OOC: Collecting herbs: Lavender - Motherwort - Cannabis

It had taken all of her willpower to leave the island, but there was a huge need for herbs as her current stores were nil at best. She was sure that the demon king wouldn't understand why she had to go, even though her medicines would help him as well. With her father's skull firmly mashed into place on her delicate facade, Azariah sets off to find the best herbs to help her with her current problems. Anxiety was a constant companion - what if she couldn't produce what her king demanded? Muscle soreness and random pains from bearing his weight was beginning to take its toll on her already fragile frame. The faerie princess had trouble sleeping, even with the aid of her friends who often sang softly in sweet tunes to lull her into sleep. The young witch could feel her life forces being drained from her daily, and she wondered how much longer she could keep going without the aid of medicines. Without proper sleep it wouldn't be long before she found her breaking point, her mind felt fevered enough as it was.

The further away from the island she got, the more her pace quickened with her anxiety. She could be killed for leaving his domain, or left in a condition that made her beg for death. Lucifer would eat her alive for this, she just knew it. It had to be done, though, and she needed the herbs with a ferocity she hadn't known before. Moving deeper inland, the masked faerie witch was flighty and easily startled, illustrated by a bird who flew from the grasses around her. The sudden motion made her yelp and snarl as she jumped out of her skin, her jaws snapping in the empty air to display her displeasure with the start. Stupid bird, I thought I was dead! She thought irritably to herself, looking up into the sky at Umbra with a deep crimson glare. "Spurca volantes mus, te non posse monuit mihi!" Umbra had the grace to look offended, as if it wasn't her job to watch Azariah's back.

With an insulted caw, Umbra replied with a nasty tone, "Hoc non solvit enim ego sum." Her black beady eyes looked down on Aza with a warmth despite her cold tone, watching the visible parts of Aza's mouth turn into outrage. The witch said nothing more to her pet as she continued her hurried march toward a few plants in the meadow she had come to. Sniffing at the purple flowers, Azariah relaxed a little, the scent reminding her of her father and learning how to be brave from him. Plucking a few of the long stalks, Azariah made sure to gather enough to keep her for a while. Lavender helped her to relax more than anything else, except maybe cannabis - which was next on her list. The young witch also planned to gather motherwort, to help anxiety and the tension she felt all over her body. She expected it to take a while, knowing that in some places the herbs were harder to find than in others, but she couldn't give up on them. Aza needed to hurry though, as she was paranoid that Lucifer would happen upon her and mutilate her just for leaving the island, as he had threatened to do before.

Walk. "Talk." Think. "Umbra."

Art by MONSTER

Since he'd reconnected with Sephira, Ig was trying his best to stick around where they'd met up. He was taking his sweet time exploring, using this opportunity to enjoy a full belly for once in his life and to really appreciate how nice it was to not have responsibilities weighing him down. No expectations, no one to worry about aside from his wayward sister who he'd occasionally check in on just to make sure she wasn't making any enemies just yet or something equally foolish. It was getting really annoying actually - all that having nothing to do or worry about left far too much time for him to stew in the hurt and betrayal he had to direct at a number of wolves he once thought himself close to. Rather than spend another day laying around his temporary den, Ignatius had finally gotten sick of the wallowing and decided to go exploring to take his mind off things. It only sort of helped. Mostly he just thought of how he could use different objects he passed to gouge out his back-stabbing older- no, screw him, that guy wasn't a brother anymore. As he passed a pile of dried bones that must have been someone's lunch a long time ago, Ig swatted at the skull he figured was from a rabbit and watched it sail out into the open, fern covered space he was entering. As he followed the objects path with his eyes, his gaze was pulled slightly to his right as he caught sight of a stranger standing among the plants. Truth be told, Ig hadn't really met anyone here. Too busy sulking and all that. Her pelt of greys and small swaths of ivory could have easily come from his homeland, though he wasn't foolish enough to assume she'd actually traveled here from there. The kingdom of flame-pelted wolves was far away from here after all. Ig hesitated to approach. Even if he likely had zero connection to the woman, that didn't mean he necessarily wanted to go engage with her. Social interaction was never something Ig sought out. Usually it was thrust upon him. So he'd opt to relax, a fiery wraith surrounded by ferns, leaning up against one of the few small trees that took root here and occasionally glancing towards the woman who he now guessed was gathering some of the herbs here. That was another thing this land had in spades when compared with his homeland. See me walk, "Hear me roar"

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The witch moved through the meadow, picking the herbs and flowers that she needed for her mental health, wondering when her numbr would come up. She was basically a captive of the demon king, and she was scared that he would kill her just for leaving to get medicine. A dark figure in her peripheral had her head snapping up alertly to stare with a highly fearful expression at a male she didn't recognize. Oh...shit...what do I do? She wondered to herself, panic stricken that another male would be in such close proximity to her. Lucifer would certainly kill her now, especially if the male decided to interact with her. With an uncertain, growling whine, Aza went back to picking her herbs. She couldn't get in trouble if she wasn't talking to him, right?

Of course, that line of thought was abruptly ended by the appearance of tiny balls of light that seemed to be drawn to the fire pelted male. The fae were urging her to talk to him, but she was unsure why. She was beginning to doubt them, as they had led her to be virtually imprisoned by the demon she left at home. Maybe they just wanted to trick her again. With a groan, the witch looks around, hoping to avoid the white face of Lucifer anywhere She approached slowly, hoping to avoid aggression, and tilted her skull-masked face. "Uh, hi. I couldn't help but notice you walk by. Uh...your pelt is very eye catching." She was offering a compliment to break the ice, but she felt awkward talking to another wolf after a year of seclusion. The repetitive motion of her looking over her shoulders would give her paranoia away, and fear poured out of her, but something urged her to keep talking to him.

Walk. "Talk." Think. "Umbra."

Art by MONSTER

Normally by this point if Sephi was around she'd probably find a way to make him interact. Left to his own devices today, Ig instead ended up enjoying his shady spot for several, precious, uninterrupted moments. He watched the ferns bow and wave as the occasional light breeze ran through them. It was peaceful and verdant here... Which felt really weird even after having been traveling these lands for a short while. Would he ever really get used to this place and how oddly nice it was? Maybe not. Of course his alone time was doomed to come to an end from the second he'd decided not to continue moving past the herb-gathering woman. Even if it hadn't been her specifically, Ig figured there had to have been other wolves hanging around. How could there not be since this place was so plentiful. It was probably crawling with wolves he'd just been managing not to notice yet. For the moment though his focus was on the grey and ivory woman who'd turned to look at him, and then apparently decided to approach cause here she came, looking rather uncertain. For a moment he considered trying his best to melt into the bark of the tree and just evaporate but- too late, she was here and she was talking with a voice so tentative he might have mistaken it for that of a mouse had he not been watching her speak. Hmm... At least if he was going to engage in idle chatter it wasn't with another Sephi. Ig felt a little bad for wanting to leave when he noted her body language. She looked like something being hunted, which softened Ignatius' normally rigid manner as he responded with a thin smile and a shrug, "You think so? Back home it's fairly standard, among my kin anyway. But thank you," His smile widened a bit and he sat up a little so he could give her a slight dip of his head. Taking compliments was never his greatest skill, but despite other failings his parents at least managed to ingrain some good manners into him. Speaking of! "I'm Ignatius Agnivo. Nice to meet you," he paused, waiting for her to introduce herself. He might've tried to return her compliment but his desire to know why she looked like she was being chased by monsters or something was too distracting. See me walk, "Hear me roar"

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