(Untitled)

[az_from_the_oz]

There came a time when people needed to face their fears. Azkadellia was aware of that and after almost two months on the island she had finally decided to return to the place where she had arrived. The caves.

She had quite liked exploring them back in the O.Z. with DG (never going too far in and always remembering the way home, of course), but the

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[lifeisa_test]

Going in much the same direction along the pathway was what appeared to be a small pile of orangish clothes. Or, rather, it would have looked like that if it had not had antennae, and a cup of hot tea clamped firmly in its pincers.

Now that Zoing knew his way around, Gil had taken to sending him out for tea while he occupied himself with other things, and Zoing wanted nothing more than to prove his trust well-founded.

[az_from_the_oz]

That certainly had to be one of the stranger things Azkadellia had seen since her arrival on the island. But she had grown up accustomed to the O.Z.'s own particular brand of out of the ordinary and seeing the small creature with the tea made her both homesick and intensely curious.

Naturally she began following it up the path without a second thought. "Hello there. Where are you going?"

[lifeisa_test]

Insofar as it was possible to discern expression on the single eye that could be seen between the hat and coat, Zoing seemed pleased at being addressed directly. No one here seemed to have much experience of constructs, and they all addressed their questions about him to his master.

"Meka tee!" he trilled.

[az_from_the_oz]

Az could see that it had made tea (and assumed that was what it had said it was doing), but decided not to mention it. She didn't want to be rude, even to a... a thing of some sort. So she just kept following it instead, wanting to find out more. "Really? Do you mind if I follow?"

[lifeisa_test]

Taking an interest! Zoing was liking the girl more and more. "Mk eek!" he chirruped encouragingly, and half-turned to see if she actually was following.

[az_from_the_oz]

Indeed Az was following, stepping daintily around rocks and sticks in the path and smiling encouraginly down at the small unknown thing. "My name is Azkadellia. What's your's?"

[lifeisa_test]

That, at least, was a word he could definitely produce- Gil had named him after his first experimental noises. "Zoing! Zk-dee?" he tried. At least it sounded to him like the name she'd given.

[az_from_the_oz]

Az nodded. "Yes. Zoing is a very nice name, I think. Did you choose it?" They walked by a bush covered in flowers and Az quickly picked some to put in her hair later.

[lifeisa_test]

Zoing paused a moment- the question was a bit complicated for him, and he wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Eek," he said eventually, and started walking again.

[az_from_the_oz]

"Oh." Azkadellia nodded as though she understood perfectly and continued following Zoing. After a moment she dropped one of the flowers onto his hat with a slight giggle. "I think it suits you."

[lifeisa_test]

"Zk zk," chirped the construct, clearly pleased.

As they walked on, the air started to feel drier and a bit... crackly. Muffled swearing drifted out of a nearby hut. "Squee," Zoing declared, antennae twitching. "Seekl!"

The voice from inside went quiet a moment, then called "Zoing? Are you back?"

[az_from_the_oz]

Azkadellia stopped when she heard the voice call out. She had been fine following it up until now, but this new person might not appreciate her curiosity quite as much.

[lifeisa_test]

"Ah, good," said Gil, poking his head out the door. He saw the girl immediately, recognized the not-quite-guilty-but-not-comfortable-either stance from his own childhood, and smiled in amusement. "I don't shoot trespassers or anything," he said. Zoing's new flower matched the ones in her hand, too. "I see you've met my friend."

[az_from_the_oz]

"Zoing? Yes, I have." Az stood there for a moment longer, then came closer. "Is he yours? He's quite nice." She looked down at the small thing again, then back up at the man. "I'm Azkadellia."

[lifeisa_test]

"Huh. I think I've met a few friends of yours," he said noncommittally, as he reached down to accept the cup of tea from Zoing. "I'm Gil. Zoing here is my creation from back home."

[az_from_the_oz]

"Does he only know how to make tea?" Azkadellia would have felt quite sorry for Zoing if that was all he knew how to do. She imagined the whole thing would get boring rather quickly.