07-18-2018, 02:51 AM
[div style="font-family: constantia; font-size: 13px; text-align: justified; width: 70%; margin: auto;"]
A number of Ascendants had ventured in and out of the Cleric's Hide ever since Shining wound up there. He had passed out shortly after arriving to the main camp, giving the Cleric an opportunity in the morning to patch up the multiple wounds. The exhausted tom didn't wake up until mid-afternoon- normally he'd be up at the first break of dawn. Gone was any sort of set sleeping schedule. No telling whether Shine would ever adjust to anything remotely steady. For he himself was an unsteady creature. He had grown unpredictable, possessing the potential to have a swift change of mood or behavior without warning. A sharp contrast to his previous nature, where he showed nothing but kindness and love to all around him. Now... there was no telling what someone would receive.
Most of the time, Shine was inattentive. He lacked focused, gaze always jumping around. And when he did find something to be fixated on, odds were it was something insignificant. It took some effort to get him to listen properly. However, some keywords seemed to make him snap to attention, or raise his ears. This was evident as a few conversations took place in the Cleric's Hide. Anytime Shining heard the name of a herb or plant, he found himself tuning into the conversation. Usually they would then change subjects to something uninteresting, and thus he'd grow unresponsive once more.
But over time, there was a clear pattern. The names of four plants stuck out among all others: comfrey root, chamomile, juniper, and burdock root. These herbs had some sort of significance, Shine thought. An itch began to grow inside him. He had to find out their purpose, why they were so important to the Ascendants. The feline rose slowly, numb pain shooting through his body. But he had grown used to the feeling long ago. Not-so-subtly sneaking out of the Observatory, Shine began to trek through the territory in search of these herbs.
How did he know where to look? The land was still very unfamiliar to the tom. Luckily, Shine had experience on his side. Despite his confused and slow state, he knew herbs and medicine like second nature. Most of his life was spent training and practicing as a medic for other groups. It was hard to forget all of it. He'd spend some time exploring the land, and let instinct do its thing.
Comfrey root would be fairly easy. It grew with tall grass, near damp places. Summer unfortunately made things quite dry, but there was a place that contained quite a bit of water. A large pool of it, in fact, right in the middle of the territory. He had passed by it on the way to camp. Shining searched around the edge for a bit until he recognized the tangy smell, and pink and white flowers. He took a tiny bit into his claws and set off, continuing the search.
Juniper berries came next, and this time he'd need to search in a rather dry place. The Canopy would be his best bet- there was bound to be a bush or two mixed in with the tall grass, and the oak / birch trees. It took a bit of walking, but he eventually found some (only after realizing one bush was blueberries instead) and grabbed a few for the trip. He relied on using his wings to hold on to them; his satchel had been abandoned.
Shining decided to head east, and found himself upon a strange, abandoned village. The whole place was in ruins, but it was obviously part of the Ascendants' territory. Nature had taken over, which was perhaps a good thing. The tom walked through the ruins for a bit, scanning for anything of note, muttering as he did so. Eventually he found himself some chamomile among the cobble, and took a few flowers. Only one more herb to collect. He headed back north, deciding that a loop around the territory would be the best bet. Or maybe he was just mindlessly wandering at this point.
Either way, Shining eventually came across a river stemming off the lake of water from earlier. He followed it until it formed miniature falls and pools, flowing towards the nearby ocean. The sound and atmosphere felt relaxing, and Shining almost felt like settling down for a bit. But he was reminded of his untold task when his mix-matched eyes spotted burdock root poking out of the ground. Hard to miss the smell. Shining dug a bit out and carried it with him.
That was everything, wasn't it? He looked towards the sky, noting the sun beginning to set. Shining had spent the day collecting herbs, completely distracted. A smile managed to creep onto his face. It seemed to spark good memories. He remembered doing this so often, and yet it never felt like a chore, or a tiring job. Would he ever grow tired of it? He didn't think much more of it- he had to return the herbs to the... Shaman? Doctor? No, Cleric. Shining set off back towards the Observatory, the setting sun guiding his way.
// it's 3 am as i finish writing this. oh well!
[member=649]Warringkingdoms[/member]
A number of Ascendants had ventured in and out of the Cleric's Hide ever since Shining wound up there. He had passed out shortly after arriving to the main camp, giving the Cleric an opportunity in the morning to patch up the multiple wounds. The exhausted tom didn't wake up until mid-afternoon- normally he'd be up at the first break of dawn. Gone was any sort of set sleeping schedule. No telling whether Shine would ever adjust to anything remotely steady. For he himself was an unsteady creature. He had grown unpredictable, possessing the potential to have a swift change of mood or behavior without warning. A sharp contrast to his previous nature, where he showed nothing but kindness and love to all around him. Now... there was no telling what someone would receive.
Most of the time, Shine was inattentive. He lacked focused, gaze always jumping around. And when he did find something to be fixated on, odds were it was something insignificant. It took some effort to get him to listen properly. However, some keywords seemed to make him snap to attention, or raise his ears. This was evident as a few conversations took place in the Cleric's Hide. Anytime Shining heard the name of a herb or plant, he found himself tuning into the conversation. Usually they would then change subjects to something uninteresting, and thus he'd grow unresponsive once more.
But over time, there was a clear pattern. The names of four plants stuck out among all others: comfrey root, chamomile, juniper, and burdock root. These herbs had some sort of significance, Shine thought. An itch began to grow inside him. He had to find out their purpose, why they were so important to the Ascendants. The feline rose slowly, numb pain shooting through his body. But he had grown used to the feeling long ago. Not-so-subtly sneaking out of the Observatory, Shine began to trek through the territory in search of these herbs.
How did he know where to look? The land was still very unfamiliar to the tom. Luckily, Shine had experience on his side. Despite his confused and slow state, he knew herbs and medicine like second nature. Most of his life was spent training and practicing as a medic for other groups. It was hard to forget all of it. He'd spend some time exploring the land, and let instinct do its thing.
Comfrey root would be fairly easy. It grew with tall grass, near damp places. Summer unfortunately made things quite dry, but there was a place that contained quite a bit of water. A large pool of it, in fact, right in the middle of the territory. He had passed by it on the way to camp. Shining searched around the edge for a bit until he recognized the tangy smell, and pink and white flowers. He took a tiny bit into his claws and set off, continuing the search.
Juniper berries came next, and this time he'd need to search in a rather dry place. The Canopy would be his best bet- there was bound to be a bush or two mixed in with the tall grass, and the oak / birch trees. It took a bit of walking, but he eventually found some (only after realizing one bush was blueberries instead) and grabbed a few for the trip. He relied on using his wings to hold on to them; his satchel had been abandoned.
Shining decided to head east, and found himself upon a strange, abandoned village. The whole place was in ruins, but it was obviously part of the Ascendants' territory. Nature had taken over, which was perhaps a good thing. The tom walked through the ruins for a bit, scanning for anything of note, muttering as he did so. Eventually he found himself some chamomile among the cobble, and took a few flowers. Only one more herb to collect. He headed back north, deciding that a loop around the territory would be the best bet. Or maybe he was just mindlessly wandering at this point.
Either way, Shining eventually came across a river stemming off the lake of water from earlier. He followed it until it formed miniature falls and pools, flowing towards the nearby ocean. The sound and atmosphere felt relaxing, and Shining almost felt like settling down for a bit. But he was reminded of his untold task when his mix-matched eyes spotted burdock root poking out of the ground. Hard to miss the smell. Shining dug a bit out and carried it with him.
That was everything, wasn't it? He looked towards the sky, noting the sun beginning to set. Shining had spent the day collecting herbs, completely distracted. A smile managed to creep onto his face. It seemed to spark good memories. He remembered doing this so often, and yet it never felt like a chore, or a tiring job. Would he ever grow tired of it? He didn't think much more of it- he had to return the herbs to the... Shaman? Doctor? No, Cleric. Shining set off back towards the Observatory, the setting sun guiding his way.
// it's 3 am as i finish writing this. oh well!
[member=649]Warringkingdoms[/member]
[div style="font-family: constantia; font-size: 17px; text-align: center; width: 100%; margin: auto;"][shadow=black,left]MY HEART'S AN ARTIFICE, A DECOY SOUL
WHO KNEW THE EMPTINESS COULD BE SO COLD?!
Shininglight — Wanderer — tags[/shadow]
WHO KNEW THE EMPTINESS COULD BE SO COLD?!
Shininglight — Wanderer — tags[/shadow]