{PRP Juahar} Catch n Release {Nyx + Lerin}

[MissMisnomer]

Catch n Release

Sitting on one of the lower branches of a large tree, Nyx looked out into the gloom of the forest. She absentmindedly ran the pad of her thumb against the edge of her knife, lost in thought. After being attacked by two massive insects in the span of minutes, she had been carried back to town in very poor shape, bloody and poisoned. She had been lucky: someone had been able to pick her out of that harry situation, get her healed and patched up.

Nyx hated to admit it, but she had been stupid. Being so used to wandering off on her own in Tale, she thought she would be abundantly prepared to handle whatever the forest could throw at her. She’d been wrong. The fact of the matter was that she simply did not know enough about this place, the creatures that resided here. Even the plants were different, the very air itself felt heavier. It was like the whole of the country was locked in an eternal state of gloom under the endless canopy. The forests in Tale were much different. And her own blind hubris may have almost cost her very life.

If she was ever going to leave Tale and make a name for herself, she had to learn more.

Hopping down from her perch, she squatted at the base of the trunk, eying one of the strange glowing mushrooms that made its home in the roots. Then her knife came down, sawing around the base of the fungus to pry it off the bark of the tree. She held it up to examine it, smell it, take a tentative lick of its surface. She tossed it into the bag at her hip, climbing up the tree to saw off another variety. The wider range of plants she was able to gather up, the more information she could extract about them from the locals, whether they wanted to deal with her or not.

[1/10]  

[Fluffesu]

MissMisnomer

Even if he hadn't been born here, in this settlement, Jauhar was Lerin's home, and he held no fear of the jungle darkness regardless of whether or not this particular patch of it was expressly familiar to him. As a child, he'd always been left to his own devices for long stretches of time, so even if he wasn't alone now, and even if he had much more of a town to explore than he'd ever had at home, it still struck him as uncomfortable to remain so entrenched within a bustling civilization for too long.

He preferred the darker, quieter, less inhabited by earthlings region near the forest floor. Though all manner of vicious beasts lived in the murk, particularly now that a new threat had revealed itself, Lerin couldn't bring himself to be frightened of 'normal.' He understood the habits of menzuri and wadana, though dretch were still wildly unfamiliar to him.

Those monsters ought to be more frightening. But if they were a race of heathanistic bug mages, what use could they have for abducting one meek, physically weak boy? He wasn't so presumptuous that he thought they'd have any interest in him. And if he did go missing, he couldn't imagine anyone would miss him.

Either way, nothing to fear.

So Lerin breezed through the underbrush with a certain degree of nonchalance, looking for nothing and with no goal in mind. He only wanted to see the roots, bushes, and mosses at the base of the trees, and feel comfortable in their embrace. He would need to return eventually, to tend to his creatures and see if Ziari needed anything of him, but for now, the silence and seclusion was a welcome comfort-

Silver eyes narrowed on a splodge of something that distinctly didn't look like it belonged lingering alone on the forest floor. Was it... a girl wearing pink? He supposed that wasn't too strange on its own. From behind, she looked like a Leaf earthling with short red-brown hair, tanned skin, and a diminutive stature. Taleian then, and so not even especially far from home. Lerin leaned forward just enough to try and have a better look at what she was doing.

Was she tasting-?

"Um, Miss?" he questioned softly from still several yards behind her, though hesitantly moving forward. She almost looked like a child, but that couldn't be correct... No one would've left her to wander alone, he was sure. "You- you know Jauhar is known for its extensive list of dangerous and versatile toxins... You really oughtn't put anything in your mouth, I think..."  

[MissMisnomer]

She’d just hopped down to start collecting from another tree when Nyx head a voice, halting her operation to look over her shoulder. It was a shifter, one of the natives. And it appeared to be…a guy? Kinda hard to tell with all that fancy hair and those hips; but if it was a girl, she’d have to be even flatter than Nyx to be able to walk around shirtless like that.

She stabbed her knife into the mushroom she’d been working on, pointing it and the blade in his direction. “Wasn’t putting it in my mouth: the tip of the tongue doesn’t count,” she stated, sliding it off into her bag with the rest of them. “Besides, that’s what I’m out here for: gotta figure out what wants to kill ya verses what you can kill.” Looking back up at him, she cocked an eyebrow, gesturing at his chest with the knife in a vague clockwise circle, “You’re a guy, right?”


[2/10]  

[Fluffesu]

MissMisnomer

Ought he argue with her? Perhaps tasting with the 'tip of her tongue' wasn't exactly putting it in her mouth, but the toxic spores many mushrooms produced tended to linger on the surface. Ingesting even as much that could be collected from dabbing at them as she had could be enough, depending upon species, to cause an unpleasant bodily backlash. Some could even do it from just brushing against it with the barest touch.

But he supposed the deed was already done in this case, and likely wouldn't cause her any damage this time. He tried a hesitant smile. "I have never been to Tale's forests," he admitted. "But I have always been told that there is no more dangerous a place than Jauhar's jungles. Everything here wants to kill you: the animals, the plants, the amazons... But given proper technique, you should be able to kill most things in turn."

Lerin's smile flicked briefly to something almost amused. "Though, as a general rule of thumb-" He put a hand on his lip and cocked it to one side. "I advise you not to use your mouth in the killing process."

She looked so young, and so small. He'd assumed she wouldn't be out here alone. Why would she be? What would draw a lone girl to this place? But no one appeared to be around, and she seemed to be interested in discovery, though her methods were certainly peculiar. "Ah, yes. As much as you're a girl, I would imagine... My name is Lerin. What's brought you so far out here, if I may ask...?"  

[MissMisnomer]

Fluffesu

Nyx puffed air through her lips, shrugging. What made guys want to look like girls was beyond her. Just seemed like an easy way to confuse people, and maybe even get a bit confused yourself in the process. But that was their prerogative, and Nyx didn’t have to understand others’ motivations, or care. She stood, wiping some mushroom-goo onto her shorts to clean off her knife.

“Nyx. And like I said, I need to learn more about this place. I got my a** handed to me by the local wildlife, and I’ve been told I can be a bit impulsive at times.” She sheathed the knife at her hip, gesturing vaguely into the air around them. “So here I am. Doing research. Or something like that. Hard to tell, since I don’t really...do that very often.” She cocked an eyebrow, tipping her chin up.”Why are you here? I gather it’s not a favorite local past time to take picnics in the forest.”


[3/10]