Well then, we need to re-arrange the forum a bit to fill in every department. c:

I am not sure if we can satisfy people with what we have right now as a beta. A bunch of things had been scrapped to try over but then got laid down to work on later.

To be honest, I don't see any reason for them to make another remake right now. DS generation doesn't feel that far away. Either it's gonna be Gen 1 or some new game for a new console.

Neicha hadn't noticed the blush as she wasn't taking her eyes off the book. She thought about the offer for a while. She almost instantly said 'no' as she preferred not to be bothered while working. However, this place was not like her own homeland. She knew the risks at home weren't that high. And mostly she would bore her escorts anyway and they would just wander off to hunt for some meat. She wasn't familiar with this forest yet so she could use an extra pair of eyes to watch for any threats.
"Very well."
She stopped skimming through the book. Carefully examining the image that was drawn on the page. She read through the text that was written along with it. The description definitely fit the plant. She bookmarked the page.

Feelings of sorrow filled Neicha's mind when she looked at the taint. It was horrifying to see how much it affected life.
"Hm... It definitely does seem like something that shouldn't naturally occur. But I'd doubt most of this is done on purpose, nobody has use for land that kills you off the instant you touch it. At least, when I have to take it, humans don't just destroy things without a purpose. They mostly want to claim more land for their greed."
She took the tome from her satchel and looked through the index for the designated properties the plants had.
"Did you know some plants have the ability to communicate? I know it sounds kind of odd. But I noticed some plants started generating poison substances in their leaves the moment I harvest too much of a certain plant. It's like they can warn one another whenever one gets completely destroyed. But of course this kind of thing is quite exaggerated for a plant to try and destroy an entire ecosystem..."
She studied one of the bulbed plants comparing the plant with the drawn images in the tome.
"I will do what I can. First of all we need to find some way to stop this plague from spreading to keep the risks as low as possible. Then I try figure a way to bring this plague down, if possible..."

After everything was packed up and ready to go they started traveling. Neicha was walking a lot better thanks to the training Rayleigh gave her, it improved her posture.
"Well, I ventured a lot in the woods of my home, but I've never seen any plague-spots. Neither did the hunters spot anything out of the ordinary, otherwise they would've warned me right away."
Neicha couldn't help but being curious about the phenomenon. The way they explained the plague it was more some curse than a disease, diseases were very specific in what species of plants and animals it could affect. But at least there was one herb with immunity, so she had some leads on how to stop this curse.

Neicha's ears lowered once again. A plague? Suddenly this task seemed like more than she could handle. Reverting the transformation of the villagers in her own world appeared like such a smaller problem than what was going on over here. This definitely required a lot more research the fact that there is a plant that survives it does give her a little spark of hope. A pat on the shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Oh yes, a good idea. I am quite weary from travelling."
With that she was led to one of the tents, offered a place to sleep. Placing her satchel next to the pile of hay that was her bed quietly going to sleep.

When she opened her eyes she looked at the wooden ceiling of her hut. She quickly got up grabbing her stick and satchel, leaving quickly through the door heading towards the village. It was pretty late in the morning. She walked right to the person she needed.
"Rayleigh."
She called out. A wolf turning towards her.
"Ah, Neicha, what can I do for you?"
"I need your help with something, it involves Self-defense."
The wolf was silent for a while.
"Self-defense? You know you can always take an escort with you--"
"Sorry but that is impossible."
"Why? Is it a matter of pride? Do you not trust us? You can barely even walk."
"I am going to change that, I no longer want to rely on a stick. I need to be able to defend myself when things go wrong."
"Look, if you think things get a little too dangerous you could just ask--"
"That is not the point in this case Rayleigh. I might be on to something. But it's a really hard way to get there, it even might seem a bit silly..."
Neicha talked quieter at each sentence, not really sure about what to say. It was all a dream after all. It could have all been just some imagination.
"Huh. On to something. You mean that you're making progress? Where is this place you need to go."
"It's kind of hard to explain... And it might have the answers you seek. I'm just not sure."
Rayleigh remained silent for a while, pondering. Everyone had gathered around the two, curious of what was going on. Whispering hopeful words to each other.
"Well, since you're stubborn... I might as well learn you a thing or two, but why did you come to me for this?"
"Well, you used to be a swordsman..."
Neicha looked shyly at the ground.
"I'd thought you could learn me a thing or two..."
The wolf looked at the deer.
"I thought you disliked violence?"
"I do... But... I should at least learn how to fend on my own..."
The deer fidgeted the stick in her hands.
"Fine, come with me... I know a clearing where we could practice."

The rest of the day Neicha learned the basics of deflecting, using sticks as swords. She tumbled over a lot getting caught in time by the wolf before she hits the ground. Rayleigh gave directions on how the deer could improve her footing letting her practice standing without help of her walking stick. They took short breaks going back to the village to have some food. And repeated the training until sunset. Tired and sweaty Neicha took a dip in the pond near her hut. Her muscles aching. After she was done and wrapped herself in some fur she went inside to dry. Then she dropped herself back on the bed and fell quickly to sleep from the tiring day. Hoping that the dream she had was actually real so she could keep grasping on it for answers.