[IC] Botanist And Bards

[Rune_Alchemist]

~???~

It was a typical day in the forest. Nothing too out of the ordinary that Aislinn would have noticed as she blundered through the forest, trying to use a stick as a makeshift implement to fight off invisible foes. There was even a pleasant early summer breeze blowing. The young native wouldn't have seen Charlotte all week - the Alchemist had holed herself up in her cave for whatever reason, and had elected not to leave at all. Whatever she was studying, she seemed intent on not getting any sun like usual.

As Aislinn moved through the forest, eventually she would become aware of someone else standing not too far away. The other girl was tall, and definitely not from around the continent if her clothing were anything to go by. A long white sleeveless dress with red slippers and a small red cloak thrown over her shoulders. She had incredibly long near white colored hair, and a strand of purple flowers were woven into it.

The most notable thing, however, was a black iron metal ring on her ankle, that had a number of bandages under it.

Someone else

"Hehe, hello little birdy." She said to a tiny bird that had landed on her finger.

She still hadn't seemed to have noticed Aislinn yet.

[Roleplayer001]

Aislinn looked over towards the woman that seemed to have a small bird land on her finger and greeted the small creature for a few moments. The woman was tall - taller than herself, at least - and her clothes also confirmed that she was likely another foreigner ... how exciting!

For a few seconds she simply stared at the other woman, but changed tactics quickly to activating her tattoos and moving through the trees until she was on a branch directly above the woman. It was likely going to surprise the woman with how quietly the native moved, but she wouldn't have a long time to look upwards before the native swung herself upside down on her branch and gave her normal greeting.

"It's Aislinn!"

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Delphi~

"Hehe, such pretty wings you have, birdy. Awww, I wish I could take you home with meeee..." Just as Aislinn poked her head down from the branch, the girl stumbled backwards and fell right on her butt as she turned her head upwards to Aislinn. The girl made a high pitched squeal as she simply a few she stared wide eyed up at the native, unable to respond. After a few second of calming down and settling herself, she started to burst out into laughter.

"Hehe, woooow!~" She giggled happily, as she brushed some dirt off her dress and pushed herself to her feet."You got me good, didn't you?" She took a few energetic steps towards Aislinn. "Hey hey, Aislinn is it? You can call me...hmm...Delphinium! Delphi for short. Yep, that's a good name. Pretty name." She smiled happily at the native, turning on her heels as she walked away a few feet.

"So what's this Aislinn doing out here, hmm? Pretty long way away from civilization, aren't we? Not like I have much room ot talk, heh!~"

[Roleplayer001]

"That is a good name!" If Aislinn had any questions for the other girl, she didn't reveal them out loud or seem overly suspicious of her despite the strange introduction. "I live in the forest, so I was just out here wondering around and enjoying the scenery? But you don't look like you are from around here, Delphi! Why are you here?" While the words themselves could be considered suspicious, it was rather clear that the native felt no sort of ill will towards the woman in front of her.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Delphi~

"Meee?" Delphi pointed to herself in a somewhat childish fashion. "No idea!~" She giggled, twirling on her heels as she suddenly hopped very close to Aislinn. Enough to poke the native on the forehead with a bright grin. "I'm just a little ghostie haunting these woods for a bit." She giggled again, taking a few steps away from Aislinn as a bird landed on her head again, messing up her hair as it landed.

"Aw, jeez, I just fixed it, too! You did that on purpose you silly thing." Delphi turned back to Aislinn. "Hey...wanna play a game or something?"

[Roleplayer001]

Aislinn jumped up in excitement as the other girl mentioned playing a game. She'd love to play a game! The rest of their conversation faded into whatever void that were filled with most of the Native's reasonable thoughts as she leaned forward slightly towards the other woman in anticipation. "A game! I love games! What sort of game?" Many of her fellow natives felt that she might be a bit too old for this, but what was the fun in that?

The runes even lit up on the girl's body unintentionally as she focused in excitement on the other woman.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Delphi~

"Simple!" Delphi suddenly turned around facing Asilinn, not caring about the words 'personal space' at all. "See this ball? You try and hit the other person with it." She giggled brightly. The ball in question seemed a simple construct made of some material Aislinn likely wouldn't be able to identify. It was soft, green in color and oddly squishy though. Where she got it from though was a mystery all by itself. "Don't worry, it's not going to hurt unless you throw it really hard. But anyone who does that is a meanie pants that deserves to have their underwear frozen." She hopped a foot or so away from Aislinn as she continued. "Rules are simple! You get hit you lose, but you are allowed to catch it. And don't worry about loosing the ball, either. I'll even let you have first toss, heh!~"

[Roleplayer001]

Aislinn gave a smile as she looked at her newest opponent with a smile. No one could beat a rabbit! The native activated the tattoos on her legs and jumped ten feet straight up onto a tree branch before tossing it down at Delphi with a victorious smile.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Delphi~

Whatever Delphi had been expecting, it had not been super jumps. Delphi was completely ordinary, after all. As soon as Aislinn jumped, Delphi could hardly move from what she was seeing. She had seen similar feats accomplished by a certain friend of hers after they did some funny stuff with some chemicals and what not, but this lady had glowing tattoos! Aside from them being pretty, she had no hope of winning at all if that's what she could do. Which is odd - she wasn't used to losing quite so spectacularly.

Well, she wasn't going to feel bad about cheating her way through this then, heh!

The ball flew towards Delphi, only to veer off course at the last second and fell harmlessly to the ground as she tilted her head just ever so slightly to the side. With a grin, Delphi retrieved the ball.

"Oooh, nice moves!~" She giggled. "Might wanna work on your aim a bit, hehe!" She then tossed the ball right towards Aislinn with near perfect aim. "Think faaaast!~"

[Roleplayer001]

Aislinn watched as she bounded onto the branch with a confident smile as Delphi clearly was surprised. She wouldn't able to catch it in time and she-

What? The pink haired girl watched the ball almost straight up turn as it avoided the other girl despite there being no wind. How did one do that!? "T-That's not fair!?" Before she could protest further though, the ball was flying back in her direction and the rabbit was forced to jump backwards in order to be in an appropriate position to catch it. With a huff she landed on the ground. If this woman could just redirect the ball, how was she supposed to win?

This time the native leapt forward instead, flying straight at the woman to give herself and the ball extra momentum as she tossed it with a spin. Aislinn's flight would send her just above the woman and some ten feet behind her as she breathed heavily.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Delphi~

Delphi simply smiled impishly as Aislinn jumped over her. As the ball was tossed towards Delphi, once again she didn't move from her spot. Instead of dodging the ball this time though, she simply caught it with her hands - not seeming put off by the force with which it was thrown. She squeezed the ball with a light giggle as she looked upwards, meeting Aislinn's gaze.

"Waaah, you'll have to try a little harder than that, hehe!~" Delphi giggled, immediately spinning and tossing the ball right where Aislinn would land. "Try getting a little more creative, little rabbit~"

[Roleplayer001]

Aislinn was unable to change her trajectory midair, and despite trying to shift herself out of the way the ball only ended up hitting her butt as she landed on the ground, moved her arms around in an attempt to balance, and fell the to ground rather spectacularly in a soliloquy of failure. The brighter haired native let out a small pout as she managed to regain her feet and approached the taller figure. "Fine. You won." It seemed that the girl was rather disappointed, but she wouldn't let it completely destroy her mood.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Delphi~

"Awww," Delphi at least did seem disappointed that it was over so quickly. "Good try! You're really fast, I almost couldn't react in time, hehe! Delphi wins again!" She said, puffing out her chest. "Annnnd...to the victor goes the spoils!~" before Aislinn could react, Delphi wrapped her in a big tackle-hug, almost knocking the other girl to the ground. "Hey hey, we could play again."

She sounded like she wanted too, at least.

[Roleplayer001]

Aislinn's eyes widened as suddenly she was tackled and claimed as the 'spoils' by this strange girl. For a few seconds the native considered wanting a rematch - this had surely been bad luck - but she sighed and shook her head. No, she really needed to finish gathering food and return to the cavern. It was a strange thing for her to have to be responsible. "I'm sorry, I really need to get back to gathering." The girl seemed really upset by the thought of abandoning this new stranger until a thought popped into her mind. "You could come along while I gather and tell me how you did that though! The ball moved midair!" Is seemed that the native was fairly curious about that.

It also seemed the fact that this other girl was laying on top of her was really not registering.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Delphi~

"Waha, no noticed?" Delphi said with a grin, letting go of Aislinn and taking a few steps back. "Wooow, for someone who lost in two throws you're more observant then I though." She giggled brightly before shaking her head with a sigh. "But I can't really go with you." Delphi smiled at Aislinn, turning around and walking a bit of the ways into the forest. "I should be getting home if you don't wanna play any more."

[Roleplayer001]

Aislinn frowned before giving the other woman a wave with a half hearted smile. "Travel safely then friend!" And with that the native returned to her gathering hoping she could gather enough food to cover for both Cait and herself. Maybe a herb or two of something that could be smoked to help her relax. She was getting better though and coming to terms with what was going on though, at least.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Delphi~

Delphi smiled as Aislinn left. It was unfortunate. She wanted to have a bit more fun, but she'd have to go. They wouldn't let her stay for any longer. She had been hoping to run into Charlotte, but this would have to do. Besides, she had fun! Even if only for a little while. Still...she was worried. Charlotte did stupid things when she was blinded by her own stubborn goals. Wouldn't be the first time she hurt herself doing something.

She turned on a heel, watching Aislinn leave.

"If you see grumpy and broody again, tell her I said hi and if she does something stupid I'ma make her eat spicy potatoes again!" Before Aislinn would be able to even possibly ask Delphi what she meant.

The other girl was gone, and there was nothing but the sounds of birds chirping overhead.

[Roleplayer001]

At Delphi's saying Aislinn decided to give Charlotte a quick visit - after all, the grumpy woman would need some company eventually. The pink haired native found herself skipping to her house on a day when the medicine was sufficient to keep Cait passed out most of the day - while perhaps sitting by the bedside was nice, Charlotte was likely lonely out there on her own!

The native walked into the cavern she had called home for a while, looking for the black haired woman as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. "It's Aislinn!"

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

The first thing Aislinn would notice even before her eyes adjusted to the dim light, was how quiet it was. There was nothing bubbling in the beakers, all of Charlotte's instruments were idle. Devoid of any of their usual noises. The next, would probably be the smell. Whatever Charlotte had previously been brewing had some foul odor to it. And as soon as her eyes adjusted, she'd spot Charlotte passed out on the floor.

On the table where she kept her things sat a beaker that contained the stone that the great mothers had given her in it, but it had been turned over. The clear liquid the stone was sweating off was slowly seeping into a puddle on the ground. If Aislinn rushed over to check on the alchemist, she'd notice shallow breathing, a high fever as well as the tattoos on her body glowing enough to indicate they were being used in some manner...but Charlotte had never actually managed to activate all of them, let alone even use them.

[Roleplayer001]

"Charlotte? Char-" The girls eyes had adjusted enough to the dim light for her to make out the form of her friend on the ground. Aislinn didn't question the danger, but instead immediately rushed over and kneeled next to the woman and checked on as she placed one hand against her throat.

The alchemist still had a pulse. And she was still breathing. The girl's eyes drifted down towards the tattoos - what had happened here? She wasn't supposed to be able to activate those in her sleep! The native looked nervously over her friend and rotated her so she rested on her side in a more comfortable position.

And her skin - her skin felt like it was burning up. Was she sick? A quick look around the room revealed that many of the implements hadn't been used except for a single beaker that contained a stone - a bit of this strange liquid was dripping out of it, and as the girl placed her hair next to it she could see the strands visibly start reacting to the ... magical substance?

If Charlotte woke up, she would find her head resting in Aislinn's lap with a wet strip of cloth folded onto her forehead and with several pieces of her clothing removed and instead replaced with a thin sheet. The girl would make an offer as soon as the other woman woke up. "D-drink." It would be obvious that Aislinn was nervous, but she had done her best to cool the black haired woman off.