Raider? I hardly know 'er!

[Anonymous]

((Well it's all rocky and dry so I'd say it's more likely to be dusty/gritty, but close enough! :P))

"Oh," Noora replied, disappointed at the rejection, but put a cheery smile back on her face. "I can keep watch later then." She'd like to repay the woman's kindness somehow, and this seemed like a good way. There wasn't much else she could do, but she could at least help her get a good night's sleep.

She shook her head, politely declining Ikki's hand and pushing herself to her own feet. She had to weigh at least twice as much as the skinny girl, and doubted that taking the help would do much more but pull the other woman down with her. Besides, she was feeling a lot better now, even if her wounds did still hurt. She could handle the injuries that were left.

"Is there shelter up there?" she asked, pointing back at the ruins Ikki had come from. She couldn't tell from here if any of the building was intact enough to protect them, but it was possible. Even a single wall would do if it was the right size and positioned correctly. Unlikely but, well, the other woman would probably know already what was up there. And if it wasn't usable, there were still caves scattered everywhere throughout the mountains. They'd just have to find one that didn't have a dragon in it.

[Scythe-Nova]

Ikki retracted her hand when Noora got up by herself and then looked at where Noora pointed and then bakc to Noora again.

-"Yes i had set up camp there a while before you showed up, so it should be safe enough."

She said and picked up her large Apothecary chest with one hand and strapped the chest onto her back and began walking towards the weathered stairs and looked back at Noora.

-"So Noora where are you from?"

She said and looked at Noora with a friendly and interested expression while walking towards the stairs.

[Anonymous]

"Oh, good," breathed Noora with a sigh of genuine relief. She didn't really want to take her chances with any of the caves around here. Sure, taking some dragon bits back to Thanatos would make the church very happy indeed, but actually getting them off the dragon first would be quite an ordeal. She didn't feel like going through another one of those today.

Picking her shovel from the ground and slipping her own smaller pack back on, she followed Ikki up the stairs, picking her way carefully up the narrow, crumbling steps. Her feet weren't made for climbing. Concentrating as she was on not slipping, the woman's question took her by surprise and she paused as she considered it. People generally didn't trust her when they knew she was one of the necromancer people, and proud as she was of her heritage, she tried not to admit it. Still, she also didn't like to outright lie, especially to someone who'd been so nice to her. "I'm from north east of here," she replied diplomatically, turning the subject around with a bright smile. "And you?"

As they reached the top of the stairs, a strong gust blew toward them and Noora found herself moving between it and Ikki, using her mass to stop the wind from possibly toppling the smaller woman. The force of the particles against her skin stung a little, but it wasn't long before they reached their shelter. Just in time, too, as she felt the grit in the air scrubbing at even the tough scales of her tail when she pulled it behind the wall. Soft human skin would have taken some real damage. "I don't like it," she announced, cleaning dust out of an ear with her pinky finger. "Storms should be wet."

[Scythe-Nova]

-"Oh i'm not really from anywhere i have no home not anymore anyways... and i do not even remember where it used to be..."

She said and smiled wryly and opened her mouth to say something more but were interupted by the strong gust and the sand that got into her mouth. She reached out and grabbed Noora's arm to stand up and followed Noora in behind the old walls that were in the ruins. She spat a couple of times on the ground and tried to get out the sand from her mouth.

-"Thanks, i would have fallen down the stairs if it were not for your help."

She said and smiled friendly at Noora and then walked forth to a bedroll that were placed on the ground further in the ruins. there were some pieces of wood that laid besides the bedroll for making a fire. She walked up to the bedroll and put down her Chest besides the bedroll and the wood pieces and looked back at noora with a slightly worried smile.

-"Um have you possibly some food or something alike? I do not have any..."

She said and smiled apologetical while scratching herself on the back of her head. At the same time a loud cracking sound breaked trough the sound of the storm and a large boulder fell down from above and landed on top of the stairs crushing them beneath it's massive weight.

-"...Did this situation just get worse?"

She said and looked to where the stairs once had been. She put one of her hands on her forehead and sighed loudly.

[Anonymous]

((Sorry this took so long >.< I haven't been feeling too good))

Noora felt a pang of sympathy for Ikki's rootlessness. Sure, it was nice to have the freedom away from the islands, nobody comparing her to her mother or her sister, no pressure to succeed. But she always enjoyed going back too, to the familiarity and comfort of home. She couldn't imagine what it would feel like not to have that. It had to be kind of lonely.

"I have some food," she replied, setting her pack down and digging into it to bring out a loaf of stale bread, some dried salted meat and a couple of apples. For her, that was two days' rations at best, but she'd just have to make them stretch a little further. Perhaps there were some rabbits or birds she could hunt later, when the dust cleared. "I'm sorry it's not more. Most of it was in the things that were stolen..."

"Hm?" A loud crash cut her off and she glanced in the direction of the noise, where a huge rock had smashed down onto the stairs and now lay in a pile of splintered rubble. If it had fallen a few moments earlier, they would have been under there too. Well, at least some good fortune had come their way for once, even if it was rather a perverse kind of luck. She laughed nervously, looking up to see if there were any precarious ledges above their heads waiting to fall on them, before smiling optimistically back at Ikki. "I'm sure there's another way down. Though with this storm, there's no reason to think about it now!"

Leaning against the wall, she stretched out in an attempt to relax but stopped with a whimper when the movement pulled on her injuries. Ugh, she couldn't even lay about properly like this. And just when she had the perfect opportunity to be lazy for a little while, too! It was just sad.

[Scythe-Nova]

-"Ah it's good we at least have some food"

She said an smiled at Noora and then looked at the place where the stairs used to be before looking back at Noora. She laughed a bit and smiled widely at Noora before opening her apothecary chest an the pulled out an metal tea pot.

-"Do you like tea? Ah! Are you okay?"

She said when Noora whimpered and ran up to her placing her hand sofly on Noora's left arm while looking up on her face with a worried expression.

[Anonymous]

"Yes, I'm fine. I only pulled my wound, it's nothing to worry you," Noora reassured the woman, looking back at her with a faint smile. She wasn't the best at remembering her limits and taking care of herself, never had been – and her transformation had only made her even more overconfident. Accidentally hurting herself was a normal occurrence, and that was when she didn't already have injuries to work around. It was kind of sweet that Ikki was concerned, though, even if she didn't need to be.

Wincing slightly, she sat herself back up, carefully moving herself into a position that didn't aggravate any of her wounds. Her smile widened, and her face once again wore its usual cheery expression. "I think I will have some tea! Thank you very much!"

They may as well make themselves comfortable, after all. It would be a while until the sandstorm died down and until then they weren't going anywhere. At least they wouldn't have any more raider attacks to contend with. Nobody would be out in this. She'd be surprised if even the dragons that supposedly lived in these mountains would willingly deal with it. It was a blessing in disguise, she thought, giving them time to have a quiet rest away from any dangers.

[Scythe-Nova]

-"Ah... Okay"

She looked at Noora and examined her posture and movment with her eyes to see if there were any other sources of pain besides the wounds she already had. After just a second she stepped back to her Apothecary chest and pulled out an small box containing tea leaves before picking up the metal tea pot she had and then walked up to the "Fireplace" with both items.

-"I hope you like Herbal tea then"

She said with a wide smile and then started to prepare the fireplace and tea pot. Just a short time after Ikki had gotten the fire started and placed the tea pot on top of the fire with water and some tea leaves in the pot.

-"Oh i had forgotten to ask, What are you doing around these parts Noora?"

She said and looked at Noora with a wondering expression while putting the tea leaves back into her apothecary chest and taking out two rather large tea cups and placing them besides the fire.

[Anonymous]

"That sounds great!" Noora nodded, her smile even brighter. She hadn't had a good hot drink in quite a while, and if ever there was a perfect time for some soothing tea it would be now. The wind strengthened outside of their little shelter, huge grey clouds blowing past them and obscuring the landscape – even the boulder that had fallen nearby was gradually fading from sight. Thankfully, the old walls would prevent too much dust from getting into the water. It'd be a shame if their tea got spoilt.

Ikki's question caught her slightly and she had to pause for a moment before answering, tapping a finger idly against her lips as she remembered past attempts to describe what she did, and the wording that people had understood the best. "I was digging for special rocks," she explained at last, patting the shovel that lay on the ground beside her. "There are stones in the ground that used to be living creatures, and I hunt for them."

"How about you?" She knew the other woman was a doctor of some sort, but it was unlikely that she was out here for doctory reasons – there weren't any patients, for a start. Well, none that weren't a chance meeting or that wouldn't attack on sight, anyway. So whatever she was doing had to be interesting, not that there was any answer she could give that Noora wouldn't find interesting.

[Scythe-Nova]

-"Oh you mean fossils? Are you mayhap a Archeologist?"

She said and looked at Noora with an interested expression and sat so that she faced Noora, Even out here she did not forget to be polite and look at the person she talked with. When Noora returned the question she smiled and reached into her Apothecary box and pulled out a rectangular box with the Black Vine Moss she had picked earlier and opened the small box showing the content.

-"I were collecting some reagents, For medicine and Potions. I'm an Alchemist too you see"

She said happily and closed the little box and put it back into the Apothecary box while looking at Noora. After some seconds she looked back at the fire to make sure everything were in order, she tilted her head and then nodded to herself in confirmation that the tea were done and started to pour the tea into the teacups she had placed at the side of the fireplace.

[Anonymous]

Noora frowned gently and her gaze drifted up to the sky as she worked the words out. She hadn't heard them before, but Ikki had said them with such certainty that they had to be right. So there were actual words in Common for what she did? Which meant there had to be other people here who did this too... The idea was intriguing, and she wondered just where she could find them. It sounded like something clever and official like the Church would use, which meant they probably came from the big cities in Serendipity or the fancy schools in Connlaoth. It was something to look into, certainly. She blinked the thought away and looked back at the other woman with an expression of mild confusion. "I might be?"

Well, at least one of them knew exactly what they were doing in the mountains. The other woman answered her question by bringing out an ugly black plant which Noora didn't totally understand at first, but it all made sense after the explanation. "Oh yes!" she nodded at last. "I can see how a travelling doctor would need to make her own medicines. Though I'm surprised you found anything out here!"

The Thunderblacks weren't the most fertile of places, she'd heard because of the magic and the dragons up here. Of course, that meant anything else living here had to be extra hardy because of it, and probably full of magic itself... So it might not have been such a weird place to hunt as it seemed at first glance. Sure, you wouldn't find much but what you would find was going to be worth it. Noora smiled again. Ikki was a smart lady!

[Scythe-Nova]

-"Yeah i were a bit supprised i found this plant around here too, But i guess it's because of the humidity in these caverns"

She explained as she poured the tea, Ikki had a very refined manner when pouring tea as she sat on her legs(seiza) and poured the tea in a very gracefull motion. She then put down the teapot and placed one teacup  nex to herself and the next she held out towards Noora holding it so that she could grab it easily.

-"Here you go my own special recipie Herbal tea"

She said with a friendly smile as she held it towards Noora. Ikki had a very calm uppbringing and many of the things she leared as then were similar to this, all from manners towards strangers to how to make tea like this. Of course this tea were Ikki's own recipie and all that had tasted it this far had loved it so much that they had begged her to teach them how to make the tea, it had a very soothing taste while still being hot and as it got colder the taste becomes sweeter. Of course the tea had some healing properties as well but they were minor and would only help to heal minor wounds like bruises and small cuts.