Sword & Sorcery (Applepoisoneer x DaveTheHuman)

Hearing Bea arrive, the samurai looked up at her and stood. It was time to say goodbye, something the samurai had been doing an awful lot. "Good luck on your search for magical knowledge, Bea. Something tells me we will meet again but if not, I wish you the best."

His eyes then trailed to the large sword before saying "Be careful with that weapon." He did now mean she was inexperienced with it or that she would hurt herself. Jack felt it was no different than the scent of steak to a dog for the evil machines. But in these lands he felt everyone needed some kind of protection.
 
She thought a minute about his warning before it sank in. "Oh! Thank you, and I do hope we will meet again." She smiled genuinely for the first time in a while. "If you're ever in need of the magical arts, seek me out and I'll do what I can."

She slung her pack over her shoulder and bade him a farewell wave.
 
Waving to Bea, the samurai left the edge of the forest. He passed through the two destroyed mechanical beasts and continued through the field. The trail he was walking appeared to go all the way to the horizon. Jack could only hope that once he reached that point he could see something other than forest.

After a long while he reached the point and smiled seeing a town far in the distance. It was small but that was good enough for him. He walked the several miles to reach the town. The closer her got, the less welcoming it looked. He could see windows were broken, fields were overgrown, and weeds were growing in the street. He sighed, assuming it was abandoned. There would be no one here to tell him rumors of Aku's whereabouts.
 
Bea watched him leave and headed in the opposite direction, back along the path she'd taken to get through the forest. There was a fork in the road, and she'd chosen left. She almost always chosen right, but something told her to try the path less traveled this time, and she was glad she had.

This time, she took the right path and headed along the beaten trail . There was a tumble-down town with a few people in the street. An older woman was folding sheets in a basket in front of what might have been her house.

"Excuse me, miss," Bea asked politely, but was met with a harsh, pinched grimace. "Uh... would you know where I could find some food?"

"Not here, unless yer willin' teh pay." She snapped, and continued folding her sheets.

"I don't have much money, but perhaps you have a service you're in need of?" She offered with upturned palms. "A doctor or..." The blonde woman leaned in and suggested quietly. "Perhaps something requiring a little magical skill?"

The woman stopped folding and stared at her, unable to hide her suspicion. "Go to the Rusty Bucket. It's the tavern that looks like a big shack. They could use a little of this."

Bea nodded and turned to scan the town's contents. Finally, she spotted a literal rusty bucket hanging from a beam outside the door of a large shack and figured that was as good as a sign, so she left the woman to her laundry and went in.
 
So the samurai continued through the town, knowing there was nothing here for him. He followed the trail, which had now turned into a road for several hours until he finally saw another town. And as he approached, he could see people and up kept fields and houses. Soon he could even make out the skeleton of a house being build. From the looks of it's frame it would be a massive one.

But once he was close enough to see the townspeople with more clarity, he saw they all were wearing small metal necklaces. But they were form fitting so more like collars. When some of the farmer's eyes met his, they dropped their tools and hurried in the other direction. It was very odd. People usually ignored him, not fled from him. At least not until the fight had ended.
 
Bea took the last two coins she had out of her pocket and set them on the counter. "how much food can I get for this?"

The beefy bartender took what looked like a bruised pickled egg from a jar and held it out to her. "This. Maybe a flat ale."

"Okay," Bea continued, putting her hand out to refuse the withered looking egg. "Perhaps you're in need of some service? Healing? Or..." She leaned in a little closer. "Perhaps something magic-intensive?"

The bar tender's face twisted into a grin. He laughed at her, leaning back behind the counter. "Okay, fairytales, show me something magical."

Bea threw a glance around the dingy bar. "Are you sure there's no one around here who's..." But the bar tender shook his head.

"We had our share of troubles, and they're not over yet. But there's no body here that cares anymore."

"Okay, I'll be right back." She went outside and looked around a little, just from sde to side, and picked up a handful of dirt. She brought it back into the bar and held it out to the bartender. "I'm going to cause a flower to bloom from just this handful of dirt, and the seed in my pocket."

She took the seed she'd mentioned and put it in the soil within her palm. Bea closed her eyes and chanted something in a language the bar keeper didn't understand. From the soil, a green shoot sprang up. It grew taller and more leafy, until a but bloomed from the top. It was a beautiful purple tulip.

The keeper had never seen anything like it before, telling her so with the light in his eyes. He reached out to take the flower, but found it wouldn't budge from her palm. "What gives?"

"Well, it kind of... took root in my flesh..." Bea explained, wincing as he pulled at it. It was a trick she'd done numerous times, but it never hurt any less to pluck it out.
 
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