“Fair enough.” she nodded, taking his word for it since she had never been to any other region. “Like I said, I don't think I’ll actually buy anything unless we need it. But I'm already excited by what we'll see in those new places.”
"A souvenir or two is also fun. I get souvenirs when I do something particularly stupid and I want to remember it. Now every time I see that object, that's what I think about."
Charlotte giggled a little at his reasons for souvenirs but nodded. “I’m not sure if that's healthy but it's cute.” she smiled. “What kinds of souvenirs do you have?”
"I have a couple of chipped glasses or cups from memorable bar fights, a painting from the time I was nearly set on fire, and a handmade doll from when some religious village tried to sacrifice me to the God of war. That was an experience."
Charlotte let out a choked gasp at the last two experiences. “How did you get into those situations?”
"Long stories, both of them. Though I can tell you, the first village was deep in the mountains and doesn't believe in anything other than herbal healing so they tried to burn me as a witch. Which was insulting but isn't the worst thing that's ever happened to me."
“Ok. That makes some sense.” she nodded slightly. “But now, I have so many questions. How did you almost get sacrificed to a God of War? How did you get away? And, if you don't mind me asking, what was the worst thing that happened to you if it wasn't one of those situations?”
"I'm gonna save those first two questions for another time but the last one I can answer. And that was I almost fell into an active volcano trying to follow a fire mage. Was not a fun time."
Charlotte gave a playful pout as he dodged her first two questions but was definitely interested in the answer to the third. “I was expecting you to ignore the last one and answer the others.” she admitted. “It's no rush, of course. But why were you following a fire mage to an active volcano?”
"Training session mostly. I was trying my hand at fire magic and that was where his base was. I don't understand how people do it."
“Well, I don't know why someone would have their base in a volcano but…” she smirked a little and held up her hand, a small flame dancing on her palm. “I can give you a few pointers if you still need them.”
"Ooo, pretty fire." Rodney laughed. "No no, I'm okay now. If I need other pointers for controlling fire, I know exactly who to go to now."
Charlotte smiled back and extinguished the flame. “I’m flattered. And if you're interested, I can teach you about plant magic too.” she offered.
"That'd be lovely. I'm pretty good when identifying plants and knowing which ones will kill me but actually trying to keep one alive? Yeah, that's a bit harder."
Charlotte smiled. “Well, I know a lot about that. I can also identify deadly or poisonous plants.” she confirmed. “Most plant fairies are actually primarily vegetarians. By choice, I should add. They are still able to eat meat and such but…” she shrugged.
"I can understand that. Plus, it'd be a lot harder to hunt anything sustainable being that small. Not saying you couldn't, just that'd it be much more difficult."
“Very true.” she nodded. “We do have some who tried but they're considered to be much more wild than others, and… I don't know, there's something about eating a squirrel or a mouse that just, personally, I'm not fond of. And a rabbit would be like taking down a bear, is the closest comparison I can think of.”
"If that's like a bear to you, I'd love to see what you think of a real bear in this size. There are a couple in the woods. Although we'll certainly have to be careful the more we move east. The alchemists out there are known for testing some of their more volatile substances on the local wildlife and have caused some absolutely monstrous mutations."
“Very funny.” Charlotte said giving Rodney a flat look at his quip regarding her size. Though his warning did raise some interest. “Just how monstrous do you mean?” she asked, arching a brow.
"You ever see a bear with an extra set of arms, twice the teeth and muscle, and an eternally set off temper? Well you certainly will out there. It's not a place most people like to go. Myself included."
(Sounds like FNAF 3)
“I… No. Of course, I haven't. And I'm glad for that right now. A regular angry bear is terrifying enough.” she said, still trying to wrap her head around the image.
(…why would you put that image in my head)
"Exactly. It's called Alchemists Gorge for a reason. People built a literal moat around the area so that it would be harder, if not impossible, for any of their creations to escape and cause chaos for the rest of us."
(It was the multiple teeth that reminded me of it. And anyway you put it in my head first :-P)
“That is both interesting and terrifying at the same time.” she admitted. A part of her almost wanted to go and see this place. But she knew could easily imagine how dangerous it was and how stupid it would be. It was a strange feeling for her.
"I've been there before. I've seen a lot of places I would never go back to and done a lot of things that I regret but that…" He trailed off for a second before shaking his head. "Nothing in this world could make me go back there."
“That's fair.” Charlotte nodded, accepting his resolve. It made sense of course. If someone like Rodney thought it was that dangerous… then to someone like her it would be insanity to go there.
He waved her off with a smile. "Be curious all you want, Charlotte. But the only way you're getting there is by yourself. And that in and of itself is not something I recommend doing. It's one thing to go. It's completely another to go alone."
“No. I mean, I am curious but I would never go to a place like that on my own.” she said, shaking her head. “And if you don't want to go there, then I won't make you. It's probably safer if we avoid it altogether anyway.”
"Most definitely. The only reason people usually go is because they have to. And even then, they try to avoid it for as long as they can."
“Except for the Alchemists who test their potions there. Though I'm sure even they are hesitant.” she shrugged.
"Sometimes but not usually. The alchemists that test there live there. They have things they need delivered. The only time an alchemist leaves is because they're escaping, usually from something they created. It drives them mad, it really does. It's terrifying."