RP:Plant-dude Meets Tree-girl

From HollowWiki

Summary: Cal meets that creepy dryad, Chisel!

Kelay-Sage

Callum was headed to Northern Sage Forest, leaving his home in the southern portion behind. A satchel was slung across his chest, the strap of the bag laying against the button-up shirt with rolled up sleeves and gold-embroidered waistcoat that he wore, nice black trousers and black shoes completing the whole businessman look he was going for. Carefully, he carried two crates, one filled with glass jars full of herbs and the other with small vases of various flowers. Every once in awhile they’d teeter in his hold, but otherwise, he seemed to be doing just fine with his slow pace towards the herb shop near the center most part of the city.

There are no bandits here, not anymore. As rumors filled the ears, spread through word of mouth about the haunted doll that lingers upon these forests, only the brave even enters. Though it is still morning so merchants continues to come and go with little to no trouble. The forest continue to sway about as the air continues to breeze. Serenely and yet full of life. Hait'ss when it is being taken care of by a forest Spirit. Chisel, being the caretaker of the City of Larket has made herself the guardian of nearby forests. She walked into the forest, not following any path, however she does appear near the road everything now and then. She is wearing a simple silk dress, her body appears normal from afar but with closer inspection, all her joints has this gap, as if the woman was a marionette doll. Still she kept walking, even though she doesn't even glance, she can see all that is happening inside her forest, one might even feel like as if he/she is being watched.

Cal definitely sensed that feeling of observed, taking a moment every so often to look over his shoulder. Had Meri found where he lived? Decided to play coy and sneak up behind him? It wouldn’t surprise him, really. But then again, Meri was definitely the rogue-ish sort. He’d pass by the large crater made by the warrior’s guild, and then the burned part of the forest, before settling onto the road that passed through Kelay. The herbomancer let out a ‘hm’, setting his boxes down to take a breather, still looking back into the forest. So odd. Had he felt that before? It didn’t seem like it. Mayhaps one of those giant spiders that frequented the area, or some of those bugs that the guild had meant to take care of, had been following him. Thankfully, they didn’t attack. Yet. He ~was~ far enough away from town that a spider could skitter across the path after him and not be noticed. “Frak, “ he muttered to himself, “I really need to hire an assistant at some point.” With a sigh, he’d gather his boxes again and continue across the road...until he spied Chisel. He watched as she stuck close to the treeline, then disappeared, then appeared again. Strange, but then again, he too liked the forest and wasn’t about to judge. With a careful side eye in her direction, he’d continue on, if only more slowly. No need to overdo it with carrying those crates, you know.

Chisel saw that. The man hid away as soon as he has spotted her, not that she minds, she can see him even with her back turned away. She continues to check onto the forest, trying to mend any damage done by anyone. The spot where the bugs were was slowly being mended my the forest, flora has began to slowly recapture the surface but it would take awhile to completely hide it, she continued to walk slowly, kneeling down every now and then only to touch upon a fallen beast or plant, and let nature take it into the earth to use it as fertilizer. She kept walking before finally commenting, "You do know no one can hide from a forest spirit while inside a forest." She doesn't care if the man would not respond, she kept on going about on her day, not even glancing to him.

“ ‘Hiding’? Wandering with a purpose to a designated place with crates full of things isn’t exactly ‘hiding’, oh forest spirit.” He’d slow his pace, but not stop just yet--those boxes were heavy, you know! “It’s called ‘I’m heading to work’. If you’re the -great and powerful- spirit of the woods, then why have I not seen you before? A bit odd, don’t you think?” The Catalian chuckled, playful sarcasm clinging to his words. Glancing in Chisel’s direction, he tilted his head, motioning for her to come closer. “Does the forest spirit have a name?”

"If you say so." Of course the man hid away, she saw it. "Whatever makes you sleep better at night." she added. "You haven't seen me before because you aren't looking hard enough. I am the guardian of four nearby forests and my duties kept me busy, no rest for the protector. I wander across these lands taking care of my forests. You haven't seen me not because I am not there... infact. I am always there, watching, listening, knowing." She glances at him only to look upon the man with her dull eyes, no emotions upon them, a clear indication that she is infact a doll. "Oh you have heard of me... the rumors have been around for a while, spreading through the word of mouth, the horrors, myths and legends about these forests at night." She checks her bag before trying to sort out a seed onto the ground, "I think it is far better to know that I am not there... in the first place. Things tend to happen when I know." cryptic but it was clear that the dryad is speaking truthfully. "I am known by the name of Chisel... From the nearby city of Larket."

There didn’t seem to be any convincing of the girl that he was not at all hiding, but whatever. “Cal,” he said before continuing, “Why would I be looking for something that I didn’t think was there in the first place? I’m not exactly one that believes in spirits and such. Besides, you look like a doll, not a forest sprite.” He -had- heard of her, but she wasn’t about to know that. “You take care of the forests here? Looks like you could use some help, what with that crater those idiot Warrior’s Guild people left behind awhile back. He finally stops, watching as she sticks a seed into the ground, curiosity getting the best of him now as he sets down his crates. “I’m thinkin’ you must be a druid too. Figure most of you forest folk are, anyway.”

“A druid is what you call a mortal who mimics forest spirits. It’s like monks trying to mimic gods." She turned to the man and said, "It’s the same reason why no more bandits hide in these lands. They say it is a lot more... healthier to look upon death eye to eye than not know it is coming from you from a blind spot." She takes a few steps closer to Callum, letting him look upon her more clearly. "Well.. Cal, What form I use does not represent the power I hold. As mentioned before, A guardian does not rest... your flesh weakens without it. Something you mortals know lot of... weakness. I lack the need and demands of the body. So you can say I am a spirit, puppeteering a doll to allow me to have a physical form. Would you rather have death haunt you as a spirit or would a physical entity be a much more preferable one?"

Callum could only chuckle at the doll-girl, his arms crossing over his chest, “I see.” This chick sure did think rather highly of herself. Was all entities of the elements like this, he wondered? “Death kinda follows everyone around here. I don't think it makes much difference one way or another. S’pose you're trying to fix up whatever else frakking happened with the forest to the south there too, yeah?”

“Death does follow everything. But as most say, it is far more preferable to meet it and attempt to fight your way out of it than getting killed without warning." She looked toward the south and said, "Yes... mortals have quite a way of enjoying destruction far too often. If you wish to help then feel free to do so but don't expect any prizes or grattitude from me as I would not exactly expect much from you. Your kind has caused too much destruction for me to 'appreciate' anything of late. A single man's action would not change my mind that quickly. But perhaps, we'll see." She turned back to him and said, "I am currently trying to find a dying tree to place upon that insect hole that I found the other day, use its body to grow a new seedling, hoping to use the rotting wood for both clogging and fertilizer. Sealing the hole with new roots."

Callum shrugged, giving Chisel a dismissive wave of his hand, “Fighting’s not really my thing. I go with the flow, as well as anyone can ‘round here anyway. As for ‘my kind’, just ‘cause I'm one of them doesn't mean I approve of the things they do.” Hell, he could think of two people right now--and they were Catalian too even. He let out a hm and nodded in understanding, “Right, well, I live around those parts as I'm sure you already knew, and I'm not one for an eyesore hole either. A tree seedling, I can't help that. I know a bit about herbomancy, but I never got so far as how to help trees, just smallest plants and the like. If you start up some other seedlings too, give them a bit of a kick with your forest spirit magic to get them started, then I can make sure that at least the flowers and herbs and whatnot will grow right along with it. It's what I do everyday for my business so it’d not add much more to things besides the extra walking. Like you said, you've got other forests to help too, so…”

"Any seedlings that is placed here in these forests, mostly because of falling fruit or remnant to what the animals have eaten always grow because of my presence alone. If you wish to leave your seedlings about, I'll most likely find them at some point. If however these plants are destructive in any way.. well.. let's just say the forest remembers. I will find the culprit." She looked upon the jars the man is carrying and said, "Normally I would ask you to leave my plants alone, picking on them and using them for the comfort of a mortal irks me quite so. But the plants that those came from hasn't died yet because of overharvesting. I'll let it for now."

The human blinked a few times at Chisel, “What? Destructive? No. Seriously, lady, I work in the plant business. I’m not about hurting anything. Come here, take a look for yourself. I grow ‘em myself, take care of ‘em, and sell them to people that need ‘em.” He’d nudge the crates with his feet and took a few steps back, letting her look if she wished. Did she really even need to look though if she could see ~everything~? Cal wasn’t exactly sure, but treated her like any other person just the same, giving her the space to do as she wished. The crates themselves were filled with various herbs--some for health, some for magic, some for cooking--and vases of assorted flowers, all sorted by type and color. “I’ve got to do the normal folk way of things starting off as I can’t just magic out a sprout in minutes like some druids and other herbomancers can, but once it’s good to go, I just conjure up a light shower over all my buds and keep ‘em happy.” To elaborate on this, the mage lifted a finger in the air, gave it a bit of a whirl, and summoned up a tiny thundercloud, complete with lightning and rain.

"I barely know you mortal. You can't expect me to know everything... Not that I actually care about your kind or anything." Harsh as ever, but as the man puts down his crate. Chisel moves forward to reach upon the leaves. She did saw it earlier, since the man entered her forest. But she tries to mimic normal movements. "I see. Still, as you may have noticed. I despise your kind. And yes I think I have the right to do so. If you are unaware of what your kind has done in the past then that is no longer my problem. Using useful herbs to comfort... mortals leaves quite 'a taste in my mouth' or however the saying goes." she turns toward the man and said, "Show me something first. Then I'll think about respect afterwards."

“Maybe you’ve just met the wrong frakkin’ mortals then. Not all of us are like those idiots in the Warrior’s Guild. Some of us actually use our damned brains instead of swinging a sword around like an ogre. As for the herb usin’, it’s just how things have always been, as far as I know. We grow them, we used them, we live a bit longer, we grow some more.” Callum shrugged, “Some of us are smart enough to do it respectable-like, though. Reusing bits that can be reused, like bulbs and the seeds and what not, just like hunters do with meat. I don’t do it out of harm to folks like you--I do it because I like being around nature. I was on a ship for so damned long, I almost forgot what a forest looked like.” He quirked a raven-colored brow, eyeing the female spirit carefully, “What exactly am I supposed to show you, then? If you want me to care for your sprouts, you’ll have to be the one to get them sproutin’ or we’ll be waiting a hell of a long time.”

Chisel simply frowned as she stared upon the man for a good few seconds. It is true that she hasn't been able to meet every mortal in existence to begin distrusting them. Still, her point still stands and does have the right to hate them. She looked upon the ground and took a handful of earth, before stealing a leaf from the man's crate. She placed her hand ontop of the other and let her magic glow. The lantern began to glow a bit brighter and as the dryad opens her hand, a seedling is made, the lump of earth carefully secured on a silk bag but the plant was already blooming even though she only held it for mere seconds. "Start with this." she extends the plant toward the man. "We'll see if a mortal like you can take care of this fragile life. That the forest has not made a mistake of even allow you to graze upon these land." a challenge it seems. "In a few days I will look for you."

Callum blinked a few times and nodded to Chisel, taking sprout carefully from her. “R-right. Yeah. Uh, I mean, I’m sure you already know, but my house is that way.” He’d point towards the south, and continued speaking, “Down by that old, leafless tree near the watering hole. If you don’t see me about there or in the rest of the forest, I’m probably in Cenril then, but I don’t go much farther than that.” Handling the plant ever so gently, he’d set it into the top crate, making sure it’d not get crushed during his walk. “I..er...yeah. Goodbye, then, forest girl.” He didn’t seemed frightened of her; rather, he was a bit dumbfounded that she even gave him a chance to prove himself in the first place.