Desperation and Dissapointment (Elem Bree)

[Sariana]

Standing, Sariana led herself to the basin he had mentioned and washed away the last of her own blood. It stained the water red and pink, running over her skin with relief. The warrior wasn't afraid of blood, or pain or death...but it wasn't pleasent to wear. Standing straight, she shook her hands gently before drying them on the cleanest part of her dress she could find. It was a disaster, but at least it was replacable. Moving back to the chair she had now designated as hers for the time being, she pulled out a gold miza from her pouch and pressed it into Elem's hand before sitting back down.

"If that is not enough I will gladly donate more." Watching him wrestle with the thick green goop, she smiled and tilted her head slightly to look over the man now that the urgency of the moment was over and her nerves had settled. He was a good looking gentleman, taller than herself and calming in his actions and speech. The young doctor probably had his share of young women calling on him. Sariana's smile widened a little.

"I'm grateful to your Lady then, she chooses her vessels well it seems." Chuckling softly to herself, the warrior glanced at the pot Elem so carefully stoaked with the stick.

"What on Miza is that stuff anyway?" She asked curiously, blue eyes glancing up to meet his. Healers fascinated her, with their knowledge and skills, but Elem enticed her interest. He was more than a healer, he was a magic user. A chosen of his Goddess. The only chosen she had met had been the drykas Wind Readers.

[Elem Bree]

As she walked past him again, Elem felt the cool stone being pressed into his hand. Looking down absently, it took a moment before it registered that she had given him a gold miza for the service. His eyes brightened as he looked at her. "Oh, thank you. You only need offer what you feel is right. I promise you that these funds will be used toward the services I render. Thank you." He smiled and felt like hugging her, but then he looked down at her sheathed blades. Maybe another time.

Spearing a piece of fibrous mass from the bottom of the pot, he blew on it to cool it a bit and pushed it into his mouth, chewing on the wet, slightly salty plant matter. It took several moments of chewing and a good gulp of his waterskin to get it down. "Thank you for the compliment, Sariana. Excuse my manners." The residue of the greens was still strong in his mouth, his lips and tongue naturally sucking at his teeth. "I was attempting to boil some greens to eat. As you found out with your run in with the locals, there is a strict rationing of food going on, since we rely on imports for the majority of our food. I have things to cook, but I admit I should have paid better attention to my mother's handiwork."

His eyes scanned the room for something reasonable to sit on, but he , again, had not chosen to ever think about entertaining anyone. At least one more chair and some cutlery would have to be purchased soon. His mind went to the Miza, but he thought better of it, thinking of other uses that it could be used for. " You should probably limit your activities at night if you are carrying around food and mizas. Where are you staying?"

[Sariana]

Sariana couldn't stop her nose from screwing up slightly as she watched Elem eat the green mass from the bottom of the cooking pot. It looked like something Vrathetu would expel from his rear. The drykas couldn't cook herself, but she also knew her limits. That was a limit.

"Is there a supply of grain, maybe fruit that could be dried? Small meats like rodents and the such? There is a type of travelling cake the hunters in Endrykas make, from ground grains and rendered animal fat. They make a paste and then add dried fruits and meats, then make small biscuits they dry in the sun on rocks. It's quite tasty and very nutritional when food is low. Plus...with those ingredients and your small stock here you could make gruel, or grains with greens and fruit. Dried fish makes good soup..oh, and if you had mushrooms - safe ones - then..." Stopping herself, the warrior shrugged. She couldn't cook to save her life, but she had watched Karthius enough times to know what worked in a survival situation.

"I'm staying at the Worlds End Grotto presently. It's where I stabled my strider before I began to walk to the main inn. It's a little more...lavish then I'm used to...but there really isn't anywhere suitable or safe to pitch a tent in Zeltiva." Her blue eyes noticed him looking around and pausing, she stood.

"Did you want your seat back? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interupt your meal with all this..." Smiling, the brunette pointed at herself. She wondered if she was supposed to leave now he had done what was required.

[Elem Bree]

Elem perked up at any mention of cooking, crossing over to his desk and uncapping his ink vial. He dipped a quill in the ink and wrote down everything the woman spoke of. Could he replicate the results? Probably not. But ideas and even fragments of recipes were better than his current art of stick and prayers. He wished he had a greenhouse or some other way of growing things and leaving things out in the sun. In Zeltiva, that would mean every urchin in sight would be in his garden faster than the rabbits. Eat the rabbits, too, at the current rate.

Seeing her stand inspired him to trace the lines of her silhouette, but he placed the quill next to the paper, capping the ink. "The World's End. I've been there a time or two. Little expensive for my student's salary, though. Please, feel free to stay as long as you like. You didn't interrupt me. I approached you." He stepped closer to her and promptly took a seat on the floor nearby, crossing his legs. Why his cottage seemed to be the nexus for beautiful women to fall into was beyond him, but he would never send them away.

" What brought.." his hands and eyes followed the same motion, pointing at her as she had herself, "..all of this to Zeltiva?"

[Sariana]

Smiling again, the drykas blushed slightly as she sat down. His politeness was foriegn to her - most men were crude or looking to get her into their beds..to which she could easily taunt with responses just as crude. The gentleman in the doctor gave nothing she could fault. It made her feel almost like a lady, and his mimicking movements caused her to laugh softly and tuck her hair behind her hair with another blush.

"I uh...well, its a little complicated. Most people I tell, I can see it in their eyes that they either don't believe me or think I might be soft in the head." Crossing her legs, the blue eyed warrior looked at the fire.

"I was born to the Diamond Clan but when I was just a young girl I was trained by a man years beyond my own and wiser than anyone I knew. I spent more of my life with him than my own family. He became my family. Karthius was a foriegner to our city, a Vantha. He came for a journey, but stayed because of love. But his wife, she died in a vicious attack, and he was severly injured. Unable to travel, he stayed in Endrykas. And he believed that his wife's spirit willed him to stay." The brunette's gaze travelled to her hands in her lap.

"A few winters ago, Karthius died, and he asked me to take him home. To take his remains back to Avanthal so that his Spirit could be returned to his Goddess' arms. So, after the funeral pyre I kept my promise. And his spirit is guiding my path. He guided me on my journey so far, and led me to shelter when the storm hit. Zeltiva seemed to be where he wanted me to be. There is...he is taking me on my own journey. Perhaps there is a final lesson I need to learn before I can truly call myself a Warrior." Glancing at Elem, she smiled again.

"So, in answer to your question...I was guided to Zeltiva by the spirit of someone dear to me. Why, I don't know."

[Elem Bree]

Elem listened fervently to the tale he was being told. Like a child listening to old stories, he naturally cocked back on the palms of his hands, gleefully absorbing the stories of other places and people. It was truly epic. This woman that he believed prior to be just some martial thug, she was actually on a quest.

"An honorable quest, indeed. What is Avanthal and who are the Vantha?" So many places outside of his home. He knew of Syliras and Ravok, common locales for stories told around fires. But Cyphrus and Avanthal meant that the world was even larger. He had seen a few maps in his short time at the University at Wright. Only in passing, but he did know that there was much more to the world and he hoped he was able to see some of these places.

"Is your destination far from here? I've never left Zeltiva, so I hope you will pardon my questions."

[Sariana]

Shaking her head, Sariana chuckled a little at his questions. It reminded her of her own questions she had posed to Karthius as a young woman. Always finding more and more about the world outside of her pavillion and unable to quite believe the world could really be that big.

"No, I don't mind at all. Let's see..from Zeltiva I will need to head north. That's really all I know about how far away my destination is. My friend said before he died, once I had travelled as far north as I could it would snow endlessly and winter would be my perpetual landscape. Once that happened, I would be in Avanthal. Or close to it." It was, judging from what she understood, so very very far from home. A pang twisted inside her, the drykas missed her home. But she also knew that the promise she had made needed to be completed. Taking a breath, Sariana reached up to run a hand through her long hair.

"Ah, Avanthal. It's the home city of the Vantha. A great fortress made of Ice, ruled by a Queen Morwen. She isn't just a queen though, according to Karthius she is a Goddess, and the one who sweeps winter across all of Miza. And the vantha, they are human like you or I, but their hair and eyes ripple and change colors. Karthius had these amazing eyes that would shift between green and hazel depending on his mood or the way the light caught his eyes. He said when he was younger his hair was black, and the light used to show the same colors in it, but by the time I met him his hair was white and the colors didn't show." Smiling softly, the brunette recalled her friend fondly.

"And they can dance, beautifully. It's like they tell a story with their body. Or he did, in the way he used his blades. I can only...shadow his movements...a poor mimick of an artist." Shaking off the meloncoly tone in her voice, Sariana reached out with a foot and kicked his knee gently with a smile.

"But I'm not the only one with stories. How is it such a lovely gentleman like yourself ends up being one of his Lady's chosen? Were you born with that gift, or did she bestow it upon you somehow?"

[Elem Bree]

Elem's imagination took him along long open roads through forest and field as the young warrior spoke. He tried to imagine the approach to such a place, the vegetation slowly folding up with the drop in temperature until only Winter existed. He tried to imagine a city of ice castles, finding it interesting to hear of another place where a Goddess lived among Her people. Morwen, Queen of Ice. It all sounded terribly romantic. And cold. He was quite happy with Spring's warm ocean breezes here in Zeltiva. He imagined that the dances she tried to describe were one of many ways to warm up in a land of cold.

Her foot gently tapping his knee quickly brought him back to the present moment and the cottage near the ocean. He smiled and gave her a generous look of warm appreciation, rising from his seated position. As her own question reached his ears, he brought his clay pitcher and mugs from his shelf, placing them near a pot of mint. His fingers delicately plucked the sweet leaves free, allowing them to fall into the pair of vessels. "Well, that's actually quite a story. I am happy to tell it, as I haven't mentioned it to anyone until now."

Elem picked up the bucket of water and placed it on the hearth as he spoke, pouring its contents into a second iron pot. Using his cloak, he gingerly placed the cooling first pot aside, its plant mash becoming hard in the bottom. Stringing the new pot into the chain above the hearth, he brought it over the flame, feeding it with a few pieces of kindling. Turning on his heel, he leaned against the hearth. "Before I was touched by Rak'keli, I was not one to kneel before the Gods. I honored Laviku, as all Zeltivans do, but I particularly believed that people could be healed without Rak'keli's light." He snickered at himself for what now seemed so ludicrous.

" It happened at the Ball last season. The faculty and City hosts a Winter Ball at the University, with feasts and masks. It's a lovely affair. Unfortunately, this year some strange occurrences happened, ultimately leading up to one of the attendees being stabbed. I was the only one on hand to help, so I did what I had been trained to do." He turned his head briefly, his eyes looking down into the pot as bubbles began to climb along its sides, heralding the approaching boil. He looked back at her, adding," His case was terminal, the bleeding too extensive to be treated there without instruments. I chose to put him on a table anyway and prepare to try."

His face turned with a bit of disgust as his mind had been that night, the thought of opening Faylon up and his insides pouring out a realistic fantasy. " Without being graphic, I can tell you that the attempt would have been very bloody and gory. It would have caused the man an immense amount of pain and most likely killed him." Hearing the water begin to roil, Elem grabbed the pitcher and gently dipped it into the water, taking care not to scald himself in the process. Placing the steaming pitcher down and moving the pot back a bit from the fire, he wiped his brow and continued.

"Suddenly there was a light. This light filled the room so brightly that I was unsure of what was happening. It was then that I saw Her. It was very strange because, well, I had always assumed that since Rak'keli was the sister of Avalis, that She would also be Konti, fair of hair and skin. Her hair was dark, however. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as She smiled at me. Her smile radiated deeply into my core and I felt Her touch. She spoke to me for a moment, though I don't recall the sound of Her voice. I do remember the words, however."

Turning again, he poured the hot water into the two mugs, letting it wash and drown the mint leaves covering the insides of each mug. He lifted the mugs up carefully, swishing them a bit with small circular motions. Turning back, he handed one of the mugs to her. "Mint tea. Give it a moment to infuse." Smiling, he placed his own mug on his desk, remembering the words.

"She told me that I had the heart of a healer and it was duty to heal all of those that would need Her touch. Friend and enemy alike. I was completely stunned but believe I muttered assent." Looking at the golden swirling coils on his hand, he said, "I must have."

[Sariana]

Sariana smiled warmly as she watched Elem moved around the room, her nose picking up the faint scent of sweet herbs as he plucked leaves from a potted plant. She felt special as he began his story, blessed to be the first to hear the tale...and at the same time disspointed no one else had bothered to ask the handsome doctor about his Gift. Settling herself on the chair, swapping her crossed legs, the drykas listened carefully to his words.

As he spoke, she found herself caught up in his story - smiling as he chuckled and frowning in sympathy as his eyes recalled the horrific stabbing. The words flowed and the drykas listened, imagining the beauty and grace of a Goddess appearing before him and the light he described. As the mug was placed before her, Sariana nodded and glanced at the golden mark on his hand. It was beautiful. A gnosis? She knew of these things, the Wind Readers of her people were marked in such a way. Smiling, she couldn't resist reaching out and tracing the golden mark as he stood before her, tilting her head to see it better.

"Friend and enemy alike?" The saphirre eyed drykas said softly, before withdrawing her hand and picking up her own mug.

"That is a beautiful way to be chosen by your Lady. And beautiful words...but...do you not fear for your own life if you must heal an enemy as well as a friend? What if your enemy took advantage of you? I must admit Elem, you are a kind soul. I would be most angered to hear you injured or killed." Blowing on the steam coming from her mug, the drykas glanced up at him.

"If your ever in need, my blades are at your service. I don't know how long I am in Zeltiva for, but I would come if you were to send for me." It was an honest statement, a promise between healed and healer.

[Elem Bree]

Elem coolly blew on his mug, allowing the minty vapors to crawl up his nostrils and soothe his sinuses and mind. His eyes and attention were on the beautiful woman before him. He suspected she had not received much in the way of kindness. Sure, someone had tried to stab her. But he guessed that many other men had tried to do their own stabbing as well in her past. He wondered if her kind words were as foreign as the lands she spoke of were to him.

He took a breath and seemed to mull over those words as he took a sweet sip of his tea. "Well, as strange a concept as it may be to one who lives by steel, I cannot be concerned with the motives of others in the presence of injury. If an enemy tried to take advantage of my healing them, I ...." He paused, letting his mind wrap around the concept. Everyone in Zeltiva had come to him of their own volition. It was hard to imagine someone using his gifts against him. Shrugging, he continued, "..I'm really not sure. I've never been in that situation. Nevertheless, I would have to have faith in Rak'keli that all would be well. Perhaps I will look into some type of self defense, should I choose to leave Zeltiva one day."

He stepped over to his small bunk and took a seat on it, placing his mug on the floor. "I appreciate your pledge. Rest assured, my hands will always be yours to use as well." It was almost instant that he realized how that sounded, but he didn't particularly care. If anyone was less capable of defending themselves, it was him. Smiling, he added, "How is your tea?"