2017-03-21: A Journey of Learning
- Log: A Journey of Learning
- Cast: Jacqueline Barber, Riesenlied
- Where: The Adelyn Ranchlands
- Date: 499 PC
- Summary: Riesenlied finds herself surrounded by wolves, but Jacqueline comes to her rescue. Together, the two agree to travel to Linga.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Filgaia is never safe, no matter how comfortable and genteel the landscape may be. Even at its mildest, amidst Adlehyde's grassy plains and soft, wind-swept hills, there's danger lurking about.
Riesenlied is faced with a problem she's... well, to be fair, faced many times, but it doesn't exactly make it less of a problem. The travelling woman, cloaked at the moment, is surrounded by a pack of wolves that've decided that she smelled pretty good -- perhaps the exposure of the wounds on her wings underneath her cloak.
"Ah, what timing..." she sighs softly, as she watches the wolves circle her gently. Odjn bobs and says, "Hey, don't just stand there, Riese, do something!"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
A wagon - once decorated with a rather garish assortment of painted colors on it that had since faded with time, though still adorned with the name 'Jay's Curatives and Curios' on the side - rolls along the plains, pulled along by a nameless horse and bearing one Jacqueline Barber at its front. Things were peaceful at the moment, or so she thought.
"Whoa, hey, hold on!" She stammered, as her horse began to react poorly to something in the area. He went wild, and then, he refused to pull at all. With a sigh Jacqueline dismounted, shaking her head. She dismounted and paced around the wagon, looking for any signs of damage that might be making the horse's burden difficult.
"No problem. Everything looks fine...so what's /your/ problem?" She asked with a glance towards the horse, as if expecting an answer.
It wasn't long before she heard it, however. Howls, remarkably close by. He must've heard them before she did, and refused to continue due to the danger. She couldn't have that, however.
"I'll be back. Don't go running off without me." She warned, removing a Crest from her pouch and slapping it onto the side of her wagon. It'd give anyone who tried to mess with it in her absence a nasty shock.
She began to follow the sound, rummaging through her bags before pulling out a bottle containing a foul-smelling black liquid. Monster repellent. It worked to chase off moles, pigeons, and most common monsters, so why not wolves?
She spotted the source of trouble before long. A pack of wolves had apparently surrounding a familiar face.
"Need a hand?" Jacqueline calls out. If that didn't get the wolves' attention, her next action probably would. She hurled the bottle at the largest one could see, hoping it'd shatter the bottle and spread its contents all over it and its surroundings.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Jacqueline's bottle shatters, and a repugnant smell soon scatters throughout the area. The wolves growl loudly and start to split away, giving Riesenlied a chance to step away from the flank she'd gotten herself into.
A particularly brave one, however, manages to lunge through the scent and come at the woman -- but she holds her hand and firmly spoke: "... Heel," with a rather expressive, intense glare to the creature.
There was a moment in which the wolf paused... and then it sat on its hind legs, letting out a much less threatening mewl. She imperiously commanded, "Begone, and do not bother us any more."
The wolves, deterred by the scent and the order both, quickly split and headed off into the hills.
There was a relieved sigh from the woman, who turns and smiles softly at Jacqueline. "Just in time, Jay. That could have been dangerous."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Though most of the wolves are gone, a few remain. Jacqueline is already drawing another bottle from her bags as she hurries towards Riesenlied. The bottle is raised but, before she is able to toss it, the other woman delivers a command that the wolf, surprisingly, obeys.
Jacqueline's mind goes back to a moment since past, when Riesenlied had unfurled her wings during battle and delivered a command that had invigorated herself and Xantia. It seems as if encouragement isn't the only thing she was capable of.
With a smile, Jacqueline places the bottle back into her pouch and approaches her friend. "We've gotta stop meeting like this." She says with a chuckle, then looks her over.
"Are you all right? Any of them bite you?" She asks.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Oh, just fine, thank you..." Riese let out a sigh as she rubbed at her shoulder, bowing her head gracefully. "Yes, I'd rather meet at a tavern or a comfortable place, but Filgaia seems to enjoy dictating how Drifters ought to meet at times."
She stepped closer, glancing towards her carriage, then to the merchant herself. "No bites, thankfully. In truth, I'd have been loathe to get into a scrap, given I was injured during my latest Ruin dig."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline nods in agreement, folding her arms over her chest. "Seems like the way of it." She says. She wondered if it was luck - good or bad - or something else. Still, sometimes it worked out for her. Sometimes it didn't, but she couldn't let a few bad situations get her down.
At the talk of an injury, Jacqueline frowned. Her last dig had ended similarly. She wasn't injured herself, but the poor boy had suffered a nasty wound to his knee. Being a Drifter was a life full of danger, she supposed, but there could be no reward without risk.
"That so? Well, where you headed? Could give you a lift, and some treatment besides. Probably safer than walking, if you're attracting hungry beasts." She offered with a smile, motioning over her shoulder towards her wagon with a thumb.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Hmm... that is an appealing proposition," Riesenlied smiles, much to Odjn's cheer as well, clapping her hands to say, "Woo-hoo! We get a ride!"
She gestures and says, "It isn't a bad wound, but I was concerned that the wolves had sniffed the wound out. It was my wing," she mentioned as she shrugged one shoulder to somewhat gesture to the back. "But I suppose it should be healed in a few days..."
She walked with Jay to head towards her carriage. "I was just headed back to Adlehyde, myself. You?"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Odjn's enthusiasm got a smirk out of Jacqueline. She was glad to have some company for the road, as short of a trip as it would be. It was usually just herself and the horse when she traveled, and he wasn't much for conversation.
"I think I've got some ointment or something you could put on it. Just a second." She says, walking back to the wagon herself. She is quick to remove the Crest from its side before heading around back to make room for her new passengers
"Same. Gonna be headed to Linga soon, so I've been picking up supplies for the road." She replies. As she talks she rummages through some of the bags that had been in the way, eventually emerging with a triumphant smile and a jar in her hand.
She holds out to Riesenlied with a nod. "Here, it's on the house. Don't want it now, then you can hold onto it. Might come in handy, you know?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied let out a hum of thought, but then acquiesces. For other demons, it'd be a problem, but her own tainted physiology made it, ironically, much easier to blend in among the humans. Sometimes, she'd have to wonder if she really was a demon...
"Linga? I've never been," Riese admits as she accepts with a grateful nod. "Your supplies have all been of the highest quality. Thank you."
She sits a little closer to an obscured portion of the caravan as she undoes her cloak, when they get going again. As Riesenlied had noted earlier, her left wing has seen better days, where a few puncture marks had pierced through the wingbone. Several loops of gauze marred red covered the appendage. "It's dry now, so I suppose it's all right to replace the bandage..." she glances over her shoulder.
Odjn frowns softly. "I'll help loop you up again, just like a mummy! Hehe."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
The sincere compliment gets a smile out of Jacqueline. "Oh, stop. You'll make me blush." She jokes, then climbs back into the seat at the front of the wagon.
Once Riesenlied and Odjn are situated in the back back she urges her horse on once more. Now that the danger has passed, he soon begins to move. He isn't the fastest horse around, but he is at least strong. Too much speed wouldn't be good for her wares, anyway.
"If you're into books and learning, Linga's the place to be. Apparently, though, there's a cave system nearby that's got some incredible herbs. Figure they'd make a mighty fine potion, if I can rope some folks together to get some for me." She says with a nod, then glances back at Odjn and Riesenlied as they begin the treatment.
The wound looked pretty bad to Jacqueline's eyes. Maybe it was a good thing they met when they did.
"Wouldn't mind seeing that, myself." She says with a chuckle at Odjn's comment, then returns her eyes to the road.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"A place of learning... why, that does sound like my kind of place," Riesenlied comments. "Perhaps I will join you to this town after all."
Odjn groans and says, "Learnin's fine and all, but these people better appreciate their song! I'll be bored out of my tears!"
"You mean, 'bored to tears'?" Riese muses.
"No, I mean even my tears'll be so bored they'll jump out of my body for fun!"
"Ah," Riese pauses again, as Odjn starts unfixing the gauze and Riese reaches backwards to start helping herself to some of the salve. "Is that your own horse, or did you rent?"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"The more the merrier!" Jacqueline replies with a nod. She hadn't really expected to bring anyone with her, but she wasn't opposed to the idea. Besides, Riesenlied clearly knew her stuff. Maybe she could convince her to help her out with the expedition. For now, though, she put that thought aside. That was something that could be saved for the future.
She listens idly to Riesenlied and Odjn's banter with a smirk on her face until she was addressed again. She thought back.
"This guy? Yeah, you could say he's mine. Rented him first, but when I tried to bring him back, well..." She shrugs. "The whole place was just gone." It happened from time to time. Not often, but often enough that she had gotten used to it.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Ah, I figured so," Riesenlied chuckles. "There's a certain way it moves that tells me he's quite loyal to you. Untamed horses would tend to just bolt. You thought about giving him a name?"
Odjn beams as she seizes the gauze and yanks, causing Riese to yelp a bit. "Careful!"
"What? You're usually the one making me grouse, it's just a bit of payback!"
"How childish you can still be..." Riese sighs, though it's all in good nature.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline smiles. "Well, ain't had him very long but we've been through a lot. Guess I'm all he has left now." She says, leaning her head back as she considers Riese's question. A name, huh? She'd thought of it before, but she could never quite come up with one. What kind of name would be good for a horse like him? It baffled her.
Her train of thought was interrupted by a yelp from behind. She glances back quickly, though she is relieved to see that it is nothing major. "Now, don't get too rough back there." She jokes, then once more returns her eyes to the road.
"Sure he had a name once, but his first owner never told me. So, I guess it don't feel right to slap another one on him..." She replies. There's a bit of hesitation in her voice, and it isn't long before she continues.
"...Though if I'm being truthful, guess I just ain't good at coming up with names." She admits sheepishly. Jay was easy enough to come up with. It was, after all, just the first letter of her name spelled out.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Hmm... well, the right name will come to you," Riese encourages Jacqueline.
Odjn beams and says, "On the other hand, I knew what my name was, so Riese didn't have to give me a silly nickname!"
"It hasn't stopped you from trying to come up with silly nicknames, though..."
"Look, that's different, that's a stage name! You need a flashy name to woo the customers, don't you agree, Jay?" Odjn harps. "You're working a business, you know a catchy phrase or name draws in the crowds!"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Thanks. I'll get it someday. 'Til then, I'm sure he's okay with it." Jacqueline replies with a smile down towards her horse.
She nods in agreement then, taking another look back at the two of them. "She's got a point. You gotta have some kind of a hook. Something to really 'wow' folks, make 'em want to know about you or your product, so you can really reel 'em in and make 'em wanna spend. A good name'll go along distance for that. You'd almost make a good merchant yourself, Odjn." She says with a smile. One hand comes off the reins as she speaks, making gestures along with her words to emphasize her point. Once she is done talking, it's quickly returned to its position.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"D-don't encourage her--"
Odjn's eyes light up. "See? Someone agrees, Riese! Our taco business could've made us the stuff of legends by now!"
"You know Zed's still sour about that," Riese warns.
"I didn't know he'd take the phrase 'It'll light up your pants!' literally!"
"Be careful with what catchphrase you come up with, I suppose..." Riese muses, then tilts her head. "I heard there were ruins around Linga as well, come to think of it, Jay. Have you been to any of them yourself? I imagine there are tomes of useful information within..."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline had the feeling she might have almost created a monster, but she simply laughed it off. She didn't know who 'Zed' was or what this 'taco business' was about, but she had the feeling that it was probably best for her mental stability if she didn't pry any further.
"Nah, but I hope to. Like you said, there's gotta be some useful books there." She agreed with a nod. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to veer into the suggestion she was considering before.
"Figure I'll be putting an expedition together when I get there. You two're free to join, if you're still interested in tagging along." She offered.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied kind of knew that was probably where that was going, smiling. "I'll see how my wing is doing in the morning, but I would definitely love to join your expedition, Jay."
Odjn pumps up a little bit to go, "That probably beats having to try to work up a nerd community!" What's a nerd, anyway?
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline grins. "Perfect! Here's hoping you heal up well enough." She says. Things seemed to be coming along nicely. They'd probably need more than just the two - er, three - of them, but having at least one ally she knew she could rely on would be reassuring.
She chuckles again at Odjn's comment. She doesn't quite understand it, but she at least gets the general idea. It's the thought that counts.