[OOC: Okenite is a real stone that has a fuzzy surface. You can look it up for more details.]
 
Her transformation following Chae's curse, while inconvenient at times, proved a boon to Natsumi in more ways than the deity might have anticipated. Up until that point, a vague description had existed to besmirch the druid's reputation. It made stationary homes difficult to maintain, and was hard on the Yamauchi clan that just wished to be left in peace. However, given Natsumi's extreme change in demeanor, that description was beginning to fade from usefulness along with its incessant hindrance. It is difficult, after all, to confuse a pale woman of white hair with a tanned woman of brown hair.
 
Natsumi, never being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, had taken advantage of this change in reality to the best of her ability. She had become much more cautious about her murderous tendencies against poachers and lumberjacks, instead choosing to make them simply vanish rather than display their bodies as she had before. She even utilized her newly clean record to set up a general store location in the southern, Ancense Mountains near the Ader River mouth. Rumors among travelers spread once this storefront was established, leaking word of a prodigy in the foothills that made armor, weapons, healing draughts, clothing and more. Her skill was enough to make some of the smiths in nearby Adeluna jealous, even, and so the Ice Queen received her fair share of business despite her off the beaten path location.
 
It was on a snowy day in the month of Ultima that Natsumi was running this shop of hers as usual. Situated directly due east from the river's mouth and set up inside a mountain cave entrance, the campsite sat defiant against the cold. A campfire burned at its center, surrounded by specially designed rock formations constructed by magic to mimic cushiony log seats composed of okenite. A tent laid nearby, along with various other implements that seemed to mirror a common, blacksmith's set-up. At the moment, no work was being done, and so the forge was cold. Instead, the day's meals were being cooked in a large pot over open flame. Various subterranean vegetables were being roasted together in boiling water, seasoned with some rich local spices such as rosemary. Freshly caught fish were also being grilled atop the metal grate that the cauldron sat upon, liberally sprinkled in pepper and salt. It was a simple meal, but one with a potent enough scent to travel all the way out to the main road.
 
Both Natsumi and Saya were located around the cooking food this time, dressed in overcoats and proper winter attire to keep the chill at bay. Saya's fox tail swished as she warmed her hands by the fire, while Natsumi was tending to the food and assuring it wouldn't burn. Both of them were paying close attention to the environment, but the elder more so. It was rare for her daughter to join her at work, and she was only here this time because she had been so insistent. Natsumi had humored her against her better judgment, and only time would tell if she would do so again in the future. Fortunately for Saya, though, a proper and polite customer was all she needed to convince her mother that it was safe enough to bring her along.

It had been such a long time since he’d needed new weaponry – usually he used a forge that was in connection with his family and their organization.  This time, however, he wanted to have a try at something new.  It wasn’t often that he trusted his coin in the hands of someone whose work had never made it into the fingers of one of his associates or brothers, but having seen their produced steel he had grown more than a little curious.  Whoever they were, they were fairly new, at least with the name they were using now – it wasn’t incredibly unheard of for forgers to adopt pseudonyms after all. 



Whatever their reason for going unnoticed until recently, he was eager to see what they had to offer.  It was nice to have something to take his mind off of things, even if it was only going to be temporary.  Ever since finding out about Holly every decision he made was second guessed, right down to the strength of his steel.  Knowing that he had allowed himself to get so close, both emotionally and physically, to someone like her, someone from such unholy ancestry, made it so that no blade he handled ever seemed sharp enough. 



He wasn’t going to let himself be fooled like that again.  Yet he still hadn’t smashed the vial around his neck, and while it was tempting on more days than he’d like to admit, it still remained perfectly intact against his chest, though hidden.  The chill in the air did him some good and he was eased by the fog escaping his lips with each exhale.  It reminded him that he was still alive and had yet to be compromised.  Unfortunately ever since those events his usually light demeanor had shifted to become more stoic, distant…almost cold.  Almost.



The smell of cooking fish caught his attention immediately, having always been drawn to that scent.  Well, his directions had led him this way, so that was a bit of his load lightened from knowing that he wasn’t too far now.  When he made it to the small encampment, to say he was surprised was an understatement.  He didn’t know what to expect but it hadn’t been a woman and a child around a cooking fire.  He admired the rustic nature of the front and felt some of the tension that had been forming in his jaw slowly ease back down.



His lips pulled in, that instilled politeness taking over without even trying now that he was approaching someone new.  It wasn’t their fault that his thoughts had drifted towards unpleasantness.  He made sure not to come too close to their circle though and slid his hands into his pockets, keeping them even warmer against the cold as he spoke out to them, “Excuse me…I’m searching for a weaponry forge.  Are you the smith…?”   His eyebrows rose just a little in question.

 

Scents of various foods mingled in the frozen air of that Ultima afternoon, awaiting the arrival of the day's customer. Lunch would soon be ready, and even Saya's stomach was grumbling softly with its approach. Natsumi was making the final touches on the meal; trying to hurry it along when, ironically, she began thinking of the time in her past when she first met the half-demon, Naota. She remembered the Boharian Inn with the bombastic family, and the catalyst moment that propelled her into her current place in the world. That had been around 2 years ago, a time lapse long enough for most to assume she had forgotten about her inadvertent cleric.
 
She hadn't cast off the memory yet, though. Natsumi still kept that old coin pouch filled with the same crescents that Naota had parted with to save her hide so long ago. Her search to return it to him had continued ever since then, but with limited success. He had, effectively, disappeared, and Natsumi had, in recent days, begun to think he was dead. This was most likely why she didn't react when she caught his scent prior to his announcement.
 
"Smith, apothecary, healer, artifact hunter, mercenary, tailor: I have many professions, but I suppose what you really want to ask is, 'Are you the Ice Queen I've heard about on the road?' Yes would be the answer in that case." The druid responded to the newest customer with this disbelief in her mind, thinking that it couldn't possibly be the same person from her past that she was thinking of. It had to be a hallucination, or so she told herself. She was, obviously, surprised when she looked up to find out she had been wrong, and chuckled at her stupid amount of luck. "Guess you didn't die after all, Naota," she said while placing the wooden spoon she was holding down on a nearby, stone slate. "It's been quite a while since our meeting in that Boharian inn, and I nearly gave up on finding you to return your silver." With a flash of magic, an old coin purse appeared in her hand before she continued. "200 crescents: the exact amount you left at the inn. Also the same crescents, since the owner didn't take a single one after she discovered her daughter tried to con you and since I didn't spend any myself."
 
Saya was understandably confused at this development, and spoke up just as her mother walked over to return the coin pouch to its rightful owner.
 
"Okaasan, who is he?" she said while peering over at the dark haired man. The woman looked back at her nervous daughter as she heard her voice, and briefly addressed her concerns.
 
"This is Naota: a cleric of some talent that I met a couple years ago. Some people did some very mean things to him after he helped me, and I've been trying to repay him ever since." Turning back to man she was describing, Natsumi spoke up one last time while pointing back at Saya and handing the coins over to the half-demon. "That would be Saya, my daughter. My name is Natsumi, lest you forget. I won't blame you, if you have. After all, I wasn't pale as the snow last time."

His eyebrows rose as she listed her many areas of expertise. It was impressive to say the least, and he wondered briefly if she lived alone with the young girl. Not that he didn't think a woman was capable of such things on their own, but when there was a child involved he couldn't help but grow protective. It could be a huge responsibility for a person to take on on their own, much less with all of these other tasks at hand. But neither one of them seemed undernourished or in danger. He chuckled lightly, taking in the cold surrounding them and the likeness she had to a passing snow storm: her title was fitting.


But his lips parted and his eyebrows furrowed when she mentioned him by name. He was sure that he would have remembered someone like this before. The moment she mentioned the inn it all came flashing back. She looked so different now, how many more changes had she undergone since last he had seen her? His eyes softened, even if it wasn't for personal reasons or comradery it was still something to take notice of that she had carried around that silver for so long.


"Indeed you weren't, in fact this is the third likeness of you I've seen since we've met." His eyebrows rose, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips,


"There is no need to return my silver to me though, as I've actually come to you about a possible commission. We'll put that silver towards it. If you're available for a new project that is."


After all he had come unannounced, he wouldn't have been surprised or offended should she not be able to take up his request. But now that he was here he felt compelled to learn more about what had happened between then and now. There was the normal level of curiosity that urged him on, but underlying that was a different feeling. Almost as if he had to learn more about her and this situation.


Presently he wasn't sure whether or not to be worried by that feeling or not. After all, it may have been a while ago, but he still remembered a few things she had said to him. Namely knowing about his daemon and her similar circumstance. His thoughts drifted to her child. Maybe this wasn't the best time to bring up such subjects.

As expected by Natsumi, Naota's reaction was typical. Even if he had seen her when she first got her ears and tail, the half-demon would be hard pressed to recognize her given her current state. A rapid whitening and loss of melanin was highly unusual and improbable, especially since it was a sign of failing health in one so young. It was not a trait the average person would think to look for in a teenage human; and, as such, the young man's surprise – as well as his veiled concern – did not come as a shock. Rather, they provided a useful segue into business negotiations.
 
"And probably not the last," the Ice Queen responded to her acquaintance's initial remark while proceeding to eyeball the half-demon's measurements. She hid it well during her work, but she was feeling the same sensations lately that she had the first time she met Naota. At night, her bones felt like they were melting; while her body ached constantly. Few but Saya knew about this, but then they didn't need to know. She didn't like people seeing how weak she really was, especially since weakness got people killed in the wilderness.
 
Still, Naota was relatively harmless on the matter. Minase could throw a wrench into normalcy, but Naota, himself, was much more like a cuddly bear – admittedly with less hair. He was also asking for a commission, which made him a welcome distraction for the day.
 
"Alright then," Natsumi said with a mischievous smile when the topic came up. She tossed the coin purse in her head behind her head without a second thought, somehow landing it precisely on one of the unoccupied, okenite logs. That was when the music began. "Let me entreat you to some of my store's hospitality."
 
In perfect pitch, the druid's clothing began to emit the sounds of a brass band, courtesy of Kino; and Natsumi herself was starting to speak in lyrical fashion. "Mr. Naota, sir, what will your pleasure be? Let me take your order. Jot it down." Bright lights erupted in front of the half demon, taking the form of a touch-sensitive, ethereal menu displaying all options available to him in the store. It was invoked with a flourish of the woman's arm, and joined by a magically generated, stone seat behind her guest. "You ain't never had an artisan like me."
 
It was a little introductory act, something that had worked well for Natsumi's business thus far. This time, however, it didn't go off without a hitch. There were a few more lyrics to the jingle: all of which would have been said had a certain, attention starved platypus not interrupted. Like most times he showed up, he arrived via an unexpected gate, landing right on top of Natsumi's head before posturing for Naota.
 
"And that artisan's name is Nikolai!" the magical platypus boasted in common tongue, giving no heed for the woman underneath him that had frozen mid-pose.
 
"Nope," retorted Natsumi in stride while prying the creature from her hair in one fell swoop. "And you threw off my groove." She dangled the creature in front of her, looking intently at him as he displayed his ineptitude in the department of silence.
 
"Nikolai knows you only pretend to have a groove. Style is not in the stingy fox girl's vocabulary." Intense glares flowed between Natsumi and Nikolai following this interaction, but the former eventually forced herself to let it go. Kino's music had already died down during the altercation, and Saya was uncontrollably laughing in the background. It was certainly an interesting reintroduction, and one Naota would not soon forget.

His eyes flickered from side to side, up and down, trying to locate the source of the music he was hearing, and when he realized that it was actually coming from a suit they widened. Now…that wasn't exactly something you saw every day, or heard for that matter. The music was unlike anything he had ever heard before, and something about it was almost familiar, but so vague and fleeting that it was gone from his head as quickly as it had come. A menu appeared in front of him and he gently moved his fingers towards it, watching it, taking in how it responded to even the slightest touch.


Well then… She certainly had a vast array of choices for him, and while that would usually suck him in immediately, he was finding it rather difficult not to get distracted by that music. No matter how much he focused he couldn’t pinpoint the instruments used. He looked behind him quickly when the seat appeared and moved his fingers under the lighter than air screen, surprised and yet not that it moved with him as he sat down; guiding it carefully as if this obviously unbreakable thing could be destroyed by a mere touch.


"Is that a…" His words were to himself, quiet due to the fact, but there it was right in front of him: a talking platypus. Just what kind of person was she…? He hadn’t known what to expect if they were ever to cross paths again like they were doing now, but it most certainly had not been this. His lips pulled in, trying his best not to laugh as he watched the exchange between the two, and the little girl’s giggles didn’t make the attempt any easier. Everything had been so tense lately in his personal life that it was nice to see something so absurd and light.


"W-Well whoever the artisan is your list of metals and designs is very…..very impressive." His eyes lifted back up from the menu, "That suit that was playing the music, did you build that as well…?"


Just what kinds of talents did she have? Be it by magick or machinery all of this would have been impressive. It was enough to make him wonder why she was living so far out when such skills had the potential to be fawned over in more urban areas. Then again, maybe she was the type that enjoyed her solitude. It was something he could easily relate to her with should that be the case. "Don’t think that I’m ignoring you, I’m just trying to take in everything you have to offer that I can choose from for my commission…"


He pulled his legs up into the seat and crossed them, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked through all of the different combinations he could potentially have made.








　

The incredulous remarks Naota had expressed mid-act were naught to be ignored. Both Natsumi and Nikolai had heard them loud and clear, and were swift to answer in their own way.
 
"A specimen of masculinity," was Nikolai's assertion.
 
"A nuisance platypus," on the other hand, was how Natsumi described her companion. Quite understandably, the two met with glares that could make stones cower as a result of their disagreement. Only Naota's next question broke their ocular contest, at which point Natsumi released Nikolai to the ground with a loud thud.
 
"No," she began to explain in regard to her suit. "A group of secretive mages constructed Kino thousands of years ago in the area of Ataiyo. She was the first magical artifact I found after our initial meeting when I went exploring in some rather dangerous, Boharian ruins far to north of here." In order to facilitate the subject at hand, Natsumi held up a gloved palm for the half-demon to see. At first glance, this was a mundane action, because it only appeared to be the druid telling Naota to stop. Indeed, only when the glove started changing shape and melding with Natsumi's skin did the demonstration's intent become clear. "Unfortunately, it came at a cost. She and I are intertwined now, so much so that this suit is actually connected directly into my skin and cannot be removed. Thankfully, it can be shapeshifted to where I can still bathe; otherwise it would be far more of a curse than a blessing."
 
Kino bid the glove to return to its former shape once her master's display was complete, and so Natsumi was able to finally bring her arm back to its resting place. She stepped closer to Naota at that point, ignoring the miffed Nikolai who had gone to sit next to Saya.
 
"At any rate," she said just after passing beyond the menu her acquaintance was using. "Lest you haven't figured it out yet, this menu reacts to touch and has many different categories. In order to select an item, simply touch the icon that has the option you desire and it will take you to the next selection. If you select weapons, for example, it will take you to a sub-menu for the types of weapons available. The next menus after that will include materials and style specifications. Each material and weapon type has a price estimate next to it, and the final price will be totaled at the end. I will have you sign a purchase agreement once everything is done. Also, if you change your mind and wish to go back to another menu, simply touch the picture of a left-pointing arrow in the upper left corner of the display."

As she spoke about Kino he returned his eyes to the screen of information in his hands, but the more she described the suit the more distracted he became.  He looked back up at her, watching her hand as the suit covered her skin, retracted again.  They must have been powerful mages indeed to have constructed something like it, it was a shame that it would take a parasitic toll on its host though.  Still, impressive work.  Maybe one day she would be able to find a way for it to be removed, though with how well she said it adapted to her –enough even so to bathe properly- perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing to constantly have.

At any rate he knew well enough about sharing his body with something that couldn’t be removed, but he said nothing on it and returned his eyes to the screen as she gave her instructions.  It was almost dizzying to think of all of the possibilities and combinations, but more so by the very fact that she had so much at her disposal.  The rumors about her had not been exaggerated and he was glad for it.  One hand lifted up to the vial around his neck, twirling it between his fingers absentmindedly as he scrolled through.

“Do you ever get lonely here?  So out of the way of people I mean.”  Just his eyes lifted up to her as he spoke before moving them back down, a small smile forming as he thought about Nikolai, “Though it seems that you have enough company.  I don’t know what it would be like to be so out of the way.”

He’d grown up in such an active city that it was hard to imagine only having the sounds of nature surrounding him.  Though he was never truly alone, he wasn’t sure how to feel about knowing that Minasé would be the only other voice for him to hear.   “You’d go mad…”  Rare as it was, he agreed with him.   “Have you always stayed like this?”  He touched down on the section for the material meant for the blade itself as that was what would be the determining factor for which direction he’d want to go for this particular weapon, “Not running a forge I mean: away from people.”

His eyes lifted up to her again, though his thumb hovered over the screen, ever ready to continue scrolling through.  Not that he was here to make friends with anyone, but he couldn’t help but wonder about someone in her situation.  She seemed fine enough for the most part, as did her child, but part of him was also merely curious about such a very different lifestyle.

Compared to previous customers, Naota appeared to have a good grasp of the menu mechanism Natsumi had provided. While its present form had been refined countless times, the selection box was far from bug free. The novelty of the device meant it was not consistent with common design guidelines, so several clients had been unable to use earlier versions. The demon-hunter was lucky in this respect that he was using close to the final draft.
 
Even so, he certainly took his time. The Ice Queen was able to return to making lunch while she waited for her guest to finish, and even start boiling some water for use in tea whilst conversing.
 
"Many who live in the cities have a hard time recognizing the appeal of rustic life," she said before handing Saya a bowl of soup and a fish skewer. "Where they may hear only sounds in nature, I hear voices and intelligible words. Unless I go where there is no life at all, I am never alone. And even in places like that, there are phantoms that stay with me. As it is, I consider silence a luxury rather than a common resource."
 
Natsumi was sitting down to eat her own lunch after giving that answer. She didn't start eating, though, until she was sure Naota had all his questions answered.
 
"Not always," she said. "A year or two before I met you, I was a nobleman's daughter living in a fancy house to the east. Long story short, my family wanted to force me into a marriage and I said no by running away despite that being a death sentence for a member of a traditional family like myself. My experiences with humanity since then have been eye opening as well as disconcerting. Once I got my inhuman appendages, those experiences just got worse. Not surprisingly, I tend to avoid cities at least partially because of the racism factor nowadays."
 
A loud whistle started to erupt after bigotry was mentioned. Tea was ready, or at least the water. The herbs were in Natsumi's pocket, and the pewter cups were nearby. All that was needed were a precise number of imbibers.
 

"Tea" the woman asked Naota? "It's Ginseng from Nisshoki. Not much, but genuine tea from my homeland is difficult to get in this area without ingredients spoiling; especially this time of year."

Well he couldn’t argue with her there.  He’d grown up in such an urban area for most of his life, and it wasn’t until he was able to go off on his own that places like this became more normal.  Still, even while the woods, mountains, even islands could be peaceful in their own right, the silence was able to bother him.  Or, he should say: the amplification of everything caused by the silence.  

In the city the sounds of wheels over stone, chatter, coins being passed from hand to hand, doors opening and closing: all of it made it so that he could drown everything else out…Minasé, the thoughts of others –though that was faded now as he’d gained control over that, but as a child he had no way to stop the voices that seeped out of peoples’ heads.  That had been the first indication that he was…different.  Looking back on it, he felt foolish for having not realized he was adopted sooner…

His eyes saddened as she continued.  She seemed so young, he wasn’t one to instantly think that she was since he himself suffered from a halt in physical aging, but still, thinking of someone that was as young as she looked having to go through something so stressful…He shook his head a little, looking back down at the screen.  Who could do that to their own child?  People should be so lucky to even have them and then threaten to kill that very offspring…?  Not everyone deserved a child.  That was a fight he always had to subdue within himself since he could never have any, it always made his eye colder towards those that squandered such a blessing.

“Tea?”   His attention was brought back promptly and he lifted his eyes back to her, then over to the whistling pot.  He straightened, finding himself able to smile again as she spoke about the tea.  Nostalgia for home had never been stronger and his lips parted, “You’re from Nisshoki…?  He dipped his head lightly, followed by a gentle nod to her offering of tea.   “Which district?”  It wasn’t often that he crossed paths with another Ataiyan, especially on this continent.   “My family was in the central district, we also had another home at the edges of the main city.”

It was strange to think that they might have even crossed paths with one another years ago.  He remembered vaguely what she had looked like the night at the inn, and tried to age her down further in his head to see if there was any recognition.  Something was there…but it didn’t feel like a memory.  It felt…off, and for some reason he didn’t want to seek it out further.