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 Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 9:23 pm
It was weird to sigh while flying, but Shell did it. He'd meant to head out hours ago, at a decent time for traveling, but his father had showed up with an impossible hoard of food and a complaint that his back was ailing him - no wonder, if he'd been flying with a pack stuffed full of hazelnuts - and could he take them to the Platform, and could he find an apothecary and bring back something for his back? Well, of course he could; Shell was a good son.
So here he was, flying well south to look for an apothecary his father's friend had half-remembered - a Ghost apothecary, maybe an hour east of the Swift River, and somewhere south of that bard your brother always hated, in a beech or a birch. And then a long debate about how any birch could be big enough to house an apothecary ("maybe she's a very small Sentinel!")...Shell sighed over his wingbeats, trying not to foresee a day spent napping in a strange tree to avoid flying into a stranger's hollow at the tag-end of the night, just as he made out another beech in the distance. He had cautiously approached no less than three beeches already tonight, but Shell was nothing if not courteous, and patient. And not that he ought to get his hopes up, but those looked like fresh talon marks, and rather a lot of them. He slowed to land on a tree some yards away from the beech, and paused a moment to resettle his feathers, shift his shoulders under the pack, and peer with mute curiosity at the tree before him. And, with as much confidence as a Sentinel can find after getting nothing three times before, he gave the beech an inquisitive hoot.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 1:56 pm
 Craneberry was having squirrel tonight. She had found a good spot for hunting them near the territory of one of the gatherers in the area, and a few hours hiding in a tree there usually paid off. The little critters usually stayed in the trees, and that was another bonus. She didn't like to be near the ground, not even to snatch up an unsuspecting prey animal.
Her spirits were high as she closed in on her tree with the catch of the night dangling in one paw. She would take her sweet time to remove the fur and tail before devouring it. She wondered if any Crafters used squirrel tails, it seemed like such a waste to just drop them to the ground. Besides, it might attract unpleasant pests...
But the Ghost barely had time to land and give her flight feathers a quick preen before someone called. She gave considered not answering, but her parents had raised her better than that so she tucked her meal safely under one paw and hooted an answer.
Yes, I'm here and open for business
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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 6:26 pm
Shell let out a relieved little sigh, straightening and pushing off to flap the short distance over to the beech. He landed delicately before the apothecary, and took a moment to shift a few feathers into proper order before turning his head to Craneberry. "Good evening," he hooted quietly, "my name is Shell, and I've been trying to find an apothecary. Any chance I've got the location right?" His tone was very polite, and a little too formal, considering his lack of a smile, but he was acting perfectly humble. He noted her smudgy front without any visible reaction - that kind of mess and no feather dye or weird trinkets, she almost had to be an apothecary.
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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:26 pm
For a confused moment Craneberry thought the male wanted directions to another apothecary, and she tried to remember the best flight path to the closest one. Then she realised that he must have been looking for her, and managed to feel both sheepish and a bit proud at once. She wondered where he had heard about her, but didn't know if it would be too nosy to ask.
"That would be me" she chirped cheerfully, "I'm an apothecary. Name's Craneberry. Yes... err... Welcome!"
She preened self-consciously when she realised how silly that must have sounded. After shifting to find a more comfortable way to perch without dropping the squirrel she spoke up again.
"So, Shell," she continued, "What can I do for you?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:45 pm
Craneberry's less-than-perfect introductions brought on a little smile on Shell's beak; normally, he was averse to social clumsiness, but having been sent by his father had settled him into an obliging state. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Craneberry," he replied softly, "and a pleasure to see your territory. It's very beautiful." He glanced down, giving the polite compliment a moment to pass, and back up to her face. "I came here for my father, actually...he's a Gatherer, we live an hour or so north of here, and he's been having some trouble with back aches at the end of the night." Shell's face went from polite to solemn as he continued, "I don't know if he's carrying loads that are too heavy, or if it's a bad pack, but he doesn't want to slow down, and we've been trying to find a good remedy." He might even look a little concerned now, maybe; the notion that his father's body might be failing is certainly the most unsettling one he can imagine. "I brought some really top-end hazelnuts with me, by the way," he said, his face clearing, "would you like to try one?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 3:02 pm
It wasn't the best territory around, and Craneberry knew that, so she was very flattered that someone found it beautiful. She would grow strong enough to take a better one eventually, but this was home until then, and she did her best to keep her tree in good shape. No point in waiting for a territory that wasn't hers yet after all.
"Thank you," she said with a bright smile. "I'm glad you like it."
Craneberry listened intently to Shell's story, nodding from time to time and looking genuinely interested. She fit in a few "I see" and "I understand" where it seemed appropriate but let the male do the talking for now.
"Right," she said, "The best would probably be a few nights' rest, but in the meantime he'll need some kind of pain relief for his back. I should be able to do that. Possibly something strengthening as well."
At the prospect of hazelnuts Craneberry couldn't help but to bob her head excitedly.
"Oh, I remember getting hazelnuts from my Minders." she said, "I'd love to try one."
She also remembered being scolded for trying to open one with her beak. You're a fledgling, not a Skurri! But as an Apothecary she was better equipped to crack nuts than she had been back then. Her mortar and pestle was secured one branch up from here and it would make the process short of any hard shelled delicacies.
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Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:07 am
He smiled at her enthusiasm on the subject of hazelnuts, his eyes crinkling as he quietly manipulated a few morsels from his father's pack. Two nuts wobbled cheerfully in Craneberry's direction, and one remained to be thoughtfully turned about in Shell's talon, presumably so he'd have something inoffensive to look at while she tried out her snack.
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Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:54 pm
"So, Shell," she said as she half climbed, half jumped up a branch, barely managing to hold onto her meal and the hazelnuts in the process, "Are you a Gatherer too?"
Old habits die hard, and while she was perfectly capable of flying Craneberry preferred to climb or jump when she needed to go from one branch to another in her tree. Luckily she had developed a bit more grace than she had possessed as a fledgling. She tucked the squirrel away above and put one of the nuts in her mortar. A bit too careful at first, she hardly managed to scratch the nut with the pestle. A more determined thwack later the mortar was filled with crushed shells and hazelnut powder. Great.
"Yeah," she mumbled and sleeked down, looking slightly embarrassed as she picked out the bigger pieces with her will, "Think I overdid it. But they are good!"
The next nut came out of the shell only slightly battered and Craneberry enjoyed every last piece of it. The nutshell had even survived mostly intact and she levitated what must be about one half of it in front of her. Like a very small bowl. Hmmmh... She suddenly seemed to come back to her senses and stopped playing with the nutshell.
"So," she said again and fluffed her feathers, "Back to business? I think I have all ingredients I need."
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:48 pm
Shell stifled his amusement as Craneberry annihilated her nut, astutely returning his eyes to the smooth seed in his talon. Prior to tonight, his image of Apothecaries had them painted as more stifled and grouchy than anything, but Craneberry reminded him of nothing so much as an unusually good-natured fledgling. And he sort of liked the idea of a wise little fledgling dispensing medicines...
He blinked as she asked after his occupation, looking a little absent as he turned his head back to face her. "Oh, uh, no, actually, I'm just a Watcher. But I do spent a fair bit of time on the Ground, to help my father, especially when the hazelnuts come in." He shuffled his feathers modestly, looking upwards for a moment. "His territory's awful, mostly, except it has this wonderful hazelnut tree, old as the Brigadier, with the most flavorful nuts I've ever tasted. There's a couple other families that come in when it's at its peak and help us out." Well, that was a bit more history than he needed to give, but...it seemed important that she sort of cared about his father, he supposed. If he was going to be personable to anyone, it should be this sweet little Apothecary who hopped around like a talented fledgling.
"Sure thing," he replied with an amiable ear-bob, and waited attentively to see what she produced.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:57 pm
Craneberry quickly set to work, starting by removing the powdered hazelnut from her mortar and then cleaning it out to the best of her ability. A bit of hazelnut-flavour wouldn't cause any harm, but it might seem unprofessional and she didn't want that. To an observer it might seem as if she just rifled through her supplies, picking ingredients at random, but Craneberry had her own system going and knew exactly what was in the different pouches and containers.
A few different kinds of bark were carefully ground together before she added a couple of dried leaves to the mixture. This time of year she almost exclusively worked with dried plants, since only a few ingredients could be harvested during the winter moons. She looked forward to spring and summer when she would once again apprentice with several apothecaries and learn even more about collecting and preserving drugs and how to work with fresh raw materials.
"Your father, is he about your size?" she asked as she used a very thin slice of wood to remove the powder from the walls of the mortar and make sure it was all mixed properly, "It's more important to adjust the dosage for very large or very small Sentinels but it's always good to know."
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