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Bright Journey With all the exotic and bizarre smells of this part of the city, the random streets and the odd storefronts and merchant stalls, it's not the easiest thing for Bright Journey to pick her way through this district in search for that one place she'd heard mention of. This quarter is involved in the creation of uncountable amounts of recreational pharmaceuticals, and between vats of tobacco and qat and marijuana, it's genuinely amazing every single person west of the Temple District doesn't have a perpetual contact high.

It's not clear whether the streets or the air will make a poor girl dizzier, but after slipping past the umpteenth porter lugging massive containers around Bright finally finds herself on a quaint, out of the way street of shops fairly far from the city center. In the city proper or not, this is the kind of place the locals go to, rather than the tourists, and it's with a bit of a satisfied smile on her face that Bright Journey flips her hood down behind her, shakes loose that long fall of bright pink hair, and starts walking down the street to hunt for business placards along the storefronts. One has got to be the one she's been looking for.

Misa Well, that's not a great sight.

The charred remains of a building sort of stand, thoroughly picked clean for anything that could be salvaged, it seems.

Standing with arms crossed, drawn deep into thought and silent is a woman who looks... maybe Lookshyan? She's standing arguably too close to the damaged structure- or maybe just standing far from the passers-by for some space. Her focus does seem to be fully on the building, eyes scanning for... something or other. Yet rather than an appraiser, with the variety of swords she carries she looks perhaps that much stranger at the charred storefront.

Bright Journey Obscure looking shop, ramshackle looking shop, blacksmith with a terrible roof but good blades, aaaand...yeah. A building of some variety, that was slightly offset from all the others, obviously having been completely engulfed in flames some time ago.

Three guesses which building the pink-haired young lady was looking for. Of course.

The swordswoman standing there is but the cherry on top of this particular sundae. Even among the din of people deep into their day's work, the sharp slapping sound of hand to face is still slightly audible.

The young lady is, perhaps, looking a little out of place here. Her clothing is nice, and more importantly, absolutely pristine despite the road dust and whatnot on virtually every other person's clothing here. She sighs, this time more quietly, and slowly walks up, a polite distance from the Lookshyan woman, glancing briefly at her but sparing much of her attention span on the condition of the building.

After a moment, she finds what she's looking for. The blackened and charred remains of an otherwise nicely executed shop sign, only the latter half legible. She reaches forward with one booted toe to push the sign to one side, out from under the obscuring beams of charcoal wood. '-EMIST', reads the sign, and the young woman sighs again before looking more curiously at the Lookshyan woman.

"Not your handiwork, I'm guessing?"

Misa Very much with the air of someone well-trained in minding their surroundings, the sword-carrying woman's eyes slide over to Bright as she approaches, studying her for a long moment. A slow exhalation before she shakes her head.

"No, very much not mine. I suspect I'm as disappointed as you are- I had been hoping to ask some questions, here." She pauses, then, although for a moment it appears she might add more. She shakes her head again, just slightly.

"I am no architect, but I would suspect that this place sputtered out some days ago, so it appears I'm to continue the search elsewhere."

Bright Journey "I thought so," the young woman replies, "and I was hoping you'd say something like that." She picks up the remains of the sign, frowning pensively at it, then looks at Misa directly. "...Yeah. This is frustrating. I really need to find an independent alchemist for some advice, maybe some books for research..." Her voice trails off into a thoughtful silence for just a moment as she looks at Misa, then the blackened sign again, then back to Misa.

"Perhaps the gods are not entirely cruel this day. I'm guessing you were hoping to speak to an alchemist?" She holds up the remainder of the sign, briefly enough to almost not read the half-word on it, and then tosses it back in the pile. "Cold, no smoke, picked clean. I don't think we'll learn much from here, to be honest. But tell me, are you an alchemist yourself? I'm a fair herbalist, but not on this...or, well, what -was- supposed to be this level. But I know where we might find more information on the subject, if luck is with us, and if you know a bit about alchemy yourself that might be enough to answer my questions. I'm not sure."

Misa While Misa's appearance could well read as mild annoyance, she speaks simply- if perhaps rather quietly. "I am no such thing- simply looking for someone. This place was a stop along the way. Seeing if they'd been by." A longish pause, as if considering whether to speak further before she adds; "I suppose I'm yet to wonder."

And on that note she turns somewhat on her heel- she's far from an intimidating presence, shoulders drawn in and head slightly low. But she -is- studious, and one can almost see the mental wheels turning as she studies Bright's appearance.

Bright Journey "Seeing if they'd--" The pink-haired young lady sighs, and looks over the ruined house again, a wry look on her face. "Well, that's unfortunate. I was hoping for just a moment you knew who owned this place, and had some inkling of who I might be looking for that way. That would have been good for both of us. But it sounds as if our luck may have..." The girl's silver eyes widen for a moment in realization and then narrow suspiciously. Not at Misa, but at the ruined shop.

"Of course. I am an idiot, couldn't see the forest for the trees for a moment. Some enemies of mine are using alchemy in a rather nasty way, and some acquaintances of mine are -also- using it to help deal with them. This place goes up like the last night of Calibration mere -days- ago. Not saying they -have- to be related, but there's a decent chance."

She gives Misa a sidelong, wry sort of look. "That doesn't sound like anything your friend might be mixed up in, does it? Just because nothing in my life seems to be easy anymore doesn't mean your friend is under the same curse." She chuckles quietly, a touch of a smile on her lips. "You might be, though, from the looks of things. I don't mean to pry, but you look like you're having a tough time of it."

That was a white lie, naturally. Of course she means to pry. But hey, at least she's polite about it.

Misa A glance back at Bright before Misa resumes studying the structure. "Series of poisonings, in my case. Not that I suspect whomever owned this establishment so much as perhaps components were purchased here."

Another pause, and then Misa kneels down, running a finger through a spot of ash and taking a close look- and a quick sniff of any lingering scent. She sighs again, eyes closing as she stands.

"This seems like quite the affair your associate has been tied up with. One doesn't typically hear of... alchemical... battles? I'm not certain I quite take the meaning there, but I digress."

Bright Journey Bright Journey slowly shakes her head and leans over a bit, apparently very interested in whatever it is Misa is doing with the ash. While she's looking, she replies.

"To be sure, we and they have crossed blades already. But the alchemy struggle in particular is...well, less direct, though it is certainly skill versus skill. Our foes--one of several groups of unpleasant cultists--have been using a powerful poison, a long term sleeping concoction, I think. We, or I should say, those of us with skill in alchemy, have been working to counteract, and even turn it against them. I..." She looks askance for a moment. "...an somewhat newly acquainted with my allies, and though I've no doubts about what our enemies are capable of, and that they have to be stopped, I don't know my allies well enough to be sure of them. So I was hoping to find out more about what they're doing from someone independent, someone not connected to all this."

She toes the ashen rubble again, crumbling bits of carbon skating off her boot toe. "I may have been a bit too optimistic about my chances."

Misa Misa shakes her fingertips off, frowning a little. "Well, I cannot speak to knowing much about all that. I had simply been hoping to ask questions about past purchases, as it were. Though your... contact? Here might well be fine. From what I can tell- again, not an architect or alchemist- it seems a fairly straightforward fire. I'd almost think it was not an alchemist's lab at all."

She takes another pause, turning to size up Bright for a moment again before noting; "Am I to understand you might have some familiarity with the proprietor? I could use a few minutes of their time, if so."

Bright Journey Bright Journey shakes her head sadly, with a rueful little smile, and shrugs with upturned palms. "I'm sorry, but I don't actually know who the proprietor is. The whole point of the exercise was to find an alchemist who wasn't tied up in everything going on, so I sort of had to go out on a limb." She sighs a bit and looks skywards, thinking. "I'm sorry to have gotten your hopes up as badly as I seem to have gotten my own."

As Misa describes the lack of alchemical reagents in the ruins, Bright's eyes narrow again, and instead of just idly glancing at the remains of the fire, she actually kneels down a few paces from Misa and gives the rubble a serious, thoughtful search. "No ingredients? At all? I commend your powers of observation." She frowns, peering into the massive pile and starts to shift pieces around, get a better view. "I managed to miss that entirely. To be fair, I let myself get distracted by some sparkling conversation." She looks at Misa and grins cheekily, a bit of mischievous kid slipping out from the polite formal exterior. "Please, call me Bright Journey. What should I call you?"

Misa "Misa, is all," answers the other woman, brow furrowing a moment as she considers the scene another moment. Eventually they slide off to a specific point at the side, and she allows a soft 'hm'.

Almost as if she hadn't even been in a conversation she begins walking along the outside of the building, circling around to whatever it is she's noticed. A faint smirk, for a moment.

It's awkward, that lull when she's just thinking to herself after seeing the thing, before seeming to remember the talking and add; "Well, not from inside. WOuldn't expect this from inside anyways- any decent alchemist knows the importance of proper storage. But there -was- firedust, and whatever you'll find out that way."

With the last of the words she points outwards, away from the city proper and out into the wilder places beyond.

Bright Journey Bright Journey offers a smile--seemingly genuine, despite Misa's taciturn reply--and bows, as if to an equal. "Well. Pleasure to meet you, Misa," she replies, and she looks ready to continue when Misa smirks briefly. Bright has known Misa for all of ten minutes (and did most of the speaking), but even in that time she's learned to shut up and pay attention when a woman like Misa smirks, especially when it's clear she's found something.

Bright shuts up and pays attention.

Of course, this results in a bit of a lull, but Bright manages to resist the urge to fill the void with chatter long enough for Misa to explain what she saw. Bright Journey's eyes take on a firm, determined look as she walks over, peering down at the ground to try to locate what Misa saw. Bright may not be a detective, but she can at least see the marks when Misa points them out. Her eyes follow them out into the woods.

"Well, well. You're doubly perceptive, Misa, and I'm glad you're here. We're a few days behind, so we can't wait longer. If we want to follow this it should be now."

Bright looks at Misa curiously, then gets a bit of a smile again. This one is more feral, more anticipatory. "I have no idea what we'll find or if it even concerns us. I don't care. I will run this to ground. Are you with me?"

Misa "You as well," comes the relatively quiet reply, as Misa considers the scene another moment. The next, she's heaving something of a sigh.

"If I may be frank, I'm not entirely sure this will be pertinent to my own aims, as the things you've said thus far don't line up. But in the interests of curiousity and perhaps finding at least the person I meant to speak to, I will come along for at least a time," she says, shrugging for a moment. "It does seem quite odd to have this quantity of firedust this far north."

Bright Journey Bright Journey gives Misa a long, searching look for a moment, thinking to herself. She scratches the back of her neck absently and eyes the swordswoman thoughtfully.

"What do you mean by 'don't line up'?" Her voice is soft. Not threatening perhaps, but not as jovial as before to be sure. "I have other aims, you know, and I'm not following this because I have nothing better to do; I already told you about that part. I have an interest in who did this and besides, the doings of certain important people interest me as well. I wouldn't mind company, and I'd like to get to know you better. But no one is forcing you.

"So if you choose to come with me, I would welcome that. Just so long as we have an understanding. Now, shall we?"

Misa A faint smile from Misa, and she shakes her head. "You misunderstand. I simply meant to allay expectations- I'm fairly certain given what we've discussed so far that despite possible expectations, the person I am ultimately looking for and your... alchemic rivals, I want to phrase it? Are not the same, or associated. But as I said, I've reason enough to continue down this road for the time being."
Bright Journey With a slow nod, Bright Journey acquiesces. She looks at Misa and offers another, more genuine smile, then gestures towards the trail leading into the wilderness with a toss of that bright pink hair.

"That's more than fair, I suppose. After all, that was the theory I had when I first got here. Still, I suppose I should stop making assumptions in general, and collect some facts." She grins impudently. "Like you just did. Shall we?"

And with that, Bright studies the markings a bit more, and begins to make her way into the wilderness, presumably with Misa right alongside.