Into the Thick of It

While her search had begun with confidence, over time, she became quite humbled in her pursuit. Kiliaen came in with the expectation that her hunt might be on the challenging side. But before she even had time to absorb the shift of light, she had suddenly spent the better part of an afternoon searching for the elusive wintergreen. Her path was like a child's game of 'connect the dots' through the waning halos of light. At each stop, a thorough investigation of the surrounding vegetation.  While the plant should be with its signature red berry this time of year- she couldn't rule out that the fruit had already been eaten by another animal ... or even if it had fallen off and died. And in an atmosphere that was already stained emerald, imaginably so, there was some difficulty identify the plant that was already green that lacked any other blatantly obvious distinguishing features.  

After what seemed like her hundredth stop through Grapevine Cathedral- the hundredth opportunity for a trickling annoyance to cut through her resolve, she could no longer hold back her frustration. With a surge of emotion, she huffed an aggressive exhale followed by a deliberate swipe through the plush grass with flexed nails. She felt resistance from the ground- her claws raking down to the dirt before it was all said and done. Of course, it would be at this moment that she recognized that she was no longer alone. Kiliaen quickly composed herself, taking the opportunity to more thoroughly scent the air.

As she turned into the soft breeze that filtered through the trees, she was met with a familiar girl- or young lady as it was. As she came into earshot and offered that of a friendly greeting, the emotion from her own earlier outburst was already fading away. "So it would seem! I hope life has treated you well since our first meeting." Kiliaen answered genuinely. Looking the girl over, there wasn't any evidence that she immediately noticed that would indicate otherwise. Though, she wasn't given long to complete her silent examination before she was met with a question of pleasantries. "Not quite," The older fae began. "Not far though. I've been staying around God's Garden- a meadow northeast of here." She introduced, but then wondered if Rheum was familiar. "I'm not sure if you've seen it for yourself, or not, but it has an astounding variety of plant life. Beautiful at the very least, even if you aren't as interested in the gardening aspect of things." Kiliaen finished, painting a better picture of what appeals it had to offer on the assumption that her company had never been.

On the topic of plants, she hesitated a moment before continuing. "That's actually the reason why I'm here today ... I'm after something that doesn't grow out that way." Kiliaen introduced, allowing her gaze to drift away from Rheum to pan the surrounding forest. "I'm looking for a specific plant, it usually has quite a bit of red berries on it this time of year. It generally stays low to the ground, and has teardrop-shaped leaves ..." Kiliean trailed off, her amber gaze returning to the strawberry-tinted fae for a moment before continuing on. "It's called Wintergreen. Have you ever heard of it?" She asked out of polite curiosity. At this point, she would take all the help she could get.

However, just as soon as the words left her lips, a small, freckled splash of red caught her attention in the distance. Her heart lurched in disbelief, as she immediately narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me," Was all she was able to manage to her company. Neglecting an explanation, Kiliaen turned on her heels, approaching what she was hesitant to trust to be the treasure she had been hunting. But the closer she got, the more sure she became. As the excitement of success flooded her soul, she called back with fevered enthusiasm. "Nevermind! This is it!" And there was so much of it! More than she would harvest for herself- but perhaps that would leave more for future harvests if she could memorize where it grew. In her exhilaration, she couldn't help but begin collecting what she had spent so long looking for. But after taking only a few cuttings, she remembered that she wasn't alone. Sheepishly looking back to Rheum, she cleared her throat. "There is plenty to take if you would like to gather some as well." Even if she wasn't medicinally inclined herself, perhaps there was someone back home that was. One could always stand to have an extra pain reliever around just for safekeeping- and that was only the beginning of Wintergreen's benefits.

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