into the wild again

Being in trouble was something that Ronin Taliesin was all too used to, given the places he used to go and the people he used to deal with. But there was something that made him feel acutely guilty for removing an injured man-raccoon from an infirmary where he sorely needed the care and expertise of the healers there. Although, he did try to soothe himself with thoughts that he was helping to alleviate any cabin fever Remi might have been feeling. And besides, it wasn't as though he was making his friend do any walking or lifting. Indeed, the guildmaster had the alchemist-turned-raccoon all but draped around his shoulders like a scarf, aiming for Remi to be able to hold himself as comfortably as possible while Ronin took them to the Glade. A plus was that, like this, he could keep his hands free too. The guildmaster was explaining in a low tone, as they arrived in the snow-sparkling glade, why he needed the items he'd mentioned to Remi. "So that was the price, for improving my light ring. A dreamfish. I just hope that there are signs of the Spark Bird here, else I've pulled you out of your recovery for naught..." ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

remi "I suppose I can see why you did not ask me for help with the ring.." Remi said, odd human mouth hidden from his friend by his thick fur, but also the fact that Remi was curled smartly around Ronin's neck. Actually he'd found that he could more or less burrow into Ronin's thick scarf which made holding on a great deal easier. "I noticed that you have not brought a fishing rod...was that intentional? Or are I being used again?" Remi's whiskers twitched and he wrapped his thick tail around the front of Ronin's neck forming a perfect grey and black circle. His dexterous hands continued to pick away at the errant bits of fluff and other debris hidden in Ronin's scarf (had textiles always been so interesting?).

"I didn't want another lobster," Ronin murmured with a grin that was half hidden by the fluffy tail that suddely wrapped around his neck (and consequently, his face). He found he absolutely didn't mind wandering around with Remi like this - it was better than Sugar's sharp little claws digging into his shoulder, and warmer too. "That and I thought Safrin would be able to offer the best solution, given that it was to do with light..." His smile softened as he cast his thought to the goddess, but he shook that off so he could focus further on the glade and the charred bits of holy wood (ha ha ha) that they would hopefully find within. "I don't need a fishing rod. I brought a net - its in the inside pocket of my coat." He grinned over his shoulder at Remi. "A fishing rod is asking for trouble, so I thought I'd go with the easier choice." ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

remi "No, me neither." Remi agreed unhappily. Not for the first time, the human-animal divide sort of fell over his senses of what was appropriate and what wasn't. After all, snuggling this tightly around Ronin in his regular body would have been...well. Inappropriate was at least one word to describe it, much less the other sort of complicated adjectives Remi might use. As a raccoon though, he had absolutely no troubles or concerns with his current closeness. "Oh? You have anything else interesting hidden away in here?" Remi asked, small hands suddenly patting at Ronin's shoulders and the upper bits of his chest as if hoping to reveal some hidden mysteries therein.

For Ronin, the divide was as easy to maintain as it likely was for Remi - it was his friend's voice, but clearly a raccoon wrapped comfortably around his neck and shoulders, so there was nothing further to think about in his opinion. He treaded carefully around the glade so as not to jostle Remi too much, though he paused to laugh at the little furry hands that came patting at his clothes. "I do, actually. The first lobster you made me." He grinned. Echo was safely and happily tucked up one of his sleeves, in fact, awaiting the time when he'd need her crustacean expertise. For now she just seemed to be enjoying the outing, and luckily Remi hadn't gone patting at his arms to disturb her. "Along with that jerky I offered you earlier, and some cloth to gather up the ashes into. Speaking of which, does your nose pick up on anything ashy nearby?" ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

remi Remi hissed, whiskers prickling against the side of Ronin's cheek as Remi drew himself up onto his legs, glancing down nervously into the thick jacket below him. Kneading his paws on Ronin's shoulder, Remi gave an unhappy chitter, before realizing that there wasn't really anywhere else for him to go. "I feel a bit..." Remi sniffed indignantly. "You know in stories of heroes, they don't normally have other girls stuffed up their sleeves, Ronin. I feel a bit mislead about this whole thing now." Turning his head, Remi's eyes narrowed slightly as he raised his dead not so delicately into the air. Taking a few experimental sniffs, he found he did smell things. Lots of things, though what counted as ashy he wasn't entirely sure yet. "Maybe over..." Grabbing Ronin's ears, Remi pulled gently on one while making clicking sounds as if to urge the guildmaster onwards. If Ronin was going to stuff things in his jacket, he shouldn't be surprised when he started to be treated like a carriage.

Ronin couldn't help but chuckle at the whiskers that tickled against his cheek, though he did reach up to scritch affectionately behind one of Remi's ears, like that would make it all better. "Be careful up there," he warned, worried that the alchemist would take a tumble and hurt himself. "And she's here to do a job, Remi. You're the only girl stuffed up my sleeve on this heroic adventure, Remi. I promise." His grin was audible, though in the next moment he was having his ear grabbed and his head being pointed around the Glade and a raccoon clicking at him in Remi's voice. "Hey!" He laughed, walking dutifully in the direction he was being... led? Ridden? Who knew. "We'll have to get you a little tophat and a whip at this rate." ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

remi Remi tried to maintain his indignant expression, but quickly it curled into something entirely melted beneath Ronin's wandering fingers. Still, he grumbled as best he could. "I bet you say that to everyone you kidnap from the infirmary to complete quests for your goddess." He snarked back. "A tophat sure, but you will not get me to believe you that you do not have a whip in there somewhere. Unless you have left that at home with Vanya." Remi replied with a grin, raising his nose to the air again and taking in small sips of air. Pulling back on both ears at once (obviously meaning for his steed Ronin to stop), Remi looked over his right shoulder. "More this way." He added, punctuating the words with a quick tug of Ronin's right ear.

"Are you suggesting that I steal patients from the infirmary often?" Ronin quipped as he stepped carefully through the snow, the guildmaster keeping blue eyes sharp for any sign of what they were searching for. "Besides, is it really kidnapping if you agreed to come with me?" He'd like to think not, but he hoped that they both knew that Remi only had to hint that he wasn't feeling well enough to continue and Ronin would return him to his sick bed. Falling to a dutiful halt before he could mention just where he was keeping his whip - though not without protest at the pulling of his ears - Ronin waited for his raccoon-compass to reorient and track the scent. "Hm? Ah-- okay, okay." He grinned up at Remi, turning to the right and plodding off in that direction. "You are enjoying this, aren't you?" he drawled playfully. ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

remi “Do you?” Remi replied with an immediate grin on his dark lips. Chittering in Ronin’s ear, Remi huffed gently into the guildemasters ear. “I see you’ve already got your defence worked out for when Isla inevitably notices that I am gone.” He chuckled. Despite what a terrible idea this obviously was, Remi had absolutely no intention of heading back now. Not only had he felt beyond caged in the infirmary, Ronin’s friendship truly did afford him the opportunity to just be himself. No one knew Loren like Ronin did, and for some reason that mattered to Remi, as if understanding the librarian was somehow integral to understanding th alchemist. That was absurd of course, but unlike everyone else in Remi’s life, Ronin was exactly what Remi needed right now. “Enjoying this? You mean being half-transformed into a raccoon, bandaged and wounded riding around the ex-captain of the settlement in the middle of the night, to find an enchanted fish because a goddess said so?” Remi’s grin was palpable. “Of course I am.” It wouldn’t take Remi’s nose to detect the burnt section ahead. There was blackened stones and trees that, despite the cold, had seemingly been charred from the inside out leaving black charcoal and ash covering the ground.

"Well, you are the first one I've ever 'stolen', so I suppose as of right now I do it quite often. We'll see how the next few weeks go. If the patients are safe then so is my reputation." Ronin grinned, letting out a laugh at the chittering and huffing into his ear, resisting the urge to try and shield it with his shoulder lest Remi tumble to the ground. Ronin snorted, unable to help himself at Remi's concise - if not true - description of events as they stood currently. "Well, if nothing more I have suceeded in making your recovery more interesting and entertaining," he said. Soon enough they came upon the evidence of what was either a strange kind of forest fire, or evidence of the Spark Bird's presence. Ronin took a moment to simply enjoy the sight of it all, having only really half believed int he creatures existence up until now. There was no denying this, though. Wasting no time, Ronin produced the cloth from his pocket, laying it out on the ground so he could collect ash and charcoal and pile it up. "As quests go," he commented, "this is a strange one, isn't it?" Smirking, he filled the cloth as much as he could before bringing the corners together in a bundle, which he tied off with a bit of string. "There." ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

remi “If that is true, then I suppose that means 100% of these adventures have gone well so far.  That is reassuring.” With a whiskered grin, Remi patted (quite condescendingly) a small paw into Ronin’s hair. “That is more than anyone else has.” He said in a fairly low tone, thinking to how Sam, Isla, Devrum and Phoebe had all reacted to him. Perhaps you were right to treat incredibly wounded patients with kid-gloves and Ronin was the mad man here. But no one had ever stopped to ask Remi what he wanted, and right now, riding Ronin about like the magnificent ronypony he was, was precisely what he wanted. Remi held on while Ronin collected the sample, shrugging his dark shoulders. “Listen to you, sounding like quests given out by gods are just a regular occurrence. Although I will say, I have always just been given things by the gods, never asked to go collect ash. So perhaps you are not quite as favoured as you think.” Remi chattered with a wicked grin, knowing that his likely-cursed mask hardly counted at all.

"Well I am glad to be a source of reassurance for you." Ronin grinned, straightening up with his makeshift sack of ashes, tucking them carefully into his pocket and glancing over his shoulder at his bandit-masked friend. The condescending pat earned a playful narrowing of Ronin's eyes, though it was difficult to be upset at such an adorable little bastard. He snorted at Remi's comment about the gods, already picking his way through the Glade to the route he knew would take them out to the Oasis. Around them glowstones had already begun to light the way, so it ought not be a difficult journey. "Judging by the gods you've come into contact with, Remi, I will happily take my quests over your 'gifts'." He grinned. "Still, you are a helper on this quest of mine, so perhaps you will earn yourself a little praise from Safrin. You never know." ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

remi Remi grumbled a note of agreement. As wonderful as Safrin seemed to be, Remi still wasn’t entirely convinced. On a sliding scale from Frey, to Ludo, to the Voice in terms of inspiring sheer terror (Frey beating Ludo if only because at least the cloaked god seemed to have some rhyme or reason to its actions), Remi wasn’t so sure that Safrin was somehow going to break the mould. “Praise from a goddess hmmm, well why did you not say so. Here I thought I was only going to get your praise from this adventure. “ He snarked in the monster hunter’s ears. “A strange task though ... surely she could just ... give you the item you requested? Is this just a sort of task to prove your worth, or does she actually require these items do you think?”