dig a little deeper

ronin A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets Ronin had invited Phoebe to the Oasis perhaps a little suddenly, especially given her recent conversation with Remi (though he doubted that she was aware that the alchemist had told him what had happened). Still, with everything - and with the new weight of responsibility on his shoulders, it seemed right to find out as much as he could. Y'know, because it wasn't enough to be dying of the blight, he had to be the king of it too. The afternoon was cool and breezy, and the Oasis burned with the colours of Leafchange from the Glade all around it. Ronin was sitting on a log overhanging the cool waters, dangling his bare feet in and gazing around at the wildlife. Vibrant, thriving... would the blight reach here too, eventually? He frowned, some of the carefree feeling of the day leaving him with that single thought.

Phoebe When you need some shelter from the rain, when you need a healer for your pain, I will be there time and time again The invitation came as a surprise, and he had caught her just before she planned to head out into the Greatwood in an attempt to find the Mathair again. The place kept spitting her back out and she had yet to find a Fae willing to help. But today it worked in Ronin's favor, and she arrived with Pim, her adventuring pack still on her back, dressed in leggings and a tunic top - a big change from her usual feminine dresses and skirts. "Your highness." she said with a smile, dipping a curtsey to him when she found him at the Oasis. Pim didn't bow though. The stout dragonling roared a greeting and that was the best he would get. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

ronin A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets Grand, news was already getting around. Ronin smiled weakly at Phoebe and waved her off as if to tell her the pomp wasn't necessary, pulling his feet from the waters so he could stroll on the soft grass to greet her properly. "Just Ronin has worked between us so far. Why fix what isn't broken?" he asked with a grin, before turning to crouch down before the little dragon. "Hello, Pim," he greeted brightly in return. "You're getting big, aren't you? If only you could teach Sugar your secrets." Alas, he thought his beloved little ice queen was destined to be a shoulder surfer forever. "I was hoping, actually, that I might be able to learn about the blight from you," he said (to Phoebe again this time), straightening up and burying his hands in his pockets. "I remember you mentioning before the wedding, that you were going to study it. I wondered what you had found?"

Phoebe When you need some shelter from the rain, when you need a healer for your pain, I will be there time and time again Phoebe smiled warmly, laughing a bit as he waved off her show of fealty. "Oh, but before you weren't a king my liege, and I but your humble servant." she said with a perfectly practiced tone, her high marks from finishing school showing through. But then she grinned and laughed a little, teasing him more than playing a real show of servant and royalty. Pim just scratched at his head in response to Ronin. Finally the beginnings of little silver horns were starting to poke through his pink scales. Ronin's questions surprised Phoebe, and she raised a brow. "Oh! Well, not much yet I am afraid." she said with a small frown. "In plants I've found it reacts to sulfur, which delays its spread, and the blight itself seems to impede the ability of cells to produce energy, which clearly is what leads to their decay." she said. "Frey said a tree called the Mathair is where it started and I've been trying to get to it...but the wood and the Gar haven't been very helpful."

ronin A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets Ronin scrunched his nose further at her teasing, though it was good to hear that it was teasing rather than Phoebe treating this seriously. Besides, there was something much more serious to talk about. He resisted the urge to let his shoulders sag at the news that she didn't know much about the blight, trying to remind himself that there were other avenues to try. But still, what Phoebe had learned was interesting enough. "Cells...?" He raised an eyebrow, though he shook his head as if to tell her not to worry about the explanation. It was the 'impeding energy' part that sounded important anyway. "A tree called the Mathair, huh. I'm surprised the Fae didn't jump at the chance to do this with you, considering how deep the blight is getting in the woods."

Phoebe When you need some shelter from the rain, when you need a healer for your pain, I will be there time and time again Phoebe stared back in confusion as Ronin expressed his own at the use of the word cells. Suddenly, she realized she had been so absorbed in her own world of research that she forgot that the vast majority of people didn't know what they were. "I'm sorry I know I sound crazy, but they are...here let me just show you." she said as she took off her pack and knelt down. "No they haven't. They've actually been very unhelpful." she mumbled, pulling out her field desk and placing her microlens on top of it. She plucked a piece of grass and bid him come over. "Look through the eyepiece....see those little squares with circles inside? Those are cells, and everything in the world is made up of them." she explained. "Frey showed them to me first, then Remi made me this microlens so I can see them. Things with the blight seem to be suffering at this level of life."

ronin A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets Having indicated that he didn't need an explanation, of course Phoebe steamrolled right into one, and Ronin was swept up in following her over and kneeling down and peeping through the weird spyglass she had and looking at the circles. "Huh," he said with all of the interest of a man who has punched things for a living forever. "I mean... great. I'm falling apart on the inside, then. Good to know I guess." He shrugged. The Fae being unhelpful, though... maybe he could do something about that. "In what way?" he asked. "Is there anything I could do, maybe?"

Phoebe When you need some shelter from the rain, when you need a healer for your pain, I will be there time and time again She frowned a bit at his reaction, biting her lip. Phoebe hadn't expected him to be particularly excited about it, per se, but she hadn't expected him to be so curt. But she supposed, if he was sick and feeling poorly, that could affect his mood. "I'm doing everything I can to find a cure." she said quietly. Frey told her not to feel as though she was letting everyone down, but when faced with Ronin, it was hard not to. "They are protective of the Mathair and blame use for bringing the blight, so no one will lead me to it. So I end up getting spit out by the wood." she said with a light sigh. She doubted he could do anything about it but..."Actually, yes. Yes there is. Can I take a few samples from you to examine?"

ronin A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets "Everyone is," Ronin muttered, perhaps a little bitterly at the mention of finding a cure, before he shook himself off. "I'm sorry. I mean - I know you are. I appreciate it... and between us and whatever the gods are doing to deal with all of this, we should find one sooner rather than later." No matter how bleak it looked. No matter how exhausted he felt. No matter how hopeless it was beginning to appear. Her question surprised him, but he nodded nonetheless. "Sure, if you think it would help. What do you need me to do?" He was the only mortal wandering around with the illness right now, as far as he was aware, so maybe this would open some doors.

Phoebe When you need some shelter from the rain, when you need a healer for your pain, I will be there time and time again Phoebe frowned a bit at his words, glancing down at her microlens. She wasn’t convinced that the gods were doing anything. This was a human problem, not a deity problem. But she didn’t want to say that. She didn’t want to take what solace Ronin might find in his faith in the divine. During difficult times, sometimes that faith was all that they had. She looked back up at him as he agreed, surprised, but happily so. ”Well…it will sound odd, but if I could get a vial of your blood that would be a great start.” she said. She was quite familiar with the composition of blood at this point, and of all the things, she figured she could identify an illness in that. From her bag she produced a small needle and a vial, part of the medical kit she had packed in case she had found blighted animals. Phoebe then put on a pair of gloves and, with Ronin’s permission, rolled up the sleeve of his shirt. She found a good spot on the inside of his elbow, carefully inserting the needle to extract the blood. The midwife moved deftly – a slight tremble in her hands most certainly from nerves hardly noticed – filling the vial before carefully wrapping his arm in a bandage. ”Thank you.” she said with a small smile, looking at the bottle. Her brows furrowed though. It looked normal in parts but others were streaked with black and almost shiny – very much like the black blobs on the outsides of the plants. She kneeled back down, carefully preparing a slide with a single drop, still able to clearly see the two substances. ”Well, let’s see what we have here…” she said, looking into the microlens.

Beneath the microlens, a miasma infects, a war goes on. The cells look much the same but for their colour - the blighted cells do move more slowly, however, and on closer inspection seem to stick to one another. But upon encountering a healthy cell - oh, but then the takeover begins. It is a slow process, but as the healthier cells grow fewer and fewer, the end result is inevitable. Total darkness.

ronin A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets Having been a soldier and having dealt with worse in his time, Ronin was perfectly compliant as Phoebe requested a blood sample, and then went about obtaining it. He held still, glancing away as she withdrew a vial of the blood - not because he was squeamish, he just didn't want to see the oilslick in the red. "What do you see?" he asked quietly once he was all bandaged up and she was peeking into the strange device she had brought with her, Ronin tugging his sleeve back down and raising an eyebrow.

Phoebe When you need some shelter from the rain, when you need a healer for your pain, I will be there time and time again Phoebe’s eyes widened as she watched the ongoing war amongst the cells, between the blight and Ronin’s health blood cells. The bigger, lighter ones seemed to attack the blackened ones, only to fall victim to the same fate as their red brethren. It moved slowly, but it seemed unstoppable…and however did she explain it. ”The blight is attacking the blood cells directly, causing them to turn back and adhere to the blighted mass…Let me try something.” she muttered, moving quickly. From her bag she produced little vials of various herbal and chemical substances, and a small dish to combine them in. ”If you could, please write down the ratios of these ingredients as I say them to you.” she said, almost like an order, as she handed him her notebook and pencil. First she added the sulfur solution they had used on the plants. Then she added a substance called Echinacea. ”This comes from flowers and it can be used to treat fatal infections, like the flesh eating diseases.” she explained to Ronin as she added it. Then she added turmeric and ginger. ”These are used to clean and thin blood…it might cause the blight mass to break down…” she said, hurriedly mixing the solution together. Then with a small new syringe, she carefully put a drop of the new solution onto the plate to watch what it did, eyes glued to the microlens.

Mess with nature and nature will mess with you. Phoebe will find that whatever experiments she attempted with plantlife will not have the same effect on a human - nay, a demi-god's living cells. Maybe it is because they are too different. Maybe it is because the blight is stronger now than when she last ran her tests. Either way, the result is immediate, and the sample on the plate practically detonates, shattering and sending blood and glass everywhere.