Cooldown Time [Helanna]

Retuo had to admit this time around that the amount of exertion and travelling in such a short period of time was not sitting well with him. While he was glad that he was out of the freezing temperatures of the Highrise for the time being, the switch to heat instead wasn't helping a whole lot right now. On top of his weapon now also being a source of mild trouble for him, it was only amounting to giving him a mild headache. Normally, he didn't even bother, but this time around he had actually taken to pulling his overcoat off and tying it around his waist as he walked around in only the shirt he had underneath. The last thing he needed right now was to overheat himself on accident instead.

Frustrations and all that aside, the tall amber eyed man had found himself eyeing a camp of people from a moderate distance, wondering what that was all about. He was pretty sure he hadn't seen that in this particular area when he had been here the last time, but he also didn't think his headache was so bad it was making him hallucinate. It better not be, because he really did not have time for that right now. "Hm." He would cross his arms over his chest loosely as he watched the strange sight, not quite sure whether it was a good idea to approach. Well, he wasn't so far as to go unnoticed forever, so there was a high chance that those people would make the choice for him sooner or later....

Helanna was tailoring some clothing for a new member to the camp, a young girl that they had found wandering the desert, with barely anything to help her survive, having been near the edge of dehydration, but they had gotten her back to proper health and now Helanna was measuring her for her new clothing, and after finishing up with a new shirt and pants for her she also gave her a new set of underclothing "You kan go change over zerrre forrr some prrrivacy" she said in English as the girl didn't know Russian or German, and the girl nodded and headed off to go change.

As she started to put her things away one of the children ran over to her ""Miss, miss, o...one.. oo...of the lo...lookouts see'd a peon looking at the tent, they have been watching for a whale...".

Helanna nodded as she finished putting her sewing supplies away she looked to the child as she stood up "thank you little one, and your Russian is getting much better, keep practicing okay?" she added with a kind smile as she pats them gently on the shoulder and grabs her minigun, Slinging it over her shoulder, just in case the person was with a group that decided to rob instead of share.

Walking to the edge of the camp she seen the man, then she waved to him and started walking towards him and called out "ты умеешь говорить на русском?" after no reply she continued to walk further and called out again "Kannst du Deutsch sprrrechen?" she called in german with her Russian accent and when no reply came she walked out still a bit further and finally tried English "Kan you speak Enlgish?" she asked still a bit of a distance away, she was well aware of the spin up time of her weapon, and she had paced them far enough apart that if it came to defending herself she had more then enough time to spin up the weapon and open fire. Though she sorely hoped she wouldn't have to, thankfully she hadn't had to chase many away that tried to steal with violence, rather then share with people to survive.[/color]

Ask and you shall receive..

...or well, Retuo hadn't exactly asked, but he knew that staying where he was would eventually garner him some attention if those people had any sort of self-preservation within them. That was how it always was, especially out here. Amber eyes would squint at the woman that decided to approach him, his mind drawing a blank at first given he did not understand what she was saying. That was a bit unusual out here, as the majority of people found scattered about were not foreigners given there was hardly a reason for someone from afar to come to a place like this. Ah. He could understand English at the very least though, even if his usage of it was kind of rusty as he hardly ever truly needed to speak it. "...I can do English. Ah...hello, I suppose?" He'd shift his stance a little, moving his arms to fold them behind his back instead, in a way as a show that he had no intention to jump into a fight. He wasn't entirely sure what to do or say here, and while he was not very familiar with guns, he could nonetheless tell that the machine the woman was carrying was something meant for combat. While he found it commendable that the people were taking safety seriously, he by no means wished to find himself on the receiving end of an attack.

As the person called out they could speak English Helanna nodded, it was good, but she knew it was only a matter of time till she met someone that didn't know English and even more likely they didn't know German or Russian ether, Thankfully she had a camp of people to learn French from at the very least, though the man moved his hands behind his back, something that made Helanna eye him carefully, why would he hide his hands? was he trying to draw a weapon? As she thought this she brought the weapon up to a more ready position but called out.

"If you arrre not thrrreat to kamp... zen please keep yourrr hands in sight, I sorrry to be so guarrrded but you verrre seen while ago... simply vatching kamp forrr long time.. arrre you herrre alone? orrr arrre you skout forrr some grrroup?" she called out her tone was curious but not confrontational, she had a camp to protect after all, and this man had appeared and was watching them for some time, it did raise quite a lot of questions.

Honestly, it didn't even cross his mind that he could be pulling out a weapon out of nowhere from behind himself. It wasn't like he had any pockets on the back of his clothes, and it would be near impossible to hide anything bigger anyway. Plus, had he wanted to point his spear at her, he really didn't need to move his hands at all and to attack one did need to aim in front of themselves as well. Of course, he did fail to account for the fact that a random stranger probably wouldn't think with the same logic as him, so there was that. He really wasn't trying to think too hard right now, lest he make his headache worse.

The fact that he had to process English spoken with quite a heavy accent was already not helping in that regard. Regardless, he had no reason not to comply, so he would raise his arms up around face level instead with his palms facing towards the woman. "...my apologies. I didn't...ah, think this through." Well, might as well be honest about that. "I was simply passing by. I've not seen a camp this big here before so...I was mostly wondering what this was. I am alone though, yes." He had opted to be cautious given that striding in without a care would possibly only make him more of a target than staying outside as he had.

Helanna watched as the man raised his arms to show he wasn't planning anything, and then as he apologized she lowered her weapon as well. She listened to him as he explained and she nodded it made sense, "Vell, I apologize forrr kaution, konsider yourrrself velkome into kamp zen, My name is Helanna Steiner" she said as she introduced herself and hefted the minigun onto her shoulder in a more casual hold as she walked up to him, towering over the shorter male she bowed her head a moment in greeting, the cautious look on her face replaced with a welcoming motherly smile.

The tall woman looked him over for a moment, taking in the state of his clothing, and noted not for the first time when it came to wanderers around here, that he had no Backpack "Kome ve have food and vater, places to rrrest, Medicine if you need it, and even enough rrresourrrces forrr you to take bath if you vish... and I kan see into getting you some extrrra clothing and backpack... maybe tent if you need one" she said in that motherly tone as she smiled kindly at him the suspicion gone as he didn't seem up to anything... and if he was well he would find the place perhaps more protected then he thought, while fighting wasn't something she wanted to happen, she would have been a fool to not teach people how to defend themselves and their friends and family it if came to it.

With a nod she turned and gestured for him to follow her to the camp "rrreason you might not have seen us beforrre is bekause ve keep moving, to avoid Demons, and to stop zem frrrom finding us if zey trrry to look forrr us, zough... vith luck and new turrrn of events... hopefully zat vill be vorrry of past" she said happily

In all fairness, as unpleasant as it would have been to get attacked, Retuo was well aware that he had no right to tell people to not be cautious when there were hostile demons roaming the land at random. That'd be a rather selfish request to make of anyone. He'd nod towards the unusually tall woman with a hum, lowering his hands into a more comfortable position, but would stay mindful of keeping them in sight this time around. "No need. I understand the...importance of being cautious. My name is Retuo Sylvain, it is...ah a pleasure to meet you." His speaking was a little slower than what was normal for him, but it was taking him some time to get used to speaking a language he normally did not.

Tilting his head slightly as his long ponytail swayed a bit, he'd furrow his brows at the sudden offers being thrown his way. Well, that was a 180 degree turn of events if he's ever seen one. "I..prefer to not carry a lot around with me. I appreciate the offer though." Honestly, he probably could have found something to use as a backpack had he been determined to own one, but while he took care to keep himself presentable in general, he was quite the minimalist type in most other areas. He didn't see the need for a lot of extra clothing either. One set besides the main to have something to put on while the other was getting cleaned was more than enough in his eyes, and even that needn't be entirely necessary if he person didn't mind being naked for a short amount of time. There really was no point in carrying a whole fashion closet around on his person in conditions like these.

In any case, he would go ahead and follow her for now, not seeing a reason to back out unless the people here proved to be hostile towards him for whatever reason. "Hm...I see. If I may be curious however..." He'd trail off for a couple moments, thinking on how to word himself. "What are you referring to when you speak about a new turn of events...?" Was that in some way related to the sudden chaos that happened very recently?

She nodded as she lead him into the camp and when the people seen him walking with her they relaxed and welcomed him, some speaking Russian to Helanna as they walked into the Camp and she replied in kind and some kids ran off and she smiled as she lead him, the tents were well made, but they were designed to be taken down at a moments notice and packed and moved, in fact it would be noticeable that everyone seemed ready to pack up and leave at a moments notice, but they didn't seem stressed about it, and the air there was actually happy and relaxed if alert.

"Zey verrre asking if you vould stay forrr meal and bath, I told zem I vasn't surrre zough I hope you vill stay at least forrr meal, zough I vould suggest bath to be fairrr, in deserrrt bath kan be vay to rrrehydrrrate and rrrelax bit" she said as she walked to her Lean-to and placed her Minigun back there and turned to Retuo "meal vill be done late, but you arrre frrree to rrrelax herrre if you vish, as forrr not karrrying lot, kan I suggest at least small messenger bag? Small and light, it von't get in vay, and I kould at least place kouple of varrrm gloves and hat in zerrre vith zick sveater if you intend to go somewherrre kold, and vater kanteen if you plan to stay in zis deserrrt" she asked like a doting mother as she took a seat in her lean-to and started to work on the clothing for the new girl once more, as she would need shoes and some warm weather things if they headed to the highrise area after this.

Looking to him as she worked on the sewing, her hands moving clearly she was skilled at the work, and as she sat there one thing that would be noticable was her lean-to was far less comfortable and far smaller then the other tents and the shelters the others had "Ah I talking about my new parrrtner Asclepius, parrrtner I gained not to long ago... it Grrranted me pover to kill demons, and I have met few otherrrs zat have same ability, if I kan find morrre, I surrre ve kan make morrre stable kommunity, morrre safe kommunity" she said with a smile.

For Retuo, it was actually the other way around and having to pass by all these people milling about that he didn't even understand made him get more stiff and tense instead. For all his willingness to work with people and be polite and open-minded, he just wasn't fully comfortable with crowds or bigger groups. It was the same as when he sort of kept his personal bubble and distance while staying with the group at Highrise as well. He'd be available the moment anyone needed something, but would otherwise stay a little distant. If anything, he tended to be far more relaxed with one-on-one interactions at the very least. "I'll...think about it. I would like to ask for people to not crowd me though." He didn't mean to be so rude as to decline everything, but if he had to go along with staying for a while, he really hoped he wouldn't be forced into some group meal or such. He wasn't sure why, but this camp gave him that vibe and it simply wasn't his style.

He was doing his best to respond politely of course, but there were some things he wasn't willing to budge on completely. "No sweaters please. If you must, I'd be willing to take a scarf." To be entirely honest however, he couldn't guarantee he'd use any of it, or that he'd end up keeping the items on him for very long. It truly wasn't his intention to waste gifts and all, but it was also on the person who gave them. He did make it clear enough that he was not the type to like carrying much around with him, so if they forced bags on him anyway, they ought to be okay with the fact that he might not stick to it.

Speaking of being okay with things, she sure appeared to be a little too okay with sharing information that could mean trouble in the hands of the wrong person. The man would raise a brow as he leaned against the nearest sturdy object in his vicinity instead of finding a place to sit down. "That is..." He'd mull over his words for a couple beats. "Not long ago...were you involved with the chaos at Highrise then?" There was still the mystery of that woman they all saw in that vision after all.

Hearing the man ask to not be crowded she smiled and nodded "Please don't crrroved ourrr guest, it seems he Bit like Cherrry, not komforrrtable vith crrrowds, I believe he may be bit morrre komforrrtable if you all spoke English orrr Frrrench... I vill stick to English zough" she said to the group that were greeting them, who all started to disperse after she told them about their guest not liking crowds, clearly they had experience with people like that as they seemed to not mind.

with a smile she started working but then when he mentioned the scarf she nodded "If you do not vish to karrry zese long zen kan you at least see to it zat someone you meet outside kamp benefits frrrom zem? Zerrre arrre so many zat need even little help, it vould be grrreat help to someone like zat to get at least zis much" she said as she worked, hearing the reluctance in her voice, once again he wasn't the first Cherry was much the same, but she was also younger so getting her to keep it was easier, this man seemed more set on being minimalist even with the world in the situation it was in, so she simply asked he passed on what he didn't need, the camp had plenty of supplies, and it was her task to try to help as many as possible.

At his next question she looked up at him "Oh? Da I helped someone being attacked by Demons in zat arrrea, ve managed to deal vith demons zat attacked zem, it vas good moment it let me know zerrre vas farrr morrre zen just faint hope of rrretaking vorrrld, orrr at verrry least parrris" she said clearly quite happy about the situation "Gods grrranted me and otherrrs poverrrs to fight back against Demons, hopefully zerrre arrre morrre, if so zen ve kan begin pushing zem back and perrrhaps people vill be able to have morrre gain zis blessing" she said as she worked

Retuo would frown slightly, but choose to not say anything in regards to that. Frankly, even if the people spoke a language he understood, he was just not a huge fan of being caught in between a lot of people. Naturally, he could deal with it when he had to, but it was hardly a fun past time for him. That aside, he would hum faintly under his breath at the woman's request, offering her a respectful nod. "I can do my best. Although, I cannot give a guarantee because people are often rather cautious." He had nothing against the idea, but it wasn't always a simple task to gift things, and that was not even considering the fact that in the case of clothing items, they could be completely unfitting for someone with a very different stature.

Discussions of goodwill aside, the topic of what had happened and demons for sure caught his attention more, for one reason or another. "Did it happen to be a purple-haired woman by any chance?" It was worth asking, because if the answer was yes then at least that was a confirmation that other people did see that vision flash and that someone did in fact seek the woman out. If it was a no, then that would imply more people were in distress at that time, which would be a lead of a different kind for sure. He would shake his head at Helanna's claim about it being a power granted by Gods however. "If you don't mind me asking...what proof do you have of those powers being granted by the Gods?" He was rather curious, for he was quite certain his had absolutely no relation to any godly power. Unless one wanted to consider demonic powers to be one and the same with 'godly blessings', but that was clearly not the case considering most wanted to use the powers they've gained to kill the demons...

She smiled as she started to work on the clothing to make them a bit more general, that way anyone could wear them and at least be comfortable with them, they could change someone's life for the better, provide them with some warmth "That's all I ask, that way someone's life can at least be improved even a little, so thank you" she said with a kind smile, as she continued to work even as he asked his section question and she looked up at him, the fact that he knew the girls hair color was normally a reason to be suspicious, or at least cautious, Abzu had been getting pursued after all, however she had gotten the message in her mind, an image, and she looked at him am moment.

"It vas... as forrr prrroof... simply by who my parrrtner is.." she said with a smile as she worked to finish the clothing "Tell me.. arrre you one of people able to fight demons?" she asked as she continued her work on the clothing and the Scarf the man had accepted.

"Mm...perhaps. Most people out here are quite adept at making it through with or without help though." After all, those who could not handle it would most likely perish sooner or later, and a bunch of clothes alone would not save their life. There was far more to making it successfully than having a few handy items on your person. That was in part why Retuo didn't see it as important for him to carry around a lot of things. When you knew what to do and how, it became less of an absolute must, and more of a brief luxury. On top of that, bags and items were not weightless...and carrying them around required extra energy, even if only by a little bit. He liked having an ease of movement. Even though now he could in theory face a demon head on instead of seeking to escape as fast as possible, it was still not the smartest option to do solo unless the creature happened to be a weaker one. In the case one did need to make a break for it, there often wasn't enough time to pack up a bunch of stuff and drag it along either. Maybe for a full on group like this it was viable to pack and unpack tents and whatnot repeatedly because they had many hands on deck to cooperate on the job, but for a loner who travelled mostly on their own? It was more effort than worth in his opinion. It would weigh him down, and even if just for that reason, he was willing to settle with less. That was ultimately the true reason behind his more minimalistic approach. Besides, as Armando had helpfully pointed out earlier, he technically had the ability to build himself a makeshift tent from earth now if he truly wished to.

"Hmm...." He would raise one hand to twirl his longer sidebangs between his fingers contemplatively. "I see. I presume that means she is safe then?" It sounded that way, but might as well make sure. "Yes. You could put it that way." There was no reason for him to lie right now after all. "Although...while I do not know what you mean by your partner being the proof itself, I will say that you'd be wrong to claim that everyone's powers come from a godly source. Mine sure do not." He wasn't even going to try to make himself believe they did. Not that it would mean much to him even then. His stance towards divine matters was very neutral. To each their own, but he personally preferred to put his confidence mostly in himself, rather than look to holy beings for guidance.

She finished her work rather quickly with modifying the clothing to be more general size and she started to fold them, this man seemed rather adamant that no one would need these, perhaps he was right, but from what she had seen the most, most people were not so headstrong as to refuse aid in the current situation, though this meant that ether this man felt no connection to people anymore, or he was likely someone that suffered from a betrayal of some kind, as he spoke she nodded and smiled at him "Trrrue as zat may be, zat doesn't mean zey vill not apprrreciate help, orrr zat vater kanteen and vater purrrifikation tablets von't be helpful, orrr some extrrra clothing especially if zey arrre forrrced to go into highrrrise arrrea, some might not even have bag as finding one orrr making one is rrrather diffikult frrrom what I have seen of people I have met, if zey rrrefuse Items orrr zey do not vish to have zem, zen I vould hope you vould find people zat do need it rrrather zen just leaving it behind somewherrre wherrre it dose niet one any good, trrrust I place in you" she said kindly.

finishing with folding the clothing she prepared she put it into a small light messenger bag, with a set of multi lingual instructions and a picture guide for the water tablets, and the canteen. then she worked on the scarf once more as she spent time with the man that had been watching the camp , though he still seemed worried... no.. perhaps more curious, about the fate of Abzu, Though hearing he was one that had the ability to fight the demons she smiled all the more as she continued to work on the Scarf, though as he mentioned that his powers do not come from a godly source she looked up at him and smiled still "My Parrrtner is God of healing and medicine, as forrr sourrrce of yourrr poverrrs, while it may differ, what matterrrs is yourrr use of pover, people need help of zose like us who kan fight back against Demons, people vith poverrrs like ourrrs kan prrrotect zem, maybe even challenge strrronger ones and frrree lands arrround Parrris forrr people, Maybe Gods did not give you yourrr poverrrs, perrrhaps zey seen you verrre strrrong enough vith out zeirrr aid and so helped otherrrs who needed zeirrr help, I do not know, as I don't know yourrr historrry, but you have pover now, to help otherrrs, to be prrrotectorrr, guarrrdian, I believe you vill do grrreat zings to aid people, as you seem vorrried forrr zem alrrready... even karrre forrr zem in yourrr own vay. Zat is why I trrrust you vill see zat zings I send vith you vill go to people zat need it.. if you know of any otherrrs zat may need supplies like medicine, vater, food, orrr clothing, please let me know. I kan get zings together forrr such task, I even have rrresourrrces to move larrrge amounts of zings if needed." She said with that same kind smile as she worked on the Scarf, even adding little pockets to it for his hands if it got to cold and he needed something to help keep his hands warm.

"As forrr girrrl she kurrrently rrresting, she had quite orrrdeal after all" she added as she checked the scarf length and then continued to work on it to make it a bit longer "vill you perrrhaps also need hat forrr kold veather?" she asked as she worked

No, not at all actually. Retuo was quite willing to connect with people when the situation was favorable, however he was a very realistic person whom did not have a lot of time for idealistic spiels on how everyone was meant to be good and all that. He had been quite tolerant and accepting of that perspective with Cherry on the account of her being moreso on the naive side and being still young and learning about the world, but this woman was clearly around his age or even older. To talk like she knew the solutions and what one's duty was...he did not like the attitude.

He'd narrow his eyes with a faint frown. "You talk a lot on how people out here have it bad and need all the help they can get, but given you seem to have a steady supply of all this stuff to give out despite being out here yourself...tell me, what do you personally know about living without any comfort and resources on hand?" He'd shake his head. "I am not saying that people will not appreciate help at times, but I also believe that until you've had a proper experience of being in dire straits yourself, you can't quite understand just how resourceful people can be even without these extra tools. There is a reason why some of us are willing to easily refuse, but perhaps you just cannot grasp why." She certainly didn't seem to truly understand the perspective.

He really was trying to not get too irritated on account of it being rude to respond that way to someone who was offering 'help', but the combination of his headache and this presumptuous talk was unfortunately testing his limits a bit. "I think I am very much capable of choosing my path in life, thank you very much. I would implore you to think twice before you speak on someone's duty, for as you've said, you know nothing about my history. I care not about what Gods do if they exist. To each their own. If you believe in them, so be it. However, were I to follow your line of thinking...you're essentially telling me that these...Gods cherrypick who needs help and who doesn't?" If they didn't think those who had to go through painful experiments involving demons were worth helping at the time it happened, then who exactly was? He did not like to speak on what he had gone through and all, but it by all means irked him when he heard people talk this way on such topics. "Not only that, I am also expected to just settle and be a guardian after not receiving any help whatsoever...by whose orders exactly? I'm not fond of this 'holier than thou' attitude, and I'll be honest about that. If I choose to be kind, I'll do it because I wish to adhere to my own morals and values...not because it's somehow the wish of Gods or how things 'should' be in the eyes of people like you." There was a sort of intensity in his gaze as he crossed his arms over his chest, but in spite of his display of willful resistance, he wasn't actually acting aggressive and his tone was quite levelled and calm.

"No is also a no. I do not wish to have to repeat myself." He did already say he did not want a lot of stuff, and being repeatedly asked was not going to change his mind. "That said, I am glad that the woman is safe." Ultimately, he did not wish harm on people, and would do his best to assist in his own way...but he genuinely disliked it when people spoke like they knew better and were some ultimate providers or such.