The Grangor

He paused and looked over his shoulder.

"Science," he simply said. "I can live that long because of science. I've always lived in highly advanced societies, and it's changed my physiology so I live longer. It's as simple as that."

"Really? That's cool," replied Seung, completely forgetting his skepticism and his headache. "I'd love to see that. I can only imagine the amazing medical tech you guys have. So many more people could be given a chance to live."

"Our medical technology is quite advanced," he agreed, thinking of some of the technology that Ra had recently taken to using. The sarcophagus stood out in particular. "But it often comes at a price. If you use certain types of it too much, you run the risk of losing your identity as a person."

". . . Oh," said Seung. "That's quite a heavy price to pay. Perhaps it's not worth it after all."

"My Leonor would definitely agree," said Tavis, glancing over at the other guy, a smile growing on his face at the thought of her. "She's a healer."

James looked over to Tavis. "When you say healer, what do you mean? Does she have healing magic? Or is she just a doctor? I'm... curious if that has the same meaning where you're from as it does here."

"Oh, she . . ." Tavis' voice lowered. "She does have magic, but it isn't healing magic. As far as I know, no one has powers of that kind. She just has a lot of medical knowledge, that's all."

"Ah," James nodded. "I see."

Maahes looked over at James and raised an eyebrow. "Your world has healing magic?"

"Well - yes. I... I don't know much about it, admittedly, other than that it exists in mages who would presumably be in hiding. I know that it's very touch based. As in, the magic flows via skin contact. So if someone with healing magic touched a wound and used their magic - however that works - it would heal it."

"Interesting," he said, turning his attention back to the ground in front of him. He absentmindedly wondered if that sort of magic would work on him. Considering the difference in biology between himself and the type of being James was, he severely doubted it.

After a long day of travel the group of misfits made camp beneath the stars, still nestled in the heart of the forest. There air was cool, but nothing compared to the snowstorm of yesterday.

As they all got ready to settle down, James stirred the fire with a stick, before passing fish from that day's catch around to everyone. As he sat down he enjoyed the silence that came with eating, and took his time biting the meat off the bones.

Tasha sat down next to James, her dog sprawled at their feet. She gazed silently at Maahes and her overall demeanor was rather prickly and guarded.

He shook his head and handed the fish back to James. "I'm not hungry," he said. He kept his gaze on the fire crackling before them. "I ate a large meal before I arrived here."

A lie that could only truly work for a handful of meals, but it was one that he would have to do his best to maintain. He was typically quite good at avoiding meals when doing intelligence gathering for Ra. But this situation was different - he was stuck in close quarters with all of these people, and he doubted he would be able to avoid meals as easily when they remained so close together.

Tasha gazed at Maahes testily, blue eye boring into him. She doesn't growl but her expression speaks volumes - she doesn't trust him, doesn't like him, and the more suspicious he is the more she wants him gone.