❀Natural Splendor❀ Rin & Les Job

Lester Drynedi ❀ Crystal Swan

They would have stayed overnight, opening their eyes to a warmed mountain cabin and the soft spots of embers flickering across the ceiling. Yet for reasons few knew the duo's morning started with a shiver rousing their chilled bodies, wind curling into the small cave which sheltered their travels. Dawn broke off, its rays which galloped through the trees shattered against the smooth surface which a thin layer of snow covered, it wouldn't have been able to cover his knees yet as bleary eyes opened to scan the entrance to their sleeping spot Lester's yawn stretched wider than the doors of the ships concertum. Crystalli had dropped them close by the previous day, yet due to the ships size it had to dock at large cities. The previous day had been filled with walking, wandering towards the mountainside village from which their job hailed. It was close by, he knew it from how the maps had shown the shape of the mountainside. Stretching back his back muscles creaked slightly, bones creaking from being frozen in place for so long. Raising up softboots brushed the dusted ground within the cave from which a vague musty scent rose, no tales of hardy plants sprouting up or mystical glowing mushrooms which emanated power. Just a similar shade of brown, soft brown which smoothly had settled across the interior, small as it was the alcove of rock was surprisingly dry, moisture only collecting towards the back wall where it had frozen in an array of water droplets, half frozen as if someone had stopped time just as they were about to drop down to the earth below.

Fingers tracing the journey of a single droplet he circled back up, heat from his finger slightly melting the frozen decorations. Winter remaining cold enough to snow, chilled enough for Val to have been shivering the previous night. A glance back over would have notified him that the sloth had rolled over to occupy the warm patch he had abandoned, yet beauty in nature caught his eye, almost to himself he began to categorize the day. "Overall mission is to deal with a mountain lion terrorizing the local village." That was what the white clad village had hired them for after all. "But we still had two choices." Had, have? No the tense didn't matter, his voice muttered softly, finger tracing an elderly spiders web which had been partially frozen into the wall of the cave. "Take a detour to the village before approaching the mountaintop however that may end up costing us time." Had this spider died somewhere perhaps, crouching lower he noted a small patch of moss under a tiny outcropping of stone, it would have once been so soft and springy yet the drop in temperature had frozen that as well. "Or we could go straight onto the mountain, less distance, less time." Honestly he had no clue, having not explored a frozen or mountainous region before this whole experience was rather new to the florist. Oh good gosh he had been speaking verbally, hair the same colour as the environment outside world as he looked back, in hopes that he could see a still sleeping Rin. Waking a lady was rather rude after all.

Lester Drynedi ❀ Crystal Swan

Whilst the cooling water drifted across his fingers it ran little trails around the males finger, curling down the droplet slowed as it meanders, running on the crevices leaving slight trails of chilled waters. Calming almost, reminded him of the fragility of all things, he quite liked it, there was beauty in these moments that he could not find in other places, focusing in upon a simplistic wonder allowed him to gain new perspectives on life, perspectives which he adored to categorize for a later date, reading each one as if they were short stories created for the sole purpose of making one question the deeper thoughts and meaning. Yet it was as he fell into there moments that he relaxed truly, shoulders lowering down, rolling back as they indicated how his normal levels of pent up energy, yet it was truly a wonderful moment with the frozen water slowly heating up from his body heat streaking across each bulging mound of solidified water, glass like in laces an urge to break them rose from within. It was something he was unfamiliar with, a buttering sound almost which echoed around the cave, already quite loud by base standards the sound caught on every surface of the walls being reflected back and forth until the screech faded away, a sound which he was not exactly most pleasant with hearing. Normally used to alert one of an emergency, the sudden appearance of enemies, unexpected encounters and events in life which could lead to negative effects. The scream was not normally employed for no reason, and so as she expelled the sound which ripped his spinal cord out Lesters mind went to the worst, being closest to the entrance was there perhaps a possibility that something had entered in hopes of resting out of the snow? Only to find that it had been blocked by some mere mortals.

His hair spun around, a white summers dress of light cotton lifted up by the air which swirled beneath, his eyes were speckled with concern and worry, scented with compassion there was no doubt that he worried about the screeching partner, and fellow mentee that he had. Startled? No startled was something quite calm compared to the thoughts which had inflated his mind with concern. A laugh in such a situation, indeed these nightmares really must have been relaxed. Gladdened slightly by the lack of body parts torn limb from limb Lester let a smile spread across his face. Ready to head up the mountain indeed, with a dip of his head Lester glanced back to val. The green mound in her glory of grasslike fur had turned his camping sleeping bag into some little round nest. "Yes let's head off in a moment." On his feet once more yet awkwardly crouched due to the low cave ceiling where he had managed to wedge himself, so she intended for them to go straight up the mountain, whether the absence of a preliminary village visit indicated her concern towards the beast or an eagerness to slaughter he remained unable to fully comprehend her just yet. Smooth hand moved to stroke his sloths head until the creature awoke. "Would you like some dry travelling food?" It would not be amazing however he himself was rather partial to walnut bread, Brain bread, it tasted rather intriguing.

Lester Drynedi ❀ Crystal Swan

Indeed his back headache from being bent over, visibly slow his movements were stiff and uneven from the time spent crouched and contemplating. Yet whilst she had declined food he himself was quite hungry, as the snow outside indicated the body heat of the duo would soon drop, the few comforts of the cave would seem like luxury once a blistering wind had wrapped him in its cold embrace. Energy would be snatched away with each thread of life winter dragged from his carefully sewn body. As if he were no more than a felt flower stitched together by a child Lester knew of how without nourishment he would soon crumble to winters digging claws. The soft bread of a slab of turkish bread was wedged in his back, slight crumbs were brushed to the ground as  the youth made a move to stretch, his mars clicking in odd ways as he could feel the muscles elasticity being tested, his back making a rather odd sound of popping as he lent backwards. A few seeds falling off of his half eaten turkish bread in the process of what appeared to be a speedy morning yoga routine. He would have been a good middle aged middle class woman. Hardly a minute had passed yet the bread had all been devoured by the growing youth, his metabolism being one that charged through calories requiring a high amount of nourishment and energy provided to it.

As his body stretched, each muscle had slowly been warmed up, each stake of bone within his body once chilled from the previous nights sleep. Legs stretched wide the youth's body then slid to the ground in a splits. Sighed, then flopped onto his back for a moment white hair obscuring his vision as it fell across his face. That tablet of hers, she drew things and they came to life right, or something similar. upsidedown the world seemed so pretty as time stopped for a moment whilst the only movement and sound was that of her pen. What creation would she bring into the world? Twisting over he propped himself up, kneeling in anticipation dust speckles forgotten clumped in patches on his elbows. A beautiful wee thing sprung up from the ground, eyes widened in surprise for a moment as she simply offered it up to him. A pure creation, not seeds under the earth which he had encouraged to grow, no this was just suddenly here.
And it was beautiful.

Cradled in his hands the youth knew little of what to say in response to the gift, for it was wondrous. The female seemed to fade out, her rambling rushed to the back of his mind as the inner curiosity took over, he inspected the flower with creat care, the scent indeed dulled yet the sap of the flower still ran smoothly. Such a curiosity made him wish he was back on the ship, for sure this would be something to research further. Oh yes right mountain lion. A smile flickered across his face, stretched back slightly as he carefully placed the flower into his bag at the top. "Let us depart then!" Scooping Val up as he passed lesters legs made strides to remove him from the sanctuary of the cave. A blistering wind bit away at his nose slightly. Indeed the hike to its lair would be harsh, the fight would be quite hard as well. "Are you okay? It's quite cold. Oh and um, the flower. Its so beautiful thank you!" Worried, a glance back at Rin and his thoughts were clearly expressed across his face with worry yet excitement. To kill a mountain lion, what's more, to return home to continue his experiments. That being said the most recent subject had started to show signs of being less human. Time to replace it perhaps.

Lester Drynedi ❀ Crystal Swan

The embrace of winter crawled into the thick fur of Val, he could feel the soft body clinging to his back slowly start to shudder, the shock in temperature affecting his half sleeping pet as a sudden shock of frost did to new flowers. A soft stroke of her head as the youth hummed a little, winter to him was beautiful and dangerous, so many plants were destroyed and killed off yet the winter brought forth new species, created to survive under ice and snow. It was wonderful. the flowers on her pelt started to close, shielding themselves from the shatteringly chilled wind. Head tilted to the side his lips moved softly, muttering to the sloth. Who promptly nodded in agreement and decided to transform, her green fur flattening and smoothing. Blending together as she appeared to knit together, soon enough the pet had turned into a long winding scarf, which clung to his neck.

A glance back to the others face as she spoke, it seemed to be that she was cold yet at the same time denied it. More flowers, yes that could be quite interesting after all, he had not wanted to confess it to himself yet his teammate intrigued him, she was sort of alluring. ”Yea, yea that would be really nice! I would quite like to look into the differences between them and natural plants! I'm sure there is something interesting in there I could research about.” A smile flickered across his face, the scarf rested in his hands softly, he could feel the warmth and softness of val clinging to him.

Right yes, it would be best to get off before something happened or they lost too much, trotting carefully behind her the youth stared at the snow in wonder, h had seen pictures but it was beautiful. The scenery was an inspiration to him, as if it were frosting upon a cake. A clearing appearing before them Rin mentioned her intention to take a break. Although he was hardly tired being the gentleman he was lester appeared to be tired as well, slumping down and perching onto a nearby rock. ”Its okay we can take a small break!” This mountain lion was eluding them, what a pity as well, for he figured that everyone would want to eat rin. With his own pet curled around his neck the slight moment of rest caused him to close his eyes, a yanking at his neck, the scarf whom was Val transformed pulled at his neck. Glaring back a raccoon on the tree appeared to be trying to yank it off. Whilst another stole a few sweets from his pocket the youth wacked the first away, whilst she was just a normal scarf now for one to hurt his sweet pet like that was simply horrid. Rin appeared beside him, her nerves had been acting up as a worried expression had been iced onto her face.

Lily and rin had heard something? Whilst the pesky raccoons crackle from the trees he brushed them off as rogue annoyances, a weed in the middle of a meadow, nothing major. Clutching his own bag he dragged it over his shoulder, the weight settled softly as he started tickling his scar, a soft motion of almost stroking in advance to a fight that might come. He would need val if they got into combat and the sloth scarf still remained napping around his neck. Vague crunching sounds came from under his feet as a wind wrestled with his hair, the long strand of hair down the side of his face swinging silently from the motions. From around a tree hurtled a horde of deer. The flowers under the earth burst up from below, they would soon die as winter would eat away at them yet as Deer rushed towards lester his inner ability unleashed, flowers growing from his arms protecting him from the damage the wild beasts would have caused.

Lester Drynedi ❀ Crystal Swan

His floral barrier had held off the worst of it, the pressure and pain had gone through though, his arms ached from the force at which the slabs of meat had rammed into him. Although deer were beautiful, providing important things to the forest and worlds that they lived in at this moment he felt as if they were no more than horrible livestock. Mind still wavered, grass trapped under a misplaced log straining to get free as he hoped to realign his brain after the torrent of venison flashed before his eyes. The flowers which had bloomed across his arm now crumpled away, disintegrating as their job was complete. Its soft pink petals had kept him arm from harm, yet now he had to be careful. Sudden attacks to himself would often be blocked or lessened at first, yet as a pile of leaves could only be jumped in once Lester found that the mysterious bloom within needed a short rest before protecting him again. As he had fallen against a tree soft scents of flowers enveloped the area, over time the pollen he worked so closely with had become embedded within the materials of his clothing. A groan pinched his face. Whilst the majority of the herd had decided to take a different direction he noted after a few moments that pixels scattered out of existence, rin had used her magic? With a roll of his shoulders the youth straightened up, foliage and leaf matter floated down to the ground as he brushed them off, right yes. Was he okay? A slight ache in his leg appeared to be just a bruise, ”Yea I’m okay, how are you feeling?” from those pixels he saw a moment ago it appeared to be that she had taken a hit as well.

It had come as a shock, normally a sound meant something small, and after those raccoons had stolen a few candies from his pocket Lester had at first thought it was something to do with the little tree rats. A chuckle passed through him, it was soft and simple yet his face creased in agreement. For some reason he felt so at ease with Rin, Theo as well, he didn't have to try and predict anything or carefully word his answers they were just there. "Yea it was a little surprising, I'm glad it was just deer though, It's good to know that they live here as well! Deer can be important for the life of the land." His voice sparked with enthusiasm towards the end, nature really was a large part of his life. As she wandered towards the tree stump, lester stretched his back up. Val had come out of her scarf form, the sloth clinging to his back as always lester brought her around. Sat on his hip the child clambered and started snuggling him almost. Of course the poor pet had been scared through that, unhurt she still shivered like a lone flower in the sharp winds of spring. It was nice to have a partner like rin, although both of their magics from what he knew appeared to be quite support based they had enough strength to oppose what came towards them, and would be able to support each other through whatever may come. Boots crunched in snow, yet every so often he noticed the other shudder, glancing over once more to check it did appear that her clothing was rather thin. With a small smile he shrugged off his jacket, unsure of how to offer it up he merely aimed to place it softly around her shoulders. He himself had the ability to produce small leaves and mosses across his skin when he was cold, with val also wrapped around his waist the white haired male felt as if she would have been much cooler.

"Yea it could be, I think it is." He peered closer, soft watermelon eyes squinting against the haze caused by the sun. Yet apparently there was nothing, taking a step back he sighed, a hand running through his hair. That sound echoed from behind, suddenly it appeared to be engulfed in flames and in a moment he had been whisked away from the scene before he had processed everything, slumping down next to her A look passed across his face. She didn't want to hurt it yet had acted out of instinct, this was a good thing after all as it indicated her growth as a mage. To her she had killed an innocent. And whilst death was a waste of something she had done no wrong. Moving closer he aimed to softly wrap his arms around her, drawing the teammate into a hug. Soft words in hopes to make her feel better were released from his mouth. "Its okay Rin, the bear was going to kill both of us, and if you didn't stop it then the situation would have been much worse. That bear would have killed other people before and could have gone on to kill more, you effectively saved lives. It's natural for animals to die out here, the bear lives it's every day knowing it could die." Would it help? He could hardly know, until he became more familiar with her thought patterns it was the most he could do. "You gave it a good swift death rin, you did good" Although he wouldn't due to the trauma it would put her through he almost wished to go back for some of that roasted bear meat.

Lester Drynedi ❀ Crystal Swan

Perhaps he had underestimated the trauma which she had gone through, to kill something whilst one was still soft of heart was quite a development in her life. She would be feeling inner turmoil he guessed, perhaps coming to terms with the fact that life wasn't exactly this wonderful dream palace, despite her magic she could not create a wonderful land of fun and games. His hand softly rested against her head, hoping that in some way this provided confort. Whilst he himself was not too familiar with the complications of providing emotional support it was something he had seen many a time. His siblings had been held close by their mother as their father had buried their childhood pet and dog in the backyard. Yet moments passed and the others body had started to shudder less, he could feel her heart slowing as if she were a flower, soft and sweet, its blooming head slowly raising after a torrential storm. A blush across her face, perhaps from coming to terms with how she had just mercilessly slaughtered something, embarrassed by her actions indeed. Yet that was his thoughts only for a few moments, she had been slow in releasing him, yet the words and actions that followed changed his assumption about the blush. A soft motion, his cheek prickled from the light brush of her skin against his, soft and warm. He was being kind then, it was a good thing indeed, yet the odd statement had come like the first winds of autumn did. A shock to his system, she had worded that in quite the way that made him think about it. She was hardly being dramatic, no now she was being stoic almost, as if she had to be strong to prove something to herself. Her own views, so similar to his own that they could have both been petals from the same flower rung in his mind, the wish and urge to refrain from killing. The idea of life being sacred, for it was something that he held close to him, not as afraid as Rin of murder he merely opposed the idea of waste.

She rose, leaving him to sit there pondering the effects of what had just happened, for both Rin and himself it was quite a new experience, getting to understand the way that each other thought was quite nice. He could only hope that with time it would all fall into place. Heartwarming, the sight could have been described as sweet, the interactions between pet and owner. It was as Val nuzzled her nose into his side that the youthful man wanted over his teammate and friend, she had a close bond with Lily, different than the silent one that he had with his own pet. It was that smile once more, he couldn't quite label it as a specific emotion yet she had worn it before when ashamed and also whilst relieved. Brushing off the thanks with a small wave his face bloomed once more with a smile of his own. It really was fine in his view. Yet that blush once more, she felt as if she had something to blush about, as if she had something to be deeply embarrassed or emotional about, perhaps it had been the hug. Yet what would have happened had he not comforted her in such a way?

Her figure strode off, each movement seeming a little too emotional, slightly irritated perhaps she clearly wanted to move on from what had just happened. Although it was understandable, as she had killed a bear, (quite finely roasted it in fact.) It was with slight amusement though that he watched his jacket swing about her, the fabric he had worn so often had been remembered. His own footsteps followed, val now snuggled across his shoulders and draped down his back, it calmed him. The presence of a sloth friend, truly calming to him. Yet as Rin continued to jump and scare at every moment his brows narrowed further. As she mentioned for him to wait the words passed through his mind smoother than they should have, after her constant surprise at every movement he doubted it was anything more than a rabbit.  Yet it was paw prints, deep and thick, wandering across the forest, yes he had the idea that she was right. "Let's follow it! Be careful though, stay slightly spread out move slowly and watch out." Common tactics, yet necessary when hunting a giant feline.

Val quite happily changed back into her main form, perched on his shoulder with her arms in his hair, rather messy and at time obscuring his vision. A chuckle passed through his mouth, it must have draw the creature closer as within moments his vision blurred in a flurry of fur as if it were a storm of pollen, his ability of gratitude protecting him from the first strike. He was flung back, taking a moment to recover. Val, annoyed at the movement of her human tree released a rawr, casting her spell with a simple squeak, the mountain lion slowed slightly as Lester felt power and strength increase within him. Although it would take a moment to start perhaps it would be for the best.

Straining to his feet the lion stood pacing for a moment as he started casting the spell, "Rin, keep him distracted for a moment it's okay, Val is here as well I just need to charge up this spell!" Hardened voice, not harsh but clear, he could restrain the beast soon, yet as all good things including Rin, he needed to wait.

Lester Drynedi ❀ Crystal Swan

Whilst she had indeed ended the life of a bear that was quite different. The bear had been charging at them, the bear had been so sudden that she had no other choice. Whilst this Mountain Lion was much more drawn out, the fight was a proper fight this time. Perhaps complications would arise from that. Lily was thankfully out of the way, and with a literal ring of fire swirling around the lion Lesters mind was at ease for a moment, for just a moment. A golden dancer, swirling and twirling almost it had almost flown over the fire, brows merely creased, he knew Rin would be able to handle it for a moment longer, that was if she was smart about it. The last thing he wanted was to lose a teammate or have a traumatised one due to something which he could have prevented. Concentration, it was a rather awkward spell indeed. Yet it would be foolproof, lion proof as well hopefully. Swarms quite effective, although really he should have mentioned something later to her about it, after all the bees would only enrage the lion further.

Cracking open slightly a grin spread across his face, he could feel it as if his magic was straining at the very core. "Rin move out the way." A quiet voice, a calm one. No one would ever expect it, the lion surely wouldn't expect a bed of vines to erupt out from under it, the dirt shuffled to the side as he watched for a moment, the green tendrils stitching any movement away from the feline. Whilst normally he disliked vines due to the nature of their growth, yet it was helpful now as flowers blossomed across the vines, obscuring vision as it still grew. Slowly, with time he knew the vine would suffocate the lion. Yet without a need for anything too harsh Lester's mind went quiet, a more physical manual wipe. A flicker of his fingers and the sloth upon his back happily squealed, she knew what to do and had perfected the evil boop of doom. A flicker of green as she appeared in front of the restrained lion, whom was still struggling against a vine trying to tie back its head. Her boop hit the lion square on its nose, worn down. The feline had encountered many things before them and even so the entire fight had slowly worn it down.

Booped to death, cause of death; boop. Quite literally he had noticed the lion now slumped against his magical vines, quite clearly dead. "Yea, are you and lily okay?" awkward almost, what should one say after ending the life of such a great creature.