Flashback Unruly Weeds (Phobius)

Phobius and Khara meet when they are assigned the same Bendi

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The westernmost tip of Kalea, Wind Reach is home to an amazing group of people and their giant eagle mounts. [Lore]

Unruly Weeds (Phobius)

Postby Khara on November 2nd, 2014, 8:30 pm

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10th of Spring, 507
The New Year was supposed to be exciting, and for the first nine days of it Khara figured it had been, she'd gotten to work with hunters! It was the best Bendi ever and the only one she ever wanted to do but now it was over and they had assigned her to something way more boring - herbalists stuff. Who cared about plants? Plants were boring. They didn't move, you didn't have to hunt them down, and you couldn't even use your bow on them. What was the point? At least they would get to be outside, though. When she had first heard she was going to be working with the herbalists and healers she had been terrified that they would be stuck around the Infirmary and she hated it there. The Avora and Endal were always grumpy when they were hurt and never seemed to take too kindly to the Yasi who had been assigned the small duties there. Even if you weren't supposed to talk to them, they always seemed to find a way to talk to you and Khara was always so nervous around them that she always messed up and it wasn't that she wanted to be good at healing and boring plant things anyway but still!

Yes, the outdoors were far better and in the crisp early spring morning air she practically sprinted down the halls until she reached the gates where she had been told to meet her new teacher and fellow Yasi for the next ten days of this boring, miserable, oh so blah Bendi. An Avora, Khara guessed must have been the proper herbalist, stood waiting with two Chiet assistants. A few Yasi were waiting already as well, the overeager look in their eyes told that they actually wanted this assignment. One of the Chiet looked at her with vague acknowledgement before making a mark on a piece of paper they held. They were keeping tabs on who showed up, apparently. She really hoped the fact she wasn't among the first there wouldn't reflect badly on her. Wanting to be a healer or poison maker or harvester or not, anything that seemed to reflect poorly on her could be passed along to the others. Not that she was doing great anyway.

Even now her eyes were wandering, following an eagle in the distance as it flew across the sky, looking towards the stables at the sound of horses doing whatever it was horses did, and finally turning to look over her shoulder at the sound of approaching footsteps. At least I'm not the last one!

"Nari" | "Common"
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Unruly Weeds

Postby Phobius on November 3rd, 2014, 6:55 am

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Phobius was more excited than he'd been in days.

While the boy rarely complained about anything, he'd readily admit to himself that the last few Bendi assignments hadn't been the most fun. The most recent one had revolved around a trip to the furnaces at the Reverie. Initially Phobius had thought that it was interesting, having gone to eagerly seek out some glass-workers to peer over their shoulders and watch as they wove colors into pretty little beads; after a while, however, he grew bored with it, and the stifling heat of the place made his skin itch. Previous to that had been the handful of days spent at the kitchens, which the boy felt he would have enjoyed more if he'd been allowed to help cook. There'd been a few of his fellow Yasi who got the chance to stir soups with big spoons and taste some things, but Phobius had been stuck with peeling vegetables, a task that would've been easier if the vegetables themselves hadn't been so confusing.

Like turnips. How was he supposed to peel a turnip?

In the end, he'd gotten through the days with a smile on his face, all the while quietly hoping that the next Bendi he was assigned would be better than the last. And today seemed to be that lucky day.

Phobius didn't know much about herbs or medicine, or even healing, but being sent out to go looking for plants sounded like it could be fun. All that really mattered was that he'd get to be outside, and the last few indoor Bendi had left the Inartan boy yearning for the warm air of Spring. He was just so comfortable outdoors...there was plenty of space to run around and play in, and trees all over the place that could be climbed. Animals liked to wander about, too, and Phobius knew enough about the seasons to know that there'd be little babies following them around, at this point in time.

And maybe, just maybe, this would be a chance that he needed. A chance to show his teachers that he actually could do the things he was assigned to do. True, it was more often than not that Phobius would mess up on a Bendi every so often, but the boy never let it get to him, certain that he was bound to come across something he was good at. That was what happened to all Yasi, wasn't it?

Finding plants could easily be harder than he thought it was, but...hopefully it wouldn't be like peeling turnips.

All in all, Phobius looked forward to the day, an open-mouthed smile on his face as he ran through the streets and stone-laden halls until he'd reached the great gates. There, he could see that a bunch of other Yasi had already gathered, along with some adults whom he assumed were to be his teachers. They didn't look too happy to be where they were, right now, and as Phobius brought himself to a stop he wondered if they'd had enough sleep last night. Missing a few hours could make him feel unhappy, too. And groggy.

The boy didn't notice that he was the last of the group to arrive, and smiled at the Chiet who turned to look at him. Then his eyes wandered, the amber orbs sweeping over the individual faces of the other children who were all gathered about. He recognized a few of them, but most were strangers, including the girl who was standing a bit near the back of the group.

A new Bendi meant new friends, too. Phobius never tended to have luck with that, but it didn't keep him from trying. "Do you know how to heal stuff with plants?" the boy asked the girl, a curious glint in his eyes as he looked at her.

[642]


"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

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Last edited by Phobius on November 6th, 2014, 4:22 am, edited 2 times in total.
Note: Unless otherwise is stated, Phobius is almost always wearing a blue-beaded bracelet that alters illusions around him based on his mood. That can include player-made illusions. c:
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Unruly Weeds (Phobius)

Postby Khara on November 4th, 2014, 1:59 am

She hadn't expected to be talked to, talked at certainly because that's what happened on these sorts of things, especially when they were brand new and Khara didn't quite know why she was being assigned to the Bendi in the first place. Maybe it was to keep her off of kitchen duty, it certainly wouldn't be surprising to find out that Chef Davoid flat out refused to have her anywhere near a stove ever again after she had somehow managed to catch the contents of a pan completely on fire last season. That must have been it, shrug off the little copper haired trouble maker of a girl onto the healers so she couldn't cause chaos when she was too busy daydreaming of shooting elk or riding an Eagle - which was pretty much always, it seemed.

The inner tirade threatened to drag her down a stream of thoughts that would eventually end with some sort of inner accusations and calling herself a Dek licker and that just wouldn't do because firstly: ew, and secondly someone was trying to talk to her and that was different and good and...

"Me?" Khara squeaked out as she eyed the boy before quickly shaking her head. "N-no. I c-can't heal anything."

The girl felt herself tense and cringe slightly at the sound of her voice stuttering away. She was supposed to have gotten over it a long time ago, not that it had ever been really bad to begin with but she could remember her mom looking at her as if she was broken when it had started but her first few years as a Yasi had taken care of most of it. Except when she was nervous, which seemed like always. Or startled, which was a quick contender for state of being number two for the girl.

"I-I'm not good with any of this stuff," she admitted. It wasn't entirely true. Khara had learned to at least know what plants in the area could cause painful rashes though that had always been more from unfortunate experience than listening to any teacher. Well, she thought she had but now that she tried to think about what they looked like aside from having leaves she couldn't remember. Was it clusters of three leaves or four? Were they reddish in color or was that only when the plant was dying?

"What about y-you? They s-stick you with this Bendi too or are you going to b-become one of them?" Khara nodded towards the Avora who was listening to something the Chiet with the paper was saying, a glance over the Yasi gathered proved they were probably about to start talking. Hopefully to give the group their little lesson and instruction before sending them out to find the plants they would be told about. Not that Khara was really confident she could find them. Plants were hard that way. They didn't move, they didn't leave traces of themselves. Animals were better. There were prints to follow and prints were easy. Kind of. Okay, only maybe somewhat. Easier than plants were anyway.

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Unruly Weeds (Phobius)

Postby Phobius on November 4th, 2014, 4:43 am

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The Inartan boy blinked at the girl, cocking his head a little as he listened to her speak and noticed, with interest, how some of her words seemed to tremble. It almost sounded as if she was nervous, but Phobius couldn't think of anything that she'd need to be nervous about. While it was true that their teachers would be paying close attention to them, keeping an eye out for both successes and failures as they went digging around for special plants, the boy wasn't seeing the Bendi as something huge and stressful. In his mind, and quite possibly the minds of others, the point of the trip was to learn new things and have fun while doing it. Plenty of the other Yasi seemed like they were looking forward to it, too, but the same couldn't be said for the girl, who looked...well, she definitely wasn't very happy.

Maybe she doesn't wanna be here.

A mere thought, but Phobius didn't really believe it, even if it was coming from his own head. How in the world could the girl not want to be here, right now? They were getting to spend the day outside! For how long, he wasn't sure—probably as long as the sun was still up—but it was a privilege, and Phobius wasn't going to let himself take it for granted.

It was then that the girl asked him a question. His amber eyes flicked over to one of their teachers who was busy chatting with the other, and rested on them for a few ticks before returning to her. "They just gave it to me, I guess," he replied, raising his small shoulders in a lazy shrug before a smile crept onto his face, his inner eagerness beginning to show. "I dunno how to heal things, either, and I don't know a lot about plants or medicine...but it all sounds important. And I think it could be fun, too."

Unable to help himself, Phobius started to bounce up and down on the tips of his toes.

"I mean, we get to go outside! Isn't that great? The other Bendis I was in had me inside, and it was kinda hot and stuffy...I like staying outside, better."

The boy fell silent for a moment, as if he'd suddenly remembered that he was forgetting something. "'Become one of them'?" he finally echoed, stressing each of the words as he let them settle into his brain. "You mean grow up to heal people and stuff? Uhhh...no, not really. Or maybe...I don't really know."

And it was the truth. Though some would say that the ultimate end goal of Bendi assignments was to place Yasi in their prospective professions at an early age, nearly every developing youth already had an idea in their minds of what kinds of jobs they wanted to have. There were aspiring hunters and gatherers, who looked forward to traipsing through the woodlands and bringing prey back to their friends and families, and eagle-lovers who swore that they'd become Endals, someday...the possibilities were many. Phobius, on the other hand, didn't have a clue as to what he planned on doing with himself when he was old enough. He liked most, if not all of the jobs and hobbies that he'd seen over the seasons, but none of them had ever really stuck out to him as things that he could see himself doing.

It wasn't like Phobius was good at any of those things, anyway. Sometimes his teachers would tell him so, but other times he just knew.

The smile had faded a bit from the boy's face, but he was quick to bring it back as he refocused his attention on the girl. Now that he was really looking at her, he noticed the smidgeon of freckles she had on her face, along with her hair, which was kinda short and a lot less red than his own. "My name's Phobius, by the way. What's yours?"

[669]


"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

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Last edited by Phobius on November 6th, 2014, 4:22 am, edited 2 times in total.
Note: Unless otherwise is stated, Phobius is almost always wearing a blue-beaded bracelet that alters illusions around him based on his mood. That can include player-made illusions. c:
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Unruly Weeds (Phobius)

Postby Khara on November 4th, 2014, 6:29 am

His enthusiasm was nothing if not infectious and Khara couldn't help but smile as he mentioned the fact they were outside. It was better. Sure she wasn't going to be getting to try and figure out how old deer tracks were or where rabbit runs could be found, but it was Spring now and Syna had even managed to drive away quite a bit of the snow from the slightly lower elevations of Skyinarta. Even various smaller birds had come from where they had been hiding from the cold weather and were happily singing in agreement.

She wasn't sure if the day was going to be fun, but at least it seemed like she'd found someone who wasn't going to be taking all of this so serious to the point it would feel more like a job than it really should have. If nothing else, Phobius was right, it was kind of important. You never knew when you might need to heal yourself if you got caught outside or a wolf tried to eat you! Of course if you were half eaten, Khara wasn't sure what good a plant could ever possibly do for you at that point.

The girl didn't want to look as worried as she probably did in that moment but tried oh so hard to pull her thoughts back towards Phoebius. "I'm Khara," she remembered to respond.

A nibble was given to her lower lip as she looked back to the boy. He was strange. Not because of anything he said, but just that he actually talked to her. Even the others who were more interested in hunting or archery didn't really talk to her. She wasn't bullied, exactly, more just ignored and occasionally laughed at when her words didn't want to come out all smooth like. At least, she didn't think she was noticed. It was a good thing in some ways, not so good in others. Being unnoticed by the other Yasi only meant things could be lonely sometimes. Being unnoticed by those looking to gain apprentices though? That was actually scary. She wanted one thing more than anything else and had tried to be good at everything that went along with it but sometimes it was just hard to focus.

Kind of like right now.

Khara felt her hands fidgeting in front of her, tugging at a loose strand of thread from her bryda as she tried to smile back at the other Yasi, trying not to think that maybe he was playing a mean trick on her that had been put up to by some of the older Yasi who always seemed to try extra hard to ignore her.

"How can you not know, though? Doesn't everyone know what they want to be by now? You gotta figure it out, otherwise you'll just end up being a... you know." Khara looked uncomfortable with the thought, as if just mentioning the possibility would doom her to it. She couldn't become a Dek! She just couldn't!

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Unruly Weeds (Phobius)

Postby Phobius on November 5th, 2014, 2:18 am

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"How can you not know, though? Doesn't everyone know what they want to be by now?"

Phobius merely blinked at her and her question. Had everyone really made their minds up, already? The boy had no idea, but the way that the girl—Khara—was sounding when she spoke made it seem like a whole, big...thing that he wasn't concerned enough about.

Castes and jobs...they were important. Phobius understood as much. He also understood that everyone tended to have one, specific thing that they were good at, and whether it came from one's parents or had sprung up from nowhere, it only grew as time passed. People became better and better at that one thing until they could get jobs that revolved around it. The chefs at the communal kitchens, for example, were probably working where they were because they'd been able to make good food their entire lives. The same went for the hunters, who were naturally skilled at using bows, arrows, and all sorts of blades. Herbalists had good memories of plants, teachers had always been able to work with children...it wasn't often that someone managed to make themselves fit into a certain life. If they didn't have the knack for it, beforehand, it wouldn't work out.

Some realized their talents early in life, or had other people notice them, first. Others had to wait a little longer for the talents to show, but in the end it all worked out, and people ended up wherever they needed to be. The Inartan boy was convinced of this, having held on to the reasoning for as long as he could remember.

Maybe Khara was right, then. Maybe most of his fellow Yasi had their jobs all figured out, already, because they knew their talents. Phobius supposed that he should feel a bit left out, if it was true, but he didn't. And it showed on his face, in the warm smile that had faltered a bit at the girl's words but was quickly returning, the omnipresent cheeriness growing in his amber eyes. "I don't have what I'm good at, yet," the boy said, sounding completely unconcerned, as if his answer was an obvious one. "Everyone has something they're good at. One day I guess I'll find mine, and then I'll know what I wanna do...but for now I gotta wait. It might take a while, but that's okay."

Truthfully, he really was okay with waiting. Phobius wasn't the type to get impatient over things, even if those things were centered around a path that would ultimately lead to his future. He had plenty of time before he was fifteen, anyway, so there was no need to worry or get all scared.

And as for the Dek...the boy hadn't given much thought to what it'd be like to become one. Not that he thought he would, but...he wasn't sure how exactly to feel about the whole idea. In general, he felt bad for them because they had to work most days and barely ever got the chance to eat. The possibility of becoming one had never crossed his mind, though now that Phobius was devoting a few ticks of thought to it, he couldn't imagine that he'd like it very much. People didn't seem to ever be nice to them, and every Dek he'd ever seen had had a mean, scary look on their face, as if they were always angry. Then there were those who looked a lot sadder than they did mean, and Phobius always wondered what had happened in their lives to bring them to such an unhappy point. They couldn't have picked it out as their jobs; no one would want to choose to be a Dek, forever. Maybe their talents had never shown up...?

Wanting to change the subject, all of a sudden, Phobius kept his comments about it to himself. "Do you know what you wanna do...?"

[659]

"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

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Last edited by Phobius on November 6th, 2014, 4:22 am, edited 2 times in total.
Note: Unless otherwise is stated, Phobius is almost always wearing a blue-beaded bracelet that alters illusions around him based on his mood. That can include player-made illusions. c:
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Unruly Weeds (Phobius)

Postby Khara on November 5th, 2014, 5:48 am

She felt bad for asking at first, the way his bright expression had seemed to stumble for a tick as he considered what she had said. An apology was growing inside of her, straining to come flying out when it finally sounded like it was big enough for causing him to worry any. It was squashed though when he replied to her, his admissions of not knowing what he was to become sounding as carefree as if he was describing the lack of knowing what sweets would be served after dinner that night.

It was enough to cause a timid smile of her own to form, envy flaring underneath it all at just how sure of his unsureness Phobius could sound. It was like he didn't have the pressure to do good weighing him down. She wondered what that would be like, to not feel like you were always letting someone down when you didn't immediately excel at something. It wasn't even that Khara really did, not anymore at least. But the first few years of her life, specifically the one leading up to her becoming a Yasi, had been filled with more lessons about how she needed to be among the best than Khara could ever really push from her head. She was never among the best. Maybe she needed to look at things the way the boy did, maybe she was just taking a while, maybe it actually was okay. Maybe she just needed time. Maybe next season she'd be just as good as the other archers, maybe she'd pick up better on all the things she actually was supposed to be learning to be among those that would get considered to be an apprentice.

Maybe there was even time to just actually enjoy a Bendi she wasn't really sure of. It actually could be fun, after all. Phobius certainly seemed to think so and he was almost the same as her, she figured. If nothing else he seemed happier than she had the whole morning since she'd learned about having to work with the herbalists.

Yeah, maybe it wasn't going to be so bad after all. If nothing else she was quickly beginning to like the boy she was talking to. Not like that or anything. But he was easy to smile and didn't seem to be considering pushing her into a snow bank like a lot of the others were tempted to with the somewhat frail girl.

These types of things weren't going to keep her from worrying fully, that was for sure, especially not when he turned the question around on her. For a moment she could do nothing but blink, somehow caught off guard by the very same question she'd asked. Khara knew the answer of course, had known it since she first held a bow and seen that hint of satisfaction that had come in her mom's eyes when she had first managed to hit the target.

"I'm gonna be a hunter," she proclaimed. Despite the fact her fidgeting and shifts in weight from her toes to heels and back again seemed to say othewisre, the surety was there in her voice enough. It should certainly be considering it was something she always told herself. Of course, it always came out more I think I'll be a hunter. I hope I'll become a hunter. I hope I'm good enough to be a hunter. I don't think I will ever be a- Even now she had to shake her head to clear it of the thoughts, squeezing her golden eyes shut for an instant as she pictured the bad thoughts becoming a bunch of blackbirds that took flight and left.

"At least," Khara added, a bit quieter, a bit more secretively as she admitted what had left her so flustered. "At least I really hope so. I think I'm still waiting to be good at some things too."

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Unruly Weeds (Phobius)

Postby Phobius on November 10th, 2014, 6:07 pm

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A hunter? That sounded like it could be fun. Hunters were pretty important in Wind Reach, and people seemed to treat them really nicely; then again, it was kind of expected that you'd be nice to the people who were going out into the woodlands surrounding the mountain to get food. If it weren't for hunters, they'd probably all have nothing to eat...except for bread, because you didn't have to hunt bread, or the plants that the stuff for it came from.

Phobius started to smile at the girl, but it faltered a bit as something occurred to him. "I bet you could do it if you tried," he said. "I mean, if you're a hunter you have to be really strong and brave, right? Cause you're...—" and he couldn't bring himself to say "killing animals," "—getting food. I don't think I could ever do that. It's...a lot."

All in all, the boy's words were meant as a compliment, but he couldn't help but somber a little at the realization that came along with them. Despite there being a lot of things in the world that he couldn't make sense of, the basic human need for food wasn't one of them. It was a bit barbaric and nauseating, if he thought about it too much, but killing animals was necessary for one's survival. Sure, there were plenty of edible plants and fruits that served as good foods, but meat seemed to have extra bits of important stuff in them that leafy plants didn't. Plus, as far as he was concerned, meat tasted a whole lot better and filled you up, more.

In general, Phobius was fine with hunting, as long as he didn't have to see it or do it. And maybe someday he'd be forced to, but...for now, he was content with not knowing where the things he liked to eat were coming from.

The curious glint returned to the boy's eyes after a moment. "Do you know how to use a bow? I tried it, once, but it was really hard to put the arrow in and hold it there, so it kept falling and I couldn't do anything. Ooh! What about swords? Hunters use swords, right?"

Phobius was pulling the questions out of thin air, more than ready to rattle off each and every one that came to mind. Before he could ask another one, though, the Chiet woman standing at the front of the group turned around and signaled for all of the Yasi to be quiet, a harsh-sounding shhhh sliding through her teeth as she pressed a single finger to her lips. The excited chatter and low mumbles died down almost instantly, every child redirecting their attention over to the three adults. Phobius turned and looked, too.

The Avora standing in the middle of the trio was surprisingly tall, with hair the color of the reddest autumn leaves bundled up into a fluffy, messy ponytail. Her face was oval-ish, and she had the look of a strict, no-nonsense person who rarely laughed at jokes, but the necklace that she wore was what really caught Phobius' eye. It was covered in glass beads, all of different sizes and colors, and the sunlight was making it incredibly shiny.

"Now that all of you are here," she began, raising her voice a little so that they could all hear her. "We'll get started on your Bendi assignment. Today, you'll be assisting me in my herbalist duties by helping me find some herbs that I need. Firstly, each of you will pair up with a partner. Once that's done, I'll be giving each partnership their herbs; that is, I will describe them to you and tell you where you can find them. Once you've managed to locate them with your partner, they are to be brought back to me, and while this isn't a race..."

She swept her gaze across each of the children's faces, intent on dissolving that mindset before it could make them more eager than they already were.

"...it will be favorably looked upon if you can gather your herbs in a decent amount of time."

The boy whipped around to look at Khara. "We can be partners!" he exclaimed, consciously managing to keep his voice down. And while it probably should've been a request or suggestion, it sounded as though he'd already made the decision for the both of them, the smile upon his face growing with anticipation.

[746]

OOCGah, sorry this took so long. ^^'


"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

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Note: Unless otherwise is stated, Phobius is almost always wearing a blue-beaded bracelet that alters illusions around him based on his mood. That can include player-made illusions. c:
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Phobius
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Unruly Weeds (Phobius)

Postby Khara on November 10th, 2014, 10:50 pm

The mention of knowing how to use a bow caused her to smile, barely containing the giddiness of that she did know how to use one. Khara wasn't as good as some of the Yasi but she was better than others and if she kept practicing she would only get better and better and she had learned before she was even taken away from her mom, which meant she'd learned from an actual huntress and not some Chiet instructor. That was worth being proud of, Khara figured, and was about to say as much when the adults interrupted with stuff that the girl guessed was actually important even if it didn't seem like it right then.

Partners?? Her mind echoed, a lump forming in her throat. It wasn't that Khara was unwilling to work with others, or that she didn't get along with others. She wasn't like some that got in fights or bullied or even was bullied but whenever people had to pair up she always seemed to linger on the fringes, one of the last to be picked if not among those who had to be forcibly partnered up with another. It didn't matter if that other Yasi hadn't been picked by anyone else, they always gave her that same look of why you?

Lower lip was bitten, thoughts turned into some thick soup of nerves. She couldn't even register the whole not a race thing, and then -

Khara quickly turned at the excitied sounding voice next to her. Phobius wanted to be her partner? She didn't know whether to be shocked, overjoyed, or very very cautiously suspicious. The last didn't seem right given how nice the boy had been to her already, so she settled on somewhere between the first two. A lingering question of if he actually meant her went unsaid and instead a probably a little too loud "Okay!" Was chirped out by the girl.

She hadn't meant to sound that enthusiastic, like she was desperate for the attention, but some part of her was really happy to have someone else actually ask her for a change and Phobius had seemed okay so far. If nothing else he would be good company, Khara figured.

The other Yasi paired off quickly as well and soon each group was attended to by the trio of adults. It was one of the Chiet that approached the two of them, the Avora apparently dedicating their time to where it was perhaps better spent on the more promising children who they already were looking at as potential apprentices.

"You two will be together?" The Chiet woman asked, receiving a rather eager nod from Khara in return before glancing towards Phobius for his confirmation as well. "Very well. You two will be looking for a flower called the River Crowfoot. It's used as a fever reducer in more stubborn cases but can also act as an-inflammatory."

The woman must have caught the confused look in the girl's eyes as she let out a gentle sigh before continuing. "It means it makes there be less swelling when someone is injured."

Satisfied that the two children at least mostly seemed to understand she reached into a small leather satchel and pulled out a sample. "What you're looking for is this; it's a white flower with a dark blue center, okay? It has many petals and somewhat forms a cup shape before it's fully opened."

Khara tried to pay attention, tried counting the number of petals, tried seeing how the flower looked so that she could commit it to memory... But watching the other Yasi be shown what they were going for and who the Avora was choosing to speak to seemed more interesting. Not that she wasn't listening to the Chiet, but white and blue flower seemed pretty self explanatory.

"You will need to be careful, though." As the Chiet continued on, the mention of possible danger snapped the girl's attention back. "There's another flower, very similar," Another pause was taken as the new type was pulled from the satchel. It looked just like the first. Well, mostly. It was still a white flower with a blue center but there was some extra reddish pink on the petals as well. "This is called the Prickly Crowfoot, somewhat because unlike the River variety, it has little thorns on it's leaves and stems. They can cause a rash if you are allergic. We don't want to get the two mixed up since this Prickly variety, if used, can cause someone to be very sick like they ate something bad. Sometimes a person can even have their neck swell up a bit if the reaction is really bad."

The two flowers were held side-by-side to give the two a better look at their differences before the assistant, Khara guessed was a harvester, added. "Before the Prickly Crowfoot fully blooms, the red you see isn't fully formed. It's there but very faint so it's best to only bring back blossoms in full bloom unless you look very carefully and don't see any red or pink."

Another look was given to the two Yasi, letting the words sink it before the Chiet spoke one final time. "Are there any questions?"

Khara looked down at the flowers in the woman's hands and then back to the adult before shaking her head, only a small response was managed in a quiet, "No."

The girl thought it seemed easy enough to tell the two apart and she looked to Phobius to see if maybe he'd thought of something she hadn't to ask.

"Nari" | "Common"
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Unruly Weeds (Phobius)

Postby Phobius on November 11th, 2014, 9:19 pm

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The boy hadn't really been thinking that Khara would say no; some tiny voice in the back of his mind had warned him that it could happen, but he willed himself to ignore it, wanting to stay hopeful and positive about things. Even so, he couldn't hide the look of mild shock on his face when the girl agreed, looking almost as happy about it as he felt.

Phobius had paired up with a bunch of other Yasi on other Bendis, before, yet while he'd always been ecstatic about the chance to make new friends, his partners never seemed to be too thrilled. It was probably because they knew him, to an extent, and it was hard to make friends with the people you'd grown up with if they had already decided not to like you. Phobius could easily tell that he wasn't liked, too. There was no name-calling (not to his face, at least) or teasing or hitting, no throwing toys or laughing or making him cry...just avoidance, as though they'd rather be anywhere else but around him.

Khara was different. She was acting as if she actually liked the fact that he was there. When one of the Chiet came over and asked them if they'd partnered up with one another, the girl gave a nod before looking over at him. Phobius didn't hesitate to nod, too, then listened as the woman started to explain their specific assignment.

The name "River Crowfoot" brought a weird image to the boy's head, and he envisioned that the herb would look exactly like a crow's foot, stuck in the bank of a small river, somewhere. But then the woman took a moment to dig an actual example out of her bag, and Phobius was surprised at how pretty it looked. Curious, he leaned forward a little and took a whiff of the petals; for some reason, they smelled like warm leather.

Then the woman pulled out another flower and held it next to the other one. The two looked a lot alike, but Phobius doubted that he'd get them confused, since the one that didn't make a person sick didn't have the little blotches of pinkish-red on its petals. Pinkish-red was bad, and just white was good. Red bad, white good. It was pretty simple.

"Are there any questions?"

Phobius stared up at the Avora, his mind more or less blank. The flowers were pretty, and they knew how to tell them apart, now, but he didn't really have anything that he wanted to ask. Wondering if Khara was thinking of anything, he turned his head and looked at her, only to have her say "no" and look right back at him.

...Ooh! Wait! I got one!

Suddenly struck with an idea, Phobius' hand shot up and he bounced up and down on his toes, as if they were sitting in a classroom and he was determined to get called on by his techer. The woman, looking slightly amused, pointed to him. "How many of the flowers do we need to get?" he asked.

"Hmm...twelve should be fine, considering they're not very large," she responded, already putting the two back into her bag. "And if you go down this little hill over here, through some of these trees, there'll be a tiny stream sitting at the base. River Crowfoot like to grow along places with water."

Sounding as though she was done explaining, the Avora's eyes swept over them one last time. "Alright, then. You both can get going, now. And remember to stay in your area."

With an impulsive "yes, ma'am," Phobius nodded again to show the woman that he understood. Once she'd turned around and left them, walking over to another nearby pair of Yasi, the boy switched his attention back over to Khara, a giddy expression on his face. "I bet we can win," he claimed, sounding decently confident in his words. "It's only twelve flowers, right? That's a pretty big number, but...it shouldn't be hard."

Unless the tiny stream that the Avora had mentioned was actually some huge river that they'd need to cross. The flowers would be sitting at the other side, and they'd be up to their small waists in freezing river-water.

Well...that would make things more interesting, anyway. It'd be more of an adventure.

Phobius started to make his way over to the grassy hill that they're been directed to, taking a moment to peer over it at the scattered trees that seemed to sprout up from its sloping side. "How come we never get to come outside for Bendis, a lot?" the boy asked aloud, the question having randomly snuck its way into his brain. "It feels better out here than it does when you're all cooped up inside someplace..."

[801]


"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

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Note: Unless otherwise is stated, Phobius is almost always wearing a blue-beaded bracelet that alters illusions around him based on his mood. That can include player-made illusions. c:
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