......<.<....My Bad...(Louhi)

[Dominic]

Dom jumped as a quiet buzz sounded beside him. Blinking a few times he groaned and ran a hand over his face a few times before giving a hard yawn. Rolling his head on his shoulders he grimaced as the joints in his neck popped over and over again, sounding something like pop corn. Grunting he pushed himself up from his seat and frowned as he glanced around. "The fuck..." He was asleep in the captain's chair in the cockpit of his ship. Blinking he rubbed at his eyes while he tried to figure out why the hell he was there. Blinking his eyes flicked to the screen where a little light was flashing rapidly. Pressing the button the camera flicked on and showed Louhi, asleep. Then his breath caught as he killed the camera instantly, everything that had happened coming back to him slowly. Leaning back he winced as he moved his legs and glanced down. Yup....it had all happened...because his pants were so tight the slightest movement hurt. And after so long without any kind of release..mornings didn't do this to males. Groaning he got to his feet and powered up a few of the key systems, the vents activating silently to pull some fresh air in from outside.

Slipping soundlessly from the cockpit he made his way towards the middle of the ship away from the crew bedding areas and into the kitchen and storage rooms. Opening a locker he grabbed a pair of pants out of the locker and headed for the showers. Slipping in he stripped and walked under the spray, shivering, the muscles along his body clenching up as the cold water hit him. Inhaling slowly he made quick work with the cleaning thing. Slipping out a little later he toweled off quickly then slipped on the pants and his boots, the burn from the other day stinging pretty bad but it wasn't something that would hurt too much, not him anyway.

Making his way back to the main area of the ship he brewed some coffee and set about making breakfast. Once that was done he set a plate out for Louhi, whenever she woke up, grabbed the coffee and headed towards the entrance of the ship...the Cargo bay. Lowering the thick doors a little cool air washed in as he pulled a chair up and sat down, the sun wasn't near raising yet as he sat down and stretched his legs out, shirtless. But that was fine, this was the silent time, not even the dead of night was more silent than just before the dawn, it was his time of peace, where the memories could ripple through him untouched by others. So there he sat, watching the sky, eating and drinking, and remembering.

[Louhi]

Louhi slept soundly through the entire night, not even the strangeness of her surroundings or the occasional hoot from Pan could bring her out of her deep sleep. But eventually, Pan got impatient, and she woke up with him beside her head, sqwaking loudly at her and pecking at her pillow. She rubbed a hand over her eyes slowly and made an irritated noise back at him to let him know she was listening. Louhi pushed herself up to sit and took a moment to stretch out her muscles. She looked down at her feet sticking slightly out from under the blanket. She didn't feel any different than she had before... except that she felt very calm, more at ease than she had in this strange place the night before. Her body felt good, like it did sometimes after she ran for a long time or climbed a lot of trees and then stretched. Or maybe she was just more aware of her body now.

Pan chirped again and Louhi groaned, pushing herself the rest of the way out of the bed and rummaging around in her bag. She pulled out a small container and took a moment to morph it back to it's true size. Out of the container Louhi pulled a couple of worms and set them on the table for Pan. He wasted no time devouring them, and once he was full, he was decidedly quieter and less demanding. Louhi looked around the room and found a thick robe to put on, since her clothes had been washed the night before and were drying now. She thought she smelled something cooking, but she couldn't be sure because the smells out here were so different from the forest smells she knew. For all she knew, that was the smell of the sun on the sand and dirt outside, filling the air with it's dryness. She was tired of the dryness already, and she'd only been out maybe a week.

With a sigh, she picked Pan up onto her shouder and went to the door. She made her way out of her room bare footed and found the kitchen empty of everything but a plate of food that she hoped was for her. She picked it up and carried it around the ship, looking for Dom to see if it was okay to eat the food. It took some time to find him, and her feet fell nearly silently on the cool floors as she walked. But then she found him sitting facing away from her and Pan let out a quiet noise, as if to alert her that there was someone there. As if she didn't already know. Louhi cleared her throat a little bit as memories of the night before filled her mind. But she was not embarassed, she didn't think that there was any reason to be. She took a couple of steps closer until she could see Dom clearly and she held up the plate to him. "Is this for me?" She asked quietly, knowing he could hear her and that there was no need to raise her voice.

[Dominic]

Dom chewed slowly as he ate, eyes locked on the stars that were slowly fading. The cool breeze came in on short gusts, chilling his still slightly damp skin. The only thing he could hear was the very very distant murmur of the bar, the sound of his chewing, and the rythmatic thrum of his pulse. After only eating a small portion of the food he'd made himself, Dominic placed the plate aside and took a long drink of coffee, eyes returning to the sky once more. pulling out a sagging little blunt he flared a match to life and lit the cigarette inhaling deeply. His pulse seemed to hammer louder in his head, until the sounds bled into something more than that, something from a time long past.

A fog seemed to bleed across his eyes as he slipped slowly into memory, the sound of his pulse taking on the rhythm of marching feet, a few thousand.

-----
Hoisting the rile, Dominic adjusted the belt of ammunition across his chest with a grunt, the rounds were heavy in the heat of the deep south. Turning eyes to the side he glanced down the line, taking stock of the soldiers under his command. They all were more yellow than tan, even the whites of their eyes, and the color from their hair was slowly bleaching out. Some were dark still, but the colors ranged to that of his own hair. A Bright, stark white. The blight seemed determined to kill anything that resembled life, yet it had failed to take out this army, the soldiers of defiance marching into the heart of the blighted lands, stabbing into the deep South like the head of the sharpest spear. Grinning he jogged down the line, calling each squad member by name and asking them a few questions, personalizing with them, raising their faltering moral.

The sound of a revving engine had him glancing back down the line, the commander was in a vehicle and speeding away along with the other high ranking officers. Frowning Dom made his way back the line to the other Non-commissioned officers. Slapping Sarah, their scout, on the shoulder armor hard enough to rattle her teeth he nodded towards the receding truck. 'Where the fuck is the brass going?" Sarah met his gaze with a glare of her own, her knee slamming into his hip, bringing a low grunt of him. "They have more important things to do than hold your hand Sergeant." With that she gave a nod, stuck out her tongue and pointed. "Heading off to go talk to intel. We're to run a cleansing on the city up there, they say only a few hundred." Dom's head tilted back in a little laugh. "Well fuck....I thought today was going to be interesting..."

-------

Dom spun suddenly, hand firmly on the butt of his pistol as he stared at Louhi, the owl's soft sound had given her away. Blinking at the yank back to reality he found his hand shaking and a fine sweat along his brow. Wiping at it he cleared his throat as he stood, the thick scars on his torso evident now that he was shirtless. His voice was low, little more than a whisper. "Yeah...thought you might be hungry." Motioning to the chair he was in he grabbed his coffee and walked a few paces over, leaning against the wall.

[Louhi]

Louhi watched Dom in the silence before Pan gave her presence away. She thought he seemed to like just sitting by himself. That was how she'd found him the day before, and here he was again, sitting quietly, watching nothing at all. But she couldn't blame him. She had been guilty of sitting quietly in the trees more than once, just enjoying the air or the animals that she saw, though she had to admit that she wasn't sure what could be so interesting to look at here, in the heat and dryness of this place. But it was what he liked, and she didn't want to disturb him, really. Then Pan ruined that thought for her and she sighed at her bird before asking him about the food.

Everything about his body screamed a warning as he stood, and Louhi paused for a moment, watching him with sharp eyes, ready to react if she had to for some reason. Her eyes traced the rough skin on his body, taking in the scars and she thought to herself that each one must have a story of it's own. Louhi didn't have many scars, but she had her own marks on her skin. A light pattern or runes, put on her body when she was young so that she would always be able to protect herself. She could draw power from them, and always had spells ready, just in case. Any good witch would.

Her head tilted to the side as he finally answered her. She watched him as he moved away, took in the way he moved and the motion of his eyes. "You're like a wolf." She said as she moved to the chair he had emptied for her. Louhi thought about her comparison as she picked lightly at her food with her fingers. He was like a wolf, she thought, because she could tell he was strong and fierce, the scars proved that much. But also, it seemed the slightest unexpected sound could put him on edge. It reminded her of the few times she had seen them in the forest, They had a gaze that could find your soul instantly, intense, not quite trusting. Louhi saw that in Dominic's eyes when he had turned to look at her. It was compelling. She found that she wanted to learn more about that part of him. Louhi had never been able to befriend the wolves in the forest, not truly. She wondered if trying to make a friend out of Dom would get the same result. Smiling faintly at the idea, she took another bite of her food and rose her eyes back to his face. "Thank you." She said.

[Dominic]

When Dom turned to face Louhi and her owl at the unexpected reaction, his eyes narrowed slightly. The tension through his body remained however, hand gripped the handle of the pistol, thumb drawing the hammer back ever so slightly, and his entire form in a slight crouch, leaning forward. Tilting his head slightly his eyes flicked across her body quickly, noting a tension there, but not of fear...more of...wariness. As though if he attacked she'd be more than ready for him. The look over her body was a quick check for weapons, and seeing the robe she was in, he knew there weren't any. She may have been trained to fight hand to hand...but no...she would be more afraid, even a trained combatant knew that if their opponent had more then forty pounds of muscle on them, they were done. And Dom had more than that. Yet she was prepared....almost calm. It was strange, unnerving...and didn't make much sense.

Standing slowly he eased the hammer back down and forced the tension from his body immediately. Clearing his throat he shook himself out a little, now more cautious of the girl..as something wasn't sitting right with him. Shaking it off for now he grabbed his coffee and headed over to the wall, glaring towards the horizon which was just starting to lighten, another hour or so of these early morning hours than that fucking ball of plasma would be in the air, scorching everything, waking the other people up for their daily shouting contests and other rabble. Blinking, Dom's eyes flicked back towards Louhi at her weird comment, his brows furrowing slightly. "Right......." Yeah..he didn't have a whole lot to say to that. Wolves were cool..but she compared him to a dog basically, maybe it was a compliment or insult from where she was from. With a sigh he took a drink.

Giving a nod at her thanks he took another drink before lighting the second cigarette. 'Yeah, well. Guest and all that." Rolling his neck, it all cracked audibly with the movement, a fine tremor ran down his arm which he quickly sat the coffee cup down on the banister. Fucking blight poisoning had nearly ruined him. As his mind flipped back to all the other soldiers in the battalion, he could only give a tiny grim smile. Maybe it was good they'd died, if they'd have lived hell they still might be in the Deep South. And they'd be like him, partial sporadic blindness, tremors, white hair and yellow whites of his eyes. Maybe it was his punishment for letting them walk into what they did. Pinching his eyes shut he glanced down at his now empty hand and watched it convulse tight them tremble rapidly.

Taking a drag from the smoke he turned his eyes back to the horizon, letting the loathsomely painful spasms work themselves through. Letting his eyes drift back to Louhi, the images from the night before slinked into his mind like worms. Yeah, along with her all day in here wasn't such a good idea. "How about when the sun comes up, I'll get dressed and go with you into the city, I know where most of the Orphans hang out and shit. Can be a guide and stuff. Help you find your sister." Dom nodded determinedly. " No body should be separated from family like that...it...twists something in you..." Shaking his head he nodded as the spasms finally stopped.

[Louhi]

Louhi shrugged slightly when her comparison of him to a wolf didn't get much of a reaction from him. Maybe he had never seen a wolf before. As far as she knew, there were no wolves out in these desert like areas of the world. There weren't many animals at all, really. Except for birds. Ravens, scavenging whatever they could find. Perhaps he didn't understand how he was similar to the wolf, maybe he didn't know what they were like, feirce and stoic. She smiled a little bit and decided not to bother with explaining it, he might not understand even if she tried, and it wasn't all that important.

Her eyes caught a strange moment from Dominic, and as he seemed to struggle with his body, she tried not to stare at him. He seemed frozen in place as his arm shook, and she couldn't help but watch through the majority of that moment. Her gaze was questioning, very curious, but she wasn't sure if she should ask him about it. Louhi thought maybe it would be rude to call attention to his arm. She chewed at her food to keep her mouth shut, finishing up what was left on her plate and setting it aside as she took a drink of water. Once she was finished, Dominic seemed fine again, like nothing had happened to his arm at all.

She frowned a little bit, considering his offer, but nodded. "Yes, that's probably the best idea." Looking for a child to bring back into the wilds had not been going so well on her own. She was still a bit confused about interacting with the people who scavenged out a living in these cities, and they seemed equally curious about her. Having someone along who knew the people, someone that was one of them, would be very helpful. She frowned a little bit, trying to continue on with her story about a missing 'sibling'. "I wish I could guess what she looked like, something more than what I know." Louhi paused and looked out towards where the sun would be once it came up. She thought of her Mother Witch, and how lonely she had been since the woman had passed. "I'm finding it.... difficult to be alone. All my life, my Mother was with me. Now, I'm searching for a sister that I have never known. It's a lot more difficult than I ever imagined it would be to find her." Because so far, none of the children Louhi had found showed any spark of magic within them. She was starting to wonder if magic was fading through generations fast enough to leave this dry world empty of any children who might show promise. "Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever find her at all." She said quietly, her eyes sort of glazed over as she stared away at the metal of the ship.

[Dominic]

Shaking the arm out that had been spasming he clenched and unclenched his hand a few times, with the spasms finished the waves of numbness and the weird prickling sensation slid over it again and again. It felt almost as though his arm were a balloon, and someone was filling it with Seltzer water and morphine at the same time. He also smelled cloves with each breath. Glaring a little he shook the arm out harder, today was going to be a bad day. Which meant moment of blindness and maybe full on body spasms that would hurt like a bitch. But he was over it already, some body in his condition could either work through the shit that life dumped on him, or lay down and let the blight eat him alive. Dominic was never one to give up, always a fighter, a soldier, so in his own way he'd tell the blight poisoning to fuck off and continue on his way, ignoring the damn pain.

Flicking his eyes over to Louhi he was silent as she seemed to have an internal struggle of some kind as she spoke. Nodding a little he ran a hand over his head while taking a drag from the cigarette. "Yeah, I thought it was. Seeing as how I know the places and the people. And know how to deal with most of them so they don't lie or just give us some kind of trouble. People down here are different than the ones up North..if there even are people up North..." Shrugging he rolled his ridiculously thick shoulders, grimacing as one of them let out an audible pop. Lifting his shoulders in a shrug once more he sighed. "Yeah..that would help...or a name....or something. I mean fuck...with nothing to go on..at all...it's almost impossible to find her." Blinking a brow arched slowly. "How is it you not only don't know what she looks like, but you don't know a name or nick name either? Hair color? Eye color? Nothing?" Okay..that was a little off even to Dom, who usually shrugged everything off.

Just as his mind started asking all kinds of questions however something happened with Louhi. The light seemed to fade from her eyes, the sparkle that made her so...different than the rest of the people down here. Fidgeting a little he pushed from the wall and walked over to her. Crouching he wrapped thick arms around her and squeezed her once, tight in some kind of half..incredibly awkward hug. "Hey...c'mon. We'll find her. I promise. " Giving a reassuring smile he nodded before straightening. Flicking the cigarette out the gap he walked over to a storage locked and opened it, slipping out his armor. Union hammer armor, heavy duty and capable of taking hard blows. Stripping his shirt off he locked the chest and back pieces on with loud clicks, then the gloves and gauntlets and then stripped his pants off, moving quickly to slide dark pants on and fasten them, before locking the armor onto his legs and boots. With all that he grabbed up his repeater rifle and pistol he slipped the pistol into his side holster and the rifle into a slid on his back.

Turning back to Louhi he nodded, only mentally praying he was fast enough she didn't see anything before walking to the slightly open verticle door. Jogging up it, he stood comfortably at an almost 80 degree angle and starred at the sky. "Sun'll be up in less than half an hour...better get your stuff ready..." Without so much as another word or even a glance he came back down, heading over to the water filtration system and filled some skins, hanging them from his belt.

[Louhi]

Louhi nodded a little bit as Dominic spoke, trying to come up with some sort of plan to keep her story going along for her own sake. He was being nice to her so far, but Louhi knew that what she was could be dangerous for her, and she wasn't ready to just admit it to anyone yet. She shrugged a little bit, pulling herself back into the conversation. "Not many people, no. But my mother wanted to keep us safe. Away from the sickness and the danger." Though of course the remaining wild animals in the North were sort of dangerous also. She frowned as she tried to think of something else, anything else, to tell him. She needed his help.

"Well... I know she has a different father than I do." Louhi shrugged. That much was true. "My mother only told me about her a few days before she died." She looked away, thinking of those last few days. "I must admit... I was more concerned that I was losing her than I was about finding my sister." Louhi frowned and kicked her foot out o the side. "I should have asked her more questions... while I had time." She went quiet, hoping that the emotions she was really feeling were coming through in her half truths. "I just worry that maybe someone has taken her already. Maybe she's been adopted, or sold to someone." Louhi sighed and shrugged, shaking away her frustration. "I will find her." She said seriously.

And then he was hugging her, and Louhi felt her cheeks flush a little bit. She nodded a little bi, taking in a deep breath, to clear her head and her worries, and also to cool herself off from the sudden heat she felt from being close to Dom. Then he was moving away and she ran a hand over her face slowly. She stood as he got dressed, not exactly sure how to thank him for coming with her on a task that seemed so impossible. Her only hope was that they would find a powerful girl early on that could easily pass as her real sister. Small chance, but she had to hope for something.

Her distraction kept her eyes off of him while he changed, and she found herself nodding again when he came back to talk to her. "I'll go get ready now then." She said, scooping Pan up and carrying him to her room, where she changed into her usual clothes. She went through her bag, leaving behind a few things that she wouldn't need to make room for Pan to fit. He protested at going into the bag, but she hushed him and he calmed down. Louhi would not leave without him, but she didn't want him out in the open. She made her way back out to Dom and stepped up beside him. "Okay. We're ready whenever you are. Do we have to do anything else before we leave?"

[Dominic]

Dom flexed under the bracer that hugged his arm so tightly, feeling his muscle collide with the hard metal and closing his eyes against the coolness. Memories threatened to rush back into his mind, memories of battle won and lost, blood spilled, friends no longer drawing breath. But an inward growl and with the slam of a mental door, Dominic sent the flood rushing back, away from his mind. Today he was helping someone, today he wouldn't be swallowed by gruesome pictures of his past that would all but cripple him. Opening his eyes slowly he turned away from the lockers that held his armor and watched Louhi as she spoke. Giving a simple nod he lifted his thick shoulders in a shrug. "Suppose that was the smart thing then. Keeping you away from the taint as best she could. But you've gone and thrown yourself into it again...not too smart a choice." He smiled a little as he spoke, just poking fun at her a little bit. "Then again...those barbarians from the North have never really been bragged on for intelligence." Giving a smirk he jogged up the ramp, his body moving with more energy and power than before, as though when he put his armor on a new side showed.

Dom listened as Louhi explained what she knew about her sister, but he said nothing about it. But then, what exactly was there that he could say? He could tell her the chances of finding her sister were closer to zero than one? That he didn't believe half of the words she said? That he was taking under this as more of a vault to get out of boredom and maybe for a chance of a little adventure? No....it was better he just didn't say a damn word. Running a hand over his head he crouched down, peering through the small gap and out into the early morning sky. The level of the slant was difficult to manage, but Dom perched on it like he would level ground. Turning his attention back towards Louhi when she came back out he gave a nod, and hit the release next to him, the door hissed as it slowly lowered back to the ground.

Straightening he grabbed a battle torn helmet from the corner and broke it down, the steel folding in on itself easily. Pushing it into the satchel on his belt he nodded. "Nothing else...let's head out." With that he made his way out, closing the large door behind them and moving through the city slowly, motioning here and there and telling her about the random places. After asking a few questions and giving some threats they were directed towards a massive half broken down building. Standing at the door he motioned inside of it. "Go ahead, all the orphans in the city are in there....aside from the street urchins....but you'd be searching for years to find all of them...I'll wait here.." Dom dropped down on the stairs and just stared out over the shanty town they were currently in.

[Louhi]

Louhi smiled a little bit as Dominic joked with her. He hads a way of putting her mind at ease that she had never known from anyone else. But then, she had not known many people in her life. Shaking her head, she laughed a little bit and shrugged. "I never claimed to be smart, you know. I only am doing what I know she would have wanted me to do. I'm on my own now, and when I go back to the forest it will be up to me to sometimes come down into the blighted places for supplies and informations, things like that. I will provide just as my Mother had." She shrugged and watched him moving around, all full of life and energy in a way she wasn't used to. Louhi sometimes acted like that, in the forest. She would find aplace to run or climb, just for the joy of it. Much different from the composed woman she tried to be around this man.

She watched the door lower, all of her impotrant things gathered up around her, and took a deep breath, knowing that the air outside was not good for her. But this was her duty. She had to find a girl to teach. She nodded and followed after him, out into the hot sun, her head moving this way and that with every new thing Dominic showed her. It was all very fascinating, the little hovels and shops. And then they were headed to the orphanage, or at least what passed as one, and Louhi paused, looking up at the building. It was sad, that so many children were living in a ruined place like this, she thought. Children that were likely to have nothing good come in their futures, if they even lived past their childhood years. She steeled herself against her soft emotions, and pushed into the building, her eyes adjusting slowly to the darkness inside. There were children scattered about, most of them half starved and covered in filth. Louhi tread through them carefully, sending out just the slightest amount of energy after each one as she passed, careful to keep her eyes on them as well, as though she were really looking, rather than feeling for the correct child.

She paid special attention to the girls, at one point even leaning down at a cluster of children and speaking to them quietly for a few seconds. There were not many here, and Louhi could feel only a few with any hint of magic in them. For the most part, the children were normal as any, not a scrap of power in them. A couple of the girls had a coil of power in them, and one boy, but she could tell they had no idea of what they could do. Straightening, she took a deep breath and turned back to where Dominic was. "I don't think she's down here," Louhi said to herself, dissappointed by the lack of power in the children. She motioned to a child from before and leaned down to ask if there were any children upstairs. There were, the child told her, but they were mostly babies, or sick. Frowning Louhi straightened and turned back to Dominic with a sigh. "I have to go check upstairs." She told him, reaching into her bag with one hand as she shrugged. Louhi wasn't sure if he would want to come with, so she went up the stairs to the next level of the little place, quickly transfiguing a small stone from her bag into the shape of a pony. She decided she would give it tot he child, once she found her. But Louhi had no luck. There were fewer children upstairs, and none of them had a gift. She sighed and went back down the stairs and out to Dom.

Louhi shook her head and stood beside him. "I don't think she's in there. There was one girl... that maybe could be my sister, but she was a little older than the girl I'm looking for." She shrugged. "She had that look... Like maybe she was the same as my mother and I. But maybe she just had one of those faces that people say is familiar, even if it isn't." Louhi shrugged and looked around the streets, but there was nobody there to help her. No one that could point her in the right direction. Only Dom, who seemed less than excited to be helping her. And Pan of course, who couldn't speak English, and who had no way of telling her where to check next. "So... now what?" She asked, wondering if he had any plans.

[Dominic]

Dom glanced at Louhi as she spoke, sun reflecting off of his wrap around sunglasses as his head tilted slightly. As they walked he listened, let his body fall back into the rythm of walking without watching where he was going. It was mechanical, and rather dangerous for his psyche to let those things take over again but he would risk it. Why? Hell he didn't know. Maybe it had something to do with lonliness. Louhi was lonely, looking for a sister she knew she had somewhere. Dom was alone, completely and utterly and he was more miserable than he'd ever really admit.

The blight poisoning was getting worse, aches and pains were common in his body now, his eyes much more sensative to the light. So in a way he may have thought it was one more mission, one more good Samaritan act before the blight took him to the grave or he blew his brains out to stop himself from turning into one of those things.

Dominic nodded as Louhi went about checking the orphanage for her sister. Waiting outside he leaned on the banister, boot rising and falling as he tapped it impatiently. In truth he wasn't rushing her, that was just him. When she came back out a while later and spoke Dominic sighed slightly, running a hand over his hairless head thanks to the blight. Clicking his tongue a few times he shrugged. "That's the only orphanage in the city....." Damn, he didn't want to leave her without her family.

Giving a grunt he grabbed her by that ridiculous coat she was wearing and headed back the way they came. His deep voice rumbled out slowly. "We're heading back. Today we'll get things we need, gather everything, I have some coin put away that we can get supplies with..... then we'll head south. The blight is horrid there and rotters are as common as sand.... but we'll go and we'll find your sister.."

Dom's boots rang against the metal grating of the ruined ship as he lifted a thick plate of steel, muscles cording before yanking out a small bag. She didn't know it was his life's savings. Taking a piece of paper he scribbled out a rather long list and handed it and the bag to here. We'll need everything on there, shop with what's left.... there'll be alot. Pick up a gas mask that's been fitted, a shitload of filters... new clothes too. You're shits made for a winter.. there's no winter where we're going." With that he nodded and started stripping the armor off.

As he worked on the latched he wanted to shove his fist down his own throat. The memories of her on that bed, or in the shower, and on her knees as she worked the salve into his thigh had his body heating up. Was that why he was helping her, or did it have to do with death starring him in the eyes? Giving a sigh he dropped the armor, leaving him in just leather pants.

[Louhi]

Louhi was nervous about trying to find a girl to take back into the woods with her. She had no idea how long it might take her. Mother Witch had always said that magic was rare in this land, that it was a treasure, and precious. She only hoped there was someone here for her to teach, but it was no use. To be honest, she was kind of glad that Dom was with her. She felt very alien in this place. Everything was so bright and hard, not like the soft grass and the shade of the trees that she was used to. And as they walked, she sweated, growing hot in the sun.

She was disheartened when her search of the orphanage showed no results. But it seemed that Dom was already making plans of his own. Louhi grunted slightly as he tugged on her cloak, Pan giving an indignant hoot as he flapped his wings and resettled on her shoulder. After he spoke, her eyes widened slightly, his talk of the Blight making her nervous. "I... could not ask you to do that. Please. I will go alone. She must be close... somewhere. This is not your problem. You helped me enough already, really." His help would be invaluable... but she was not a cruel woman, and didn't have the heart to endanger someone who didn't deserve it.

But he seemed determined. She took everything he shoved at her, blinking alomst stupidly at him as he seemed unbothered by the idea of wandering out into the Blight. Louhi nodded slightly as he rattled off his directions, moving out to gather all of the things he had mentioned.

After some time, she came back, her arms full of supplies, sweat gathered on her forehead from the heat of the sun. Louhi came into the ship, moving to the kitchen area and setting everything down. "Hello? I am back... I have everything you said, and I also got some canned food." She pulled out a bag that had food in it, something called Spam, and Vienna sausages had cost a good bit, but the cans were in good shape. There was also refried beans, whatever that was, and a few cans of diced tomato. The rest of the cans she recognized, corn, peas, things Mother Witch had sometimes grown int he garden. And, Louhi hoped, she could always hunt for them if they were hungry. "I brought back the rest of the money also...here." She set the sack on the table, considerably lighter, but it wasn' completely empty. She had made sure to buy very inexpensive clothing for herself, and she even got an older model mask because it was cheaper, but the filters she bought fit it just fine. All in all, she hoped she had done well. "I will make this up to you... thank you... for helping me."