Private Lyrwick Medicinal Mismanagement

[Siondhe]

She cursed again, her frustration clearly written on her face, and the fox tailed that lashed about behind her. She could've sworn that she'd collected everything that they had required in order to treat the newcomers, and yet she had in her hand a list of herbs that were still missing. Somehow, either the requirements had changed - or she'd just entirely overlooked nearly half the list.

"There's no way that I just...forgot. No way! Besides, why can't I just use magic in order to help these people, it's not like the spells I have wouldn't be able to solve these problems! At least...I don't think they'd have trouble doing that..."

Kyra kicked a nearby stone, her frustration at the entire situation taken out in the one, swell, off-balance movement. She knew there was likely a good reason she was being sent out to collect things, but she also felt like her time was better spent healing people here. She wasn't sure if all of these people were People of the Land, or if some were Starfallen like herself - she hadn't yet found a way to tell the difference, if there even was one. Not that it mattered at all to her.

"Besides, what does it matter? None of them are going to end up dead while I'm out collecting things. I just need to quickly pop out, and make my way through the surrounding forested areas and look for some herbs, and other edible things. I guess it could be worse...I mean it's not like they want me to hunt down some super rare, hard to find creature and bring back its internal orgrans or anything crazy."

She gave a sigh before making her way towards the gates that led out of the encampment. She was careful to keep her small scythe away from anyone she passed, her eyes glancing to and fro, as her ears pinned themselves down against her head in an attempt to shut out the overwhelming noise that the encampment - and other civilised areas - brought about. She was just about to make her way out entirely, when she spotted a familiar face.

"Ornthalas? Ornthalas! It is you! What are you doing here, of all places?"

@Ornthalas

 

[Ornthalas]

Ornthalas was becoming a wanderer of sorts, coming to and from settlements but much preferring to be on the outside of the walls, where nature thrived and he felt at ease. Perhaps it was the elven heritage that gave him these feelings, or a sense of adventure that he had always tucked away in his real life that he no longer had to hide. For that he wasn't certain, but what was certain was how dangerous these lands tended to be at night, so he didn't camp outside of a settlement often. He had just recently rested at a small camp, having just relogged after his shift, he awoke in a small tent he had build on the outskirts, next to the wall.

With the sounds of birds chirping and the rustling of people starting their days bright and early, he stretched and looked around his little tent. Nothing but himself, a bag, his crossbow bracer, attached on the underside was his dagger sheath with the worn dagger within. He put it back onto his left arm, a bit loose and collapsed until he could stand and set it properly. He rolled up the bed and semi-thin pillow he had slept in, adding them to his inventory and grabbing the bag and slinging it over his back, stepping out into the morning sun, his eyes squinting from the harsh light.

"Right, I've got ample time to pack up." he muttered to no one in particular. He took to work setting a small campfire, letting his hanging stove-iron hang above the growing flame to warm so he could make his breakfast. While it took it's time, he went and removed his tent from the ground and putting the items back in his inventory. He went back and made himself a simple breakfast, a few eggs and a slice of toast he slathered with a bit of butter, and in the embers of the fire he set a kettle to warm, and after a few moments he dropped a few beans in, to make this worlds equivalent of coffee. He finished his food and then grabbed himself a cup of the brew, when he heard a familiar voice. He looked up to see Kyra, and he gave her a small wave.

"Ah, Kyra, nice to see you! I could ask you the same thing." He spoke with a good laugh. He stood up to greet his friend, and motioned to the fire. "Here, I have some... I don't know if I could call it coffee, but it's the best I could do." he grabbed an extra cup from his inventory, and offered it to her to hold if she wanted some. "I was on my way through, and I needed a safe place to camp."

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra took the offered cup, smiling as she received some of the drink. She hadn't expected to run into the Elf anytime soon - especially with how often she'd been moving around, place to place, since they'd both started. She had to admit, it was a nice surprise.

Her eyes passed over his camp, and his outfit, noting that he had managed to upgrade his equipment a bit since their original meeting - the crossbow on his arm catching her attention. The piece looked custom made, in a sense, and had an intricate design to it; one that she'd have enjoyed studying at another time, when she wasn't so pressed.

"I'm actually on an errand, of sorts. I made my way down here to help out - a lot of the people in this place require medical assistance, and I figured with my mending abilities, I could...well, do some healing. Which I've been able to do a bit, but then one of the orderlies requested some materials - seemed easy enough, but apparently I'm on some sort of fetch-quest that has no end in sight! I've headed out to collect things about eight or nine times now! And to top it off, now they want me to head out into the wilds around this encampment to try and find some herbs, as well as something that people can eat. Apparently they don't have enough food, or medicine, or something. So now I get to wonder around and look for stuff!"

Her tail had flicked to attention behind her, displaying her annoyance as it stood straight outwards. She wouldn't have doubted if her ears had stood straight up, were it not for the fact they were currently bent against her head in order to try and block out some of the noise from the busy area.

"Speaking of...I need to actually go do that, soon. Did you have any plans for the day? I wouldn't mind some company, if you're up for it!"

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn gave the cup to Kyra and then poured some of the steaming liquid inside. He took a sip and listened to her plight with interest. This was the person that he landed from the sky with so he had a small sense of kinship with this one that he didn't with much others. He never said it aloud of course, as it would more than likely sound weird to anyone else but himself. But that was fine, he was used to the quiet of the world to his own thoughts, and he preferred it that way.

"A medicine run eh? And they've made you do it... eight or nine times?" He spoke, making sure that he understood correctly. "Maybe this is one of those 'repeat tasks' that people can do to get materials to make items or potions with?" He took a small sip of the brew. "But, I didn't have anything else plan other than to chart, explore and possibly fight. By all means I'd be happy to help." he smiled at the fox girl. "But first things first, I have to finish cleaning up my camp, then he can head out." He stood up and wiped the dust off his knees and shins, then he went to work collecting his kettle, first pouring out the few beans and muddy-looking water on the ground, and brushing dirt and dust into the remaining embers of the fire to douse them. After that, he tightened the gauntlet firmly to his wrist, giving it a quick test to make sure it worked. Then he nodded to Kyra

"Right, lets be on then. Lead the way."

 

[Siondhe]

She waited, patiently, as Orn went about cleaning up the camp. She had considered offering to help, before realising she'd likely be more burden than assistance. So instead, she stood off to the side with her cup, talking as he worked on getting everything put away.

"Well, I had considered the repeat quest originally - after the third of fourth time. But the thing is, they keep sending me to get different things - and there's been no rewards, yet. In fact...I'm not even sure if there will be rewards! It seems almost like I'm just running errands for the sake of running errands, and that I'm not actually going to get any sort of benefit from this...I mean, not that I'm complaining. It's helping people - well, I think it's helping people...I seem to be helping people, and that's enough for me. I know that I've helped a few players out too, which was nice!"

She nodded as Orn finished his preparation, before turning and making her way towards the outside of the wall. She waved to a few of the local workers that she'd come to know in her short time here, passing smiles and small words before making her way into the beyond, and letting her ears unfold.

She paused to stretch, giving her scythe a soft swing, before spinning on the spot. Leaning forward with her torso, she smiled at Orn again, before waving a hand around her.

"So, have you explored the area around here? Any recommendations on where to find...erm...whatever these things are? Or are there any specific areas you wanted to explore while we're out here? I could do with some time away from all the noise..."

She handed over the parchment that she had been giving with the list of things to collect, a number of herbs and plant-based materials on it, as well as some edible items - ranging from plants to animals. Her ears twitched as she listened to the silence, her tail shifting back and forth comfortably behind her. Her eyes, however, remained on Orn as she awaited his answer.

 

[Ornthalas]

As Orn continued to quietly listen to Kyra as he finished up his camp clean, he realized that this girl was definitely one of those "good-hearted" people. She was doing this because she seemed to be helping people, with no actual evidence to prove that. He never really understood how people could be so kind to a fault, but he respected it. He was glad that she was one of the four or five people that he landed with, albeit he realized that most, if not all of them, were women. And that was a tad weird for him, he was definitely used to playing with men or kids screaming into a mic because they lost, but he wasn't entirely complaining.

They headed out, and he saw Kyra's new scythe, and his eyes perked up. At a quick glance, he saw that it was definitely a good weapon to use, and the way that she held it comfortably, it seemed that she knew how to use it well. Only time would tell if she was effective with it, but for now he took the parchment that she had passed off to him, and he skimmed it quickly.

"I do know a few of these..." he rubbed his chin, then made eye contact with the girl. "She could more than likely go and get the swamp weed without issue, but the Daffo-thorn and the Gillie Seed would definitely be difficult if she's not good in tight confined spaces, or even good at parkour of any kind, since the Gillie seeds are up high and Daffo-thorns only grow at the bottom of thorn bushes. IwonderifIcouldgetthoseeasilyImeanprobablyimgoodatthissortofthingbutIhavenoideahowshewouldhandleitbutshesaidshe'sbeendoingthesefordaysomaybeshecan-" he stopped as he noticed a new popup on his HUD that he hadn't seen before. He looked at it and it read "Mindsend Active."

His eyes widened and saw that, he had probably been broadcasting what he was thinking. A small blush formed on his cheeks. "What was- I am so sorry, That was not meant to happen, I was just trying to think and..." He felt flustered, this moment definitely showing him as a greenleaf at this game, even after about a week of playing he still had skills he had no idea about.

 

[Siondhe]

She gave a slight squeal of excitment as Orn acknowledged that he was familiar with some of the items on the list. Kyra had managed to - in some cases accidentally - identify a few of the pieces, but there were a few names that she was entirely unfamiliar with. Things that she'd never come across, and that she had been worrying that she'd never be able to-

Her thoughts were cut off as something began speaking. Her ears twitched in response, trying to figure out where the words were coming from. Her eyes went wide as she quickly realised that the words weren't coming from anyone's voice, but rather inside her head.

"That was you? In my head? That's...that's kinda...I mean, that could be use...I didn't really catch it all! I mean, it was kind of confusing, and I wasn't really listening, and the words were all jumbled together, and..."

Her voice ran off as she ran out of excuses, her face flushing as she tried to reassure the other. She doubted he believed any of it, anyways, but she felt the need to try and comfort him slightly.

"So...you said some of these are up high, and some are at the bottoms of some bushes? I...I can probably get the things in the tiny, hard to reach spaces. The up high though...I mean if it's a simple climb, then maybe I can do it. But...well, I'm not the greatest climber in the world."

A flick of her tail, and she leaned forward at the waist again, her hands clutched behind her back as she smiled at Orn, trying to put on her cutest expression.

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn felt the embarrassment only grow as he saw Kyra try and comfort him. Apparently, Mindsend activated unintentionally if eye contact was made, which was a bit weird, and a little annoying. But after a moment of thinking it over, he realized that maybe it had a good reason for it to be like that, and in case of emergency it could be useful for communication if they were kidnapped somehow. But he shoved those thoughts of the ability aside, and looked back to Kyra with a slight smile

"R-right, sorry." He said as he picked up the parchment. "If you can get the Daffo-thorns that'd be great. I'm a tad too big to get them myself. You can find them in big bramble patches, usually each of them have a bit of space at the bottom of the piles. You crawl in there for a foot or so, and you'll usually find one or two, depending on how big the patch is. I can worry about the Gillie seeds." He rolled up the parchment and handed it back to Kyra.

"Here, after you get your quest, i'll get mine and we'll meet back up for the final item, which will be the easiest to get. Sound good?"

 

[Siondhe]

She gave Orn a giant smile, before leaning in for a hug. Wrapping her hands around his waist, she squeezed him slightly, before bouncing back and twitching her tail. Her hands clasped before her, she nodded, looking towards the woods before them. She'd seen a few of the bramble patches not too far from here, when she'd last headed out in search of materials - she was sure she could make it there and back in no time.

"That works for me! I shouldn't be too long, there's some brambles up this way a bit...should we meet back here in about twenty minutes? Or maybe a bit longer, depending on how your search goes?"

She bounced on her foot for a second, before looking back at Orn one last time, her smile somewhat subdued, but a curious look in her eyes. Her voice carried a tone of hesitation as she spoke, as if the words were difficult to force out.

"Err...and thank you...for your help. I really appreciate it. It means a lot to me...."

Not waiting for a response, she took off at a sudden jog, heading further down the road and into the forest itself, disappearing from sight with a skip. Her mind focused on the necessity of finding the Dando-thorns, and returning to the meeting place as quickly as possible. The smile on her face, somewhat lopsided but filled with glee as she went, and the soft blush slowly receeding.

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn was a bit taken aback by the hug, and it was comforting, but a tad strange. He was definitely not used to this kind of affection by anyone else except his parents, or his friends at the coffee joint that he worked at. This was... weird, and he wasn't sure if he liked it. She let go almost as soon as she had held on, and said she had the Daffo-thorns pretty easily. He gave her a nod and a smile.

"All right, sure. I'll be back here in 20 minutes. Better hope you have enough." he said, a bit sarcastically. As he was about to turn away, he heard her thank him, and said it meant a lot to her. He smiled and turned to say something, but when he looked, she was gone. He felt a bit puzzled that she ran away, but she might have been in a hurry to go find some bramble bushes, so he didn't blame her.

"Alright, time to find some Shullbark trees." He muttered to himself, then channeled his dark abilities to melt into the shadows of the trees and make his way in an eastern direction, scanning the trees to find what he was looking for.

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra

The bushes had taken almost no time at all to find. In fact, she'd stumbled upon them without much effort at all. Where she had run into the issue, was getting beneath them. Hands on her hips, she stared down at the ground hugging brambles, her eyes narrowed in a look of annoyance that failed to portray the anger she was trying to cast towards the plants.

"Look. All I need. Is a few. Dando-thorns. You can part with them. You don't. Need. To. Hog."

She strained her words as she tried again to shuffle her way beneath the bushes, the cuts and lacerations she was receiving quickly closing over thanks to her healing magic - something she was thankful she'd managed to upgrade.

A curse and a shriek later, she decided she'd had enough. Half-submerged, she gave a single, terse scream, before summoning the newest Hemomancy spell she'd found. She felt her blood shift in her body - a weird sensation, but not a painful one - as it pulled itself towards the surface, hardening her skin and pushing back against the bushes that attempted to pierce and slash her.

"I am not being beaten by a damned plant! Stupid. Thorny. Piece. Of. Crap. I. Will. Win!"

Nearly fifteen minutes later, covered in scratches and bruises that she hadn't bothered to waste the energy on healing, she found herself back at the meeting place. The small pounch on her hip filled with the Dando-thorns, and broken twigs, pieces of bush, and assorted pines sticking from her hair, ears and tail - accompanied by a look of venom.

"Stupid. Freaking. Thorn. Bushes. This is why I didn't go druidic. Burn the bushes to the ground next time. Arrghh!"

 

[Ornthalas]

Ornn swiftly moved through the woods, gaining vantage and shortcuts from using the shadows, moving in directions not usually accessible towards the giant Shullbark trees. He eventually found them, a small grove of them a mile or so away from where they had started, but he would be able to make it within the time frame. He climbed up the tree, using his dagger to stab into the wood if a limb was too far out of reach, and eventually he made it to the leafy top, grabbing a few bundles of the orange fruits. From there, he would have to remove the gillie seeds from them, but the fruit would make an excellent snack, since the magic properties came from the seeds and not the delicate fruit.

After this, he used the shadows to arrive back on the ground, and started the long job back to where Kyra would be waiting. During the slow breaks he would take his dagger to slice through one of the fruits, eating it as a snack for a job well done. He was glad he brought extra, because using all that magic and climbing had worked up a small appetite for the elf.

"If only all quests and missions were this easy." He chuckled, slicing another piece and eating it off the thin blade, chewing as a flock of birds chirped overhead.

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra

She'd been back a while now, and as she fidgeted nervously in the grass where she'd found a place to lay and relax, Kyra couldn't help but wonder if something had happened to Orn. She checked - not for the first time - her UI's clock, wondering once again if there was a piece of equipment that she could get in order to keep track of time without opening the piece.

"A pocket watch, or a wristwatch would be a nice addition, if they exist in this world...I'm sure they must have something like that! I should definitely look into it once I get back...I mean, after I delivery the supplies and make sure everyone is okay, and everything..."

She checked the clock again. Twenty-eight minutes. Not far beyond their expected meet time, but enough to get her worried. She considered sending a notification to check on him, before realising it would likely simply distract him and make him more late - or worse, cause him to lose focus in a dangerous situation.

Instead, she was left sitting, waiting, and fuming over the fact that she hadn't gone with him. She was never one to simply sit idle, not when others needed her help.

"I swear if he's not hurt when he gets back here, I'm gonna..."

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn kept a steady pace of a walk and a jog, and ended up a few minutes behind schedule. He arrived and saw Kyra in the distance, covered in twigs, bramble and a horde of leaves. He did his best to hold in a laugh at her new appearance. "Well, it's safe to say you got what you needed." He said, a bit snide. He sliced a bit of the fruit and offered it to the fox. "Here, the ghillie fruit is actually quite tasty on its own. I got a few extra so we could snack. I'll get the seeds out of them before the end of the night for your quest."

He looked around to once again gather his bearings, and then pointed towards the south. "The swamp is that way, about half an hour walk I think." he tossed a ghillie fruit up in the air, taking his bracer and shooting a ballista into it, slicing the fruit in half and catching both pieces. He looked to see four ghillie seeds, he took his knife and carefully removed each one, and offered two of them to Kyra.

"We can use these to take a quick rest if you want, Ghillie seeds are great for restoring energy. They knock you out cold, for about 2 and a half minutes per seed from what I've gathered and tested. But the more you take, the more energy you gain back. so 5 minutes of sleep for a spurt of energy is honestly really useful."

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra

She eyed the pieces offered to her, before shaking her head and storing them away. Although the rest sounded beneficial, she had to admit she was anything far from tired. It was interesting, however, to learn their possible use. Perhaps that's why the medical team wanted them, was to help patients sleep?

"I'm actually okay to head out, if you are! I feel surprisingly energised in this game, as if I could keep going for hours without rest...it's almost like..."

She stopped herself, cocking her head in surprise as she realised what she'd been about to say. Shrugging it off, she pushed herself to her feet before bouncing in the direction that Orn had pointed out. She stopped a few metres ahead of the man, turning with an almost surprised look on her face.

"Hey, didn't you say there was something you needed to do today? Some sort of...exploring? Or mapping? Or something? I remember you mentioning that you had plans, but I can't for the life of me remember right now what they were...is it something in this direction too? Or do we need to go somewhere else afterwards?"

Even while waiting for a response, she seemed restless; bouncing between her two feet as she continued inching in the direction that Orn had first pointed out, as if trying to keep moving while waiting on the other.

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn's offer was respectfully declined, and he nodded and pocketed the seeds for later. They were good in case of emergency, as he could hide his body for a few minutes and get a full rest, which while on the run from any contracted assassins or large foes. He looked forward to the oncoming trail, and was about to move behind her when she suddenly stopped and turned around, asking him if he didn't have something else to do.

"Oh, are you talking about earlier? I mean yeah, I planned to grab some of these seeds myself." He held up one of the sliced fruits, deseeded and dripping a small bit of juice. "And then I was going to explore around, see if I could find some stuff that wasn't on the wiki just yet, try to help the community you know?" He said with a shrug. "Trying to help out any way I can, I'm not much of a fighter so exploring is the next best thing for me."

He bit into one of the sliced pieces and bit into it, a small crunch as the juices dribbled down his chin. "Mm, delicious." He spoke with a wad of fruit still in his mouth. He patted Kyra's head and moved past her, moving onto the trail towards the bog

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra

She felt a bit better, knowing now that she hadn't entirely pulled Orn away from whatever he had been planning to do during the day. Smiling, she took a step to make her way off, when the hand came down and patted her head. For a brief second, she was about to voice her displeasure at being pat like a dog, before the sudden warmth spread through her.

"Hey! I'm-ohthagoo..."

She flushed as she realised what she said, the reaction entirely out of her control. She'd run into the issue a few times before, and was starting to realise that her settings made everything realistic; which seemed to include the sensitivity that was often seen in canines. Especially when they were pet.

She stomped ahead, trying to fight away her embarrassment as she headed in what was clearly the wrong direction. Face flushed, and head tucked downwards, she missed the fact that the trail had curved off to the right, her own path leading her straight towards an edge, and likely a long drop downwards.

"Come on, we don't have all-"

Her words cut short as she suddenly realised where her feet had been taking her, and she rolled backwards at the last moment. A few deep breaths later, and she stomped back to the road, looking at Orn with a single, hard glare.

"Not. A. Word."

She turned and began walking down the road once more, her face even more flushed as she had more to be embarrassed about. She wasn't sure which was worse, the petting, or the fact that she had almost just walked off a cliff because of it.

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn heard something come from Kyra's mouth when he pat her head, but he wasn't entirely sure what it was that was said. He had been chewing the fruit and the crunching sound of his teeth gnashing the skin and sweet nectar of the ghillie fruit covered what she said quite easily. He turned to her, but she seemed to have said something of the embarrassing sort, so he decided not to question it.

As she marched ahead of him, he saw that she was going in the opposite direction. "Uh, Kyra." He said, but she continued marching, her face flush with the red blood beneath her cheeks. "Kyra." He said again, she then spoke up and said something, and he tried to reach forward to catch her but it was far too late, and she tumbled off a small cliff. He peeked over the edge to see she was only a few feet down.

She came up in a huff, her face even redder than before and told him to not say a word. He held both his hands up defensively, his face doing it's been to keep a calm composure, but he felt a laugh crawling up his throat. As she walked past him, he jokingly said. "Do I need to hold your hand?" He said and he laughed a bit. He recovered after a moment and sighed.

"Sorry, Sorry. I shouldn't laugh but it was just funny. I tend to watch those 'people getting comically hurt' videos when I'm not on Terrasphere or working." He said, trying to cheer her up. "You'd be surprised how many times I fell out of shadows when I first tried using the magic. It's harder than it looks."

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra

Her ears twitched at the question, and for a moment she resisted. Then, her composure broke loose and before she knew it, the words were tumbling out of her mouth.

"Hold my hand? I...uhm...maybe...but shouldn't...dinner first, and get to know each other more and...oh. Oh my...Oh no."

She'd have sworn, if she could, her face would have burned with a deeper flush than what was already there. In her embarrassment, she entirely missed the rest of Orn's explanation, the words trailing behind her as she hurriedly made her way down the trail, rushing ahead for a time as she tried to calm herself.

"He wasn't asking you on a date, you idiot! He was trying to be funny! So stupid! So! So! Stupid!"

She prattled on to herself as she walked, oblivious of her surroundings for a time, before she realised that she had come to an intersection, the road going left and right, and neither direction in her memory. She turned, looking for Orn and calling out to him once she spotted him behind her.

"Uhm...I don't really know which way to go..."

She waved to either side of her, her tail sinking behind her as she realised she was once again asking for help. One of these days, she'd get better at this whole directions thing. One of these days. Or, you know, you could just take his hand?

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn watched as she seemed to fumble, and lost her composure entirely at his joke. She then talked about getting to know one another more, and she freaked out and ran ahead. He was a tad lost for a moment. What was that about? All he had done was offer to hold her ha-

Oh. OHHHHHHH. He mentally slapped himself. Of course it could be taken in a romantic way. She wasn't the brightest when it came to social things, that much he had learned. So he hadn't thought she would take it that way. But apparently she knew a little more about relationships than he had first thought. He caught up with her eventually, giving her space to calm down but as she reached a fork in the road, she was a bit lost as to where to go. He just smiled and finished off the first half of the fruit.

"Left. Both lead to the bog but the left is the fastest way to get some of the Swamp Weed." He said as he licked his hand, cleaning is and then wiping it on the inside of his cloak. "Now, are we calmed down now?" he asked, being both sincere and trying to keep it lighthearted. "I only meant it as a joke Kyra, sorry to make you feel embarrassed about it." He said, then pet her head.

"On accident that is, but if you do want to get to know me now's the time." He said with a small wink, and laughed, moving past her onto the trail, scouting and keeping his eyes peeled for the plant on their shopping list.