In Which The Tea Night Be Poisoned, {Closed}

[Nevin]

Nevin took a deep breath, relishing the clean, crisp sea salt air that the breeze was carrying to him. This place absolutely fascinated the alchemist - while there were other places in the world where trees grew near the ocean, this stretch of the Concordia Forest stood as one of the few places where a large segment of a forest actually ran straight out to the ocean, terminating in cliffs in some places, and in others sand covered beaches stretched beyond the trees.

It was places like this that reminded Nevin of just why he traveled. Yes, running his shop was fulfilling, at least for now, he never could get away from the desire to explore, to see the various vistas that the world had to offer. There was just something so satisfying about finding plants that wouldn't grow in other places to see what they were like in their natural habitats - only here, in what was possibly the closest thing to a saltwater forest, would some of these plants ever be found.

High above him the trees loomed, their broad leaves sheltering him from the light of the sun as he trekked through the woods. He wasn't here on a true collecting run - how could he be, when he didn't even recognize some of the plants that were growing here? No, Nevin was currently exploring, carefully taking samples of the parts of various plants, trying to gather a wide selection of carefully pruned cuttings, gathering up scattered leaves, and only uprooting one or two plants that looked withered and dead.

Once he had filled his bag, then he would need to think about heading back so he could start running experiments, finding out what these plants might be good for. But not yet - he felt like he had barely scratched the surface of what this place had to offer. With a wide, easy smile, the first he had sported in months, he continued deeper into the woods.

[Briarheart]

Why oh why did he skip breakfast?

The briarbane had been following the young man with the dried-blood hair all morning. At Mother's behest, he began his patrol of the outer perimeter of her territory at the break of dawn. Not ten minutes into his morning, he could sniff the boy out. And in the three hours and change that had followed, he stalked him from the bushes.

Watching.

Waiting.

Hungry.

But Mother doesn't want him eating her "guests". She specifically told him not to harm, only to observe. Her words rattle around in his skull. "Just keep an eye on anyone who enters this part of the forest," she had told them all. All of his briarbane brothers and sisters.

"Watch."

"Wait."

The sentry also remembered the other part of Mother's speech, where she allowed some of the venom and anger that always seemed to be bubbling underneath her stoic fa�ade to seep into her words. "Unless they intend to harm me, Hyperion, any of you, or the forest itself. Then you may do as you see fit."

Well, if you asked the briarbane, this boy sure did look like he was going to cause some trouble. The pine green hood of his cloak was pulled up over his head. At last check, it had not rained in two days; so why would one wear their hood up? Only evil people did that. Only those who intended to do harm. Otherwise, why the need for secrecy? Especially when you're miles and days from the closest Rangers outpost or road back to Underwood!

Rangers. The briarbane hated the Rangers, as did Mother. They were always snooping around, trying to figure out how they could reclaim their outpost. The nights where they sent a small party to investigate were the best nights. He and his brothers ate well those nights.

The briarbane thought that this guy looked like a Ranger. He began to salivate in the bushes as he continued to trail the boy. He wore green and brown. Those were the colors the Rangers wore. But... Where was his weapon? His sigil? He was missing all of the standard regalia that the briarbane was used to finding on the corpses of his Mother's tormentors.

Perhaps he was not a Ranger, after all.

Maybe he was just a lost little adventurer.

Maybe even a hero.

Mother hated them both. She had special orders for him and his brothers and sisters should they find one.

They were to be subdued and brought back to the outpost. Mother would interrogate them, and Sister Hyperion would serve tea and cookies.

He always thought Sister Hyperion was too nice to the heroes. But he had to admit, should Mother decide that her guests could never leave the forest, the snacks always added a bit of flavor to their meat.

The briarbane, silently moving through the underbrush, drew closer to the boy with the dark red hair.

[Nevin]

Nevin paused by a tree, stretching out his shoulders and back. This place was absolutely fantastic! Even the plants he did know and recognize were taking on different properties due to the proximity of the sea, and were less the plants he knew and more of closely related cousins to what he normally used. It was absolutely captivating to the young alchemist, no matter where he looked this place was vibrant and lush, full of new plants that were unusual all on their own.

How had this place never been tapped? It was a wonderful gamut of plants and animals that were rarely, if ever, seen anywhere else. He could scarcely believe that no one had ever been here before, but at the same time he knew that most of these plants were only cultivated in special greenhouses to mimic unusual environments.

Cobalt, a few times Nevin had thought he'd seen plants moving - but that was just absurd and he had dismissed it out of hand. Even if something as bizarre as moving plants existed, surely they would be in an extremely remote location, not just in a forest in Corone. Nevin looked around once more - the tree he had stopped by was in a good enough place as any, so he sat down, leaning his back against it as he reached into his travel bag, dug past the plant samples, and pulled out a sandwich he had prepared for his lunch. Aphrael had flitted off somewhere, no doubt to scrounge up food for herself, so Nevin was alone as he started to munch his lunch.

[Briarheart]

The briarbane crouched, his form perfectly still, his vines coiling and ready to strike at a moment's notice.

The blood-haired boy was finally deciding to take a break! This was the perfect moment to strike!

While following him near the shoreline, the briar-woven monster witnessed horrible acts of desecration--the cloaked figure would stop, look around suspiciously, bend over, and tear a still-living, still-breathing plant from the soil and place it in his bag!

The briarbane wondered what kind of monster would do such a thing to another living being. Then, he began to wonder... Was this what Mother meant by people wishing to harm the forest?

Harm meant a lot of things. When he chased down, slew, and consumed pray, he was doing harm to another living being. But thus was the circle of life--one had to eat to live, and he and his brothers could only consume meat. Thus, the harm was justified.

But... Not once did this boy, this trespasser, this adventurer, after snatching dozens upon dozens of innocent plants, proceed to stuff them in his mouth! He put them in his satchel! This was inconceivable to the briarbane. Not only was he stealing from his Mother, he was doing so for no discernible reason whatsoever! He was not partaking in the circle of life, he was just taking to take! This had to have been what Mother meant by harming the forest!

Mother would want to meet this man to pass judgment on him.

And then, if everything worked out in the briarbane's favor, he would finally get to eat.

[Nevin]

Nevin had been finishing up the last few bites of his sandwich when he noticed something... Strange, a short distance away. It almost looked like a bush that was staring back at him? Fascinated by what promised to be yet another rare plant, the Alchemist stood up and picked up his satchel again and began cautiously approaching it. The redhead could not believe his luck - this forest was a veritable treasure trove of plants he had never seen before, or had only heard of! So he approached, wondering what a plant with what looked like eye spots might be useful for.

And then the thing roared. And everything for that moment went terribly, terribly awry, and Nevin's good mood vanished like ice in the summer sun. The alchemist should have trusted his eyes when he thought he saw something moving in the brush repeatedly. Animals would not have stayed so close to an intruding presence, so Nevin really, really should have been more suspicious. But his excitement and obsession with finding new and rare plants had blinded him to the danger that was quite literally stalking his footsteps, and now as the twisted creature of vines and bones shriek/roared in his face, Nevin knew he had only one option.

So he took off, sprinting away from the creature as fast as he could. Discarded were the thoughts of wandering in the sun-dappled forest, examining the various plants that he found along the way. No longer did he plan on trying to set up a small camp and stay over night in these woods. No more collecting samples as he traveled.

Nevin needed to get away. And he needed to get away now, whatever the thing that had - a quick check over his shoulder filled Nevin with dread as he realized the thing was pursuing him, far faster than a plant thing should be able to - begun chasing him was not something he had any hope of handling. This forest was supposed to be relatively peaceful, so he had only bothered bringing his dagger with him today!

His terror and panic reached Aphrael, who trilled out in alarm high over head. Nevin could feel her dead, and pushed away, driving thoughts of escape and flight into her head. Whatever this creature was, maybe it was just territorial, and getting far enough away would me it stop chasing him - but he did not want his familiar to be injured trying to protect him. Nevin doubted her claws could so more than annoy this thing anyway. She tried to fight, but she was still too young to resist the urge to flee that Nevin was pouring into her mind, so she stayed high up in the air, safely out of danger's way.

Through the woods he ran, always feeling like the creature was right behind him. Whenever he looked back the thing looked like it was just as close as it had been minutes ago, and not for the first time Nevin wished he was more of a traditional mage. Being able to cast a spell of some kind would be immensely useful here, even as just a distraction, but that was not possible. All he had were blood whips, and he thought that would have about the same effect as Aphrael's claws. That is to say, absolutely none against the monstrosity of vine, flesh, and bone that was pursuing him. Trying to duck through the trees to throw the thing off his trail didn't work either - it seemed to always know where he was, and the one time he had tried to hide behind a tree, vines and tendrils had begun curling around the wood, nearly grabbing him by the neck before he gave up and took off running again.

Just as he was about to give up and let this thing capture him, and likely eat him, Nevin was given hope. Through the trees he could see the glint of sunlight on water, and he sprinted for it. Plants couldn't swim, right? As he broke through the tree line he saw an even better option. A stonework building, moss-covered and without windows, stood on one side of what the alchemist could now see was a lake. With a surge of fresh energy Nevin ran for it - realizing too late there was a stone wall in the way. He tried to jump it, but one foot caught on the edge of the wall and he tumbled head over heels, smashing his face against the ground.

He didn't give himself time to recover though, he could hear the vine-beast closing in on him. With a grunt he threw himself to his feet and sprinted, running through the door and throwing it closed behind him. Nevin slammed his back against it, hoping the wood would hold.

[Briarheart]

Eight of Diamonds, King of Spades, and the matching Jack.

...Fucking hell, can anything go right today?

All seven of these piles are low numbers. I can't move any of the stupid things over from one to another to free up a slot for the King that's underneath the Eight I can't put anywhere else anyway. I only have the Ace of Clubs right now, and the Two and Three are buried in my flip pile under other shit I can't shift around to begin with.

I flipped the stack of cards over for the tenth time, and desperately tried to find a way out of losing yet another round of Solitaire. My record for today was 1-13.

Maybe I should start using my trick deck.

The soft, hurried pattering of feet echoed down the hall. I looked up in time to see Hyperion lurking in the doorway, her briar-knit hands fidgeting with her facemask. She never wore it around our run-down little fort, only putting it on when she accompanied me on my weekly trips into Underwood or journeys elsewhere--where people could see her monstrous features.

"Did you hear that," she whispered, her four amber eyes flickering with alarm.

I gathered up the deck of cards and slid them back into their case. "Hear what?"

"The door! We have company!"

Company? I wasn't expecting any guests. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. We specifically picked this place because it was hours, even days off the beaten paths that spiderwebbed their way through the forest. It was near the western edge of Concordia, where most cartographers wrote "here be monsters".

I rose from my chair and tossed the deck onto the table. I hated uninvited guests. As far as I was aware, there were no price tags on my head. Eiskalt considered me dead and gone, the secretive factions that worked for and against the crown in Alerar had not made a move against me ever since I uncovered their little plots. The Coronian Rangers that also made the forest their home learned long ago to stay the hell off my lawn. So, who could it be?

Maybe it was an independent contractor. An assassin who has come to claim my head after months of following my trail to enact revenge for some long-forgotten-by-me grudge. Gods know I've racked up enough of them.

Or, perhaps it was just a lost soul who was caught by my briarbane in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"What should we do," Hype asked, her tone urgent. She had finally gotten her mask in place, and was now working on the vlince gloves that covered the vines of her hands.

I knelt down, running my forefinger against the dusty grain of the floorboards. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and dug in. A thousand tiny lights flashed into my mind, each of flickering orbs the life force of every being in a mile. I immediately picked up the glow of a frightened boy, definitely human, here in this house.

"There's just one," I muttered as I pulled myself back into reality. "Probably just got lost in the woods. Go put on a kettle for tea, and we'll see what he's doing here."

Hype nodded, and silently made her way to the kitchen. Cooking always took her mind off of literally everything else that was happening around her. I dug around in a closet for a hooded tunic--no need to put on the suit--and my own polished mythril mask. Covering my face and pulling the hood over my head, I swiftly navigated the halls of the fort towards the front door.

When I finally stepped into the foyer, I was greeted by a young man, barely an adult, with a tuft of messy red hair and a smattering of green and brown clothing. The look in his eye confirmed that he met one of my guards on the way here. It also told me he was going to be no threat whatsoever, as long as he stood inside these walls. Not while I had all this acid and plague and spores at my disposal.

"Hello," I said after a brief pause.

[Nevin]

(Fuck it. First person time for me too.)

My heart was pounding in my chest, hammering wildly against my ribs as I pressed myself against the door. I sent a quick prayer to the Crimson - for whatever reason, the unnatural creature outside was not trying to break down the door, despite the fact that I knew it had seen me dive in here.

But, with safety apparently secure for the moment, I looked around. This place was still in disrepair, but not the state that it appeared to be from outside. Now that I was indoors, I could see that it looked... Lived in. Not homey per se, but I could definitely see signs that someone made their home here. And someone, not something - the doors inside were closed, at least some of them, and if an animal had made its dwelling in the abandoned building, it would not concern itself with closing doors behind it.

I heard footsteps before I saw the figure approaching, soft and light. Whoever lived here must have heard the door slam, and I hoped they weren't upset with my taking refuge here. The person came in through a door, and it took me a moment to process.

Human, or humanoid at least. They wore dark brown pants, beaten and worn, hands shoved into the pockets. Their upper half was covered by a mottled brown tunic with long sleeves and a hood that was pulled up over their head. Their face was obscured by a polished metal mask, gleaming even in the faint light coming in through the windows, with four holes carved into it. From each hole came a soft glow of amber as the person considered him.

At least they weren't throwing me out right away. I couldn't tell anything from the short distance separating us, but they didn't seem outright angry at my unintended intrusion, but I was not about to risk pushing matters like that. I coughed to clear my throat, trying to relax the fear tightened muscles, and bowed slightly to her - shooting a nervous glance at the door as I stopped leaning against it.

"Ah, hello there. Sorry for the intrusion,
met a bit of... Trouble, outside and this was the first place I saw that looked safe. I didn't realize someone lived here. My name is Nevin, pleasure to meet you." I couldn't tell from the one short word if the person was male or female - or, Cobalt, humanoid enough to even care.

[Briarheart]

The worlds that spilled out of his mouth in a stuttering mess confirmed everything I guessed about the boy, this... Nevin.

It kind of surprised me that the briarbane hadn't actually caught up to him during the chase. Not that it would have known what to do once it got their grubby vine-woven mitts on him in the first place.

"Madison," I replied in kind, keeping my tone neutral and aloof as I relaxed. "Been living here for a while now. Couple months or so. Nobody else was here, and I needed a place to hide for the night when we got lost in the woods ourselves. Then a storm hit, and a few days passed."

I offered a shrug. "We ended up getting used to the place, and decided we had nowhere better to be. So we made it home."

Nevin cocked his head to the side, confused. "I'm sorry. We?"

Amber light flashed in my eyes. "Myself and Hyperion. And those."

The boy followed my gesture, his eyes resting on the front door. Instinctively, he took a step away from it. "Those? Those are yours? And there are more?!"

"They won't hurt you, I promise." The look in his eyes said he wasn't going to believe me.

I turned around and motioned with a briar-knit hand for him to follow. "Think of them as my guards. All they do is watch, and when someone gets to close, they lead them to me. If the trespassers are here with ill intent, then they're neutralized. If they just wandered a bit too close, then we'll see that you have safe passage back to the roads that lead to Underwood."

The two of us arrived in an old common room that I fashioned into a living area. Several plush but worn couches were arranged in a triangle around a small, round coffee table that was littered with books and a few pencils. One of the walls was lined with shelving that I dragged from other parts of the compound, packed to the brim with even more books. What can I say, I have a lot of spare time on my hands nowadays.

I threw myself down onto one of the couches, kicking up a small cloud of dust as my weight slammed into the cushions. "Please, take a seat. There's a kettle on for tea, and Hyperion will bring us something to snack on. I don't get to entertain very often, as you can imagine. Now, tell me why you're in my forest."

[Nevin]

There was an odd reverberation to her words as she introduced herself. As I followed after her, my head swiveling around to examine this place, she explained that she'd been here for months. I had to admit, finding out that that.... guardian was one of her... Her what, her people? She didn't actually say what they were beyond her guard dogs, but they at least had the intelligence to determine if an outsider was hostile or not.

So... That one had chased me, making a tremendous amount of noise along the way, but now that I thought about it, the only injury I sustained was from when I tripped over the low wall and hit the ground. Did that mean that thing had been pranking me? It did kind of feel like it almost, all the loud noises, the angry attitude and the chase. But that was assigning human emotions to it, nd I didn't even know if it had any. Better not to go sticking terms to things I didn't understand.

Then we entered what had to be a study, and my jaw dropped. If you ignored the bare walla and just focused on what was in there, the place looked downright cozy. Couches arranged neatly around a small table that was currently covered in writing implements and paper, and along one wall were bookshelves shoved to the brim. From here I could see old, worn out tomes that had obviously seen a lot of use.

Anyone who read this much couldn't be that despicable in my books. So when the... Girl? Woman? I still wasn't sure. When she sat down and offered to take a seat, I gingerly sank down onto one of the couches across from her, a small plume of dust and dirt rising up around me as I did so. If those things were her guards, no wonder people didn't come into this stretch of the woods.

I cleared my throat and inclined my head. "I am by trade an Alchemist, Miss Madison. That is the reason I am here, frankly. I explore around, searching for rare or unusual plants and animals, minerals and the like, trying to find new things that will help expand my repertoire of potions, tonics, salves, etc. This particular region is actually abundant in unusual plants, due to the proximity the forest and the ocean have to each other. Generally woods don't grow up to the water's edge as they do here, so I got a bit... Enthusiastic, about samples. There's just so much here that is rarely seen elsewhere that I couldn't help myself." I coughed and colored a bit in embarrassment. I hadn't meant to go on like that.

[Briarheart]

An alchemist, eh?

So the boy fancied himself handy with a fistful of plant mush and a vial of bubbling chemicals.

Considering my recent... setbacks in the lab, it might be advantageous to strike up a business relationship with him. I could supply the materials, maybe a few books to help guide him and teach him the recipes I need produced. He could do my work for me, and he wouldn't be any wiser about what I planned to do with the potions.

"I used to study alchemy as well," I began. "My, shall we say, employers had me working on poisons practically all hours of the day. But I haven't done any work in the field in, goodness, years now, I think?" I pointedly left out all the bits about my body naturally producing more potent Bad Things than anything most skilled alchemists could brew up in their laboratories and how my talents were ripped from me the day I lost my tainted soul.

"I've since spent my time studying diseases. Bacterial infections, viruses, magically-created plagues. It's a pretty morbid field, but..." I gave a non-committal shrug of my shoulders.

Hype picked that moment to interrupt us, nudging the door open and announcing her presence with a creaking of rusty hinges. She stood there, splendid in the purple and green casual dress she enjoyed wearing whenever we made a trip to Underwood. Sunlight from a nearby window glinted off the polished mythril of her mask. In her gloved hands, she held a silver tray complete with two porcelain cups, a small canvas bag filled with tea leaves she picked up a couple weeks back, a pair of infusers, and a steaming kettle filled with hot water.

Behind her mask she smiled, but the only visible sign of her joy at being able to break out this stupidly expensive tea set of hers was the bright flickering of her amber eyes. "Hello there! You must be our guest. My name's Hyperion! It's a pleasure to meet you!"