Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » An Adventurous Quest (1x1)

(Back and on for a bit before food and next classes )

Apheris was perhaps a bit of a hypocrite. She wanted to know as much as she could about him from the very beginning, but refused to tell him much about herself. "I can use a dagger." Only partly answering his question, not looking at him to acknowledge the pointed look. He had said 'or', so she picked only the one to respond to. Using a dagger was the truth, at least, because she'd had to learn how to handle one for the sacrifices. "If you are a hunter, why are you accompanying me? I was unaware that 'bodyguard' was under that title."
She was thankful for the protection, there was no doubt about that. But she was...wary. Confused. This man showed up out of nowhere and suddenly wanted to travel with her. Paranoid from her previous deceptions, she felt the whole thing reeked of a scheme against her.

(Mmkay)

Damir snorted quietly. A dagger was useful in close combat, fair enough, but when pitted against a halberd, longsword or anything more ranged? Useless, unless one had a good throwing arm and hand-eye co-ordination. When the answer did not come to the wordless question, he let it drop. For now. He hardly wanted to travel with someone who could be a ticking metaphysical time-bomb, even if it had been his choice to make the decision to join her in the first place.

When she brought up the 'why', he mulled over the question for a time. His features showed no irritation or ill-intent, instead there was quite the normal neutral, perhaps a touch stern look to him. "I was not always a Hunter. Hunter is also the term I tend to give to the majority of people because the reputation of what I really am varies from culture to culture, region to region. I am a Gray Guard." He had no issues admitting it to her, but when spontaneously accosted about it, say in a tavern or while collecting supplies, he became distinctly more guarded. "The best way to describe it, is that I am a lot like a Paladin." That word alone generally meant a person working for a good or justice-aligned holy being, spreading the word, helping the innocent and slaying evil where it was found. Only it was far too rigid, too blinkered. "Only I do the dirty work that they won't, and will resort to methods to get the job done that might otherwise be looked down on." Not evil, that much would have been detectable through his aura, but certainly not sparkling pristine white either.

"I am still duty bound, more or less, to protect the Innocent. I am on no hunting assignments at the moment, and so there is no reason for me not to accompany you."

Apheris rode along the path, petting her horse while he explained what he was more specifically. She thought over this information. A paladin had been a good sign, but speaking of the dirty work made her a bit more wary. He wasn't evil, not unless he was hiding it very well. But even auras could be blotted and muddied. "I see. Well, I suppose that makes sense then. A darker sort of paladin, then, I suppose is what you are." She wondered to herself whether this 'darker paladin' would decide that her abilities could become volatile and harmful to others around her. She frowned slightly and just looked ahead. He could try to harm her. She had been training, trying to build up her abilities with her magical eyes. She just had to make sure that by the time he found out about what her eyes could do, she already had that final ace under control to use if necessary.

"I appreciate the accompaniment." It was her way of saying 'thank you', really. She did appreciate everything he was doing for her. She felt now that she had a much better chance of reaching her homeland.

Damir certainly trod the line a little more closely than most. But that had come through years of actually being nothing but an evil-smiting figure, of seeing what 'good' was truly capable of as well as the banality and bystander nature of some of the evils that mankind could commit without realising. He nodded at her description. "That sounds about right." He could not honestly put it any other way.

"Quite alright." The tone suggested that getting thanked was not something he was entirely familiar with in his line of work. Normally the only thanks he sought was for the threat to be eradicated, a warm meal and a place to rest before moving on again, either back to his homeland or onwards depending on what he was informed.

"We will stop two hours before sunset. That will give sufficient time enough to construct a shelter and to set up traps. Food can be found on the road." Namely, anything game that happened to cross by. If nothing was come across in an hour however, stopping to track it down would have to be done. Venison perhaps, or a small boar.

Apheris listened to his plan. As much as she did not like him being in command (for a position of power was one that she had grown up in and was thus used to), she knew he was the most knowledgeable in these things and so she gave a nod of acceptance. "Indeed. That sounds like a fair plan." As they road on, Apheris realized how tired she truly was. She'd been up since before sunrise, and then there was the entire chase with that terrible lion. And she hadn't stopped to rest once. It was nice to rest her feet, however, and ride a horse instead of walk.

But the more they road, the more tired she became. Finally, their time to stop came. She got off her horse, nearly falling because of her mind, foggy from exhaustion. But she managed to set both feet firmly on the ground. It was time to help construct the shelter. She wondered just what plan he had for that.

Damir was methodical. Structured in how he did things, rarely deviating from 'his' way of doing something unless another method was soundly proven to be better. Dismounting and loosely tethering the horses up - tight enough so they could not break free but loose enough to get back on them in a hurry, he then turned towards her and gestured for her to come a touch closer so then he could point something out.

"See those long, springy and leafy branches on the ground? We need plenty of them. Drag them into a pile just there..," gesturing to an empty spot nearby. They were off the road, far enough that the shelter would not be immediately noticed, but not deep into the woodlands. While she did that (and if), he began to work on the main skeleton of the shelter. Selecting a few trees, he then bent them down, grunting with effort, before using his body weight to keep it lowered enough to lash it into place with a leather thong. Once more did he repeat this, before three were securely bound. "I do hope you are partial to rabbit..." Conversation seemed easier to him while he was working. Well, either she was partial to it or she did not eat, simple as that.

Apheris came only a step or two closer, looking at the places that he pointed out to her. "Alright." She nodded and went to do as he said. She didn't like taking orders, but she really had no choice in this. She gathered up the branches and put them in a pile, listening as he started to make conversation. "I will eat what is placed before me." she answered calmly. She paused and looked up at the sky. Should she use one of their catches to make a crude sacrifice to the gods? She had no necessary tools, just his sword to make the kill and cut the pieces, but would that matter to the gods? Apheris knit her brows together. She would have to talk to them. She hadn't talked with them in a long while, and to talk, she would need to sacrifice. So it would be done, and then as she talked, she would know whether they were pleased with it or not.

Nodding to her own thoughts, Apheris went back to her job of making a pile of the branches.

He certainly could do it himself but, it would have perhaps taken twice as long. Many hands made for light work, so the saying went, and now was proving it to be quite true. With the branches that she had begun to pile up, he manoeuvred them between the three thick ones that he had tied down, forming the walls. In due course, the structure soon began to take shape; semi-circular, with one side open up to the wind, but the rest well-sheltered by both wood and, once that was done, branches and leaves taken from the forest floor to provide a thick, waterproof layer. Briefly pacing around it, he then found the ideal tree before using his hands and a dagger to simply scrape off a good sheet of both trunk and thick, springy moss. Rolling that up to one side, he then began to use some of the smaller branches she was bring over to make a flooring of sorts, while more still were set aside for usage in traps.

The pause and her glance to the sky was noted. "Making a prayer to those you follow?" His tone, while curt, was not intended to be antagonistic in any manner. Merely, seeing if his hunch was true.

Apheris watched him in amazement as he worked. He was so resourceful! It was wonderful, really, and she couldn't believe her luck at finding someone so skilled at traveling. She turned her attention to him as he asked of her pause. "No. Not yet. Just pondering. If we're able to make a good catch, I will need to sacrifice to them." She would be willing to give up her own portion of food to do so, but she couldn't sacrifice his portion; he'd earned it. She finished gathering up the branches, and after her task was done, her fatigue hit her once more. She swayed, nearly falling, but managed to stay upright. She sat down carefully. When was the last time she'd had a proper night's rest? Not for a long time indeed, and it was taking its toll.

Damir had been fortunate enough throughout his life to have met a wide range of individuals; travellers and skilled woodsman amongst them, who in trade for the teaching of some skills he had, had been more than happy to teach him a few tricks of their trades. He caught the sway however, and he scowled briefly. How long had she been travelling for without rest? A quiet huff followed, before he moved inside the shelter to lay down the moss and twigs. Just enough to raise it up off the ground, to escape some of the chill.
"Rest. I will trap something and return when I have something."

Not negotiable.

Apheris opened her mouth to protest, but then quietly closed it. She couldn't do anything until something was trapped, anyways. Without a word, she went into the makeshift shelter and laid down. Even on the moss and twigs, it felt like a bed of clouds to her weary body. Despite her wary state and her worry of falling asleep with a stranger nearby, she was asleep nearly as soon as she'd laid down. And sleep she would, until he would wake her with (hopefully) a couple catches and something for her to sacrifice.

He had no intention of sleeping near her at any point. Thanks to the divine pledge he had taken up, it granted him a few abilities that he made use of; one of those being the ability to go without sleep for slightly longer than the average human. A day more perhaps, pushing it to two, before fatigue would begin to properly set in.

It took two hours, nearing three before anything was caught; perhaps their activities of preparing the shelter earlier had scared most of the wildlife away until the twilight hours had set upon them. But he brought back two rabbits; already dead, deftly and mercifully killed, ready to be skinned and put in the pot. While he had considered bringing her one back to sacrifice properly, it did not seem right to have the animal suffering when he could just end it there and then. "I will set a trap, if you wish to sacrifice in the morning instead. I know nothing of your ways, alive or dead, for the offerings."

Apheris woke when he returned and came out from the shelter, listened to his explanation. "...very well." She didn't like having to wait until morning, but she didn't have much of a choice. "The sacrifice is killed, and then its blood is spilled into the fire. Then its insides are pulled out and burnt in the fire." She nodded slightly and took in a deep breath. She felt better. The rest had done her well, though she still needed more. She would most likely go back to resting once she had eaten. "Can I help in any of the preparations?" He probably knew how to cook better than she did given the current conditions, but she still wanted to offer her assistance.

"You are very capable. You must have traveled for a long time."

Damir arched an eyebrow up at that. It certainly sounded barbaric but, who was he to judge? He'd seen people commit acts a lot greater in the name of one religion or another, and killing a rabbit seemed quite tame in comparison. He paused, considering her offer then as he briefly dug something of a hole right before the shelter. A shallow ditch, but deeper on one side than the other. An iron pot was retrieved from his saddlebags, part-filled with water, before after piling up some tinder beneath, a simple flicker... and a smokeless fire came forth, subtle but enough to warm it through. A minor display of his own magical abilities, even if they were not classified as that; all of his power came directly from the god of justice and law that he served.

"Depends on how well you can cook. What are you familiar with?"

Apheris walked over to stand by him. "..whatever I can work with. I have had to make do with many things and learn through trial and error on my journeys. At home, the cooking was done for me. I had more important things to take care of." She watched him. "I've been doing alright lately, nothing has burned." she added, just in case he was thinking her some useless wench. She was simply stating how things were at home, however. Her duty to the gods was much more important than the need to cook, so others always did it for her, and never let her touch a single cooking tool. That turned against her as she was left on her own to try and survive and return to her homeland.

He made no comment at the mention of all of her cooking having been done for her. That could have been the result of any number of circumstances, ranging from being coddled too much, to living with family, to simply being assigned other household chores. The first, in her case however. "Fine. They are already skinned. Slice and dice, then gut them and put them into the pot. I'll go and get some herbs to flavour it a little." Always one for the little touches to make an ordinarily quite simple meal more flavoursome.

Apheris nodded and would do as he said, slicing them, dicing them, gutting them and slipping them into the pot. She watched the pot boil and simmer, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. "Did you ever have a home, Damir?" She looked up at him, her glowing eyes watching him carefully. Surely he'd had a home at a younger age, but did it ever mean anything to him? She wondered. Would he be able to connect with her on her desire to return to her homeland, to where it was safe? Why would he leave his home for other places, horrible, terrifying places. "What was home like for you?" He had said what land he was from, but she was talking of his home.

(Gotta go to work, I probably won't be able to post for the rest of the night, sorry!)

He paused at the questions, once he had returned to the rudimentary fire's side after gathering a few herbs. Nothing major, simply to flavour the stew. Game meat was fine enough but, it always tasted better if just a few minor things were added.

"My home was in an area known as Vaasa, within the Coldlands of North-eastern Faerun." Far to the north of here by many leagues even as the crow flies. "A wasteland, a tundra that bordered on a glacier and a harsh mountainous pass. There was where I was born. Home to pioneers and frontiersmen. There was... is, always a profit to be made there if you knew how to look." He began to help load the meat into the pot, before slowly beginning to stir it while gradually adding the roughly-chopped herbs in. More of a broth than a stew perhaps, but any sustenance was better than none.

He snorted quietly at that last question of hers however. "Cold." That was all he was willing to say.

Apheris listened to his answers, not quite satisfactory but she learned more about him. She felt that she learned a lot about him even from the questions he didn't fully answer, and how he answered them. "I see. These warmer climates must be interesting to you, then. Do you prefer the cold since you grew up in it, or do you enjoy the warmth of the climates in these areas?" She watched him prepare the broth/stew, trying to learn from watching. It was how she learned many things, simply by watching.

"Why did you leave home, Damir? She looked at him this time, her attention off the broth. This was the big question. She couldn't imagine ever leaving her home land without having been forced like she had been.