RP:Lessons for Lessons

Part of the Time Heals All Wounds Arc

Synopsis: Penelope and Demeter find each other in the forests of Sage. Penelope offers to give a future beginner lesson to Demeter with her pyromancy while Demeter offers a lesson with daggers in return if the two meet again.

New Forest

Penelope had been nestled in a patch of newly grown green. The area had finally been quiet compared to the bustling of elves that tended to the forest during the day. The new thickets of undergrowth surround her as she sits cross-legged in a meditative position. Meditation was becoming easier these days, although she still had been haunted by these forests months ago. Meditation inherited therapy for the Ardelian, yet she knew that the shadows of the night were still harder to bear. Luckily, the light still shined against the growing saplings. The evening sun was coming. The druid was dressed in a pair of light brown cotton pants and a white shirt. Simplistic. The healer appeared unarmed which she might have been shunned for long ago, yet she was grasping onto a new form of confidence being on her own. The energy that she felt in each angle of her body finally made her eyes open. A soft hazel hue rather than the green she carried in her gaze. The woman was practicing her druidic abilities. A hand lifts, and some old branch joints that are in front of her begin to bloom with chicory. What could the girl say? She really liked her coffee, and what better way to get practice in and enjoy a cup of coffee when she is home?

Demeter had been practicing her aim with some elves of the Sage forest, more so they were showing off skills. Blind folding each other to see if each could still hit the target, ending up Demeter winning the bet, luckily. One had showed bad sportsmanship, and hit her, allowing it to let him get his frustration out had given her a shiner to the left eye. Leaving his companions and him behind as she left, maybe setting the table they had set up for drinks on fire. Causing smoke to rise and swirl above the tree lines. As per usual, Demeter had worn her black leather attire. Except a wolf fur lined cloak that was not on her form, in place was a lion cloak. The lion’s mane used for décor about the collar, heading into the direction which Penelope was. Pausing as she watched as the buds started to bloom for her, or was she making this happen? Grey eyes studied what was unfolding before.

Penelope :: It was sort of odd that she was blooming a root from an old plant, but the fires had done some damage in the past. The thick stems begin to grow a couple inches from the bottom of the branches of the plants she is now holding with the other hand. Once the roots grow a few sizes, the woman reaches to find her medical satchel that she always carried with her. The healer pulls out a pair of clippers to clip the ends of the roots off. She then rummages to pull out a jar to stick the chicory root in. Out of her oddity, she gives the jar a shake as she stares at them closely. “Cool,” slips from her lips before eyes lift to look to the side at Demeter. She could feel the pulses of the earth beneath her. Feel the avian’s steps through vibration. When Nel catches the grey gaze before her, there would be a frown as she looks at the woman’s eye. “You were at the ceremony.” The short Ardelian stands, leaving her bag to the side. “Demeter, right? What happened to your face?” Well, that was rather blunt. Then again, that was Penelope.

Demeter brows lifted in a curious manner, in her old life it wasn’t a regular thing to see nature react like this. Or at least for the Kingdom she was part of. They were all based on fire, and burning things, they were the warrior nation of the kingdoms out of all. Demeter never really got out of the fire nation, so this scene before her was something she imagined a goddess would be able to do. Was Miss Halifax a goddess amongst these people? Then for her to say cool caused her curiosity to rise even more, was she about to call upon chill air to cool what ever she was doing to the jar. The frown that appeared on Penelope’s lips brought Demeter back to the moment at hand not just her own thoughts. “Yes Miss Halifax, are you a goddess?” Reaching her hand up, fingers tracing the scar across her face forgetting about the black eye. “Training session when I was young, was my first time with a sword, I failed to deflect the blade.” Then it hit her, she meant the shiner. “Oh, someone was a sore loser and lost a bet with being blind folded to hit targets with arrows.”

/snorts in a small bit of laughter at the woman’s question. “Goddess? If only,” meaning ‘no’. Then, as Demeter begins to explain the scar across her face, well, Nel was nosy enough anyway to accept that response. Nel had noticed the scar before, yet she had not asked only because scars could be a touchy subject. One that the Ardelian knew too well, for she bore quite a bit. All from the same person. Linken. The healer cants her head on Demeter’s response about the shiner. “Sore loser? So they hit you?” Her eyes squint. “What a pitiful coward for hitting you.” The woman then runs a small hand through her hair before tucking the jar into her medical satchel. “As for the sword scar, well, I guess it made you a hell of a fighter for it. It’s a touch of toughness. Glad you survived that slash, though. Between you and I, that would have totally happened to me too if I tried playing with a sword.” The girl talked too much. “But anyway, yeah, I’m no goddess, trust that. If I was, I’d grow this whole freaking forest back quicker than it is.”

Demeter brows lower and tighen for a moment as Pen states she isn’t a goddess. Accepting her response, “Yeah this tall elf boy with salt and pepper hair hit me because I beat him. I may have or may not have set their table on fire for hitting me before I walked away.” When comments on how she got the scar, Demeter shrugs. “It is how a warrior is taught to accept pain and learn to deflect better next time. Same as this nose, been broken a many time. I do not know how many times it has been broken to be honest.” Demeter moved closer to Pen, sitting down nearby but not beside as to not mess with the female’s personal space. Or for her wings to bump into her that were hidden away under the illusion. “I have always had a sword in my hand once I mastered daggers at age of ten, soon as I showed enough strength my father put a dagger in my hand, and I began my training. It is how it was always done.” Pausing, “You can grow nature?”

Penelope kept her smile hidden at Demeter’s expression on how she was not a goddess. Amusement bounces in the Ardelian’s eyes, but then it fades as she explains the situation she was just in. “Well, let’s hope they know how to put out flames then, hm?” The girl would understand the aggression portion of igniting a flame. Penelope had been like that a time ago. Still, even--to an extent that is. Magik sort of reeled her in. “Ow,” the girl comments on the brokenness of noses. Her fingers sort of brush the bridge of her nose in empathy. That would not be the best feeling. “Well, if you catch yourself in some stickiness of pain, I’m your girl. I work at the healing hut here in Kelay. Lionel sort of took me in the Warrior’s Guild for the medical aspect of it all. That’s sort of how I got wrapped up in it all.” Not to mention she was on the Healer’s Guild Council. Emilia’s right hand. As the avian sits, Penelope watches carefully before sitting down in the spot she was in. She faces Demeter with her legs criss-cross with observant, bright doe-eyes. “We should train with daggers some time. I’m more of a thrower, myself. As for like… the combat of it all, I’m pretty new.” The freckled woman brushes a stray strand from her face. “Nature? Yes,” Nel dips her head. “I come from a line of druids. The only druids in my tribe. Ardelia. I’m a twin. I can’t bend all four elements… only two. Fire and earth while my brother inherits the other two. Sort of works out, however. I feel as if they suit each other well. I’m finally taking some reins on them.” Pause. “You say you lit the table on fire, maybe? Were you able to control that?”

Demeter bites on her bottom lip, “I would hope they have the brains to toss dirt on it or water to put the fire out on their table. If not, that is a shame for them.” Penelope said she was a healer, that was good to know as Demeter enjoyed a good fight as any one, well maybe? In Demeter’s case, every fight was training a way to learn how to defend against different styles of this land. “Glad to know that there is someone that would be willing to heal me if I need it, thank you Miss Halifax.” Penelope wanted to train with daggers, that made those grey eyes spark with joy even if her pink lips did not reveal it. “I can help you learn more then just throwing them, certain ways to defend without harming someone. Or quick ways to cause pain to get away. You do not need a face like mine.” Druids! Druids were not allowed in her Kingdom, the fact she was face to face with one caused her to lean forward only an inch. Taking her in as if she was something completely extinct. “I was able to control just the flame, when I had it hovering above my palm but once I released it, it grew bigger than I wanted. I have always had hard time controlling the magnitude and wild of the flame. I was told it is my fault as I am not disciplined enough.”

Penelope nodded to the ‘thanks’. The Ardelian was always around for a good patch up, and well, especially on the combat field, it was needed for practice. Especially on the spot, for that was what she was training for. A medic. Trauma healing. She knew that it would be important when she coincides with the warriors. An odd life path she took, for Nel had a gentleness to her. An aura of grace. A grin then spreads on that freckled face of hers. “I would -love- that,” the woman is enthusiastic, and more girly sounding than she should be about the whole learning more about using her daggers. Penelope was a girly girl. That was just the way it was. “Especially with the battle coming up,” her voice slows. She knew she needed more practice. As Demeter leans in and studies her, Penelope tilts her head. “It’s not necessarily your fault when you are dealing with something so foreign that spreads rapidly,” the girl begins. “A lot of people think fire is destructive. It -could- be dangerous. Let me tell you, I couldn’t control it for a long time. Fire really plays on, at least, my emotion. I have a very hot temper, and a lot of things from my past to really set the world aflame. I would burn fields in battle without thinking of consequences, or who would be hurt, but with destruction, there is also passion and life--take the forest for example,” Nel looks around as her hands feel the greenery beneath her fingertips. “This whole place a bit ago, burned from war, but now… it’s growing again. Restoring life. Fire is a beautiful thing. It just takes knowing that energy that comes with it.”

Demeter was from being gentle but she had to try, she was trying. She was trying to be more socialize and open up to the idea that the people were social here. The females were beautiful, flawless which had Demeter envious at times. Most the females could wear dresses, pull it off, Demeter would look awkward and feel awkward as she never wore one. “I am glad you would, I do not think you are the kind that would want to kill anyone rather harm to get away instead of killing to stop. Am I incorrect?” Looking down and away before looking back, “It plays upon my moods, emotions and how the environment is. Fire is a giver of a second chance at life, the ash helps make way for new beginnings. Who burned this place down?”

Penelope blinked. “You are not incorrect,” the healer says slowly. Her mind flashes back to Arkhen’s Temple, Linken’s distorted face, the blood, the stench of death. “I’m not someone who would want to harm anyone. Not unless they are harming the people I care for,” her mind reflects to Lionel and the battle against Kahran. The pain her boyfriend went through. So many memories pass by her in that single blink. “It’s not my intention unless the other does ill first.” Penelope then squints. “I’m not surprised. I think maybe that is something I can help you with. Your emotions…? At least finding another channel for flames? It won’t come easy, but it could lead into a new step… possibly?” Beat. “As for the war, I think it had something to do with drow? Not positive. I could be completely wrong. I have been before,” she smiles. “Either way, perhaps we should meet up again regarding your fire. It could be useful against Xicotl. I could use another pyro on my side.”

Demeter noticed her thoughts were messing with her, noting the squint. Reaching a hand out turning it palm up as steam began to collect shaping into a rose before a tiny flame appeared replacing where the steam was. Her way of saying she was sorry for what ever she said that had caused the mind to drift elsewhere, closing her fist to cancel it out before it became enlarged and lost control. “I have learned you do not just kill here, and I have never been one to just kill just because. I have always thought before I acted best as I could. I try to not have emotion, as it seems to help the most. I would like the help, we were in a dessert area so losing control caused really no harm. If you can help with that, I would for ever be in your debt. Personal guard you could say!” She tried to cheer her up, “It would do well for me, and others. Plus we could work on your training too.”

Penelope watched the tiny flame in Demeter’s hand. From the squint, was a small smile. One that was fascinated by watching someone who had been in her shoes. Demeter needed practice, and although Nel was not the expert, she would be willing to try. The girl was not concerned for the flame, for instead, she knew she would be able to cancel it out in a heartbeat. “You shouldn’t be afraid to be… you.” Meaning to feel emotions. “We can go several places. The desert near the outskirts of Gualon is where I was first tutored. Or… we can meet on the sands in Cenril too near the beach. Even Chartsend’s shores. It is really up to you. I can bring my brother. He is skilled and well, he knows how to douse a flame with water.” The Ardelian would then grin while reaching to put her bag around her torso again. “Personal guard? Wow,” there was a giddiness with the lighter tone that Demeter was putting up. “I think that sounds perfect. You let me know. Send word at Yerrel’s hut in Kelay, and we can meet. Deal?” The Ardelian would then stand, for it was time to part ways for the evening before the night threw her for a whirlwind with post-traumatic stress.

Demeter chewed on her lip again, she had never thought that she was scared of herself until now. It all made sense, Demeter was scared of her own fire as it was so raw and wild. But it was raw and wild just like her. She was terrified to be herself, to show emotion. She was trained to not show emotion as emotion was a weakness, stay stiff stay one with the blade. The blade has not emotion, neither should she. “As long as you both can set anything I do out, and I will be in completely.” Giving a nod, “Deal, I look forward to seeing you again. May your travels keep you safe and bring you riches.” She stood, giving a bow as the avian turned to leave.

Penelope watched carefully with the avian’s fidgets, for she was just a very observant person, and wanted to know people. The Ardelian nods. “You have my word,” she says in conclusion. “Take care, Demeter. Until then,” the woman would smile before waving to the formal bow. The petite woman would then turn and be on her merry way through the thickets back to her cottage.