Private Lyrwick Medicinal Mismanagement

[Siondhe]

Kyra

A joke. Of course. She'd entirely overreacted, her behaviour causing her more embarrassment that she knew was going to keep her up, reliving it over and over again, all night. She sighed, before tossing a hesitant, uneven smile at Orn.

"...sorry, I should've known it was a joke. Uhm...sorry..."

She looked to the left, before following Orn's lead. A few steps, then she decided to take him up on his offer - now would be a good time to get to know him, after all. She considered her first question carefully, knowing that it would likely be turned back on herself in the end.

"So...why Terrasphere? What brought you into the game? Like...why do you play, knowing all the dangers that come with it?"

It was something she had a concrete answer for herself, but she was always curious as to why others took the risk. Not just the legality of it, but the physical risk. Although, as she considered it, she wasn't even sure if Orn would know about the three deaths - that seemed to be something that was a not-so-well-kept secret. Thankfully, another had told her about it, and given her the choice of escaping, or continuing.

Regardless, she was curious why Orn kept coming back. If nothing else, it would let her see a bit into who he was as a person, what drove him.

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn just gave a smile and patter Kyra's head. "No worries, sometimes people tend to overreact." he spoke matter-of-factly. He continued onwards on the trail as Kyra followed next to him. He had started to hack away at the second half of the fruit when she asked him why he chose Terrasphere to play. He mulled it over for a few moments, thinking and forming the correct words to explain his thought process, and the only sound he made for a few moments were the crunching of his shoes on the trail, and chopping away at the fruit in his hands.

"Hm..." He said, a large chunk of fruit in his mouth. He swallowed it quickly, wiping his mouth with the blade. "If I'm honest, I chose it because of the dangers." He made eye contact with Kyra for a moment. "My life... is very boring, on the outside. Always played safe, always did everything my parents wanted. I wanted to do something with dangers for the first time in my life, and I have yet to regret my decisions." He smiled. "You are one of the first real friends I've made in a long time, along with everyone else we met on day one, you all are special to me."

He looked ahead of the trail, and they had made it to their destination a lot faster than he anticipated. "Alright, here we are. Swamp weed grows at the bottom of the bog, so we have to get a little dirty." He sheathed his dagger and threw the remaining fruit into the woods, rolled up his sleeves and proceeded to wade out into the murky water

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra

She felt her face flush as she ducked her head and turned away, her tail swishing back and forth with a vigor that bespoke to the impact the compliment had on her. Her ears twitched for a while, and she fought the urge to cough in response, before her attention was eventually drawn back to their surroundings.

"Wait...we have to go into the swamp? Like, in the dirty watery part?"

Her eyes glanced down at her armour and clothing, thoughts racing through her head that were clearly portrayed on her face as it shifted from looks of confusion, to clear realisation, followed by outright horror. She felt herself shiver against the thought, before she managed to say anything aloud.

"Err...I wish I'd known that...I would've brought...like a change of clothes, or something...maybe a water suit...something to swim in...I...I didn't really bring anything else..."

She glanced between the swamp and Ornthalas, her face clearly displaying the dilemma she was currently trying to work through, as if searching unsuccessfully for a solution to the issue at hand. She knew she'd have to go into the water, but she couldn't do it with her armour on, which meant...

Which means the armour has to come off...which causes a slight problem...which wouldn't be a problem if it was just you, but with Orn here... Her face flushed an even deeper colour than it had been before, and she opened her mouth to mumble something, before snapping it closed, her thought driven away almost immediately.

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn had waded out to where his knees were, when he heard Kyra ask if he meant in the dirty water, and he chuckled. "Yes, the dirty mucky water. There might be an allodile in here but other than that it's pretty easy." He spoke, He started to shift through the muck, trying to look for the clinging plant when Kyra spoke again, saying she wished she brought another pair of clothing, and he just looked at her puzzled.

"The Swamp Weed is pretty close to the shore, we only need to go up to our knees at most." He said, then gave a playful wink "Unless you want to go deeper, in which case I'll be happy to oblige." he teased, then gave a small, playful laugh and went back to searching for the final item on their "shopping" list,

"This is becoming more and more interesting." He thought to himself, and he "accidentally" fell in, getting his armor soaked, then stood up and continued searching as if nothing was wrong, the water soaking into his armor and starting to chill him down to the bone. But, the face Kyra made when she was flustered was definitely worth it.

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra

She bit her lip, unsure of what to do. On the one hand, it was clear she wasn't going to need to go deeper into the water. On the other hand, she'd just watched Orn slip and fall into the dirty water, making it clear that the footing wasn't perfect. She hesitated, for a few moments, before making her decision.

Pulling off the boots that she wore, and the armour plates that wrapped around her shins and thighs. Placing them on the edge of the bank, she took a deep breath before pulling the legs of her pants up beyond her knees.

With a mad dash, she lunged into the water, trying to hide her red face by searching for the weeds they were looking for, seeing it reflected back in her eyes on the surface of the water itself. She spent a few moments grabbing handfuls of the items, before a thought came to her.

"Wait did you say allodiles? As in alligator-crocodiles? As in things that could easily eat me? In the water?"

She glanced around nervously, looking for any signs of movement in the water itself, before realising that she could barely see beneath the surface. She doubted she'd be able to see any movement below the muck, and unconsciously she found herself sliding through the water towards Orn.

"Maybe...maybe playing in the water isn't such a great idea..."

@Ornthalas

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn watched in the corner of his eye as Kyra was making her decision. then eventually started to remove some armor and her boots. He didn't understand why she was in such a tizzy about her boots getting wet, it would dry eventually, and even if the swamp stank stuck around, a night of hanging in the rain would clean it quickly. He decided not to question it and got a few bundles of the giant swamp weed gathered. He seemed to get enough of a handful, and Kyra seemed well armed with the weed as well when she asked about the allodiles. He nodded.

"Yep, but don't worry, not a lot of them come to shore this time of the-" his sentence was cut off as a giant Allodile appeared from the swamp with it's mouth agape, grabbing Orn by the waist and chomping with its gigantic maw. After a second of the creature chewing, the body puffed in a dark cloud, and the Allodile looked confused, looking around and spotting Kyra, it's eyes narrowing and it starts a slow crawl towards her.

Then, from the trees, Orn appeared in a puff of black smoke, coming down on the creature with his dagger drawn, Shadow energy gathering along the blade and causing it to grow in length, piercing through the raw scales straight through the brain. The giant creature gave a gurgle sound, then flopped and disappeared back under the water.

"Now that, that was a little too close." Orn said, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. He grabbed his dagger after a few wiggles, and grabbed the creature from inside it's mouth, dragging it ashore. "Well, I was wondering what I'd have to eat tonight."

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra

She straightened as Orn began speaking about the Allodiles, explaining that they didn't come this close to shore, and how they would be safe. Only to stop midway through his sentence as the named creature, clearly summoned by them speaking about it too much, appeared and began tearing into the man.

Kyra stumbled backwards, her mouth opening and an ear splitting scream erupting from it - only to be stopped as she slipped and disappeared beneath the surface of the water, her screaming continuing as bubbles formed around where she'd fallen in.

It took her a moment to regain her footing, managing to push herself up and out of the water, only to find Orn standing in the water again beside the now-deceased Allodile, dagger in hand and a pleased look upon his face.

Without a word, Kyra gathered her weeds and stormed out of the water and onto the bank, before letting out a loud, annoyed groan as she looked down and found herself soaked through; her armour and clothing entirely covered in the mucky water.

"Are you kidding me..."

The words came out as a whispered complaint as she reached down and felt the various pieces of clothing, realising that even her undergarments had become soaked. She fought back the tears that had threatened the edge of her vision - thankful that Orn was still behind her. Without turning to look at him, she called out from the bank.

"I...need a fire...and this is your fault."

Arms and legs spread wide, she waited, unsure of what Orn would do, but desperately trying to figure out what options she had.

 

[Ornthalas]

As Orn looked back to the shore, he saw that Kyra was drenched. In the moment of the attack she must have fell in. He felt like laughing at first, but as she locked eyes with him, he knew that he had gone a bit too far with his joke. The Allodile attack was not planned, but she didn't know he had a safeguard against initial surprise attacks. She thought he had died, more than likely. His smile faded, and he quietly dragged the corpse to shore. He would chop it up and cook it later, but for now he set it down, opened his inventory and threw her his spare cloak and clothing.

"Here, you go get out of those and change behind those trees, I'll go get some firewood." He said, a bit down. Shit, why did he have to go so far? He disappeared into the shadows, his thoughts attacking him one after another. Would she leave him? Did he lose one of his only friends? All over his mistake, just like last time? No, no he needed to focus. He simply spoke to himself, reassuring himself in the solace of the woods as he found some sticks, small logs and some kindling.

He soon came back to where they had split, and he brought the wood over to a clearing a few meters away from the swampy shore, in an area where the ground was solid and dry, and he set up a small fire, grabbing his flint and steel, and started the fire in silence. After he got it going, he sat down and took of his cloak, ringing it out next to him as the swampy water fell into the dry ground, happily drinking it up and it disappearing into the ground.

"I'm sorry."

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra

The look on his face caused Kyra's resolve to break slightly, the sudden depressive reaction, the worry, the self-anger. She felt her own frustration die, the fire within her dwindling to almost nothing. She barely managed to catch the clothing through her way, before the man disappeared.

It wasn't his fault...it's not like he summoned the creature here...I shouldn't have been so hard on him...She stood for a while, considering what had happened. Considering her own reaction, and Orn's. She felt her heart ping with pain as she realised she may have just caused a rift, before swearing to herself that she'd make it up to him.

Happy for the clothing, she set the pieces down - excluding the cloak, which she wrapped around herself - while she began to change. She laid the pieces of her armour on the ground beside her, bending over slightly as she began removing the wet clothing.

She suddenly stiffened as she heard the voice behind her, the soft apology, filled with regret and an apologetic tone. She felt her eyes go wide and her face heat as she realised she had removed most of her outerwear, covered only by the jacket.

"Uhm...Orn...which...which way are you facing, right now?"

She waited there for an answer, still slightly bent at the waist, the cloak covering her form, but the ears atop her head twitching crazily as they reacted to the embarrassment. She wasn't sure what - if anything - he had seen, and wasn't sure what sort of position she was in, but refused to turn to check, afraid that the cloak would fall off.

@Ornthalas

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn listened quietly as he heard Kyra asked if he was facing in any specific way. He was confused and was about to look over, but out of the corner of his eye he saw her armor on the ground, and he quickly put the pieces together as he felt a blush cover his still-dripping face. He turned away and pulled his cloak over his head.

"I'm facing away from you, next to the fire." he said, his pitch a bit higher than normal. He had thought she would go and change in the bushes, not right next to where he was setting up camp. He turned and he accidentally activated his mindsend without realizing once again.

"Crap, she's undressed right over there. Should I peek? No, no that's a horrible thing to do, just give her your privacy this is your fault." he thought to himself, the heat of the fire in front of him drying off the front of his clothing and the warmth of his body returning. He felt chilly, and he looked up to realize the sun was starting to disappear over the horizon.

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra

She peaked around the corner of the cloak, grasping it tightly in order to make sure that the man was doing what he had stated he was. She saw him, back turned and a stiffness to him that bespoke his understanding of the situation - or perhaps the fact that he had misunderstood something. Either way, Kyra felt safe for the moment, and quickly rushed to finish changing.

"You uh...you can turn back around, now..."

She mumbled as she pulled off the cloak, dressed in the spare pieces that Orn had shared with her - the arms and legs rolled up several times due to their length against her own frame. She shuffled over to the area where he had dropped the wood, placing her soaked gear on the ground beside it.

"Thanks...for the clothing...and for...you know...everything. I'm sorry for getting upset...it wasn't really your fault. I was just...sorry..."

She felt her tail tuck beneath her, the ears atop her head folding downwards as she pulled her chin in towards her chest. She felt horrible for what had occurred, realising that she had somehow caused a rift in their possible friendship, all because she had reacted too quickly.

"Can I...help with anything? I'm pretty good at making a fire...or dissecting a...whatever that thing is."

She nodded towards the Allodile that had been dumped, clearly meant as a consumable for a later period. She doubted she'd enjoy the taste of it - it looked like it would taste like swamp, but she was willing to try it if it would help their friendship.

@Ornthalas

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn poked at the fire quietly as Kyra finished changing, making sure the fire stayed strong as she came over and dropped her clothing next to the fire. He realized that maybe this wasn't the best way for them to dry. He thought that maybe setting up a quick little drying rack wouldn't be a bad idea, as there were a few trees close enough to the fire.

Before he could act though, Kyra said she was sorry for how he acted, and he held up a hand. "It's no worries, I myself acted a tad too lightly in the moment, and I've been teasing you the entire time we've been together, and perhaps that was too far. For that I am sorry." He said, then he took one of his arrows and tied a rope to the end. Once it was attached, he stood up and aimed at one of the trees, shooting the arrow into the side. He gave it a tug test, and once he felt it passed he took the other end, and tied it level to the arrow.

"If you'd like to help, take your clothes and my cloak and hang them to dry." He said, a kind tone underlaying the words. "I'm going to work on getting this puppy skinned. It's hide is strong and only my shadow arts have been able to pierce through." he said, starting to unbutton his shirt. "Also, this tends to be a bit messy so I do have to take my shirt off, I apologize if that's uncomfortable but I'd much rather only have mud to clean out of my shirt, not blood."

He placed his shirt down, then went to work on skinning the allodile, perhaps he could use the hide for some sort of armor or material. Or he could sell it to a merchant for a few gold pieces, he hadn't yet to decide what his plan of action would be, but the meat would last him a few days if he dried some overnight. Dile Jerky was pretty tasted if salted correctly.

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra

She scooped up the clothing almost immediately, only pausing as Orn mentioned needing to skin the Allodile. Her eyes wandered over to it, considering his words - perhaps only magical affects could harm the things? - before nodding in response to his simple statement. She appreciated the concern, and felt herself smile softly.

"If you want...I can help with the gutting and such. Carefully, of course. I've got some experience with, well, the internals of animals and things. Comes with the territory, I guess."

She gave a wave of her hand, thinking about how many insides she'd seen lately - and how numb she'd become to it. The thought of gutting the creature was a bit odd at first, but Kyra figured it would be no different than most of the work she did back at the camp - especially when she'd had to help with the autopsy's on some individuals.

"Besides...I need to pull my weight somehow, right? This could be a perfect way to help out! Assuming, of course, you're okay with getting a little bit dirty."

She finished hanging her clothing, before moving alongside Orn, watching as he cut away the tougher hide, revealing the soft skin beneath. Her eyes roamed over the creature, looking for weakpoints that would allow them to properly dissect the thing, an almost calm, collected voice in her head pointing out the numerous joints and hard points that would be difficult to bypass.

@Ornthalas

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn started to slowly gut the giant allodile, the blood splattering up his arms and the acidic qualities of it's organs starting to sting his fingers. When he had first skinned an allodile, it took him hours to get anywhere near done from the searing pain. But now, his fingers were used to the pain. Not numb, but used to it. He saw Kyra sit next to him, and he made sure not to spill any of it.

"There's not much I want you to do here." He said, gritting his teeth slightly. "An Allodiles organs are extremely toxic, acidic, extremely painful to handle unprepared." He said, throwing the organs into the water, away from them as they slowly floated up, then sunk to the bottom as it's filled with water. "Luckily, water counteracts the acid well so it won't harm the ecosystem. Might give a fish indigestion but that's about it." he joked.

As he cut away the last organ, he started to slice the meat into strips and threw them over his arm, like a towel. He then stood up, bringing the meat over to the fire. "Here, could you season these with a few ingredients? Put enough over the fire for the two of us, and the rest I plan to turn to some jerky to last me a few days." He set them down carefully, then stretched his arms. "I'm gonna get that allodile skin though, work a few gold pieces. Albeit this one's only a baby so it won't be worth much."

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra

She watched as Orn set to work, carefully dissecting and disposing of the internal pieces of the creature, the organs slowly disappearing beneath the water after a few seconds. She felt her curiosity peak as she watched Orn cut the meat into strips, throwing them over his shoulder as he worked.

Then came the next directions, and Kyra felt her worry rise. She glanced around the camp, picking up a few nearby bottles of what she assumed were spices. She held up the collection, before deciding that she was better off asking direction, rather than simply making a mistake.

"Uhm...so, cooking isn't really my forte...at all...like, I usually just order food, or have pre-made stuff...or completely butcher recipes...you actually might be better off spicing it because uhm...I think this is salt?"

She held up a bottle of what she thought was white rocks, that looked similar to salt. She gave the container a shake, to pull Orn's attention to the bottle. Although she thought she had found the salt, she had no idea what the multi-coloured other bottles were; the collection of spice-like materials completely foreign to her.

She gave a shy grin as she waited, wondering what Orn would say to her complete lack of skill. She'd never been good, or even capable, in the kitchen - a situation that her parents had consistently reminded her of. She felt her face flush slightly as she remembered her mother explaining to her that she would never manage to find a partner if she couldn't even make a decent meal. As if that is my only issue with meeting someone...

 

[Ornthalas]

As Orn prepared to take care of the allodile skin, Kyra spoke up and said she didn't know how to prepare the food. Better yet she had no idea what spice was what. He did his best to hold back a sigh, and turned around with a nod. "Alright, here, I'll show you. Come over by the fire." He said, then grabbed the spices and sat next to Kyra.

"Now, the spices don't have labels, but you can use the 'examine' option to see what it is." he held up the container she had held just prior. "and this is not salt, it's paprika." he jested, a small smile on his face. He placed one of the slabs of meat in front of her, then moved behind her. "Now, go ahead and grab those two spices." Once she had, he gently brought his hands to her wrists, grabbing them gently. "I'll teach you how to do this like I was taught." He took the right container and popped it's lid off. "Now, we're going to sprinkle on just a little bit of this over the top."

After that container was done, he had het set it down and then he took the left bottle and did the same, going through each spice in the right order, until the piece of meat was well prepared, then he stood and brushed the dirt off his pants. "And now we just set it above the fire to cook."

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra Vashtana

220 / 220

She had started to slide aside as Orn made his way over, offering to instruct her on how best to prepare the meat. She could almost sense the disappointment in his tone and body as he shifted across, and yet he remained patient, calm and collected. She felt her ears pressed down ever so slightly as he came closer, her nose suddenly twitching as his scent reached her.

And then he had grasped her wrists, causing her face to erupt in a colour of red that many likely would've spotted from several kilometres away. Giving herself credit, she managed to stifle and resist the urge to jump away, allowing the other to move her hands and guide her in the cooking process.

"Thanks...and sorry...I uh...I was never much of a cook, really. A lot of pre-made foods, and...err...well, rice and pasta, really. The easy stuff, for the most part. I mean I used to get laughed at, because one time in college I managed to burn water...which is entirely possible, believe it or not. I was-"

She was rambling, again. The emotions roiling up in her causing her tongue to move faster than she could consider whether it was considerable, or logical, to continue speaking. She shook her head, trying to clear away the fog that had taken over her brain momentarily, before glancing at the meat over the fire.

"So uhm...how long does it need to cook? Like an hour?"

She was certain of one thing - Orn would never let her prepare any sort of meals for them, ever again. Not without some serious supervision, at least.

@Ornthalas