uma

Uma noticed that Santa was growing distracted, and so it was a short tour, only pointing out the local hotdog stand and her own food place, the Yak Shack. Eventually, Santa would put voice to the concern, and get a moo from Uma.

"Ohh, by Shaka, no. She was about six hundred when she died, moo. And we've known her maybe eight or nine years. We remember only what she has done with us. From the start, as Mirja seeking solace from her own raging mind in the peace of the Tao, up until the day she died as Ulv. The woman embodied the Golden Age reborn, both in her glorious actions, and in that we don't know 90% of what they got up to. One's Civilian - or, None-Wulin - Life is of no concern nor interest to us"

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Santa paused as they arrived at seemingly their final destination, surveying the shack before casting a glance over her shoulder to listen as Uma gave her response, and an assurance that caught the woman a little off guard, only to realize her worry had likely shown on her face. A soft smile rested across her lips, reminded of how, perhaps, transparernt her expressions could be.

”I see. Thank you, Its rather nice to hear that. If you don’t mind me asking, what are you? Your soul seems…. Different.” she ventured as she took a moment to really look at the woman, looking them over from top to bottom to reaffirm what her pesquisa and small little glances had told her previously. Beyond just her looks, Uma seemed unique in the scent of her soul. And that sparked a bit of interest and curiosity from the arrancar, particularly the horns! After all, Santa herself had a small pair of reduced horns on her own head. But Uma’s didn’t seem to be mask fragments.

The Ox King

King Uma

"Aha, moo! You must mean the size of me. This is thanks to the Tao, moo" Uma would reply, heading over to a nearby sandpit and taking a heavy seat, before starting to draw in it.

"The world has a lot of energy, moo. Reishi, which is the energy of Spirits, and Kishi, which is for want of a better moo, the energy of Man. Some animals are born with the ability to feel this Kishi, and draw it into themselves, growing faster, stronger, smarter and more aware. Eventually, we can detect metaphysical currents we call Dragon Lines, moo. These are where Kishi flows the thickest, and bathing in this energy can help up develop our power to a point we undergo Man-Beast Metamorphosis. Turning from full animal, to half animal, half human, moo.

I am Uma, I was born a Yak. And upon Metamorph, I was named the Ox King"

Uma would finish the drawing and look back to Santa with a big smile.

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Santa was a bit surprised that the woman promptly transitioned into such an in depth and…. Strange explanation. Though she herself had never dabbled in this sort of thing some small vestige of memory prickled a but as she stared at the drawing and mentally chewed through the explanation. She nodded along and felt something of a fuzz as her brain struggled to identify just what was wrong. But ultimately she offered a smile and just nodded along. Such things had always been Ajora’s wheelhouse, not her own.

”Oh. Uhm… I don’t think I’ve ever heard of something like that. And you used to be a Yak, and now they call you an Ox?” She ventured, taking a seat across from the woman as she was, if nothing else, briefly distracted from her woes. Smiling just a little and finding it a bit funny that they had given the woman such a title. But then again Humans always had funny ways of naming things. It wouldn’t surprise her.

Santa blinked a few times and brightened at the explanation. ” I suppose that makes sense. And do you… get along with people here?” she ventured. On one hand this place seemed welcoming enough. But also not moments before she HAD seen the woman breaking up a street fight it stood to reason that there might still be the inherent differences and aversions. In her experience the races trnded to stay together and even in inclusive circles like the vandenreich there was still some… what had Ajora called it…. Tribalism that was built in.

Not to mention she was big! Santa was all too familiar with how a bit of height could spook some people.

Santa paused for a moment at that explanation. Which certainly was insightul. But also a little… vague. And she did feel a bit of concern at that. Of course Uma noted that there were troubles but she didn’t even really seem to think about it when Santa asked the question, or go into her own personal experiences. But perhaps the woman simply didn’t think about that sort of thing. Or laybe she wasn’t confortabl talking about it. And so she decided not to pry.

”Ah I see. Well hopefully its not too bad. Id hate to think people were treating you poorly. Though I guess its kinda common for non humans. Still at least you have your own space. What do you do for fun?” she ventured, that warm smill budding again as she veered from the somewhat dreary topic of discrimination.