Tea for Two (Khrassvalen)

[Leila]

Timestamp: Summer 8, 513 AV Leila was looking through her orders that had come in lately, none of which were urgent. Flipping through them, she found one that interested her for the day. An elderly woman was having trouble with a lack of appetite and was wondering if Leila had anything that could help her stomach food. She also had nausea from time to time when she did try to eat. She couldn't stomach any pastes or salves, so she wanted it in tea form. Leila smiled, this would be challenging, but doable. She had several plants in mind, but only a couple on hand, so she'd have to go and gather more. She knew she had dried tea leaves from the low mountains nearby, and some chamomile, but those would be more for taste than what the woman needed. The first herb that came to mind was spotted thistle. A yellow flower that many considered a weed, looking similar to the dreaded dandelion. She knew the leaves would be the most helpful ingredient in this brew, but she wanted a few more, just to make it more potent. She pondered about clove, knowing it might help with the stomach issues, but it would taste so funky in the tea. But effectiveness beats out taste when it comes to her job. Although, if she could find some ripe cranberries, the juice from those would offset the taste, and they had similar properties. That settled it. She put the sign saying she was out on her door, grabbed her pack, saw Shaco sleeping in the yard, and left. She was humming a tune from her childhood as she made her way through the pass into the low foothills outside of the city. First things first, the spotted thistle. It would be copious here in the wilds, and she wanted to get a few full plants, as well as some harvested leaves. She knew they could grow in full or partial shade, so she just stepped off the beaten path, and strode right into the small woods there.

[Khrassvallen]

The untamed wilds outside Zeltiva would make for an acceptable hunting ground, when the rare days came that he wouldn't want to feast on another humanoid. Sometimes though, Khrassvallen truly missed the thick forests of Taldera. Perhaps if he wandered deeper into the mountains he could get that feeling his home gave him, but it was unlikely. The least he could do was enjoy the new scenery and the ever familiar hunt. Deer was on the menu. Nothing exotic, but they were very filling. There were several doe traveling with youngsters. No bucks that he'd seen, but he'd been back and out of the way to avoid getting spotted. Hadn't worked though, in a way. The wind had suddenly shifted and carried his scent upwind to the grazing animals. The smell of Dhani was unfamiliar to many creatures that roamed all over Mizahar. That in itself was usually enough to startle prey, which it did this time. Powerful instincts told them flight was the best reaction, and then they were off. Khrassvallen hissed angrily and rushed after them, crushing brush and fallen bits of limbs under his powerful tail. Though he was faster than a human, deer were swift beyond comparison. After several yards he slowed to a stop, realizing the futility of the chase. He would resort to tracking them down. It had rained the day before, leaving the ground moist. He'd gone hunting today just because of that. It made their tracks easier to distinguish, for the most part, but they did disappear on and off. He lowered himself down the ground, bracing his torso's weight with his arms. Carefully, he tasted the air with his tongue. The heat from their hooves left pockets of warmth in the damp ground, but the moisture was soaking that away rather quickly. He could notice at least that much. Not wanting to waste precious time, he set off, following the tracks when he could and then checking the ground for traces of heat when they stopped. Bits of hair stuck in some thorns where a doe had ran by, a low hanging branch freshly snapped and hanging for its life; these were some other indications of their direction. Alas, deer were fickle creatures. Once they had outrun him and left him nearly a mile behind, they had slowed their retreat. The tantalizing summer grasses growing in a small clearing were too sweet to turn away, and so they stopped to have their fill. After all, the mysterious beast who's scent they caught was nowhere in sight. And he wasn't, for a while. If it hadn't been for his enhanced senses and ability to read heat, he likely wouldn't have found them again. Not with his tracking skill alone, which was laughable at best. Humans in alleyways didn't need tracked, they needed clubbed. The only time he needed to really chase after something like this was when his prey had proper instincts. Khrassvallen rose high up onto his coiled tail and tasted the warm air, sniffing as well with his nose. He looked sharply to the left, in the direction their scent was being carried from on the small breeze. But there was something else, as well. Something from the opposite direction. He twisted around on his tail and breathed in the smell, tilting his head at the peculiar angle he favored. Human. What were the chances of that? He smiled unkindly, and his stomach growled. One of the other reasons he sometimes hunted away from cities was to keep suspicion at a minimum. But he hadn't even eaten someone in Zeltiva yet. This would be his first human in several weeks. His stomach rumbled in anticipation. Much better than deer. As quietly as he could manage with his heavy tail, he slithered toward the smell of human. It wasn't too far, not even a kilometer. Khrassvallen stayed lower the closer he got, creeping forward on his hands. Was this scent familiar, or was it deja vu? The human was just on the other side of the thick wall of wild cotoneaster. He even spotted the hint of a hand through the leaves. Thinking back, he carefully smelled the air again. Where was the smell from? Silently, Khrassvallen pushed himself just high enough to peek over the top of the bush. Not what I was expecting. Sheer surprise made him rise the rest of the way up, perching with his tail coiled underneath him. He tilted his head and leaned forward, grabbing two handfuls of leaves as if considering coming through to the other side. "Leila," he called, accidentally in Snake-tongue. He tried again in Common. "Leila?" Better. Her back was to him, and she gathering plants. He could tell, by the sound of them gently being pulled from where they grew. Khrassvallen wasn't good with plants, he just knew some distinctive trees and bushes, possibly a few flowers and herbs. Not enough to know any of their actual properties. This was the first time he had seen her since her grand opening, and he honestly hadn't expected to run into her again. Let alone in the woods. He only just barely remembered her name off the top of his head, because he'd heard it thrown around so much at her party. Though she was human, he was so surprised by the coincidence that he was actually going to make an effort to have a conversation.

[Leila]

Leila made her way through the small trees, doing her best to keep her dress from snagging on any bushes or branches. She kept her eyes low to the ground, searching for the telltale yellow flower. The ground was soft, damp, which would make transplanting the specimens into her pots a lot easier. She continued humming the tune, as she passed an immature blackberry vine, which she made a note of. If she had time later, she would try and come back and grab the fruit vine as well. In a city like Zeltiva, one did not waste the opportunity for food. But that wasn't her most pressing need at the moment, so she passed it by. She soon found herself breaking the bush line into a small clearing. A clearing dotted with yellow flowers. She smiled, maybe she'd gotten lucky. She moved further into the clearing, when she thought she heard her name whispered in the wind. She looked around, seeing nothing, figured she was just hearing things. She was in the wilds after all, who'd be calling her name? She looked back to the grass, seeing that all of the nearby flowers weren't in fact spotted thistle, but dandelions. She sighed, knowing she couldn't get lucky on her first break. But she had to be sure, so she began meticulously searching the weedy clearing for her desired plant. She found more dandelions, wild onions, clover, even a couple of wildflowers, but no thistle yet. She sighed, knelt down, then sat down, leaning backwards on her arms, while Syna's rays enveloped her. At least she could be outside again. She sat there just enjoying the feel, thinking of how well everything this season was going. She'd found it in herself to forgive Ricky, even became the godmother to his and Telion's child, her grand opening had turned out more successful than she could ever have expected, and she was thriving on her daily work. Then her thoughts turned to Castor, the cute bookkeeper she'd met at her party. She remembered his polite nature, his intelligence as he helped get her shop's paper work in order, that thick chest, friendly beard, and that infectious smile. She opened her eyes, her head drifting to the right, and her eyes happening to land on a single spotted thistle, "So that's where you were hiding?" She got herself up and moved herself over to the plant, studying it, finding it fairly healthy, and old enough to be moved with ease. She started clearing out the grasses that surrounded its base so that she could get it ready for transplant, a happier tune humming behind that smile of hers.

[Annalisa Marin]

The Wildlands were perfect for her purposes, unlike the city she didn't have to worry about causing too much collateral damage during her experiments. Annalisa Marin stood in the center of a small clearing located several bells travel from Zeltiva proper, it had been rather easy to locate as it was the same place she had visited during her last botched attempt at trying a new reimancy technique. Not too far away from her standing position were the broken remains of several trees, and the large ditched created by the massive construct. Her possessions, a cloak, backpack, and a pair of lightly road worn boots laid under a tree not to far from her. The young professor considered the trial a failure for several reasons, one the amount of Djed needed to create it had been enormous, far more than was practically advisable. Secondly, its massive size made creating it a slow chore, one that would never be useful in an immediate combat situation. Lastly the combination of transmuted earth and dirt from the ground was completely unnecessary. She should have just directly transmuted the res to earth in the desired shape, it would have been less time consuming and far less complicated. So here she was once more, ready for a new trial and error experiment. Perhaps it was unwise to get right back into practice after her previous issue, but she needed to continue onwards if she ever hoped to improve as a reimancer, indeed improve as a wizard. There were likely many other wizards in the world who were far more skilled than she, so she had to catch up quickly. In beginning with her new routine she sat down in the grass cross-legged and closed her eyes. Her last try at meditation had been... rather unsuccessful to say the least. She had managed to reach the proper state of clear minded thought, but it had been fragile and easily shattered. Hopefully this time it would be much easier now that she knew how the process worked. Anna started with her deep breathing, focusing solely on it and its cycling through her chest. It was a calming feeling, the clearing of the mind one that gave rest to distracting thoughts and allowed one to truly think clearly for once in their lives. Until recently Anna had not put much stock in it, believing it to be the domain of superstitious wizards. It was only after her experience with its use that she had decided to make it a part of her regular routine. Unfortunately the sounds of the natural world had a way of distracting one from achieving clarity of thought. For every distracting thought she managed to block out a few more would rise in its place, however this was not nearly as bad as it had been last time. Anna knew that it would take time for her to reach the state she sought, luckily she had plenty of time today.

[Khrassvallen]

She didn't hear him. Or she ignored him, either one. Whichever it was, it made him angry. He glared at Leila's back, hissing under his breath and flicking his tongue in frustration. This is what Khrassvallen got for trying to be sociable to humans. Outright ignored. He spat on the ground between them before turning swiftly back to the trees, ripping the two handfuls of leaves he'd been gripping off the bush. Absently, he brushed his hands clean, not even glancing over his shoulder as he slithered back the way he'd come. He'd slammed that door as soon as it'd opened, deciding if she was too stupid and deaf to hear him when he was right behind her, then Khrassvallen didn't want to bother. If there was one thing that annoyed him on this earth, it was stupid humans. At least the smart ones were beneficial for more just a food source. He ducked under a long hanging branch, flinching when his face hit a thick spiderweb. They never failed in startling him, somehow always slipping under the radar and catching him at the last possible moment. Khrassvallen peeled the fine tendrils from his face and scaly scalp and tossed them aside. "Sssorry, spider. Sshould have made your web ssssomewhere elsse." Now he was talking to himself. Great. He shook his head violently, quickly redoubling his pace. He couldn't help but realize another reason he'd been willing, for at least a moment, to talk to Leila, was because he was feeling lonely. There were so few like minded people in Zeltiva that he could relate to, he was starting to learn that rather quickly. Sunberth offered the best company in this region, even if they were a little dirty. How long had been wandering now? Half a bell, it seemed like. The sun had moved a little, but not enough to be a full bell. Khrassvallen yawned, just as he reached the edge of another clearing. His eyes watered with its intensity, and he clumsily grabbed a branch in the way of his face. It snapped loudly with only a little pressure, startling him to a stop. It was no wonder, because it was a dead. Peeved by his jitters today, he tossed the large stick aside. He watched it arc into the grass, and had to double take when it smacked right into the back of the head of a woman sitting on the ground. "What the heck?" he hissed, genuinely surprised. Two humans in less than a bell, that had to be a record out here. Khrassvallen hadn't even noticed her, for she had been sitting so still. Emphasis on the past tense. Of all the possible nonsense to happen, he throws a stick in the woods and actually hits someone. He deserved an award.