She had been mixing her own healing salve from skills taught by her Mother since she was very small. The whole process fascinated her and the resulting product was very satisfying. She had gathered up enough of her best stock, wrapped them up for travel and put them in a basket for travel. She would trade or sell them at the secret potion shop that was very much hush hush, but of course everyone knew it was there. This made all the extra drama quite silly and not worth bothering with in her opinion.
She didn't hold with such nonsense. She preferred the black and white arts, life and death and all of that. She knew that she fit into the bigger picture of her ecosystem. She was not immortal or immune to attack from predators in the area. She felt like this love and understanding made her potions better, more potent and more efficient, as if belief in and of itself was an important ingredient.
She should up the prices once people discovered how good it was. Loyal customers would get a discount. Healing salve was always in demand after all.
What was life without it after all, pain and misery. No one liked pain and misery. She arrived in good time at the potion shop, a family member having escorted her went about their own business. She would barter and trade to her delight. It was a great day! She couldn't wait to see what her fellow potion maker had made! Her little heart was just racing.
She opened the door nearly vibrating with excitement. As expected every bottle imaginable lined the walls, some with rather fetching glasswork to them too. This was arguably the best day of her very young life. This and or the bookstore, she loved the bookstore!
She greeted the owner and proceeded to examine every single bottle before bringing her salve forth. Curious minds needed to know and her mind definitely needed to know. Little fingers would turn a bottle but she was too smart to lift any off the rack, that would invite unfortunate disaster that she was not about to enjoy.
Suddenly a young oban scamp rushed in the door and slid into the rack beside her giggling excitedly. A bright pink bottle tilted and teetered on the edge of the shelf. It fell off the cap coming loose and releasing a liquid a powder and a mist all at the same time. Vaia looked up with fear in her eyes as the stuff coated her from head to foot.
Pink usually meant love potion. Had she been bamboozled? She closed her eyes shut having listened and read enough stories by now to know that for the near future she must not open her eyes least she fall in love with the first boy she saw and she was way too young for that nonsense. She didn't want to be completely infatuated like her parents, how would she get her homework done if she were mooning over some silly boy?!
"Excuse me! I'm hit, it was pink, was it a love potion. Kid why did you run in here so fast, everything in this store is delicate and now I have to keep my eyes closed or the apocalypse will happen!" At least her own personal apocalypse, maybe not one severe enough to affect the whole place.
"Don't worry dear, I have the antidote." She heard the proprieter's voice. She was a girl, thus it should be safe.
She felt a warm hand pat hers and opened her eyes. It was not the shopkeep in front of her but the oban youngling. Thats it, she felt the harp strum, she felt the pink fuzzy vision over take her own.
The boys' face showed honest concern, how dare he mess this up for her, how dare....he be that ...sweet, attentive, adorable, handsome. He was just the best guy for checking on her.
"I'm sorry, I was hiding from my brother, this seemed like the best place to hide at the time."
She giggled..actually giggled at him. Her future self would be so ashamed. But her current self thought this scruffy, yellow crystaled, dreadlocked red eyed boy would make the bestest of friends if she could just convince him to like her back.
"Oh dear," the shop keep said as she strained to kiss the oban boy who was holding her at bay with a shocked and not altogether unhappy face.
"Hold on lad I'll save you." The young kahi was sprinkled with a blue dust this time and blinking she immediately released her prize.
"I er..sorry about that. Couldn't er help it." She was able too look over the other potions and bought one called instant fairy garden, she was going to put it in her Mother's garden. She sold her salve at a good price, better that she had hoped probably because of the mishap but she would conitnue to barter here. As to what happened to her pesky oban friend. Well, she had a feeling she would bump into him again.
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