New meetings [Almech]

[Skugga]

10 of Winter 511 AV With a barely compressed sigh Skugga stepped out of the Arrhizal Apothecary, if not for the times when she was allowed to make a poison or an antidote she didn't now if she could keep working. Despite being used to a common life style, having been apart from her luxurious past for so many years, she could not get used to the mundane shore of cleaning. In her eyes it was an endless shore that was better suited for people of lower standards, or rather those with less money, not acknowledging that she now belonged to that group. Walking down the street she pushed away all thoughts of her job and instead pondered over what to do today. She'd for once gone to work early in the day, having been woken up from her new noisy neighbours, thankfully they'd be gone soon thanks to the moving city. Streaking back her black hair from her eyes she headed down the road looking around to see what the city had changed into these last five bells. Not one thing was in the same place now, Skugga could hear the market a few blocks away like a faint buzzing sound of voices and a road led between towering buildings in that direction. In front of her was a wall, a house that had been placed in the middle of a street, turning away from the market Skugga headed down a smaller street, her dark blue dress tugging at her legs as she moved. At first she barely took notice of the alleyways dividing the buildings into a maze of their own, that was until she heard a noise. Her curiosity peaked Skugga looked towards where she thought the noise had come from, it was dark but she could at least make out one person in there. Her first thought was to just leave but then again she had nothing to do really and this was just as good of an idea as anything else, or maybe a bad idea, considering she didn't know who was in there. But without taking chances life was just dull, right, Skugga thought to herself with a smirk playing on her lips as she walked towards the commotion.

[Almech]

Almech had recently come into a new occupation, one that payed better than his previous employment as a gladiator, he still fought in the arena once in a while, for fun and a little extra coin. He was a mercenary now, although he wasn't aware of this term for it, he simply did favors for people in return for whatever coin they could afford, he was on a minor job today. He was approached one day, by an old man, he was sick, poor and had poor hygeine, he was a local begger Almech had seen around from time to time, his smell was musty. He couldn't place a similar smell, perhap, he'd noticed that most people smelled the same to a point, with only faint differences in odor, this man seemed to be human, he didn't seem like a kelvic. He chalked this one up as how an old person smells and took note to remember, although, how could he forget? Apparently this old man was being hassled, some young man kept stealing this beggers earnings whenever they crossed paths, the old man told him how this young man would grab his hat and grab as many mizas from it as he could before taking off. Almech didn't like the thought of this, a weak old man, a begger, being robbed? although Almech wasn't surprised, he had heard of far worse things happening in Alvadas.

He grabbed the man's hat from atop his head and took a good long sniff, yes, there was another scent on this hat, it was a good thing this man couldn't clean it, otherwise the job could've turned out much more difficult. With the way Alvadas was however, could've made it just as difficult if he didn't have the scent at all, he looked at the old man's face, it was covered in sores and scabs. The smell of infection was apparent, although Almech wasn't yet familiar with the scent, Almech assumed he needed some kind of medicine, thinking on it a moment. Almech dug into his coin bag, handed the man a couple gold miza's and spoke "You take care of that, you owe me nothing" handing the hat back, Almech turned around. He walked down the cobblestone road sniffing, he walked the shifting streets of Alvadas for several hours, like finding a needle in a haystack it seemed, he wasn't picking up the robber's scent yet, he figured he would eventually. He tried to go near heavily stravelled streets, hoping to spot a trail, finally, he caught a break, instinctivley, he closed his eyes and followed his nose, he walked into people, bumped into them, and flat out knocked some over by accident. No one said anything and when they did, Almech would shoot them an annoyed face showing his teeth and snarling, which generally was enough for those people to leave him alone.

His nose took him to an alley, the scent was strong here, he opened his eyes and walked down the alley, it was dark, the sun had set, a rat ran towards him and through the in between of his legs, the dog in him almost forced him to bend down and snatch the rat for a quick snack. He held back his animal instincts, but a glob of drool strun down his chin down to the ground, his lip started to curl and he was about to do it, he bent down to grab the rat, but he was halted by the sounded of jingling. A man far off on the opposite end of the alley was walking towards him, tossing a bag up and catching it repeatedly, it was obviously a bag of coin, atleast, to Almech's sensitive ears that's what it was, that's when he noticed the scent. It grew stronger, this was his mark, this was the man that gave such a poor old man a hard time, it made him sick, it was apparent that this man had more than enough miza to survive, and yet he would rob an old sickly man. Almech began walking forward as well, hiding his face under his hood, he walked at a slightly slower pace than his mark, finally nearly at the center of the alley way, they walked passed eachother. Almech had planned on turning around after two more steps, but apparently this man had a similar idea, his coin sack was slashed open, all the miza he carrying fell onto the ground, and soon, there was a knife to Almech's back.

A young voice spoke, seemed as though he were but a child, but was nearly the same size as Almech which confused him "Why don't you just keep walking and everything will turn out fine" Almech couldn't help but smirk slightly, this boy had no idea what he was in for. Almech couldn't help but notice a human's scent that has suddenly lingered nearby, he hoped there was no accomplice, even if there were though, the man at his back was the only target, he would deal with others afterwards. He quickly stepped foward and turned around, he grabbed the boy's wrist, gripping it hard, he twisted the boy's arm, the knife fell out of his hand, then out of Almech's peripherals, he saw her, a brunnette woman, she was tall for a female. A smile was on her lips and she was walking in their direction, Almech looked at her curiously as a strip of moonlight managed to shine on her face reflecting off the one light grey eye he could see, he stopped for a moment. He was lost, it was such a surprise, a waoman like this approaching two brutes in the midst of a mugging, with a smile on her face? just as he was about to say something he was punched in the gut, luckily the punch wasn't that strong. Almech let out a slight laugh and spoke "Don't you ever rob a sick old man ever again, do you understand me boy?" upon saying this and without giving the boy time to respond a fist crashed into his face, knocking him out cold.

Almech looked up at the woman again, a smile on his on face now, one of a beast that just made it's kill, from the look he gave the woman, he appeared very hungry, what she wouldn't have known was is if the 'hunger' in his eyes were for her, or this man. Almech lifted his hand and made a fist, he lapped up the blood on the knuckles on his gauntlet, the smell of blood itself was intoxicating Almech. He fell to his knees looking at the boy's face, his lip was busted open, as well as his eyebrow, blood slowly flowed out from his nasal passages, Almech's animal side took him over, he leaned over the body, his nose mere inches from it. He took a good long smell, running his head up the face, he was so tempted to take a bite, but then he got to thinking, he didn't want to scare this woman, not only that, but, was this boy really worth eating? he was nothing but a common street punk. He looked up at the woman again, he was panting, he ran his hand down the boy's face before he stood up, he lapped it up as well, becoming even more intoxicated by the blood, it smelled of iron, with a mix of other familiar smells. He did his best to control himself, looking at her, right now Almech himself wasn't even sure if he was looking at her with hunger, or another equally primal impulse. Blood drunk alpha dog mode, if there were a description for his state of mind this would be it as he looked down at the boy's limp body again and back up at her as if saying Look what i can do".

[Skugga]

Standing still for a moment Skugga watched the two men struggle, the tallest man easily knocking out the small thug before she could take in which of them was the one at fault, not that it mattered to her really. People could do what they wanted, as long as they didn't bother her then Skugga was fine with it. "Enjoying yourself?" Skugga asked as the man took notice of her, one eyebrow slightly raised, the corner of her mouth tipped up in a smirk. The man in front of her didn't seem really human, the way he acted, licking the blood off and the look in his eyes told of a more primal nature, but then again who could know for sure. Stepping closer she cast an indifferent look to the man on the ground, discarding him as low life before raising her head to keep the tall man under watch, despite being reckless she wasn't stupid and had learned to always keep an eye out for herself. Especially as the stranger was much taller and most likely stronger than her, it'd be pretty stupid to relax just like that. "Oh, don't let me interrupt you," Skugga said sweetly, her tone not really fitting her expression, absently brushing off her dress where it had brushed against a wall. Everytime she moved she felt the cold metal against her ankle where her dagger was concealed, hidden by both her dress and boots. Of course, the weight of her trusted dagger was always comforting and something she relied on, maybe too much sometimes. "I'm Skugga by the way," she said, a slightly wider smile accompanying her cold grey eyes, feeling quite social today, wouldn't you know it.

[Almech]

Almech stepped forward quickly, their noses almost touched as he looked her in the eyes "Enjoying yourself?" she asked, Almech grunted and then started walking circles around her, all the while his nose was sniffing at her incessantly. She would've felt his warm breath on her skin as he paced her "Oh, don't let me interrupt you" she said, he stopped behind her, he sniffed her hair a few times then took one long final sniff, he grew silent. Before she spoke again "You stole my attention whether you wanted to or not" she didn't smell like the thug, she wasn't involved, his thoughts on a team effort must have been wrong, this woman must've had some guts to have approached him, especially when he was in this state of mind. Then she told him her name, he hadn't heard one like that before "What kind of female approaches danger so willingly? Unless you're looking for trouble...well....are you?" the smell of his mark's blood still filled his nostrils. He was panting softly, walking back to the front of her he lowered his head and tooke in a deep breath through his nose with his cheek almost touching hers "What's in your boot woman? is it the reason you've treaded here so fearlessly? it's kind of hard to miss, one step his heavier than the other" he said.

He stepped back and eyed her, looking her from top to bottom and back again, he stumbled a bit, his vision was getting hazy, he was closer to the thug and his blood's smell was that much stronger, the smirk on her lips. What was with the smirk on her lips, he stumbled over to the wall, he put an arm out and stopped himself "Why do you look at me like that?" he wanted to know, for some reason the look on her face was making the hair on the back of his neck to stand up. He stepped past her a bit and covered his nose, he hungered "I wouldn't call this entertainment, I call that a favor" he said finally answering her first question with words she could understand. Almech then gathered his coins and took the thug's as well "You'll fill your pouch again by the morrow's end, you don't need this coin, scum" he took the man's pouch as well, since his had a large cut down the bottom of it. He looked back at the woman "You didn't see this, right?" he said dropping a hint on her that she was not to speak of this to anyone he then looked at the coin in his hand "I figure you want something in return, greed, is a funny thing isn't it?". He held out his hand, he was surprised she was still here "Oh, to know what is running through your head right now, I hope nothing bad, but why else would one be enthralled by danger"

[Skugga]

Skugga's smirk died down slowly as the man circled her, sniffing and staring, had he never heard of personal space, human or not, she wondered sourly, her grey eyes changed to frozen steel though she kept herself in check better than when she was younger. "Depends on how you define trouble really," Skugga said. "I might be what you call reckless, life is only as dull as you make it." And lately it had been pretty dull for Skugga's taste, not that she wanted to die but something in her craved excitement, though the true part of her still rested beneath this newer side of her. "So you noticed my dagger?" Okay, it was not very well hidden and it was bigger, yet slimmer, than her first one, but she wasn't sure just anyone could have seen that so easily. "Well I admit it give me some kind off security but I'm well aware that it alone can't protect me, not such a small weapon, unless of course, one would lace it with poison." Not a direct lie really, it wasn't dipped in poison but she had contemplated it lately. "I guess it could be called a favour," Skugga agreed, ignoring his other question. "True, I guess. Stealing from those weaker and poorer than you isn't what I'd call acceptable." Now that was a chocker, Skugga had not looked upon thievery much before, mostly accepting that it was a common practice, though the thought of some poor old man being robbed made her frown. "I can hold my tongue alright, with a bit off help maybe? And now a days I think of it as survival more than greed or a common thing actually." She said with a quick askew smile. Her thoughts? Well good luck with that one for sure. If someone could make sense of her scrambled and sometimes twisted thoughts would be a feat. "That is a too large of a question to answer when I don't even know you, but one of them would be who you are. My curiosity is quite demanding sometimes." To avoid another close inspection she pushed down the smirk that just seemed to escape unto her face, allowing only a twitch at the corner of her mouth.

[Almech]

Almech smirked at her answer, she was quite cocky, a trait that he actually liked to see, it meant someone was strong and confident, or atleast, thought themselve's that way and his grin grew even wider when she said she was rockless. Reckless, that was a word that could describe Almech almost perfectly, except he was smart enough to know when too much was too much "Ah, so it's a dagger you have cleverly hidden in your boot, I knew something was odd when your footsteps didn't match even though you were walking fine".

He knodded his head and smiled warmly at her "The weak and poor are humble people who must be protected, that's what i believe". He smiled especially wide when she hinted that she really did want compensation for witnessing his act, he held out his hand and gave her half of what the thug had of his own, Almech wasn't greedy but it made more sense this way. He agreed with her though, taking the money he offered didn't show greed at all, times were hard these days, keeping your mouth shut was a small price to pay in return for enough coin to last a day or two, this woman was surely mysterious.

He knodded understangly as she kept talking, indeed, they had just met and he was asking far too personal questions, he tilted his head back and closed his eyes, this alley was so ugly, atleast when he looked up he could see a few stars. He moved his head back and forth cracking the vertabrae in his neck "Since we're chatting how about we go somewhere a little more inviting and i'll answer your questions". He began walking out of the alleyway, he didn't know if the woman would follow him, but if she was curious enough about him should would after weaving through several streets and alleyways they finally arrived near the outskirts of Alvadas.

There was a pool of water colored emerald green caused by the surrounding plant life, Almech took in a deep sniff, smelling the water and shrubbery in front of them, it was refreshing and quite a beautiful sight. The fact that the city had brought these two here couldn't have been coincidence could it? Almech sat down on a thick tree root protuding from the ground and took a deep breath "My name is Almech, I am basically a hired warrior. My definition for trouble, being at the wrong place at the wrong time and or doing something wrong amidst it or simply doing something bad like breaking the law".

He leaned back against the tree watching the water flow out from the fall and into the pond beneath it. He looked over at the woman "So i guess it's my turn to ask you some questions, it matters not to me whether you answer truthfully" he said this with a slight snicker. "What would your name be, i'm sure you don't like to be called woman, and what exactly were you doing back there?"

[Skugga]

What he said made sort of sense to Skugga, she didn't care much about other people as long as they didn't bother her she didn't bother them, but even she has to admit that those more unfortunate than herself didn't deserve to be pushed down. While Skugga valued strength, whether physical or mental, but a person using someone much weaker or poorer than himself then it was just a show of weakness. Accepting the coins Skugga opened her small leather bag and put them with her own money, it was about half of what she owned as she preferred to hide a bit of her money at home in case she'd be robbed. "Sure," she said. Having nothing against leaving the alley, it was not really a place she wanted to spend a lot of time in. Falling in to step with the man Skugga wondered were they'd end up, when it came to the moving city you never knew what to expect really. The serene pond they ended up at was more beautiful than Skugga would've thought, her aesthetic sense instantly taking a liking to the soft greenery and the clear pond, with the sun in the sky the entire area took on an almost green hue. If this place could appear near her small house often she definitely wouldn't complain. Closing her eyes for a moment she took in the area, even her normal sense of smell could register the smell of flowers and moss, sitting down on the dry, soft grass she smoothed out her blue dress before answering. "My name's Skugga," she answered, well aware of her rather strange name. "I'm a poisoncrafter." Neglecting to mention her novice skill to Almech, but she never did like being inferior in something. "I was on my way home from work when I heard a commotion," Skugga said, grinning slightly. "And what can I say, I was bored and curious."

[Almech]

oocLet me know if you want me to edit a bit

It was a relaxing setting, Almech leaned back against the tree and rested his head on hit outstretched arms he looked up at the night sky, the stars very clear tonight, he looked up at them with a smile. The sky became orange as the sun began to set and you could just barely make out the moon in the sky, he loved to watch the sky as the sun set, it calmed him, made him forget about everything. You could even just barely make out the twinkle of 2 or 3 stars that would soon help the moon light up the sky, Almech was quite curious what this area would look like under a bright blanket of moon and starlight.

He looked over at Skugga as she closed her eyes, yes, he understood a natural beauty like this couldn't be taken in all at once, first you look which keeps you there, then when you close your eyes it all came together. It was a slice of paradise in a city where paradise was almost a myth "My name's Skugga" "Skugga?" that was an interesting name indeed and then his ears perked when she mentioned being a poison crafter. He hopped off his seat and approached her quickly falling to his knees directly in front of her with a cocked eyebrow and a genuinely curious look about his face.

"You make poison for an employer? I thought poisoncrafters kept to themselves and were secretive about their work" he sat back from his hunched over position, his head twitched, his arm itched. He motioned to start chewing on his own arm, as what what he did as a dog to cure this hindrance, but he was in human form, he was about halfway there before he stopped, his teeth about to make contact with skin. He then lowered his arm and scratched with his nails like a normal human would as she finished speaking "And what can i say? i was bored and curious"

Almech laughed "You're entertaining, you're bored, you hear a commotion, it's obviously dangerous, but you come anyway, you interest me woman....i...mean...skugga" he stood up "You know what a good cure for being bored is?". Suddenly he began to glow brightly and just as quickly he stopped and he was on all fours, his legs protruded from the arms of his robe, but it was baggy enough for him to finagle out of his robe. He got into pouncing position with the front of his body layed down and his hind raised into the air his tail wagging happily, he barked a few times at her playfully before he lunged slightly, licked her hand and jumped into the pond.

[Skugga]

At first Almech's sudden closeness struck a nerve but instead she chuckled despite herself at his eagerness over her job. "Well, my work at the Arrhizal Apothecary allows me to make both antidotes and poisons," she further explained. "I know that in most places poisoncrafting isn't legal, but I think Alvadas may be one of the few cities were poisons are quite easy to gain access to." In Zeltiva she'd studied about poisons in the library but to her knowledge there wasn't a class available about that specifically. As the man was enveloped in a bright light and a dark furred, large dog took his place Skugga's jaw dropped slightly, she'd heard of Kelvics of course but she'd never seen one actually change shape, this explained some of his more odd actions indeed. She couldn't hold back an amused smile at the large dog wriggling out of the robe though, his playful attitude was contagious as well and Skugga found herself being considerably more genuinely cheerful than usual. When he jumped into the pond she hesitated though, her practical side contemplating if fun was worth getting wet over or not, it brought back memories however, when all the common kids played by the beach or climbed trees she was inside learning the proper way to walk or talk. The longing she'd felt then came back and she didn't indulge in her own childhood dreams very often after all. Glad she had a thick dress in two layers that she'd long since fixed so that the neutral white part was sort of a thin dress in itself, Skugga pulled off the blue dress as it would take so much longer to dry, besides Skugga hated wrinkles that ruined her sense for aesthetics. Wading out into he pool, the skirt of the dress floating out behind her, a wily smirk escaped her as she threw her arm down into the surface, splashing water Almech's way, grey eyes showing real mirth.

[Almech]

How interesting, a poison crafter who was employed making antidotes, he couldn't imagine an apothecary having her make poisons, apothecaries were supposed to help create medicines afterall. He knew about some poison, but not much, he only remembered a particular plant he gnawed on once that caused him to have violent vomitting and stomach pains. Once that had passed every muscle in his body ached, no, he wasn't fond of poison, but, he wouldn't judge someone who knew how to make it, he wouldn't want someone assuming things about him and judging him based on a hunch.

He was glad he got her to smile, the only smiling he saw commonly was the smile on Miro or Kale's face when they had sparring matches, but theirs were more of a blood thirsty smile, not like hers. He was successfull, he could smell the tension on her when they had met, but it subsided and was replaced with joy, after he jumped into the pond he turned and looked at her. She seemed to be in deep thought, Almech understood this, sometimes he would lose himself within his own mind, reminiscing with himself about times past. He cocked his head though when she removed her dress, then quickly looked away, it was reflex.

His mother had taught him a long time ago that peering at a nude or undressing female was not appreciated, he breathed a sigh of relief though when he realized she had a dress on under it though. Yes, he was fully mature, but in his mind he was still a child in many ways, had he been in human form his face would have turned cherry red at the thought of the conversation Kale had with him about the "Birds and Beez". Although at the time Kale and himself were rather innebriated so alot of what Kale told him was not present, he only remembered a few key points of the conversation, but not all of them.

What is she wearing? he thought to himself as he gazed at her wading into the pond Is that even clothing? there it was again, feeling his blood pressure spike Almech began to paddle around the pond, get rid of some of this energy. He happened to be looking at her when the smile appeared, it was, odd, he hadn't seen a woman smile like that before, but Almech was always happy to see and learn new things. She splashed the water at him and he dunked his head under the surface and paddled toward her, the ripples in the water were gentle and comforting, he swam behind her, resurfacing just behind her.

He stood just off the bank and with a bark he stood up on his haunches and gave her a shove with his front paws, pushing her into the water, he liked to play rough, he then happily frolicked about the bank of the water splashing water everywhere. He saw a fish swimming and being with his short attention span he leapt into the air and dove in, trying to catch the frisky little creature, it easily escaped and Almech saw that Skugga was still in the water. He swam toward her, stuck his head in the water, and nipped at the shoulder strap of her dress, letting her know Hey, you can grab onto me if you can't swim he felt bad he didn't think about that before.