Timid Earth[Hana]

[Jaeden Kincade]

23rd Day of Spring, 510 A.V. Jaeden was once again within the forest of Cobalt mountain. Recent events found him even more unpopular with Slavers and the idea of staying out of the brush and in the Bathhouse for the time being seemed ideal. However, he still wanted to get a little time out in nature before he found himself being overwhelmed by the masses and crowds of the city itself. A subtle amount of chirps from birds and distant howls set his mind at ease as a light breeze ruffled the budding leaves along tree branches all around. The light of the day was just a quarter way through it’s cycle, leaving plenty of time for Jaeden to concentrate on his training for the day. A small fire, with the sounds of snaps and pops as word burned, mixed with the natural sounds that the forest provided as a light haze of smoke lingered upward for a moment before being carried off by the breeze. Jaeden’s tent had already been erected not far away, providing a place to take a nap later in the day if the mood hit him right. His back, along with his other gear, laid to the right of his tent, as his shirt and leather armor laid overtop of it. Jaeden stood in the center of camp, as slight grunts escaped his lips, the last of the sounds found in the area. Jaeden held upon his shoulders, the log of a tree. It measured close to five feet long and about two feet thick. His hands were slipped into holes that had been carved halfway through the log using his woodman‘s ax. Such allowed him to better keep the log balanced as he exhaled another grunt and grit his teeth, hoisting the log over his head slowly as the muscle along his shoulders, arms and back rippled beneath his skin. A moderate sweat had already been built up, as his body had a slight shine to it in the patches of the sun’s light, being filtered through the canopy of trees. It almost looked as though he had been at his trained for two chimes of the bell, and it would likely take a decent distraction to break such a momentum.

[Hana]

Ha'na liked to use the excuse of work to get out exploring. She'd been that way since she was a child. She liked looking at the rocks. She liked the way the ground eroded due to water. Sometimes if she was lucky she would find a piece of quartz or another stone that she'd pocket away to look at later. It was, perhaps, a secret passion of hers.

She wasn't really one with the nature around her, though. She was too much of a desert dweller for that sort of thing. Trees tended to actually scare her from time-to-time. Never mind the time she'd gone running away from what was most likely harmless fauna.

The noises she heard made her a bit curious. Despite the fact that she was unarmed save for her shovel in her hands and two empty buckets weighing her belt down, she went towards the noise like humans are stupidly apt to do.

What she saw made her freeze. There was a man lifting a log over his head, and fortunately she got the backside of him so she could possibly run away. She started to back up slowly, pulling the veil over her face a little tighter. Sadly that was the action that distracted her from the large branch behind her. She went falling backwards with a grunt, shovel flying into the air and landing with a clatter off to the side.

As she reclined in her new mossy, somewhat muddy, new place, she stared upwards. A silent prayer was given that this creature she'd discovered was in fact harmless fauna.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden’s head turned at the sound as the side of his face suddenly bumped up along the log that rested on his shoulder. “Gah.” Jaeden suddenly exhaled as his cheek and corner of his mouth pulled free a clump of moss that had been growing along the tree’s bark. Sudden sputtering sounds could be heard as it appeared he had managed to get a bit of said moss into his mouth. “That’s gonna leave a bad aftertaste.” Jaeden then said, suddenly dropping the log as it came to a thunderous bouncing thud along the ground. Jaeden then slowly turned to see the woman lying along the ground before him. His head tilted slightly to the side as he caught those alluring eyes of her first off, the rest of her form following quickly after. An almost twinkle like appearance then appeared in his gaze as his mind snapped into fantasy mode as it often did upon first sighting a beautiful woman. He would soon recover as a slight shake of his head was given. “Are you alright mis…bachaa!” Jaeden began saying before totally forgetting that he had just dropped a log in his path. His first step caught it’s top edge, sending him tumbling forward, face first into the ground. A slow grumble was exhaled as he pushed himself off the ground, spitting out a mouth full of forest debris. “I gotta stop doing that,” Jaeden said, standing once again and brushing himself off. Jaeden then moved his way over towards the fallen woman, gasps of air as he continued to catch his breath from his previous exertions. He eventually stepped between the woman’s gaze and a patch of light that filtered down from a break in the tree canopy above. Offering a friendly smile and a hand to help her up, Jaeden then simply said, “As I was saying, before that log obviously and so rudely interrupted me, are you all right miss?”

[Hana]

She looked up at the face looming over her. She couldn't quite make out his features, but at that moment he didn't sound threatening. Not that she'd be able to do anything if he was.

She lifted up her hands to grasp onto his. They told the tale of her punishment in Yahebah with her black tattooed palms and snake brand. At that exact moment she wasn't really worried about it, because she had a stick jabbing her rather uncomfortably in the back of the head.

Using his hand, she pulled herself up to stand, twisting carefully to dust off her rear end.

"Yes, thank you," she offered quietly as she did so. "Perhaps just my pride is wounded."

And her tailbone. And possibly the back of her head where she was pulling a stick out of her veil...

When she turned back around, her blue eyes lifted up to his face. Well... Wasn't he a fine specimen of manhood?

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden gave a slow nod, his hands falling to his waist, his head tilting slightly as she turned and maneuvered herself to brush free any debris that clung to her clothing. “Well, we can both share in the bruised pride.” Jaeden commented as his head nudged back towards the log. “It’s not as if I was an elegant swan back there either.” Jaeden slowly reached out, snagging a small leaf from her hair that she had missed. The tip of his index finger then slowly glided down the stands of her hair that he had misplaced when pulling the leaf free, righting them somewhat once again. “There we go, at least I can help out in some small way, since I seemed to be the cause of your surprise.” Jaeden said, tossing the leaf to the ground. “Sorry about the grunting man noises. I tend to train myself away from the city so it doesn’t draw a crowd.” Jaeden then extended his hand in greeting. “Jaeden Kincade.” Jaeden then said in introduction.

[Hana]

"I won't tell anyone if you won't," she offered. There was a tiny flash of a smile before it flickered away again. She looked down at what he was doing with his hand, tipping her head slightly. Maybe she was confused by it. Maybe she was just stretching her neck a little.

"I'm not used to encountering others here, I suppose. That was all. And never a man with a log over his head. My name is Ha'na."

Just Ha'na. No long list of those that came before her after her name. She gave his hand a quick shake. She turned then to go pick up her abused shovel. Oddly enough she brushed it off carefully like she didn't want it dirty.

She looked back at him again. "Thank you for your help up. I'm sorry I interrupted your training."

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden chuckled slightly as he looked back to the log. “Yeah, uses outside of carpentry,” Jaeden commented of the log before his hands fell to his waist again. Jaeden the slowly walked back to his camp, grabbing his gear from it’s resting place. A belt of pouches were picked up, as he slinked it around his waist, fastening the buckle. Shortly after, his long sword and quiver of arrows was stropped to the belt as well. “Hold up,” Jaeden said, grabbing his shirt as he slipped it over his frame. “I’ll escort you through your travels if you don’t mind the company, Ha‘na? Lot of wild life out in this region, and some of it’s likely to be aggressive if you startle it in your travels.” Jaeden then reached for his bow, grasping it lightly in his hand as he began walking back towards Ha’na. “That’s to say nothing of the Slavers who sometimes stalk the woods too.” Jaeden then added as he leaned the bow along his shoulders. “I just wouldn’t feel at ease if I knew a beautiful lady such as yourself were in potential danger.”

[Hana]

"I try to walk quietly and not startle anything," she offered the secret to her philosophy in life with another tiny smile.

She did, however, stop for him to catch up. She shifted the bucket on her hip slightly to keep it from causing her belt to fall in a place that would end with discomfort.

She wasn't in denial about the fact that in the face of some angry animal or a slaver, she stood little to no chance. What she had was faith. And a shovel that she seemed to want to keep clean. She'd put up a fight for a few seconds, but other than that she would most likely end up gnawed on or chained to something. And if she was really, really unfortunate, it would be both.

There was someone else calling her beautiful. She wondered if she would ever get used to hearing that from others. She glanced at him with a smile that was too timid to be very flirtatious.

"But yes, thank you. I do appreciate your protection. I try not to stray too far in while I'm out looking about, but one can never be too careful, can they?"

[Jaeden Kincade]

“Words to live by,” Jaeden said, rolling up his sleeves slightly. He then bent down while walking, scooping up a couple of morel mushrooms, growing out of the ground. Checking them over for a long moment, his hand then reached out slightly to snag the water skin at his waist. A slow pour was given to the mushrooms then, washing them clean of any dirt or stray particles that clung to their surface before the water skin was returned to his waist. He then took a large bite of one of the small morels, handing one out to Ha’na in offering. “If I had some butter, I’d sauté some of these up for you, but they’re still pretty decent raw.” Jaeden said of the morel after swallowing his first bite. “So, what brings one with such alluring eyes as yourself out to the wilds Ha’na?” Jaeden asked in curiosity before taking another bite from the mushroom, his head turning slightly to a rustle in the nearby foliage, only to see a rabbit running away as they approached.

[Hana]

She took the mushroom with a small nod of thanks. A careful bite of it was taken, testing it out on her tongue. It wasn't bad. In fact, there were many things that were worse that she knew of.

She glanced at him as he spoke, trying her best not to lift an eyebrow. Her attempts failed.

"I'm looking for good clay deposits. I'm a potter. Some of the soil here is not so bad for it, but I've had better luck on other days."

She took another bite of the mushroom, pondering it for a moment as she rolled it between her finger and thumb.

"This is actually quite good. I can imagine it with butter being delicious. Are there poisonous mushrooms that look like this also? Or would I be safe to harvest any I see?"