A Small Town Alchemist

Something else was though, the slight touch of his foliage and... He blinks, looking up.

"Ah, that would be me," he says finally, looking behind him at this... She looks to be a human girl. Not at all bothered by the invasion of privacy, he's known sprouts to do the same.

She place her hands together and began to bow her head up and down in an apologetic way. "Even if your leaves would be useful, I certainly wouldn't use them without permission! And I certainly wouldn't yank them off so carelessly without asking!" She apologized a few more times for good measure.

Then, she let out a breath.

He shook her hand firmly--there was no reason to squeeze too hard, but her own handshake was firm; best to acknowledge it accordingly. "I'm Ikki."

Relief washed over him immediately after he let go of Sophie's hand, and it turned out she was right--his rambling had been spawned entirely by anxiety. The second she gave in to let him protect her, a good amount of his anxiety drained away.

Ikki turned away without a word, and sniffed the air, hound-like. He was silent for a second or so, unmoving--scenting, listening.

"...If you're looking for rare plants, our best bet is to either go east or northeast," he nodded in the direction Sophie had been heading initially, "towards the mountains. The pine forests have all kinds of good shit in them, I hear, and you might find the mnemos flowers up in the rocky areas. Those're the glowing blue peonies the locals give as betrothal gifts. Or, we could head north," he nodded in that direction, "to try to find the Whispering Forest. It's supposedly due north of the castle--but we gotta avoid the castle first, cause some vampire-lookin' motherfucker lives up there, and we generally wanna avoid his ass. The Whispering Forest supposedly has this like, magical clearing that's fuckin' littered with mnemos. Also, since that's not in the mountains, we don't gotta deal with dragons. The dragons here are only like the size of a large dog, but they're scared shitless of humans, and might lash out by setting you on fire."

"Ahh, well...so many choices." Sophie thought for a moment. The best way to make a choice was to just pick one and go for it without any second guessing. So with that, she decided suddenly. "Alright...! Let's head for the Whispering Forest!" She placed her large stick onto the ground for stability, and placed her free hand on her hip.

"A magical forest sounds like it would be littered with plenty of alchemical ingredients!" She paused for a moment, the smile on her face suddenly faltering. "...Wait, did you say vampire? Or does he just look like a vampire?? ...It's pretty unkind to judge someone just because they live in a castle and look like vampire...maybe he can't help it!"

"Mmm…" Rika hums as if considering the taste. "You know, with such a small piece, it's hard to judge… A few more would really help me give you some better feedback~"

Rika's eyes land on the cauldron next to the young woman, and her innocent smile gives way to a horrified expression.

"Are you a WITCH?! Oh my god… What did I just eat?! Is it poison?! Are you going to turn me into a frog?!" She yells, hands coming up to her mouth.

"I'm not a witch! I'm an alchemist, and that candy won't turn you into a frog or anything like that! It's normal candy...! I've been testing the consistency and flavors..."

She let out a breath and shook her head. "You could've waited for me to explain..."

"You're a lunatic."

Apparently, this Random Guy had no trouble stating plainly how he felt.

"Haven't you ever traveled between worlds before? When it comes to moving through the Multiverse, you can't assume that things will be the same as what you're used to. Not ever. The whole reason the fucking Multiverse exists is because of divergent possibilities--what doesn't happen in one world's timeline, does happen in another. Therefore, not just anything is possible, but everything exists. Assuming that shit will be what you expect is how you get yourself killed. Doesn't everyone know this? Fuck me."

Ikki let out a long, frustrated sigh, and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Look, far be it from me to tell you how to live your life, lady. I sure as hell have never listened to good advice in my life, so I guess I'm one to talk, or whatever. But I've also died before. So let that rattle around in your brain for a sec."

"Look, point is--this place, this fucking--Spirale, and the branches, like the one we're in, the Black Fens--this whole fucking place? Takes your abilities from you. Sure, I could still cut up a motherfucker to ribbons, cause skills are skills, but I don't have a sword. I can't summon either of the weapons I'm used to using, and I can't cast more than the simplest spell. I'm assuming your abilities got taken when you arrived here too--so if you just start venturing into dangerous areas willy-nilly when you've basically been nerfed into a vanilla human, you're liable to fucking die."

"Tell you what. Let me come with you. If nothing happens, you can say 'I told you so' and I won't even be mad. I'll fucking buy you a beer, even. But if something does happen--the simplest spell I've got left? I can open portals. We can't go far, but the Corridor will at least let us get the fuck out of dodge. Teleports can absolutely save your life."

"Deal?" Ikki held out a hand to shake. From the belligerent look on his face, he definitely assumed she was going to take the offer, no questions asked.

(The look in his crystalline blue eyes, though, was pure worry. He hid it expertly behind a bitchy expression--and he'd never admit to it--but something about this girl reminded him of--reminded him--)

"I don't really--"

"You shouldn't--"

Anytime she tried to get a word in, he would just talk over her. So eventually she just gave up and stood there listening to him. The more he did, the more she realized that he was pretty anxious about her going foraging. Someone who didn't care, surely wouldn't be this talkative about the subject, right?

When he was done speaking, and he thrusted his hand towards her, she looked down at it with a smile on her face. "Well, haha, when you put it like that so passionately, I guess it's the best idea to agree!"

There was a girl there. Why was there a girl there? Some girl with brownish-red hair and enormous eyes, with a satchel in hand putting away a pair of shears that looked like they were for foraging wildcrafting potion ingredients, and she was walking out of the town of Tuirse, towards--

--towards the wilderness.

She didn't even have any weapons on her. What the fuck.

"Hey!"

Ikki trotted up to Sophie, looking somewhere between alarmed and offended. He wasn't heavily armed himself--he was dressed in just slate-black jeans, second-hand combat boots, and a turtlenecked sweater, and had a wooden sword tucked into his belt. Still, he moved like a man who'd seen combat, who could handle himself in a fight.

Yet, her plans were suddenly interrupted by some random guy!? She glanced over her shoulder at him before turning around to face him completely. "Huh..?"

"Well..." She looked at the wooden pole she was holding, then back up at the random guy. "I've dealt with dangerous monsters before back in my own world. So it should be pretty much the same, right?" She replied earnestly, and then tilted her head slightly.