Tattooed Companions [Caleb and Sarain]

A knock from the door distracted Sarain from her inventory count. Smiling, she opened it, a pack ready on her shoulder.

"Hello," she greeted him. "Lovely weather we have today." She pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders, the tattered ends floating lightly with her every movement. She led the way down the road towards the city limit.

"Today we'll be heading into the Fablewood to find a specific root. The plant grows purple and has white berries, but I can crush the root to a powder which I use as an ingredient for a strengthening ointment. If I make it just right, I can make wooden swords as strong as steel. Mages appreciate it since they usually use wooden staffs."

She led the way into the wood, the dappled sunlight creating a beautiful blend of colors shining over the glossy surfaces of the leaves. Looking up, she could see the snow-capped peaks of the Gilded Range towering over the forest. The freezing air they felt was certainly flowing down from the mountain. Tiny forest creatures flitted about in the trees and underbrush as they walked. The city was shining in the distance, the near by lake shimmering just as radiantly. What a beautiful place this was, she mused.

She glanced back at him, throwing him a sideways smirk. "I think you can tell from my scars that I have come quite close indeed," she replied. "All the more reason to appreciate this beautiful world we were given, and take on the roles to protect it. It is all we have."

She crouched, sifting through the underbrush to find the plant she was looking for. Coming up empty handed, she resumed the lead once more through the wood. "As for myself, I don't usually journey for supplies in the company of others. It's a nice change," she said. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"It grows all over Fablewood, but not in large numbers," she explained. "Otherwise we would have found it by now."

"Being an introvert isn't a bad thing, but it is healthy to interact with other people from time to time. Like right now." She ducked under a low branch and smiled triumphantly when she saw the glistening violet leaves. "Aha! There you are." She pulled a little journal out of her bag and marked the spot on a map inside.

"Help me dig up the roots, but be careful: the plant is very delicate and too much stress on it can kill it. I can only cut of a meager amount of the root, so we'll have to find at least two more specimens this size."

Her brows furrowed as she assessed the plant. "It has to do with the way the powder is prepared. Magical ingredients react with one another upon contact or stimulus. The way I usually prepare it is by drying it in the dark and only exposing it to the moonlight every night for a week, then grinding it down with a mortar and pestle. That alone is enough to bring out the strengthening capabilities of the ingredient, but every alchemist has their own signature touch. I further distill mine by storing it in a jar with a charged fire crystal."

She smiled proudly, glancing at the mage as she began to cut of little pieces of the root. "Don't tell anyone though, it took me a while to come up with that method, the first few times I ended up making a pretty dust. Pretty but useless." She put the trimmings in a tiny crystal jar she had brought with her. She set the plant back in its place and reburied it so it may continue to live.

"I wouldn't try putting it on living tissue either, it might turn you to stone," she said mysteriously. She wondered if he'd experiment with that later.

"Alright, let's move on to the next one."

"I would have loved to speak to your mother. Exchange secrets, alchemist to alchemist." She stopped when the mage dropped behind, and saw the telltale purple leaves of the plant they were looking for. "Oh, good job! Silly me, I would have completely missed that."

Rejoining Caleb, she knelt down and began unearthing the plant. "Some don't want the world to change. Some like it the way it is. Progress happens when the population as a whole decides to follow the individuals who had begun beating new paths, such as yourself."

Smiling bemusedly at her companion. "My life has been a long one, indeed. I have my wisdom to share, I suppose."

They only needed to find one more plant, and Sarain would be set for the remainder of the month. "Fate had plans other than my delving into magic. I became a warrior, and for many years I had to fight to survive. However, here I am, working a profession as close to magic as I could get." She laughed at the irony.

The land had begun to slope, as they were nearing the Gilded Range. Suddenly, she felt her forehead tingle and she knew that her tattoo was glowing. "Wait, there's something here," she said, turning to Caleb.

"No," she smiled. "But it may be valuable."

She walked until she felt the tingling grow stronger. The loose magic in the area was thick, and she was trying to locate its source. "It seems you will be learning one of my secrets today, Caleb."

She stopped, looking around. It should be somewhere near here... Coming up over a rise, she saw a natural spring with crystals growing all over the sides of it. "Well, well.."