Searching for Something Forgotten (OPEN)

[Lujayn]

Aneira was curious as to how wealthy this man was to say that price wasn't a problem for him. Price was always a problem for her- she barely managed to feed herself as it was, which was quite a dilemma as she needed quite a lot of sustanence to keep herself from keeling over and just dieing where she stood. She wasn't about to tell him that, however. No need to top more worry onto the man, after all.

At his question on whether or not she needed anything, she snorted. "Do I need anything? Oh, right, they would go over well. 'Excuse me, ma'am, do you have any eye of newt or toe of frog? I need to raise up some dead, you see.' The best case scenario would be they run me out of the town." This was all delivered in a rather sarcastic manner by Aneira. "I think I'm fine." A pause. "Well, perhaps I could get another sweater... I'm a little cold..."

This was said by a small girl wearing three layers of thick sweaters, thick pants, many bags and a very warm cloak, in the middle of the day, on what was considered one of the hotter days of that summer. Clearly, there was something very wrong with someone in this situation saying that they were still cold.

[WolfEnchantress]

"Hmm. Your right, that would be fairly disastrous, wouldn't it?" He said, then glanced over at her thick layers.

"And you're still cold?" He found it fairly nice out. A bit on the hotter side, but not the point of discomfort, even for him, dressed in all black. However, he wasn't one to decide the weather, so he kept the comment he was about to say on his tongue and shrugged, hoping she wasn't or something of the sort.

They went a bit farther until the signs of life began coming into view - a trap here, a hutch there, a shack or two scattered about. Unconsciously, one hand slipped to rest on the hilt of his sword and he kept his senses open, eyes flicking here and there. Not really because he thought they were in danger. Mostly out of habit. People started becoming frequent, and they would glance over at the odd company coming into town. He was quiet, assessing each person they passed, again out of habit more than anything.

"We're almost in town now, so you may not want to say anything else about eyes of newt or messing with dead souls," He said quietly. "Somehow I don't think that would rest too well with the townsfolk." Overall, they seemed like...normal people. They'd glance over with either a welcoming smile or a look of suspicion before returning to their task. It was so...routine.

"Other than that, we shouldn't have any trouble." He still hadn't mentioned that he was being followed by people with the intent to capture, torture and kill him. With a glance behind him, he thought about telling her, but those goons had to be at least a day out. It could wait. He hoped.

[Lujayn]

Aneira gave him a rather flat look. “Yes, tell the lady who’s been a necromancer for many years not to mention her craft. Obviously she hasn’t realised that could be disastrous yet,” she said dryly, in a low enough town so as not to be overheard by others. “As much of a shock as this may come to you, I’m older than I look, so I do know how to take care of myself.”

Said the girl who was always dying.

She started coughing again, as if fate wished to contradict her, and she grimaced. “Well, besides that, but that’s hardly my fault. Sort of.” She wouldn’t be in that situation if she hadn’t agreed to be a necromancer. She looked around. “Well, first order of business is food, I suppose... fish market first, then maybe find some vegetables...” She chewed on her lip, brows furrowed. The problem was, she was a terrible haggler, and more often than not the vendors took advantage of that fact and charged her more than the going price, which she accepted in her ignorance. “Um... if it’s not too much trouble... would you be able to do the purchasing?” She asked, avoiding eye contact. “Not that I want to place any unnecessary trouble on you, just that... I’m not very good... at shopping...” The last bits were scarcely audible, as she had started to mumble embarrassedly.

Really, it was a miracle in itself that she had been able to survive this long on her own without her sickly disadvantage, and scarcely believable with it taken into consideration. Aneira seemed to be living through sheer force of will and luck more than anything else.

Her vision wavered , and she rubbed the heels of her hand into her eyes, trying to keep herself conscious.

[WolfEnchantress]

He honestly wasn't sure if she was accurate in saying that she knew how to take care of herself. She seemed sickly. But then again, if she was older than she looked as she said, obviously she could handle herself better than she figured he would be able to.

"Yeah, no problem," He answered her next question, which she mumbled increasingly quieter. He figured she wasn't exactly the type to go about haggling over price, especially since some of the stand owners were nasty people. He scanned the general area before selecting a stand with only a few people at it and approached, looking over what was offered.

"Two of these," He said, pointing to two rather large sized fish, "and two of these," the latter being two orange colored crabs. The merchant looked up, nodding.

"Fourteen," He said, referring to the amount of gold the purchase would cost. It was ghastly high. No wonder only a few people were here.

"I'll pay four," He said firmly. The guy laughed loudly.
"What, are ya crazy? I can't-"
"I said, I will pay four." He cut the man off. His voice had dropped in volume, but held a threatening tone. He met the merchant's eyes for a second, passing the message along clearly in a poisonous glare, Abruptly, the man nodded, confidence gone.
"Of course, sir, that will be plenty..." Damien laid the four coins on the table and took the wrapped products, stepping away from the table. He found a table selling vegetables and no haggling was needed, they were fairly priced. Once that was done, he again stepped to where there was not many people.

"Where to? We can find somewhere to cook this, then go hunt for a sweater. Or we can rest first, of course, He said, noticing her exhaustion. He planned on telling her more about what had happened and what he was trying to find sooner or later, it was simply a matter of time. Obviously, now was not the time, with Aneira looking about to drop.

[Lujayn]

Aneira stared at him in a sort of a stunned awe as he quickly chopped down the price needed for the fish, wondering how he had been able to so simply get the vendor to agree, and so quickly. She followed after him in a sort of daze, not exactly paying attention. She coughed every so often, but she didn't seem to be degrading too much.

At the question, she frowned. "Um... hmm... I think eating would be good... I don't think I've eaten for..." She counted on her fingers. "Ah... fourteen hours?" It was a miracle she hadn't dropped dead in her tracks, really. She paused to cough, then continued. "Um, I don't really need to rest right now... I'm fine. Relatively. I mean, if I were really badly off, I'd have collapsed already, or be coughing up blood... or both. Right now I'm just coughing. And cold..." She rubbed her arms, frowning. "Usually it's not this bad... maybe it's because I'm connected to you? Technically, you should be dead, or at least really close to death, not walking around all fine. The Death Flow really hates it when you mess around with lives..." She smiled a little. "But, I can't just let you die, can I?"

Lucky him.

"Now, let's find somewhere to eat. You need to sustain yourself as well..." She paused again, and tapped her lips- obviously a quirk for when she was thinking. "Although. I suppose since I'm carrying you around, so to speak, you could pretty much survive on nothing... not that your body would like it, and you'd die the moment you were released from my hold..." Another pause. "I shall have to test that one day."

Hopefully, he wouldn't be the test subject.

[WolfEnchantress]

Damien nodded and found a place close to the edge of town, where he proceeded to build a small fire and cook the food they had.

He raised an eyebrow at her explanation of how she was pretty well off right now, wondering how she was normally. Her coughing sounded painful, and if it was usually worse, was she constantly ? And cold, which was another thing that had become apparent.

"Stay here, I'll be back in a moment," he said, and wandered to a booth that sold more wares than anyone could ever need - things for cooking and hiking, hunting, fishing, traveling, magic. He selected a thick, soft cloak, made for those traveling in the winter but surprisingly light, and that relatively matched the clothing Aenira was already wearing. After knocking the price down a bit, he brought it back, draping it over her shoulders.

"You could just let me die," He said. "After all, by being connected to me, you're putting an unnecessary burden on yourself. And you're freezing, not to mention." He turned the fish over, inspecting them. With her keeping him alive, she was putting strain on herself. He made a face. Not only was he depending on someone else for his life, that said person was having a harder time of it.
Guess I'll just have to find out how to cure this damn poisoning soon then, He thought to himself. Going from a completely isolated person to having his life bound to a complete stranger's kind of rattled one up a bit.

The living off of nothing thing intrigued him, though being the one to test it wasn't exactly high on his list of things he wanted to try. It would be interesting to see, however. He looked over one of the fish, which he had skewered on a stick, and handed it over.
"They're done," He said, then glanced up.
"Tell me, have you ever heard of a thing called a Sahkar?" He asked, obvious hesitation in his voice. As was his nature he still didn't trust Aneira, but he shoved that aside. If she knew anything about the thing that Anroth was searching for, anything at all, it would be helpful. He didn't even know what it was other than a stone of some sort.

[Lujayn]

Aneira pulled the cloak around herself and over her head, until all that was visible was her pale face and hands. She smiled at him. “Thank you, this helps.”

She watched him turn over the fish, silent at his words, a shadow falling over her face. “I’ve already let someone die... someone important to me. I was in far better control of my power back then, I could have helped, but I didn’t. I let fear rule me.” She looked up. “I’ve nearly died once- it’s the cause of my... difficulties. Death isn’t a very frightening thing to me.” She glanced back at the fire, staring into the flickering flames. What she said next was so quiet, it was a wonder if she had said it at all, “And I fear I shall be the cause of many deaths in the future...”

She was quiet after that, until he asked his question. “Sahkar?” She repeated, taking the fish from him. She took a bite, and thought it over. “Hmm. No, I don’t believe I have... just a moment.” She took another bite of fish, then rummaged through her bags. She pulled out a book- that was far, far bigger than the bag, and one question exactly what the bag was to pull of such a feat- and flipped to the back. “Sahkar... no, don’t see any mention of it.” She pushed it back into the strange bag. “Describe it to me, anyways. I may have heard of it in a different name.” It had happened before, after all.

[WolfEnchantress]

Damien took a bite of the fish and listened to her brief monologue of that moment in her past that she obviously wasn't proud of and wondered if he should have kept his mouth shut.

"I'm not afraid of death either," He said. "Any other time I would have been fine with dying if it was from my own stupidity. But...I can't die yet," He said with a half-smile. "This Sahkar...I have no idea what it is. Just that I have to find it before Anroth does. I would give you a description of it, but I know nothing about it." He watched as she took a book that was far to big to fit in the bag is was being carried with and blinked in some confusion before deciding it probably was some sort of magicked bag, and turned his attention to the flames, a concentrative look on his face.

"It is supposed to be somewhere near the lake, and I was trying to get here before my four days were up and the poison set in. Obviously, that didn't work out as I planned it to. So, that might just be impossible to find. Which is okay, as long as I can still go back and find Anroth and kill the bastard..." The last part seemed more as though he was talking to himself before he abruptly looked up.

"That can wait, however. Sometime we still need to find the cure for this damn poison." He still felt weak - his life flow had apparently still not realized it was his yet.

"I would need to be at full strength to be able to kill someone as closely guarded as that - man," He said, cutting off a much nastier name. "And I hinder you tied to you like this." He glanced back towards town. "Problem is, I have no idea where to even begin to look for it..."

[Lujayn]

Aneira finished off her fish while he spoke, merely tilting her head in response. She smiled a little when he cut off an obviously bad word. “You do not need to worry about your words around me,” she said dryly, “I’ve used plenty bad ones myself. Necromancy has a tendency to blow up in one’s face. Sometimes literally.” She grimaced. There was nothing worse than getting pieces of decaying flesh and other such things all over one’s self.

She settled into a more comfortable position and thought for a moment. “Well, I don’t know about the cure, but if this... Sahkar is around here, and has been hidden, the best place to put it if the hider didn’t want it to be found would be in the lake itself,” she mused, “But, if they did want it to be found with some ease, most likely it would be hidden in one of the towns... possibly in decoration, depending on the size.” She shook her head. “Well, that’s what I think, at any rate.

“Finding a cure should be the top of your priorities, though... I doubt you want to have to hang around a sickly woman like me for the remainder of your life... or, my life, rather.” She laughed slightly, in a sort of self-deprecating way. “I’m not the most useful person to have around. I’m more trouble than I’m worth, I think.”

[WolfEnchantress]

Damien frowned. She was right about it most likely being in the lake, if it was meant to be hidden. Only problem with that was that he couldn't swim. Not well, anyways. Not well enough to be able to hunt down something in the bottom of it. Aneira might be able to, but he wasn't sure - and even so, he wouldn't be able to give her a well enough description of it so she would know it if she saw it.

The other option, it was hidden in town, was a better but less likely option. They could always look around, but how would they know if they found it?

"I know someone who lives nearby who might be able to cure me," He said. "She messes around with magicks and potions and the like. If she has the cure, she'll give it to me. If not, she'll tell me how to get it. She might be mad at me, but she'd rather see me alive then dead."

Honestly, he couldn't be sure of this. His sister hated him, and made this painfully obvious. She might rather see him dead. He could only hope that she would have enough heart for her siblings to help him out.

"We can go see her today or tomorrow," He said, cracking open a leg of one of the crabs and removing the meat from the middle of it. "And you're hardly any trouble. You're more helpful than anything, really." Ho wondered why she would feel like that. He'd met many, many useless, annoying people in his life, and she did not fit the description of one. Far from, actually.

[Lujayn]

“You know of someone who could help you? That’s good,” Aneira said with a smile, although she seemed a bit sad at this. She quickly covered this, and hoped he hadn’t noticed. Truth be told, there was a selfish part of her that wanted him to never find a cure- that way, she could have guaranteed company. She lightly hit her head with her hand. There was no use in having those types of thoughts, they were no good.

She tilted her head when he said she was helpful. “Are you sure you’re not mixing me up with someone else? Me, helpful? Do not flatter me falsely, Damien. I know full well that if it weren’t for the fact I’m the only thing keeping you from the cold embrace of death, you wouldn’t give me a passing glance. I have no fighting skills and I am constantly ill. I will do nothing but hold you back for the time you must be with me.” She sighed, and then said something somewhat unexpected. “Did you know that the average lifespan for a Necromancer is a maximum of 20 years? Most die from overextending themselves, messing up an incantation, being found out and killed, killed by their reanimates, or killed by other Necromancers who wish to steal their artifacts and books. If they manage to avoid all this, they usually live 20 years from their first Necromantic spell, maybe 30 if they’re lucky.” Quite a dangerous, short-lived profession. It was a wonder there were any. “Each time you use Necromancy, the Death flow takes a part of your life-force in return, and it ages you... if you’re not careful, you’ll die quite soon. My master... when I first met him, he looked 50. When he... died... he looked 80.” A pause. “I had only known him for 10 years. He was only 35 when he died.”

She rubbed the back of her head, lost in memories. “I cast my first spell when I was 12... so I would die by the time I was 32. In 11 years.” Such a short time. “And this is ignoring my specific circumstances... I’ve managed to cheat death many times... but I wonder how much longer I can...”

There appeared to be a slight hole in her little story. If it aged one as she said it did, why did she look younger than she was? Clearly, there was something she was omitting about herself, if she were even telling the truth at all. Perhaps she sought to lower his defences by making Necromancers seem less dangerous than they were?

Aneira shook her head, clearing her thoughts. “But, I suppose that isn’t too important for now... I’m sure you’ll find a cure for your poison long before then.” She smiled. “I’m sure you could do anything you needed, if you but tried. I shall help you as long as you have need of it. If you want me to, anyways...”Whooo worthless exposition! All rejoice! =D -

[WolfEnchantress]

Damien didn't notice the sad tone of her comment, or if he did, he made no signs to show it. He wasn't quite sure if he wanted to go find his sister. She had threatened to kill him last time they spoke. He knew she couldn't do it - at least not strength wise, even with him in a weakened condition - but he wasn't quite sure he wanted to put up with her.

At her next words he glanced up sharply.
"I do not say such things without meaning," He said. It was rare that he gave compliments at all, so when he did, he meant them.
"About the second part you might be right - but that means nothing. I don't give anybody a second glance. I don't even give many people a first," He said. The only time he ever did was to analyze them, assess their danger level, and this only happened when he was approached by someone or on a job. "Look at it the other way, though," He added. "if I wasn't lying in the woods on my last moments of my life, you wouldn't have glanced at me either."

At the next part he blinked in surprise. "So young...why do you do Necromancy if you are going to die that early on in life?" He asked, somewhat bewildered. Obviously, he was unaware that she was older than she looked. "Isn't it distracting, knowing you're probably going to die in 11 years?" He shook his head. "Every day I face the possibility of death, but that's better than anticipating your death.."

He gave a half-smile at the next part. "Me? Do anything?" He laughed. "I'm not good for much," He said, "Except being efficient at killing people. And that is not a skill very many people would find useful. Obviously, there are the few that do, or I would be out of a job. But more often than not it's not that way." He shook his head, still with a half grin. "And of course, I would welcome your help, as long as you are willing to provide it." He spoke honestly, surprising himself. He'd always, even as a child, been an isolated person, always chasing off people in favor of being alone, but having someone to talk to was a nice change from the usual.

[Lujayn]

A slightly embarrassed look crossed over Aneira’s face. “Um... well... I probably would have looked at you... if you passed by me... because, well, I like people... and I observe them... and also... well...” The rest of her rambling there was lost since she’d started to mumble incoherently.

At his question on why she practiced, she replied, “Well, when I was first taught I was seven years old, so I didn’t really know what I was getting into... also, why not? It’s the only thing I can do, really... if I hadn’t taken it up, my parents would have married me off to a suitable man they would want to run their business and I would most likely be on my second kid by now...” She made a face. “I’ll take the Necromancy, thank you.

“As well... the eleven years is merely an estimate. Most other Necromancers figure I’ll only last another two or three years...” A sigh. She did that a lot. Then she shrugged. “Who knows truly what the future brings? I plan to become the greatest Necromancer ever lived, so I won’t let myself die so young.” She smiled. “A high ambition, but I aim for it nonetheless.”

She batted him as he put himself down. “Shush! You are a healthy, strong male, do not go putting yourself on the same lowly level as I, a sickly little girl. At least you can make a living and defend yourself, I can scarcely do the former and never the latter.” Unless she had ample time to draw out the pentagram and raise a few undead to fight for her.

“I am not sure what assistance I would be able to provide, but I’ll try my best,” she said, selecting a vegetable to nibble on, eyeing the crab suspiciously. Something with that many legs, she had decided, was not something one should be ingesting.

[WolfEnchantress]

He nodded, knowing what she meant by not knowing what she was getting in to. He;d come about his own job rather unexpectedly and rather was forced into it.

"Well, it's good to hear that you have goals in life," He said. "That's more than I can say." When she reprimanded him, he glanced up.

"I'm not putting myself down because I am unhealthy or unfit," He said quietly. "It's true, I can make a living, I can defend myself, that isn't a problem for me. It's what I do. There are not many times out there someone like me does his job without some kind of consequence." He unclipped his cloak that was fastened around his neck and swung it off from his shoulders, revealing a thick black leather vest that sported a ridiculous amount of silver buckles and straps, all of them housing a different kind of dagger or throwing knife and all of which were lethally sharp. Inside the vest were sewn pockets that held poisons and powders that, when mixed with other things, produced deadly gasses or fumes, some that worked slowly and painfully and some that were more humane. Overall, it wasn't a sight that would be the most welcoming to people. Hence the cloak.

But this was not the reason he had removed it. He held out his left arm, which had a long, jagged white scar running the length of it, twisting down from his shoulder and ending at the wrist.
"I got this when I was younger. Someone came looking for me, not happy with my actions. He didn't find me. Instead he found my mother. When I showed up finally, she - " He cut himself off, a tortured look flashing across his eyes for only a second. He continued, following a different train of thought along the same lines. "I fought him, with no weapons but my own two hands. Because of that, I can't use my left arm for much." He again fastened the cloak around himself. "My siblings hate me. Once people find out what I do, all of them save for you so far, try to hurt me or they run away. I've had too many attempts on my life to count any more." He shook his head. "if I face the facts, it's true. I'm not worth much - if I died, the ratio of those who would be happy to those who would shed tears is almost all to none." He grinned. "Not that it bothers me." Much. "I knew full well that it would probably be this way."

Abruptly, he switched topics, back to the issues at hand.
"So, from now, what is our basic plan?" He asked for her input, thinking it better to know what they were to be doing, to have some sort of idea on where to go and when.

[Lujayn]

Aneira stared with some awe at the vast array of knives and other things that had been hidden beneath his cloak. There was no doubt now, if there had been any before, of his profession. It took her a moment to notice the long scar, and she sucked in a breath. It looked incredibly painful, and had probably taken a long time to heal.

He told his story, and a sympathetic expression crossed her face briefly. She quickly hid it, for more times than not sympathy was mistaken for pity, and many did not appreciate that. She did not have any siblings, being the only child that she was, but she knew that she would be unable to bear their hate, had she had any. Her thoughts wandered to her parents, and wondered what they thought of her now. They had never paid much attention to her, and she hadn’t seen them before she had been run out of the town, and then the country. She hoped they didn’t feel too badly toward her...

She blinked at the sudden change in topic. “Plan? Um... I... I don’t know, really... I suppose we can find this person who could cure you, maybe, first... and then... I really don’t know after that. I suppose you could ask around to see if anyone has heard of this Sahkar you’re looking for...” She paused. “Oh, wait... no, that wouldn’t be good... you might alert anyone who’s your enemy... of your whereabouts.”

Another pause, and then she tilted her head. “I wonder... if they tried killing you, if it would work? What’s keeping you alive has never been used on those dying of physical wounds...” Interesting, he could possibly be immortal for as long as he was connected with her. “Although you’d probably still feel the pain...” She made a face. “And I probably might, too.” She pointed at him. “Don’t get stabbed,” she ordered, sounding completely serious.

“As for right now...” she yawned, and settled further into her cloak. “I think I’m going to sleep...” She closed her eyes, and with that she was asleep. She was upright for a few moments, before her body succumbed to gravity and slid sideways, so she was lying on the ground. It was somewhat enviable, the ease at which she could fall asleep.

Lying there, with her pale skin, she looked much like a life-sized china doll. If she wasn’t such a thin, sickly girl, she might even have been pretty.