Lost and found

[Doomsday]

(Open)

The research had paid off and Adventure was right around the corner. Jineh had made the library her second home as she searched for information on ancient civilizations and the like in order to learn about their technology. Most peoples of yore were mystics and so were not much use to the kitty girl engineer with spells and chants and though she was a priestess there wasn't much of interest for her. Then one day, Jineh found a tome about the Fire Beard dwarves who made such great machines during the ancient times when magic was much stronger and the mix of magic and machine was wondrous.

After a week of devouring everything she could on the dwarves and how they had made weapons so powerful that when they warred amongst themselves it destroyed their entire way and now there were very few who had forgotten the old ways. Now Jineh knew the history and, even better, she had a map.

The kitty girl had a map to an old ruin where she could study the works of the dwarves first hand and maybe even find an artifact or learn a trick to make a new device.

But Jineh didn't know how to have an adventure, she was sure she couldn't do it alone.

"Arachne, I don't think anyone's coming, only drunks are here." Jineh whined as she shifted her form to be more comfortable. She wore her new outfit hoping it might say that she wasn't a complete fool. "I don't even know how to ask. Should I promise riches, what if there aren't any. I don't know if any adventurers would want to learn the same things as me and I don't have much money."

"Mistress, be patient, someone would come along." The machine replied hoping to help.

"I guess." Jineh sighed.

"I'll help you!" A bulky drunk came up beside her. "Just a night in my bed kitten and I'll take you to the ends of the world." He placed a hand on the cat girl's shoulder.

"Ummm, I uh..." Jineh stammered and blushed as she panicked, even thought about reaching for her magitech gun but waited a moment.

"Just kidding Kitten. You need a bit more of a body for me. Nice tail but the rest is a tad small for me." He laughed and went off on his merry way before the barkeep threw him out.

"Master pay him no mind. There will be someone to take up your adventure and definitely someone much more refined."

[Eyes of...]

[[Hope you don’t mind, but technomancy is a huge interest of mine with this character…]]

Miharu made her way through the tavern like a serving wench would, twisting and turning to avoid the wayward hand. In her hands was a pair of goblets, one filled with a rich Akashiman wine, the other with a sweet less alcoholic version made in Corone. The table she was headed towards had an interesting woman and her little contraption, the small mechanism what had caught the slate white eyes of the woman.

Before she could make it, however, a drunken man stepped in the way. She could not see past him, but could hear his slurred words. “Stupid fucking men,” She chortled to herself while trying to find a way around him. “If he doesn’t stop talking I’m going to have to just shove my way past him…”

Luckily for the both of them, the man stopped, took his leave after a few harsh words, and continued his stumbling rounds of the tavern. Chizu gave him a harsh glance as he passed by her, his blurred eyes widening as they locked with her blank orbs. He leaned in, looking in the goblets at the rich red liquid, and smiled. Every exhale let off a heavy scent of hard liquor, a mix of many that made the sharp eyes of the woman squint.

“Wow,” she muttered with a genuine smile as she sat at the table across from the small, feline woman. “His breath alone could get someone drunk, no wonder he’s roaming around like a mad man. It’s hard being a lone girl in a tavern,” she continued, taking a sip from her goblet and placing the other glass before the girl. “Have a drink on me, nothing strong mind you.”

The woman turned her body and wiggled into a comfortable position, despite the worn hardwood benches. “Forgive me, my names Miharu Miki-Chizu, but most call me Chizu. I noticed your little gadget, interesting piece of technology. I’m very interested in the advancement of technology, and the practical use of magic with technology, you wouldn’t mind indulging me as to how you made it, would you?”

[Doomsday]

Despite the fact that the man was despicable, his words did hurt Jineh. It took a few moments but the cat girl felt her heart sink to hear such an insult from anyone and even if he was a loser. She kept saying in her mind to ignore him for he was worthless but the venom made it's way to her heart and stung slightly. It wasn't much but it instilled doubt.

"Jineh! You're being Rude!" Arachne poked the kitty girl as she looked up to see another woman who had given her a drink and was interested towards the kitty's inventions. "Oh, thanks." Jineh smiled and took a sip of the drink, soothing the pain and working as an antidote for the drunks poison.

The engineer/priestess felt her heart warm when she started talking. "Oh, I didn't make his core parts, I just put together some gears and had my mother made the soul stone and power source. I'm only a beginner. And this other device was fashioned from some spare parts from a drow's laboratory. I rigged the gun up like a light switch with a magic lens and mana stone with some magic conduit. Only tried it a little, it's kinda dangerous."

Jineh felt herself perk up and she knew how to get someone to help her out. The cat girl got up and bowed. "Umm do you think that after you're done working you could help me. I found some ruins of the Fire Beard Dwarves and learned that they were masters at my craft and I was hoping to find something to learn from. If we find any treasure you get half!" Jineh felt her smile widen and her tail perk up with joy.

She had a partner, she was sure.

[Eyes of...]

The little thing could speak, had rather unique motor functions, and drew the attention of the small feline woman back to Chizu. She smiled and met the girl’s eyes as she started talking about the little metal creature. Her voice was pleased and a glint came to her eyes that the drunk had all but erased with his rude comments. Guns, light switches, soul stones, power sources… the words were something the budding technomage had just recently started to understand and use in regular conversation.

“Oh,” Chizu said with a smile as Jineh bowed, “I’m not an employee here, I saw you and the mechanical toy and was very interested, simply figured that a good glass of wine would be the perfect way to initiate a conversation.” The slate eyed woman rose as well, bowing slightly to the girl as if shaking her hand.

“I would love nothing more than to accompany you on this trip,” she continued, taking a sip from her wine and smiling over top the goblet. “I’m not too worried about the treasure, of course gratuitous amounts of gold are always welcomed, but if I can find a manual or even a tome to help me… that’ll be more than enough for payment. Where are we going to be headed for this?”

[Doomsday]

Jineh joined the women in drinking in honor of the new adventure. It warmed her heart to know that she had met a kindred spirit for the ruins hunt. Chizu would be in it for the same reasons, knowledge of those that could mix science and magic of the past in order to better today. It was like dealing with a long lost sister even though she lacked the cat ears and tail.

"Perfect, I'm sure we'll both be happy. If we only find one we'll have to get a scribe to make a copy." Jineh smiled sure that this adventure would be nothing but fun for them. Sure ruins could be dangerous but with a little caution it wouldn't be too hard.

"Well Ido have a map to show the way though I'll have to figure out where to go using landscapes like mountains and the like." Her tail wagged even as the tears of earlier dried away with the mind forgetting the embarrassment of the earlier encounter. "The nearest landmark is a mountain that looks like a wolf a ways south of here, I think the entrance is in that mountain. It's easy to find if you know what you're looking for." The cat girl smiled and stood up and started to lead the way unable to wait but Arachne danced to get attention.

"Miss Jineh, Perhaps Miss Chizu has some business to attend to. You shouldn't rush her, the ruins are thousands of years old and a few hours won't bother them."

Jineh blushed and smiled. "Sorry, yeah. Do you need to do anything first, if you need help i wouldn't mind tagging along since you're going to help me out."

[Eyes of...]

Chizu took a small sip between parted lips and a true smile. It had been a long time since she had found anyone willing to accept her unique appearance. Years of turmoil had followed her, the depression at her differences riding her every thoughts. People would turn away, children would cower, but outside of Akashima everyone seemed much more docile. The change was changing her as well. No longer did she distrust every glance her way, or expect some form of conflict from each person to accidentally nudge her. She was growing up, maturing in a way that her childhood or her native land would have never allowed. This girl, Jineh, was very different in her own way though, and the feline features did not bother the slate eyed woman in the least.

“A map is always good,” she said as she placed her empty glass on the table. The alcoholic affects were hardly touching her, though they did play with her head ever so slightly. She tucked away a loose lock of hair with her fishnet gloved hand, sliding her soft fingers across her high cheek bones and the tips of her slanted eyes. If it had not been for the rounded ears of a common human she would have easily been mistaken for a strange elf. “And I have a little experience with following them, though making a route while we’re in here and being able to follow it will be the hardest part. Never can trust that whoever made that did it recently, or that the terrain is still unchanged.”

The Akashima native smiled at the little machine. Its thought process was more pure than any other created technology she had ever encountered, able to absorb situations and make assumptions that seemed to affirm a conscious mind.

“No, no, I have no business to finish here. I am simply a rogue traveler with an interest in technomancy, wasting my time away in the hopes that I could find something to help me learn more… you are, by far, what I have been waiting for.” Chizu dug out five golden coins from the purse at her side and dropped them into the empty cup. “If you have nothing else to do here, let’s head out. The quicker we start this little journey the quicker we can both find something interesting!”

[Doomsday]

Jineh stretched a bit as her tail wagged and she started to purr a little bit. "That's great, I was just looking for a partner to help me out. I'm kinda new to adventuring so I figured I'd need a little help." Jineh smiled and wondered if it could get any better than this, she had a kindred spirit to share the quest, it was like the great maker was smiling down on her. "So my business is done." Jineh left with her tail swaying happily as she waved for her new friend to follow as well as Arachne.

The day wasn't bad for searching out ancient ruins. Sure the sky was gray but it kept the world cool and it wasn't sending rain down yet and Jineh hoped it wouldn't. The forest was rather quiet and not the dreaded complete silence that many knew would bring disaster as there were plenty of birds with nothing to fear. And the mountains were easily in view and Jineh knew which one was the mountain that she needed, it did look like a wolf. It seemed too easy though there would be quite the hike. "It looks like we're to go that way a ways, the mountain seems a bit far." Jineh felt a bit of pride as she pointed the way, she was sure it was the right way. It did seem a little too easy.

Jineh led for a little while and then turned her head. "So, Um Chizu? I'm wondering what made you interested in Making, the art of magitech?" The cat girl looked back with perked ears hoping she didn't pry to deeply.

[Eyes of...]

Following a cute fox girl into the mountains, it was something far from ordinary for the mercenary and free-spirited woman from Akashima. Since leaving her home lands she had found nothing but benign acceptance of her abilities and a friendly face wherever she had gone. It was a situation far from ordinary, giving her a chance to stretch her emotional boundaries and explore the better side of society. However, she had also been given numerous chances to test the mettle of the fair faced and smiling culture that lived on the island. The citadel had proved they had their own blood natures hidden behind their facades. Though her home land was within the border of Corone, it might as well been worlds apart considering the people.

“Easily excited, exuberant, cute… Jineh is the picture of the feline people of Akashima. What the fuck am I doing with her then?”

Troubled by how easily she had accepted the little girl’s task for her own, Chizu let the thoughts dwindle as she walked towards where her companion had pointed out. On the edge of her vision, squinting through the sun’s bright light, she could see the shape of the wolf in the mountains. It was worn with time and the weather, but if it was intentionally made it had lasted quite long. Teeth were dulled, eyes worn to show a featureless surface where its face would have been hundreds of years prior. She sighed and smiled towards the young fox-girl, hoping she would take it as a huff of anger towards the rough terrain they would both have to pass though.

Chizu turned to the girl and her pink hair, a smile showing teeth instead of a lackluster grin painted across her visage. “To tell the truth, it has always been an interest. I have a knack for understanding technology and basic engineering, you could say. And have a little bit of skill in the way of magical prowess. Still a lot to learn of each, but I am hoping it will come as easily as it always has.”

That was anything but the truth, but the slate-eyed warrior woman would not go into the specifics of her life. Was she expected to tell the little girl about the hatred of the young children in Akashima? About the truth behind her slate eyes, the pure white orbs the bane and boon that she had been granted by the otherworldly rape of her mother? The story was anything but uplifting, having been told and retold by thousands of other people throughout Althanas… but she would not be another to throw her history out. She would rather lie and keep the atmosphere between the two peaceful and happy than throw out the line of sorrow to catch nothing more than empty pity.