Weak Nature - Chapter 10

Time passed, and soon a month had passed since Fae had the… so called ‘incident’. Spending time practicing what Aero had told her and keeping up with the daily needs, soon time came for the adventure into the forest.

One crazy thing that Fae had learned listening to the stories of other hunters and gatherers of the Hostia was that it seems that land animals were kinda low on the food chain there. Instead of having any huge, massive ground threat like a electric tiger, birds were a bit more of the problem. Mainly because they can fly, and it was a pain to deal with them. They are also the size of horses with their wings pulled in. Fae was a little discontent with that image.

Aero however, took those worries when Fae brought them up and said, “Well, they are kinda annoying, but get them on the ground and they are not that dangerous, nothing like a unicorn now. Bloodthirsty beasts they are. Damn horn almost made me loose my intestines.”

Afterwards, he told Fae to start to get ready as they will leave in two days, spending tomorrow getting gear and letting Aero look at Fae’s progress.

Not letting the strange opinions of others bother her, Fae went back to her area. To prepare some of her own goods for the travel, she began a slightly more unusual routine for the afternoon than usual. Instead of training and passively watching and taking care of the flora around her, Fae today spent that time actively using her power. Going up to each individual plant Fae tried to direct all her attention and power on it, allowing it to grow faster and to get better understanding of each and every species she has.

Once all of them were grown, not only does Fae now have a bit better understanding of the plants around her, she now has some inklings of better ways to process them. As they say, ‘Knowing others is wisdom’. Taking time on it, Fae properly cut all of the grown flowers. For the Vis flowers the leaves, where the essence lies, is taken gently and dried, to be used for the journey.

Essentia Flowers were done in a different way. taking off the stem and leaves, they were dried and then ground into powder, before being put in jars with water. Not quite knowing what Fae was doing, she played around with it for a while before coming to a stop of three flowers per jar. Since each jar was about a foot tall and more tube like in shape, not a whole lot was needed per jar. What did happen is it seems that the effects are slightly better this way.

Finally for the mushrooms, Fae did a similar process to the Essentia flowers but instead of cutting off the stem, the whole mushroom was dried then ground into powder before being stored into a pouch.

With her preparations complete, Fae went off to bed for the next day of shopping.

Meeting with Aero in the large bazaar near the Manus homes the next day, Aero started off with Fae, listing the things that they will need to get. “For starters, a good pack is essential. If you are planning on bringing anything to and fro, the pack is needed. The second thing we should look at getting you is very good boots. Great for hiking and are needed to protect your feet. Thin sandals like yours won’t get far. So boots. After that, knowing that you have Vis and Essentia flowers, as well as the mushroom powder, the last thing we need to get is a cloak of some kind. This will be to protect you, keep you warm, as well as serve as your blanket for sleeping.”

While listing all of that off, Aero kept dragging Fae towards a shop closer to the corner of the bazaar, a rarer closed in one at that. Outside, it had a sign that was showing a picture of a needle and some thread. taking this to be the place as where to get at least the cloak, Fae followed Aero into the building.

Walking inside, there was not a whole bunch of stuff. Lots of stuff. Tons of cloaks. Not paying any attention to Aero who walked elsewhere, Fae walked over to where the cloaks here hanging and proceed to find both a perfect fit and price for a cloak. Well, what she thinks is a perfect price for a cloak. Again, completely ignoring Aero, she blitzed the sale, dragging Aero and asking where the next location is. Not quite sure about just how pushy Fae had gotten about shopping, he pointed the way and grumbled, “Don’t most girls enjoy shopping? My wife certainly does…”

Being dragged around the bazaar in a lightning round fashion was quite the experience for Aero. Left a little dizzy and a little worried, Aero turned to Fae after the shopping was done, finding that she had gotten quality goods. “You know we have all day, right?”

Fae, looking back at him, says, “The flowers are waiting, and the shoppings done now. Right?” With that said, Fae took off to then go back to her garden. Shaking his head, Aero yelled after her, “Meet me at Odo’s tomorrow!”

Waving to show she understood, Fae spent the last night in the village practicing her essence gathering. Getting ready for bed, Fae went to each and every flower and plant that she grows and told each and every one of them goodbye. Getting in to the tree, she started to think back on some things, talking with the willow about many things that have happened to her. Not able to sleep well, she talked late into the night, being gently rocked to sleep by the willow.

When the sun was rising and light broke over the mountains, Fae slowly got up, and walked to odo’s. Geared up and ready to go, all three of them walked to the exit of the village.