"Yup! Ever since dad had to run away to escape persecution Dexter has been looking after me. Every gadget i use has been made by him, Dexter can crack open a safe with a toothpick in less than a second." "Easily." "He says he's not poisonous either." Kat wrapped the cloak around herself again, as skilled as she was in pickpocketing the little girl was certainly no champion when it came to keeping cloaks to cover herself. They were tied around her in a heat reflecting way, solidifying that she's used to wearing these in desert fashion rather than mountain fashion. "No focus on the temple itself but rather the top of the mountain, of course that's where the temple is… And yes, im looking for ores that will help me craft the means out of this realm."

He smiled, watching the two interact from beneath his hood, but his eyes glanced over to the quiet angelic figure. Even with her wolf companion this wasn’t a good place for her, so exposed to the cold and so vulnerable to the slippery snow. He spoke to the other as well as her scorpion as he walked over to Raziel, “You’re right to be focused on the mountain top for the ores you seek.”

He stopped by Raziel, a bit too close than one might normally be, but he’d been in her presence before so there was a tad more comfort. That, and he was still more alien than native, and wasn’t always the best when it came to understanding certain physical boundaries: he just did what he was comfortable with.

“Although,” he said, looking back to the girl, “With the temple so close by, I wouldn’t suggest mining or looking for old abandoned tunnels. Some might take offense to it, and no one likes an unnecessary fight.”

Clergy members could be kind individuals, this was true, but anyone from any belief structure had a right to be protective over their established place of worship. He smiled sheepishly, his already naturally soft voice dipping lower, “Not to frighten you too much of course, but you should know what you’re up against. Just in case.”

For now, he turned his attention back to Raziel so that the other two could discuss amongst themselves what their next course of action should be. “What are you doing out in the cold to begin with? You’re so delicate, you could easily go tumbling off the mountainside.” He chuckled gently even though that would be a very unpleasant experience. He pulled a pair of soft black gloves from his person and moved them onto his hands. Sometimes his paranoia got the better of him, and with Raziel already being blind, he was more protective; more worried that just his touch alone could cause her harm.

Despite having gloved hands, he used a featherlight touch to gently cup under her chin and turn her face this way and that. His eyes blinked open wider when she reacted with a small jump from his touch. He laughed, the sound moving through the cold air like tinkling bells. “Stay jumpy like that and you’ll surely fall.” She seemed fine though, now that he had a closer look at her, and he moved his hand back from her face. “What say you about all of this? Are you comfortable bringing these newcomers to a place so sacred?”

Throughout the interaction between Dexter, Kat, and Najima, Raziel merely stood there in silence. Every so often, she would shift from foot to foot, feeling the chill of the cold beginning to seep in. Zander lounged at her feet, deciding that she was in no danger. At first, she wanted to scream at Najima for promising to take the strangers to the sacred temple. Having known him for some time, she was beginning to trust his judgement in most if not all things. He always was a cautious one, especially in initial meetings.

Thus, the angel kept her silence. Even when the crunching of snow suggested someone approached her. Zander did not give her indication that this was not an undesired situation. It must have been Najima approaching, if she was to judge off the wolf. His joke made her smile and duck her head. ”Mother sent me. She wants to see some people, and asked me to find them.” Names alone had told her that these were not whom she sought.

As clothing rustled, she reminded herself of Najima’s habit of touching. Even with steeling herself for the inevitable touch, she still jumped. She was not accustomed to people touching her, and could not help but wonder if seeing it come would have any different reactions. Per usual, his hand was gloved, but his laugh warmed her heart. However, Raziel was blushing quite fiercely, and allowed him to move her face freely, inspecting her well being. Could he tell she already fell several times?

”I don’t think we should trust them, Najima. There’s something about the way he orders her about, the fixation on the temple… I just don’t like it.” she whispered. ”But, I suppose we could take them to the queen, allow her to make the decision?” They could always get her another cloak. Yet, it was slightly embarrassing to have to backtrack this soon into her journey.

"As long as there is a place for me to warm up. Im freezing!" "Ach yes, ill make sure to find a place far enough from the temple but close enough to the top to begin mein search. I know vhat im looking for, i just need to find it." "Sooo will you show us the way there?" The young girl asked with her knees shaking from the cold. She pulled her bandana more over her ears to store the heat. Her desert tanned skin was riddled with red spots as well, her state was degrading fast while Dexter could hold himself a bit longer, Kat had no natural armor to keep her warm… "Hm, perhaps taking her here was not such a good idea… Herr… Whatever you said your name was! She's beginning to show signs of hypothermia, if you can help then do so right away or she will get frostbite in aproxamitely 30 minutes, 47 seconds, 20 centiseconds, 40 miliseconds, 37 microseconds and 14 nanoseconds. Ill not do mining near the temple if you can just get her to safety and fast."

Despite being bossy earlier Dexter obviously cared for her, crawling around the child to secure cloaks better than she could while talking. It's not like he didnt care for Kat, it was just his personality to take charge and be bossy, it came with being an egomaniacal mad scientist probaply. "I only have half an hour left…?" "Mmhmm… But worry not, if they'll not help you then you can be sure ill figure something out…" Once done wrapping her cloaks into place he moved on top of her head again. Kat looked in confusion and mild worry, it wasnt the first time Dexter had been blunt about the state of her and this wasnt their first adventure either, she just hoped she'd get out of it alive. Dexter was looking into one of his gadgets to see if it could be modified to buy more time. "Can you help her or do i need to get creative?"

Ah yes, Mother, it wasn’t always easy to say ‘no’ to Mother. Still, he didn’t exactly find it fair for someone’s blind child to be sent out in a place so dangerous. Not that he thought those with disabilities were lacking, but it was a slippery snow covered mountain and valley: even those with full sight and heightened senses could easily fall to their deaths. From the looks of the bruises and marks on Raziel, you’d think Dalanesca’s shadow was toying with her.

Her cheeks were pink from his touch and he instantly smiled, always finding amusement whenever people got so easily flustered by actions as simple as a touch to the face. It tempted him to do it again, but he was trying to stay serious.

For extra measure he clasped his hands firmly behind his back, but arched an eyebrow and bent his head closer to her when she began to whisper. He could hear her fine, but by now he well knew that whispering was a social cue of wanted privacy, so he’d give her that. Hmm, he saw her point, but even if he led these two newcomers back towards the town, he’d give them an intimate warning about what happened to those that didn’t respect the ceremonies of the temple. He personally wasn’t a believer of their faith, but he was no fool and paid respects either way.

He whispered back to her, the smile turning to an impish smirk now, “Or we take them there and see what happens if they don’t follow the rules.” He punctuated this with a brief chuckle and straightened back up. Even if he wouldn’t speak of it openly now, he agreed with Raziel: the bond of the scorpion and elf was charged.

Said scorpion drew his attention back with obvious distress in their voice. Now that he looked at the girl, he could see small red welts forming on her skin. Her skin was darkened from the sun, and if what the scorpion was saying was true about hypothermia then…His lips parted, how had he not seen it earlier? She was a desert dweller, why in the world had she ventured somewhere so polarizing?

He perked despite himself, unable to hide his enthusiasm for how curious he was at the possible ways this small creature could take care of their charge. How creative could they get? Ah… This wasn’t the right response. His nose wrinkled in disappointment and he sighed, looking back towards the town as he spoke, “As much as I’d love to see what you have up your proverbial sleeve, it’s probably best to just take you somewhere safe.”

He sighed and looked back towards the pair, one gloved hand resting gently but protectively on Raziel’s shoulder as he spoke to the scorpion, “Not the temple though, not so soon. There are greenhouses that can offer much more drastic warmth, and food. Does she need transported?” His head tilted to the side, though he still hadn’t removed the hood, “If she does die though, can I do the autopsy?” He asked without a single hint of joking.

She enjoyed the sound of his chuckle, even if she didn’t want to admit it to anyone. His sense of humor was a tad dark sometimes, yet she didn’t mind it. Najima had always been such a welcome reprieve of her daily monotony, that she actually looked forward to his return. Still, the results of punishment might be humorous to witness. But what if they are severely punished and it results in both of their lives? Even with a reactionary smile to his statement, worry was still etched into her face.

Dexter pointed out that the girl was getting quite ill, needing to be taken some place for treatment. They were hours from the town! The child would never make it in time. If she could see, perhaps Raziel could fly them there? But that could still take longer than Kat had, not to mention would be that much colder. As Najima’s hand found its way to her shoulder, the angel did not even flinch this time.

He had agreed with her about the temple, which was a huge relief. Just as Raziel was about to give input, a serious question came out of her friend’s mouth. She gasped in shock. ”Naji! Don’t be cruel!” Looking around Najima, the angel apologized. ”No, he isn’t joking, but I must apologize. Najima is highly inquisitive, and sometimes very blunt. As for the greenhouses, that would be one of the best places for her to be at the present. But… Zets’Ki is hours away. And I was going downhill.” ’Falling for half of it.’

Of course, there was that on spell she half remembered. Raziel learned it decades ago, and never had a reason to use it, thus it was typically forgotten. The other angels taught her in case she needed to transport someone injured to receive proper attention promptly, especially in cases of emergency. If this didn’t count as such a case, she didn’t know what else would. ”I can attempt… If I remember it properly…” Without waiting for an answer, the angel began to concentrate,pulling on her knowledge of the spell and her own energy. Beside her, the air shimmered, an image beginning to appear, solidifying until they saw a brightly lit interior.

Inside was row upon row of neatly placed plants of various varieties. Berries, tomatoes, and several others. ”Hurry now, you’ll let all the warmth out.”

Kat held on strong to what little warmth she had inside the cloaks while Dexter angrily tried to connect the cloaks and clothing she had to trap warmth inside. "Dont get ahead of yourself. Mein plan in mein proverbial sleeve includes ripping your living guts out and warming her with it, then using your equipment and skin to craft a better cold resistant outfit for her. Immorality is less frowned upon when you are a scorpion." There was a small device on her arm that he removed and put under the clothing, it ran on a small furnace wich added some minor heat to her cold armor."Dexter… Dont say things like that…They think you are serious…" "If he didnt want to hear things like that he shouldnt be challenging creatures of mein intelect. Dont zhink for a second i will let you die in the cold. There will be no autopsy for you unless you find a dead hiker on the way."

Once a portal like vision was opened the little elf stumbled her way to the vision. At first she thought it to be a fata morgana but she remembers that those were never this close to herself. Once inside she almost collapsed, finally beginning to warm up. "That was close…" "We've been through worse… But not by much…." "Dexter?" "Yes?" "Where are we?" "It would apear to be a greenhouse…" "Are we still going to the top?" "Depends on how far it is and wether we can find a way to keep you warm to the top." "We should have hired the sled." "Just be glad we made it, ill go around looking for something to eat for you." Dexter loosened the clothing, allowing her to warm up faster and went around the greenhouse looking for something that would help her. He wasnt usually one to get nice to other people other than Kat with him being a mostly emotionless mad scientist so he had his back turned to Najima and Raziel when he spoke. 

"I suppose it is not out of place to thank you two for helping me get Kat to safety… You have my gratitude for this."

A soft chuckle escaped him despite himself, imagining the scorpion trying to pierce his skin with those claws. Men with knives and other assortment of weaponry had tried, and so far none had been successful: his skin was just too hard, plain and simple. Back where he’d come from they had metals beyond what Revaliir had, it was still odd to be in a place where he was so…durable. Still, the image was interesting: an angry scorpion and half dead girl trying to find any warmth in his slender body. He lightly waved his hand at the idea, “Nonsense, I don’t have nearly enough body fat to keep you warm.” He spoke as if this was a normal occurrence.

He watched with growing pride as Raziel opened up a portal to a greenhouse. His fingers gave her shoulder an approving squeeze before removing his hand from her and watching as the girl and scorpion went inside. He stepped in as well, his nose wrinkling from the contrasting heat. When you wore a hood all the time, you learned to dislike the heat even in the best circumstances. Yes, he much preferred the cold, and while he was tempted to remove his hood, he kept it up since there was a higher chance of people coming in and out of the greenhouse or down one of the many aisles.

The feisty scorpion gave its begrudging thanks to the pair, and Najima rested a hand atop Raziel’s head softly, “That’s our Raziel, ever the helper. But now,” he looked down at her, smiling a smile she couldn’t see, “I’m going to steal her away. I hadn’t expected to see you today, but now I can’t pass up the chance.” His gaze returned to the scorpion, “If we meet again and you’re still interested in seeing what makes my insides tick, just let me know, I have methods!” He exclaimed much too happily before moving an arm around Raziel’s shoulder; leading them down one of the aisles.

The moment the angel walked through the portal, it was instantly closed behind her. That wasn’t the only instantaneous thing, however, as her body began to overheat. While she was used to the cold, she had spent far too long without her cloak out there. So her core was working harder to keep her warm, and in a warmer climate as a sudden change, the reaction was immediate. Raziel stood there, attempting to keep her outward appearance as normal as possible, listening to the odd pair talk.

She gave a nod of respect to the awkward gratitude, yet she could not suppress the blink of surprise as Najima’s hand rested on her head. A natural blushed rose to her already rosy cheeks, only deepening when his arm was draped across her shoulder. ”Um… Bye?” Raziel said uncertainly as Najima led her away. Were those two going to be alright in here by themselves? All thoughts of the two were disappearing as she realized how cool his touch seemed.

”Najima… Do you think I failed?” the angel asked quite suddenly, rather quietly. Zander pressed his nose against the back of her hand. He sensed her distress. She had only been gone for a few hours, and here she was back at square one. ”I’ve not gone anywhere.” But was it truly failing if she was helping to save someone’s life? Was it worth the risk if to save the young one’s life was in an exchange for her mother’s own? ”Mother’s dying, Naji.” A tear slipped from her eye, streaking down her cheek.