[SEASONAL EVENT] berry good

Hunting. Like, food hunting. That was something Ronin left to the experts. Monsters he was happy to track down and dispatch, but you couldn't actually eat a lot of the stuff that came off them. Foraging, though. He thought he might just be able to manage that, so he and Vanya could eat more than reindeer jerky during this LongNight. With that in mind, he'd headed out into the Woodlands with the intention of finding some fruits and nuts and whatever else the Deepfrost was happy to provide him with. With a sled in tow, Ronin had packed a few crates onto it for anything he might be able to grab. And so far he'd been very lucky, actually. (What a surprise). In a shady spot untouched by the frost, he'd found a late blooming blackberry bush, stripping it of the fruits and dropping them into one of the crates. He'd also come across some chestnut trees and plenty of the nuts in their spiny casings on the forest floor. Pine nuts, too, were plentiful, and there was a crab apple tree, gnarled and ancient, that he was just investigating. It was as he reached up to pluck another of the apples that a curious green vine slithered down around his shoulders, unbeknownst to the guildmaster. That didn't last long. Oblivious to the hanging snake that had come to share his warmth, the little blighter snuck beneath his collar where it was warm, its freezing body snaking away down his deliciously warm back. Ronin yelped loudly enough to send a few crows scattering, and anyone who came across him would find him doing quite the entertaining dance indeed as he tried to fish out the snake. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night To avoid the Woodlands, or not to avoid the woodlands. Honestly Remi didn't know anymore. Face your fears was a common enough adage and perhaps applied to things like spiders and snakes, but what about to gods who tried to lure you to your death, and who provided sometimes-real and sometimes-imaginary figures from your past or lanterns to try and drive you mad? But his feet had once again brought him to the Woodlands, so perhaps he was going to— —the sudden scattering of birds and the sounds of Ronin's strangled sort of cries immediately snapped Remi out of his worry and confusion. Picking up a sprint through what was mostly bare ground, Remi raced towards the sound using all of his primitive and animalistic senses to help navigate through the trees, only to find... Ronin. Dancing? It didn't appear his friend was actually in danger. The way he pawed at his back and wriggled his body made it seem perhaps like a bit of snow had fallen down his collar and against his back, which was of course incredibly amusing. Crossing his arms with a wry smile, Remi leaned against one of the trees watching all of this with hearty amusement. "Echo getting a bit fresh?" He called out after a moment.

Ronin wished it was Echo - he would at least have been familiar with that brand of little creature clinging to him. As he wiggled in Remi's direction, spotting the alchemist, he couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, though the cold little snake still taking refuge in his clothes made it sound a little desperate. Finally he managed to withdraw the reptile, Ronin left panting and glaring playfully at the snake as it draped itself back around his shoulders, hissing gratefully into his ear (he twitched away). "Hi, Remi," he managed after that, grinning and straightening up. "Snake," he said obviously, gesturing to his new scarf and letting out a long sigh. "Not what I was expecting when I was trying to collect some food. What brings you out here, though?" RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night Watching as the dance continued, Remi found his mouth dropping open as the ex-captain pulled a rather long but gentle looking snake from his back. Desperately the creature tried to cling to him for warmth, and the alchemist could help the clumsy and adoring smile that tugged at his lips as Ronin let the creature remain where it was. "I would have thought a bounty hunter would have been more aware of his surroundings." Remi retorted with a sly grin. "My feet of course." He quipped with a light chuckle before shrugging. "Sometimes I see things when I am out here. I suppose I am trying to work out whether or not I should avoid this place."

"Uh, excuse me - I am perfectly aware of my surroundings. My new snake friend and I were just enjoying a nice dance." Ronin's face remained utterly deadpan until said snake hissed its forked little tongue into his ear again and he mewled in annoyance (a sound he wasn't aware he could make, in truth). "Will you behave!" he scolded it playfully, before giving his full attention back to Remi. He arched an eyebrow to the other man, folding his arms across his chest. "You see things?" he echoed. "It can be pretty spooky out here, especially alone. Would you like to help me collect some more food? You might be able to decide, while we forage, the answer to your question." Ronin didn't break eye contact with Remi but his hand rose up regardless to pre-emptively push down the little snake that was trying to coil about his face. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night Grinning back at his friend, the alchemist gave a small shrug of amused skepticism. "Ahh yes. The dance of I have found a snake suddenly against my skin," Remi mused with a wry and suggestive smile. "I suppose you do know that one, don't you." "Mmm." Remi acknowledged with a slight nod, swallowing and trying not to let his gaze hastily shift to just over Ronin's shoulder to see if there was anything there. A lantern light? A figure? No nothing. Just he and Ronin. Well, and the snake. Blinking, Remi nodded immediately, ever helpful. "I will have you know as both a hawk and a lion foraging is not my strong suit. Raising a brow as the snake tried to lovingly strangle Ronin for his warmth, the alchemist couldn't help but grin. "Unless you two need a moment?"

Ronin's smile back at Remi was positively filthy, and he shrugged his shoulders and gave up his battle with his new snake pal. "I have danced that one a few times, it is true," he agreed with a laugh, stepping closer to the tree as the snake slithered about his face and back up into the branches, seemingly of its own accord. Once Ronin was free and it seemed that Remi was happy enough to join in his foraging (if not very troubled, something which in turn caused Ronin to worry), he moved to put the apples in the sled he'd brought. "Luckily I think you might be able to help well enough as a person." He grinned, beckoning him over. He would detaile everything he'd found thus far and where, before nodding back at the tree. "You can try and collect more if you want - snake free." He smiled. "So, what kind of things do you see?" RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night This conversation likely would have felt a lot more awkward and painful had Frey not taken his love for the Launceleyn with whom both men had danced the snake dance with. As it was though, Remi merely crinkled his nose and shook his head as if appalled by Ronin's unrepentant smirk. "Oh can I? And how do you know I am not up for a dance?" Remi quipped, though he did eye the tree a bit warily. The attuned wasn't necessarily afraid of certain animals (echo excluded, who he still thought of as a space bug and thus not really an animal), but nor did he actually want to be slithered upon by a snake. Nibbling his lip, Remi picked and plucked, foraging absentmindedly. "Do you remember during the Festival of Lights? The lanterns everyone made? I see those often. One in particular actually. And I see...You met Ianto, didn't you? Often I will see his coppery hair, or visions of my mother just past the trees and near the horizon." Biting the inside of his lip, he deposited what was in his hands into Ronin's sled. "It...it is hard to see things and not know if they are real. Now that I know Ludo likes to appear as my mother or Ianto I know not to believe them when I see them. But the first time for each of them, I had no idea. You could be a hallucination for all I know." So saying he gave his friend a rather skeptical look, suddenly not liking the way the snake had coiled around him, not unlike cloth would...

Ronin had the decency to look incredulous as Remi scrunched up his nose in apparent disgust - he couldn't say much, if the calibre of their drunken conversations was anything to go by. Then again, thinking of those conversations and the librarian that had been the subject of some of them, it was understandable. Ronin hadn't seen anything of his friend since those first few days in the Hollowed Ground, and he had long stopped trying to look. Once upon a time he might have continued his efforts, but he and Loren had been drifting apart since long before their leap into this world. It was a feeling that sat heavily in the pit of Ronin's stomach, but he couldn't force it. And besides, things seemed worse still for Remi. Shaking off his reverie, he snorted at the alchemist and folded his arms across his chest, blue eyes dancing with amusement. "I think Vanya would have something to say about that." he remarked playfully, before moving to drag the sled closer so Remi could drop the apples in when he had collected enough. Listening intently to his friend as he spoke of the Festival of Lights (it seemed so long ago now, even though it couldn't have been), Ronin nodded absently. Remi had been unwell then, he remembered, and suddenly it made sense given his experiences with all of the lanterns thus far. "You see them? ...And people, too?" He glanced around, like he might make out something similar, though of course Ronin had never encountered the god with the mask and the rags. "Me? I'd like to see any deity try to imitate my charm and wit," he quipped back to Remi with a smirk, though it faded at the look the other man levelled at him. "I know I'm no hallucination. But I know that doesn't settle your worries any," he said. "Would you like to forage more with me? Or head back? I understand if you'd rather be alone." RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night Remi chuckled and rolled his eyes. He certainly wasn't actively trying to flirt with the guildmaster, but given what the two had shared during their drunken evening, it simply felt good to be able to let his guard down fully. Or at least, almost fully. The god's harassing of him had likely and irrevocably made him a shade more guarded than he ever would have found himself before. "Mmmhmm." Remi said, swallowing an uneasy breath that wanted to rasp out of his lips. As Ronin seemed always want to do, his joke made Remi's frown break into a sketchy smile as he shook his head. "You be careful what you wish for. Perhaps it won't be me but Vanya who has to try to see through the illusion." "Perhaps I will go on." Remi said with a quickly fading smile. As much as he would have liked to remain with Ronin, he couldn't face his fears and the shadowy things in these woods if there was always someone else around him. Ludo seemed to like to toy with him best whilst he was alone. "Besides, you have already said there will not be anymore snake dancing, so what reason have I to stay?" With a crooked smile, he waved goodbye to his friend and trudged through the darkened woods alone.

Ronin’s smile faded at the mere thought that it might be Vanya who was faced with a him-that-was-not, the guildmaster nodding to Remi and seeming to sober up a bit. He would be more wary of these woods in future, he thought, if not because that was where he knew this god resided sometimes, but because they were so isolated. So easy to get lost, so easy to follow someone who looked familiar but was a stranger in disguise. With those troubled thoughts at the forefront of his mind, Remi (of course) decided he would continue on his trek alone. With a protest on his lips that he quickly stifled, Ronin offered his friend a concerned smile, but ultimately acquiesced. ”I can think of a few reasons. Maybe another time.” He nodded, waving goodbye in return before turning back to his foraging. When Remi returned home he would find a basket outside his door, filled with a share of the things Ronin had gathered, along with a note. If you need anything, you know where I am. - Ronin {END THREAD} RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.