"THE PIECES FALL BACK TOGETHER" - ONE


“Blue Wart Stew..”, Kin’s deep voice absent-mindedly rumbled as he scratched his freshly shaven chin and let out what could only be described as the loudest and most pervasive of yawns, in turn eliciting a shiver running down his entire body. “Yes, that’s it. I’m close enough to the clearing.” While most of the ingredients of this dish were easily accessible, even in as remote a place as the wildlands, it was wildly more palatable than one might expect. The herbs would delicately compliment the main ingredient, the thought alone managed to get Kin's mouth to water. After yet another decently long yawn, an equally dedicated stretch to every sore muscle of the just awoken rogue and a mental affirmation to finally get up from his unexpectedly comfortable sleeping spot high up in the canopy, the Qadir explosively sat up on the wide branch of the large tree he had chosen for the night. Cracking his knuckles and sporting a wide grin, another lonesome day in the wildlands was about to start.

But an hour later, the rogue had gotten his grubby little, hrm.. fine-dining enthusiast's hands on almost all of the ingredients required to try his grubby little.. expert's hand at Roberta's recipe. The aforementioned grin had warped into a slightly exaggerated manic expression, considering his mind was entirely busy contemplating his approach to cutting some vegetables and mushrooms for a glorifies poor man's stew, as Kin got back up from his crouching position and swiftly stored the almost glaringly green leaves of a pretty common spinach plant that covered most of the forest floor around these parts of the Wildlands in a large pouch he carried around for gathering ingredients. “Those should suffice for now.” he delightedly mused and double-checked the contents of his pouch for anything that might be missing. “Only the Blue Warts now, I guess.”

Yet another decently wide-spread species, a mushroom this time, and quite the exquisite tasting one at that. Even connoisseurs and the high-grade chefs of the Clover capital relied on its heavy meatiness and aromatic complexity, despite the fact that the larger Blue Wart colonies mostly grew along the Kingdom’s outer perimeter and in the Wildlands. Funny how a poor man's dish in the forsaken realm, given the local abundance of its contents, would become a delicacy in the crowded capital of the country now, wasn't it? The rogue chuckled at the thought, his feet procuring a rustling sound as they found their way through the thick batches of the aforementioned spinach plant and surrounding underwood. Logically, he tried to avoid branches and the like, as to prevent louder cracking noises and leaving too easily deductible a trace. You could never be sure what or who might be roaming these lands after all, a curse to many and a blessing to few.

Luckily for the Qadir though, he had spent some time out here in the wildlands and thus knew of the perfect spot he’d have to visit in order to procure the last remaining ingredient on his shopping.. well, gathering list. Even without his former comrade Roberta's quite notable orientation skills, Kin found his way rather effortlessly. "The old witch must've rubbed off on me, huh?", he melancholically reminisced his make-shift mother figure as his glance wandered up, gazing at the sun's rays breaking through the seemingly endless layers of greenery blocking most of the light, only to shudder at the thought of getting hit by one of her reprimanding wind spells again. Klaus and him had gotten quite the frequent beating out of that rather cunning and fearsome hag, "Those I won't miss, I can't lie.." Once more chuckling at his thoughts, Kin immediately stopped in his tracks and got into a crouching position.

As he had slowly but steadily been closing in on the clearing, the rogue suddenly felt quite the significant mana signature, a rather ominous one at that. "Fuck." While Kin had been quite attentive and careful in his tread through the wild woods, he honestly hadn't expected meeting any other human this far out. “Damn, I’ll have to get on that clearing..” Deadset on fulfilling the lingering urge of gulping down copious amounts of Blue Wart Stew, the Qadir simply kept strolling along his previous path, nonchalantly striking up a chirping whistle. Given the mercenary's lack in magical abilities of a sensory nature, almost any other halfway decent mage would have picked up on the ink user's magical signature quite a while ago anyways, “So I might as well approach.” Of course, he remained vigilant to any sudden disturbances or movements, hardly any kind-hearted people just randomly found themselves venturing to one of Clover’s most deserted forests after all.

Finally advancing up to the last line of the crookedly growing trees that dominated this area, Kin got a first look at who was about to become an acquaintance of his. "Eh?", the Qadir couldn't help but perplexedly wonder and burst out in quite a loud chuckle as he laid eyes on the guy. Shirtless push-ups really were a rare sight to behold in general, and that's disregarding the black-haired man choosing one of Clover's most remote and desolate places for what seemed like more or less of an impromptu physical training session. "This I like.", the mercenary mused and continued examining the clearing. His gaze fell on the enormous batch of Blue Warts, mouthwateringly nestled along one of the fallen trees bordering the clearing. "Welp, off we go."

While the rogue usually tried to keep his comfortable distance from other humans in general, old habits die hard after all, his tummy-growl had him push forward on to the clearing, only to immediately stop right after the unhindered sunlight caressed his figure. Next to the comparatively young man, Kin had spotted a disorderly placed Magic Knight Mantle, hastily thrown to the side. A momentary memory blitzed in his mind, Roberta screaming in pain, drenched in blood as she was smited by a spell of lightning, every muscle in the Qadir's body subconsciously tensed up as though to prepare for an ensuing fight and a compulsory deep growl left his body. But a split second later, Kin had returned to reality however, despite his emotions still raging like the unruly sea on a stormy day. "Black Bulls? Out here?", he pondered confusedly, his tense hand defensively resting on the grimoire strapped to his hip. But it was already too late for the rogue to turn and flee, fighting this seemingly lonesome Magic Knight wasn't really an option either, seeing as you would most rarely spot a member of Clover's prestigious policing force roaming the outskirts of the country on their own, and holding himself in an unbalanced bout didn't seem like the most promising of options to the hungry mercenary either.

As such, he decided to shrug off his doubts, naturally keeping his guard up nonetheless, and continue strutting towards the laboring individual, whose black hair gave in to gravity as he regularly pushed his body up and down. "Good form though.", Kin internally commented on the Bull's posture, yet another rare sight to behold among the magic reliant, skinny people society of Clover. With an intentionally loud clear of his throat, the rogue aimed to make his presence and peaceful intentions known to the training Knight and raised his hands: "Well, hello there buddy. I honestly didn't expect to meet someone out here." Initially greeting the Black Bull, Kin casually wandered towards him, all the while intentionally keeping a good distance between the two of them in case the conversation might not flow as smoothly as intended. Casually resting his hands in his pockets, the Qadir circled the young man and laid eyes upon an open book, positioned right below the Knight's head as though to both study magics and train his body at the same time. "A diligent fellow huh?", Kin amusedly noted to himself with but the slightest hint of an audible chuckle and a raised eyebrow, choosing to point at the book in question. "Some homework, huh?", he couldn't help but provoke the lanky police boy a tad bit. "They really do bully you to greatness, do they?"

Well, the Black Bulls weren't really known for the diligent and rule conforming behavior of their fellows, this one seemed to withstand such stereotypes however. Steadily looping around the Knight in an attempt to close in on the Blue Warts he ultimately aimed for in this honestly quite dangerous endeavor, Kin side-eyed the body-building genius and harrumphed with a fist in front of his mouth. "A training mission or something?", making nonchalant conversation seemed like the closest thing to a right decision the rogue could make right now. The Qadir naturally hadn't really relaxed his posture and his deep and rumbly voice was sure to show some signs of the tension and vigilance controlling his body and mind at this moment. "Welp, I'm just looking for some of those mushrooms over there, buddy. Quite delicious, those things."

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WC: 1.502
TWC: 1.502
TLDR: