Ever Late, Never Certain

[Aethera]

Aethera pulled her blanket tighter around her as she walked, wishing she had a real coat (or clothing without holes). She stared at the dirt in front of her as she walked, just trying to mind her own business and stay focused long enough to get to this "Lillegard" place. Maybe there would be someone there who could help her.

Slowly, she started paying more attention to her surroundings as the dirt went on and on... and on. The forest didn't seem like the one she knew, and the ocean smell was throwing off her sense of direction. I guess that's why they have a road, Eera, she made fun of herself. Though something's odd if even rats like me can't figure out which way is north...

[Guest]

Rosie walked down the rode humming to herself, she had an extra set of clothing in her backpack... she was actually thinking about getting new clothing at this point, she'd have to send away for it... She sees the girl covering herself in a blanket and looked into her aura, "Is everything alright?" she asked seeing that she seemed a bit upset from her aura. She could see that she really didn't have clothing, perhaps she'd have enough money to at least get the girl some clothing. She shook her head, what was she doing, how come she was going soft... She was worried about getting too close to the members of the school, especially with that time coming up soon...

[Aethera]

Aethera jumped slightly at the voice, so intent on the road was she. Her response, though surprised, is rather quiet. "Oh! Um..." She hastily thought of an acceptable reason to be moping around, then offered it tentatively. "I just don't know where I'm going..." Green-hazel eyes unobtrusively give the other young woman a looking-over and she steps out of the middle of the road, making sure there's plenty of room for the woman to go by. "Please forgive me if I'm in your way..." Yep, shivering young woman in dirty blanket-wrap. It's what's on the menu.

Clutching one hand to her impromptu groundcloth-turned-shawl, she used the other to tuck her hair behind her ears in an attempt to look more presentable. The sleeve of a once-white polo t-shirt appears for the minimum time required to arrange her messy brown curls before her arm disappears back under the blankets. She shrugs her shoulders and the blanket rearranges its rough folds around her. Below the swinging edges of the blanket-shawl a pair of well worn jeans end at a pair of sneakers that might have been white a couple decades ago.

"If you'll pardon me, please, am I still on the correct road to the castle?" Her voice is quiet, rather expecting to be ignored or yelled at, despite only just chancing across Rosie. Aethera's frightened body language would tell any other as much, let alone someone like Rosie, who can read her easily. Her aura is a wide open book, save for an odd uneasiness that reeks of power. If Aethera understands her potential, her aura doubts it highly.

[Guest]

"This is the correct way, I've just come from the castle, and I'm heading to shore to go get myself some new clothing. I would love for you to join me, I have some extra money, and I would love to have a shopping partner." There was something about the way she talked that Rosie didn't sound like she was actually in her twenties, her voice had a sense of wisdom that most women her age didn't possess.

Rosie's hair was back in its usual long ponytail that trailed quite far down her back as well as her usual Japanese clothing. She gave a warm smile to Aethera, "My name is Rosie by the way, I'm the chef at Lillegard, what is your name?"

[Aethera]

Aethera offers a tiny smile and inclines the upper half of her body to the woman whose age is probably similar to her own, give or take a couple years. "A pleasure, ma'am. My name is Aethera... Aethera Vervaine," she finishes after a moment's hesitation. "I've often been called Eera, if that's more convenient to say. I was invited as a student, though I'm just looking for some help."

Clothing? Shopping? Aethera looks down at herself and blushes, knowing quite well she looks like quite the mess. Comes of sleeping in barns and back alleys. And the blanket she stole from an open car trunk is far from clean... fresh clothing would be lovely right now. "I wish I had money, ma'am, but I've none." And I've never been shopping, she adds silently, wishing at that moment that she could go with Rosie. Second- or third- or even fourth-hand clothes would be wonderful at this point. "I don't know if the castle might have a spare servants' uniform or something I could borrow until I can earn some money..." She stares off, up the road, not aware she actually spoke aloud.

[Guest]

"Aethera." Rosie speaks gently, mother like, "Come along, I will buy you clothing, and if you feel so inclined you can pay me back as you see fit." Rosie smiled.

((sorry its so short.... I juts can't concentrate it seems))

[Aethera]

Aethera stares at Rosie for a long moment, blinking and gaping until she realizes she's being horribly rude. Her mouth closes, then she drags her eyes to the ground. "I can cook, ma'am. Maybe I could work for you for awhile, to repay you? I could never truly repay such generosity..." She licks her lips nervously, glancing up at the wonderful woman, then away again.

"Do we have to go with that old man?" she asks quietly, trying not to shuffle her feet (instead her right foot just twists back and forth in the dirt). "He rather scared me." Clueless to everything about this island, including Hendry the sullen boatman. And I don't want to cause any accidents, I've only just arrived.

"Could... might you tell me a little about the island, or the castle? I could not have been more surprised when I received my letter of invitation. I'd never... I'd never believed it was really magic until I got it."

[Guest]

Rosie shifted a bit at the thought of cooking with another person. She had never quite done anything like that, it really wasn't like her. She gave a shrug a little bit, "How about if you keep me company while I am alone between meals, and then we can try cooking for each other?" she asked, she didn't want to be rude or brush the other woman's skills off, however, she was always worried when it came to cooking with others, some people really did get kind of testy, not to mention she used different tools than most people in the cooking profession.

"We'll have to ask Hendry to take us back across, yes, and don't worry, this time I'll be with you, you don't have to worry about Hendry, he's a sweetheart under it all. So long as you don't wrong him, he'll pay you no mind," Rosie gave a warm smile, as he kind of reminded her of her own lover, he had the same attitude toward everyone that Hendry did, that is of course, except to her. He was always so gentle and caring, but he would be hard and protective in the presence of any other being. He cared for her deeply despite her curse.

"Well as far as I know the island itself is pretty tame, and it's quite self sufficient, we could live here without ever going to shore again, but honestly, other than knowing that its a magic school, I don't know much about this place in general, it seems as if it has a history and story of it's own. Soon enough though, I'm sure we'll learn. Perhaps, we could learn together, as friends," she offered. Rosie wasn't much into the becoming friends and making bonds and stuff like that with her curses and issues and everything to deal with, however, it was to be expected here as the chef. She would have to make friends and learn about people, she just hoped that she would be better able to shield her heart, not that that was going well as she already had managed to fall in love with Ndale. Part of her cursed herself for it, and part of her smiled, happy that she still had some sort of humanity left inside of her. She just wished she could slip away and be with her first lover once and for all, but as that was unlikely, perhaps she would try to pursue this Ndale...

[Aethera]

"I can do that," Aethera offered tentatively. "Thank you, Rosie," she added. "I've never had any friends around my age." As far as she can tell, the Lillegard cook was in her early twenties. And as far as she knew for sure, she'd spent eighteen years with her mentor, so she was five or six years beyond that... in her early twenties.

"I'm here looking for some, um... help. I don't think I'll be in classes since the semester started already, and if they can't help me..." The young woman shrugged a shoulder noncommittally, trying not to tear up at the prospect of not finding help at this place, this last resort. "I may not be able to stay very long. But I'd like to keep someone company while I'm here."

"Never going to shore could be nice," she offered, changing subjects as she fell in step with the other woman, headed back the way Aethera had come. "There are some things I'd rather not have to deal with again... being on a magic isle with only other magical people... it sounds rather appealing to me."

[Guest]

The woman just nodded, she wasn't going to give her true age away, she acted as if she really didn't have one...

"Who knows, you could still try," the woman smiled, "And from what I've heard, the Art class is really easy to do..."

"I see," Rosie said trying to be understanding, she really didn't want to get into her own background and was trying to get the girl to talk more about herself hoping that their conversation really wouldn't turn into an examination of her own being.

(sorry its short, but I try to be to the point with things, and I really didn't have much to go on ^^;;; )

[Aethera]

Aethera shrugged again. "I'd like to take an art class," she replied more to herself than the other woman. "Maybe I will. I'd like to get to know some other people who aren't going to be scared of me." And then she realized she just blurted that out and she colors faintly pink.

"I'm sorry, Miss Rosie. I don't normally talk so much. I... I'm not used to spending much time with anyone. I need to learn to keep my mouth shut." This she proceeded to do until they'd walked in silence for about a minute. Then her speculations began to fall from her mouth again. "I need to find someone who can teach me about control. So far, all the magic I think I'm connected with was several big... well, accidents." She looked sidelong at Rosie to see how this went over with the woman. She hadn't broached the subject with anyone else yet, and she needed to be careful.

[Guest]

"I honestly don't know much about magical control hun," the woman said, "I mean, I .... uh...." she sighed softly, "I'm really just a skilled chef with a wee bit of a problem." she said softly, "But that doesn't rightly matter, I'll help you as much as I can, but I really have no idea what I can do for you..." She fell silent for a moment, trying to wash away her guilty feeling, as well as the thoughts to let the girl into her past, the voice that next came out of her mouth was a little cooler, more sheltered, more protective. "What kind of accidents Aethera? I may know something simple that can prevent these magical 'accidents'." she commented, also trying to keep her age hidden, she really didn't want to get into a discussion about how old she was or what she was doing or how she could possibly know things like that, she hoped that the girl would just take it the way it was and not ask questions. She was still so afraid to let someone else in, especially after she had lost her husband, who had been so very hard to find. Not to mention the miscarriage she had with him... Apparently turning five when you fall asleep presents many dangers to a developing fetus....

[Aethera]

A wee bit of a problem? Aethera noticeably perked up at the mention of what sounded like her own "little problem", but it wasn't really her business, so she didn't ask. "No, nor did Jerri. Er, my guardian. She did what she could for me, and..." She took a deep breath and waited a moment to actually say the words aloud. "And I burned the house down with us in it." From what little Rosie has seen of Aethera's very pale skin, she hadn't been in a fire in decades, yet the pain of severely injuring her guardian was clearly very new.

At Rosie's offer of help, Aethera brightened. "Thank you! I... I think I've caused five big accidents that I can think of. First was a big flood... we lived near a big river," she explained with a sigh. "About half the crop was near ruined." Aethera shook her head, staring into space for a score of steps. "Oh, um. I don't know what started the forest fire, but I was in the middle of it. Didn't get burned then either," she comments, which might explain her fair skin's lack of scarring from a recent fire. "An earthquake and a thunderstorm," she rattled off, counting on her fingers. She glanced at Rosie and then looked at the ground, her voice quieting. "And then burning the house down... I cleaned her up afterwards, made a fresh batch of aloe salve, but they kicked me out of town once she was conscious and able to make her own burn ointment." This last is offered as if it was an attempt to blunt the impact of telling the cook all of this.

[Guest]

Rosie thought for a moment, silently contemplating what the girl had said she was trying to wrap it all together. She thought of her own guardians who had quickly kicked her out after finding out about the curse on her. The woman gave a slight shiver thinking about it. After hearing about the other things that the girl said, she looked over Aethera, "Well you really shouldn't worry about me, I'd be more than happy to help be your mentor, and you don't have to worry about killing or hurting me... its a little impossible." she smiled nicely. She was just happy to see that she was trusted with this information. She really didn't mind that she had just met the girl or anything, in fact, the fact that they had just met each other really didn't cross her mind. They were almost to the shore where Hendry was residing, but the girl stopped, they could see the beach if they really took the chance to gaze through the trees, "Are you hungry?" she asked, she had stored meat in a cooler in her backpack for lunch, and there was more than enough for two. She had been planning on giving the other half to Hendry, but it seemed the girl needed it more. Rosie was already picking up some sticks and such as well as making a stone circle. She had brought limited cooking supplies, basically she had two plates, two kunai, two sets of chopsticks, and one frying pan. She had both her swords on her back however.

[Aethera]

Aethera was relieved, not only had the woman accepted what she told her... "Thank you, Rosie," she repeated at a whisper. What else is there to say to such a grand offer? A little impossible... was that her 'little problem'? Not being able to die? Alright, that was far too interesting to not ask.

"Please forgive me for being so rude, Rosie, but are you immortal?" At least, that's what Aethera thought she'd understood from Rosie's statement.

Hungry? "Absolutely! Do you have something to eat?" Yep, blatant and rude, but... food!

[Guest]

"Unfortunately." the girl mumbled to the question of her mortality.

She unpacked the meat and stared at the twigs that weren't going to light themselves. She looked up at Aethera, "Lesson number one.... small flame..." she pointed to the sticks, "Try to create a small flame in the center and keep it contained for a minute before you let it consume the other sticks." she said, "I'm going to need a nice fire to cook on after-all." she said as she was unpacking the meat and the cooking supplies, "Can you eat with chopsticks?"

[Aethera]

Unfortunately? How could immortality be unfortunate? But Aethera did as she was bid, squatting down next to the twigs at the side of the road. Fire did seem to come easily last time... she figured, staring at the twigs. I just don't feel it this time.

Aethera took a long time--all of about forty seconds--trying to bring the memory of the feeling she'd had during the fire to the surface. But with no luck. She finally sighed and shook her head. "I don't know how. I never... consciously... started it last time. I just knew something bad was going to happen. I can't start the fire." She put one knee down so she didn't tip over while thinking. "Maybe I can't start things, only manipulate them?" But that didn't quite fit either, she'd started a forest fire with no fire around.

[Guest]

"I don't know," Rosie said, and started to create the fire manually, suggesting that she really didn't have much along the lines of magic. She then started to cut the meat that she brought and cooked it. It was chicken. "I hope you don't mind chicken Aethera." the girl smiled up at her. The food was quickly cooking already on the little fire that she had started. Chicken never took long for Rosie to cook.

[Aethera]

"Not at all! Thank you for sharing with me, Rosie." Aethera folded her legs under herself and waited patiently, feeling a little lost without something to do. "I don't really know either. That fits all but one situation, but I can't think of something that fits all of them. The wood stove was lit to help the herbs dry," she offered by way of explanation. "So there was fire in the house. There was no fire in the forest. All the others, flooded river, thunderstorm, even the earthquake, the element was available already."

She stares into Rosie's fire dejectedly. "If I were only manipulating the elements, I should be able to control them, not have it spread everywhere." Her brain was leading her down a rather unfortunate road involving her as the bringer of the apocalypse.

[Guest]

"I don't know Aethera, perhaps its your energy that it feeds off of... perhaps you're subconsciously willing it and it is detached in your conscious mind..." she offered. Rosie was more watching her food than anything. She really didn't know what to do with herself. She tried to stay out of the girl's aura, and forced herself to see clearly and "normally" so that she wasn't snooping where she didn't belong.

"At least you had a long time at something you could call home." she said softly, not meaning to say it out loud. When she realized the girl had already thanked her for the food that wasn't even finished cooking yet she gave a nod, "As for the food, its no problem, there's more than enough, I always pack extra just in case." she said finally splitting it onto two plates and handing one, with chopsticks, to the other woman. Rosie was glad that she had put just enough twigs in this time as the fire was already starting to go out.

[Aethera]

Still staring into the fire, Aethera was nodding before she fully processed what Rosie had said about 'home'. "Yes, I did," she agreed, accepting the plate of food she was offered.

It took her a moment to figure out the chopsticks, but for a first timer she did rather well... sorta. She did give up and start spearing the tender pieces of meat with one stick eventually, however, which gave her time to process some of what she'd shared with Rosie. "Rosie, I know it's none of my business, but how is being immortal unfortunate? It sounds, well... rather wonderful, to me."

[Guest]

Rosie looked up at the girl with blind looking eyes, "It's the circumstances surrounding my immortality... not to mention I've already watched my husband die... not to mention the fact that I don't even have the pleasure of raising children or even having the chance to do as such..." she said, she sounded cold, but it was a sad coldness. The girl wasn't one to share, especially personal information like this, but she felt obligated as the girl had told her so much about her own life. Rosie looked down at her food, and finished it in silence, tears streaking down her cheeks, "Sorry, don't mind me." she whispered.

[Aethera]

Hardly one to cause a fuss in the first place, Aethera was absolutely horrified that she'd made Rosie cry. "I'm so sorry! I should've kept my mouth shut, I feel like a complete idiot..." she trailed off and let the woman eat in peace, cleaning her plate with a leaf from a nearby shrub and scattering the twigs to make sure the fire was totally out. Despite it being very recently out, the girl doesn't seem to notice the heat in the charred wood.

She offered Rosie the 'cleaned' plate and gently took the dirty one from her (once Rosie finished eating) to give it the same treatment. "I'm sorry, Rosie," she said a moment later, the plate cleaned as best she could with only a leaf. "Please forgive me for upsetting you." She actually considered hugging the other woman, but since they'd hardly gotten to know one another yet, she refrained, her hands rising towards the other, then falling back to her sides.

[Guest]

Rosie finished cleaning things up. "No, no don't be sorry, there's nothing to be sorry about, I ... It was a long time ago, a very long time ago.... human lifetimes ago..." she said softly. There was no reason to hide that from her, but she wouldn't reveal her age. Never. "Don't feel like an idiot, its not your fault, there is no way you could've known." She stood up after having repacked her bag, "Are you ready to go?" she gave a yawn, she figured she'd sleep on the boat ride but now... could she trust Aethera with her five year old form? would she understand?

[Aethera]

"I'm still sorry," Aethera murmured, offering Rosie a hand to rise a few seconds too late to be of any help. "I'll try to shut up, stop throwing all my problems at you." She did fall silent as she'd suggested she would, too lost in her own mind to notice Rosie yawning.

When the coastline and dock appeared in view she sighed, seeing that in the short time since she'd disembarked, Hendry had already tacked around and disappeared from view. "How do you call him back?" she asked Rosie after scanning as much of the sea and horizon as was in view. "He can't have had more than, I don't know, fifteen minutes?" Right, fifteen minutes to leave the magic island that it took hours to get to.

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