Dark Winter (m/m open)

"Sure." He said in a low voice, shutting off the self-doubting part of his mind as he reached up with his right hand. Touching his index finger to the front of his armor and clothing, he traced a small symbol that glowed for a moment, making all but his underclothing disappear. Even this small amount of rather simple magic was tiring, causing his face to take on a slightly grey appearance, the red color of his skin disappearing, leaving him looking rather white. From collarbone down to his waist, and all the way down his arms and back as well, there wasn't an inch of skin that wasn't covered in scars of varying degrees. This gave his skin a very odd patchwork appearance. He looked down at his abdomen, wincing slightly when he saw the pale edge to the large wound there. "Not good...."

Ashani took note of the surprise that surrounded him but she did not question it, when Shartan explained that all of the healers and doctors from his home were women she nodded her head a little. Getting to her feet she moved about grabbed herbs, pastes, water and bandages before she knelt back in front of him "I have seen people shredded by ravenous wolves and tended to men who have been burnt alive and worse. The damage your body holds cannot hold a candle to what I have seen and healed" Ashani said honestly as she laid everything out neatly in order of what she would need first to tend to his wounds knowing if worst came to worse she would just heal him with her magic.

Shartan watched this woman with quiet surprise. He could see spirits, and that did not bother her? A person she knew nothing about could see spirits like her, and she didn't question it? He felt her power push in through the symbol she traced on his hand, and he felt his own power assimilate it, accepting its protection. This woman was special, if his power didn't immediately reject hers. Hearing her tease, he blinked, looking at her with clear surprised on his face. "N-no. Of course not. All of our healers and doctors at home were women. It's no problem... You might be disturbed if you see the sustained damage I have endured over the years, though...."

Ashani put the spoon into the now empty bowl, reaching out she gently grabbed Shartan's left hand and quickly drew a strange symbol with her right index finger on his skin pushing her own power through it to place a protective barrier around him to stop the spirits from getting too close "You do not want these spirits touching you now while injured" she said with a shake of her head, she almost sounded disgusted at the thought of them touching him. "Lets get you healed and cleaned up so you can rest" Ashani said as she picked up the empty bowl and moved it "I do hope you are not worried about a woman seeing you pretty much naked" she teased with a sweet smile knowing that she would need to see him almost completely undressed so she could take stock of his wounds and help him feel better.

Shartan found her offer of help genuine, and it was a weird thing to see, especially after the last world he had been in. "Thank you... for helping me. I am not used to people trusting or even helping me as soon as they meet me." Shartan could feel the Spirits arrive, surely drawn to his hidden power. Taking another spoonful of soup from her, he let out a tired sigh, tapping his left shoulder with a faint smile. "Well, go on. You can rest here, small one. I don't mind if you touch me."

Taking note of his eyes flashing Ashani did not utter a word but she did make a mental note to look into her books and ask the spirits if they knew anything like him that could change their eye colour, as soon as she thought about the spirits she could feel the tell tale tugging at the back of her mind telling her they were there curious about the man before her. When Shartan told her where his wounds were she nodded slowly as she quickly ran over what she had in her house that she could use to heal him, "I'll heal what I can for you" she said softly before she smiled softly when he introduced himself so formally to her. "It is my pleasure Shartan, after all I am a Shaman after all" Ashani said with a smile. Catching a glimpse of one of the spirits move closer to Shartan out of curiosity Ashani looked at them showing them she knew what they were going to do "Don't touch" she said in almost a whisper as she got some more stew on the spoon for Shartan.

Ashani. He echoed her name in his mind, his golden hues unknowingly flashing a shade brighter as he turned his attention back to the stew. He knew what she was offering would be far from what he needed to get back to full strength, but it would give him enough energy to heal his more minor wounds. After giving himself a moment to savor the second bite, he lifted his right hand and laid it over the abdomen of his armor. "I have three across here, and a large one across my back." He paused for a moment, before looking directly at her. "My name is Shartan, and I thank you for your assistance." His formal speech pegged him as someone from far away, at least.

Ashani watched him closely taking in how carefully he moved, she could tell there was a large wound somewhere on his body but she couldn't quite tell where. "My name is Ashani" she said softly when he called her ma'am, it was not something she had been called before, sure she was used to being praised by the villagers for what she could do but she had never been called anything but her name. Taking her time Ashani moved with a certain grace that showed all of her movements were all carefully thought through as she got some more stew onto the spoon for him "Where do you hurt the most?" Ashani asked as she tipped her head to the side, she wanted to know where she needed to heal first once she had him fed and comfortable.

Shartan watched her as she looked at her drew, and he could see her good nature surrender itself over control of her food. He could feel his stomach give a hard clench as she moved over to him, soon offering up a spoonful of the stew. Her voice held a certain cadence that sounded awfully familiar, and he found himself suddenly aware of a form of magic that wavered in a tight aura around her. "Thank you, ma'am." He muttered, careful not to jostle his major wound across his abdomen, he took the offered spoon of stew.

Ashani looked at the stew in her pot, she only ever made enough for her to have two bowls. Looking back at the man she sighed a little before she walked over to him her floor length dress wishing as she moved, settling herself onto the floor in front of him she tucked one of her legs under herself and raised the other so she could balance the bowl on her knee. Scooping some of the soup onto her spoon she held it out towards the man her free hand under it to catch any drips, "I don't know where you are from but I do know you are not from here" Ashani said softly as she studied his face closely with her emerald green eyes; "But for now that does not matter. What matters is getting you better" she said as she continued to hold the spoon out for him waiting for him to eat the stew. This was nothing new for her, nursing people back to health was something she tended to in the village when they weren't bothering her to speak with the spirits.

Shartan was not entirely sure of what world he had landed in now, nor how he had come to be there, honestly. Walking through the forest, he ignored the frost that drifted away in front of his face, from how hot his breathing was. Unless one had dragons in their world, they would just think that Shartan was a man with unusually high body heat. In his world, dragons of intense, strong bloodlines had the ability not only to travel through portals to different worlds, but they were also able to shift into the form of a human.

Pausing in a clearing, he looked down at his tattered clothing and scuffed obsidian black armor, wracking his mind in an attempt to remember how he got there. This was a bad idea, as his body finally took stock of his wounds. Shaking his head as his vision hazed, he took a step forward, and fell into darkness.

- - - - -

Shartan smelled the scent of a stew, foreign but somehow oddly familiar at the same time. This roused him out of his sleep and he hissed, a low growl of irritation rumbling deep in his chest. His golden eyes flicked towards the woman who spoke to him, those same golden eye drifting to the pot, spotting the steam raising from the surface of the stew inside. He wanted to raise from his now seated position, but the wounds underneath his armor prevented him from doing so.

Ashani was used to being alone, sure, people would come to her home now and again for healing and what magic she could gift them but otherwise she was alone in the wilderness. The peacefulness of the world around enveloping her keeping her away from the settlements down the hills and valleys. She had been raised an isolation and in isolation Ashani believed she would stay. She was a Shaman for a local village but she only went down there once a month to get some supplies she needed and to tend to things there. It on one of these days that Ashani was coming back from the village, the snow had started to fall during her visit and she knew she had to get back home. As she walked through the trees her cloak pulled over her with her hood down over her head, Ashani shifted the weight of the sack she was carrying a few of the items inside clinking together as she did. Trudging through the undergrowth she stopped in her tracks with a frown seeing a shape laying in an opening several meters from her home, approaching it she took note that it was a man, one wearing clothes she didn't recognize, he seemed to be wearing armor of some kind but she was never one to deny someone assistance.

Sighing to herself Ashani trudged on to her home and dropped her sack off she headed back to where the man was, looking at him for a moment she crouched down to grasp him. Using all of her strength she managed to roll the man onto his back, moving to his head she managed to get her arms under his arms and hoist him up enough for him to rest against her body as she dragged him backwards to her home. Reaching her house she was out of breath and struggling to get the man through the door but as soon as she did Ashani tumbled over and landed under the man his head resting on her stomach as she panted, staying there for a moment before she got out from under him Ashani pulled the door closed and set about starting a fire to heat the small house up. Pulling off her cloak she draped over the man before she put a pot over the fire with water and started tossing ingredients into the pot to start a stew with some of the food she had gotten from the village.

As the sky darkened and the snow fell more Ashani scooped some of the beef stew she had made into a bowl, hearing movement behind ehr she looked at the man who seemed to be waking up where she had left him on the floor. "Go slow, I don't know how sore you are" Ashani said softly as she sat with her back to the fire as she scooped the stew out of the bowl with a hand carved spoon. She knew as soon as he could get a good look at her, her piercings and her tattoos he would know her as a Shaman for a village.