Wolf and Boy and Chamomile[Memory, Raellon]
Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 12:38 am
Ash 3rd, Year 104, Age of Steel
While Alyssum often considered Searing to be an awful, sticky kind of season and tried to spend it in northern areas where the natural chill would override the heat, it was undeniably a good season for plants in the early half and towards the end. The middle everything tended to shrivel, but even then the sundried herbs could be useful when correctly collected. Lots of things flourished in late Glade and early Searing that could make the time gap a practical dream for an alchemist or herbalist. Alyssum herself was certainly included on that list. It was a season when good and healthy children should be running and playing. That's what Rúnar used to always tell her when she was still just a pup.
When Alyssum was fourteen she'd always so intently focused in on 'earning her keep'. When Rúnar had just taken her in she worked herself ragged trying to do everything in her power to become a good successor to the Crows. She wanted to keep them alive, even if she was the last one. Even if it took her years to find a successor to adopt (unlikely) or have a child (even more unlikely), she wanted to use every breath in her body to breathe life into the kinship that was willing to take her in. Rúnar's death hurt, but if Isra had never introduced her to Rúnar then her own death would have hurt Alyssum even more. It would have left Alyssum alone in a world she didn't understand, too wild and too feral to speak anything but a brutal form of common, banging sticks and rocks together and snarling like she really was a wild animal. It still hurt, but Isra and Rúnar had both given her so much that Alyssum had no right to grieve. It was a natural desire, but there was something so inherently greedy about it...
Alyssum brushed off the thought and turned her attention back to her charge. Linden. Linden was the reason she was carefully keeping a measured pace as she forged a path deeper and deeper into the woods, her body remembering the roads she and Rúnar used to take to get to the best places where wild herbs would grow. Of course, they had to grow some back home. In gardens and greenhouses that Alyssum honestly missed. She'd sold all of her and Rúnar possessions, house included, to try and get a head start on one day buying a better one. Partially because she wanted to travel as Rathari often did and a house would do her no good during that time. The decision just ended up coming back to bite her as Alyssum spend all of that money on travel-related fees and was currently doing her best to scrounge up enough for her dream castle. One day, she swore it! When she was a master Alchemist and had mastered every other form of world magic, then Alyssum would have no problems bringing money with ease. For now, she'd work small. Skipping a few meals to make up for the money she'd lent to Linden.
She stopped as she came to a familiar grotto, giving her poor charge the chance to come to a full stop and catch his breath after the wild wolf chase she'd thrown him through. "Good job keeping up," she cheerfully praised and ruffled his hair before turning her attention to the grotto. A small stream ran through it, the crystal clear waters betraying the small fish her tried to go unnoticed. The kind she probably would have tried to catch as a child to no avail, only for Isra so somehow come back with a fish 3 times the size to use for dinner. Only for Alyssum to realize she didn't particularly fancy seafood. Or the sea... She was a creature of the earth and sky. Being on the open sea just made her feel ill the couple of times she and Isra had caught ships to speed up their travel. And that wasn't mentioning the sailors! The god awful sailors...
"Now let's see... What herbs shall we learn about first? Of course, we'll have to pick up some for your mother, but perhaps we can grab some other things while we're out and about! Might as well. You never know when something is going to come in handy," Alyssum said she she kneeled down and her eyes started to skim over the plans which reached from the earth and up towards the sky.