farsickness | willows whiten, aspens quiver

willows whiten, aspens quiver

WHO: Arha

nightingalemage
WHEN: June 26+
WHAT: Arha arrives from Chicago.
WHERE: The Forests near Gazin, Gazin, wandering elsewhere.
NOTES: Arha arrives with a nice duffle full of useful shit.

𝟢𝟢𝟣. 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝒹

ɴᴇᴀʀ ɢᴀᴢɪɴ
Arha refused to be put out by the sudden change in scenery and breathed in, then out, and stretched out her senses. Animals. Some very, very large with intelligences of their own, some smaller, less intellgent, but definitely magical. Some are darker than others from farther away. She was careful when she moved, her iron staff and her will gathered. As she moved, she sang a song in words that were brightly slung but somehow gentle, spreading a soft peace from where she was and outward. The tip of her staff glowed a gentle blue and the bells at the bottom of her staff rang in time with her steps.

Farther on, she sensed a gathering of many minds and headed in that way. A moment later she froze, though she kept singing, flame rolled in the shape of a mane and she caught the shining eyes of a unicorn. Her voice softened and warmed in welcome. A foreleg lifted and its head lowered before it stepped away. She watched it leave and let out a wondering breath before she began moving again.

𝟢𝟢𝟤. 𝒢𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃
ᴛᴏᴡɴ & ᴛᴀᴠᴇʀɴ

She eased in to have a word with the barkeep who looked her up and down from her bright cornflower blue eyes and generous lips to her instruments down her body before nodding. A slight jerk of his chin was assent enough and she headed toward the back where a chair sat by its lonesome. This was her chance to secure a bed for the night and local coin and she needed that more than she needed to be sleeping rough. She withdrew her guitar and a pick before gently strumming o test its tuning, tweaked it a little, and began to sing a song about a maiden's encounter with a unicorn. It was an eerie tune, soft and lilting, brushing out to capture the ears of all who might want to listen. She didn't add any power to it, not the magic kind, and her voice had the faintest reverberation to it.

The tavern seemed to hush as eyes turned to her. She smiled with summer's sweetness, her voice a whisky rasp wrapped around velvet and honey. She wove her song deftly, soaring to heights, plummeting to depths, delighting and entertaining with precise skill. Someone set a beer at her feet when the song ended, someone else put down a hat and dumped a few coins in. She nodded, sipping her beer for a few moments before pulling out her blue violin with its mated bow and began playing something sprightly. A few patrons began to dance somewhat drunkenly, someone else shouted in delight. Arha laughed, rocking with the beat as the bells kept time in bright peals like laughter in the wind.

Arha loved this the most, sharing the love of her music with anyone who might enjoy it as much as she did.

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Jon's in the tavern, like he is every night. He likes a drink and a meal after a long day of tending to the horses, and while he's got a stove in his quarters, he never learned how to cook anything if it wasn't over a fire. So he comes here, where there's the added bonus of discovering what's going on in the town or other places that the tavern guests have visited.

It doesn't take long for him to enjoy the music. He doesn't know the words, but he picks up the tune quickly and is soon humming along, and he's even got the hint of a smile on his face.

She takes a break in order to finally buy something to eat - singing is hungry work, so is magic - and it appears her choice of seating is wide and varied thanks to a few grabby hands, which she dodges and smacks down with deft hands. Drunk men are drunk. Really drunk.

Jon's table is the nearest and she hauls her things closer with a slight bow.

"Do you mind if I join you?" she asks with a sunny smile, her blue eyes bright. "You may call me Arha. I suppose I'm now a Bard or sorts. Bit of a surprise for me."

"Please," he says as he motions at the empty chair at the table. He's been enjoying the singing and doesn't mind company. "Jon Snow, and I don't really know what I am."

"Here," she says quietly, sitting with a soft sigh. When she leans forward, her rich coppery-gold hair, swings and pools against the edge of the table, her blue eyes bright.

She ordered a stew, some bread, a beer and used what coin she'd gotten to pay from it.

"Right now, you're here. Like I am. It doesn't need a label. I just happen to have one today."

"It is nice not to have anyone expecting anything of me for the moment." Not that he minds having responsibilities, but he'd never asked for them. The things he did back home, he did them because he had to, or because no one else would, or to assure the continued existence of Westeros.

Well. If the Red Woman was right about the prophecy, then he was always meant to do those things, wasn't he? It's nice not to be the subject of a prophecy for once.

"Except the horses, and they're fairly easy to satisfy."

"It is nice, yes. There is a great sense of freedom to it, even for me, Bard, woman, mage. I can be anyone or choose to be no one at all. Honestly, that's appealing in itself without appearing here in a forest."

She smiles and the warmth in it is almost tangible.

"Horses? Yes, I imagine they'd be less demanding than people. Makes sense to me."

"I'm not sure what I am at home, either, so it's nice to be whatever I want here." There are plenty of concerns about the state of things at home, and what's happening while he's not there, but it's nice not to have to be the one to think of them all the time.

"They can be demanding in their own way, even as much as humans can, but their demands are usually easier to meet."

"I suppose I can keep up this bardic mage business and try and find somewhere to settle for a while. Just appearing here was rather...weird but I guess I did need a bit of a change. I'll probably be looking for a horse soon enough which is probably easier than lugging all my things around. Something big, I think. trained to mind my back, I'd think. It's not like I have anyone but me these days."

Edited (typoooooooo ahooooooy) 2020-07-07 00:29 (UTC)

"Change can be good, but I do have people at home depending on me." As much as it might have sounded like he was complaining about it, he doesn't really mind it. He likes feeling like he has a purpose, and something to fight for.

"I know some horses, if you want a recommendation."

"Please! That would be lovely." She nods a little. "I think we've all left things unattended where we came from. Hopefully, the ones who still wish to go home will get their chance. I do suppose there are people who'd rather stay. I can remember thinking I'd love to be anywhere but where I was before I appeared here."

"Come to the stables sometime then. We'll find you one." He's gotten to know the horses pretty well in his time there, and the quirks of each.

"I had a similar thought. I didn't really mean it though. I expect it's a common enough wish in the middle of a war."

Two wars, really, although he's mostly managed to stay out of one, and had a hard time convincing anyone of the seriousness of the other.

"Excellent. I'll come after breakfast tomorrow, then. I should have enough coin, then, I hope." She wrinkles her nose.

"I would think wars would be the first place for such thoughts. There's nothing I can think of that I would dislike more than being in one but sometimes there's no choice but to fight."

"Of course I wanted to be anywhere but in the middle of a fight. What I really wanted though was not to have to fighting it. Not just me, but for it not to have to be fought at all." This threat had been warned of for years, and if they'd understood it sooner, or recognized the real threat sooner, it might not have come to a battle on the plains of Winterfell.

"Although I might have accepted the war itself being someone else's responsibility." Maybe. He hadn't wanted that role, but at the same time, he doubts that he would have trusted anyone else to take it on. "It may have been meant to be my fight from the start."

Arha nods seriously as her food is set before her. It's edible but not the finest thing she's ever tasted. Listening to Jon, she nods again, neatly working at her meal while he talks.

"It sounds like it's a pretty massive task to be involved in. I'd wish it to not be fought as well. Peace is preferable." Her response to the second was a soft hum. "Perhaps it was meant to be yours or someone like you. In the end, it is only up to oneself to do what they think best. Some run, some fight."

She smiles gently.

"But you're the kind who fights, yes?"

He nods at her question while he takes a sip of his ale. "My family are the Wardens of the North. It's our job to protect the North and, if needed, prevent any threats from going south. As it happens, there's a threat trying to go south, and I'm the last able-bodied male of the family left." Bran can provide some advantages, but being able to fight is no longer one of them.

Then there's all that business of the prophecy, which just as easily might be about someone else as about him.

"I also swore an oath to protect the land from any threats north of the Wall." He might have considered the oath fulfilled when he died, but he wasn't going to stand aside and let the wights take over.

Arha studies him for a long while after her stew is done. Her Sight is never really closed but she hardly needs it with this man. He is a leader and more. He will find a way through his troubles one way or another. It makes her smile.

"I think," she says carefully, gently, "that when it is the right time, you and those you trust will find a way through all of the trouble that comes. For now, I suppose, this is a place to rest and recharge. And heal. Horses are a good start to healing, they have good hearts. Exploring, too, is an excellent way to recharge. I plan to do as much as I can, myself."

"I hope you're right about that." He could use a way through this mess that was left behind by others. The fact that so much of it seems to have ended up in his lap makes him think that maybe the prophecy is about him. This must be what the Red Woman meant when she said that the Lord of Light wasn't finished with him.

"I've usually had better luck with horses than with people. As for exploring, I might take a couple of days and do some of that myself." As long as he can be sure the horses will be looked after while he's gone.

"That's my idea of fun, honestly, let me know if you want company." Arha shook her head a little and laughed. I'd rather get a lay of the land, as it were, before trying to find somewhere to pitch my nonexistent tent. Eventually, I'll want to poke around out there."

Geralt is crouched by a trickling creek, hands cupped as he drinks from it. He'd been gathering herbs for his potions, which were, lucky for him, the same as the ones he made for himself back in his world. But, as he lowers his lips to drink one last time the far off sounds of someone singing are heard, though it's the melody and not the words that he can pick out first. The voice is beautiful.

Amber eyes dart in different directions before narrowing to the east and staying there until he spots auburn between some trees. He watches briefly before Roach huffs loudly and of course, it carries through the forest in an echo.

Geralt looks over his shoulder at the horse. "So much for being discreet, hm?"

Edited 2020-06-30 23:25 (UTC)

Arha reaches out with her senses, tilting her head to find the horse she had just heard and caught the bright spark, that thing that makes the difference from a humanoid and fauna or flora and moves towards it.

"Hello?" she sings out.

The nights when live music or storytellers were performing in the tavern were always Wen Qing's favorite nights, her eagerness to learn more about these lands she had found herself outweighing even the occasional off-key performance. Tonight there was no such reason to complain, the musician was gifted and easily caught the attention of the patrons, including Wen Qing's own.

When the woman's music stopped she walked over, throwing some coins into the hat.

"I enjoyed your songs, will you be playing more tonight?" she asked politely.

"I'm glad you've enjoyed my work thus far," Arha said softly, her smile warm and welcoming. "And yes, I imagine I will play more. I've got to earn enough for a bed tonight at the least and some dinner. Your donation is very much appreciated. I'm called Arha." She bowed a little inclining her head with respect and her shining red-gold hair was almost glowing with the lights the tavern had lit here and there.

Such a show of respect warranted one of her own, so Wen Qing bowed back, hands in front of her, the way she didn't bow much anymore these days outside of meeting new people.

"I'm Wen Qing, I'm a doctor but here in Gazin I work at the apothecary."

She paused, thinking for a moment. "I don't like the daily stew but it is better than no food at all," she admitted, sounding about as unenthused as she felt. She still ate here often these days, it was less depressing than eating by herself in her small room above the apothecary. "You're the best music this inn has seen in a while, you should be getting dinner at least for free."

"I am called Arha," she says softly. "I'm pleased you've been enjoying my songs. As for food, ah, well, anything in the stomach is better than none, as you say. Perhaps tomorrow, I'll round up ingredients and make my own stew. Cooking is one thing I've always been good at." She thinks on the other woman's words for a little longer. It's always good to know a doctor and someone who works in an apothecary.

"I guess my first stop will be at the apothecary tomorrow. You never know when you need supplies. I'm something a novice healer, myself, but with energy."

"I can heal with my spiritual energy as well, though I don't use that much here. Most of my work here is with herbal medicines." She does work for apothecary, after all, her boss wouldn't appreciate it very much if she didn't focus on selling his wares.

Wen Qing looks a little amused as she mulls over Arha's mention of cooking herself. She sits down and leans a little closer, admitting sheepishly, "the best thing about moving out of the inn was getting to cook my own meals. But there's not much point in cooking only for myself, so I eat here on most nights."

She nods, taking the information in. Her medicines are well respected in many places - Arha enjoys making them. There's a magic in it.

"Perhaps I will cook for you someday," Arha says quietly, looking delighted by the possibility. It might be nice. "Once I have a place of my own, or if you like, at your own place. I am always looking for something new to do. Do you need any help at the apothecary? That I can do well."

"Help at the apothecary would be very welcome. You'd have to speak to the owner, of course, but there used to be two of us running the store and mixing medicines for him, but my colleague has left recently. Now it is again just me running the apothecary by myself." Which is a lot, taking care both of sales and making the medicine. "We used to run a stall at the weekly market, too, but it's been weeks since I was able to go."

She hesitates for a moment before adding, "besides, I might be leaving soon to open my own medical practice. The apothecary has been very kind to me when I arrived and needed work, I would feel better leaving when I know he has reliable help."

"I will have to do that, then. It gives me a good place to start, that's for sure. I can save up and then find a place of my own somewhere." She smiles and it's a bright, lovely thing.

"Thank you. I hope when you open your own practice it is something that does well."

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willows whiten, aspens quiver

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lordt RL ate my face

it has a tendency to do that

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forest

Re: forest

tavern

Re: tavern

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