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Post by Greenie on Oct 7, 2007 21:49:10 GMT -5
 Vessatha slunk along the underbrush of the forest, doing her best to stay silent amidst the various twigs, leaves, and other noisy objects trees liked to drop. She already knew how to run fast, and so was therefore practicing her slow--moving carefully and calculated so as not to disturb anything around her. Except for when she tripped over a root she hadn't seen and tumbled head-first into a young tree. The poor thing broke at it's base, as it was too young to support the weight of a fully grown ferret, and sent a shower of leaves down on her head. Vessa scowled and brushed at them until she could again see again--though she was belly-up, and could only see the tops of the trees.. so hence, more leaves. That was the bad side of living in a forest. There were a lot of leaves, and they were difficult to get away from. Bored with herself and the forest, Vessatha didn't bother to move, but merely stared at the patchy amount of sky she could see. |
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Post by The Jenn on Oct 14, 2007 13:12:53 GMT -5
The patch of sky in her vision remained a clear, crystalline blue - until something large and feathery and black-with-orange flew directly overhead. Its wing beats were quite audible in the quiet buzz and background noise of forest life, large feathers settling against its body when it perched in a nearby tree. With that beak and those legs, it had to be a heron, a water-bird in the middle of a forest... not like species mattered very much anyway in terms of region.
Bright violet eyes scanned the forest floor, its expression intent as it searched for something. Anyone familiar with other regions would be able to peg it as a native of Corvistowne. All along its sides rested weird bits of metal, shiny and reflecting light as only brightly polished steel could.
It didn't take long to notice her bright coloring amidst the carpet of leaves and blinked in surprise. Obviously, it had thought itself alone in this part of the forest. "Excuse me," it - he, rather - said with a slight accent. "Do you know this area well?"
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Post by Greenie on Oct 14, 2007 13:29:28 GMT -5
Vessatha spent quite a bit of time just morosely staring upwards. After a while, as she began to doze off, the sky turned slightly fuzzy, and the already shaped-clouds began to take on new shapes to go along with what she was dreaming about. Mmm, a berry-shaped cloud! She could certainly use some nice raspberries right now.. or blueberries.. or even blackberries, which she detested, would be better than nothing.
No, she mustn't think about food, that would only make her hungrier. But, oh, chestnuts.. The clouds began to take on various nut shapes, and there was even a squirrel dancing among them, which only served to annoy her. Squirrels and their seemingly-endless supplies of food always irked her.
Just as the clouds began to turn to more appetising foods like pies and cookies, it abruptly turned black and orange. (She'd been dreaming of /cherry/ pies..) At first Vessatha simply took it to mean she wanted some pumpkin, but then it started talking to her. "Excuse me, do you know this area well?"
Abruptly the ferret came out of her dream state with a loud squeak and flipped around to all fours in order to warily scan the trees for where it had perched. It wasn't hard--orange was unusual in a sea of green, just like pink was.. which was likely how he spotted her so easily. "Perhaps," She responded softly, eyes narrowed as she watched him. "What's it to you?"
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Post by The Jenn on Oct 14, 2007 14:01:21 GMT -5
The bird blinked and regarded her with one large eye. "Ehm. Well, actually, I'm having a bit of trouble finding something. I was hoping you might be able to help me locate it, or at the very least point me in the right direction. If it's a bother, I can just continue on my own. Thank you for your time."
He took her defensive attitude to heart, not wanting involve himself in any conflicts while visiting a strange region. The more defensive someone was of a simple greeting and question, the more likely they were to bring about trouble. That's what his experience told him, at any rate. He turned his attention from her bright form and began scanning the forest floor once more, eventually fluttering down to the base of a large tree and shifting leaves with his beak.
As he moved, the ferret may have caught the flash of a Nine of Hearts across his left breast. His rooting proved unsuccessful and he sighed, walking over to another tree a few feet away and repeating the process.
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Post by Greenie on Oct 14, 2007 14:15:47 GMT -5
Vessatha was almost intimidated by the way he simply stared at her.. but that was what owls did, wasn't it? It was practically their job in life to be creepy, at least in her experience it was. She watched him carefully as he appeared to dismiss her, though she had a feeling he was still hopeful she'd help. The ferret hadn't decided if she liked him or not yet--though she was feeling a kinship to his bright colors.
He suddenly moved down to a base of a nearby tree, startling the ferret. Vessatha scattered under a low bush, though it was fairly obvious where she was, as she'd accidentally chose one that was sparsely covered in leaves. She continued watching him, and eventually sighed in consent. "Fine, yes, what is it you are looking for?"
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Post by The Jenn on Oct 14, 2007 14:26:14 GMT -5
Mind beginning to go a mile a minute once again, bored by his search and frustrated at his inability to locate his quarry, the heron had almost dismissed his unexpected companion from thought when she sighed and seemed to relent. He blinked and raised his head, one wet brown leaf clinging to the gloss of his black beak before he shook it off absently.
"Oh. Yes, very good. Actually, I'm looking for a specific type of mushroom. It only grows in and around the Forest of Kahmden and the Tulgey Wood. As I'm not quite desperate enough to venture into that den of mysteries, I thought I would try here first. I only have about a week before I'm expected back at work, so it's rather urgent that I find a good enough supply before returning to the Capital."
He paused and gave her a rather intent look, as if deciding whether or not to continue. "They're small, whitish green, and tend to grow in clusters around the bases of these larger trees, buried under rotting leaves. Some people call them... Dead Men's Coins." The plant had a bit of a stigma around it, one which caused him to hesitate before simply saying the name. Even then, he said it in a slightly lower tone than the rest of his speech.
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Post by Greenie on Oct 14, 2007 14:35:18 GMT -5
Vessatha tilted her head as she awaited a response, and belatedly realised that he wasn't an owl. Maybe she hadn't fully awaken yet.. sitting in front of her was a heron, not an owl--quite a difference, though one was generally about as creepy as the other. Cautiously Vessatha sat on a fallen branch and watched, though her posture indicated she was ready to run were he to stop being the innocent knowledge seeker he seemed to be.
The ferret's head tilted more as she listened. Mushrooms. They weren't her favorite food, but when she was hungry she'd eat anything, even if they did taste about as appetising as worms. "Okay.." Vessa started, but paused as he began to add on to his original statement. Her eyes quickly widened when it registered what he wanted, and then relaxed into a more amused expression. "You want to find Dead Man's Coins? Mushrooms are barely in season right now, and Dead Man's Coins are rare in the first place."
Vessatha sighed, and rubbed at her face with a paw as she considered. "I know where a batch was growing last year, though. It's a good enough place to start as any, I suppose," She muttered, and pushed herself up into a standing position and started jogging off in what seemed to be a random direction.
"Keep up, now!" She called over her shoulder with a snicker. If he could keep up with her amidst all the trees, she'd at least give him credit for good eyesight.
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Post by The Jenn on Oct 14, 2007 14:46:31 GMT -5
A bit of his own tenseness relaxed when she didn't seem phased by his request, merely amused. Very good. There were some people who would give him mighty strange looks to be hunting Dead Men's Coins at all, much less when they had only just begun to sprout. Most of them were back in Corvistowne and the Capital, though. He kept forgetting that not everyone delved so deeply into such things, especially in such a 'remote' location as the law-abiding forest. Who knows, maybe they even ate them here when they found them. Technically the mushrooms were 'edible', if a particularly unpleasant flavor. They had earned their name for several reasons.
"Any help that you're able to give would be appreciated," he told her frankly. "I'd begun to despair of finding even a trace on my own. I'll follow as quickly as I can."
He took to the air, landing on a nearby limb to see where she had gone and then continuing to follow her. He had to stop at every few limbs in the thick forest, not wanting to blindside himself by running into a branch. The normal birds had it much easier in these tight confines. At least she's bright, he thought with a sigh as her maroon and teal form moved ahead of him.
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Post by Greenie on Oct 14, 2007 14:59:07 GMT -5
Vessatha racked her brain as she jogged, gradually working her way up to a light sprint. The trees, bushes and various plants were no bother to her, as she just navigated around them without much thought to it. The only Dead Man's Coins she recalled seeing at all had been in mid-fall of the previous year, and since it was late summer, the chances of finding the same ones there weren't good. Dead Man's Coins weren't known for their ability to reseed, afterall.
Now, Vessatha knew exactly where the tree in question was. The bird following her--belatedly she realised she didn't know his name--didn't know that, and this particular ferret had a healthy sense of humor.
Previously she'd been gradually gaining speed, mostly so he had a false sense of security in his ability to keep up with her fairly well. Vessatha wanted to shake that security. She stopped suddenly and looked around as if confused.. then shot off to her right. The ferret's magical ability was speed; she could go quite fast for short periods of time if she wished, and Vessatha was using this to it's fullest advantage at the moment. It wasn't very often one got to outrun a bird, afterall.
She couldn't go for too long without wearing herself (and the ability) out, though, so slowed to a halt after a few moments to conserve her energy. Just in case he'd actually kept up, she rooted around the base of a nearby tree to seem like she was looking for mushrooms.. but didn't "find" any and continued on. Again she started at a jog and gradually worked her way up to a sprint--and then darted off in another direction.
Oh, but this was fun. Purposefully she didn't look back to see how he was faring, as it was more entertaining if she merely imagined it.
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Post by The Jenn on Oct 14, 2007 15:19:00 GMT -5
The doctor knew exactly how difficult it would be for him to find what he was looking for. The fact that his vacations were limited and he could only search by himself for the most part made things even harder. In truth, he had little hope of finding any right away. It would be a miracle to stumble upon exactly the right tree. But maybe... with a local guide to show him what likely spots looked like, his chances would improve?
But only if he could keep up with her! His eyes widened as the mustalid suddenly burst forward with a shot of speed he couldn't hope to match. "Wait!" he called out in surprise, jerking off the branch he had used to pause and regain his bearings and smacking one wing neatly against another small branch.
He made a pained noise in the back of his throat but didn't allow it to slow him, effectively ignoring the pain of displace feathers as if it didn't even exist. Maybe she had caught a scent? A hint? Something? He flew after her as quickly as he could, falling behind until all he could see was a dot of bright color zagging between trees far ahead. He kept on with a grim expression on his avian face in hopes of at least keeping her in sight.
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