Oh good. She was back to her normal self once she had been untied.
Oh no, she was being annoying again.
Charlotte frowned slightly as Aislinn jumped. Well, at least she wasn’t terrified anymore so that was alright. As long as she didn’t lose focus here, then Charlotte could tolerate her admittedly somewhat endearing energy. Color though? Well, that was something she didn’t even think about. Flora always said she looked good in blue though…
“Uhm, blue is fine?” That wasn’t the question she wanted answered though.
“But hold on, hold on.” Charlotte walked over to where Aislinn was doing whatever it was she was doing to achieve this.
“Those boring details are what I want to know…though I suppose I could figure it out later on my own.” Charlotte grumbled slightly.
“…so what exactly are you doing?”Aislinn heard something about boring details as the other woman grumbled. She was already irritated, so it was a good thing to skip over them! The native smiled as she continued to mix some flowers into the paste, the solution becoming a more cool hue.
”We are choosing a color, of course! Why else would I ask you that?” The native gave the other girl a critical look before adding a few more flowers in as a smile creeped across her face. Charlotte simply stood there, rubbing her forehead. That was
not what she had asked. She would have assumed Aislinn was purposefully messing with her, but she didn’t seem like the type of person to do that.
Adjustments were gradually made and the girl was seeming more and more satisfied.
”Blue? A good choice! When it glows, it should match those eyes of yours!” The color was a bit deeper than the other woman’s light blue eyes, but when it lit up it would correct itself. The native mixed the materials together for a bit longer until she was done, looking up at Charlotte as if she was waiting for something.
As Aislinn finished up, Charlottes eyes turned to the paste she had made. Didn’t seem to be too out of the ordinary, but in the past few days she had learned that if anything, there were many things she didn’t yet understand on this land. After a few seconds of silence though, she turned her gaze towards Aislinn. She seemed to be…waiting on her to do something?
“You done?”Aislinn took a look at the solution one last time before nodding. The clothes the other girl was wearing wouldn’t learn in the long term, but she could discuss that afterwards.
”Bring something clean out here to lay on and strip!” The girl seemed a little excited, but it was probably as she started to think about what she wanted to paint on the other woman rather than out of some sort of sexual desire. The native took a moment before thinking of a final piece of advice.
”This may take until the sun falls, so if you need to relieve yourself do it now!”She…was to strip? Charlotte gave Aislinn a critical look, folding her arms against her chest as she seemed to weigh what was said. Well, obviously it was difficult to apply a tattoo when you were clothed. She had only intended to get a small one on her arm or something – easy enough to do, in her opinion. Strip…entirely though? Well, she had done far more odd things in the name of learning and science before.
“Alright,” Charlotte said with a sigh.
“Don’t go touching anything that doesn’t need to be touched, or I swear to the stars you’ll be tied up even worse than before in a den of wolves.” She grunted, turning on her heels and heading back into the cave. A few minutes passed as Charlotte pulled off her clothing, folding them neatly on her bed and making a quick stop to ‘relieve’ herself as Aislinn suggested. Soon enough, she had walked back out wearing absolutely nothing, save for the blanket from her bed. After Charlotte spread it on the ground, she stood and gave Aislinn a somewhat critical look, though what it was for was impossible to tell.
“Alright, let’s get this over with. I would prefer not being unclothed any longer than needed.”Aislinn looked up at the critical woman, frowning slightly as the other woman was obviously irritated. It was obvious Charlotte’s discussion was making the native a little nervous about this entire thing as her eyes shifted about a little.
”I-I’m sorry. I … I didn’t realize it bothered you that much.” It was rather apparent that the younger girl was more than a little apprehensive now about doing this as she was threatened by the meat eater.
Wordlessly, Charlotte thumped Aislinn lightly on the forehead. She got the feeling she was going to be doing that more in the coming days as long as Aislinn was around.
“It does not bother me so much that I won’t do it.” Charlotte said.
“As long as it is purely for learning, then I do not mind, but I simply would not like to be unclothed for all that long.” The alchemist laid down on the blanket, looking up at Aislinn. Now would be the worst possible moment for Cait to return. Knowing her, she would be teased endlessly.
“Let’s get started then, alright?”The native nodded, feeling a bit better as the other woman was clearly interested again. This just wasn’t something that was a good idea to rush. For a few minutes, Aislinn simply looked around Charlotte to understand her canvas. The curves of her body, the tone of the skin, and even the toughness of it as it was poked a few times in various places. As she looked around, she noticed a small scar on upper right side of Charlotte’s chest. Truthfully, it looked like it was some sort of burn.
”Can I know where this came from? It’s hard to explain but it’s important.” Suddenly Aislinn was either filled with energy or afraid - it was the sort of seriousness a scientist would have as they tried to objectively examine a new phenomenon.
For a few seconds, Charlotte stared rather harshly up at Aislinn. Important? How could it be important? She wasn’t the expert here, though…so she could possibly give some sort of explanation. It was important, but she didn’t want to give the full story.
“I got carried away.” Charlotte replied simply.
“I was…careless with my Alchemy and ended up getting hurt, is all.” It was…a lot more complicated than that but she didn’t feel entirely comfortable talking about that with Aislinn.
The native listened attentively, then nodded. Aislinn looked at the other girl with a bit of concern, but then smiled as she continued thinking about her canvas. The girl soon was giving the next set of instructions, satisfied with that answer.
”Alright! Lay down and relax, I’ll tell you anything you need to do alright? So just listen to your artist!” The girl snapped her fingers again, the seriousness of a few moments ago completely forgotten.
”Okay, three questions! What is your favorite animal? I think you are a wolf, but do you really think of yourself as a dove? Second! What do you lack the most, physically? Are you slow, weak, easily injured? Lastly! What is your greatest strength, something you consider yourself to have spare when you need it the most?”Well, relaxing was easy enough. She could do that as long as nothing was bothering her. The questions though? Well, the first two were easily explained, but the first? Animals? A favorite
animal?! Charlotte frowned. She disliked most, if not all animals. Especially dogs like they keep comparing her too. Smelly mutts licked things that didn’t need to be licked and constantly begged for attention. If she had a favorite animal it’d have to be something quiet, out of the way, but also a good listener...urgh, this was difficult.
“Animal…” Hmm.
“I don’t…really get along with animals well.” Charlotte said with a shake of her head.
“Especially dogs” Charlotte said firmly, making sure that Aislinn, under whatever circumstances, was to not choose a canine for anything.
Aislinn looked down at Charlotte, feeling a little sorry for her. But after a few moments, she smiled and seemed more excited than before.
”Leaving it up to the artist! That’s exciting! All of our people have made up their minds already, it’s so rare to leave it to me!” The girl with multicolored hair seemed to be thinking of something as she thought for a bit longer.
”And the last two questions?”Everyone had made up their mind? What did that even mean? Charlotte frowned a bit, but said nothing. It was likely something having to do with their culture so she couldn’t say much.
“My most lacking physical ability would be my physical strength.” That much was painfully obvious.
“Most days spent reading at a desk does not make one very physically…adept.” Though, she admittedly liked to think she had at least decent stamina.
“As for my most, well, I like to think my mind in general is likely the best.”Aislinn nodded, and Charlotte would be able to hear the sound of a brush of some sort being put into the solution as the other hand lifted one of the taller girl’s arms.
”Alright … relax. Close your eyes and hear the world. It may feel somewhat strange, but just try to breathe normally, alright? If you have any questions …” The girl thought for a few seconds about the black haired girl in front of her and her constantly active mind.
”... actually, if you have any questions just try to think of something else and ask me afterwards. Does talking help you relax or would you prefer silence?” Charlotte would feel the brush run work on her hand, going into various contours as it worked into its crevices. If the black haired woman looked, she would see the native was obviously concentrating on her work.
Breathe normally. She could do that.
“Whatever is easiest for you.” Charlotte replied, closing her eyes. She was content to listen to Aislinn speak, if it helped the native with her work. In truth, this was sort of nice. A bit…odd, but nice. The hardest part would be to…’hear the world’ whatever that meant. For the most part though, unless talked to Charlotte would be content to let Aislinn finish her work in silence.
Aislinn nodded, continuing to run her brush along the other woman’s body. Soon the arm was done, and as she moved to the chest she continued, running the brush along the woman’s body. Time passed in silence, the native eventually unable to resist some one sided chit-chat as she worked. She discussed various subjects about her life and experience in the world. She talked about how the first time she spoke to the friends was when a seven year old Cait was given the flute and the two of them were encountered by a wolf as their first guest while they were alone in the forest. She talked about her own work, and how her own tattoos helped her jump into the trees and gather various fruits that others had difficulty reaching.
Eventually she brought up the topic of love, but after saying she had no one in mind she began to talk about Cait.
”I heard that one time she just stopped a storm when a kid was lost in the forest nearby. Sang it away. She’s really incredible, but it would be nice if she came home more often.” The brush finished working through the chest and the stomach and the back, now starting down the other girl’s leg as she planned her work in her mind.
”S-sorry for getting off topic there! We were talking about love right? What about you, Charlotte? Is there anyone you care for?”Sang a storm away? How absurd sounding. Aside from that though, it was clear that Aislinn had more than a small thing for Cait, and the next question the native asked was hardly surprising given the topic. Charlotte frowned, not wanting to linger on the topic, though she felt as if Aislinn deserved some sort of answer.
“I…do not.” She replied, eyes still closed. Well, it was the truth as much as it was difficult to say. Not like she was ever going back to the tower. Not any time soon, at least.
Aislinn frowned slightly, but smiled again as she returned to her work. The brush ran down both legs, and the other arm, and then up the neck with just a little on her face. She had misjudged how much time it would take - it had taken an extra hour due to the size of her canvas - but she was happy with her work. The markings ran all over the other woman in some sort of curvy but intricate design as it curved around her body.
On her face, the markings were much more minimal - the brush went a little above the other woman’s eyes, then made small marks on cheeks.
”Okay okay! I’m done, butbeforeyouopenyoureyes, I want you to focus and let the spirits enter you.” That probably made very little sense. There was probably a better way to explain this.
”Like … concentrate on the markings without thinking about them?” That was probably the only way to explain it to the other woman.
”Like, don’t think about them working and just try to accept that they will?” Aislinn sounded a bit more confident with this answer.
Again with the talk of spirits making those instructions make absolutely made no sense. Charlotte frowned, but tried to do as she was told regardless. Focus on them without thinking about them. Accept that they will work, and they will. Well, it wasn’t too hard to believe something would work if it was supposed to work as intended. She trusted Aislinn enough to at least do her work correctly, so there was no reason to believe they wouldn’t work. Whether it was what the native wanted or not, had yet to be seen though.
“…is it working?” After a few seconds of silent concentration, Charlotte opened one of her eyes. She had almost fallen asleep on a number of times throughout the process but Aislinn didn’t need to know that. More importantly…she was fairly certain it was night, but she could still see as clear as day.
“It is…night isn’t it?” She hadn’t drunk anything that would aid in night vision, so this was…odd. Plus, there was an unfamiliar sensation running through her body. That was definitely new, so she could only assume she was doing something right. Or something was going horribly wrong. That could happen too.
”They are glowing! Oh so pretty!” The native seemed very proud of her work as she saw the runes on the girl’s face glow, making her look somewhat like some sort of fierce cat.
”You can see, right? The sun set thirty minutes ago, I had Cait bring me a fire to work with!” The other girl had likely been completely unaware of the older native’s presence as Aislinn had done her work. Looking at the rest of Charlotte however, she paused. She lifted one of the girl’s arms - she had done everything right … after looking at it for a second, it glowed just slightly, though not nearly as brightly as the one on the face.
”There’s other stuff too, but for now let’s just run over a few things. Firstly, flowly clothes only. Cait already had a dress extended for you. So no more of those weird clothes where you come from.” The undergarments and dress were piled neatly next to Charlotte at some point.
”I can’t really see right now. I’m going to relight the fire before we keep talking.”Soon enough a small fire was lit, although Aislinn was considerate enough to reveal it slowly in the case that Charlotte hadn’t fully deactivated her runes. It would be extremely bright and take a little bit of time to adjust to.
”Any questions so far?”Wait, what? She had to change her clothes for…this? There were so many questions Charlotte had that she didn’t even know where to begin. First thing first though, it was probably a good idea to try and turn off the ones on her face as Aislinn suggested. Oh, and Cait was there too. She was slightly embarrassed by the fact that the other woman showed up while she was butt naked, but she managed to quell any blushing easily enough.
“Just one thing,” Charlotte said, giving a small glare to Aislinn.
“You think you would have mentioned me not being able to wear my clothes before you did this.” She snapped in Aislinn’s general direction, blinking a bit as her eyes readjusted. Whew, this was going to take a bit of time to get used to, wasn’t it? So many things she had to test with this, but there was one thing she wanted to make sure of regardless. Still, she shouldn’t get so worked up over simple clothing. With a somewhat tired sigh, she shook her head.
“…those clothes are just...familiar, is all. The cloak, can I at least wear that still?” She asked, reaching for the undergarments and starting to put them on. Might as well just not care about modesty at this point…she just hoped Cait didn’t say anything.
Aislinn frowned slightly as Charlotte snapped at her, but blinked a few times as the black haired woman asked about the cloak.
”Of course, it’s flowy! Might look strange with a dress though …” The native simply observed the other woman as she was putting her clothes on, then gave her a nice, wide smile.
”... but if it’s sentimental then it’s probably a good idea to keep it! Everyone has their keepsakes!” The native smiled really happily as she looked at Charlotte, seeming to be waiting for more questions.
Charlotte easily put on the undergarments, followed by the dress. Well, as long as she could wear the cloak she didn’t particularly care too much about looks. Aside from the cloaks usefulness, it was a gift. One she wasn’t intending to get rid of anytime soon. The dress though, was slightly uncomfortable. Airy, loose, and cool. Far from the somewhat tight fittings she was accustomed to back in Astril. Not unpleasant, really, but odd. It’d take some getting used to at least.
With a sigh, she took a seat not far from Aislinn, not comment on the sentimentality of the articles. Well, a change of clothes would be nice at least.
“So, aside from night vision, what else can these…markings do?” She asked. Before asking for fine details she’d ask what exactly she could do now with hopefully a bit of practice.
”You seemed like some sort of cat, so that’s what I based them on!” She looked at the girl.
”Aside from darkvision? Well, your reaction time should be increased if you manage to activate the ones on your neck. You can make your arms stronger for a short time, and you should be able to activate your core and legs to get a nice sense of balance and agility, always landing on your feet! So like, you could pounce on things in the dark?” It seemed a bit silly, but even her own rabbit like abilities were useful in surprising ways.
For a few seconds the girl seemed a bit disappointed as she mentioned the next part.
”I … I might have been able to do more if my strands were stronger …” The girl contemplated for a few seconds before mentioning the other side of these markings.
”When you work with these however you need to breathe heavily - the spirits grant you power in exchange for being able to breathe again, so try to take in plenty of air!” The girl contemplated for a moment.
”You said you had a mind to spare, so if you press too far you should start getting exhausted and possibly get a headache. It’s only temporary, but that’s your sign to calm down. Okay okay?” The girl gradually seemed to be getting more excited as she spoke.
As Aislinn spoke, Charlotte studied her arms and hands carefully.
Hm, curious. If that was indeed what these markings could do through some means, then it would be incredibly useful. She’d just have to figure out how to control them effectively. Breathing wouldn’t be much of a problem. If there was one thing she tried to always do at least, It was to remain calm. Now there was only one question remaining. How could she use these abilities to complement her alchemy? Not something she was going to ask Aislinn, though. She’d learn more on her own.
Still, Aislinn seemed a bit down about her work. Why? She had no clue. If Charlotte had to be honest, if this was indeed what her abilities were capable of, she was impressed. More than a little as much as she didn’t understand what had happened.
“Okay okay,” Charlotte spoke as Aislinn finished. Onto the next order of business before Aislinn started getting to excited to coherently speak.
“You and Cait keep mentioning theses...spirits. What are they, exactly?” Charlotte questioned.
“I was skeptical of their existence, and I still am, but it is clear something is going on here I have no knowledge of.”Aislinn just looked at Charlotte.
”I … I don’t know. They are just sort of there, but wearing the flowiest of clothes should help them go around!” The girl seemed excited as she finished speaking, but then contemplated more seriously.
”... I know they exist. I haven’t ever met any - the great mothers can commune with them however, but everyone sees them a bit differently depending on who they are, the time, and the place.” Tilting her head, the painter simply gave the girl a small smile.
”Cait has supposedly met one … but both her and the great mothers agree they are most effective when you don’t question them. So I don’t.”That sounded fairly similar to certain theories that had a high chance of being true back in Astril. Something you can’t see, but ultimately just works and has observable effects on things. Like gravity, for example. An unseen force that creates weight and mass for things in the world. So whatever these ‘spirits’ were, likely followed similar principles. Hm, she would like to view one for herself eventually. Then she could accept they existed, or something existed that had effects such as that, so she wouldn’t question it…well…she would, simply for curiosity's sake and science. One could test gravity simply by falling, so one should be able to test spirits in some fashion.
The girl looked around for a moment for the fluteist before continuing.
”Cait said you would be very curious about this, but she also said she wasn’t sure about discussing it with you since you are … different.” For a moment Aislinn remembered how the seemingly nice woman in front of her had eaten the flesh of another being.
”You … you consider normal what we consider … ‘unholy’?” Aislinn wasn’t trying to be insulting, but simply wanted to confirm what she had seen.
”Cait understands more than I do, but she would prefer you to speak to the Great Mothers. I’m … I’m not supposed to really discuss them with you either by their request … sorry.” The native seemed a little sad, but gave Charlotte a weak smile after a few seconds.
“If…you are referring to the fact that I eat meat, then you are correct.” Charlotte replied bluntly.
“My people can’t simply live on fruits and vegetables alone. We are omnivorous by nature, and need certain proteins and other nutrients from meat that we can’t get from fruits and vegetables.” Charlotte sighed, turning her head towards the sky.
“As for anything else, I am unsure.”Aislinn nodded. The woman was a natural hunter of course - her teeth made that clear. After a moment of disgust went across the girl’s face she was suddenly filled with sadness. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to have to consume her own friends. The native let a few tears roll off her face before she shook her head. Cait had said to wait for the Great Mother’s to discuss it before they did.
”I … I’m sorry.” If the other woman had knowledge of the friends now, surely such things pressed on her conscious as well?
The girl thought for a moment before continuing.
”I … I was really scared when I saw you do that … while I was tied up … I knew you had Cait with you but … I thought you were going to eat me too.” The girl paused for a few seconds, then gave Charlotte a tight hug.
”I don’t think you are a bad person. You’ve just grown up in a cold place, haven’t you?” She didn’t mean in terms of temperature, but she was right anyways.
Charlotte was wholly unprepared for the hug. The alchemist tensed up slightly, turning her head towards Aislinn with a bit of a panicked expression. A hug. She had been hugged. How did one respond with a hug? THIS WAS NOT IN THE ALCHEMY FOR DUMMIES RULEBOOK. To say Charlotte was bad with physical interaction of any kind when not in any sort of scientific capacity was an understatement.
“W-what…are you doing?” Charlotte stuttered quietly as she tried to focus on something other than the fact she was being touched by an objectively attractive person in a fairly comforting manner. The attempt to keep her voice somewhat level and her usual serious tone failed spectacularly. The fact she could visibly feel herself blushing a bit, was not helping.
“I-it’s fine,” She continued, body still stiff. Well, no, everything was not fine but what else could she say? She had objectively grown up in a cold place in every sense of the word.
“So could you let me go now?” It was likely becoming increasingly clear that physical contact with people outside of learning capacity was out of Charlotte’s normal area of expertise.
Aislinn let go of Charlotte with a slight frown.
”... are … are hugs considered unholy among your people?” It was clear the girl was trying not to laugh at the sheer idea of that, but that was merely incomprehensible to her. How else did one keep warm at night? And comfort ones through hard times?
”Are … are you okay? Your face is all red … oh no … did my tattoos mess up!?” Aislinn suddenly seemed worried that Charlotte’s face was in serious danger. Why was she blushing!?
“N-no!” Charlotte replied.
“A-and of course it’s red! H-hugs and it’s-” Charlotte couldn’t think of a way to explain this. She was not good with explaining anything unless it was dealing with science, alchemy, or other similar things. Explaining emotional things and stuff like hugs? Nope, no, not happening. She couldn’t do it.
“It’s a perfectly natural response!” Now that she had let go though, Charlotte could feel a bit more at ease without the feeling of a certain two
somethings pressing into her.
“N-no, your tattoos did not mess up, they are perfectly fine!” She quickly continued.
“They’re amazing, honest!” Okay, perhaps a little too much honesty there but things like this always made her mouth run faster than her brain could think most of the time.
“I-it’s just-” Right. Calm. Charlotte took a deep breath, trying to get her mind out of various gutters and back on the right track.
“I-it’s just,” Charlotte continued, managing to finally get a reign on her mouth.
“Hugs are simply reserved for people you wish to…be affectionate with or close friends. Typically in private.” Realizing that she pretty much just said Aislinn was not a friend, Charlotte quickly tried to correct herself.
“N-not that you’re not a friend or anything! I uhm, just, er, just…” Great, real great. She put her foot in her mouth so many times it was annoying.
“…just don’t…do it that often.” Well, she couldn’t tell her not to do it at all.
Aislinn didn’t know what to do as the other woman began to panic. It was a little of an emotional thrill ride, but by the end she could tell that the other woman was just being uncertain about what to say. Before she could comment further however another voice arrived.
”Aislinn, are you being naughty? You aren’t supposed to put the guests on our island into heat, are you?” Before the girl could respond, the senior native gave the younger one a serious look to silence her.
”Go to the forest and find some herbs for me.” The command was instantly obeyed as the native scrambled off into the treeline, afraid of Cait’s wrath.
Once she was gone Caitriona put a hand onto Charlotte’s head and petted her a bit before giving her a little be of a wink.
”Hey, trying to steal my lover?” It was obviously a joke, but one of those that had a hint of truth behind them as well.
“N-no!” Charlotte said, surprised Cait would even make that suggestion, pointing in the direction Aislinn had left in quite a hurry. Not to mention the petting again, causing a bit of color to return to her cheeks.
“S-she’s the one who hugged me!” Still, it was a bit odd to see Aislinn run off in such a manner. She seemed afraid? Well, it was something she shouldn’t stick her nose in probably.
“I am not even interested in such…affairs currently so I’m not trying to steal anyone from anyone.” She perhaps was a bit too quick to say that, but she moved on and tried to change the subject.
“A-anyways…erm. Cait. Is there anything else I should know about these tattoos?”Not exactly the best subject change.
Cait raised an eyebrow at the girl sitting down.
”Yes, actually. They make your arousal far more obvious to our people. It’s a side effect.” Without indicating the truth of that statement the native started to head inside.
”Besides, you should work when your full strength it ready. It’s bedtime for both of us … and you didn’t even sleep last night!” With that, the girl with glowing hair disappeared into the cave.
Makes her…arousal more obvious?
“No, I think I’m just going to sleep out here thanks.” Charlotte deadpanned. She wasn’t willing to test the validity of that statement. Nope.
