[center][h3][color=Slategray][b]G O H[/b][/color][/h3]
[sup]Interacting with: Eventually, Nibiria [@Enkryption]
[h3]Heading to Nibby's Cottage [color=a9a9a9]||[/color] Wandering [color=a9a9a9]||[/color] Neighborly Concern [/h3][/sup][/center]

As his students scampered down the village thoroughfare, Goh folded his fishing pole and used a familiar, slightly curved piece of wood from his belt to steady his walk. He didn't really have any limps or old injuries, but it helped when he got tired out...and, truth be told, it just felt proper for a man his age to have a "cane," after all. The little ones' parents and neighbors were no doubt among the various little groups that gathered around the market stalls, so as long as he kept a sharp ear out he had little fear that they'd get themselves into too much trouble. Even Eric had learned quite quickly that if he was going to commit some mischief, he'd best not let the elder find out about it.

But, Goh himself had little need at the moment. He did not often buy the fancy spices or unusual delicacies brought to market--he preferred the simplicity and ease of plain rice, meat, and home-grown vegetables to the wistful treats and cakes the children were so fond of. He could find someone in the village to repair his clothes easily enough, or do a passable job himself, and cared little for fashion. Thus, neither did bolts of colorful cloth or the pleasurable feel of far-away silks hold any interest for him. All in all, Market Day was really more about wandering, watching, and listening for him...and he noticed a few things here and there.

It looked like Boro, the librarian, had decided to bring his precious tomes outside. That was good---people really didn't appreciate how lucky they were to have such a collection, this far away from a major city! Goh had never even seen books growing up, and even if he had, he wouldn't have been allowed inside some place as grand as a library. Such things were reserved for---

[i]Let's not remember these things.[/i]

It was enough to know that the library was a great boon, and that the people of Hearth should appreciate it more.

Goh continued wandering aimlessly. He also noticed the...scarecrow...with a wheelbarrow full of what he could only imagine were the creature's attempts at gardening. If critters like Wormwood struck Goh as odd, and that strange creature William sometimes talked about as suspicious, then the word he would use for the scarecrow was perhaps...[i]unnerving.[/i] The old man folded his arms behind his back, letting his cane trail above the ground, and passed on. 

Speaking of Wormwood, the little lizard-thing was splashing around on the riverbank, either playing or trying to catch his dinner. Goh started to head that way--before he saw the enormous figure of Ingrid rise up out of the water like one of the fabled monsters of his distant homeland. Had...had she fallen into the river? No, wait. She took her duties as village guard [i]very[/i] seriously...perhaps she'd been waiting, the whole time, under the water's surface in case any shifty-eyed n'er'do'well tried to make off with the village's fish! Ah, poor Wormwood, then. But she probably wouldn't be too hard on him. Goh nodded to himself and continued his peaceful walk.

But of all the villagers he saw out and about, waving and exchanging pleasant greetings, there was another missing. Of course, it wasn't anything unusual for this particular person to be absent...and yet, a thought began to creep into Goh's hoary head. 

When he'd first come to this village, the people had been rightly suspicious. He hadn't been quite so old, then, but old enough that it struck folks as unusual for a man like him to be out and about; alone, homeless, wandering...and, perhaps, dangerous. It had taken a great deal of time...and a large amount of money, which he'd never told anyone how he attained...to get himself settled here. And it had taken longer for the villagers to accept him. Now, though, if he could be permitted to pat himself on the back somewhat, he felt that the villagers had come to like him. He'd made an effort, to behave the way he thought an old man in a foreign land should, and to speak kindly to those around him. He'd spent a lot of time with the children he'd taken under his wing, of course, and gotten to know their parents, and every so often he shared excess spoils from his snare traps or his little root cellar with the neighbors.

Nothing that could really make up for his past, perhaps, but...a start.

And yet, despite being of far more importance to the community than he, he'd noticed that the local doctor--or at least, one of the two people in town capable of brewing healing draughts, and able to set bones and do other things besides alchemy--was treated by the villagers with much the same air Goh himself felt towards the scarecrow. Maybe he was simply an old fool putting his nose in where it didn't belong, but he couldn't help wondering about it. And, after all...if he was making the effort to behave as a kindly hearted, wise and gentle old man should, then shouldn't he make this effort as well?

Thus his wanderings took him down the southern road, still waving and exchanging a few pleasantries with the peddling carts still trickling into town. His "cane" saw more use by the time he passed what passed for a "lookout," Ingrid's usual place of business, but he still moved with remarkable ease for an old man. As he left the road and headed into the gentle, grassy pastures, he enjoyed the warmth of the sun sinking into his dark coat. A gentle breeze rustled the grass in waves around him. He spared a glance for the skies, marveling in their blue, curving vastness. A pang of regret pinched Goh's heart---why had it taken him so many years to appreciate peace like this, in such a humble place? He sighed, as he came to the edge of the forest, and a humble cottage set on its doorstep.

Goh stopped. He looked down at his feet, and followed...something...with his eyes. Then, picking up one foot very carefully and unusually high, he stepped over the...something...and with equal care brought his other foot along. As he continued towards the cottage, he took in a quiet breath through his nose, and then his weight shifted.

A sweeping, crescent shaped step. Not fast, not slow. The weight of the foot focused along the edge of the whole extremity, not in the front or in the heel. His mass, distributed evenly. Knees bending, just enough to blur the moment between the rise and fall of each step. His voluminous clothing, and the slight breeze, gave him the appearance of a spirit that floated above the ground, rather than walked on it. And thus was the sound of his coming silenced.

[quote=Nibiria]“I guess, he's out and about,” Nibiria says, fetching her can, and summoning a rain cloud inside it to produce water infinitely. Dragging on her pipe, she hummed merrily, as she watered her plants; listening to their appreciation for her attendance.[/quote]As the woman rounded one row to begin on another, a puff from her pipe trailed behind her. Goh lifted a hand to wave it away without rustling the sleeve of his garments. Then, politely, he put the same hand over his mouth and coughed to announce his presence.

"Good morning, Doctor." He smiled at her without showing his teeth, folding his hands behind his back again. "Did you know? It's Market Day."
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[hider=Skills and Actions]
"...so as long as he kept a sharp ear out he had little fear that they'd get themselves into too much trouble."
>Passive: Dangersense - Protect Ward

"Goh continued wandering aimlessly."
>Wayfaring: Plains

"And thus was the sound of his coming silenced."
>Sneak
[/hider]