Inklings

Althea sat glumly in what could barely pass as a town square in the tiny village, watching the sun lower itself towards to horizon. The green ribbon she'd tied in her her fluttered limply in the breeze, identifying her as a healer, but she had been sitting since dawn and had yet to be approached for work. Althea started as her stomach growled, before glaring in its general direction. Most days she would have moved on by now, or risk being thrown out by the guard or disgruntled villagers, but today marked five days since she last had something to eat, and there was a good chance they might offer her some mouldy bread and cheese if she was arrested, so she decided to persist. She raised her head and tried to look as non-threatening as possible, but the villagers hurried past her, keeping their heads down to avoid making eye contact. News had clearly begun to spread about the death of Lord Hathom's firstborn at the hands of a healing woman and now it seemed people were content to risk pain, sickness or death to avoid coming to her for help. Althea sighed, deciding that her time would be better spent seeing if she could catch a few dragonflies at the village's edge for dinner, and reached up to pull the green ribbon out of her hair.

A man approached from behind and stood there "Now Now don't take the actions of these towns folk so seriously. I assure you that these people tend to over react to smallest of things..." he streches out a hand willing to help if she so desired. "I'm only passing through this town at this time so maybe I haven't heard the words or what ever they are so afraid of. So at this time seems I'm quite handy to have here. Maybe if I heard it from you then from anyone else I can understand these actions."

The man looks at his hand and thinks twice about considering to give her help up. "I'm quite out there myself I'm not quite the normal fellow. We've all done things we can regret I assure you that miss. So maybe I can take a load off and just listen to your story... If you so wish to tell me that is. Everyone could use a friend or someone to listen to them in times of need after all." he awaits for her to reply to him. The look in his eyes shows his determination but yet shows the sorrow he has gone through.

Althea ignored the man's hand and pushed herself up off the ground, tucking the ribbon into her rucksack and looking wearily at the man. "Forgive me for not believing you do not know the stories they are saying about me, they are so prolific as to be almost impossible to avoid,". She sighed, seeing only firm determination in his eyes. Chances were he was a guard or assassin sent to find her by Lord Hathom, just waiting for her to confess, though the rational part of her mind doubted that the Lord or his minions would be smart enough to consider a more subtle touch. However, more than Althea was hungry, she was bored. Travelling alone without her Mother to teach her further about illnesses and herbs was dull enough, but without cases to occupy her for more than a week now she felt as if her mind was atrophying within her skull. This strange man had certainly piqued her interest.

"My story is quite valuable to me sir, as I'm sure you can understand, saying you have many of your own, but I should be willing to make a trade. I shall tell you my story in exchange for a meal, and your name,". Althea was still extremely hungry, and she knew better than to waste time if she was not obtaining something in return. She was also fairly confident she could outrun the stranger, though she hoped it did not come to that.

"Well you wish for a meal but as I said I'm passing through I don't have a place at this current moment... Nor am I quiteliked by strangers. But I can spare the cost for you to obtain your meal. I don't exactly have a true meaning for food anymore anyway. My story is quite morbid and devilish but it definitely is an upsetting one... Maybe you can tell me about your story cause I wasn't joking..." the man sighs thinking he's being rejected like his normal life times.

"Well my names Blizzard Klavern and I got this name on my own choice after a huge drop out from my normal life. What I mean by that is I am well a cursed being... " he sighs "Well listen" he looks directly at her "i dont want to cause any harm or discomfort for you" he holds out the money "so if you don't want to talk to me I guess I can be on my way. I dont want to go into town so my appologies for the moment." he turns away from "it's just a personal thing that I beat myself down because of my parents demise due to my hands..." he ended up turning away to wipe the tears not just for a dramatic effect.

Althea was bewildered with the specimen in front of her. Her mother had always told her to hold her cards close to her chest but this man who had only just met her was weeping openly in front of her - a person he had met not five minutes ago! Althea couldn't help the twinge in her chest when Blizzard mentioned his parents, and while she did not hesitate in pocketing the money (three gold coins!) she resolved to complete the trade.

"Now don't be melodramatic," she snapped, pausing as she realised that did not sound as sympathetic outside of her head, she took a deep breath and tried again, "I'm sorry to hear of you parents, I too have recently lost my mother, through some fault of my own also, and that is a large part of the reason why these villages are regarding me so suspiciously," she said digging through her knapsack. She found the rag she had been looking for and offered it to Blizzard to wipe up his tears as he had only managed thus far to smear them all over his face. "Come now, let us purchase some potatoes from the farmers before they pack up for the night and I will tell you my story, fair?

When he turned to face her she realized that his tears would freeze on contact on his skin "Not the best way as intended for emotions to be shown" it seems Blizzard had bounced back rather quickly from being upset. "Its just tough mentioning my parents despite the fact that it was said years ago" he walks over too "well I can accompany you to the farm. I can listen to your story and perhaps give you my own. So tell me one other thing before we talk about our pasts. Do you believe in the subject of magical arts? If not then perhaps I'm more of a mystery of medical phenomenon then magic in that case."

Blizzard walked right up next to her and looked at "Also can you refresh me what time or year this currently is? I tend to forget after traveling around for such a long time. Though I may look average I assure you its probably not as you would expect. Though it will make sense once you hear my tale... Perhaps yours will make sense too."

Althea was instantly fascinated by the icy trails lacing down his cheeks, her mind racing - clearly the tears were liquid when they left the tear ducts, so was it something about the tears that caused them to freeze on contact with the air, or something about his skin which caused the tears to freeze upon contact. She had push away thoughts of experiments she could concoct to deduce the mechanism of frozen tears (but where would she get ten different people's tears" before she could register what Blizzard had said.

"I have heard of the magical arts, though I will admit I have never seen them in action before. Medical phenomenons are my specialities, however, but I have never witnessed an affliction such as yours - I assume this is where your name Blizzard comes from? No matter - we must make haste if we are to collect supplies before nightfall," she said, walking towards the main road, not looking back to check whether Blizzard was following, continuing to chat away. "I understand how you could be confused - the weather in these parts can be temperamental but it is mid-autumn, I know it might not seem so with the warm days but the chill of night is getting worse and worse, I'm sure you've noticed. I admit I would be much interested in hearing your story, if you'd care to tell it, would you like to start or shall I tell mine first?" Only then did Althea glance back to see if Blizzard was still keeping pace with her.

Blizzard keeping an evenly passed rhythm with hers following soundly with no issue. "I can tell of how everything happens in my case. I wouldn't mind telling my story perhaps I should start now then?"

"Well this all started in the 6th century. Yeah yeah yeah don't think I'm crazy just yet. Anyway I was walking from the end of a normal old trip to the town. Then two men stopped me in my travels and told me to come with them... I obviously wasn't given a choice or a chance to refuse. The men had taken me to a tavern that was outside of the main town an odd place for such a tavern. My first thoughts were to grab travelers over night before they got to town. But, I never really got the chance to learn that. Well. These two men took me inside and there sat a woman who was hidden by the darkness in the room. It was quite an Erie dread that was in the air, the kind that makes your hair stand up. Anyway the woman turned to me after standing up and asked me one question... "Will you do my bidding and help me fill out my final wish." I responded with a no having to leave quite quickly because by this time I had to be home. But, she didn't like my answer and then she signaled the two men to hold me by my arms." he took a deep breath and continued to explain while walking with.

"well she repeated the same question over and over not stopping. But, finally she grew tired of waiting for me to give in. The words she uttered next were the ones that I could still have nightmares about. "So you do not wish to help me? Then you will suffer a fate worse then death by the hands of myself ELIZERA, The witch who escaped oblivion" it seemed that immediately she began to chant words from a foreign language. Then the next thing I knew that was hitting me was a bone chilling cold that went right down to my insides." he finally paused again thinking for a short period.

"Well the feeling I had became a gut wrenching pain. I felt my a sudden rush of chills run through my whole body. I felt the agonizing pain of my joints becoming stiff. I felt my mind begin to race and my breathing in quick gasps. I didn't feel right, like my whole body was twisting and turning. The next thing that followed as a burning pain on the back of my neck" he goes silence rubbing the space on his neck where a marking is.

"well the next that followed wasn't normal. I felt the air around myself begin to get colder and I felt my veins expand from inside my body. The next thing I knew I lost all feeling in my body. I wasn't unconscious but I was standing there, my mind racing stopped and I felt my heart stop along with it." a long piece of silence following her and he stops but then continues to talk.

"I thought to myself am I dead? It happened all so quick I had no idea what was happening. Then suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my chest and I fell over clenching my chest. Meanwhile the witch was laughing maniacally and she glazed upon with wicked eyes. But, then I don't even think she expected such an explosive energy. In a flash the entire room swirled with the air freezing in such a quick fashion. This was fast enough that her and the two men had become encumbered in a block of ice. This motion happened for about a minute until I finally could move again... " he looks at her trying to see if she thinks he's crazy.

"Well following all this I wasn't stable so I rushed home and the outside was so much colder then earlier. Something not common in these parts even during a harsh winter. When I ran home the heat was on and I felt that pain in my chest and I just called out to my parents. They ran inside and it happened... A flash, the frost... I saw my parents freeze to death right before my eyes... After this I sorta lost my mind I ran into the kitchen grabbed a knife and sliced myself along my skin to my elbow. But, nothing no blood nothing happened from the slice. No pain, no bleeding, nothing... It was just there but inside the cut where the blood would be was a solid version of frozen plasma that was once my blood. The witch had cursed me and plagued me with an agony of becoming a cursed being. Infact one who is attached to the cold. The curse keeps my skin temperature below 0 degrees all the way to - 30 degrees Fahrenheit. This is more knowledge today then I had then though." he sighed deeply and loudly "Well that's my story... Hope I'm not to much a crazy person now when I explain I just am passing through."

Althea's eyes widened as she listened to the poor man's story. She had seen several cursed individuals working with her mother and there was rarely anything her mundane arts could do for them - magic could usually only be cured by magic. They reached the farm just as Blizzard had finished his story and they purchased some potatoes and mutton in silence before beginning towards her camp on the outskirts of town. After a few minutes passed Althea stated "That is a sorry story my friend - I'm afraid mine shall seem very petty in comparison. But surely someone who lived between the sixth century and now has had the skills to heal such an affliction? Who was this which that was so powerful?"
Reaching the small corpse of trees where she had slept last night, Althea pulled from under an old log her other rucksack and removed a flint, expertly setting and lighting a fire before sitting on the log to wait for the coals to form before realising the potential backlash of her actions. "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet, "I cannot eat my mutton raw, I hope I have not offended - would you prefer your dinner as it is, if you even eat?" again, she realised after the words had left her mouth how rude she had been, "I do not mean to offend, good sir," she amended, bowing her head apologetically towards Blizzard.

"there's no need to feel sorry little fires like these tend to do less then say things like radiation or fire magic. I already have a general protection to smaller fires but I will stay over here though" he moved under the tree away from the fire. "I dont mind the fire in the slightest but when it comes down to it. If Mt blood were to unfreeze it leads to my untimely death. I've learned this from say close encounters with this occurrence. U won't be offended though so don't worry about that." he streches leaning against the tree and watching the flames.

"I must say that it's been a rough ride but seeing as my aging process was frozen by this curse... Not to much i can do to reverse this process. I mean I learned that I can't bleed out and I cannot age. So this is is just a normal day I suppose. ' he yawns loudly looking at "so let's hear your story. I wouldn't mind don't worry about a comparison to my own."

Still feeling somewhat guilty, Althea began to set up a rudimentary spit for the mutton before taking a deep breath and beginning "Well, as you sure you know I'm a travelling healer - a non-magical one, that's why I wear the green ribbon. My mother taught me everything I know, she was a very smart woman. We travelled around until I was about seventeen years old. We were visiting the capital to replenish some of the more unusual herbs when a man collapsed in the street. It turned out his blood was hungry - a possible fatal complaint, which mother determined and rubbed his gums with honey. He made a quick and full recovery. It turned out this man was Lord Hathom, one of the most powerful Lords in the country.
He took us into his employ to be his family's personal physicians. It was...extremely luxurious, but very dull. Apart from the Lord's ongoing blood hunger which was easily managed by ensuring his food intake was appropriate, the Lord's family was all in good health. We had plenty of time for instruction though and over the years I became confident in my own skills as a healer. That was, until six months ago, where the Lord's firstborn was shot in the gut by an arrow during a hunting trip.
I will spare you the gory details, but it became obvious over the course of months that the lordling was dying a long, painful death. Eventually, unable to further manage his suffering, my mother mixed up some dream tea and I convinced him to take it. He died rapidly afterwards.
Lord Hathom was furious, we tried to flee the city but his guards caught up to us. My mother let them capture her so I could escape and I hear she was publicly executed. However, Lord Hathom is still searching for me. Also - there has been a huge backlash for all healers. While we used to be trusted, now we are treated with suspicion. More and more people are willing to die than to consult our services,"

By this point the fire had settled into comfortable coals, and Althea threw the potatoes in and began to turn the mutton on the spit, her jaw set.

"Well that's truly unfortunate. I suppose the man is holding quite the grudge huh?" he looks around feeling like they are being watched. "Well any reason or idea how to stop him from being after you? Maybe a way to repair the reputation of the healers?" he looks around very unsettled by this feeling "Has anyone been following you or anything like it? U have this unsettling feeling that we are being watched." he stands up and circles looking around the area. Being very cautious with what happens next. "How's the food though? I hope it'll cook okay..."

Althea looked around uneasily - she had been so focused on cooking the mutton through she hadn't been paying attention to the surroundings but now Blizzard mentioned it something felt... off. "The potatoes are done and the mutton just needs to sit now," she said, pulling the potatoes out of the coals with her shoes and casting her long cloak over the fire to extinguish it without incriminating steam. "But you will need it to cool before you can eat - won't you?"
They stood in silence for a moment, but Althea didn't hear anything dangerous, so while the sense of unease remained she relaxed slightly in the twilight, continuing "So, immortality, huh? Surely you must have already seen everything if you've been travelling since the sixth century, why not settle down?"

"I honestly haven't considered the idea... But, you eat up I can have the left overs. Its not like my organs function anyway I could go without food. But, I can cool things down really fast" he light sticks a potato and gentlest breaths on the potato chilling it over. "see look at that! Pretty neat huh?" he gently bites into the potatoes and eats it slowly "I've gotten very used to this. Sooo what time period is it anyway I lose track a lot. Its pretty hard too keep up with full amounts of technology too"

He lays out on the floor and looks at the stars. "so where you been before now. Like how was your time before all this trouble?"

Before Althea had a change to reply, she heard a thump from the woods. She jumped to her feet, glancing longingly at the small hunk of mutton before hissing to Blizzard "You were right - there's someone around here, I have to go".
She hurried around the makeshift camp, collecting her two bags and hefting them onto her shoulders while swearing under her breath.
"Blizzard, it was... well it was certainly something to meet you and I have lots of questions to ask you but for now you have got to get out of here. If these guys find you they will take you back to the Lord and... let's just say I don't know what he would do with an immortal cursed being but I don't want to find out, particularly if he knows you've been with me," she whispered, shaking the ash of her cloak and swinging it around her shoulders.

"this just sounds like an interesting chance to meet this king... Perhaps I'll take the chance." Blizzard stubbornly sat down and waited to see what would come out of this forest. "I suggest you retreat I'm sure you can find me quite easily I tend to stick out after all" he laughs "well you do your best to take care avoid this people too"

Blizzard seemed to have little fear in his voice perhaps it was stupidity or bravery. Maybe Blizzard just lost the sense of fear long ago. It was hard to say by his actions but it seemed worthwhile that he could easily protect himself. "so where do you normally stay before you go. Incase I do have to have a place to stay.... You never know after all." he yawns and watches the forest intently

Althea looked at Blizzard like he was insane, but she could hear the men in the shadows getting closer so she had no time to explain to him exactly how stupid he was being. Instead, she hissed "I usually spend Midsummer's Eve at the festival on the beach - at the city by the sea," before dashing as quietly as she could into the woods.
However, she had not managed more than a small bite of a potato and the lack of food was finally beginning to catch up with her as she saw dark spots swimming across her eyes. As a last ditch attempt to escape, she pulled herself into one of the trees, clambering towards the sky before draping herself across a large branch and trying to gasp for air in the most inconspicuous way possible.
If the man that had been sent after her was the tracker they must surely have, she wouldn't have stood a chance. Luckily, the man who was searching below her had obviously been chosen more for his brawn than his brains, and after a few minutes of cursing he turned and headed back towards the camp. Althea took one long look from her vantage point towards the camp where she had last seen Blizzard, before slipping from the tree and plodding in the opposite direction.

"Hey there!" he shouted out to the man in the distance standing up and looking at him "So you work for this so called king huh?" he walks towards the man.

"Well man how are you doing" he laughs and approaches "so what are you doing all the way out here huh?" he stands a decent distance from him "Now my true question is hard the true reason your out here" he laughs at him. "Ibelieve your wasking your time entirely."