[The Bronze Wood] The Hunters Meet. (Miharu)

[Sturlin]

He listens to her words, nodding slightly in agreement to her assessment with the area. A smile lights his face when she describes his future with Mister Pickles. “It is more likely that I will find a cave. I have never had any skill with lumber.” It was a wonderful image however. Perhaps by then he would have completed what he came here to do, and it would be less perilous for others to spend time in his company. Of course there was also the possibility that he would have descended into gibbering madness by that time, like others he had known.

“I think Mister Pickles looks forward to growing fat as you say. Though once I move into the mountains or deeper into the woods I will need to let Francis go. He already finds it uncomfortable here.” His eyes moved to the horse, who appeared rather content munching on the contents of his feedbag and watching them with unconcerned eyes.

[Miharu Mindi]

"A cave," she chuckled. "I will have to sniff around quite a while to find you again when I return. You shall have to leave a trail of little stones for me to follow," she said, giggling at the image.

Perhaps he have find it strange to think that this virtual stranger would spend her time hunting him down just to say hello, but that was just the way she worked - couldn't keep track of time the way that humans could, but she would remember a scent and that she liked him, and that was enough for her.

[Sturlin]

It was his turn to laugh and smile. The idea of leaving behind a trail of small stones was frankly hilarious, especially given the nature of his magical experiments of late. He was flattered that she would come and find him. He worked in silence for a little longer, neatly separating the meat for her and then rinsing his hands from his own waterskin as she had done. Looking from Mr. Pickles, to Francis, to Miharu, he let out a happy sigh and said, “I suppose in spite of myself, the company is very nice. I am glad you happened by.”

[Miharu Mindi]

"I am too," she said, as if a little surprised to find it so. She had made herself a promise that she wouldn't isolate herself so much, wouldn't hide away in the woods as she had for most of her life. She wondered briefly if it counted when the person you were socializing with was as much of an isolationist as you.

"Are you a hunter then?" she asked, twisting her tangled curls aside so she could lay the wrinkly pink cat across her shoulders and pull her own pack into her lap. It needed rearranging - she'd just bought new supplies, and didn't like the way it traveled. So she just tore everything out - food and spices, a belt and dagger that she didn't like to wear when alone in the woods, a large healer's kit, and several jars of unidentifiable powders and creams that were tossed beside the healer's kits. "How much room do you think the jerky will take up?" she wondered, unfamiliar with how drying worked, really.

[Sturlin]

“I suppose I am,” he said after another long pause to decide his answer. As he worked he watched her unpack her things. Now that he had prepared the jerky by cutting away what fat he could see, and had salted it with his kit, he was ready to begin drying. Unfortunately for both of them he knew how to do it, but he was not a very skilled cook and thus his jerky would be mostly unseasoned. Taking a pan he held it well above the fire, spreading the meat widely spaced over its surface and allowing the gentle heat to aid in the drying of the deer. At her second question he shrugged, “I do not make it often. There should be more than enough to fill the extra space in your pack.”

As he switched the pan from hand to hand every few minutes to check and make sure that they were drying evenly, he glanced at the things that she removed from her pack. It interested him to see what she carried, and it was still surprising how self-sufficient she was given her appearance. The idea was noted for future interactions. Pointing to the many creams and ointments among her healer's gear he asked, “And what are those for?”

[Miharu Mindi]

Brows rose at the question, and a sharp smile cut across her lips. "Most of it's medical supplies. I studied under a healer when I was a little girl." She set the pack aside and pulled the medical kit into her lap to unroll it, revealing at least a dozen different bottles and vials and powders and little jars of unguents. "The big ones are for my trip to the jungle. The powder's for my feet, to keep from getting some sort of fungus or something," she said with a wrinkle of her nose and a laugh, as if a little disgusted that that was even a worry, "and the jelly is to keep the bugs off me."

She then went through the pack, pointing out different functions - "This powder stops bleeding, but it's very expensive so I try not to use it often," or "this is basically just liquor, but without the sugar. Very good for cleaning wounds out." At the end, she just shrugged, and smiled again as she rolled it up. "I spend most of my time in the wilderness, and I go for the up-close kill. I always make sure I've the supplies to patch myself up if I need it. Don't you have a kit here?" she asked, as if surprised to hear that anyone wouldn't have a healer's kit on hand.

[Sturlin]

Sturlin's eyes flitted from item to item with rapt attention, interested in hearing what item was put to what purpose. When she wrinkled her face at the anti-fungal powder he laughed and smiled. At her question, however, the shake of his head is tentative. “No one in my family was overly concerned with healing. I'm sure my uncle knew how, but he never taught me. Fortunately for me I hunt my prey from afar,” he added the last absently as he shifted his grip on the pan to take it a little further away from the fire, wanting to keep from burning her meat.

He pulled the pan in closer and carefully flipped the strips so that they could breathe and warm evenly on each side. They were starting to dry out a bit, but it was clear to both that this would be a time consuming process (especially since he had barely made a dent in her supply.) Not that Sturlin minded. A few more hours of company would certainly not upset him.

[Miharu Mindi]

"You should at least keep some bandages and something to clean the wound with," she said sincerely. "What if you fall or something? What if Francis gets a sprain and you've nothing to wrap a poltice with? What if... I don't know, what you're cooking spills and you get a burn? Always best to be prepared. You can make a shelter out of just about anything, but medicine's hard to come across in the wilderness unless you know what you're looking for."

She glanced around the clearing, and then pointed off to one side. "You see that bush there, with the little berries on it? If you pull the new leaves off and crush them, it works as an antiseptic. The full-grown leaves don't do any good, and the berries will make you sick, but it'll do in a pinch."

As she spoke, she pulled the dagger from its sheath and carved a piece of meat off the unsalted lump and began chewing her way through it. She was always hungry after shifting, and the sweetbreads hadn't quite been enough to sustain her.

[Sturlin]

He looked a little uncomfortable at being lectured by this young woman, in spite of his liking for her. While she spoke he tolerated it. What she said was true, even if it annoyed him to hear her say so. Perhaps he would have to seek out another woodsman and learn how to care for injuries using what could be found in the forest. Her description of the bush surprised him as she said it and he turned to look immediately. As she mentioned the details he tried to imprint them on his memory for future reference, repeating the pertinent details under his breath several times as he did so. Once he was done muttering he said, “Thank you for the advice.”

The act of carving raw meat and eating it was not exactly repulsive to him, but as she did so he found that he did not imagine the taste to be pleasant. In spite of this it began to remind him of his own hunger. For a moment he set the lightly warmed pan on the ground and reached into his pack. Once he had retrieved an unpleasantly tough biscuit and taken a bite he resumed the drying of her jerky. Soon it would be time to remove it and hang it nearby so that he could dry more. Speaking around a mouthful of biscuit would have been rude, so several awkward moments passed as he worked on swallowing it and then spoke, “What was it like, to learn from this healer?”

[Miharu Mindi]

While not as sweet as it might have been on a wolf's tongue, the meat tasted fine to her. It was what she was used to, and so the taste of it didn't occur to her. Only filling the raging hunger that made her tummy growl audibly.

"Oh, it was nice," she said with a smile. "There's so much to learn! I'm no healer myself, I just know enough to patch a person up. I'm better with wounds than illness. I can stitch a cut. I don't know what to do if you've coughed your lungs bloody."

She finished her first chunk of meat and cut off another as he gnawed his way through his biscuit, and personally thought herself the luckier of the pair as the mealy smell of it hit her nose.

"Healing's one of those things you learn better by doing. You can practice a stitch on a potato all you want, but until you've actually got wriggling skin under your hands you've no idea what you're doing," she chuckled.