The Flora and Fauna ((Quills!))

[Anonymous]

Hot, heavy air. Fog that was so thick in certain areas that one could almost cut it with a knife. Foliage dense enough to make an effective wall. Oddly enough, a boy emerging from the brush didn't seem to mind. He picked up a flower to examine it. To him, this place wasn't bad, difficult, or irritating to be in. It was just another place to be; a nice, interesting place in his oppinion.

He looked curiously at animals walking by. He slowly made his way up to a jaguar-like animal, which watched him cautiously. He softly whispered something to it and stroked it on the back with his hand. It didn't seem afraid of him, oddly. It didn't mind the petting, either. He smiled a little. His white wings were folded behind him, as usual. He was exploring the canopy before when he was using them. He had simply forgot they were still there. He glanced around, thinking he heard someone else in the forest.

[Anonymous]

A little old lady stomped through the mud, with a round, loaded-up animal waddling along behind her. Moisture from the air collected on her hat and dripped from the wide brim. The jungle was tough going, but she had a big stick. It wasn't so bad. She was muttering what seemed like an unending stream of Hyoite to herself, identifying every plant she saw and deciding if she should harvest some. However, they weren't what she was here for. The increasing humidity would guide her.

She stopped when she reached some particularly thick vegetation and looked around. Her pack animal butted gently into her back before also coming to a rest. She regarded the fog. After a moment's consideration, she started moving forward again, beating the greenery down with surprising vigour. It was only a patch of thorny tigersbalm, after all. The violence would do it good.

It caught on her clothes as she passed through, although the creature behind her didn't seem to mind. It never really did. She reached a clearer patch and again surveyed her surroundings.

Huh. That was odd. There stood a winged boy and a large cat-like animal. It didn't seem like either of them posed much of a threat right now. From the look of him the boy wasn't local, which was too bad. Probably Serenian, she decided. But what was some winged kid doing in the jungle? Maybe he was lost.

She cleared her throat and called out. "Um, hello?"

[Anonymous]

The boy turned around quickly, then relaxed. He smiled at the new person he met. "Hello! Are you looking for something here? I know this place well. " He had only been here for a week or so, and already knew the place better than most. It was something of a gift. He could be in a place for a matter of days and already know it backwards and forewards.

The cat tried to slink away, displeased with the presence of another human. He comforted the annoyed animal, who sat on a low branch, tail twitching, cautious yellow eyes staring ahead. The boy's wings made him look like an angel, coupled with his white hair.

[Anonymous]

It turned out he wasn't lost after all. Anyone else would find it strange to see someone like him out here, but this old lady had come across weirder sights before. Anyway, this was good! She could ask him about the plants she was looking for.

She mulled the words over in her head for a short while. She had never quite got the hang of Serenian grammar. "Oh, that is good! Do you know Kishahn blisterweed? Is like a vine, it travel around for energy to find and put out lots of damp. Big yellow flowers, and smell like mould."

As she talked, she made her way closer to the boy. From the cat's behaviour, it was merely nervous of her, not aggressive, so she made a show of completely ignoring it. When she was merely a few feet from him, she stuck her walking stick into the soft ground and leant on it, peering up at him expectantly.

[Anonymous]

He  watched her with curious eyes that made him seem younger than he was. He thought carefully for an answer. He hadn't heard the name of the plant before, but was sure he had seen it around before. He nodded to her. "I know what plant that is.  I could show you where it is, if you'd like." A spark of curiosity, the kind of curiosity that drives beings to study and understand, lit his eyes,making them sparkle. "But, in exchange, can you help me  in return? There's some things I'd like to know, about the beings I study..." He paused for a moment, continuing, "People. As a scientist to a scientist, you must understand my curiosity. Is it a deal?" The  cat slipped away Into the darkness.

[Anonymous]

Well, that was good. If the plants weren't too far away, she could be fully restocked by nightfall. Usually it took her a week or two to track down a new blisterweed vine. This would save her a lot of time.

He said he studied people, so he was a... what was it? She'd met a man last time she was in Arca, a fancy new type of doctor, said he treated people by talking to them, he called himself a... psychologist, she remembered. And she'd humoured him and laughed about it later. This boy seemed awfully young to be a doctor, and she didn't know what he was doing out here by himself, but it couldn't do any harm to indulge him.

"Ah, people," she smiled. "They funny, funny things. Never do what you expect to. I been around a long time, a lot of people, I learn a few things." She winked, causing the wrinkles on her face to move in odd ways. "I always been better with plants, but what you wanna know, Ulma will tell you!"

[Anonymous]

He smiled. "Ah, so a deal it is! Before we get going to find that plant, there is one question.." He looked confused. "I've always wondered, since I started studying people...why do people want others to do their work for them, even if it costs the worker their happiness? Its....confusing."  He looked a little sad.

[Anonymous]

Ulma was a little bit stumped by this question. She'd never really given any thought to the social order, because she didn't much care about things that didn't include her or plants in some way. She scratched her chin. "Now that is a thinking question! There are many reasons, I think. Some people better at some things, some people get other people do the boring things, because they got no time for it. I always do all my things, and only my things! I am... Lucky, I think."

She had no idea if that was what he wanted, but it was all she had. So it had to do.

[Anonymous]

He nodded slowly. "Okay..thats why, then. Interesting! Now to go to that plant..." He started walking off towards it, saying to her, "By the way, my name is Oliver. As I said earlier, I study people. I guess I study them because Ive already studied animals...perhaps I'll study plants if i ever get to understand the human race." He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Why do you study plants?"

[Anonymous]

The boy spoke as if he already knew everything about all animals. Of course, Ulma herself acted a bit like that at his age, but she'd never admit it now. Just thinking about it embarrassed her. Ah, the arrogance of youth. (There was the arrogance of old age, too, but in her mind that was entirely justified, just like the various arrogances of youth, young love and motherhood before them. Her opinion was that if she was doing it, it was OK.)

She laughed. "Oliver, if you gonna wait that long, then you never know plants!"

She pulled her walking stick out of the mud and started after him. She turned slightly and clucked her tongue at her pack animal, which stopped chewing on a leaf and glared at her. "My trade is medicine, and that all about plants. You know plants, you know medicine. Some say it about people, but it about plants really."

She shrugged. It was just common sense, wasn't it?

[Anonymous]

The boy named Oliver shrugged. "That does make sense. Hey, I saw a really odd plant earlier! It was very nice looking, but it shot poison thorns at anything that went by! They live around here, I think." He turned, brushing some plants aside. "The plant is past this clearing." He walked into the clearing, picking his way accross the marshy ground carefully, stepping on only dry spots. "Careful. It's really wet right here."

[Anonymous]

Ulma sucked in some air, making an impressed whistling noise. "Assassin's Beauty? It around here? Well, well, I just got to get some o' that too! Hah, all those fancy merchants be so jealous o' me... Oliver, I like you. You a good boy."

She grinned.

"But what about you? What a lad like you doin' here? You wanna study people, you wanna go to the city, unless you be studyin' the locals."

[Anonymous]

Oliver smiled. "Well, I am studying the locals a little. Plus, I like going to new places. Traveling is fun, plus I don't have much to go home to, so no worries." He stopped for a moment, spying a yellow flower peeping out from some branches. He pointed to it, saying, "is that part of the vine?"

[Anonymous]

"I can't argue with that," reasoned Ulma. He sounded a bit like her, well, minus the 'no home' part. She still went back to Hyoite every year, even though there was nothing there for her now.

She squinted at the branch. "It might well be."

She stood on tiptoe and sniffed around the area, searching for a faintly musty scent. Yes, that was what she was looking for. She went to her creature, which was now leaning against a tree, and rummaged through a saddlebag for a pair of thick leather gloves. "You got to be careful to handle this," she cautioned. "It suck the energy and the water outta your skin, and it burn you. That why it called blisterweed. But it very, very good for to break a curse, if you know what to do."

She pulled out a glass jar and a small pair of shears. She stood for a second, looking thoughtful. Normally she'd clamber up herself, but here was a tall, strong young man, and there were some perks to old age. "Would you give an old lady a hand?"

[Anonymous]

Oliver nodded. "Sure! What should I do..?" He looked up at the tree. "Let me guess..I should get a sample? If that's the case, sure." The cat from earlier came up to Oliver, rubbing against him affectionatly. He stroked it absentmindedly.

[Anonymous]

Ulma nodded. "Yes, it can be like, I teach you. You are a boy who likes to learn, are you not?"

She handed over the equipment. "You put on the gloves, and take about... a foot, two feet... o' the vine in the jar. Make sure you get the little hooky bits that stick to the tree. They are what we want. Then you fill up the jar, with the water and put the lid on real tight. That keep it fresh, for the making of the medicine. You think you can do it for me?"

[Anonymous]

Oliver nodded. "Doesn't sound too hard. I can do it." He took the equipment and climbed up to grab a sample. He did it all pretty quickly and ended up falling partway  down, not too hard thanks to his wings. He protected the jar and got up. He handed over the jar. "Here. Is this good?" He smiled.

[Anonymous]

Ulma held the jar up and inspected it in the dim light. She turned it this way and that, squinting through the glass and mumbling. Eventually she said, "Yes, this good. Not as good as me..." - she shot Oliver a sly grin - "... but good. You make a good apprentice if you wanted. Is a shame you not."

She carefully tucked the now full jar back into her luggage. She would wait until she reached a city to prepare it properly. It was a tricky process, and however much she liked the jungle, she had to admit that it was not the right place for it.

[Anonymous]

Oliver smiled. He was glad he did what he was told right! He liked the feeling of doing something right; he didn't get that feeling often. It wasn't that he was a clutz, no; it was the lack of people that needed helping. Or, at least, people who wanted the help.

He said, "Hey, I could help you with other things if you'd like. I don't have much better to do. If you teach me about plants, I could help you and teach you a little of what I know. Is that fair?" He looked young for his age; and his eyes sparkled with a childlike curiousity.

[Anonymous]

Ulma was a proud lady, and fiercely independent, but she was also getting old. As such, while she had always sworn to anyone that would listen that she was fine on her own, she was a little bit glad for help.

His offer of teaching her things didn't interest her all that much; she cared very little about things that weren't plants or plant-based medicines and there wasn't much she wanted to know that she didn't already. However, if there was one thing she loved, it was showing off her own knowledge. She had never taken an actual apprentice before, but a chance to massage her ego was always welcome.

She pursed her lips while she considered this. She nodded. "All right. You got a deal." She wiped her hand on her clothes and held it out. "We shake?"