A small village, nearly on the border of the Eastern Mountains, recently settled itself as comfortably as possible during the aftermath of war for those who resided in Astorea. Not much focus had been put onto these independent homes of many so they required the assistance of others to continue thriving. Comet hardly minded using her hunting techniques to drag animal corpses to needy villagers, as it improved her skill and reputation among them greatly. A loyalty for Astorea depleted, but not completely, therefore the pink-haired woman continued her hardships - even in locations as far away as this one. They'd asked specifically for talented individuals to help with their skills while shelter and food and other friendly services would be provided in return. She decided to travel alone rather than with anyone else who picked up the opportunity; that'd end up with her waiting and wasting time. Immense worry in failing to complete that tasks at hand plagued her mind all too easily. However, in the middle of dragging an animal towards the logging camp turned early village, she happened upon a struggling craftsman of sorts. It seemed that avoiding the group would only end up to her being forced to meet the others sooner or later. Apparently sooner fitted fate's desires more. They bumped into one another while seemingly distracted. Or at least Comet knew that during her struggle to haul and mountain lion with little to no strength to spare, she dropped the corpse due to a weight colliding with her back. "They can do the rest," she commented aloud before stretching her lithe, strained body out. "Need any help? Since I'm so obviously done with my job." the pink-haired woman shifted blue eyes downwards to check out the materials the craftsman had been carrying. What exactly he did? She wasn't quite sure yet but found herself curious all the same. Her hands moved to pick up the fallen materials anyhow, to take the heavy load off of the stranger's shoulders, without any regard to his response. Today she felt strangely generous (and overly sociable). "What're these for?" @Ashnor Ironth
The blacksmith wanders along a dirt path through the forest, on a heading towards the nearby logging camp where he had enlisted himself to help out. The green haired man - a copper Great hammer strapped across his back - carried an assortment of materials, metal axe heads, Saw blades, handles, nails, and other such things that might be useful to the camp and we're to be assembled when later, when he got there. Hearing a voice as he carried the supplies to the camp, Ashnor's (also) blue eyes look up and see the pink headed girl, a lion's corpse laying on the ground next to her. "Uh, sure, that would be helpful." He sets down the pile of materials and tool pieces, separating it into two generally similar sized piles, one for him and the other for the woman. "Yeah, that stack may have been a bit too much. I don't want to end up with a bad back quite yet." Straightening back up, Ashnor grins and extends his hand to greet the woman, who - now that he was looking at her closer - looked familiar. Perhaps they were a player that Fiona had met at Ilya's Party. "The name's Ashnor, nice to make your acquaintance, Miss...?" He finishes, prompting her to say her name. Picking up his half of the assorted materials, Ashnor grunts. It was still heavy, but now it wasn't on the verge of breaking his back. Responding to her question, "I'm doing some stuff for the logging camp. I'm making tools for them, - axes and such - but I needed to go get some more materials from the village." He points at the dead animal next to her, and shrugs. "Would I be correct that you are doing some hunting?"
"At least it's in the game and not real life, right? We can be young forever in her if we want," she chuckled, tightening her hold on the materials picked up, appreciating that the stranger could take some help here and there. Many villagers were ready to prove at a moment's notice how "tough" they were the pretty young woman, but that hardly impressed her. If she desired assisting someone that's all it meant. There would be no deeper meaning or flirting or attempts to prove one thing or the other. That was her purpose, after all, to serve the needy people during hard times. Thus the green-haired man certainly offered a surprise for her that day by humbly submitting and giving in to her generosity. Almost immediately she favored his company over anyone else's that day, and aimed to get to know him if possible. "Ashnor..." she tasted the name on her tongue before smiling, flashing pearly white teeth. Her hand met his but held on rather than let go for longer than most likely expected. "Fiona," she whispered bravely with a teasing glimmer of the eye before releasing her grasp on Ashnor's hand. A small part within her gut hoped that the whispered name would trigger a reaction. "Well, aren't you sweet! I'm doing the same thing actually. These people need it more than I do plus I get some hunting practice in. I'd like to say I'm good with a bow. How talented are you with... what is it that you do?" she'd begin to lead the way to the village where Ashnor could set up, though he probably already knew where to go. Still, she felt both obligated and in the mood to become the "leader" out of the two of them.
Thanks to the girl's near whisper of a name, Ashnor - or more accurately Fiona - could finally place where they had seen this person before. She was one of the other guests that had attended the Christmas Party in Boston, yes... While Fiona hadn't talked to her all that much during the party, she did remember her mentioning a name. Smiling, Ashnor does indeed react, "And you must be Violet, correct?" Ashnor puts his hand back to underneath the materials that he held as they began their walk towards the camp, following slightly behind the pink haired girl. "I think "Smithing" is the word you were looking for. You know, forging weapons and armor. As for how much talent I have?" Ashnor thinks for a moment before continuing on. "I'd say I'm decent, I've only been in the game a month or so, so I'm still getting used to it." They continued on through the woods, the towering trees along the side of the moved by as they traveled. Patches of snow sat here and there where it had gotten through the canopy above where they could see the sun through it for brief instances.
Comet slowed down, noticing @Ashnor Ironth happened to be a bit behind with the workload, so they could be shoulder to shoulder. The comfort between them had this desire to be a leader dissipate momentarily. Mentioning of her name made her cringe on the inside. Of course the recognition had only been fair to call out. And this woman - or rather Ashnor - had no knowledge of the Palfrey family's name. A surge of happiness hit Comet's heart at such a quick rate she had to pause for a second. Catching her breath, which might have seemed ridiculous to most regarding the dramatic reaction but... starting off with a clean slate meant everything to the cold, lonely girl who acted her life out and escaped whenever possible to a game of virtual reality. If things could be kept that way. If she wasn't tossed away without so much as a second thought like with most who disliked her and her family. If, if, if; she stopped dreaming for a moment and realized that no one was judging her. No one had. One critic stood against Comet to create self-doubt, insecurity, sorrow: herself. Fiona happened to be Ashnor in this moment. And she? She was Comet. The rest could be worried about later. If at all, for the situation lay in the young woman's absolute favor. "I'd be glad to help you get better in any way I can. I'm pretty darn good at foraging, and obviously I dabble in hunting here and there. We could work together. As friends or more," she suggested the last statement with a teasing wink before continuing. "as in partners of sorts." her eyes took in every part of the forest around them possible. She kept track of scurrying, small creatures and edibles and other resources with potential. They were on the edge of the forming camp soon to be turned into a makeshift village by now. Though the strain in her legs made the trip seem much, much longer. "Now, how about your prowess in battle? I've been in a couple serious ones, and skirmishes too. I think they're almost impossible to avoid here whether you're a pacifist looking for a good time away from danger or someone who never stops finding enemies to challenge."
As he noticed Comet stop for a moment, Ashnor also pauses and turns his head toward her. He wasn't sure why she stopped all of a sudden, but sure enough, she began walking with him after a few seconds. "What was that about, did you see something?” Glancing around for anything out of the ordinary, Ashnor conclusively finds nothing, but still waits for her to answer. One of Ashnor's eyebrows raises for a moment when Comet says the words "or more", but lowers them once she actually finishes her sentence. "Uh huh...? Well, I certainly agree that we could work together, but only time will tell if we will be friends.” Ashnor lets out a chuckle before continuing on. “I’m not so sure how much you would be able to help me out with smithing, but I’d be fine with any other help you could throw my way.” Ashnor didn't pay much attention to the forest around them as they headed towards the camp, mostly focusing on the supplies he carried. Ashnor gives a bit of a self-deprecating laugh before answering Comet’s next set of questions. “To be honest, I haven't done all that much battling yet, I’ve mostly been trying to meet people up to this point. I figure I’ll get involved in something eventually, probably some major thing that happens, or maybe some sort of interesting dungeon.” He shrugs, “Who knows?” As the two reach the edge of camp, Ashnor points at one of the temporary buildings - a sort of storage area underneath one of the tents. “Over there, that’s where they wanted me to put the supplies.” Moving over to where he indicated, Ashnor sets down the supplies. He turns back to Comet, stretching out his back a little after carrying all that stuff.
"Smithing requires materials, right? I'm a great scavenger if left alone to my devices," she dodged having to answer his question in the meantime by asking a question, and leaving the other inquiry behind. Comet didn't want to explain her feelings. They were a mixture of confusing, deeper parts of her that weren't open to anyone. Not even to herself. So Ashnor asking truly made her nervous on the inside while confidence continued to embrace her on the outside. Things would always be this way, and always had been. It was life. Having someone intrude on her peaceful way? Not offending whatsoever, but also no accepted so gratefully or with open arms. Hopefully the conversation would go her way. Anxiety suggested otherwise. "Well, I do want to be friends with someone as sweet as you. Not everyone wants to talk to me like you are right now. It's nice to have a conversation every once in a while that distracts us from other things," she looked at Ashnor sincerely knowing that every word pulled her away from being tormented by negative thoughts or worries or those penetrating what if's that were strong enough to shatter her fragile soul at times. A hidden meaning lay behind her comment. One of something close to a sort of love due to newfound appreciation for having a friend by her side. "Battles are interesting! Very good place to meet more people, yes. Your plans will work I'm sure~" her strained muscles relaxed after setting the supplies down causing Comet to emit a loud sigh of relief. Unfortunately, relief hardly lasted more than a second or two before tension hit once again. A loud scream reached Comet's perked ears. It was piercing, full of fear, and not too far away. Further into the camp she was sure. With raised brows she turned towards the noise before beckoning Ashnor to follow. They were staying at the logging camp most likely - the sun wasn't far from setting - and a sense of obligation loomed over the pink-haired woman. Plus, she could never ignore curiosity's urging. A majority of the villagers surrounded an unusually pale couple holding each other tightly with quivering arms. They appeared inseparable and absolutely terrified. Enough so that form of communication had shut down because of such insufferable fear. "This isn't the first time people have almost been killed here!" a nearby villager - young and loud and pretty - gossiped about the strange incident. Comet listened in, poking and whispering for Ashnor to do the same. "I've heard it's a curse that follows us wherever we go! My dumb parents won't tell me any of their cool stories but sometimes I hear them talking about vengeful spirits or ghosts that haunt to cause trouble from like forever ago. They come at night and spook whoever's the most unlucky in the camp. I wonder if I'll be next? Gosh-" the girl continued babbling on to a surrounding group of friends that were in awe of how much knowledge she possessed. Meanwhile, Comet turned to Ashnor with a smirk plastered onto her lightened face. "A ghost, huh? Sounds like it could be a fun adventure for us tonight. If you're interested, of course," shimmering green eyes scanned the area in hopes of idly discovering more clues behind the mysterious hauntings. "Maybe we should go directly to the couple and ask questions? Something tells me a little girl isn't the most reliable source."
Ashnor didn't mind Comet not answering, it was probably nothing but some rustling of foliage that she had heard. Instead, she had asked a question of her own. "Well, you might be able to find some things, but most of it probably won't be very high quality. You also wouldn't find a large enough quantity of metal to do anything with it if you're just looking around in a forest like this." Ashnor gestures to the forest of trees surrounding the camp. "You make it sound like people think you're awful. From what little I've seen of you though, you seem like a decent person, I can't think of any reason someone would feel the can't talk to you like this." Ashnor studied the pink haired woman as he spoke. For some unknown reason, he felt like she wasn't telling him something. Just as he was opening his mouth to inquire about it, however, a shriek rang out from somewhere further into the camp. Ashnor didn't notice Comet's gesture, as he was already hurrying to when the scream had come from. Spotting the crowd of workers and other NPCs that had gathered, Ashnor changes his heading to them. Quickly reaching the edge of the thin gathering of NPCs, he motions for them to make some room for him and Comet. At the center of the group, two people sat on the ground, huddled together. Their faces as pale as they could be, no doubt frightened near to death. The rabble of villagers and workers - now that most of the excitement had gone - began to go back to what they were doing prior to the incident. All that remained was them, some people who were attempting to coax the couple out of their shock, and the gossiper with her own group. Ashnor's attention changed to Comet, who - with an almost mischievous smirk on her face - suggested that they try and find what did this. With a look like that on her face, I doubt she'll give me much of a choice. Ashnor's turns his head towards the now standing couple, then to the setting sun, before his blue gaze finally returns to Comet. "Late night ghost hunting? Sounds to me like a perfect first date." He laughs before moving towards the ghost's victims. Figuring that Comet had already come up with questions, he waits for her to start.
