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

[Sturlin]

Mr. Pickles tail seemed to have a life of its own. While he began licking his own shoulder his tail squeezed her finger playfully as she twined it. Sturlin watched with amusement as the two enjoyed the others company. His face lit up as an idea occurred to him, and he decided to meet her curiosity halfway: with a proposal. “How about this. If you come back to visit me after your adventure then I will tell you a bit more about magic?”

[Miharu Mindi]

Her nose wrinkled at the proposition, because it meant she got what she wanted a long time from now. It could be a year! That's, like, half her lifetime!

"What if you get, like, eaten by a bear or something?" she asked, giggling a little. Haggling, now, that was something she could enjoy. "Then I would have come all this way back for nothing. How about you tell me a bit about magic, just the basics, and I'll give you my word to return - and you promise that when I do, you'll actually teach me some magic. That way we both have something to gain in the future, and something we want right now." And then she smiled, because her father'd taught to always smile after bargaining with someone.

[Sturlin]

The hunter seemed to be on the same page as her right up until she suggested that he actually teach her magic. That was when the magician's face turned cautious and stony. Carefully he sat the pan on the ground and rested his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together and thinking. She did not understand what she was asking for, as far as he was concerned that much was clear. With a careful eye he examined her features as if trying to divine the nature of the request.

“I could discuss a few details of my magic with you in return for your promise to return. Were you to wish to learn magic, however, new negotiations would be necessary at that time. I have considered taking an apprentice in the future but such a thing would be a much longer commitment of time and effort than I think you realize. Teaching you real magic is something I may be willing to consider, in the future, after much discussion and learning on your part.”

Once he had said this his face seemed to relax but he seemed more guarded than before, as if her answer would determine what were to happen next in more ways than one. Spreading his hands wide as if to say he had spoken his piece, he gripped the pan and once again moved it to the warming air above the flames.

[Miharu Mindi]

"Done then," she said, not at all worried about what might or might not happen in the distant future. She'd bargained - and won - what she wanted for now, and she would worry about later later.

She hacked off another chuck of meat, reminding herself to leave enough for him to have his supper. She could always go back and gnaw the rest of the meat off the deer's corpse. "So. Magic. Go," she said with a little wave of her hands and a laugh.

[Sturlin]

Things were moving along well. Most of the meat was as dried as she would need it for the moment and laying in the sun baking out the last little bits of moisture within. With the last pan of jerky raised above the fire he begins, “Well, my magic is known as Reimancy. Reimancers use the power of the elements to affect the world around them.”

He stops speaking and goes back to drying the meat. It looks as though details will have to be coaxed out of him with questions for the most part. While he has volunteered to tell her a small amount, he never said he would make it easy for her.

[Miharu Mindi]

She waited patiently for him to continue. Waited longer, probably, than any human teenager might have, but there was a inherent calm and grace to her that came more from the wolf than the woman.

But eventually she became a little annoyed at his silence, and frowned. "And? she grumbled. "What elements? What does that mean?"

[Sturlin]

Against his will he found himself chuckling at her grumbles. He was enjoying himself. Reaching out he offered her the pan. “Could you hold this up above the fire, like this?” Showing her where to hold the pan. “I want my hands free, and you still need to dry this batch of jerky.”

On the off chance she refuses to take the pan he will set it on the ground, but regardless he spreads his hands wide and shows her his palms. “I work with my hands to manipulate the core principles of our world. It is dangerous and tricky work, but I can for instance influence the air around us, or the earth beneath your feet.” As he speaks of the air he gestures to the sky with both arms, and as he mentions the earth he points toward her feet.

[Miharu Mindi]

She took the pan without hesitation, and had no problem holding it over the fire - she was muscular and tall, and what she lacked in being buxom she made up for in strength.

But her attention was focused fully on him now that he was telling her more interesting things. "You use your hands to move the wind? That's... yeah, but how?" she asked, missing something. She sort of pictured him flapping his arms about, but that didn't seem like a very plausible option.

[Sturlin]

The how was always the hard part to answer, particularly if you are trying to give away only some of the details. Mr. Pickles gave him a welcome distraction for a moment when the cat decided that he should playfully nibble at any of Miharu's exposed flesh in a last ditch bid for more petting. After watching this the magician said, “We take a small part of ourselves and use it to create or influence the elements. That is one of the many reasons why it is dangerous.”

“Telling you exactly how would be one of the tasks set aside for when you return, if you decide you still wish to learn, and if you prove yourself a worthy apprentice at that time.” Reaching down with his right hand he ran it over the dirt at their feet absently.

[Miharu Mindi]

Miharu pondered that, confusion clear on her face, and she reached up to absently pull Mr. Pickles down into her lap again, offering him the last morsel of meat as she scratched his belly. Now she was imagining that every time a mage wanted to do a spell, he had to cut off a chunk of skin or the tip of a finger or something. No wonder she'd never seen a mage before, they all chopped themselves to pieces. She wondered if there were Master Mages somewhere, propped up in baskets, no arms or legs, but they were now powerful enough to call forth tornadoes and hurricanes with only a drop of blood. And why couldn't you use other people's parts? Could you use animal parts? How fresh did they have to be?

A hundred questions, but he followed up his statement by saying he wouldn't tell her anything further. Which just made her grumpy, and she growled a little under breath, glaring down at Mr. Pickles as if expecting him to interfere on her behalf.

"Well then, what can you tell me? I'm starting to think you're stiffing me on this deal," she said with a wrinkle of her nose to let him know she was teasing. Mostly.