(Collab between me and [@Zhaliora])

[color=f7941d]"Aghh..."[/color] Scylla made a pained sound as she started dressing up. It already has been some time since the sun rose above the horizon. She spend the time till now hiding under her bedsheets, but now it was time to get going. The vampire threw one last look through the window, before pulling the curtains. 
 
Finally out of the direct sunlight, she put on her tight leather armor that protected her body from the sun, took her bag, put on her hood and quickly walked out of the tavern. Her white leather armor certainly did attract attention, but it wasn't unheard of to wear such garbs. With her having proved her worth as an enchanter, people agreed that her wearing this while strange and unusual armor, was normal considering she always carried a lot of enchanting equipment worth a lot of gold that she had to be able to fight for. Thus she wasn't questions anymore for while she dressed like this. Coupled with the fact she never fed on humans in a way that would leave traces, it only helped her cover.
  
She gave the innkeeper a nod before heading out. The first rays of light hit her hard as she narrowed her eyes, but because she had to keep her cover, she made no sound as the pain filled her body. She simply started walking close to the wall to avoid bumping into people until her eyes adjust properly. She then made a turn in a nearby alley only to find a curious sight. There, curled on the ground was a woman with fiery red hair. She seemed out cold, maybe even dead. 
 
Scylla frowned a she crouched by the slumped body of the woman and put a finger at her throat, feeling a pulse.[color=f7941d][i]'So she lives.'[/i][/color] She thought. Then without any reservation she poked the woman by the side with her index finger."[color=f7941d] Hello... hello... you okey?"[/color] She asked with a smile.[color=f7941d]" You need a potion?"[/color]

Andiira was dreaming once again, but this time it was a gentle dream. A dream of fields of flowers and she was running around with a big smile on her face. The flowers danced in the wind until one flower hit her in the face.

She groaned as she was poked, slowly regaining consciousness. Her eyes slowly opened as she looked around. It looked nothing like what she last remembered, although she was staring into another wall. Andiira turned her gaze to her side only to find a woman hovering over her.

"Whe-wha-who?" was all she managed to say as she quickly backed up against the wall with a frightened look on her face. [i]"who was this woman? where am I? Shit.."[/i] Andiira slowly started to prepare for the worst.

Scylla looked with pure curiosity and amusement as the woman panicked and ran back to the wall.[color=f7941d]" My name is Priscilla and I have a room in this tavern over there."[/color] She said, pointing at the building on the other side of the street. With a smile she then turned back to the fiery haired woman.
 
[color=f7941d]"I simply found you here laying on the cold stone."[/color] She explained with a friendly smile.[color=f7941d]" I wondered if you were alive so I checked up on you and hey you were, thus I tried to wake you up." [/color]She added with a smirk.[color=f7941d]" So back to my question, you need a potion? I have one I can give you in case you are hurt and need it."[/color]

"Priscilla?" she said slowly. She did not sense any evil intent about the woman, but she had been wrong before. Andiira closed her eyes for a moment, taking stock of the situation and what had transpired. She also noticed that it wasn't night any longer, nor was this somewhere she had been before. She had barely left the surroundings of the college for many years, and this was not near it.

She tried to recall everything that had happened so far. She had been in her 'cell' for lack of a better term, felt a force impact from behind before she slammed into the wall and was knocked out. That much she remembered. [i]"guess they finally did it, they threw me out" [/i] she thought to herself before looking at the woman once again.

"I would consider myself alive, even though it's not much of a life." Andiira started to brush off the dust from her dress and hair. "While I appreciate the offer for a potion, I don't like owing people anything, so I have to decline." 

Whomever this woman was, it seemed like she did not fear her, or seemed to care too much why she was lying in an alleyway, at least for now. "My name is Andiira," she said and bowed slightly. She looked around once again. "By the way......where is here?"

[color=f7941d]"Yep, that's my name. You can call me Scylla for short if you want. Most people who know me do so."[/color] She said with a smile and reached a hand to help Andiira stand up from the ground.[color=f7941d]" Your choice really. Potions are pretty precious right now so I guess that's better for me then. WIth the war going on and everything. Most are diverted to soldiers." [/color]She said with annoyance.
 
"[color=f7941d]Nice to meet you, Andiira. You are currently residing in the majestic Imperial City."[/color] Scylla said with playful friendly overly dramatic voice and then waved her other hand around.[color=f7941d]" The place where everything can happen, from grave robbers, to honests thieves and even strangely talking people."[/color] She added with a giggle.

Andiira slowly accepted the hand that was offered and stood up. It was odd though, to wear a leather armour that covered almost the entire body, but whom was she to say anything about weird. Lying on the ground in an alley and all. It was almost comical to her.

However when Scylla started describing their location Andiira could not help but to smile and laugh a little. She shook her head at the absurd description and just smiled. "I do know that much, but you forgot to say that this is also the place for mystical rendezvous in dark alleyways. However silly me forgot to bring the wine!" 

Andiira liked this short woman in front of her, and they did seem to be about the same age. She was hesitant though, the last friends she had made had burned, or fled her presence. But something about this woman felt, calming, she could not really place the feeling. Suddenly a great fear struck her as she quickly began to rummage around, looking for something.

She quickly found what she was looking for and grabbed the purse and hugged it tightly. As if the purse meant the world to her. It was still here, she stuck her hand into it and felt the familiar feeling of her hammer. If it had not been she was prepared to storm her old place, but now she had no attachment to it.

Priscilla only smiled at the woman's statement about the place and wine. She felt a small pinch of guilt sneak through her mind, she was getting friendly with this girl, but didn't inform her of what she was. She couldn't! If she did it, it would escalate into full blown hell around her. Guards trying to kill her, hunters coming after her... even this girl would probably try to kill her out of fear. Thus she silenced the guilt in her head and continued to smile friendly. Was it really that wrong to wish to have a normal human company and friends?[color=f7941d]" We can always buy some wine from around the trade district."[/color] She said, fully aware her body couldn't really process wine. Sure she can drink it, but it would serve no purpose except for it's taste.
 
Andiira seemed to suddenly panic a little as she went through her clothing till she found the purse. It was so clear she must value whatever was inside a lot considering with what desperation she searched for it and held it. It made Scylla's curiosity strengthen right away as she now wondered what was inside the purse. She tilted her head to look at it from the other side, then the other and then looked back at Andiira's face.[color=f7941d]" Forgive me for asking, but what's that you are holding with such zeal?" [/color]She asked with friendly voice.

"Some wine had been nice after all of this," Andiira said, looking up from her purse. "Could use it to relax, forget about my problems for a while. Who knows, might even find me a place to stay." Andiira was smiling as she was talking. "And in here?" she said and held up the purse to the sky. "In here, is everything that I've got left." She looked at Scylla. "I guess you don't happen to have a place for a homeless gal to rent or stay for a while?" She gave a half-smirk and put her purse away.

Scylla didn't say anything when Andiira held up her purse up. It was clearly something that meant everything to the girl, but at the same time judging by it's relative shape it certainly wasn't gold... so it was probably something very sentimental of value. The vampire nodded with a smile. She herself had little left, in fact the only thing she kept from her past were skills and memories, some of which only brought more pain than joy.
  
[color=f7941d]"Well... I do have a room in that inn I pointed to you earlier. I have not a place of my own, but I suppose you can crash in my room if you so desire..."[/color] The vampire explained with a nod, but remembered the girl said she didn't want to be indebted to anyone.[color=f7941d]" Hmmm... or you can come with me for the day, I'm an enchanter and can use an assistant for the day. I will pay you a fair wage with which you will be able to rent a room for the night and buy some food. What do you say?"[/color]

Andiira actually smiled a happy smile for once, the conversation drifted towards something she really liked. "It would be quite nice to get back to work. I do know quite a bit about enchanting and such things actually. Let me reintroduce myself," she said and bowed slightly. "Andiira Dradssen, practicing enchanter, smith, and professional pyromancer," she said with a smile. "Sadly though unless the enchantment or magics are related to fire, they never seem to work, for some reason, so I can't do those, but I would gladly assist you."

She looked at Scylla and reached out her hand. "If it works for now; can I stay at your place until I get more established in the neighborhood? Don't worry about a steady pay, I can just get a little share of whatever you sell. If that works for you?"

[color=f7941d]"Well then, it seems you will be in luck today."[/color] Scylla said with a smile as she nodded to lead the way out of the alley and towards the trade district.[color=f7941d]" My customers are mainly soldiers and they do like themselves some fire enchantments on their weapons."[/color] She added.[color=f7941d]" I can let you do some of those to get some cash going, though naturally you need the soul gems for that. You have any?" [/color]The vampire asked in the end throwing a questioning look.
 
[color=f7941d]"As I said most of my current work comes from soldiers and the occasional enchanted trinket I sell on the markets, so you will have the chance to earn your gold. Granted I will have to cut some of your pay for it because the soulgems aren't exactly cheap."[/color] She said and pulled a common sized soulgem from her bag, giving it to Andiira.[color=f7941d]" Here, have this one as a gift then. No charge for it, this one I created myself a few weeks back. The charge inside it isn't as big is it should be."[/color] She said with a smile. Scylla could very well do without this gem. For her it wasn't really useful, but for someone like Andiira it would be quite a useful start.

Andiira chuckled. "These soldiers and their love of fire. You'd think they wanted to sleep inside of it if they could. All warm and cozy." She started to rummage through her purse once again. A few metal on metal sounds escaped from it as her hand moved around. "I've got a few empty ones, but no full ones," she said as she accepted the soulgem. She studied it for a few moments.

"Who was the poor bastard that got turned into it? An ex boyfriend?" she asked with humor in her voice. She had already decided that this one would go to something for her own sake though, something she felt she had to do. "You don't happen to have any more? I can trade my empty ones for a minor one, if needs be, along with some coins. This one here," she said and raised the gem up against the sun as they walked out of the alley, "I want to turn into something precious, or at least it'll help me with forging."

She looked at Scylla once again. "You don't happen to know where a nearby forge can be? I've got this little business idea. I can forge items, and you can enchant them. In the end I'd want to buy a forge for myself," she said with a bright smile.

[color=f7941d]"This one was a wolf actually..."[/color] She replied with a smile. Black soul gems sure were good and handy, but creating them was a chore... and questionable. People who knew a thing or two about enchanting would often look at you as possible danger when you carry them. 
 
[color=f7941d]"Sure, I have a few filled minor ones. That we can trade, it's not like I can't just fill them back up by going exploring around the wilderness for a little while or hunting some vermin or something. Those also sell well to soldiers to recharge their weapons."[/color] She said with a smile.

[color=f7941d]"There is a forge this way."[/color] Priscilla said and pointed down a side road.[color=f7941d]" The smith should allow you to use it for a small fee probably. As for something to help you forging... what do you have in mind for that?" [/color]She asked her new found friend as she led the way down to her usual table on the market square where she sold her skills. She could see some soldiers there already."[color=f7941d] Well... that's a very good desire for the future.  I do indeed can see the market potential in that..." [/color]She said with a smile, but hid her real thoughts on the matter. She couldn't stay with this girl for a very long periods of time. Eventually her secret will be found and she feared what will happen then. So her priority was still finding a way to remove her curse and become a human again. After that she will deal with this dream... still for now she will hang around with the human girl. She liked her a lot so far and it felt nice to have a normal friendly companion for once.

Andiira thought about what Scylla said. She had never used the gem of an animal before in her work. It had not bothered her, she had been told that the souls inside of the gems were criminals, wicked people, she hoped that was the case at least. So she had expected a harder time to fill up her gems than what it actually was. She felt slightly like a fool, but she felt it better not to expose that little tidbit.

"I thank you for the offer of an enchantment, but I like to work pure in form. I've got my own little trick for forging," she said and followed after Scylla towards the market. She looked around and actually found some buildings that she remembered from her youth. She sort of knew where this was now. But part from those familiar buildings, a lot had changed in her years of isolation. No matter though, that was not important any longer. For now she would create a new life for herself, hopefully a life without incidents. [i]"Probably impossible, knowing me something will go wrong,"[/i] she thought and looked around before her gaze fell on Scylla. [i]"Hopefully I won't torch this one."[/i]

She looked at the number of people already queuing up for 'their' stall. "Is it always this busy?" she wondered, slightly hesitant about being close to that many people, or rather being in front of that many people. She had grown accustomed to her solitude, used to only being around one or so at a time. Andiira took a few deep breaths as she prepared for her 'debut' as an assistant.

[color=f7941d]"Well yeah the  animal filled gems are generally weaker, but as an exchange for that it's a lot easier to obtain them. Also work marvels for situation like mine where I have to mass enchant soldier equipment. They generally just want it to be enchanted as much as possible as cheap as possible. A thing for which these gems are perfect for." [/color]Scylla said with evil businesswoman smile. Enchanting was a very precious business for enchanters of good skill weren't it big supply.
 
[color=f7941d]"I see, it's your right and I respect you for that decision. True smith indeed doesn't need these enhancements to aid her. I look forward to seeing a creation of yours in the future."[/color] The vampire said with a big nod and looked at the line at her stall. She replied to her companion as she got some sighs of relieve when her customers saw her appear just in time.
 
In no time she sat on her chair, pulled a soul gem and started with enchanting the first client while she directed customers who just wanted to buy some weak gems to charge up their items. When they were done here, she would have to go visit the bookstore to check if that book on vampires she requested had arrived. With the war such deliveries weren't always successful, but she still hoped it did. It's been so long since she got this... curse. She wanted out of it already.

Andiira also got busy with work, fetching soulgems for Scylla if she needed more as well as refueling items of power along with doing some minor fire enchantments. She didn't want to do too much before Scylla could see that she could do the work properly. Nothing worse than losing a friend so soon after gaining one, and messing up her business at the same time.

After their shift, and Scylla going off to the bookstore Andiira went over to the forge and paid a few coins to be allowed to use it. She took out the soulgem she had gotten before and withdrew her hammer from the purse and placed the head in the flames. She slowlyt made it warmer before applying her magics to it. She worked and focused the metal and heat and melted the back part of the head and started to create a flat surface there. Soon a pattern emerged on the flat surface of the hammer. She did not know if anyone else knew about the pattern, but that did not matter. As she was getting done she slightly pulled on her top and looked down before putting on the final touches on the hammer. The pattern that emerged on the hammer was identical to the one she had on her chest.

She tried a few swings of the hammer's front against some pig iron that was laying around. Slowly she could see impurities slowly vanishing at a quicker pace than normal without diminishing the amount of ore as rapidly. Andiira was quite pleased at what she had done. Not only had she managed to enchant something that was not fire, but she had also managed to get a new friend. "Today might be a good day after all," she said and inspected the hammer.