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Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - E'irawen - 11-13-2012
Today had been quiet thus far. No adventurers passing through the trails, hardly and creatures scurrying around. Not even the elementals had anything to speak of, it seemed. It was making hunting difficult, truth be told. Currently, E'iri remained shoved up into a tree, eyes scanning carefully for anything he could make use of. Alas, nothing. The only sound to finally break the silence was the growling of his stomach.
With a heavy sigh, he crept carefully back to the forest floor, beginning to wander the familiar trials. It wouldn't be too long before his nose caught a scent- a delicious one, at that. His stomach growled again at the thought of food cooking. If memory served him correctly, he was nearing camp Bentbranch. It must've been someone roasting on the fire. Ears would droop in disappointment, though, the more he considered it. He couldn't just invade on their meal. Besides, who was to say they were friendly enough to even let him near? For all he knew, he could be walking into a death trap! Yes, just like mother had always told him. Never trust them!
...Still. That was smelling pretty good. He couldn't help but creep closer to the campgrounds. He might've stood out a bit, to anyone with a keen eye. Not because of appearance- which consisted of an oversized tabard, shorts, and ankle boots- but because he was so...awkward and shifty around the camp's entrance. He wouldn't even attempt to enter it, but instead, linger just outside, crouched by a bush. Ninja mode.
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - Eva - 11-13-2012
Spoiler: show
The lone elezen woman huddled over the campfire was a curious sight all by herself. The pair of round amethysts that were here eyes closely inspected the roast dodo in the oversized pan as one finger tapped gently against her chin as though she were contemplating whether the food was cooked enough, or seasoned properly. A turn of her head revealed a strange bluish tattoo covering the left side of her face; its pattern vaguely resembling a gnarled branch. She reached into her satchel and produced a small container of table salt which she smiled at before turning back to the fire and sprinkling a bit of it over the roasting meat.
She hummed softly some somber tune as she fussed with the meal. There was a fair bit of dodo meat - far more than the lone woman would likely eat in one sitting - though no vegetables or side dish seemed to accompany the meal. There was, however, a kettle set beside the large pan. And without much warning, it began whistling loudly as steam rose from its spout. The woman nonchalantly turned back to the satchel beside her, affording another good look at her face. In addition to the violet-colored eyes, her skin was extremely pale - probably duskwight - and long tresses of yellow-blonde hair were tied back with a leather cord behind her head in a very long ponytail which ran vertically down the back of her cloak almost like a yellow stripe before ending just above the ground. Her features were soft and she seemed a bit older, maybe in her mid-to-late twenties. She also seemed very heavily absorbed in her work over pan and kettle. The woman picked up a large bag of what could only have been tea leaves and dropped it unceremoniously into the kettle, moving it away from the fire and bringing the loud whistle - which had drawn a few gazes from the camp - to an abrupt stop.
The satchel itself seemed rather large, and for an elezen the woman seemed rather short in stature, though it was difficult to gauge her exact frame since the green robes did a fair job of concealing her form. Pointed ears seemed to quirk at every little sound from the nearby camp but she paid them little regard as she slowly flipped the roasted dodo meat over in the pan and then poured some kind of spicy sauce over it - the aroma wafting across the entire encampment and vicinity.
Her eyes never left the pan as she produced a few small tin cups from that satchel. A keen observer might also have noted a pair of silver knitting needles jutting from the top of the satchel and some unfinished project or another knit from yarn of various shades of blue and purple and gray. Red lips parted for only a moment as one of her hands fell to her left knee, fingers drumming against it almost nervously.
Her voice was soft and sounded friendly if a bit unsteady as well, "How long are you going to stay there before introducing yourself?" Her head spun around slowly to reveal a sort of half-smile, and those violet eyes seemed to inspect the area where she'd heard some sound, though it seemed as though she was unable to locate its exact source right away.
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - E'irawen - 11-13-2012
He sniffed at the air, ears perking up as that dodo roast whistled. The second she spoke up, however, those ears flattened back and he ducked down into the brush. He totally wasn't there! Even his tail curled up beside him, and he tried to remain perfectly still.
Curiosity, tempation still would get the best of him, however, as he begun leaaaning forward. Slowly. Sniffing at that roast. She was right there, the food was right there! With his stomach howling at him, he felt almost no choice but to speak up. "I am just hungry," he spoke softly. From the sound of his voice, he was young, and very nervous. "It smells good..." Ears folded back once again. Still, he had not revealed himself. He was much too wary for that, and was ready to run at the first sign of anything wrong.
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - Eva - 11-13-2012
The tension seemed to leave the duskwight's shoulders a bit as the new presence made himself aware. She glanced the stranger over for a moment, finally settling her mind that he wasn't much of a threat. She gave a friendly smile and gestured to the fire.
"Oh, I was just making dinner for the coming week. Roast dodo. My father's recipe. But I've never really made it this way before with the spicy sauce drizzled over it." She paused a moment, glancing at the bubbling sauce reducing in the bottom of the pan.
"I hope it tastes as good as it smells. You're welcome to a sit a bit, if you're hungry. I've plenty extra, but nothing really to go with it except for tea. I hope that's all right." The fair skin on her face blushed faintly. She hadn't really anticipated on company, but she had grown accustomed to putting on more tea than was needed because friends seemed to always have a way of popping out of the woodwork, and the blend of tea leaves she'd spent years perfecting seemed to have become something of a success.
"Oh, ah..." she tapped her chin a few more times, glancing at the miqo'te fellow, "...they call me Eva, by the way." The soft smile touched her lips again as she motioned with her hands for him to join her.
Spoiler: show
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - Aysun - 11-13-2012
Spoiler: show
Aysun had come for salmon.
These days, it was the simple pleasures in life that were cherished by her, and the Shroud was the only place she could ever catch salmon. And so there she'd gone, traveling all the way across Eorzea from her usual haunts in Limsa Lominsa for a stinking fish.. which she had failed to catch after several bells at a stream nearby the camp.
Needless to say her mood was rather sour due to this. She was hungry, and the stale bread in her satchel was going to be a disappointing dinner. She headed towards the camp with the intent of settling for the evening there. The Shroud was dark enough as it was during the daytime, she didn't particularly want to wander around at night here.
As she approached the camp, the smell of something delightful and spicy cooking reached her.. as well as the shrill whistle of a kettle. Who the hell traveled with a kettle? Well, Eva did..
She entered the camp opposite of the source of the sound, searching around for it as it was quieted by its owner. Recognition of who that was took only a moment, and she immediately altered her path to the woman.. and stopping abruptly nearby upon realizing she had company already. Unfamiliar company. She eyed him warily, seeming to size him up. He was puny, kind of like her, and seemed far too nervous to be a threat to anything at the moment. Still, she hesitated, watching them.
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - E'irawen - 11-13-2012
His ears gave a wiggle as another woman had come running up. Don't worry, Aysun! He was sizing you up, too. He was at least relieved when she halted a little ways away. Good news! The Elezen wasn't recruiting her army. Good, good. He was safe. For now.
"E'iri," he replied softly to her, heterochromatic eyes darting between her and the other Miqo'te. Standing, slowly, he proved to be a short little thing, his tail cowering almost between his legs, betraying his attempt to look oh-so-tough. Despite what his mother had taught him about not trusting others...his stomach was winning the judgement battle in his mind. Maybe if he did die of poisoned dodo, at least he'd die full and with a delicious flavor on his tongue. "You must have killed it a little while ago," he said, "I haven't been able to find anything around here."
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - Manari - 11-14-2012
Spoiler: show
Two loud shrill hawk screeches could be heard throughout the surrounding area of the Twelveswood. Two large long tailed hawks swooped overhead, circling in a wide flight pattern, swooping through the canopy of leaves overhead with ease. Two quick separate piercing whistles cut through the forest and the larger of the two hawks ascends up into the trees out of sight, and the othe hawk circles once more swooping down to the forest floor, and slowing its decent to perch on the arm of young looking female Miqo'te. The Miqo'te smiles softly, reaching with her other hand to gently pet the bird, which lets out another lower, more quiet call. She smiles to the bird and whistles again, and the hawk takes off into the trees, following after the first.
The Miqo'te girl began to walk towards the city, leaving the wilderness of the deeper area of the Twelveswood. Her long light platinum-blonde hair was braided on the sides and pulled into two twin tails in the back. Her bangs framed her youthful face perfectly and the light color of her hair was a perfect compliment to her pale white skin. Her bright green eyes expertly scanned the forest. She made her way towards the city of Gridania, heading north to reach it. Her purposes out in the forest were many and also few all at once. She had a home in Gridania, but being born and raised deep in the Twelveswood, she felt her true home was out here. The mercenary company she had belonged to, sworn to protect the woods, had recently disbanded, and left with no income she fended for herself much of the time, so as not to be a burden on her new family in Gridania. It wasn't difficult for her, as she was raised to be a huntress and tracker for her Keeper tribe.
As she neared the camp on her way to the city, the scent of roasting dodo was obvious and wonderful. She would just continued on, as she had recently eaten fish from the streams deeper in the woods, except that the familiar scent of lilac was in the air, and she thought she may know who was at the camp. As she was within sight of the campfire, she picked up another familiar scent, along with a new one as well. She thought it smelled almost like a male. She kept walking, if only to satisfy her own curiosity about the source of the scent, wanting to see if she was right. Soon, ahead of her, she could see the familiar face of Lady Eva. She could see she was right about the male, a shorter male Miqo'te stood talking to her with hair and a complexion similar to her own. She then noticed the third person was Aysun, and wondered what she was doing here in the Twlveswood. She now approached a little more shyly after noticing all the company that Lady Eva had.
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - Eva - 11-14-2012
Spoiler: show
Eva smiled a friendly smile and gave a slight nod of her head to the miqo'te fellow, "Well, it's nice to meet you E'iri. Oh... this dodo came from the marketplace in Gridania. I'm still somewhat new to cooking and I figured if anything went wrong over a campfire, I wouldn't burn down my cabin." She giggled softly, leaning back a bit and appearing more relaxed, "I like it out here in the wilderness, besides."
Following E'iri's gaze she gave a nod of recognition to Aysun as she arrived, directing her smile at her, "...and this here is A'eyshn. She's a friend of mine. We used to work for a mercenary company together some time ago." Violet eyes remained fixed on Aysun as she spoke in her somewhat airy, breathless voice.
"Oh, ah... were you hungry also? I was making extra to keep on ice shards, but I've plenty more at home I can cook." Her smile widened a bit despite what appeared to be a sort of awkwardness between the two petite miqo'te when a third one she'd also recognized strolled up towards the campfire.
"Oh, miqo'te all around today, it seems~" She spoke in a bit of a lilt, shuffling the pan a bit over the fire to ensure that the meat was cooking evenly amidst the spicy reduction. "I've plenty roast dodo for you as well Manari, if you're hungry too."
Reaching into the pan and picked up a bite-sized bit of meat between her thumb and index finger, quickly casting it upwards past her lips. Holding it between her teeth for a moment, she shook her hand and managed the word "Hot" around the bit of meat. A few seconds later she bit into the dodo and gave a satisfied nod, "...and spicy." She wiped her fingers off on a cloth napkin that had been folded neatly on her lap, lowering her head a bit in a pitiful attempt to conceal her blushing cheeks.
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - Manari - 11-14-2012
Manari's ear's perked up as Eva addressed her directly, and she gave a bit of a shy smile to the group. She stepped forward, and gave Eva a smile and a slight bow, then turned to Aysun and did the same. She gave the male a warm, if a little shy, smile and bowed to him as well.
"Hello Lady Eva. I thought it might be you here, I wanted to say hi. And h-hello, Aysun. It's nice to see you again... um... h...how have you been? " She smiled nervously and turned to the one she didn't know yet. She could tell from his scent that he lived here in the Twelveswood, much like herself. "Hello there, my name is Manari. Oh, I suppose Lady Eva already said my name. You live here in the Twelveswood, right?"
Her nose casually sniffed at the meal cooking. Roast dodo happened to be one of her favorites, and the spices she could smell Eva using seemed to smell wonderful. She didn't want to intrude, but she felt she would have a hard time turning the meal down, especially if it meant they could all sit and talk for a while. That was something she had missed a great deal.
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - Aysun - 11-14-2012
Aysun straightened up a little as she was introduced, taking it as an invitation to join the two at the fire, even if it really wasn't at first.
She plopped down unceremoniously near the fire with a huff, laying her fishing rod next to her with a tired, "Yes, please," to the offer of food. She gave Manari little more than a nod in greeting. She observed as Manari immediately changed focus to the little male--E'iri?-- and narrowed her odd eyes slightly at her. Twelve, why didn't she just throw herself at him now? Bloody.. males.
Oh, she was in such a mood lately. Manari was just being friendly. She turned her attention to Eva, a little irritated none the less. She glanced up briefly to the canopy, and then to Eva with a simple, "Smells good though. How are you?"
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - E'irawen - 11-15-2012
E'iri crept over to join them at the fire, though still chose to seat himself in a more isolated little spot across from them all. He could feel their eyes on him the entire time- which, 'feeling' them wouldn't be necessary when he sat down and could see them directly. He only nodded to Manari's question, listening intently on what the other's had to say, if anything at all. "I live nearby," he replied, referring to his little shanty of a home. It wasn't fancy or large in the least bit, but it kept him safe and warm.
Unsure of anything better to do, he just chose to inquire, as he always did. "Are you passing through here, for travel? Where are you going?"
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - Eva - 11-15-2012
The elezen smiled softly at E'iri and gave another slight nod of her head. Observing him seating himself a bit away from the others it dawned on her that he might feel somewhat intimidated what with her teakettle's whistle serving as something to abruptly rally a couple of her friends to her side. The only weapon she carried was a dagger she nearly always wore strapped to her thigh, but travel in the Twelveswood was dangerous, even so close to Gridania. For a moment she'd thought to withdraw the dagger and cast it aside as a symbolic gesture, but she realized how easily that might be misconstrued, and she appeared to be unarmed anyway, and that was probably as good in his eyes as being unarmed. Instead, she relaxed her posture a bit and hoped that she appeared non-threatening. With her robes she realized she looked rather unimpressive compared to some adventurers with their fancy armor and their impressive weaponry. The only thing which sometimes struck some folks as being a bit intimidating was that bluish tattoo that streaked downwards across half of her face - but for her, even that had become as much a part of her as her arms or legs and she no longer gave it much thought.
"Well, I can't speak for A'eyshn or Manari, but I live in Gridania, though I like to take walks out in the woods sometimes and this-" She glanced at the contents of the pan over the fire before continuing, "-well, I'm still somewhat new to cooking." She paused a moment, inspecting the meat on the pan a moment. "I think it's about done now~" She motioned joyfully, then her cheeks pinkened a bit once more as she realized she possessed no utensils or dishes. She'd meant to cook it out in the wilderness where she would be safe from burning down her cabin, cover the pan, and bring the rest home to eat there and save the rest. "I don't have any silverware or anything, so..." She gave a sheepish grin, picking up another small bit of the meat between her fingers, pursed her lips this time to blow some of the heat away from the morsel before popping it into her mouth.
"Mmmm~" After chewing for a moment, she beamed happily. She wrapped a thick woolen cloth around the handle of the large cast-iron pan, and extended it towards E'iri.
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - Manari - 11-15-2012
Manari tried to give Aysun her most sincere smile, but didn't push anything further with her. She walked around and sat on the other side of Eva, able to look at all three of the others easily. She kept her smile on as she listened to Eva and E'iri speak a bit and waited for a pause to join in the conversation. As she sat, she removed the axe she wore across her back and set it on the ground beside her. Her forest-green cotton tabard perfectly matched both her eyes and the scenery around them, not to mention her deep green earrings and the ring she wore on her left hand. It would be easily guessed that green was Manari's favorite color. She hummed a soft melody to herself as she made herself a little more comfortable for sitting.
As Eva offered E'iri some of the delicious smelling meat, Manari took the small pause in the speaking to try and make the obviously nervous male Miqo'te hopefully a bit more at ease. She nodded in agreement with Eva's words about living in Gridania. "I also have a home in Gridania that I stay at, but I'm much more at home out here. I get restless if I can't spend a few nights out under the canopy of trees. I was just out hunting when I smelled Eva's purfume and her wonderful meal... "
She looked around quickly, hoping that she wouldn't come off as rambling. She decided to leave it at that unless it seemed more of her talking would be welcome. She hadn't seen the two women in a some time and wanted to catch up, but she also wanted to help the male feel a bit more welcome as well.
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - Aysun - 11-18-2012
Aysun's frown fell away as Manari met it with a smile. She seemed to make no effort what so ever to ease E'iri's obvious discomfort, however. She was keenly aware that he had taken his seat with some intentional distance, as she often did this herself.
She yawned slightly as Eva offered food to the male, simply listening. He was another 'forest born' as they called themselves, it seemed. "Seems I'm the odd one out here."
Re: Curiosity and the Cat [Open; Non-Canon] - E'irawen - 11-18-2012
Though it took a few moments, the incessant growling of his stomach would not let him pass up this offer. So far they hadn't tried to kill him, and this was good. Alas, maybe they poisoned the food, he considered, but at the same rate they had begun to eat it themselves. So it couldn't be! Yes. This food was good and safe. Extending his arm, he took a bit, then began to nibble at it.
Ears perked and wiggled as each spoke. Eva had even thrown away her weapon as a sign of peace. It did help! Their efforts were not in vain, as they could probably see the tension in his shoulders slowly but surely drop, his posture becoming a little more relaxed. Perhaps not everyone was exactly like his mother had described. Maybe. He would have to inspect this beyond just this evening, of course.
It seemed the majority of them either lived in Gridania- or in the forest about it, in Manari's case- except for Aysun, who spoke up about it just at the end. "Where do you come from?" he tilted his head. He'd learned about the other city-states, of course, but had never traveled outside of this forest. Not even /inside/ to Gridania. Just the forests. "What's it like?" he added, eyes wide with a childlike curiosity.