The air that morning was crisp and cold. It felt refreshing, although Eden was looking forward to when the goosebumps on her arms would dissipate. She put on a short sleeved white blouse under a dark blue blazer, and a black skirt. She had on boots, because she wasn’t worried about dressing up or wearing something that would make her travel difficult. She just needed to be practical, after all, she wasn’t paid to be pretty. Her boss packed up his goods and began the slow trek through rougher terrain early that morning.
The group was only about fifteen people. Probably another merchant, wanderers, and civilians. That was how she put “everyone else.” She didn’t know if anyone else was a mage, probably. Fiore was good like that. Fiore was also good about treating teenagers like high class adventuring adults. Well, if she could prove herself against the other people. Fifteen seemed to be the peak of adulthood in her experience. She figured that was probably wrong, but it had helped her get a job, and she didn’t want to rock the boat.
Edan walked along next to her boss’ caravan. It was hard enough to get things moving, so she didn’t hop on for a ride. She was on the ground making sure he didn’t run over any rocks, and didn’t lose anything along the way. She looked around at the other people in this group and picked one. Someone younger than her. Edan was going to find at least one person willing to talk to her today. She sidled up to this girl, giving her at least arm’s length for personal bubble, and greeted her. “Hi. So… what has you on the road today?”
Last Edit: Jun 22, 2015 19:57:01 GMT by Eden Rickert
Rena's day was going miserably so far, and she was hoping to change that by exploring and finding something interesting to occupy her thoughts. A few caravans had been passing by and on an impulse, the girl had thrown together a travel bag and scooted out the door. Unfortunately, the weather was far too chilly for the girl's liking, and the first clothes she'd grabbed weren't enough to keep her warm. Because wandering around and following another group had seemed to be the goal, Rena had simply thrown on her typical travelling outfit-- a pink long sleeved blouse with a matching pleated skirt and brown penny loafers. And no coat.
Sighing, Rena glanced around, rubbing her arms absentmindedly, and a horrible sight greeted her. A young woman, probably only a few years older than Rena herself, was slowly making her way over to the internally groaning girl. Strangers were the last thing she wanted to have a conversation with, but it seemed luck wasn't on her side today. Waiting not-so-patiently for the girl to finally get close enough to speak out, Rena tried to think of ways to quickly make an escape. She had to think of a solution that wouldn't involve offending the stranger, in case she was someone important. If so, Rena might not be allowed to travel with them.
Fortunately, the stranger left plenty of space between them as she struck up a conversation. Rena nodded politely back in greeting, then responded, "Wandering around. Today is pretty much the opposite of my ideal weather forecast, so I was hoping that seeing more of Fiore might improve my spirits. How about you?" Internally, Rena was completely annoyed. She was no good at making polite conversation with people she didn't wish to talk to. Exchanging rude words was another thing.
With a start, Rena realized she hadn't introduced herself yet. Not paying attention to whether the girl had given a response yet, she said, "My name is Rena." And then frowned, realizing that she had actually given a real name. And moreover, her old name.
Miserable days sucked. Because… well yeah. Being extra cold was a problem that made days miserable. Eden tried to keep things light so that they could be removed as she saw fit. She was from a mountain village after all. A mountain village with some cold winters and moderate summers. Or… well, not hot summers. Life down with the rest of the country was automatically warmer. She adjusted, but there was a reason that even a cold morning couldn’t put her in more than a blazer. It was summer, and it would heat up as the day continued. At which time Eden could put her blazer on her boss’ caravan without any trouble.
On the scale of importance, Eden might be the bottom rung. Of course her boss thought she was pretty important. She kept him in business. Not for her combat prowess, but for her uncanny ability to steer trouble in the other direction. If it came between her discomfort and the caravan having distress, Eden would be a very uncomfortable girl. Things like that made her valuable to her employer, but to anyone else around here, she was just someone walking.
The stranger seemed uncomfortable. Playing to social cues was important for Eden’s magic, so she paid attention. But strangers were interesting… and this one didn’t like the cold weather. Buck up, camper, its just a chill. And her name was Rena. Huh. Rena. That was like Renata, which was the name of the mage who had once helped Eden’s village. Not while Eden was around, unfortunately. Not that it would have mattered. If it took that powerful mage and a dragon slayer to take care of the problem… Eden wouldn’t have been of any help at all. But this girl clearly wasn’t her, even with a similar name.
“Nice to meet you, Rena,” Eden said. She smiled, but didn’t think, even if the girl was friendly, that now was a good time to try to shake hands. They were walking. “Fiore is pretty great for its varied weather… I think its pretty hot most places though. The weather will warm up through the day, surely… do you maybe… want to borrow my blazer?” Eden didn’t have anything special in the blazer, and she could easily handle the cold. After all, her magic was a cold style of illusions… she had to be able to take the cold.
Rena stared at the girl for a moment before blinking her eyes and responding. "Ah... nice to meet you." So, what was this girl's name? That had been what Rena really wanted to know... but she supposed that directly asking outright might be rude. Listening to what the stranger had said about the weather, Rena supposed that it was most likely true. But nonetheless, right now it was cold and miserable, and that was the time that Rena was most concerned about. But she didn't want anything from a stranger, anyways. Besides maybe a name.
"No, I don't. Thank you though." The girl tagged the "thank you" on at the last minute, half-trying to be polite. Rena paused all of a sudden and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Wait, won't you get cold if you lend me your blazer?" Mentally, Rena was confused. Was this person actually nice, or liked the cold, or what? She wasn't used to talking with people, and it was showing. All of her responses were hesitant and to the older girl, it must have seemed as though she was uncomfortable. That was not good-- strangers shouldn't know what she's actually feeling. And she had told this one her name, too!
Right now, Rena's emotions were constantly changing between slightly annoyed, confused, and curious. Trying to be polite, which was a trait that Rena certainly didn't possess, had forced her to keep herself from asking perhaps awkward questions, or offensive ones. Perhaps one question wouldn't hurt though, since it was a common one that everyone asked... Maybe? "Are you a mage?" So far, this girl hadn't given off any hint that she practiced magic. But then again, not everyone did. Rena was just used to mages being full of themselves, since those were the kind of people she most encountered.
The response the girl was hoping for was "No." But somehow, her instincts were telling her that the stranger was a mage, and that the response she would get would either be a yes, or a lie. Rena doubted that the girl would lie though. Rena hadn't lied at all in this conversation either... yet... and there seemed to just be something with the conversation that made it feel like if she lied, she would be doing something very bad. Worse than she usually felt, which was nothing at all, after telling a half truth or a lie.
Right, names. Those were important. And this girl had even given her name to Eden. Eden was just…. Distracted. Yeah, very distracted by that name. After all, it was similar to a name that had been very important to Edan several years ago. You didn’t really forget the names of those who saved your village from ogres, now did you? The girl said it was nice to meet her, but Eden wasn’t so sure about that.
She declined the blazer, but thanked Eden. However that was overshadowed by the suspicious stare she started giving Eden after that. So very… distrusting. What? She wasn’t cold, so she offered her blazer. That really wasn’t weird, was it? She didn’t think so. She was asked if she was going to get cold. Eden shrugged, “I will be fine. I am used to the cold.” Everyone in her village was used to the cold. It came with the climate. At the same time they knew how to handle themselves in the cold as opposed to just ignoring it. Frostbite was no joke.
“Are you a mage?”
What? Eden blinked. What? Why? That just seemed so very… out of the blue. “Uh… that’s personal,” It actually helped not to go boasting that she had magical power. A lot of people in Fiore had magic. Hers was subtle enough. Part of her skill was in keeping that a secret from the people who she used her magic on. It was a good protection on her part. She could have used magic, but not wanted to share it. Or she could be lacking in magic, and not want to admit that either. Mostly she wanted to know why the girl was asking. She forgot her name once again because of this. “Why do you want to know that? Are you a mage?” She added, returning he question just because it had seemed to come out of nowhere in the first place.
Rena frowned as she heard the girl’s reply. Of course… that was perfectly plausible response. Most likely, the stranger was from somewhere in North Fiore or such, which happened to be where they were head now. Rena relaxed a slight bit more. Maybe she was being too overly suspicious… but the girl still hadn’t introduced herself. And that was a problem. Trying to keep from being rude, Rena leaned forward a little bit to hear the girl’s response to her next question. Maybe, if she was a mage, her name would be one that Rena recognized. When she finally found it out, of course. Unfortunately, the girl responded vaguely, in a way that could go either direction. Refraining from grumbling under her breath, Rena opened her mouth and was about to say something when the girl continued on, asking Rena about herself and her intentions. Why do I want to know? Rena mused, narrowing her eyes a little bit. Well… I suppose I just want to. Her feelings right now were ranging from annoyed, confused, and curious. The mage question had simply been an outburst from the last of those emotions.
Oh, but she had to reply to this girl. Well… despite the fact that she wasn’t in the habit of revealing things to strangers without getting the same in return, Rena was feeling funny today. She would go ahead and take the risk. ”There’s no particular reason I want to know. I came out today to find something interesting and maybe exciting, and typically being around mages will give one that.” Perhaps that was being insulting to ordinary people, if this stranger didn’t possess magical power, but Rena had a feeling that she did. Her intuition wasn’t the best, but everyone had those times.
Just then, Rena remembered that there had been another part to the girl’s reply. Well, I am a mage… but should I tell her? The girl thought, crinkling her brow. She probably can already tell. And there’s no reason not to… well, besides the fact that I never tell anyone anything until I know it about them. But considering the fact that I’ve already broken that… rule… several times throughout the duration of this conversation, I’d say that it doesn’t really matter anymore. So, after the pause, Rena let out a breath and said, ”Yes. I am a mage.” And because she honestly couldn’t stand not knowing a single thing about this stranger, Rena asked in a rush, ”And exactly what is your name? Pardon my rudeness-“ internally, Rena snorted- ”But I really am very curious right now, since I don’t seem to have a single piece of knowledge about you. Not that this isn’t a bad thing, but I’m a naturally inquisitive person… “ Rena frowned slightly.
Eden didn’t necessarily mind questions. She just… wanted to ask her own. And of course, security was not only a physical thing. Keeping information secure was also important. She couldn’t be quite as friendly if she was that tight lipped though. The other girl said that she wanted to find something interesting, maybe exciting. Mages gave that, hm? Well, she couldn’t argue that point. Some people could, but Eden found herself agreeing with that. She also liked non-mages, but in her experience… magic was pretty exciting.
“Yes. I am a mage.”
“Well that’s cool,” Eden said with a smile. And Rena asked for her name. Pardon her rudeness? “Oh, that’s not rude,” she said with a small wave of her hand. It was common practice to ask new acquaintances for their name. And Eden had been caught up in other things and forgotten to introduce herself. “I’m Eden Rickert, no worries,” she giggled when Rena frowned. She apparently really didn’t like all this not knowing things. “And since you were nice enough to answer my question, yes, I do use magic. Nothing impressive,” that was up for debate, “But I have some. I travel around with Horace up there,” she pointed to his caravan. Not that Rena was likely to know Horace, unless they’d met, but it was his name all the same.
“Sorry if I’m not all that interesting or exciting today,” she added. If that was what Rena was looking for, she was probably bored.
Rena contemplated this for a minute. Eden Rickert… no, she didn’t know the name. But now the girl would remember. Filing it away, she listened to the stranger’s next words. Ah, she was a mage… but seemed to be rather modest. That or very honest about themselves, perhaps both. Rena decided that it was likely that Eden possessed more powerful magic than she was letting on. Whether it was impressive or not was certainly relative. Then, the girl pointed to a caravan a bit further up the way, and Rena glanced over. No, she didn’t know anyone travelling around here, and hadn’t heard of the name Horace. But it was nice to know. The curious part of her mind was feeling satisfied right now.
Rena shook her head as the girl said something about not being exciting or interesting. Well… she did say the word today… that means that some other times, she could be very exciting? Rena mused. Today was a bit of a lazy day for Rena as well, considering the fact that she didn’t have to work and also had no plans. But she’d already told Eden that her decision to travel with the caravans had been rather extemporaneous. ”This is fine. I have a habit of searching for new and interesting things, but it’s nice to relax sometimes. You’re not boring me or anything, in case you were worried.” Perhaps it was a bit outright rude to say something like that, insinuating that she would be worried.
”Anyways, do you mind if I asked you what kind of magic you wield?” Hopefully, this question wouldn’t offend the girl. That or she wouldn’t dodge it like the mage one before. Maybe Rena should give her own magic first…? Eden would probably ask, like before, if she really wanted to know. ”The reason is because I’m curious,” Rena added on, just in case the other girl intended to ask another “why” question.
Eden Rickert hadn’t done anything super interesting in her life, at least as far as public record was concerned. She was born in a small village that wasn’t even on the map. She went to a school, and rumors circulated about her sister’s death. That was about it. But outside of those small circles, no one had really heard of Eden. That was just fine by her. She didn’t want to have people being aware of her life. She had it weird enough living it. She didn’t want other people to be able to know all of that.
Rena’s curiosity was sated for only so long. She seemed to be an “interest” hunter. Or an adrenaline junkie. But at least Eden wasn’t boring her. “Oh, cool,” she said. That was nice to know. It wasn’t like Eden was actually worried. She knew being boring to one person wasn’t an actual judge on her character. But it was still nice. Maybe they could keep talking and pass the time. It wasn’t as if this trip was going to be overly… interesting. Hopefully not anyway, then Eden would have to work harder. And now came another question, this time, again, about her magic.
“Uh, its called special snowflake magic…” she said. A weird name, but she hadn’t actually picked it. She’d kept it, clearly, but not specifically come up with the title on her own. “Its just…” How to describe it. Not manipulation or illusion, exactly. Compulsion? Influence? “It is an influence magic.”
Rena nodded absentmindedly as the older girl said a few words in response to the other's reassurance that Eden wasn't boring her. What she was really interested in was the response to her question about Eden’s magic. She had said that it was nothing impressive, but of course Rena was curious anyways. She had a habit of prying despite whatever people said that might ward off interest.
Special Snowflake Magic? Rena tilted her head slightly, thinking. So, an original magic? That was cool. It sounded like a manipulation kind of magic, where she controlled snowflakes. Kind of like they were attached to strings and did her bidding. With a start, Rena realized that in her musings, she had missed whatever it was that Eden had said about her magic-- probably what it actually did. Sighing to herself, Rena said hesitantly, ”Um, sorry, I didn’t catch that last part. What did you say?” Hopefully, the other girl wouldn’t take back her words or anything. Unless it had been another question for Rena.
Speaking of which… as a sort of apology for not listening, Rena decided to volunteer information of her own. Just in case Eden was like her, and wanted to know about other people. Although Rena tended to avoid other people… but when a conversation or interaction was initiated by another person, Rena wanted to know about that person. ”Oh, and I’m a fire mage.” Technically she was a dancing mage who used both wind and fire, but this seemed to be the most general category to put it into. ”It’s called Inner Flame.”
It was alright if Rena didn’t really care about Eden as a person, and only cared about her magic. She wasn’t expecting much, and she was getting at least an interesting conversation. That seemed to be the word of the day “interesting.” They were both curious girls, and that worked to Eden’s advantage. Even if Rena hadn’t seemed happy to be spoken to when this started, she wasn’t complaining now. So Eden admitted what her magic was. It did sound like one where she manipulated snowflakes, but that wasn’t it. The snowflake part was merely the cold, and the special was the influence. The combination was an implication on the uniqueness “a special snowflake.” It was weird, but when Eden didn’t want everyone to know all her secrets a name like that worked just fine.
Apparently Rena was tuning out though. Sounded like what another R named girl might do. “Its an influence magic,” she said again, for Rena’s benefit. It wasn’t much information, but it was something.
And Rena was a fire magic? Inner flame? So… fire from within? Sort of? Sounded like a fire-breather. But ah well. “That’s cool. Seems like an opposite element.” She was pretty sure water directly contrasted fire, but there wasn’t anything she felt that directly contrasted her magic… so it was close enough. “What’s that like?”
This time when Eden repeated herself, Rena listened closely. …Eh? Influence magic? So like, getting people to do things? Or affecting their decisions? That sounded kind of complicated, and also dangerous… and definitely impressive. There was more to this girl than she had let on.
Just as Rena was about to zone out again thinking of magic and Eden, the other girl said something about Rena’s magic being interesting. Or cool… haha, fire is cool. Rena suddenly blinked, and the cloud that had been hovering over her thoughts dissipated. What was wrong with her today? She was being completely lethargic and accepting of everything. Time to focus, Rena! Eden’s next question was… oh. Well, this would be sort of complicated. ”Well, my magic is dancing magic. I mostly use fire, but also some wind. My katana also carries some inner flame, which is what I pull magic from using the dancing. If that makes sense.” Rena realized that she never explained what inner flame was, exactly. But… oh well, Eden would ask if she really wanted to know, the girl supposed.
”So, do you like to travel around? Sightsee, that kind of thing? I forgot to ask too, what are your plans for today, traveling with the caravans? Just helping out your friend…” Rena couldn’t remember the name-- something starting with an A or an H. ”Er, or are you exploring and just decided that this way would be as good as any?” The girl wasn’t really sure why she was asking about Eden. It wasn’t that it seemed polite… maybe she was curious, but honestly Rena wasn’t sure.
Yes, influence magic. It didn’t sound like it would be influence magic, from a first impression, but it most certainly was. A flavored influence magic though. Not one that Eden liked to talk about. It wasn’t as good for business to talk about her little skills, because that made them less effective if people knew what to expect. Not that Eden had any inclination that she would be using her magic against this girl. That seemed more than unlikely.
Apparently Rena’s magic was dancing magic. That also sort of sounded familiar. Except not for fire. Well, no, first as a dancing magic sounded more than familiar. Eden knew of some places that used fire magic dancers as entertainers. But she was thinking of someone else. She couldn’t remember for sure, but it just seemed familiar. She also used wind, which did make sense. The wind could help direct the other element. Eden didn’t know what an inner flame was, but that was fine. She didn’t need to write an essay about this or anything.
“Horace isn’t really my friend. I mean, he’s nice, but he’s my boss, not my friend. He is a travelling merchant, and I go with him and help out of needed.” As security… or, she could unload boxes if she needed to, of course. “So I end up travelling a not, just not for leisure. What about you?”
Rena nodded slowly. He was her boss? So then, what was she-- did the girl simply help out in general, like directing others but also doing physical work like lifting things off of the caravans? She was a mage... was that the reason that she was working here? Her influence magic sounded really powerful, and perhaps it was used to dissuade strangers from poking their noses into their business. Which Rena might have been doing right now, so she supposed that wasn't really what it was used for. Or it could have been that she was over estimating herself as a threat. The girl tried not to think too hard about it, for in general she was rather bad at scrutinizing things, and wasn't really much fond of doing so anyways.
The fire mage realized that Eden had asked her a question, and started upon realizing that she didn't know what it was. Well, the last thing the older girl had said was something about her travelling a lot for reasons besides leisure... so perhaps she had asked the same thing to Rena? It was a fair enough assumption, the girl decided. "I suppose it's some what half and half. I move around a lot because of my profession as well, but I also like to travel in my free time. How long have you been working here? Do you get to see a lot of different areas, or just the same path?" Rena was kind of curious about this. It seemed a bit boring to just traverse the same trading lines over and over again, but maybe they went all over Fiore and the girl was simply unaware of it.
Rena really cared a lot about what Eden did. She cared about her magic. Thought about where she was from, despite being completely wrong in her unspoken directional guess. She cared about what Eden did for Horace. Really, even Eden didn’t think she was that interesting. Even Rosie didn’t think she was that interesting, and Rosie thought a whole lot more things were interesting. Eden was just partially unaware of how curious and over-thinking Rena actually was.
Eden asked what caused Rena to travel, and it was apparently half and half. Leisure and otherwise. “Yeah, I see a lot of different places. Horace varies what he sells based on what he thinks he can make money on. Often times it is weapons, and clothing. We might buy them cheap in one location, and travel a long way to sell them for a bigger profit. So its all across the country and elsewhere if we can. You travel for your profession? What is that?” Had Eden already asked about Rena’s profession? She didn’t remember the answer, so she might as well ask now.
