Welcome to Gaia! ::

Scooter waved back at Page.
He finally saw the lady. "Oh hi! I'll help you with the bottles. Any specific order?" He had helped M'iral a few times with her spells.

He smiled. He kinda knew a lot of the powers. M'iral was particular about that kind of stuff.
"Ok M'aam! I'll do my best!"
He started to organize the bottles and set them on the shelves as they were cleaned.

Desi came out the trees to find herself standing in a small clearing, with a tower standing in the middle of it. Now who would build a tower all the way out here? She thought to herself.She'd been searching the forest for days now for the wildflower needed by the healer in her village. All of the adults had come down with the sickness within a matter of days, and she was the only teenager willing to venture out into the forest in search of the flowers needed to cure them. As of yet, she had not seen a single sign of the flowers anywhere. The healer had said that she would find them in the deepest part of the forest, and she was sure she was there now, but instead of flowers, she found herself looking at a tower. There was a door facing her, and she could just make out windows around the curves of the tower on both sides, but there was no sign of life outside.

She quietly approached the tower and headed for the window on the right side. There were manicured flower beds underneath, as well as a flower box on the windowsill. She moved up to the window, bent over so as not to be seen by anyone inside, and slowly raised her head up to the bottom of the glass. It was dark inside, but there was definitely someone inside, moving around. She continued to cast her gaze around the dimness of the room, trying to make out what was inside. There was a staircase along the near wall, leading up into the tower, but there was no light from above, shining down into the room. She wondered what sort of person would choose to live in such a place. There were no others around for miles, and where did the person or persons who lived here, find enough food to eat? She'd run out of her own rations yesterday, and her stomach was just now starting to let her know she'd better find food soon, or risk the consequences.

Suddenly, her eyes touched on something, and her heart skipped a beat. Lying strew on a nearby table, she saw what she had been searching for these past few days. The table top was littered with the fresh cut stems of the flower she needed. Her mind raced back to her village, and her own parents lying bed ridden, overwhelmed by the sickness. She had to be brave, go knock on the door, and try and convince whoever was inside, to give those flowers over to her keeping. She quietly retraced her steps from the window and walked resolutely up to the only door in the tower. Without hesitation, she knocked and waited for an answer.

Desi took a step back as the door opened to reveal a woman unlike any she had seen before. Glasses sat perched on the tip of her nose, and her body was covered in strange symbols. The way in which she looked past Desi, into the woods at her back, made her wonder if she was perhaps hiding out here in the deep of the forest. But she couldn't let these thoughts take over her mind right now. There were more pressing things she had to do.

She cleared her throat and said, "Yes. I've been looking for a certain flower in the forest, and I have not had any luck. I thought perhaps you might have seen them growing somewhere, and could direct me to where I might find them. Or perhaps, you might have picked some recently, and have them lying around?"

Desi wasn't quite sure if she was being invited inside or not. The woman simply opened the door and walked back inside, not motioning to her to follow, or inviting her in verbally. So instead, she decided to wait patiently by the door, and answer the woman's questions from there. Besides, she had no idea what might be lurking in the shadows just inside, and the smells that were emanating from within were enough to make her nose twitch.

"I believe it is called The Star of the Morning. I've never seen it myself, but I'm told it has five beautiful, blue petals, which enclose five white petals that are shaped like cups. They grow near the base of the Olmer Tree, in patches, and bloom only at sunrise."

If that was not a good enough description of the flower to jog the old woman's brain, then Desi would have to throw caution to the wind and enter the tower after all.

She thought to herself that the old woman must take her for a foolish child. Of course she knew to look for the flowers in the early morning light. Did she not just say that was when she had been told they bloomed? Did the woman think her a fool? Since she obviously could not know that there were more of the flowers lying on the table across the room, standing in the door as she was, Desi decided to step inside. She would have to find a way to come within sight of the flower strew table, and then confront the old woman about them. The flowers on those stems were still fresh with the mornings dew, and not rotting in the garbage bin on the floor. She didn't know what the old woman needed so many of them for, but she was going to have to convince her to part with them, or the people back in her village would not survive.

She moved into the room as the woman searched her stores and said, " I do know when to look for them. I scoured the nearby forest this morning before finding your tower, but all I found were the remains of the stems. Someone had already harvested them all." As she spoke, she maneuvered herself farther into the room, so she would have a clear view of the table. She accepted the pro-offered flowers and taking them replied, "Thank you, but I'm afraid this will not be enough. Wait. There are more over there on your table. Perhaps you forgot about them." She pointed to the table with her free hand and waited for the woman's reply.

Desi didn't think she had used a tone that would bring about this sharp rebuke from the woman, but she realized that this tact was not going to get her what she needed. However, she now knew why the woman lived out here, so far from any village or town. She was an herbalist, and exactly what she needed at this moment. But how was she to mollify the woman now that she had upset her? For lack of time, and any creative juices in her head at the moment, she decided to rely on the truth, and hope that would bring about the desired result.

"I apologize Miss Tiri, if you took my words as an insult. I was sent on this journey, because I was the only one in my village deemed strong enough to complete it in time. You see, a sickness has overtaken my village, and all of the adults have been stricken with it. They still live, at least at the time of my departure, but they were growing weaker with every passing day. Our healer too has been stricken, but he was able to convey to me what was needed in order to make a possible remedy that would cure them. I did not mean to upset you with my words. I am simply at a loss as to what else to do, not finding enough of the flowers this morning. I know enough of how things grow to know that the ones that have been cut from their stems, are not likely to grow again for another season, and I saw no sign of new shoots coming forth from the ground anywhere. If I return to my village with only these few that you have been so generous to part with, it will not be enough to save everyone, and I and the other children remaining will have to decide who to save, and who to let die. I don't think I can do that."

By the time she reached the last sentence, tears were streaming from her eyes, and her throat was closing up, so that her voice sounded choked. Everything she had said was the truth, and if the woman chose not to believe her, then all hope was lost. It would take her at least a day and a half without sleep or rest, to get back to her village, so there wasn't time to continue searching elsewhere for more of the flowers. It was quite possible that some of the adults in her village had already perished, including her own parents. But perhaps she could find something to offer the woman in exchange. She didn't have much, but she would do just about anything in order to return victorious to her village.