look into my eyes and I'll own you [open]

Brynja is a hard woman to find if you don't know where to look for her, but if you know where to look, she can be found easily. The forest is one of those places, since there are herbs that she and Redra can't grow that they need for their healing. Brynja enjoys the forest, the quiet and the solitude, the singing of the birds and the sighing of the wind through the leaves. But today, there is no leaves and no birds, because they've gone wherever birds go when the snow flies. Even so, she still loves the forest. She loves the stark way the branches seem to slice across the flat gray of the sky, the feel of the snow crunching beneath her boots. She isn't looking for herbs today, she's searching for a willow tree so she can take a scraping of its bark. Tea made from the bark of a willow is good for the types of illnesses that are common in the winter, like sore throats and stuffed noses.

She's wandering slowly through the forest, simply enjoying the peace and solitude. It's been a few days since the last dream the gods sent her, but even so, the memory of it has kept her awake at night. It was a terrible She always awakens before she gets ripped to shreds, but there's a lingering fear in her that someday she won't wake up in time. If she gets ripped to shreds in a dream, will Redra wake up in the morning to a bloody, mangled mess instead of a living sister? Those are thoughts she can't help but thing. But today is a day of quiet, a day of peace in the cold, empty woods, and the near-frigid air braces and calms her. This is a rare moment of tranquility for her, and she's going to cherish it until she's too cold to stay outside any longer.

Brynja had finally found a willow tree and taken the small knife from her belt, cutting off sections of the bark that she and Redra could dry and use to make tea. As she cut swatches from the tree, she murmured a small prayer of thanks to the gods for leading her here, and to the tree for its healing properties, for giving a piece of itself to ease the suffering of others. For all her flaws, for all that the gods afflict her with dreams, they've also gifted her with healing knowledge. She knows every gift comes with a cost, and if her cost is the nightmares, she's grateful that they're her burden to bear, and not Redra's. Her odd gifts have given her a deep, profound spirituality, and despite her unfriendly demeanor, she's very open to the world around her: to the voices of the gods and the spirits that whisper in her ears, telling her where to apply pressure to stem bleeding and what herbs will stave off infection. Brynja is not open to people besides Redra and Iliana, and those she's healing, but she is open to nature and to the gods.

When she heals, she gives so much of herself that often, she feels like there's nothing left for herself. She knows it's different, somehow, when Redra heals the sick. She doesn't understand how talents so similar can be so deeply different. Healing seems to fill Redra, and her dreams are full of light and joy and goodness. Healing drains Brynja, and her dreams are full of chaos and darkness and despair. But in moments like this, when she's harvesting plants that can help others, when the voices of the wind and forest are singing in her ears and playing with her long, dark curls, she feels something that must be peace. She hears the crunching of snow and breaking of branches, and hopes that whoever is walking nearby will simply leave her be. Most people do, and that suits her just fine. They only come to her when they need her, which simply fuels her cynical side. She knows it's her own fault that people avoid her in the streets, but she's afraid to change. Fear has shaped her from a young age, when the nightmares first came, and is her near-constant companion. It is something she endures, and grows stronger from.

When she hears the yell, she closes her dark brown eyes and sighs, gathering her scattered thoughts before turning around. She recognizes who it is, and her dark eyes automatically narrow in suspicion. She's never spoken to Magnus before, but his sister Lillianna is friends with Redra, and she's seen him around before. She doesn't exactly go out of her way to begin conversations with people, so she can't remember if she's ever spoken to him before. She's sure it won't go well, though, since she dislikes his sister so much. She simply can't help it, she'd had no strong feelings about her either way until Lillianna was a central figure in one of her nightmares. She waits until he gets closer to answer him, because she dislikes disturbing the quiet of the forest, even though Magnus seems to have no qualms about it. "Gathering willow bark. Redra uses it to make tea for sore throats, and since there's little training in the winter, I have nothing better to do."She deals with the wounded, and Redra with the sick. She knows she should ask him a question, and she settles on the easiest. "Why are you out here?"

Brynja has decided she's going to make the best of her unwanted company, and honestly so far it isn't so bad. Sure, he's stomping around like a horse on a rampage, making enough noise for an entire army, but she can forgive that. She knows not everyone is like her. Not everyone enjoys the stillness of a forest in the winter. Some people are afraid of silence, and maybe Magnus is one of these. She continues to carefully cut strips of bark from the tree, not taking too much from any one place, leaving enough so that the tree won't suffer too much from the giving of itself. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Magnus lean against the tree adjacent to her willow, and she notes absently that she can take something from that tree, too. The layer beneath the bark can be chewed to speed the breaking of a fever. She merely raises her eyebrows as he says he didn't know bark could do that, and it takes her a quick moment to come up with a response. "Most people don't. The gods told Redra."

She nods thoughtfully when he says sitting inside is boring, trying to rack her brain to remember what he does. She's never spoken to him before, but unfortunately, Lillianna is something of a regular fixture around the farm. She's certain Lillianna has talked about Magnus before, but as usual Brynja wasn't listening well. She thinks maybe he's a thegn, or a shipbuilder, something that requires being outside. He's never been to her and Redra for healing before, so if he is a thegn, he's probably never been in a serious fight, or he's a good enough fighter that he's defeated all his foes so far. She glances over at him quickly as they fall into an easy silence, noting the athletic way he carries himself. She's leaning toward thinking he's a thegn, although shipbuilders are fairly strong, too. Either way, she decides it doesn't matter because this isn't so bad. As long as she can still enjoy her peaceful moments, she doesn't mind his presence.

And then he speaks and the spell is broken to the point where she actually pauses in her task to shoot him a look of mild disbelief. "If you're going to stand here and annoy me, you're going to help me by getting bark from that tree." Her voice is quiet, touched with the barest hint of amusement. He's going to have work harder than that to get a laugh from her, or even a smile. She's a soft-spoken person, small and slender and delicate looking, but beneath that soft voice and tiny frame, she's all hurricane winds and swirling shadows. She reaches down to the belt around her slim waist and holds a small dagger toward him, the wooden handle facing him. She holds the blade clasped between her thumb and forefinger, eyebrows raised, waiting to see what he'll do. She's testing him, in a way, seeing just how much it takes to push him away.