[IC] Botanist And Bards

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

It seemed Cait had brought her...gifts. Or something. There was fruit, a pot of something and a few other various assorted things. The bed didn't look particularly comfortable, but it was better than the stone floor. Okay. That was...good, she supposed, but she was tired and she wanted sleep, and she honestly didn't want to sleep so close to Cait. She wasn't really fine with it before - she was just too tired to really shove the other woman off of her. Now though, she would much rather sleep alone rather than have someone bother her while sleeping.

Oh, and Cait also wanted her to wash herself apparently. She had completely forgotten about such a thing. Tsk, why couldn't people just leave her to her work. It wasn't like she was going to get sick or anything. She already had taken measures against such things when she was younger. A little dirt or chemicals never killed anyone that knew what they were doing.

With a tired, somewhat irritated seeming sigh, Charlotte shook her head. She'd do that tomorrow. She was just going to get sweaty again anyways, so cleaning would be futile. She'd do that after she made decent progress in her new home tomorrow. Hopefully that solution would help, but with the potency of it in question, she couldn't really say.

She supposed, though, she could at least tolerate sleeping close to the other girl.

With a stretch and a yawn, Charlotte moved over to the blanket and laid down on it intent on sleeping.

[Roleplayer001]

The native frowned as the woman neither seemed interested in eating or in taking a bath as she laid down on the impromptu, leaving Cait to pout a little bit. Had her offerings of aid somehow been insufficient, or was the other woman just tired?

It was most likely just the second one, considering that she simply decided to lay down. The orange haired girl's hair glowed slightly in the night as she realized her own exhaustion, lowering herself into the makeshift bed and pulling herself close to the other woman for warmth as she closed her eyes in preparation of going to sleep.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Now, Charlotte didn't mind sharing a bed with someone. Wouldn't be the first time she bunked with someone else. She had to share a room with three people back in Astril, after all. As annoying as it was, she had to put up with it. At least the other two people were...tolerable, and one of them was...the only person she'd have ever considered a 'friend'. But, sleeping this close with a complete stranger? Well, she didn't mind it, but the other woman was getting awfully close. Much closer than she was comfortable with.

She rolled over, giving Cait slightly annoyed look.

"Óchi Meínete. Den ankaliés." She pressed a finger against Cait's head, pushing her slightly to hopefully indicate she was not to sleep on the same side of the bedding as she was. There Only one person she'd ever let sleep that close to her if she could help it.

She rolled back over, facing away from Cait. She was fine - she was used to cold nights anyways. Astril was notoriously cold, after all. To be honest, the heat from this beach was likely to kill her sooner than any giant bird...

[Roleplayer001]

The native only gave off a slight frown as the other woman pushed her away. It'd be cold in the night, and the warmth of a friend was always appreciated, wasn't it? But Cait didn't let it get to her too deeply as eventually she simply turned over and faced away from the other woman, using her hands as a sort of pillow to help make herself more comfortable.

Closing her eyes to the world, the orange haired girl soon found herself breathing deeper and slower breaths as she drifted off to the realm of sleep, wondering what would happen in the morning.

When Charlotte woke up, she would find the native still asleep on the blankets shivering slightly as if she was a little bit cold.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

The night passed swiftly, with Charlotte quickly falling asleep once Cait left her alone. Most of the time, she never remembered what she dreamed. Night was typically just one big giant blank spot on her memory. It made sleeping rather boring, honestly. She would much rather either be studying or stay awake. Not all that difficult with the help of a bit of alchemy potions of the self enhancing sort. She stayed awake for almost five days once before her roommates practically forced her to sleep. Tonight though, she would have rather had that dreamless rest...

Charlotte woke with a start, eyes opening with a start as she was greeted with the sight of the dull grey stone of the cave rather than the cold, frost bitten dungeons of Astril and the smell of chemicals and blood. Well...she supposed being here was better than being there. The dark haired woman sat up, resting her arms on her knees, sitting there silent for a few moments as she merely shoved the thoughts out of her head, noticing Cait shivering off to the side.

...

Charlotte sighed in irritation as she walked over to her equipment, picking up one of the rocks she had been using as a makeshift fire. Rocks, modified with the essence of Fire. Not that difficult to make if you had the proper materials. Worked just as well as an actual fire and could function as materials for other things if used properly. A limited lifespan once one used it, but could function as small heaters to keep one warm for awhile. It'd be enough at least for Cait to warm herself as she waited outside. She had work to do.

She moved back over to where Cait was sleeping, and rather rudely shook the glowing haired woman awake.

As soon as she did, she'd shove the rock in her hands and point to outside the cave.

"Periménete ekeí éxo, kai den diakópsei!" Her voice was stern, but otherwise not hostile.

[Roleplayer001]

The orange haired woman couldn't resist letting out a yawn as she was rudely shaken awake, and despite trying to go back to bed for a few seconds after the other woman was done found herself unable to do so. Rising up and stretching, a strange and warm rock was pressed into her hands which she pulled against her chest for warmth. It was probably one of the strange supplies that Charlotte had brought with her along with the glass vials and such.

Leaving the cave while rubbing her eyes, the native was curious about what had called for them to wake up so early in the morning. Perhaps these other people's preferred to eat alone, and were somehow solitary? It was rather obvious the black haired woman and her had some differences, but how far did they go?

Sitting herself down in a comfortable looking patch of grass outside the cave, the native sighed as she leaned against a comfortable looking rock and closed her eyes in attempt to fall asleep once more.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

With Cait out of the picture, Charlotte decided to work quickly. She picked up the glass bottle that contained the slightly acidic liquid and moved to the back of the cave. She'd have to work on the fancy bits and finishing touches later, but for now she hopefully had enough to at least make a bit more room for herself. Enough room for her supplies, a desk, some storage containers a proper bed and a few other things that she would need. First and foremost though, was priming the earth to move. Just a small bit of her life essence infused into the bottle and it'd be set.

She exhaled, the glass flask glowing a faint bright green color as its contents sparked lightly. Damn, not as strong as she'd have hoped...but it'd do for now. She could make a stronger one later. For now, she was going to encourage this earth to move. With a swift motion, she poured the entire green substance onto the ground below, making sure the liquid at least was able to cover most of the back of the cave and the floor. A small entrance was fine for now. She could work on that later.

Next...was waiting, not for long, but the process was already out of her hands. She did all she could, all she could do now was rely on the latent power of the earth setting to work. Thankfully it seemed she didn't have to wait long. Suddenly, the earth in the immediate area began to shift, as if a miniature earthquake was happening. The liquid spread on the ground sizzled, before being absorbed into the earth, green lines of energy crackling along the surface as cracks began appearing.

Now all she had to do was watch as the earths natural Erosion process was sped up to an unnatural rate.

The earth moved before her eyes, hollowing out a decently sized cave as the earth retreated from the area. It was about as big as a small home, though from even. Rocky stalagmites and stalactites hung fro, the floor and ceiling making the room a bit less welcoming, but it was fine. It definitely could use a few finishing touches from human hands, but she could make do for now. It had room enough for her to finally stand without her goddamn head hitting the ceiling and that was all she wanted for now.

Now all she needed was shelves, a proper bed, some storage containers and then a few more alchemy supplies and she'd have a nice little bed here.

Too bad she had to use alchemy to use it though, this place would be much less reactive to such changes for awhile now...

Ah well. She was satisfied with this.

After a few moments of making sure the process was completed, Charlotte turned back to the cave entrance.

"Cait, boreíte na epistrépsete sto. Prosektikí tychón kinoúmenon vráchon."

[Roleplayer001]

The native had warmed herself due to the combination of the morning sun and the rock, and rubbed her eyes as she lazily walked back into the ...

... how? The place had been much smaller, hadn't it been? There were methods of expanding caves of course, but none of them involved mixing strange herbs together the night beforehand. Usually the effort involved the entire group working together for many hours, although the results were usually more visually pleasing than what she saw.

Still though, she was impressed. With the supplies she brought, it seemed that Charlotte would be able to get things together herself in as little time as possible. "Conas a fuair tú é sin? Tá sé go hiontach!" The other woman would find herself being petted for a second or two by the shorter woman as the black haired woman was hugged with the other arm.

Taking out her flute, the native played a few cheerful notes on it before gesturing to her gifts, pulling out a piece of fruit for each of them. Demonstrating how to peel and eat it, the orange haired woman found herself enjoying a small breakfast.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Honestly, she had expected - and at least, hoped somewhat - Cait wouldn't have any idea what she had just done. Or at least, showed a bit more surprise and maybe would have been a bit curious about it. The way she was behaving though? Well, the way she so easily seemed to brush it off and started acting in quite an unpleasant patronizing fashion - treating her like a child - made her feel like she was back in Astril. That was not something she ever wanted to feel like again. Being looked down on - like she was less than everyone simply because everyone thought her studies were weak and would never amount to anything.

As she was hugged, Charlotte's rare smile was replaced by her usual frown and she gave Cait a less than enthusiastic stare.

Well, whatever. Wasn't like she was ever going to try and get overly friendly with this native. As soon as she could, she was going to kick her out. She'd prefer to be alone anyways and she was starting to grate on her nerves a bit. The alchemist grunted, taking a seat in the middle of the now slightly more spacious cavern.

Charlotte ate mostly in silence, peeling the fruit easily enough. Now at least she should start making a table. She'd need some rope...maybe trying to make some strong adhesive or something would be better, though. She'd need some more supplies, of course...also she should start making paper - keep notes about the plants and wildlife here and start getting a feel for the terrain.

Maybe she should wash up a little, too.

She should add a large basin for water somewhere and make some Heat Rocks to warm the water with...

For now though, she'd enjoy a small reprieve from work, as long as Cait didn't do anything else to sour her mood.

[Roleplayer001]

A couple weeks passed between the two of them as they worked together on making Charlotte's cave a livable location. Although the black haired woman seemed to grow strangely distant, they did spend some times pointing at various objects and teaching each other the words for them. The fruits of various types were named to Charlotte, the pair managed to learn the other's word for the cave they were building, along with various other things.

However, the newcomer was also setting up these small strange devices around the corners of trees and near spots on the ground where various small animals travelled at times. For a long time, the orange haired woman was confused as to the purpose of them. Was it some sort of odd religious symbolism? Some sort of ceremony for calling upon nature spirits and having them defend you?

Caitriona was still unaware of their nature as she approached the black haired woman curiously as she was huddled over one of them, removing her first successful kill and meat meal since arriving at this island ...

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

As a week or two passed - Charlotte lost count somewhere, she had stopped paying attention to the passing of the days and instead, focused on work. Before she could do any heavy and in depth alchemy, she'd need a few things. A place sheltered from the elements, meaning she'd need to build a wall and a front door to her little cavern home here. Some storage space with some preserved items of sorts, some more glass alembics, retorts, flasks...etc, things like that. Eventually getting a Cauldron would be nice as well so she could make things on a larger scale and a few more specialty potions.

In that time, she had managed to make a table, some rope and fairly strong adhesive, and even some paper and some ink to write with so she could keep a log of all the plants and various properties they might have as well as any notes or other thoughts she might have. A small cot had been made as well, towards the edge of the cave -big enough for one- she had just finished that last night, and was going to make a point of not having to share with Cait any more.

For now though, she had to test a small trap of hers. Eating just fruits and vegetables was starting to get rather...annoying. Not to mention, a good diet needed meat of some sort, even a small one. She didn't know what sort of creatures lived here aside from that giant bird, but it was a forest. A forest would have rabbits, would they not? And that stream would likely have fish. Both animals of which could easily provide sustenance, as well as some useful materials...

She had managed to make a Lure, similar to one she'd use back in Astril to catch fresh rabbits - for their fur, mostly back then. Rabbit fur was surprisingly fairly reactive and accepting of changes and other such things. She'd keep the fur, as well as make a fire pit and cook the meat. The Lure itself looked to be a small, sweet smelling powder of some sort. She had found that rabbits - and wildlife in general tended to be attracted to it, but in small quantities like this it shouldn't attract anything big.

She placed the snare on the ground and waited. Thankfully, it wasn't long before a brown furred rabbit was caught in the trap and killed, the stone knife cleanly killing the animal. Charlotte stood, quite happy with her work as she picked up the dead rabbit and resetting the snare. She turned, and started walking back to the cave. She needed to skin it and prepare the meat and eventually build a way to preserve it.

She looked over to Cait who had been watching, showing her the dead rabbit. She'd check the other traps later. She only put up a few of them, so if all went well she'd have caught a good number of rabbits...

[Roleplayer001]

Cait watched as the black haired woman picked up a dead rabbit from one of her contraptions, showing it off as if proud. For a few seconds, the orange haired woman just stared before she finally managed to gather herself together enough to give off a look of pure fury.

The orange haired woman yelled a sentence at the other woman that approximately translated to: "What the hell is wrong with you?!" before heading over to a tree and feeling like she was about to puke. What sort of evil person murdered smaller creatures purposefully? Was it some sort of twisted religious ritual?

After a minute of calming down, the shorter girl collected herself. Chances were the black haired woman was from somewhere where such a hideous act was acceptable or even encouraged, meaning that this woman was some sort of barbarian. Perhaps it was a simple difference in who they were - the black haired woman's hair refused to glow no matter how far into the night they were.

Still though, the other woman was obviously intelligent and capable of complex thought. Perhaps she could be educated?

Approaching the other woman, the orange haired girl tried to collect herself and remain calm as her eyes avoided looking at the dead creature ... "Why ... so small?" Gesturing to the little thing, the woman tried to act more neutral this time around although she was clearly disturbed.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Whatever she had been expecting from Cait, it had not been the angry glare and the accusatory voice. Charlotte was momentarily taken aback, surprised by the turn of events. She hadn't expected Cait to take issue with this particular thing at all. What, was she suddenly supposed to simply start eating just fruits and vegetables? That would be fine for a time, certainly, but humans needed a bit of meat in their diet to remain healthy. Some key nutrients simply couldn't be gained from fruit alone - at least, not without a bit of preparation perhaps.

"Food." Charlotte replied rather bluntly without seemingly much delicacy. "Fur also makes for good material to make clothing and blankets from." Also blood, hearts, and other organs could be used to make certain things if she had the right materials. Of course, that would likely disturb the native a bit more so she didn't say anything. She'd have to do a bit of study to see if there were any variation in the rabbits between here and Astril, though. These seemed to be more earth aligned, rather than ice...

Feeling as she had explained herself enough, Charlotte kept walking.

[Roleplayer001]

The native watched as the other woman seemed to mull over her thoughts for a few seconds before responding. For a few seconds, the native thought that the other woman was joking. Surely she couldn't be so barbaric? And besides, how could she stomach eating as a wild beast does? The orange haired girl and her peoples were incapable of that sort of consumption ... and the black haired woman was very similar in many ways to her.

Unable to respond as the other woman continued walking, eventually the orange haired woman managed to collect herself enough to eventually head after the other woman as she returned to the cave. She thought about what to say. If this was somehow part of the other woman's diet, did that justify ending such a small life? On the other hand, couldn't she sustain herself on the fruits of the land alone? Her own people lived very healthy lives without needing to kill off the friends in nature.

"... do your people ... normally ... eat your friends?" It was a difficulty in the orange haired woman's language to express exactly what she wanted to, but hopefully it got the point across.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Friends?

Animals? Friends?

Charlotte had to physically resist to laugh at the mere thought of it. Granted, a few people in the tower kept few animals as pets or friends, and her previous roommate kept a small pet snowhawk...for the most part though, animals had a tendency to dislike her. Always got jumpy around her for whatever reason. Still, telling her what most animals were used for in Astril were...probably not a good idea. Eating them was one of the lesser evils that occurred.

"Friends?" Charlotte questioned, turning her head to Cait and giving her a critical look. "Rabbits are not friends." She walked into the cavern, placing the body of the rabbit on her 'workstation', in a clear space in the middle of the desk next to her materials and glass equipment which she still needed to make more of. "I'm not a herbivore. Humans need meat in their diet. I can't eat plants and vegetables forever without proper preparation. "

[Roleplayer001]

The native frowned as the other woman simply denounced rabbits as being friends. They were the best of friends, they were cute and fluffy and could lead one to find various foods hidden above and beneath ground! Still though, the woman's next sentence made her frown. Why ... why would she not of everything in her power to prepare in such a manner as to not eat their furry friends?

"Charlotte ... what would that need?" The orange haired girl was trying to contain her frustration with this undereducated and seemingly barbaric woman. Anyone with a heart would do everything in their power to avoid eating ones so small and innocent as rabbits, if it was possible.

Besides, it smelled disgusting.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

"More than we have." She replied sharply. Well, that wasn't all that truthful if she was to be honest, but it'd be troubling and annoying to have to do such a thing. She could reasonably do it, but it'd take more time then she'd have. Also she was more of a carnivore than herbivore anyways, and never had much of a fondness for green stuff. She only ate them occasionally to have a healthy diet. She grabbed the stone knife Cait had given her the first few days she arrived, and started planning how she was going to skin the small animal.

"...is that...a problem?" Charlotte asked. Despite the seriousness and somewhat accusatory tone her voice carried, there was also a small hint of possible worry. "If so, then leave. If not, then we won't have a problem." She looked at the knife, then to Cait. She probably wouldn't want to watch what happened next regardless. "Wait outside anyways. It will be best, don't want any distractions."

[Roleplayer001]

Caitriona frowned as the other woman told her to leave, the orange haired girl picking up her sack and walking out of the cave only to sit beside it for some time ...

... what was wrong with this person? The fire haired girl knew from the elders that consuming the flesh of another being would both make you incredibly sick and damn your essence to a terrible plane. Did the same rules not apply to this foreigner? With a sigh, the native set out lost in her thoughts towards the beach, where she climbed up a few trees and gathered several coconuts to enjoy. Was this not enough to sustain a person, along with the fruits of a land? Did her companion for the last few weeks have a soul, or any sort of belief at all?

A small bird landed on a tree nearby, poking at a coconut for a short while until it collapsed to the ground. The native cracked it open, throwing half of it for the small creature to enjoy. Friends helped each other out, did they not? Was this bird not her friend then?

The bird seemed to be more useful than Charlotte, at least. With a sigh, the orange haired girl began the trek back to the cave after a few hours, sure that was long enough for the other woman to perform whatever ... rituals ... were required of her.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

When Cait left, Charlotte sighed. Well, the chances the native wouldn't be coming back was somewhere around the 60-70% range, wasn't it? Unlikely, then. Considering her behavior towards her, not exactly a stretch at all. Well, there was only one thing to really do then. Finish up and then get moving. She had a nice little base she'd need to A: start her own greenhouse so she could grow plants in a more controlled environment, and B: Start exploring the land a little bit. She had a goal here after all, and she couldn't stay longer than needed. She needed to travel east, far across the land to reach her objective.

So she set to work skinning the rabbit and tanning it. With a bit of help from some already made solutions, she hide was mostly tanned, it just needed to sit in the cool back parts of the cave for a few hours and then it'd be pretty much ready to go. It wasn't much considering it was just a rabbit, but she could get more. More importantly, was the cooking part. It was easy enough to get a fire going just outside of the cave. No sense in smoking up the inside of it.

By the time Cait returned, everything would mostly be complete, and Charlotte had already eaten. Now, she may have said to Cait protean was a good thing for humans to have, but honestly - she just really, really, loved a good, tasty steak. This was rabbit and not steak, but...meat. If she could dry some of the extra meat and turn it into jerky and preserve it, it'd make a lot of food supplies go a long way...but later.

When Cait returned, she'd come back to a crackling fire, the rabbit nowhere to be seen and Charlotte hanging up the pelt in the back of the cave on some rope.

[Roleplayer001]

The native reentered the cave, she did her best not to look around for the remains of the rabbit although smelled what was likely the scent of a dinner well eaten by the barbarian. Aside from a slight bit of nausea though, the meal was eaten long enough ago that the woman quickly recovered.

Taking a brief look around, the place indoors seemed relatively clean and Charlotte was doing something in the back ... as the other woman turned around and the native saw the skin though Catriona quickly turned her gaze away. At least nothing went to waste, she supposed.

"... you're not going to eat me, right?" Although the statement would have likely been comical to many, it seemed that the native was genuinely concerned.