RP:For the Sake of Progress

Summary: Take away what you do and what you are, what do you have left? Toth asks Sabrina to answer a question she had literally never contemplated. Still, this helper might just pull her out of this slump.

Toth wasn't too familiar with this section of the mine, never having seen the need to venture up here he hadn't. His eyes would land on nothing in particular not that it would make a difference for him. His feet would shuffle across the ground to keep him from finding any uncertain shifts in the ground and a small smile would spread over his features before he comes to a stop, there was something off here..something unlike what he had run across in this land before. A long drawn breath would enter through his nose and silently out of his mouth as he examined the area with what others would call the third eye, taking in the pain that seemed to emanate from here. Taking another couple steps he would slow himself due to the ground taking a different form from the giant hole before he steps back. His black clothing would nearly make him invisible to others and if they weren't to careful may accidentally step on his feet.

Sabrina was here with no one, huddled down behind a large section left untapped while the scraping of a tool grinds against rock and damp soil in the darker part of the cave, not that it would matter to him. He wasn’t particularly noisy, boil that down to breeding and skill, and his scent wouldn’t travel this deep upon approach with the stagnant nature of air flow. She sensed him though, and it was enough with their last two meetings that he presented as comfortable over startling in familiarity. “Odd route for a blind man.” She rocks back pivoting her feet to take in his faint silhouette against the pale aura of light coming from the previous section of cavern. The point of the tool is scraped alone the ridge of her fingernail, giving away the fact she was not wearing gloves as per their previous encounters. Difficult to dig up cave mold otherwise. “What were you hoping to accomplish?” The odd greeting was a method of breaking silence over being rude. She felt somehow that announcing herself in the presence of one who could not see her was an act of kindness.

Toth tilted his head as his ears perked with each sound before her voice rang out. His smile would widen but here it makes not to much a difference for those with sight but his voice would sound out said smile. "To know where I'm going I need to know where I've been, gotta start with new places somewhere, right?" His feet would shuffle him towards tthe sound of her voice and the scrapping that she was making, weather she wanted to admit it or not he seen who she was. His bow rarely seen out of his hand unless he was doing other physical activities like the last time they had met, so the bow would be back home in his left hand not that he would need it for another conversation with this woman so it was loosely held as he walked. He would stop a couple steps from her, his five foot eight ince frame would stand near her and his face would point to look her square in her own face. "Exploring just now, got to figure out this land sooner or later. The mines treating you well?"

Sabrina stands to her full height of five foot even, with the help of those heels. “Mines are inanimate.” She makes her way around him, not too keen on being backed in a corner over friend of foe. To the rest of his statement she shrugs in silence. Just to make sure he was in fact blind, given his mannerisms, she waves her hand in front of his face whilst wrinkling her nose in disbelief. There were many levels of blindness and he got along on a level that might imply he was not totally without vision. “Walk with me?” She started towards the first exit, expecting him to follow. She gives a slight look over her shoulder to ensure he would follow before quickening her pace, if only slightly. This deep in the mines it was usually too stuffy for social interludes.

Toth would listen to her foot steps as she moved and a grin would flash across his face at her words. The hand in front of his face would warrant a grab in most case, the air changing directions quickly in front of his face would be the biggest tell tale sign to give it away but she was already on the move. His hand would grip the bow a bit tighter as he shuffled his feet in the direction of her own foot steps, he wouldn't make his way quickly from this place, not so that he could end up on his face as he has done a time or two. "Lead the way."

Sabrina smiles, all gestures reactive and not meant to be seen. His blindness allowed a certain level of relaxation in her actions. She steps deliberately, almost like a human, lacking the grace her race had gifted her so he could retrace her footsteps as safe passage. Once into the larger and much less stuffy cavern she would tap a boulder as she passed it, taking the next as a seat of her own. “Did you burn down your target?” Recalling the last time they met with the beginnings of a hellstorm of tinder.

Toth would follow suit in her footsteps until the sound of the pecking on the boulder could be heard, he would take up rest against it as she likewise took rest against the seat she had claimed. His smile would return in full force as he thinks back to the assignment he had been given with a short shake of his head. "Not yet, I'm to met with someone and gain a bit more intel before any action can be taken." He would kick his foot across the ground until he found a piece of mine that had fallen so that he could roll it under the ball of his foot before his face turned up and over in the direction her voice had come from. "What about you? Still helping blind folks I see." A grin would flash across his face as he reaches up to push the visor up so his entire face and forehead could be seen if the light hit him just right.

Sabrina made a face and directed her attention to the in and outs of the lazy kind of miners-not like the dwarves out of Craughmoyle. “I go where I am needed. It’s my purpose.” She seemed irreverent on the matter. At least she wasn’t crying anymore, mostly she was numb. It beat the alternative. She sighs emptily at the void. “I am beginning to wonder if I need to follow you around and save the lives you’re about to take.” Always with that bow, she knew he could be dangerous, and she couldn’t fathom why not with her. At this point she might have even invited it. She sucks a bit of air between her teeth. She turns back to catch his boyish grin, it struck her as odd. Reactively, she smiles too. “Are you high?”

Toth tapped the end of his bow lightly against the boulder he was resting against before shaking his head slightly at her first statement and his smile would find its way back to his face. This time was different then their last meeting, she was a stubborn one alright. "I'm not taking any lives with fire, promise." His head would tilt to the left at her last question with a contradictory on his face, his normal smile along with a quizzical look. "No, should I be?"

Sabrina shrugs again, even though it does no good. “It rarely hurts.” And a genuine laugh. Rare, for someone unfamiliar to her. By now she had finished plucking off what little remained of dirt from her hands and her gloves had been positioned accordingly. She leans back on her palms, some inward deciding process going on as to whether she should offer anything to him or not. She did have a plethora of remedies on her most all the time and there was nothing written that laid claim to utilizing them under the influence of a qualifying event. A vast knowledge of bodies in motion and the effects of thousands of herbs could usually inflict a very specific response. Somehow, in all her silence she opted for the safe route, the route that didn’t involve trusting him beyond an arm’s reach. She sits upright and slides her palms down the thighs of her pants, dusting off imaginary grime since she wasn’t dirty in the slightest. It did not go without notice the methods of her own thought process, where in the past she would have dove right in to a level of social intercourse that didn’t make her seem like a leper. Things were different now. She was evolving into a being of little faith. She gives a faint smile, now wondering why he settled on her to speak to. Feeling quite dumb she slaps a palm to her face. “Apologies, I never even asked…. Did you need something?” Of course he required a service, there was no reason to become personable to someone like her. “Sometimes I forget.”

Toth would release his bow for a moment after making sure that it was secure but easily accessible before both his arms would rise, hands made into fists as he presses them against his temple and stretches. His back arches slightly and a small pop is heard as he pops his back. Arms would fall in a manner so that his hands would open and palms land on the boulder behind him, smile still evident on his face as the laughter spilled out of her..just maybe he was getting somewhere that he was looking for. The slap against her face would catch him off guard a bit and his foot would rise to rest just below his hands, ready to propel him forward should the need arise for it. "We all forget things time and again, it is alright. And yes..one thing for now." His smile would broaden slightly as his ears continue to twitch with each new sound as well as taking everything about the woman's voice to memory with each passing meeting and conversation. A simple word would be uttered for her..the word hanging in the air for a moment before he continues speaking, he was always quite the talker even from his youth. "Conversation..Cause when everyone's struggling, you push through. When people falter, you pick them up. But when you've done all that, who picks you up? Right?" His head would tilt to the side as he continued to smile at her.

Sabrina was confused. Mostly. “I-I’m sorry.” She stands up from her place. “I think you have the wrong person.” She was widely known for her not-conversation. Why she managed three social encounters with him thus far was likely, largely on his part. She knew a great many people who were proficient in this area. She was not one of them. She believes there has been a misguided explanation of what she does. “I’m just a healer, I am not good for much else.” An apologetic smile can probably be picked up in her tone. “I do know of a great many socially prominent people, if you would like me to direct them towards you… T-to pick you up, I mean.”

Toth follows her up, hand finding the top of his bow as he does so and gingerly turns it in his hand so that the base spun on the cavern floor. "I'm pretty sure I have the right person. Voices are a forte of mine, Sabrina..right?" He would ask but the answer was clear from the moment they had met this morn, even if she was different in an aspect or two..there was no denying who she was. "Practice makes perfect, right?" His head would tilt in the opposing direction as his hand made the bow come to a stop and his face would peer down at it before back up to her. "I'll get to them later, as a necessity I talk to everyone I meet. But for now I guess we can suffice with a simple question. Who are you? Not the Ardent, not the healer, not the one no one else knows.. Who are you?" Her response would answer a question or two he left unspoken, he simply needed the answer to determine it.

Sabrina nods, another slightly rude motion given his circumstances. She was the Sabrina in question. She sort of followed on his theory of practice, but she wasn’t sure it applied in the sense that she was not built that way. She did think hard on his question, outside of being what she inherently was, there was only one thing left. “Nobody.” She could hear herself say it, and she knew it didn’t sound quite right. Outside of her profession she was nonexistent. A few weeks ago, she may have answered it differently, and it made her think harder. “Well.” A beat. “I suppose… yes, I suppose I am a sort of disease.” She laughs. “Oh, that sounded awful.” But it was true. In a sense. “In that whatever I am, whoever I am, it infects those around me.” She knew he couldn’t very well see the extent in which she took to avoid contact with people. She props an elbow on her arm to strum lightly on her chin. “Maybe I am misunderstanding the question?” She didn’t really take too much time to reflect on herself, she found this intriguing. “I suppose I am more of a what, not a who. How about you tell me who you are?” To better gauge the appropriate response. For now she did not see herself in the hominid sense, she was more creatural.

Toth listened nodding every so often and unless one was musically inclined they would see it only as such, but his head would be bobbing not only to her words but to a song that generally bounced around inside his head. Her question would cause the smile that would leave crows feet around eyes of some but he never minded before so why should he start. "I'm what some have called a helper. Healing is only a small part of that, like yourself. An ear, a hand, feet..not so much the eyes, but anything that helps out another." His head would fall straight back before leaning to one side and his neck would pop slightly as he took a single step in her direction, moving cautiously yet in a familiar way that others would call welcoming. "You say nobody..a disease even. Tell me, how can you believe that if -I- can't believe that." Reaching up he would bring his slender fingers to remove the visor and run through his hair. A disease..that was new, but a nobody would be far from the truth. She could beat down all the feelings she wanted, drink, ignore, fight, anything but he could always tell; call it a gift, curse, didn't matter. He would be there to help some way or another, she just didn't know it yet.

Sabrina is shaking her head, his one step forward brought her one step back. But there was a huge rock there, remember your surroundings. She plops down into a seated position, quite ungracefully, but she is smiling up at him. “There are a great many people who require a helper, I promise I am not one of them.” There was nothing to help with, really. Not on a personal level that came to mind. So if he was a helper she could rightfully conclude “I am an instrument. Healing is a very large part of that. It bleeds into financial contributions and often times physical labor where I am able, but so long as no one touches me I am quite useful.” The Elfess was a little fidgety, unsure if she was comfortable with him standing so near. And honestly, he was helping. By violating her strict limits towards proximity he was only making it easier to contain any pressing emotions by drowning them in nervousness. In perfect perspective, he wasn’t even standing that close.

05:30:32Toth listened to her body find the rock, another smile would be offered at her actions before he would take half a step towards her. Pulling the bow from the cavern floor he would be able to move as he pleased with another step he would stop just shy of his own arms length from her. He pondered for a moment, he only knew of two type of instrument..the one of war and the other of release. He knew what her answer would be if he were to ask her so he chose to go along a different path for just a moment. "Lots of promises are broken..this one only because everyone needs help. Wanting help and needing are sometimes the same, other times they are as different as east and west." He would place the bow gingerly down and rest his hand atop it as he continues his conversation with her, drawing out may have to be a specialty if he could help it.

Sabrina is somewhat quiet. “It’s not that I don’t believe I need help, Toth, I have entrusted a great many things to people who only meant to help. In those cases, all of them, someone always gets hurt.” Her voice was coming from a floor-based direction. “Only a fool would drag in another victim under certain circumstances.” She is oddly quiet with her next words. “Sometimes people have to decide what’s best for others, especially those with good intentions.” He was so very close now, and she slithers away from him to stand closer to the entrance. She was almost cold in her verbal response. Her eyes were filling, her voice shaky with sorrow yet effort is thrust into trying to sound stronger than she was. “Do not invest in me.” A beat. “I am not worth…” And another. “I don’t carry the value- For your time.” She can’t even look at him at this point; just the idea of getting too close and inflicting him with some unrealized push was a pain no one would understand. And to encourage the point she explains. “There are thousands of people who deserve… that.” And not even the years of training kind hide the held-back blubbering that muffled her voice in her throat. “I was not built for these things.” And she needed some fresh air. Her hands slide into her pockets. She adopts a structured front. In a clinical timbre she finishes. “I think that is enough for today.”

Toth would follow her movements with his face, tilting it to and fro as he listens and nods more along her words then with the music that continues to invade his thoughts..one day he would allow her the privilege of that particular piece of information, but he was still working on that for it was saved for a select few and only one other living person other then himself knew it at this point. He would pick the bow up and hold it as he started to shuffle along the cave, moving towards the exit along with her. Her words would fall on his ears and say something, but he would hear what was crying out, trapped inside and wanted to be freed but he was not wanting to push entirely to hard..just enough to help her see what he could. His left foot kicks back slightly to rest on his toes as his head bows. "For now. I'll leave with one thing..again. Your worth more then you think." With that his head would rise and he would head out of the cave and his feet would carry him back to the cold paths of the north.

Sabrina would wait for him to leave in stony silence. It would be a few minutes after before she would huddle down next to that rock, sobbing uncontrollably. It was very unlike her to break in this fashion, normally keeping everything pent up and private. Or not expressing it at all. She felt anger, mottled with all the crap she was storing from her dismissal from Eirik and a genuine distaste for causing such a fuss that someone found her pitiful enough to waste good help on. After the outburst she growls, frustrated and loud at the empty cavern surrounding her. She would then stand, make adjustments to her attire as needed, and wipe her tears. That was enough of that.