Cary
His senses gave him a varied understanding of the ancient forests around him, all the hidden details beyond the normalcy of sense that most mortals can become attuned too. It was like he was destined to be a predator, destined to hunt and to track. He could hear the faintest heartbeats of birds miles away, see the shifting branches hundreds of yards away as a squirrel scampered around. He could smell the fresh kill far away, the odor of blood and meat, the sound of a wolves howl. It was all present to him even as he raced through the woods, allowing the spirit stone to guide him.

Once coming upon the clearing, the pool and the statue the cursed man slowed his approach- slowly walking forwards toward the pool and woman. He studied her, noticed the pulse of her bracelet in conjunction with the stone in his hands- she was who sent for him.

"*It's like Esme all over again... Except Sweet Tooth, some guards... Golems... And a drugged up battle mage.*" His assumptions quickly vanished as he thought of the disconnections, allowing himself to approach this situation from an unbiased mindset.

"***You sent for me?***" His voice cut through the silence of the forest, the serenity, and his presence became known. His most underestimated ability but one of his most advantageous: his ability to be unseen. With not a drop of magic to his name and the physical prowess to move silently he's like a wraith to the world, someone constantly barely out of sight- a shadow.

He held up the seeker stone, showing its glow to identify himself to the woman in the pool, as he drew closer.

"***Though I'm not sure why. I'm no adventurer but I'm going to assume you know that given you contracted me personally.***"
Tom
She jumped when he made himself known, turning in the water and sending ripples across the shallow pool as her big blue eyes fell upon him. Her soft pink lips parted in surprise and she slowly tilted her head just a bit as she scanned him up and down. Then she blinked and blushed and one delicate hand brushed her hair back behind her ear as she spoke. 

"You really don't have an ounce of mana inside you. Even grass has traces, only stones and inorganic things don't have it- and even then they can be infused with it..." She mused, not moving as she looked at him with deep curiosity. 

"I'm sorry, I got lost in thought. It's rude to get right to business you know!" She said, her hands coming down onto her hips as she suddenly was *Pouting* At him. "My name is Aaliyah Sinclair, I like cricket song and my favorite food is mushrooms. Now your turn." 

Her expression left no quarter for disagreement with her, she was tiny and fragile looking and yet she looked upon him like a housewife upon her husband when he's home late from the tavern.
Cary
"***Not a drop. Works out well enough, can't detect me through magic and I know how to stay quiet.***"

The cursed man replied casually, this is a conversational topic he's had to discuss many times with people so he's not unaccustomed to the reactions. In truth it's a handy thing not being detected because of his magical energy, saves him a lot of trouble that way. 

"***Nothing to be sorry about, happens to us all-***" Tarin said at first, just casual conversation, but quickly enough he felt like his wife was mad at him and he knows for a fact he doesn't have a wife.

"***Um... Tarin Vo, I like rain and my favorite food is meat.***" Despite being here for a mission, he assumes, he doesn't mind the conversation. Bit odd to him, usually he's just given a name and a sum of payment, not questions about his favorite food.

"***Anything else you'd like to know before business is discussed?***"
Tom
She clicked her tongue and wager her finger at him, her dainty index finger almost hypnotic in its movements. 

"Yes and no, what you should phrased it as is that you can't be *Sensed* By your magic energy. Anyone could detect you with magic since you can't ward yourself, and furthermore, you can't tell if they're detecting you. In fact you're being scryed upon by someone right now!" She said irritably, waving her hand. Unseen to Tarin, the spell was broken by her with a wave of her hand. She didn't speak in a condescending manner, in fact she once again sounded like a wife irritated that her husband had skirted his chores of the day. 

Her nose wrinkled as she finally got around to digesting his answer. Her pretty blue eyes and light eyelashes came down further as she shook her head. 

"Did you *Run* All the way here, Tarin Vo? Tch. Take off your shoes and shirt and sit by the pool." She commanded, waving towards a spot by the pool. Then she strode over to edge of the pool where a small satchel sat and she pulled out a bundle of moss. 

"Others might disapprove of you eating meat, but man is a predator and that's how the cycle works. I like your answers, Tarin Vo. Now hurry up and sit." 

An odd woman indeed, she spoke to him as if she'd known him for a long time, as if they were familiar with each other. She sighed and came closer, waiting for him to obey or argue.
Cary
"***Can't be sensed but not much a scrying spell will do if I move faster than you can see. Works out in the end.***" A simple shrug was all he gave in reply, he knows that she's right- magic can be used to find him, but that's never really been a problem anyway. He found it both odd and funny that she seemed like a wife worrying about her husband, not something he's ever experienced really. Kinda heartwarming.

"***Well, yeah? Only way I can get from place to place. I'm faster than horseback and I have the stamina to do it.***" Initially he seemed casual but at her last request he cocked his eyebrow upwards and looked confused.

"***Uh... Hm.***" He ventured closer, his guard now slowly being put back into place as he watched her stride closer to the waters edge. He doesn't know this woman nor her intentions and he's not gullible enough to just idle on like a simpleton.

"***I eat what's fueling. I enjoy meat but vegetables and fruits do the trick too. And no, I won't be sitting, not until you tell me why you summoned me.***"

He spoke with a mildly reserved tone, unsure of who this woman is or why she seems to act like they're close in some regard. His memory might be getting the better of him but his gut tells him otherwise.
Tom
She rolled her eyes at his explanation, shaking her head. She muttered under her breath which of course his enhanced hearing would allow him to pick up on. The words were as followed. 

"Strong men always think strength is enough." 

Sighing, she played with the strange moss in her hand and turned her blue eyes on him. 

"There's a pocket of the feywild that is currently under the affliction of a strange curse. It's draining the mana from most things, though not all I suppose, and it needs to be stopped. You don't have mana and can fight without it- so you were the perfect one to contact." She explained matter of factly, resting her knuckles against her hips and glaring at him with an expression of 'are you happy now?'
Cary
"***Strength is all I've ever known. I don't think it's enough but it's all I have to rely on, my own strength.***"

The cursed man offered in reply to her muttered words, crossing his arms and nodding his head as she explained her reasoning for summoning him. Strength has always been his way to strike out amongst the crowd, to be a different man than everyone else. While most if not all have magic to add to their list of strengths Tarin can only rely on his own body and mind, a fact he doesn't see an issue with really. 

"***Once again I have to face something that's sapping away mana. The feywild owes me money at this point. But, I accept, I'll do what I can.***" A small chuckle escaped him with the final remark as he stepped closer and let his arms fall down to his sides.

"***Are you done pouting at me now?***" He asked as he cracked a small smile, poking fun at her attitude.
Tom
"I will be when you sit down, Tarin Vo. And remove the garments I requested." She said irritably, her voice indeed sounding pouty and her plush lower lip pushed out. Still she seemed unabashed and gazed out across the trees. 

"Yes you assisted the Twilight Witch, another reason I called you. However she's deeply ingrained in her corner of the world and will never leave it. I caution you to remove thoughts of her from your heart and your mind. Unless you too wish to wander forever in a tiny corner of the world that will never miss you." Her words were sharp but not hateful, almost melancholy and... Something else. Hard to pin down. Her blonde hair swayed like fine silk as she examined him. 

"The Feywild gives to you and the world a lot more than you or anyone with magic can see, perhaps this will enlighten you a bit more on that." With that she gestured, a hurry up motion with her hands towards the edge of the pool.
Cary
The cursed man sighed at her response, hands mildly raised in a sign of defeat as he took off his back holster, shirt and shoes. He kept them close by as he sat on the waters edge, waiting to see what she wanted.

"***Tell me about it. And yeah... Got me there.***" Her words rang true, she knows more than he expected but the feywild and those connected to it seem to have a way of knowing the goings-on in it. "***Haven't heard from her since I saved her, no clue where she is. Unfortunately she's already out of my mind and heart, I don't often try and stay connected with people.***"

His way of wording it made it seem like the fact she and him haven't remained connected doesn't bother him, in truth, it doesn't. He has ever really known companionship, not really. Sure he's made ally's here and there but they're not friends and nothing beyond friendship has ever been explored by him before. When you're so cursed that your nickname is the flaw of the world you don't ever really make friends.

"***I know a few things, I'm more connected with the world than most even if I don't have magic to assist me. I live for the world and for myself, nothing more and nothing less.***"
Tom
The girl looked as if she wanted to say something but bit her lip and shook her head. As he obeyed her though she visibly brightened and splashed towards him until she crouched down and gingerly she began to wash his feet. Her touch was gentle and her hands warm, her fingers soft as silk and yet methodical in their work. "In the ancient times, one washed the others feet when they returned home from a travel. It was a symbol to wash away their weariness and the burdens that they brought home. It's a dead practice now, but the world remembers it still." 

Once she was done with his feet, should he not kick her away, she'd climb out of the pool and walk around his back. She'd then begin to wash his shoulders and back with the strong smelling moss, it was herbal and medicinal in nature, and had the consistency of a sponge. "Washing of the shoulders and back acknowledged the sins of one who entered a holy place, it signified trust in the washer and commitment from the one being washed." She continued, her voice a beautiful sound of spring. Fireflies continued to flicker through the twilight, light filtering down to cast glittering diamonds across the waters surface. 

"Speaking in a wise way does not make a man wise, Tarin Vo. One day you'll see just how truly disconnected from the world you are- and it has nothing to do with how you were born. Or perhaps you won't, and you'll be another powerful man who was forgotten by everyone because they were unloved. I hope that is not the case for you." She said softly, her voice a whisper as she moved away. 

"I'm done. You can get dressed now, we will enter the feywild together. When you're ready we can depart." This would be what she'd say if he refused to be washed, or what she'd say after the washing was done.
Cary
Originally he was taken aback by the prospect when she grabbed his foot, his sense of touch almost overwhelming for a moment. But, he assumed it was some custom, many places in Aeterna harbor traditions and practices he still to this day does not know of, this might be one of them.

"***Hmph... I see.***" Making a curious sounding Hmph the cursed man let it be and simply sat there. He didn't really enjoy what was going on, he doesn't like being touched by most anyone, but for the sake of greater kindness and her stubbornness to do this before the job can be done he has to swallow his pride and accept the facts.

"*Ironic.*" He muttered under his breath when sins were mentioned, as if his could be washed off.

"***No, it doesn't.***" His tone shifted to a more reserved, almost defensive standpoint. "***I know I am disconnected from the world, I'm reminded about it everyday. I'm reminded about it when I see smiling families in the streets, when I see young men and women laugh at another for proclaiming love, I see it when mages use magic as if it's a commonplace*** *Thing* ***In their lives and not a blessing they are given. I know more about the world than most do, I may not know your whimsical feywilds but I know the realm like the back of my hand.***"

** **
He stood up near the end, obviously past his limits of acceptance, and began to put his clothes back on. His holster being on his back gave him a sense of reassurance, reminding him that he has his ways about the world.

"***I don't care if I'm loved or not, I don't care if I have some merry band of friends who'll come running to save me whenever I almost die- do I have that? Camaraderie? Companionship? No. There will be no one to mourn me when I die but there will be people affected by my death... No matter what.***"

He scoffed and turned away, angry at himself for allowing his emotions to get out of his control once again- but more so that someone made assumptions about, he despises that, they don't know him. No one does. But, his turn has a hidden truth. A truth he hasn't revealed to anyone, not something he plans to ever do. 

"***Let us be off, I want to get this over with.***"
Tom
She smirked as he went on his tangent, her eyebrows climbing as if to say- "If I was wrong you wouldn't have said so much." Looking quite *Pleased* With herself, she turned on her heel with a hmph! And began to march into the wood. She stepped onto a thin deer trail and began to walk, her hands and feet forming a perfect cadence. 

"When I say so, hold your breath and walk with your eyes closed- backwards. Do so for ten seconds, then spin around and say, Kuramba! That will throw us through the Gate." She said, without even an ounce of humor in her voice. They walked for less than ten minutes before she said, "Here." 

She spun around to face him, her pretty face tilted up to gaze at him before she closed her eyes and held her breath, walking backwards ten paces before spinning around quickly and saying... Well it was cut off as she disappeared from sight.
Cary
"***Remind me to stay away from sassy women in forests, it never ends well for me.***" Using humor to deflect his annoyance and out right anger the cursed man followed along. He didn't care to walk with some form of grace or dexterity, he just wandered a few paces behind the woman as if following her through a town.

"***Ok.***" Not the weirdest thing he's ever been asked to do before and it's likely some feywild magic stuff he doesn't fully understand.

Once the woman told him this was the spot he did as he was told, spinning around, closing his eyes and holding his breath- ten paces backward, turn around...

"***Kuramba.***"

Hopefully he disappeared alongside her.