I Go A Walkin'

Nevin rolled his shoulders as he looked around, taking in the sight of the forest around him. Birds chirped in the trees, and in the distance he could swear he saw a furred animal dart deeper into the woods. It was somewhat comforting to be here, surrounded by nature. While he wasn't someone who wanted to be a hermit, Nevin definitely had a healthy appreciation for getting out from the city for a time. The alchemist shifted the bag hanging from his shoulder and took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of woods and rich earth.

Yes, it was good to actually get out of the lab for a while and explore this place that he now called home. Just wandering these woods was filling him with a fresh sense of life, the swirling smell of the forest bringing a smile to his face. He exhaled slowly, then lifted his hat to run a hand through his hair before dropping the hat back in place. That smile still in place, Nevin started walking, leaving the trail behind as he pushed through the brush. After all, he had an actual reason for coming into the woods today, and it wasn't just for the thrill of enjoying nature.

No, he was actually here to see if he could find any unusual plants to serve as reagents. He was just going to focus on plant life for now - he hadn't brought anything for even trying to catch an animal. Besides, the animals in this forest were just as likely to be magical as they were normal, and he had no idea how to handle dealing with a beast that could do something like shoot fire at him. Gathering plants, even plants that were somewhat magical, was going to be safer than dealing with any animal here. Besides - he'd been looking through the compendium for some time now, so the redhead was decently familiar with the common plants on the isle. The alchemist tightened the gloves on his hands, and kept walking, his eyes now scanning the ground around him for anything of interest.

"Now that looks interesting, come here you." Nevin's bag had been slowly filling as he wandered through the forest, gathering small samples of random things that caught his interest. He hadn't been able to resist the urge to pluck a handful of Canson blooms, carefully tucking those into a separate pocket on his bag - he still very much had urges to experiment with things that went 'boom'. Aside from that he'd harvested some clovers, recognizing them from his compendium and from the dried samples he'd picked up at the market. Along with those, he had spotted some Amber Blessings - small brown flowers that sprouted near the base of trees. Mildly parasitic to the trees they grew under, the Blessings were good for treating fevers.

A flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye made the alchemist look up and twist his head to the side, trying to see what it was. Whatever had moved, he had missed it at the moment, and he shrugged, standing up straight and popping his back. He would have to see if he could find any Tristanums - supposedly good for muscle pain when worked into a cream. The sound of something cracking on the ground made the redhead turn around, and he blinked a few times.

At first, he thought it was a large, mobile bush, and that alone would have been reason enough to vacate the area post-haste. But the face, staring at him from beneath antlers, made the man pause. It was almost like a centaur, now that he was looking at it closer - somewhat equine body, but with the torso of a man rising where the neck would normally be. But breaking that impression was the fact that it looked more like a reptile with plants growing on it, or at least, with leaves covering it. Nevin blinked once, processing, then rubbed the back of his head as he noticed trees moving - more like thick saplings, really. They had bags, and one was moving off in the direction he thought he'd seen movement earlier.

Deciding to take a risk, the alchemist cleared his throat and smiled at the strange entity. "Well, hello there!" He bit back the urge to ask if the being was sentient - he had no idea if that was something rude to ask here on Manta Carlos, and with his luck, it would be. He'd just have to hope that the centauroid was, and that they weren't upset with him for wandering in the forest for some reason. Had he accidentally stumbled across someone's private garden, hidden in the woods?

Relief flooded through Nevin as this new individual spoke. It could speak, which meant that it wasn't likely to try eating him. His smile became far less plastic as he tilted his head to one side, his eyes flicking to take in the young woman in what looked like school clothes that had come out from behind the trees.

"No, no, I'm just wandering and exploring at the moment, it's rather hard to interrupt someone who has no real plans at the moment." He gave a slight laugh. "My name is Nevin Tradaimous, nice to meet you. Both, that is." Here, the alchemist turned to the young woman slightly, bowing at the waist to her before returning his gaze to the centauroid.

"And no, I'm not on any kind of a hunt, other than herbs and such that I can use for my alchemy. I'd be rather hard pressed to try hunting anything properly." He gave a warm laugh and shook his head self-deprecatingly. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything on your end of things?" Inwardly, he was feeling a fair bit of relaxation. The green and brown being didn't seem too perturbed by his presence, and apparently knew the young woman. Hopefully that meant that Nevin hadn't accidentally plucked herbs from the non-human's private reserve.

Most, but that meant 'not all'. Nevin filed that tidbit of information away - in the future, he'd be more careful about actually looking for signs proclaiming restricted areas. He didn't really want to go sticking his nose into someone else's business and have the bad luck of running afoul of someone or something that could easily remove that nose for him. The redhead shook himself once, chuckling softly.

"No, no. I try not to be annoying - it's bad for business if you end up driving off customers." He waved one arm around them, gesturing to the forest that surrounded them. "And as for buying from a store - well, I suppose that is easier, yes, but at the same time there's just something about getting out into the forest and seeing what's around that I've found that just suits me better. Things can be cut and dry at stores, but out here in the wild, well, you can find new things to experiment and examine." The alchemist swung his head towards the girl and gave her a pleasant smile.

"You aren't intruding in my regards, young lady. As Leizu," he paused for a moment to look towards the centauroid, hoping that was an appropriate way to address them. "As Leizu said, the forests are open to the public. I hope neither of us scared you?" The young woman had sprinted and tried to hide behind a tree at first. That could just be shyness speaking, or fear.