RP:Herb and Heart Gathering
Summary: While gathering herbs, Kanna and Tezzavallia cross paths and end up scaring the daylights out of one another.
Meadow
The serene atmosphere here is a stark contrast from the dry mountains and the dense wooded area in the distance. Long stalks of grass and wildflowers might tempt one to lay down and enjoy the relative silence of the area. The flora thrives here, and gives shelter to bees and small creatures who make this meadow their home. Oddly enough, feathers of every size and color litter the ground here. Perhaps this is related to the ray of light leading upwards, where they are most concentrated.
To the south, the field suddenly stops to meet a steep cliff-face. To the north, a dirt path leads to a single building settled in a mountainous chasm between cliffs. To the west, the same pathway leads out into the hills, while to the east stands a forest of redwoods.
Tezzavallia has actually ventured forth out from her cabin of solitude today, she had run out of some simple healing herbs and needed more, and to her ultimate sadness her little garden had already been picked clean forcing the poor think out into the wild. Though she had been forriging before, and never ran into another living soul so she was growing just a little more comfortable with the immediate area around their cabin. The dragoness wears a simple fitted white shirt and a long black skirt, reaching to her ankles. The skirt would shift slightly as a cobalt blue tail tip would peek out on occasion. Over everything she wore a heavy traveling cloak that covered her body completely. Her hood was drawn up but the way it rested atop her horned head would be blocking almost as the hood hung on the tips of her horns, so the hood would not cover her soft round face at all. Glacial blue eyes peer from bush to bush as she plucked herbs and gently placed them in pouches, not worried of their freshness as she intended to dry this batch. So very slowly she would start to hum to herself, a soft pleasant tune in a soft pleasant voice.
Kanna found herself picked clean of gold pieces, and down to some meager copper and silver. Patrons of taverns did not tip nearly as well as they used to when she first appeared in Lithrydel, and now she was paying the price. Her dearest lupine companion had brought her a bag of potatoes, clearly stolen from the kitchens of one of the hobbits' homes, and Kanna had spent the better part of the day trying to explain to the wolf why stealing was wrong. Unless she did it. Or unless it was from someone who was clearly a bad person. By the end of the monologue, the potatoes were now in Kanna's inventory. The food would only last if she found herself other things growing wild to eat them with, and so she now traverses the forest just south of the meadow in search of mushrooms or herbs to season with. Instead of her usual colorful costume, she wears a simple lavender tunic and a beige skirt that reaches down to her calves. As she picks a few sprigs of rosemary, the sounds of humming reaches her. Kanna peeks out from behind a few trees, her mocha curls running wild and blending into the trunks of the surrounding trees. Curious cornflower eyes rest on the hooded figure. Oh, she loved this song! Thinking nothing of it, Kanna joins into the humming as she continues her foraging, her sweet voice carrying over into the meadow where the cloaked figure was.
Tezzavallia was just starting to feel a little comfortable about having to venture forth, until her humming started to come from behind her as well as from her, she jerked to a sudden stop mid reach for a healing herb, her hand shaking slightly as she knew another was near. Slowly so very slowly she turned to look over her shoulder. The second the glacial eyes fell upon the mocha curled woman, alabaster cheeks would instantly flush, offsetting even more her periwinkle freckles. “w….www….wwho.” she stammered as she dove into a bush and after some struggling pulled herself out the other end and settled in behind a tree. “P…please…. d-don’t hurt..me” shaking hands slipped to her belt where a light hand crossbow was looped, a gift for self-protection from her roommate. She knew how to use if but her hands were shaking so badly she doubted she would land a bolt. Resting her forehead against the trunk of a tree she wished the other would just keep on going past.
Kanna had just picked a strange sprig of leaves that looked like a cross between rosemary and fennel when it occurs to her that the humming has stopped. She turns around in time to see the pale woman dive away into the bushes and Kanna gasps, fearing that the woman has fallen. The bardess starts to approach when she hears the pleading come from beneath the hood. "I'm not going to hurt you. I-I just like that song too, I'm sorry..." Dirt-covered hands scratch idly at her freckled face, thinking of a way to make this better. "When the light is running low, and the shadows start to grow, and the places that you know, feel like fantasy..." She starts to sing to the frightened woman, slowly lowering herself into a sitting position and keeping her hands in sight as to show that she is not a threat. Mana carries into the soundwaves from her voice, a gift of a spell she's learned from years of traveling. The song would hopefully start to relax the other woman. "There's a light inside your soul, that's still shining in the cold..."
Tezzavallia very slowly stop shaking as the other started to sing, singing to me? The dragoness thought as she swallowed hard and chanced a look out from behind her tree trunk fortress. Face still so very flushed she watched with a single as that was all she could risk to peek out with at the seated woman who sang such a beautiful song. The crossbow would click back onto its hook on her belt as the magics started to take hold. She knew there was a spell woven into the words of the song, her body tingled as the words caressed her like the hand of a lover. Taking a deep breath Tezza crouched to gather herself before with a huff of determination she very slowly stepped out from behind the tree but didn’t advance. Her face cast down looking intently at her feet as she grinds a toe into the turf of the ground. a bit of shifting under her heavy cloak would mark her arms gripping each other as her body language was still very defensive and stand offish. But she didn’t run off and hide again so small victories.
Kanna breathes a sigh of relief when Tezzavallia emerges from her hiding place. "With a truth, the promise in our hearts..." Deciding that the last line of the song is too ominous for this occasion, she leaves it out and lets the song trail off. "I'm so sorry I scared you like that. I'm not a threat, I promise, I'm just a really dumb human." The bardess smiles apologetically. "I'll go forage somewhere else if that helps." She starts to stand and realizes that in the dragoness' fleeing, the satchel of herbs has fallen, along with Kanna's own. "Oh!" She peers over the two bags and takes her own, trying to sort out the herbs she was almost positive were hers.
Tezzavallia at this time noticed her satchel had slipped from her shoulder when she dove into the bush and took a few quick steps forward but came to an abrupt halt as she was now a few steps away from the bard. Her flushed cheeks grew to the whole of her soft face. The only piece not flushed was again her periwinkle freckles, those being more akin to her scales than normal freckles. “B-be careful… t..there is… some danger-dangerous things in-in my … ba-bag.” Her words seem to come a little easier and she was even a little more on the path out of the bushes of safety. “Im… an alc-alchemist… p…ppp…potions for h-healing and …hurting..” she chewed her lower lip nervously wanting to run over and make sure she doesn’t accidentally break one of the more painful concoctions but that would also require rushing over to the other person. All people are bad, except one, this singer was bad. Was she bad? She had to be bad. Had hidden hands wring with utter uncertainty
Kanna feels herself tearing up in frustration as she tries to sort the herbs. This was rosemary. No, or... was that rosemary? She tentatively picks up one, and almost immediately recoils her hand as the thing that was definitely not human-friendly burns the tips of her fingers. "Ah!" She looks up at the nervous woman and for a moment, finds herself awestruck by the unusual freckles. "I should let you do this, huh? I'm so sorry..." Kanna apologizes again, a couple of fat tears falling down her nose. The human scoots a few feet back and picks up the magenta satchel, taking no notice of the bright green stains now on the knees of her dress. Stupid, stupid, stupid! "You can have whichever ones you want."
Tezzavallia suddenly blinks as the other starts to cry, one of her herbs hurting the other. Shaking her head she gave a determined look and storms over to the bard her cloak finally slipping open as a hand slides up and cups the hand with the burnt fingers leaning over them she blows lightly on the burnt digits before the second hand slips out holding a small jar, popping the top she reveals a kind of greenish salve with the constancy of lotion. She with a single finger she dipped it in and then applied the ointment to each finger, a soothing cool tingling sensation would start to leech into her fingers then hand, the pain vanishing almost instantly. Without a word as she honestly couldn’t manage any she seals the jar and recoils form the woman turning and sliding to her knees separating the herbs into neat little piles with practiced hands. The ones for food preparations in their own little pouches the dragoness had produced. “s…sorry you.. go-got hurt.” Her resolve that she had built when she saw another in pain crumbling around her as she was glad to have her back to the bard. The cobalt blue tail tip peeking out from under the cloak to swish slowly, as if looking to see what was going on.
Kanna feels herself blushing when the dragoness takes her chlorophyll-stained fingers. When the salve is applied, Kanna relaxes visibly, sniffling slightly. "It's alright, sorry I'm such a crybaby for these kind of things. This mixture is really great." With her free hand, she combs down the fringe of her bangs as the herbs are piled up. "The Mage Guild must be really lucky to have you. Out from the bushes, a russet wolf emerges, nearly as large as the two women combined. In its jaws is a white tree branch with several flowers on it, some of great magical properties. "Lover boy!" Kanna brightens, holding her arms out for a hug. The wolf's amber eyes look from Kanna to Tezzavallia, almost as if appraising the dragoness. Its tail begins to wag and it places the branch gingerly on the ground in front of Tezza before lovingly headbutting Kanna with its snout.
Tezzavallia gathers up her herbs and places them in her own rather boring non-descript brown satchel and loops it back over her shoulder. Then she stands and holds out her hands, where the others herbs are all packaged neatly in a neat little pile. “D-don’t worry… I’m gl-glad to help.” The sudden appearance of the large wolf would pass with much less a reaction from the dragon then the appearance of the bard. She’s never been hurt by an animal, in fact when those glacial eyes fell upon the dire wolf they seemed to sparkle just for a moment before they are cast back to the ground, cheeks reddening once again, “Mages… guild?” the question posed as she bent to retrieve the offered branch, assessing it she gasps softly. She could use the whole of the limb, from the flowing buds to the wood of the branch, this was a good find. She gave a hooded gaze to this ‘lover boy’ and nodded in thanks.
Kanna nods, with a smile, packing up the remaining herbs while the wolf sniffs at Tezza's shoes. Once the herbs are put away, Kanna smiles. "Yes, they're very prominent around here, the dwarves and hobbits are always looking to them for things. Supposedly, I have a doppelganger in there too, according to this one member. Amante doesn't think its a good idea for me to go looking though." As if on cue, the wolf lets out a soft bark, trotting back to its owner. Now standing, the chubby human is much shorter than the other. "Well, I wouldn't want to scare you again, so I guess I'll steer clear of here tomorrow." She says, though there's a bit of sadness in her smile now, still guilty about how she spooked the poor woman. "My name is Kanna, by the way."
Tezzavallia thought about it for a long moment, joining a mages guild would increase her ability in the realm of alchemy, but that would also increase her having to deal with people. She didn’t know if that was something she was ready to do yet. Karasu was a member she knew, if she could pry Laharl off of her for a moment maybe she could talk to her about it, the offer had been made, but again she would have to talk,, troublesome. “Tezzavallia… you c-can call…me Tezza… if you wa-want.” Hurriedly a small pouch is produced and put in Kanna’s hand. “Thank you for the song…” she forced out in a single coherent sentence, her voice when not broken by constant stuttering and panic is soft and tender. At her limit the dragon hops back looks up to the canopy of the forest and judging there is enough room takes her exit in a grand fashion. Her cloak bursts up and out around her collar as a let of massive cobalt blue wings seem to simply appear. Stretching out around her the dragons wings reach up to grab at the very air around the dragoness. One last glance given with those glacial blue eyes, finally locking with those cornflower orbs, was that a soft gasp the dragoness gave, did her face get just a bit redder? With a little hop and a single beat of dragon wings the woman was gone, up and out of the little clearing. The left behind pouch containing a decent amount of gold coins.