[IC] Botanist And Bards

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Ugh...how long had she been rowing? Her arms felt like they were about to give out completely. She was not suited to physical work at all. Not to mention, this heat. It was nowhere near the cool temperatures of her homeland at all, and even though she was reluctant to remove the cloak the heat was getting a little more than unbearable and it was just morning. By Astril's blood, if it was this warm in the morning she couldn't fathom how much worse it'd get during the day. Not that she had much of a choice, really. She was basically stranded out in the middle of the ocean with no way to get to land easily except by continuing on her intended course.

The young woman groaned, sitting up from where she was sprawled out in the lifeboat. Someone might think she a shipwreck survivor if they saw her. If there was any peoples out here smart enough too know what a ship even was, at least. Truthfully, she was not. She had taken the lifeboat from a ship hours earlier, just before dawn. She had passage on a larger ship and had been traveling on it since leaving the mainland, but...well. She didn't think the shady crew would be too entirely forgiving when they realized she didn't exactly have the ability to live up to the promise about treasure and money. People were so easily swayed by their greed, they didn't even think to consider they were being tricked, sometimes.

She reached over, grabbing the oars that lay at the bottom of the boat, hefting them and putting them back in the water. She had taken a few minutes rest to give her arms a brief reprieve from the strain of rowing for hours at a time. She hadn't been counting, but she had been the most physically active she had in the past few hours than she had been in her entire life. Well, save the occasional trips into the wilderness for herbs, plants, and other things, but those were rarely physically exhausting at all.

At least land was in sight now. It was a small comfort, though. It just meant one thing was finished and she had to move onto the next. As soon as she made landfall, she should get rid of the boat. Bury it...break it down. Maybe make a makeshift shelter a little ways inland. It wouldn't do to let them know where she had made landfall at just in case they were foolish enough to try and come after her. First thing she should do though, would be to get some basic supplies - namely water. Distilling some with her tools shouldn't be entirely difficult, but it was definitely going to take some time before she was ready to move anywhere. She sighed, shaking her head and focusing on the task at hand.

---

Some minutes later, she had finally managed to reach the shore. She hopped out of the boat, pulling it through the water and onto the shore with some effort. By the time she had managed to safely secure the boat so the tide wouldn't carry it away, her arms burned, chest heaved, and she was feeling more than a little lightheaded by the activity. Oh, and now her boots and socks were wet. That was nice. She was going to have to dry them unless she wanted to chance a cold, and she really, really, didn't. Not without something to help remedy that. For now...a breather, though. Just a small one. She could get to work later.

Charlotte plopped herself down onto the sandy shore, looking over the sea with a frown. Usually, she wouldn't really think much of the ocean. It was wet, noisy, often times bustling with annoying animals that liked to get overly friendly. For the moment though...a rest sounded nice. She fell backwards onto the sand. She was a bit sweaty, wet with sea water and extremely tired and a bit hungry.

...she'd have to hunt or something, wouldn't she?

Ugh. If gods or reincarnation existed, she must have either been horrifyingly cruel to puppies in a past life, or pissed off some deity.

[Roleplayer001]

About quater mile from the seashore, a five foot tall girl with a white dress of simple linen wondered the area, looking around at the various trees that found themselves in the beach area. A few notes played through her flute as she wondered around, trying to keep her fingers busy as her mind wondered which one would bear the most fruit that day. Eventually she picked one, taking out a round strip of thick cloth and after making it into a figure 8 putting her feet into it. A second later, she jumped onto the tree, climbing shimmying up it as she had done many times in the past.

Of course, the tree was tall. But then again, she had done this hundreds of times. Soon she found herself at the top, giving the coconuts a few twists each as she watched them plummet towards the soft ground. Before heading down, she gave the land a quick look around for several reasons. She wanted to make sure she hadn't been followed, but also just to get a quick view of her surroundings.

No one was following her, but she saw one of the strangest and most hilarious images in her lifetime. A woman was paddling her boat, and even from this distance it was easy to see how horribly inefficient she was, likely due to a combination of inexperience and exhaustion. Curious, the girl watched as the person finally found their landing spot not far away, and saw them lay down on the ground as if dying.

This would be amusing.

Soon enough, the fire haired girl filled her sack with the coconuts, approaching the shore with a sense of curiosity. The closer she got, the more irregular she realized this person was - her clothing resembled something from one of the far away cities, but even then it was unusual. The boat did not take advantage of the wind, which was a bad decision when trying to navigate the near-continental islands.

Although she didn't have to, the girl approached and decided to see if she could lend aid to the woman who was clearly uncomfortable with the entire circumstance. Approaching with light feet, Caitriona soon found herself above the woman, leaning over as her own green eyes examined the interesting woman. "Dia dhuit?"

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

"Dia dhuit?"

The voice caught Charlotte slightly off guard, but for the most part she remained unmoving, eyes closed. Now, the voice was interesting for a few reasons. She hadn't expected foreign peoples to just waltz up to her. That meant she either had the good fortune of running into shore near a town, or had the misfortune of the exact same thing. It was entirely up to the disposition of whoever they were. Secondly the voice...spoke in a dialect she was completely unfamiliar with. It didn't sound like any of the more common languages back in Astril or the surrounding lands. The lands had some variations between the cities, but for the most part one could translate fairly easily between the two. After a few seconds, She finally opened her eyes to address whoever was speaking to her. Her typical cold blue eyes and somewhat harsh glare was immediately replaced by a look of immense curiosity, immediately awestruck by just...whatever this humanoid creature was.

The woman was short - she was fairly certain it was a she. Much shorter than she was, and a fair bit shorter than most people in Astril. Her people favored shorter ones, then? Well, she wouldn't question it for now. What she was going to question, was the other girls hair. It was multicolored. A brilliant shade of red before transitioning to yellow towards the ends. It was...well, she was certain some would find it beautiful. Charlotte just found it a wondrous work of nature, however it happened. It looked completely natural at least, which was fascinating.

"Ti?" And she realized just how useless speaking would be like this. She had no idea what was even asked, and likely the other girl had no idea what she had just been asked. Useless, then. Well, damn it if she wasn't going to at least try communication of some sort. She sat up, rubbing a bit of sand out of the back of her hair, blue eyes turning towards the boat. A few of her belongings were still there - namely a medium sized sack full of her alchemy equipment. Alembic, retorts, mortar and pestle...some rudimentary dried herbs and such. Things she could use to help her on her way. Maybe hand motions of some sort? Writing likely would be as ineffective. "Kratíste mia stigmí."

She walked over to the boat, grabbing the sack. The glass implements clanked in small complaint as they were sat down on the sandy shore, away from the water. Now...how exactly was she supposed to communicate here? Staring rather intensely at the other human with what seemed like a small glare was likely not the correct course of action, but Charlotte didn't register she was even doing it.

[Roleplayer001]

Caitriona looked on as the woman beneath her gazed up at her, blue eyes staring into her own fields of green curiously. The curiosity was returned towards this woman, the orange haired woman tilting her head slightly as the other woman muttered a word then sat up.

"Ti?"

Out of caution, the girl took a step back, but the precaution did not seem necessary as a few belongings were gathered by this figure at least a head taller than her and pulled out of the boat and onto the beach, a slightly musical sound ringing through the air as the bag moved and shifted. Glass? Perhaps something fragile?

"Kratíste mia stigmí." Something incomprehensible was muttered, but it seemed at least somewhat intelligent. Based on the way she looked, this woman was probably most similar to the peoples up north.

After the little trip was over though, the woman was reduced to just standing there as glaring just slightly. Normally this would have been considered rude, but a quick look at the sun bathed and reddening skin of the woman in front of her explained at least some of it. She had also just finished exerting plenty of strength on rowing, and yet her sweat was minimal at best. All of these were bad signs.

Withdrawing one of the hard yellow fruits from her sack, the girl extended it in a single outstretched hand. "Tart? Want cnó cócó?" Although it was some work to climb the tree to retrieve one, the fruits were plentiful in this area and the flame haired girl felt she could only tolerate so much on her own anyways.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Was...was she being offered food? A flash of surprise ran across her face. Well, she was hungry, thirsty, and generally not exactly in all that great of condition. Was this some sort of peace offering maybe? Or was this simply their way of greeting a stranger? Or maybe there was something else here she didn't know. She had heard - read a lot about the peoples outside of Astril, but she doubted the statements had many, if any factual statements but that didn't mean all of them were not based in fact either. She had to be wary, or at least suspicious of any sort of interaction with them.

Charlotte hesitantly took the fruit, suspicious for more than a few reasons...but she was hungry, and if anything happened she was fairly certain in her ability to do something about it. There was just a small problem. She had no idea what this hard shelled...fruit even was. She was fairly certain it was a fruit, at least - she knew her plants relatively well. She didn't want to appear as clumsy or awkward, but she didn't have much she could do with the fruit on her own. At least, not without something to maybe...crack it open with? She'd ask, but...language barrier.

"Kai ti akrivós boró na káno me aftó ...?" Charlotte frowned, and even through the language barrier, one would likely be easily able to tell there was a slight irritation in her voice as she studied the fruit, seemingly glaring at the coconut. She loathed not being able to know or do something on her own. In Astril, not being able to do something on your own meant asking one of your peers for assistance...an act that typically involved you owing them a favor later, and she was hesitant to ask for assistance...but this wasn't Astril, was it? Surely this girl wouldn't be as close minded as they were, would they? She looked back up at the girl from the coconut, frowning in a manner that suggested confusion and perhaps a little mild irritation.

[Roleplayer001]

It didn't take long for the orange haired girl realize that this woman had no idea what she was doing, as she seemed to look at the fruit with a great degree of confusion and then back towards her with an obvious degree of minor frustration, her voice high in pitch as if asking a question. Well, it was true that she had no intent of using this to garner favors in any way. Instead, the taller woman had paid with comedy as the native started laughing to themselves, bending over as she clearly found this entire thing hilarious. Caitriona tried to stop herself from laughing out of some sort of urge to be polite once, but gave up after trying to hold that in for a few seconds.

It was like a child! Could this person even feed themselves? First she comes down on an impractical ship, and now she needed be taught? Honestly, if her face of irritated confusion hadn't been cute, the women in linen would have been tempted to just watch as they struggled. But helping not helping this adorable girl was obviously against the butterfly, and one never wanted to anger the butterflies.

So, it was lesson time. The orange haired woman sat down on the beach, face still flushed from the laughter, and pulled out another coconut and knife from her bag. After giving the taller woman ample time to examine them, the one sitting on the ground used the knife's blade to chop and pry the husk open from the top, quickly revealing a almost ... furry middle. After picking the fur off the coconut and placing it into her bag, Caitriona took the much smaller bit of the coconut away from the husk, allowed the taller women to see it and exactly where she was hitting it, then slammed it against a nearby rock.

After a single hit, the coconut cracked and revealed the fluid and insides of the coconut to the woman in front of her, drinking some of it to show the other woman what to do. After a few seconds, the woman made a judgement call and decided that she didn't want this taller one breaking her knife. A sharp looking stone was found by Caitriona, which she tossed towards the other woman. The implication should be obvious.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Oh great.

It was laughing.

Charlotte's cheeks turned a shade of red out of mild embarrassment, though it didn't stop the glare. It only made it worse and directed at the girl this time. She had grown used to such things in Astril, but seeing someone outside of there laugh so easily made her feel a tad bit uneasy. It...wasn't really that odd, was it? Perhaps the girl thought she was from around here? If the language barrier was any indication, then it should be obvious she wasn't. So it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume that she, did not, in fact, have any idea what this hard fruit was. She'd question their intelligence, but her words would fall on effectively deaf ears.

Thankfully, it seemed that despite the laughing the shorter girl had at least some modicum of friendliness. She took another of the odd fruits out of the same bag as well as a knife. She was a little wary of the weapon, but she didn't think the girl was the sort to...try anything. She had her fill of sharp pointy instruments in her last few days of Astril. So Charlotte did what she did best - she learned. So, there was something edible under the fruits hard exterior, then? And of course, it was weak enough to break with a knife apparently. She couldn't help but to feel a little silly that she didn't come to the conclusion herself.

Right, then. It was her turn. The younger woman didn't seem too keen on lending her the knife, which was understandable. She was a klutz with such things and could very well end up breaking it. Perhaps the woman had more foresight then she initially though? Small matter. Charlotte picked up the rock that was given to her, taking a seat on the sandy shore. Right, then. With the proper leverage, angle of delivery, she should be able to do it at least somewhat easily. She pointed the sharp end of the rock towards the odd fruit, and started prying the hard outer shell off of the fruit.

It took some trying, but after a minute of trying to fight with the thing Charlotte managed to get the outer shell off. She'd have to be more efficient about it next time, but it'd do for now. She'd have to keep the fibrous materials off the smaller bit. Maybe they could be useful for something. For now though, she took the inner part of the coconut and slammed it against the rock like the other woman had. It took...well, three tries, but she managed. She was sorely lacking in the physical ability department, and it was likely showing. At least she had something to drink, that was probably not going to kill, poison, or turn her tongue a ridiculous color.

She brought the liquid to her lips taking a cautious sip of the liquid. It tasted absolutely delicious. Whatever it was, it was good, and she proceeded to chug the entire thing. After she was done, she sat the now empty shell on the ground. Well, that would greatly solve her immediate water problem. After setting up a few of her devices she could have a steady, even supply of freshwater by desalinating sea water.

But more importantly, was this fruit. She had never seen it before, and wanted to study it in great detail. It seemed rather mundane - nothing special like the frost berries or Crag Flowers that grew in the mountains back home, but even the most mundane items could have rather interesting uses if used correctly. She picked up the now empty shell, observing it silently in one hand, almost completely forgetting the other girl was even there.

...if only she had managed to save her note book. All she had from Astril was that old map.

[Roleplayer001]

For a while, the orange haired girl watched with a great deal of amusement as the black haired girl seemed fixated on the fruit. It was very, very entertaining to watch the childlike curiosity fill the girl as she examined the inside of the shell. Oh, it was adorable, and the native couldn't help but stifle a giggle. "Ithe é! Taking her own coconut, the girl cut off a portion of the white inside and ate it, giving the other girl a smile.

It wasn't the best of meals, but it was a way of getting back a little bit of the nutrition one used up to get the coconut in the first place. As she at though a simple question entered her mind. Despite the language barrier, she voiced it out loud as she pointed towards the boat. "Conas a rinne tú anseo?"

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Charlotte shot the smaller girl a still embarrassed glare, catching her eating a portion of it. So it was edible as well? That would certainly help any sort of food problems she might have. Would help her have at least a somewhat balanced diet until she was able to catalogue and study the local fruits here. Though the native could likely help with that, she wasn't too keen on relying on her. Mostly because she didn't want to be laughed at any more.

"Conas a rinne tú anseo?"

Charlotte looked from the girl, to the boat. She was asking about it? It was easy enough to figure that much out at least. That said, Charlotte was not about to waste her time trying to explain something to someone who couldn't understand a word she was saying. Besides, she wasn't planning on sticking around here that long. Just long enough to get some basic provisions, make some basic supplies and then set out.

"Den eínai douleiá sou." Charlotte dismissively replied, standing up and picking up her belongings, mostly ignoring the question. She had things to do - she couldn't be playing with some native. She slung the sack containing her alchemy supplies over her shoulder, and started walking inland, away from the beach.

[Roleplayer001]

The woman didn't mention anything about her origins, which after a second of thought the fire haired girl understood. Although possible, communicating such complex ideas would be difficult. She spoke in an obviously dismissive tone, which made a slight pout form on the bards lips. As she watched the woman start collecting her things though and heading inland, the native simply watched and followed close behind.

Caitriona needed to watch this person as close as she was to their territory. She didn't seem malicious ... but she also didn't seem generous, and keeping a close watch of this woman would be a wise decision until she could speak to others about this. Despite having always been more independent from her group than many others, Caitriona did not want to do something that could endanger their security and be the responsible party for whatever happened next.

The black haired woman would hear the sounds of a flute playing softly behind them as they left the beach area, the sand gradually transitioning to a fine dirt as loose clumps of grass and various trees began to appear, many bearing fruit. Birds colored blue with extremely long tails flew through the sky, as if trying to blend into it. It was strange how she stopped to observe every fruit, and seemed to enjoy some and hate others.

Eventually, the ground would start to slope upwards and the two of them began heading up a steep rock edge nearby, Caitriona offering a little assistance if the other woman seemed to have difficulty finding a path. A narrow road would lead the pair up to a plateau, where the orange haired girl assumed the other one would need a little rest.

Sitting down, the flute was withdrawn from her bag and a slow but cheerful tune played as she watched the other woman curiously, wondering what she planned on doing with those things she was carrying.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Good news, was that the terrain was fairly easy to walk through. Even better news, was that there was a plethora of plants and animals here she had never seen before. Granted she wasn't exactly keen on being friendly with any animals since she and them had...less than amicable pasts, but even animals could have useful alchemical properties if used correctly. Bad news was, she apparently had a stalker now. She really couldn't fathom as to why the shorter girl was following her, but she couldn't rule out suspicious activity of some sort. At least the music she was playing from her flute was oddly calming. Or at least, Charlotte didn't mind having it in the background as she examined the various plants.

She really needed a journal of some sort. She needed to sketch images of the fruits, plants, and even their roots. It'd be good to reference something by, since many plants of the same family had similar root structures. It'd be easier identifying foreign plants if she had something to reference instead of memorizing everything. At least she got to enjoy some rather interesting new berries, fruits, or anything else that bore something edible. Even the ones that tasted terrible could possibly even have something interesting if used correctly.

It wasn't until the ground started sloping upwards that Charlotte started taking note of the area and the change of scenery. She hadn't noticed the small mountain when she was on the beach or she'd have picked any other direction to walk in. Well, no matter. She was used to trekking the mountains occasionally near Astril. These were a lot warmer, though just as rocky. With a little help from the native and a brief thanks in her own language, they found themselves at the top of the rocky ridge overlooking the beach. Charlotte didn't sit. Instead, she simply gazed over the landscape.

The hill offered a fairly good view of the area. The beach seemed to be fairly temperate in climate, though still much warmer than she was used too. On the other side a temperate looking forest that started about halfway down the ridge. She sighed, placing her hands on her hips as she looked over the sea, setting the sack she was carrying on the ground. Well, she was here. She found the continent, and now if she was lucky she'd be able to find what she had spent her short nineteen years looking for without the fools at Astril looming over her shoulder and hindering any attempts she had at actual progress.

But that, was for later. She needed to set up somewhere. Have some manner of base to work from for a bit. 'Home' if you will. Setting up on the other side of this little ridge wasn't too bad of an idea. It was close enough to the beach, and likely she could spend her time gathering her thoughts and planning what she was going to do next. Just one little problem. The native that was stalking her. Charlotte turned to face the girl, giving her a somewhat harsh and questioning glare as she was being watched. Words would be useless here, so telling the girl to go away without some sort of physical violence would be difficult. Not that she even wanted too. If there were more of...whatever she was around here, then that might get her lynched.

Ah, what to do? Finding a cave or making a small, makeshift shelter shouldn't be too difficult for her. She read books on that sort of thing. She'd know what she was doing.

Probably.

For now though, Charlotte took a seat on the rocky ground opposite of the native girl, as she reached into her cloak and pulled out a tattered, almost ancient piece of paper that seemed ready to fall apart at a moments notice. The paper, was an incredibly old, but fairly well preserved map. It showed the same beach that she had arrived on, and in a few ancient foreign letters were scribbled notes of some sort - some she hadn't been able to fully translate. A few alchemical symbols decorated the corners of the page. She'd have to work on that later, but she could at least tell if she was going in the right general direction...

[Roleplayer001]

The native watched as the other girl pulled some sort of paper out of her cloak, unfolding it and seeming to observe it intensely. The orange haired girl tilted her head somewhat curiously, and after waiting for a bit headed over behind the other and looked at what was quickly identified as a map.

Ah. So she WAS lost. A little giggle followed as the green eyed girl found herself searching the sky, looking at the position of the sun and the beach. There weren't any fine landmarks around besides the cliff, and a river ran a half hour's walk to the north of their location. Still though, she decided to make herself useful.

A delicate finger pointed at a spot on the map where Caitiona believed they were. "Tá muid anseo." It was slightly off, and the old parchment had some obvious inaccuracies on it, and much of it lacked any sort of significant detail. Still though, it was a good outline of the overall terrain.

The look at the sun had suggested something aside form direction though - it also told a story of them running out of time. They needed to find shelter within the next two hours, and she had no idea how to communicate this.

The shorter girl poked the other's shoulder several times to get her attention, and possibly in the nose if that was required. The orange hand girl then sent the best symbols she could to make it obvious what she was saying.

She pointed at both of them, then pretended to fall asleep on the ground before standing back up again. Caitriona pointed off in a seemingly random direction, taking a few steps towards it and beckoning with a single hand to follow ... "Teacht chomh maith!"

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Charlotte tried ignoring the feeling of someone looking over her shoulder. Really, that exact thing had to be the most annoying feeling in the entire world. Right next to listening to arrogant fool drone on and on about something he had no knowledge of. At least this small annoyance ended up helping though - she pointed to a small spot on the map where they were likely at. Well, she could have figured that out herself after a bit of studying, but it was nice to have some help.

It wasn't until Charlotte was poked on the nose did she deign to look up from the old map. With a snort as she gave the shorter girl a sharp glare for her interruption, hoping that whatever she was saying was important. She disliked such interruptions. Charades, were not important. At least though, she was smart enough to figure out what the other girl was possibly attempting to convey. It was, indeed, getting rather late in the day and if she was saying what she thought she was saying, then she would indeed need shelter.

"Próstimo." Charlotte said with a sigh, standing up and walking towards the other girl. Honestly, she was not keen on following some unknown person anywhere. She had been helpful so far, but she couldn't rule out that it hadn't been some sort of trickery. So she picked up her bag, and followed the girl.

[Roleplayer001]

The native started to head off, going through the local area with the other woman trailing behind her, playing something quick on her flute periodically just to pass the time as they moved. They went further from the beach, the land starting a gradual decline until they arrived at a local river, which Caitriona would help the other girl cross if they needed help. They went further inland, the ground starting to slope up once more until they arrived at a an opening in a hill, a small crevice that they could climb into. Trees surrounded the local area, and along with the ever dimming light of the sun the vision of the surrounding countryside was largely blocked.

Having lived here for some time though, the shorter woman had a good idea about the general layout of the land. As the last flicker of light left the world, a few seconds passed before suddenly the girl's multicolored hair started to glow, each hue shifting as if it was a very slowly flickering flame. As if this was normal, the native found herself entering the crevice into a large opening within, sitting down onto the ground as she waited for the black haired woman to enter.

The orange haired girl didn't have to bend down, but the black haired woman likely would have to in order to get in. Crawling would probably be more comfortable truthfully to enter the small crevice within the hill, but she did have a choice.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

The trek down from the ridge was just as exhausting as the trip up, but a lot easier. Once they found themselves on solid ground, it wasn't too difficult to navigate. She was sufficiently inland at this point, and was a lot more at ease since it would mean it would be much more difficult for anyone who might have been pursuing her to find her. The river was welcome as well - it'd be a much easier means of getting freshwater, after making sure it was safe to drink, and with little difficulty crossed it with the help of the other girl.

It was then she saw their destination - a little crevice where they could likely stay the night. It was...a bit small. And she definitely wasn't going to be fitting in there comfortably. Not without crouching or ducking into the crevice. At least it'd offer shelter from the night and make it somewhat of a comfortable stay.

And then the most curious thing happened.

The girls hair lit up like a light. As if it was a dancing flame. Charlotte's eyes went wide - she had never seen anything like it before. This girl definitely wasn't human then? Some sort of...spirit or something that she had read about? What else could it be? Human hair did not glow like that at all. She slowly followed the girl into the crevice, suddenly giving the girl her usual glare she gave something when trying to figure out what exactly it was doing. The urge to simply pluck out a lock of hair and run it through several alchemical tests was almost overwhelming.

Instead though, charlotte took a seat towards the wall of the small cave, setting her instruments down on the ground next to her. Well...they were here, so what now? Charlotte wasn't exactly one for conversation. Not like they could exactly have a decent one anyways. She couldn't pass the time with any sort of her usual work, either. This place was much to small. The fumes from making anything would prove to be detrimental to cognitive thinking, not to mention her currently limited supplies.

So she remained silent.

[Roleplayer001]

The girl with glowing hair cocked her head at the stranger, but after no awkward discussion in different languages occurred she laid her head down, implying they should both go to sleep. For whatever reason, the native did not seem to find it necessary to take watches, instead closing her eyes and soon entering the realm of dreams. Throughout the night, the small cavern remained dimly lit by her hair, the colors continuing to naturally shift into eachother until dawn.

---

The native opened her eyes eight hours later, stretching herself out in the limited space. The black haired girl remained asleep, eyes closed an unwilling to rise. For the next day, the pair of them largely remained there as the other woman seemed to recuperate. The following morning though ... "Charlotte." They had learned eachother's names the previous day over a small dinner of fruits. The woman seemed to set some strange mechanisms around, which Caitriona was curious of their purpose.

Either way, this woman would feel her shoulder shaken until she woke up. This was the day that she would learn how to climb the tree herself, so that she could help gather the coconuts and eat for herself if the worst happened. If it took her too long to get up, the native would pour a small amount of water onto her face as the light outside just passed up dawn.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Charlotte couldn't help but to still be somewhat wary of the girl. Still, as tired as she was when she finally managed to get to sleep by taking off her cloak and using it as a makeshift pillow, she slept hard. The events leading up to being here were quite a strain on her, and she had little time to rest between leaving Astril, finding a ship, and then sailing out her on short notice.

The next day, Charlotte slept until noon, and didn't leave the cave much. Instead, she set up her alchemy equipment. A small number of glass instruments had been placed placed at the side, near the area where Charlotte had been sleeping. She was glad the Native was with her, Caitriona or something she said her name was. As suspicious as she was...well, maybe she could afford to be a bit more trusting. The rest of the day had passed relatively easily, with Charlotte only venturing out briefly to take a mental note of the surrounding area.

---

Unfortunately for Caitriona, Charlotte didn't seem to want to wake easily. As physically unable as she was, physical exhaustion of any sort tended to make her more than a little tired for a few days. As the native shook her, Charlotte merely rolled over, muttering something in her native language. When the water hit her face though, Charlotte's eyes opened and the taller girl gave a small, startled yelp and shot straight up - and slammed her head into the roof of the cave.

"Och-gamóto! Caitriona!" What sounded like a curse word left Charlottes lips loudly. The womans hands quickly shot to the top of her head, rubbing the forming bruise and shooting the native a glare that would make a bear think twice. "Ti sto ónoma tou ieroú bóxer Astril pou káneis?!" Realizing her words would likely fall on deaf ears, Charlotte simply turned to glowering at the offending nuisance that woke her up, still holding the top of her head.

Great way to start the day. With a headache.

Today was going to be fun. Ugh, she wondered if there was any poisonous plants around here...

[Roleplayer001]

The woman continued to speak in her strange tongue, giggling slightly as it was rather obvious she was not to wake up. Well, at least the foreigner was awake now. "Maidin mhaith!" The fire haired girl spoke in a cheerful voice, as if this was the best thing to happen, ever. The black haired girl would find herself grabbed by the hand and brought out of the cave, probably with much grumbling and hatred. Soon after putting her sandals back on, the native started heading down towards the beach once more, expecting for the other woman to follow.

---

It wasn't long before the two of them returned to the sand, where the sandals were removed from the shorter woman's feet. After looking around at the various palm trees that dotted the area with varying sizes and amounts of fruit, the shorter girl approached one, tested it with a shake, then nodded.

For a few seconds, she pointed at the coconuts near the top, making sure the other woman was paying attention. "Iad a fháil!" While of course she could teach the method initially, it was always interesting to see someone try the first time, both for the sake of comedy and education.

If it seemed to take the taller woman too long to get going, she would feel a well placed swat on her backside to get her into motion.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Before she even had a chance to recover from the headache, she was grabbed by Caitriona and dragged out of the cave. No amount of protesting was really going to help her, she realized. This...Caitriona was not someone that let things go all that easily. With a quite grumble, a stretch and a heavy tired sigh, Charlotte followed after the native. If she had to be honest, Caitriona reminded her of...Charlotte dismissed the thought quickly, following after Caitriona towards the beach.

Eventually the two of them found their way back on the sandy beach, a tall palm tree looming over head with fresh coconuts growing from it. Well, she supposed those would probably make up her diet until she could build effective traps of some sort. The only question was, why had she been rudely woken up and dragged out here? Caitriona pointed upwards towards one of them...

She....didn't expect her to climb up there, did she? Well, she supposed she'd have to learn eventually but how would...no, actually, looking at the tree it could be very doable even by her with the right amount of leverage...barring her lack of physical ability it shouldn't be too impossible to do it. She could easily do it in fact...probably. She'd just have to use the small grooves in the bark of the tree as small footholds to help her ascent, and if she could use her arms as to hold the back of the tree while she moved up-

before she could finish her thought, a swat on her butt caused Charlotte to go completely red in the face, looking over at Cait with a mix of confusion, embarrassment, and obvious disapproval as she hopped a few steps away from the other woman.

...right. She was probably just telling her to hurry up.

With an irritated huff, Charlotte walked over to the tree and inspected the truck herself. Right. Easy enough. She'd just need to use physics to her advantage here. She wrapped her arms around the truck, holding it tightly as she braced her legs against it and attempted a makeshift 'walk' up the truck. It was going fairly well for a few feet, until she slipped and fell right back to the ground, landing on her butt. She glared up at the tree in a somewhat childish looking manner, determined to conquer this looming obstacle on her path.

A few more attempts were made with varying success.

The next, she made similar progress, but one of her hands slipped off of the smooth bark, causing her to slide along the trunk and fall off, landing against the trunk of the tree with her head on the ground and her back against it. With a convenient coconut being dislodged and landing right on her butt again.

Another attempt had Charlotte make it a little further, but this time her foot slipped off the bark. She slid around, landing on her back in the sand. Well, at least nothing - gah! Something pinched her butt! After standing up, she reached for the offending object to find a rather grumpy looking crab firmly lodged onto her backside. She forcefully dislodged the crab, glaring at it before tossing it off in a random direction and making another attempt.

Eventually after a few more attempts, and a fairly sore buttocks, the young alchemist finally managed to get to the top of the palm tree, within arms reach of the coconuts. She just had to grab one.

Just

A bit

closer

Keeping her body close to the trunk, she shimmied along and reached for a coconut. At least up here it was much easier to keep balance, since most palm trees seemed to have a tendency to curve towards a side at this height. After a few seconds of reaching, she finally got her hands on her first coconut. A small feeling of excitement was short lived as she forgot exactly where she was, and after doing a little victory pose...slid right back down the trunk of the palm tree, landing on the ground on her back once again, hugging the coconut tightly to her chest.

This was her coconut, and she was gonna eat it and that Caitriona couldn't have it.

[Roleplayer001]

The native watched as the other woman had an obviously squeamish reaction as her backside was hit, a full blush running across the taller woman's face as she seemed horribly uncomfortable with the experience, although she clearly got the message as she examined the tree for a bit longer then started climbing it.

After several failed attempts, the other woman finally succeeded, managing to grab a single coconut off the branches proudly before managing to fall on her back straight into the sand. The fire haired woman's face remained still for just a second before she exploded into laughter, unable to contain herself and actually rolling on the ground. This foreigner really was a child, wasn't she? And the way she clutched her prize ... adorable!

Before long though, she had managed to crawl over to Charlotte and started petting the black hair slightly, getting some of the accumulated sand out of it. For a moment she contemplated what to say, but decided to settle for giving the other woman a wide smile, waiting for her to get off the ground.

When the other girl was ready, she would teach her the proper and far more efficient way to go about this.