A New Life, an Ancient Profession

[misery_hates_company]

Who: Misery. Open.
Where: Capricorn District.
Summary: A place of nature should have SOME potential reagents.
Warnings: Misery.
A witch needed ingredients. The stores were well and good, but they obviously only catered to a specific type of shopper -- which is to say the modern types, the ones who wanted nothing but pre-packaged nonsense. Anyway, she hadn't the cash for that sort of thing, and she needed to find a way to start. Money, it seems, makes the world go round even if you want nothing to do with it.

Some quick research had revealed this area, perhaps the closest to nature one could find in a city like this. Perhaps at some point she could venture outside the city walls for a better chance of finding useful things... or creatures. This would have to suffice for now.

Of course, a strange world in strange circumstances meant ANYTHING could be of potential use, which is why she seems to be sampling a bit of everyhing. A touch of bark? A flower? A grass? She collects. It's rather an odd sight for those unused to the old magics. To be fair, of course, Misery is a bit out of touch with them herself. Years of only doing the magics asked of her can make someone a little rusty.

But she can learn. She CAN learn. What a wonderful feeling.

She seems almost happy, actually. This might change if anybody interrupts her, of course. Which, considering what she's doing right now, is almost an inevitability.

Comments

[odiousking]

The witch's scavenging reminded Oersted a little of Straybow. A universal truth among all witches and wizards appears to be that they're always in need of ingredients. As Oersted looked on with dull, red eyes, he wondered what luck a witch would have in an era where knights clad in armor died out.

[misery_hates_company]

Don't think she doesn't sense you there, staring at her. At length, she grabs one last little item, adds it to her bag, and... demateralizes?

A voice comes from behind Oersted. "Honestly, didn't your mother ever teach you it's rude to stare at people?" And there she is, floating a few feet above the ground, an eyebrow arched wryly.

[odiousking]

Oersted twitches a little. Her ability to teleport didn't surprise him as much as how sharp she was.

"Strange that a witch would speak of manners."

He turns his head to look over at Misery behind him.

"Though neither of us really fit too well with this era."

[misery_hates_company]

"I should think the one in full plate armor is a little more out of place than little old me!" she says, cackling a bit. She floats around him a bit, assessing him. "Hmm. Can't say I remember you at the welcoming party. Then again, I wasn't really paying attention. I guess I shouldn't be surprised they need all the help they can get."

[odiousking]

His eyes narrow at her floating around him. Being examined like this is nothing less than condescending to him. But he doesn't mind the action. Oersted is hardly tense and his hand is still quite far from his blade. Despite his armor (or because of it?), the young man is at ease.

"I can always relieve myself of it. Though I am confident in no era is flying spontaneously socially acceptable."

Oersted smiles a little.

"So you and others are fellow 'heroes', I take it, called to help fight for a cause or the other?"

[misery_hates_company]

"I never was one for social niceties." She smirks.

She shrugs at his question. "I suppose that's the ostensible purpose. I don't mind throwing in a little here or there, but only so that I can keep living the way I want. These Anoli have already established themselves as destructive fools." She drifts lazily. "I don't care for labels like 'hero' or the like. That sort of thinking is for the naive."

[odiousking]

His brow raises a little. An interesting answer, but it's one that he has heard before. Misery's words strike Oersted as remarkably honest. And selfish.

"Being free forever to pursue your hobbies without anyone bothering you is a lifestyle that would even tempt kings. But such a lifestyle requires sacrifice. It's fortunate that the nature of your hobby lets you pay with the blood of others... in the name of defense."

[misery_hates_company]

She raises an eyebrow. "Well aren't you the life of the party." She looks away. "Perhaps it does require sacrifices. But if there must be blood, it is on my own hands, and no one else's. At least I am not shedding blood for the sake of another man's ambitions." She looks back at him. "But bloodshed should only be the last resort, hmm? No sense in getting one's hands dirty unnecessarily."

Curious. One would easily mistaken him for any given young, brash knight, but there's an air of darkness she can't put a finger on. A worrying one, in fact; the only person she can think of who had a similar air was the man who apparently now represents her psyche. Hmm.

[odiousking]

"That's right. If we must be selfish, then let it draw as little blood as possible."

Even now, the knight was still recovering after his trauma and rebirth in Lucretia. It was difficult to bring himself out of this mindset where he sees selfishness all around him.

"And if we must be selfish, it's better to be honest and true to one's self than hiding behind subservient 'orders'."

Interesting wording there, Oersted notes. "I know I'm not too exciting. Blame it on my upbringing. I'd like to figure this city out as quickly as possible, that's all."

[robinsegg]

Immediately after the missions were completed, Sig had set off to search for insects. Ever since he ended up in this world, he was itching to find new insects to catch and become friends with, and all the distractions of rambling on about things that he never really got was just tiring for him.

So there he was, looking at the trees in the area to see if they were any good to lure insects, not paying any notice that there was another person already in the area.

[misery_hates_company]

Hope you weren't looking at THAT bug, because she's just plucked it off the tree. Only after she's done that does she notice the guy. "Hmm? Out for a stroll, are we?"

[robinsegg]

He was about to ignore the person when he noticed something familiar in that girl's hand. He stops looking at the trees and starts staring at the insect in the girl's hand.

STAAAAAAREEEE.....

[misery_hates_company]

She blinks. "What on EARTH are you staring at me like that fo --"

It clicks, and she looks down in the bug in her hand. "Oh deary me, did you want this? I'm afraid this one's mine. You'll have to make do with all the other ones."

[robinsegg]

Sig was a little too busy trying to determine what kind of insect you had in your hand to hear you talk for a brief moment. It looked like a beetle from where he was standing, but he wasn't so sure...

"What kind of bus is it." He finally spoke in his monotonous voice.

[misery_hates_company]

"Eh? A beetle of some sort, I suppose. Looks rather like a weevil, actually. I will have to look into that later." There's something obnoxiously passive about this boy, lacking in energy. "Is that all?"

w o w i just noticed the spelling bus > bug |Db

[robinsegg]

...!!!

Sig's two strands of hair twitched at the mention of beetle. As much as he wanted one, she had found it first... But if it really was a beetle, he was going to get it at all cost.

"Show me." He responded.

[misery_hates_company]

Boy, this kid really likes his beetles, huh? Might as well make the most of it.

She smirks, keeping it well out of reach. "And what do I get in return for this little service, hmmm?" she asks, grinning.

You didn't see that

[otakuro]

"Spleens."

Misery was probably a difficult person to sneak up on, but she wasn't the only one who could teleport either. As Badb Catha settles softly onto his shoulder, the boy thrusts out a paper bag filled with something unidentifiable towards the scavenging witch.

"You can just give me a few drops of whatever you make out of it."

Inside the bag are a few cookies he's purchased from the Virgo District.

"Man, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to bring down a gingerbread gremlin. Musta used the cookie-cutter at least a half-dozen times."

See what? >_>

[misery_hates_company]

She jumps, spinning around, and preparing to blast the attacker with a mighty blast of -- oh, it's the boy again.

She lowers her staff. "Sneaking up on a witch is hardly the smartest move if you intend to live a long life, boy." She blinks as the bag is handed to her, though. ...Eh?

She blinks, confused, as the joke settles in. Ah. Yes. She gets it now, she supposes. She seems rather dumbstruck by the gesture, though. "Ah... thank you?" she replies uncertaintly. Nobody had ever given her things without lots and lots of nagging before.

[otakuro]

"It's worked out pretty well for me in the past, actually. ...Demonesses, anyway."

He'd meant for her to take one and hand the rest back (it had been something of a splurge), but seeing how awkwardly she's responding to it, he decides to cut his losses. ...Amputated vocal cords and no cookies. She really must come from an unfortunate world.

"No problem. The more reagents you have, the better the potions, right? ...Find anything interesting out here yet?"

[misery_hates_company]

A few hundred years of servitude to tyrants and madmen meant you didn't get a lot of opportunity for free baked goods.

For the time being, she's a little too off guard mentally to maintain her usual "arrogant jerk" attitude. "A few things I don't recognize, here and there. A few I do. Differences in the worlds, I suppose. I'll figure out some use for them soon enough." She looks down at her bag. "I will need to locate some texts, however, to better acquaint myself."

[otakuro]

He leans over slightly to examine what she's collected so far.

"Ah... Hm. Oh -- That one's poison ivy, right? Leaves of three, leave them be. ...Or I guess, take them home with thee." It was wintergreen. Atsuo would die in less than an hour if he were on his own in the wild.

"So do you have to... cast any sort of magic to make something useful out of this stuff? I feel like herbalists would be a lot more respected back home if they could brews potions from crabgrass."

[misery_hates_company]

"It depends on what you're creating. A few simple remedies don't require much more than a few twirls of the stirring stick. Other things might require a bit more, well, tapping." She smirks. "Which is, of course, why things such as this invincibility potion you're fixated on would be so expensive. A girl needs to be compensated for her labor hours, yes?" Oh free market, how much she's missed thee.

[otakuro]

"Hey. I only brought it up twice. ...But as long as we're on the topic, no chance of gingerbread going into one of those?" If life was at all fair, an invincibility potion would involve throwing a chocolate cake, a dozen cookies, and a pint of ice cream into a pot and stirring leisurely.

[misery_hates_company]

"Raw ingredients only! So sorry. But your tribute will be noted when my first batch of potions is finished. Ho ho."

She looks around. "Honestly, it is rather fortunate a place such as this even exists within these city walls. I shouldn't think I'll ever have to wander outside with all of this around."