lumberlady | Noctium

[Though she had been raised in the human villages at the base, it was the blood of the mountains flowed through Konoha's veins, that shaped her sturdier body and made her suitable for the lumber yard work she had excelled at before she'd left the valley for a life of peaks and mist and deep mountain woods with her husband's herd.

And it's to the mountains of Sumerlok that she goes to gather herbs and vegetation for trying to cook the sort of food she is familiar with. The sound of hooves is alternately muffled by moss and distinctive over rock or snapping branch, picking her way about-

Until a voice calls out, and she startles to alertness. The scent of human hasn't come to her, he's downwind, and though this place had shown itself safer than Mt. Tsurugi... Konoha is smart enough to grow a bit cautious, slowly drifting into the shadows of trees and leaf, a dapple of sunlight rippling over hints of a dark mane, a bay coat, a human-like arm...]

Ah, sorry... I didn't mean to startle you...

[Seeking a better view of who she was speaking to, she tries to peek through the leaves towards... was that a house being built there? A man?]

I'm not a threat...

[Just saying her name wouldn't mean anything, would it? But also... when she says it out loud... Does that just sound more suspicious???]

Edited 2021-05-05 03:18 (UTC)

[ Joric's brow lifts at the sight of someone hidden in the trees. The glimpse he catches confuses him because he can't tell if she's riding a horse or is the horse. He certainly doesn't see the horse's head anywhere. ]

I wasn't startled.

[ He means it too. It takes a lot to unsettle him and it was really curiosity that had him calling out. ]

Just assumed I'd be alone out here.

[ He'd picked this spot so he could get away from the claustrophobic feeling of the city but now he wonders if it's along a popular path up the mountainside. ]

Do you come this way often?

[Now that she can get a bit of a better view of who had called out to her, a man alone in front of a half-built frame, surrounded by tools that did seem to suggest he was simply building there, not doing anything odd... Konoha cautiously begins to show herself, her movement through the woods surprisingly graceful despite her size. First a bay leg, then a woman's upper half, dressed in simple homespun robes and holding a shallow basket of greens that explained her own motives for being there... and then another step or two that revealed from the brush that... it is certainly not a woman riding a horse.]

I was just foraging... Sorry, is this your land... ?

[She stays close to the treeline yet, just in case she's asked to leave, her rump still hidden behind a tree, but... Nope, that's a centaur, one who hadn't realized she might be trespassing.]

[ Yeah that's certainly a horse person. Centaurs aren't a part of his world's population or even mythology, so she's quite the sight. He wonders if this is her gembond change, but if that were the case, why hasn't he changed too? Shaking his head, he moves from his reclined position to sit more forward, drawing up his legs and clasping his wrists loosely in front of himself. ]

It is. I bought it. But I'm not sure on the exact border lines. In either case, I don't mind if you take things. I'll probably still get most of my food from the city.

[ He can't help it; he's addicted to burgers and fries now. ]

[It is no gem change he's encountered. Though a large hunk of emerald glitters on her haunch when she slowly peels away from the trees, the stones are not pulsing with Malachite's influence, and despite how some might see her as half woman and half horse, she moves seamlessly and naturally as one creature.]

If you like, I can share... I found more than I thought. You picked a good area...

[And as much as she would equally agree that burgers and fries were amazing inventions, she does crave a more homey taste now and then... so she gestures to the basket in her hands and the plethora of wild vegetables there before bowing slightly over it.]

I'm Konoha, by the way... Apologies about the trespassing.

It's fine. I probably wouldn't know how to cook it right anyway.

[ He stays where he is since bowing isn't much of a thing where he comes from. ]

Joric. Like I said: it's fine. I can put up some signs or a fence later.

[ He really isn't too bothered about it. ]

Besides, it would be a shame to waste this view.

You wouldn't...

[She means to say "nice to meet you", but instead Konoha is left accidentally confused by the idea that he wouldn't know what to do with mountain vegetables. But... He's out here building a house in the mountains? (It is a nice view, admittedly.)]

What... are you going to do for food?

[Go into town every day... ?! Konoha might have accidentally assumed that anyone wanting to live out here also wanted to avoid the city like she did.]

Oh. [ His normally serious face actually breaks into a smile. ] I can cook meat well enough, I guess. There's a lake down there a ways and I plan on going fishing too. I just tend to burn vegetables to a crisp. Besides, the city's not far and I can fly. I can get things there.

You can fly... ?

[Despite herself, she looks for wings as if she might somehow have missed them... but oh, no, of course- she knocks the butt of her palm into her forehead.]

Ah, no, you mean you're the purple gem sort of Gembonded, right- ?

That's right.

[ He chuckles. ]

It's rather handy.

You must have practiced a whole lot... that's impressive! I remember at the camp I had to pull a purple gem person back to the ground...

[And this person was going to just fly to the city- ! She'd feel behind, if she hadn't intentionally ignored her powers for so long. Helpfully, she twists a little to show off the fist-sized chunk of emerald on her left haunch.]

I'm the green one, so... I can grow plants really well! Or, I could already do that, now I can grow them fast...

I did in those early days. I had to learn my limits and nearly stranded myself by using too much Manna. Thankfully I wasn't alone and I could replenish it in order to leave the temple floating in the sky and fly back to the ground.

[ It's a mistake that's stayed with him and he's always mindful of it. ]

That must be helpful. Were you growing those so they would be ready to pick?

[ Pointing to her basket as he asks. ]

[There's a moment when his question seems to just confuse her, as Konoha blinks silently, looking between him and the basket... before she suddenly slaps a hand to her forehead, forelegs prancing her weight from hoof to hoof.]

Aaaaaah, I didn't even think of that! I've only been using the powers on my vegetable garden- !

[She could have been getting even more than she'd gathered already if she'd just encouraged the buds to reach ripeness along the way... !]

[ Oh. Well, moving forward she can do that. ]

At least you're aware of it now. You can use it as you return to gathering.

So foolish...

[Konoha can't help but shake her head at herself upon this realization, though really, she has gathered what might look like plenty.]

Or maybe I shouldn't use it for something so silly... ? I sometimes think the gods might get mad if we do things like that...

They haven't gotten mad so far.

[ Though who knows what Malachite's doing. That one's sort of all over the place. ]

I would think they gave us these powers to use them and not let them go to waste.

Well... no, I guess they haven't...

[He had a good point there, but. She looks around at the mountainside, chewing over it before she instead ]

- Is your world more like this? Is that why you came all the way out here?

[It's not so far by her standards, but compared to all the "future world" people...]

It is. Or at least the part I'm from is. There are the lower lands too, of course, but I don't care much for them. Air's too thick.

[ It makes perfect sense to him. ]

[The comment on the air does make sense to her. Even though she hadn't considered the valley thick before, now that she lives on Tsurugi...]

I used to live in the valleys with humans like a field jinba, but- I'm a mountain jinba by blood.

[She pats a lower shoulder, somewhat petite in build but still distinctively more draft in configuration.]

I'm more suited to up here, too.

[ He chuckles. ]

We say the same of my people too. We're built to handle the cold better. You should've seen how many were freezing up at the mountain camp when we met with the sages and I could hardly notice at all: no ruby gem needed.

[ He shifts a little and gestures around them. ]

Plenty of land out here if you ever want to buy some and make a home on the mountainside too.

[See, he mentions the camp, and that... makes Konoha laugh, free and truly amused, even though she did feel bad for those who'd been suffering.]

Oh, no, it really as bad... so many people acting like they hadn't ever had to chop firewood or keep warm before...

[Too many spoiled city dwellers... His suggestion is appreciated, but-]

I don't know if I could afford land... but even if I could, as much as I like them... I live in the Emerald Park now, and it's not so bad. The embassy let me stay there as long as I found a Gem-owned farm willing to lend space in their barn.

Ah, as you like.

[ Sometimes Joric forgets that not everyone is making as much Manna as he is and therefore as much money. ]

You are content there?

[It should be an easy question. She opens her mouth to answer it as if it was... But then no sound comes out. She closes it. Tries again... This time, honestly.]

Ah... Not really. I have to get back to my family, but...

For being stuck here, mmm. It's comfortable.

[Maybe that's as content as she can hope for.]

Of course.

[ He's less inclined to return home since he can no longer return to the mountains. He has them here, his rage is currently being controlled by scientists, and he figures this is better than wandering his world for a magical cure. But others don't have his story. They have lives to return to. Families. He can't begrudge her that. ]

I think people sometimes go back. Or, at least they leave here. I hope you can return.

[Without thinking, Konoha almost says "you, too". But something about his tone, or rather... the words he doesn't say, makes her reconsider... and just go with,]

Thank you.

[She hoped people who wanted to stay... She's met some dead people here, people like that... She hoped they got to stay just as much as she wanted to go.]

I'm sorry again, for barging in... but, ah...

[She scratches at her temple a bit self-consciously, smiling sheepishly.]

Do you mind if I come forage around here again, if you won't be making much use of the mountain vegetables... ?

[There's some good ferns and mushrooms about.]

Edited 2021-05-27 18:27 (UTC)

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omg so sorry I lost this notif???

whoops, it happens!

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