Fantasy The Owl House - Statice and Oak

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

"Still, those bugs freaked me out," said Thomas as he shuddered a bit. He nodded, glad he had pointed out that it might be unwise to use this medical equipment that hadn't been used or cleaned for only the Titan knew how many years. "Good idea," he said in reference to her idea to sterilize them in boiling water. He watched her a bit nervously as she took off her helmet. He was unsure of what to do- what they could use, what they shouldn't use. He had zero knowledge on any Healing Coven business or medical supplies.

He raised his eyebrows as the girl told him that her family were healers and that she actually lived in a clinic. That would explain why she seemed to have a bit more knowledge than Thomas on matters concerning the Healing Coven. "Wow, I didn't know that...." he said softly as she told him. Thomas nodded, "Yea I suppose you're right. There's not many options we have here with the limited supplies we have," he said. And of course, to his knowledge, none of them, not even Audrea, could perform advanced enough Healing Coven magic to heal her nasty gash.

Sure, the girl had treated the slight gash that was on his abdomen earlier, freaking him out a bit seeing an abominations coven witch perform healing magic, but there was no way she was trained in the Healing Coven and their magical ways. Practicing more than one type of magic was against the law, as were per the orders of Emperor Belos. Of course, it would be a crime to disobey the Emperor, something Thomas could never imagine doing, as his family were loyal followers of Belos who wouldn't dare do anything against his will. Emperor Belos knew best after all, for he claimed he knew how to keep everyone safe from the evil wild witches who used wild magic dangerously to kill Belos' family. Thomas and his parents couldn't imagine an evil wild witch killing them with wild magic, so they put their faith and trust in Emperor Belos.

Thomas had been raised to follow and never disobey the Emperor's rules and to fear wild witches. The thought of anyone performing magic outside of their coven's specialty made him fearful and distrustful, for that would mean they were a wild witch- by Belos' standards. He didn't want to think or even deal with the possibility of Audrea and her parents possibly being wild witches. Even her brief use of the small healing spell on him had freaked the witch boy out enough, so he sure hoped she had just picked up on little healing tricks from her parents who seemed to be Healing Coven witches, rather than full on knew how to perform Healing Coven magic. If her parents were training her, that would mean that not only were they promoting wild witchcraft and were possibly wild witches themselves, but they were making Audrea into a young wild witch too.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey had in fact lied earlier, when she said that she had lived through worse. This laceration was actually one of the worst she'd ever been afflicted by, and she was starting to feel it. It might not have started to show yet, but she definitely felt it. The sticky wetness of blood on her back, some slight light headedness, she expected to feel dizzy soon. Looking at her pile of medical supplies, she pulled out a healing glyph patch. These were hard to make, basically miracle workers, and the go to thing for long term healing. From her understanding, the glyph used the natural magic flowing through the body and gave it instructions to promote healing, much like how strength glyphs from the Construction Coven instructed the bodys natural magic to enhance the wearers physical and magical attributes. Usually only one glyph was applied at a time, given that applying multiple had diminishing returns, but it wasn't like anyone else was here, and they had between the two of them, something like twenty.

Audrey put her hand on her side and a patch of armor melted aside, she pulled up her shirt and stuck on a healing glyph directly on her bruised ribs, inhaling sharply. The glyph would help with the bruise and some of the blood loss, but she wanted to get herself treated sooner rather than later.
"Come on." She commented, pulling her messenger bag around and opening it, sliding all of her pile of medical supplies sloppily into it. She hastily made her exit from the old medical office and went down hall to the double doors of the cafeteria. Immediately she was struck by how much more neat the entrance was. Every other door in this ruin had grass and dirt piled up against the door, or vines covering them. These doors were clean, and stones were neatly piled up by its side into small towers. No animal did that, as far as she recalled. So could it have been a witch? She glanced to Thomas, then set her ear to the doors, staying there for a moment. She didn't hear anything. By now, she was looking a little paler. Slowly and carefully, Audrey put her hands on the doorknob and opened the door, bit by bit, revealing the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was unlike any room they had been in before. It was neat. Lived in. Much more well lit, like it was day out. The rows of tables where students would be eating at had rows of pots with flowers, leafy herbs, some with berries. They were rearranged to cover one half of the room, with the other half of the cafeteria much more spacious. That half had actual furniture, a black couch was pushed up against one wall, there was a stack of crash mats stacked together to form a massive bed, with a frame made of thick branches, with blankets and pillows lazily kept on top. Scattered around the living half of the cafeteria were smaller rows of tables with bits and bobs on them, some chairs, and the kitchen. Pots and pans stacked together on one of the counters.

"What the..." Audrey said in awe, blinking. She looked up, spotting several large bundles of those glowing bulbs on vines, shaped into elaborate chandeliers. She was quickly reminded of why they were there though, by the pain of the cut on her back when she looked up. "Okay, let's go in. Get that water going. We'll want to sterilize all of the bandages." Audrey instructed, pointing towards the kitchen. She walked into the cafeteria, picking an empty table with a a few chairs to go to. She sloppily dropped her messenger bag onto the table and sat down, practically falling onto the folding chair. The hurt witch opened her bag and dragged out the various healing supplies, separating them into different piles. Especially keeping the bandages separate so Thomas could more easily grab them off the table. While the water was boiling, she opened a roll of medical tape and drew a spell circle forming a pair of scissors with her abomination goo. Audrey got to work making butterfly bandages out of strips of tape.

Looking around, she spotted two tables next to each other nearby. One had a horn on it, held up by a stand made of shaped branches, carved out of a creatures horn, elaborately carved with symbols, and wrapped with brass bands. Tools still lay next to the horn. Right next to this table was a collection of small glass terrariums, surrounding a large one. All of them housed fungi of some kind, and the largest one, held the largest mushroom. A funnel shaped mushroom, showing it's sides, which were gilled in thick straight lines. The mushroom itself was a vibrant green, and the cap on top was... moving. It displayed a hypnotic pattern, strings of moving multicolored rainbow lights from it's center, to it's edge. The entire top was pulsing green and dark green, the dark green wave emanating from it's center. Audrey sat there in confusion for a moment, she had never seen a mushroom of that kind before, or ever heard of one. She shook away her gaze from the hypnotic patterns and went back to cutting the strips into butterfly bandages. Once she was patched up they could investigate.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas watched as she pulled out a healing glyph and used it to heal the bruise on her ribs. He nodded as she suggested they start going as he followed the girl out of the healing coven office as she took some medical supplies in her bag. Thomas followed Audrey down the halls until they reached the cafeteria where the two were going to work on patching the girl up further. As they reached the door, Thom raised a suspicious eyebrow, noticing how much considerably cleaner and neater this entrance was to the rest of the place. How could that be, he wondered. It seemed like it had to be the work of another witch... Were they not alone?

The witch boy shot her a quick nervous glance as she looked back at him and put her ear against the door. It seemed the girl didn't hear anything as she stood there for a moment and eventually carefully opened the door knob and entered the cafeteria, Thomas following cautiously behind. Thomas raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes at the sights he beheld in the cafeteria as he looked around the room. "Titan, what is this place?" he whispered to no one in particular.

Thom nodded, going to make himself useful and get the boiling water started so that they could sterilize the bandages to patch up Audrey. "On it!" the boy said, affirming her orders as he made his way into the kitchen area of the cafeteria. Thomas got some water in a pot and began boiling it over a fire. He waited for the water to get warm and start bubbling and eventually boil. Thomas sighed as he quite literally watched the watch pot boil, frowning as he looked at the heating water. "So uhh Audrea, how do you feel? A- are you good right now?" Thomas asked her.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey stopped cutting bandages and looked over at Thomas by the kitchen. She saw a pot on the stove already steaming, that was good. Soon they'd get to boiling bandages, and coupled with the butterfly bandages, she could be properly treated.
"I've been better." Audrey replied to Thomas, "And I'll be feeling better in about a half hour."
Looking back down at the table in front of her, she had been working quickly, she had quite a few strips of butterfly bandage. She looked back to the rows of herbs and plants, spotting a table full of jars at one end of the rows. Curious, she walked over to the table, taking a moment to steady herself when she got up, to examine the jars. They were full of oils and powders, she saw one labeled Comfrey, another Yarrow, these were medical herbs! She looked over at the rows of pots, spotting the respective plants. Looking down at the collection of jars, she spotted beeswax and firebee honey. She immediately grabbed the honey, looked through the jars, and grabbed a jar of Yarrow powder, a natural coagulant.
"By the Titan what kind of luck do we have?" She wondered aloud. By chance, the witches who inhabited this room were dabbling into potions and healing. The ingredients to make healing salves were right in front of her, and salve making was Potions and Healing basics. But even better than healing salves, honey. Raw Firebee Honey was not only delicious, sweet, spicy, a common ingredient in potions making, cooking, baking, and bartending, it was an incredible healing component. Few witches outside of the Healing Coven knew that Firebee Honey could heal even the most infected of wounds. In her situation, that jar of honey in her hands was worth its weight in gold.

"Thomas! Wash your hands and get over here!" She said across the cafeteria. She made her way back to her table, where the butterfly bandages were, and put the jar of honey and jar of yarrow down next to them. Before she sat down, she drew a spell circle, and all of her abomination armor, save for her bracelet, fell off in neat plates, melting into puddles on the ground. The back of her uniform was darkened and stained with blood. She stood there, staring at the collection of supplies. Her felt her face heat up as she had a determined look on. Modesty be damned she was injured.
"Okay Thom you're going to be playing doctor." She said, "Since I can't reach my own back."
Audrey took off her uniform top, leaving her in her white bra only. She worked quickly, taking her water bottle and splashing the back of her uniform with water. She rubbed the water in and wrung it out onto the floor, the dirty water was red with blood. She then put the shirt on the table.
"Listen carefully." Audrey instructed, sitting down on the chair and moving so her back was towards Thomas., doing so with care. "Use my water bottle and clean my cut, once all the dirt is out, sprinkle this powder onto the cut and press on the cut hard with my shirt and keep it there, even if I bleed through my shirt." She said. The shirt was clean enough. "In ten minutes, when the bleeding stops, and if it hasn't stopped, apply pressure for five minutes and check again, repeat til it's done." She pointed to the butterfly bandages, "When it is done bleeding, wash around the cut, then use these butterfly strips to close the cut. Stick one side, pull down, stick the other side. Space them out just a little. Once the entire cut has been closed, use the honey and apply it directly to the cut. We'll cover it with bandages later."
Her back didn't look great, the cut was long, across her middle back below her bra strap. It was smeared with dirt, and blood streaked down to her lower back. "Be quick. As soon as you get that dirt out, I'm going to start bleeding again, a lot. You might have to apply pressure with my shirt and use Yarrow powder multiple times to get it to stop fully." Audrey warned. She grabbed a small notebook from out of her bag and folded it in half, putting it in her mouth and biting down on it.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas looked from the inside of the pot to Audrey as the girl responded to him. He nodded, glad that she was somewhat hanging in there it seemed. "Good to hear," he replied, "Just waiting on this water to boil," he told her. The boy then raised his eyebrows as Audrey exclaimed something and claimed that she had gotten quite lucky, finding something and calling him over. He widened his eyes, "Coming!" he called as he quickly stopped watching the pot and washed his hands, dashing over to where Audrey had called him over when he was finished, "What is it?" Thomas asked her as he approached the girl. He saw her put down a jar of some type of honey as she instructed him that he was going to be "playing doctor."

The boy's eyes widened, surprised that she was going to let him go through with all of this. It was a lot of responsibility it seemed, but Thomas did want to make himself useful as well as get Audrey patched up as quick as possible. "Me? O- ok," he said with a head nod and a hint of hesitation. He then widened his eyes slightly and blushed as he watched Audrey draw a spell circle and melt the abomination armor, then taking off her Hexside uniform top shirt, only wearing a white braw now. He didn't know why but the sight of this made the boy blush for a moment.

He nodded along as the girl explained to him a very detailed set of instructions. The boy sure hoped he could handle and follow along with her instructions, but he certainly was no expert at anything involving the healing coven. Thomas gulped nervously before speaking when Audrey was done explaining what he needed to do to help her get patched up. "A- are you sure you trust me with all this? Y- you think I can handle all of this?" he asked hesitantly. "I don't wanna accidentally hurt you or make things worse, Audrea..." he told her softly.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey took out the folded notebook and chuckled darkly, "Oh it's gonna hurt." She guaranteed, "And doing nothing might actually kill me if this cut gets infected." She replied, "Er, if we leave it alone for like a month or something." She added, "The worst case right now is if you don't stop the bleeding and I pass out."
She paused, realizing that wasn't much better, "But that won't happen. The hardest part is the first part. Wash, apply a little powder, apply pressure with the shirt for ten minutes. After that I can walk you through the rest." Audrey assured. They could wait longer for the bandages to sterilize, then cool, then dry, but she was injured a while ago now. And even though she lost track of time, she didn't want to wait much longer for the wound to fester any longer. Especially since they could do just as good with what they had right now. All they needed were right at their hands, the yarrow powder and honey were lucky bonuses, it would have been even more precarious without those two substances.

She pointed at the powder. "Yarrow powder. We use it in the clinic in salves, powders just like that, and sometimes even in it's plant form. It's an herb, a very versatile one at that. In it's powder form it can stop bleeding by encouraging coagulation of the blood. Only use a little bit, we want it to stop the bleeding, so we have enough time to close my cut with the butterfly bandages." She explained, then she pointed at the honey, "That stuff is in every hospital and clinic, I can tell you that for sure. Honey is very effective at fighting infection and killing germs. We have everything we need, Thom, I need your hands to apply them." She said. "Just follow the steps and you'll do fine." Audrey encouraged. The tools they had at hand were almost perfect for their situation, the only thing that would have been better would have been an actual hospital bed, a hospital room, two Healing Coven doctors on hand, and a Healing Coven surgeon with a suture kit. But the butterfly bandages would do the job of suturing just fine, and the Healing Glyphs, while it would take longer, would be just as good as a Healing Coven doctor applying healing magic. Audrey put the notebook back into her mouth and looked back at Thomas, giving him an approving nod.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas' eyes widened at the mention of killing her if they did nothing about it. "Oh Titan! Ok, yea l- let's get you fixed up. We don't want you err- dying...." he said with an awkward chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck. He nodded, closing his eyes temporarily and taking a deep breath before opening his eyes again and nodding, looking at Audrey with a confident glimmer in his eyes.

"Ok, I- I'm ready. Let's do it." Thomas said, ready to help the girl. He grabbed the water bottle and opened the cap. "Alright Audrea, turn around," he said, "I'm gonna wash the cut first, let's get that nasty grime outta there so it doesn't get infected." he said.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey felt the water on her back, and as soon as the cool liquid touched the cut, it flared up in pain. She grit her teeth and clenched her fists, determined not to yell out in pain while Thomas washed out the dirt and grime from out of the wound. She closed her eyes and waited for it to be over, and after a few moments it was. The water stopped and he sprinkled the powder on, then with Audrey's shirt, pressed the cloth against her wound and held it there. Audrey took a moment to catch her breath.
"Okay... ten minutes. Then we check if I've stopped bleeding." She said. They spent the next ten minutes in silence, then she felt the pressure on her back lessen as Thomas peeked to see if it worked. She felt the pressure stop and her shirt lifted away, guessing that the bleeding had indeed stopped, she continued instructing. "We can take our time now. Butterfly bandages, stick one side, pull it, stick the other side to close my wound." Thomas ended up using nearly all of the bandages, but it was done, "Now apply some honey, just use your hands."

Once that was all done, all they had to do was sterilize the cloth bandages, dry them, then wrap Audrey up.
"Good work Thom." She complimented. Her cut still stung a little, since they didn't have any painkillers, and Audrey didn't cast any pain reducing spells, but she didn't need to. It was manageable now. She sighed in relief, grabbing her uniform cowl and putting it on for at least a little bit of modesty. "I wonder if there's any food in the pantry." She wondered aloud. Something solid to chew on would probably be good, and she should wash her shirt. She grabbed her bloody shirt and held it up in front of her, noticing the dark patches where the blood stained the dark grey fabric, and the red patches on the pink sleeves. She grumbled a little then folded it up. "Come on, we still have to boil these bandages." Audrey said to Thomas, she walked over to the kitchen with her shirt in her hands. Inside the still partially stocked pantry, there was a surprising variety of food. Some of it was expired, but there were canned fruits, dried beans, oats, sugar, canned fish, among other things. Enough for a skilled chef to make a meal out of.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas carefully followed Audrey's instructions through the whole time as she guided the boy through the process. The illusions coven witch had no knowledge of any healing coven affairs so it was helpful to be guided along by someone who lived in a clinic and grew up with parents who worked in the healing coven. He nodded along, keeping focused and not talking as he acknowledged her compliments and instructions. For an amateur, Thom didn't do too bad, granted Audrey was verbally assisting him. He smiled and nodded once he had fully patched her up. "I'm glad you can get better now," he said, "And thank you for helping me through it," he added.

He raised his eyebrows as she asked about food. Was she hungry? Was HE hungry? He never really noticed how long he hadn't eaten and was beginning to feel a bit hungry. After all, he didn't have much time to focus on hunger when he was in the middle of trying to not die in a battle against an angry Spider Cow demon. "Food? You think they've got food here?" Thomas asked, GOOD food? Like food we can eat still after all these years?" he asked, a little hesitant.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

"Well, I should be the one thanking you." Audrey replied to Thomas without looking at him, on her way to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, Audrey grabbed a pot and tossed her shirt in it, setting it in a sink and letting cold water wash over it. The cold water would wash any blood out, and any stains, well, she could worry about that later when she wasn't in some weird underground ruin that mirrored their school. When Thomas asked his questions, Audrey glanced to the rows of plant pots. It would make sense that the pantry had food, the witches that were here before them chose to be here for a reason. Easy access to food storage, cooking equipment, and water? If they stored food, why not store it in a place that was proven to be effective at storing food in the first place?

"Maybe, can't hurt to check right?" Audrey replied, "If the witches that were here before stored canned food, you'd be surprised at how long they stay good for." She said. Once the pot with her shirt in it was full she shut off the water and stirred the shirt in the water for a moment, then taking it out and wringing out the water, setting it aside to dry on a counter. She then made sure the bandages were in the other pot boiling. After all that, she went to the pantry and opened the door, revealing shelves stocked with cans and jars. She blinked in confusion, she was expecting maybe one or two shelves, sparsely full, but this pantry was just over half full. She walked in and grabbed a can of peaches, looking at the bottom for the expiration date. It was only just barely expired by a few years. Which meant that the witches who lived here were here less than ten years ago, she estimated. "Maybe I should bet on a Ratworm race or two," she grabbed another can of soup, finding it to be roughly the same, "We could be the luckiest witches on the Isles right now. A lot of this food still looks good. Only just barely out of date, but the cans are in good condition, and the pantry looks like it's still good as well." Audrey grabbed a can of sliced pears for herself, "Take your pick." She said, "I'll try to find some utensils and a can opener."

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas shrugged. He wasn't too thrilled at the prospect of eating expired food, but what more did they have? It didn't hurt to check, and they would need something to eat to keep them from starving. Only the Titan knew how long they were going to be in those ruins for. But she was right, it was canned food, and canned food tended to last longer. It might mean that this canned food was still good, since shelf life was increased by being preserved. The boy nodded as they went to the pantry after Audrey got her shirt out of the boiling water where it was being sterilized.

He watched on trying to get a good glimpse of any labels with an expiration date as Audrey grabbed some cans of the shelves and began analyzing them to see if the food was still good. He widened his eyes and chuckled as she made a slight joke before informing him how lucky they were- the food was still good. "Titan! Y- you're serious?" Thomas asked with a surprised open mouthed smile, "No way! We're saved!" he said, rejoicing.

Thomas nodded and smiled as he took one of the cans as Audrey grabbed the can of sliced pears. Thomas had picked a simple can of soup for himself as he then felt his stomach gurgle with hunger as he looked down at the canned food. The boy put a hand gently over his stomach, realizing how hungry he was now. "If you can find a spoon that would be nice!" the boy called after her, "I'm going with the soup!: he said.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey rummaged through the cabinets of the kitchen, finding plates and bowls of various size. So these witches before them were definitely living here, not just working here. Why else would they keep mugs and plates? Eventually on the lower cabinets she found a shelf full of spatulas and assorted cooking tools. A quick moment later she found a can opener, and set it onto the counter. And not long after she discovered the spoons and forks, metal ones. Not disposable. She made frown and grabbed a spoon for Thomas and a fork for herself, giving them a quick rinse.

She ended up opening the can of pears and eating them right out of the can, staring into the floor while she idly chewed and swallowed, furrowing her brow. It took her half the can of pears before she spoke up.
"So that cave in is more like a built up wall. The witches that lived here before seem to have left in a hurry." She began, turning to glance at the work stations and overgrown potted plants, "They left their projects and they left perfectly good food here. So what made them leave, and how did they get out, if they built a wall to trap themselves in?" Audrey tapped the edge of the can with her fork a few times, "Do you still have that green book that brought us here? I think now is as a good time as any to see if it has any clues."

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas thanked her for the spoon and opened his can of soup, beginning to munch on that. "Mmph, if I had to take a guess, I'd say it was those Spider Cow demons that made 'em leave," speculated Thom with a mouth full of food. The boy then raised his eyebrows, remembering the little green book that had gotten them into this mess in the first place. "I think I do," he told her as he furrowed his brow and stuck his tongue out a little, putting down his spoon and can of soup as he checked his pockets. Sure enough, he had kept it, pulling out a little green book and holding it up in front of their faces. "I do have it! Here," he said, handing the green book to her, "Take a look. See if ya find something remotely useful in here."

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey took the book and looked it over, it had a simple green cover, but before she opened the book she touched her drying shirt and the drying bandages. "Maybe, but the demons seemed unbothered by us, the bull only appeared once we scared the rest of the herd..." She replied. The shirt and bandages were still a little damp, so she drew a spell circle and created a fireball to hover over them, in hopes of drying them faster. The light pink fireball cast a glow in the kitchen, and offered them warmth. She looked back down at the book, letting the fireball dry the cloths they needed, and opened it. The first few pages were blank, save for a large circle drawn on the pages, a dark red. Audrey flipped through the first few pages, examining the circles carefully, before realizing that they were blood. She frowned, and looked at the back few pages of the book, seeing the same. The first three and the last three pages of this mysterious book had blood magic inscribed in them. Witches were no stranger to blood being a use in magic, animal blood was an ingredient in some higher level Abomination recipes, as well as Potions recipes. But... something bothered Audrey, she didn't know what kind of blood this was, and who applied it. The more sinister was a possibility, that this was witches blood. She frowned, and flipped to the contents of the book.

The inside was a notebook, with hand drawn illustrations of mushrooms as well as annotations to their properties. Some notes had underlines and highlights, the cursive writing was difficult to read. She looked at the abandoned work tables, then at the notebook, both had mushrooms. Could this notebook be about that table full of mushrooms? She flipped through the book searching for any pages, but there was nothing on the strange hypnotic mushroom. Audrey sighed heavily and touched her shirt and the bandages, finding them dry. She drew a spellcircle to end the fireball.
"Hey Thom, can you help me apply these bandages?" She asked, folding several into pads. She grabbed a roll of medical tape, setting it nearby. "Tape these pads onto my back." Audrey turned around so her back would face Thomas, leaning on the counter. "So the book is about mushrooms, the witches that lived here must have used this place as a workshop. It's not going to help us get out, but I'm kind of inclined to just take whatever they were working on." She said unamused, "After all they just left their work here, and their place trapped us here." She grumbled.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas shuddered, thinking about their scary encounter with the bull spider, "Good, as long as you think that the rest of the herd is scared off. I don't ever want to encounter those awful creatures again!" he said. "That was probably one of the scariest things I have ever experienced in my short life here on the Boiling Isles," he said. He watched on as the girl created a little fireball in hopes of drying her clothes a little bit faster as she read the book.

He nodded as Audrey asked him for some help with applying her bandages. "Sure thing, Audrea," he replied as she folded several of them into pads and grabbed some medical tape. Thomas nodded as he took the medical tape and unrolled a piece, taking some of the pads and taping them onto her back as she turned around and leaned against the counter with her back facing him.

Thomas just shrugged as he taped on some bandage pads onto her back. "Fair enough. Finders keepers as they say, right?" he said with a little chuckle. He stuck out his tongue a little in focus as he taped the last remaining pads onto her back. "Aaaaand done!" he said, smiling softly and nodding at his handy work. "Looks like you're all patched up," he told her.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey smiled, "Thank you, Thomas." she said, "And ideally it stays one of the scariest, when you've lived a long life." she added. Life tended to have a different opinion though, as she knew from experience. Unfortunately, for Thomas it was a terrifying encounter with a monster from childrens nightmares, but for Audrey it was nothing more than a unique creature with a bad attitude, something she had seen plenty of times, thanks to her training, adventuring with her mentor, and brushes with rival witches. She wondered how she would have done against that Spider-Demon if she had been born here in Bonesborough, as what was supposed to be. Not very well, she assumed. She would have never met Master Liberi, never learned his sword techniques or abomination techniques, she never would have been fostering her aggression and fighting, since there never would have been challenges like the ones she went through at Latissa. She would have been a healer through and through, not this strange mess of feelings and pulls towards so many different covens. Then again, if she had been born here, the two of them probably would have never been trapped down here to begin with. She would have just left that worn down club stall, and it's mysterious book alone. Life would have been so much simpler.

She glanced back to Thomas, "...Can you um, turn around for a little bit?" Audrey asked quietly. This adventure of theirs already was like something out of a novel, and she didn't want to push that rating. Once he turned around, she unclasped her cowl with one hand, holding onto it with the other, and she pulled it off her shoulders, putting it on the counter. The exposed witch then grabbed her shirt, and carefully put it on, making sure not to disturb any of the bandages that Thomas put on her back. It took longer than expected, but they were safe here in the cafeteria, so she thought it better to be safer than sorry. "Okay I'm done." She said, notifying Thomas that she was done, while she pulled her cowl over her shoulders again, and buttoning it secure.

The now again fully clothed Audrey turned around to face Thomas, grabbing the green book. "Let's go look at those projects. Maybe thinking about them for a little would give us some more ideas on how to get out." She said, turning to walk towards the two large tables. "You know, Latissa Port has a law of salvage. Any witch who recovers another witch's ship or cargo is entitled to a reward equal to the value of the rescued item. Sometimes they're just given the salvage on the spot." She said, "I used to hear sailors talk about it all the time. Lots of shipwrecks out in the Boiling Seas apparently, especially from vessels who tangled with sea demons who thought they were the masters of the sea."

Once they reached the two work tables, they were able to get a better view of what was on them. The one on the left was the table of mushrooms. There were some 12 or 14 smaller glass terrariums, each one housing a patch of soil, with small grass and moss, with a single or small patch of mushrooms. Each one was wildly different, in shape, size, and coloration. The singular large terrarium was resting in the middle of the table, the top of the vibrant green mushroom still pulsing, and it still had strings of lights coming from it's center moving towards the edge of the cap, still shimmering in it's rainbow color. In a neat set, there was a set of tools. Small scissors, forceps, some metal rods, a small water can.
On the right table, there was a stand made of branches, and settled on the stand was a large horn fashioned out of a familiar keratin horn. On the outside of the curved horn, there etchings of strange symbols and circles, evidently carved by hand, judging from the hammer, chisel, and brushes on the table. Wrapped around the horn were bands of clean shiny brass, with the two furthest bands having buckles that held a loop of leather in place. Pages of notes with barely readable scrawl were scattered in loose stacks on the table.
Audrey frowned looking at the horns notes. "Well, we know that there were at least two witches here now." She said, opening the green notebook and comparing the handwriting, they were completely different, but still similarly difficult to read. "Wait..." Audrey pulled out one sheet of paper from under another, and drawn on the sheet were the same symbols etched onto the horn. In the middle, was a pictograph like set of images. A witch holding the horn, blowing it, and in front of the witch were a row of animals. First, small in size. Like a beetle, then the row grew in size. A mouse, a wolf, a stag, bear, spider-demon, ratworm, eventually ending with a dragon. All of the animals were facing the same direction, the direction of the horn, and all of them were depicted as marching forward.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas nodded as she thanked him. "Of course, Audrea.... We've gotta have each other's backs down here..." he said. The young witch boy had lived a relatively sheltered life, thanks to the work of his over protective parents. This encounter was scary and probably the closest the young boy had ever been to death. The boy's eyes widened a bit as she asked him to turn around for a little bit, presumably because she was going to change clothes. He nodded quickly and turned around, covering his eyes with both of his hands, waiting until she said it was ok for him to turn around. He nodded as he opened his eyes and removed his hands from them, turning back to face Audrey now.

Now facing a fully clothed Audrey, Thomas nodded as she grabbed the green book. He raised his eyebrows as she went on, something about a Latissa Port law of salvage that he had no clue about. "Boy..." said Thomas with a chuckle, shaking his head slowly, "You sure do know a lot about this stuff..." he commented. It really just put into perspective how sheltered and shielded from the outside world young Thomas was.

Thom followed the girl as they reached two work tables. He looked on over Audrea's shoulders as they both looked at the contents on the tables. "Let's hope that it was WERE," said Thomas, gulping nervously. "Last thing we want is company..." he said. "Hey... Why do you even think who ever was here left it all like this in the first place? Those freaky spider cows I assume...." Thomas speculated aloud.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Once Thomas brought up the question, why all these things were left like this, Audrey wondered too. Clearly, they were in a rush, but why were they in a rush? What made them leave all their work here? It could have been the Spider-Demons, possibly. The females seemed calm enough, but the bulls seemed to not enjoy the company of witches, though their sudden noises and movements, sparking panic in the herd definitely didn't help. The bulls weren't hunting for them, so if it really was the Spider-Bulls that caused them to leave, they could have packed up and left. Audrey had a bad feeling about this. Witches typically didn't like leaving their stuff, at least, Audrey didn't. She threw down the gauntlet against a fellow Glandus student for stealing her book. Audrey had a pensive look about her, thinking about how if the Spider-Bull took something of hers, and kept it away from her, she wouldn't have used a hammer against it. The trained witch followed the teachings of her mentor, concerning wild demons and animals, more often than nought, they just want to go about their business. It just so happened that they ended up in the midst of the bulls herd, and bad luck, that they accidentally startled them. The Spider-Demon was doing it's duty of protecting it's family, and Audrey respected that. But if that demon took something of hers, she would have used much sharper tools.

Could the witches before have coexisted with the Spider-Cows? After all, the Spider-Demon cattle came from domestication, a coexistence. So what makes a pair of witches leave in a rush? Not even given enough time to pack up? She pursed her lips and didn't like the answers her head was giving her.
"The Spider-Demons might have been a part of it. If it were up to me, I wouldn't mind not finding out, I think a mystery that makes two witches leave what looks like their life's work and never come back for it is the kind that won't keep me up at night if I never solve it." Audrey said. She picked up the horn, looking through the larger end, and seeing that the inside was etched as well, with notably, the pictograph. This etching must have taken dozens of hours. "By any chance did you ever get into music?" Audrey asked Thomas, "I knew a Bard, but she's well, not here right now." She felt a pang of regret. If they were all here, they would have cleared this ruin in fifteen minutes flat, laughing and joking the entire way through.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlaisc:​

Thomas nodded, "Yea, I sure don't wanna find out either, but if it were me, I think it'd be these hostile spider cow demons that drove me out," he said with shrug. "But it is quite odd these witches would just drop everything here and not come back, it seems like whatever they were working on, they were doing so for a while, maybe to reach some sort of break through," he commented. It was a mystery to the both of them. It. was beyond him why these witches who were here before them seemingly dropped everything and left.

The boy raised an eyebrow as Audrea asked if he was into music. It was a bit of an odd question to him in the moment, seemingly popped out of the blue. He was about to open his mouth and answer, but she went on, talking about this witch from the Bard coven she used to know. His eyes widened as he felt his heart drop at the mention of a Bard coven witch.

Thomas was never really into music, but he did once know a Bard coven witch... The mention of a Bard coven witch brought back some memories, some that the young blonde haired witch preferred not to think or talk about.... "Uhh, erm, I- I erm, no... I never got into music or anything..." he said, sounding rather uncomfortable.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Thomas never got into music, but the way he said it, in a sort of flustered sort of way, had Audrey raise an eyebrow. Something must have happened, and she understood, there were things she didn't like to, or want to, talk about either. So she decided to just let it be. She looked back at the horn.
"Well, it can't be that hard could it?" She asked. Of course, she knew it was hard. Eva tried to teach some music theory to her, and not much of it stuck. Audrey was always more interested in how animated Eva became when she showed off music, but what did stick was her practice of tempoed dueling. Whenever they practiced with each other, or got into scraps with others, Eva was always stern about tempo. It was the one thing the normally meek girl was insistent on, and the resulting effects were staggering. Audrey looked at the mouth piece, turning the horn over to get a look at the whole thing. She never really even touched an instrument before, so this was new to her. She wiped the brass mouthpiece of the blowing horn and then tentatively put her lips to it.

Nothing. What came out was a weak, hollow, hum as the wind traveled through the horn. Audrey blew harder, thinking maybe more breath would make something like a squeak, but instead, the hum just grew louder. Then the carvings began to glow, and she suddenly stopped, surprised. The glow faded. It wasn't a very strong glow to begin with, just a faint light the light of her magic. Audrey narrowed her eyebrows at the horn.
"Did you uh... see that?" Audrey asked Thomas, "I thought I wasn't giving it any magic, I think it just started taking." She said, glancing at the strange hypnotic fungus. "So... not a normal horn. And probably not a normal mushroom." She offered the blowing horn to Thomas, "Want to give it a look over? Or a try?"

 

[Edric Blight]

"S- sure, sure, I'm sure..." he replied, uncomfortable and definitely wanting to change the subject off of music or anything remotely relating to the Bard coven. When Thomas had watched his old boyhood friend who was in the Bard coven, the music sure didn't look too easy. It seemed like a difficult task learning an instrument, a special task meant for a special type of person. Thomas almost winced as Audrey picked up the horn, the bad memories flowing back... the simple act of a non-Bard coven witch picking up a musical instrument, disturbing to him...

He watched as she wiped the brass mouth piece before attempting to blow the first time. At first try, only a weak sorry excuse for a noise came out of the horn. Clearly not satisfied with the first attempt, Audrey tried for a second time. Thomas then looked down at the ground, reflecting upon his thoughts and thinking about some of the good and bad memories flowing back to him of the Bard coven witch boy he once used to know in his earlier boyhood. He wasn't paying attention when Audrey gave. the horn another blow, this time a louder hum becoming of it.

Thomas didn't quite catch what she had seen, turning his attention back to her and looking a little confused as the girl asked him if he had seen something. He shook his head and looked at her oddly as she seemed to glance at an odd mushroom looking thing. "Odd... lemme see if I can give it a try," said Thomas as he slowly took the horn she had handed to him. He felt his heart rate pick up for whatever reason as he took the horn from her. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, blowing into the horn with all of his might.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Thomas blew into the horn, and like Audrey, the horn only produced a hollow hum. And just like Audrey, the runes and inscriptions began to glow faintly, in Thomas's own magic color.
"There!" Audrey exclaimed, pointing closely at the horn, she looked around, "Nothing's happening though..." She thought for a moment, "I think we have to be near animals for it to do something." She said, picking up the sheet of paper with the inscriptions of them. The pictograph of a witch blowing a horn behind a line of animals to be instructions, it must be, why else would it be there? "And I guess we have to play the horn correctly, it doesn't sound right to me when we try."

She sighed, leaning forward and putting her elbows on the table. She poked several of the smaller terrariums that were closest to her while she stared at the large strange one. The green book didn't have any illustrations of it, and the pages that were mostly writing, which probably had information on it, were hardly legible. So she could either spend an hour deciphering one page or... she reached out towards the large terrarium and poked it. The hypnotic mushroom didn't do anything, which, of course it didn't, it was a mushroom. Albeit a very colorful one at that, with it's strings of rainbow lights.

Audrey impulsively unlatched the lock and opened the glass panel to the strange mushroom, and it immediately reacted, a puff of glowing yellow spores shooting out of it's gills which spread quickly. Already it was on her hand. Her eyes shot open and she closed the glass door to the terrarium, locking it closed. She, in a panic, looked at her hand which was dusted with glowing yellow. Then at her shirt, finding some on her chest and sleeve. She looked at Thomas, thankfully there weren't any indications that the spore cloud had reached him. But for her...
She blinked several times rapidly, feeling strange, taking a step back from the table, a look of uncertainty on her face. She felt like she was moving a fraction of a second before she actually moved, she sensed Thomas moving a fraction of a second before he actually moved.

"What in the world is..." The confused witch said, her attention shot towards the strange mushroom, which was still as vibrant and hypnotic as before. It was thirsty? She looked at the rows of overgrown pots, minor pest problems, water levels and light levels good. She felt the vines above them, which were thriving in the current environment. Audrey spun around and stared at the cafeteria exit. She felt plants from the next room over, and the rooms next over, the vines and grasses and trees in the halls.
She opened her mouth, but didn't speak for several seconds, then closed it, then opened it again, trying to find the words. "I think... I know why Plant Coven witches talk to their plants." Audrey said simply, "I think I can..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reaching out and grabbing a chair to sit down, carefully, "Moving is weird." She explained. The afflicted witch sat and focused. "There's a tunnel here. At the bottom floor, the school center where everyone goes up and down floors on their Palismen. There's supposed to be floor there but it... seems to have collapsed. I can feel the moss and algae there, Titan, it's weird. Like a whole new sense." She furrowed her brow, trying to sense even farther, "Above us there's trees, I think it's Hexside right above us. And beyond that stone wall... I can see grass about 30 meters, it leads up... It's a tunnel, leading to the grounds behind Hexside? I think." She exclaimed, "Let me try and narrow it down so I can... Wait, it's fading."
Audrey opened her eyes and looked to her hand and sleeve, noticing that the glow of the spores were now gone, only leaving a dull yellow smear. It was much quieter now, in a way. She looked to Thomas with determination, "Titan that was weird but I think we have our way out, and I think these are magical relics... new ones."

 

[Edric Blight]

As Thomas blew the horn, yet another small hum was emitted. The boy lowered the horn from his mouth and sighed. Thom shrugged at her words, he had no clue what to do with this horn and what it did, but maybe the cave paintings were a good indicator of what it was used for. "I dunno, I don't know how to play a horn, I'm guessing we're not doing it right. Maybe we need a Bard coven witch," suggested Thomas with an unsure shrug. The blonde witch just stood near Audrey as she put her elbows on the table and leaned forward, the boy looking up at the cave paintings and analyzing them. Thomas was so busy unsuccessfully trying to interpret the paintings that he was caught by surprise when he didn't notice Audrey touching the magic mushrooms, which released millions of yellow spores causing Thomas to widen his eyes and jump back.

Thomas looked down at his own body- luckily, it seemed that none of the yellow spores had reached him. But he then looked to Audrey, his eyebrows raising as he saw the girl covered in a yellow dust. Thomas nervously analyzed her, wondering what had happened. He raised one eyebrow over the other, keeping a little bit of distance as Audrey seemed disoriented and stumbled back a step. He opened his mouth to ask if she was ok, but stopped as she began speaking finally. She looked a bit off, whatever the spores had done obviously effecting her, making movement feel odd. But Thom continued to look even more confused as the girl began to say she could now see plants that were around them- like a whole new sense.

"Erm, Audrea? Are you sure you're ok?" Thomas asked, a bit worried, "You're talking nonsense, all this stuff about seeing plants that aren't really there, are you sure everything's alright?" he asked cautiously. "Maybe before we do anything brash, you should sit down for a few minutes and take a rest," he suggested, "Whatever came out of that mushroom must really be messing you up." he said.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

"I'm perfectly fine." Audrey replied, she got up, but now it felt like her body was lagging behind her movements. She staggered and caught herself by grabbing onto the table, she suddenly felt much more exhausted than before. Did the spores do that? Grant her plant-sight, but by taking a large amount of stamina and magic? She slowly sat back down onto the chair, "Okay, not fine. I'm... a little dizzy." She said, "I just need a few minutes." Audrey controlled her breathing and made mental checks of herself. She knew that certain spores from certain mushrooms could cause illness, especially respiratory ones. A lot of Plant Coven witches who worked with mushrooms for years ended up with such illnesses, witches who ended up in her parent's clinic. But most cases, like this one, a small, short exposure to spores, wouldn't lead to anything. As far as she knew. But as far as she knew a mushroom like this was impossible, and it's spores granting her the abilities of talented plant coven witches, was impossible.

As far as she could tell, her lungs were okay, breathing was unimpeded, the only effect she was feeling was that strange sensation. Where moving her body, she felt as if her body was slower than her actual movements, the exact opposite of what she felt when she was under the effects of the spores. She wiped off the spores off her sleeve, hand and chest. Making a frown, Thomas was right, those spores affected her perception of things so quickly and at such a scale, that calling it messing her up was an understatement. But whether or not they gained valuable information or not was still up in the air, she hoped they did, and she also hoped that breathing in those spores wouldn't cause her any long term effects. After a moment, she replied to Thomas's claim that she was speaking nonsense.
"There's a way to prove if what I saw was real or not, at the potted plants, it felt like those herbs were telling me there was a minor pest problem. Like some... small insects, I don't know what they're called. Check the stems, the herbs were reporting them there." She said, "Or we can check the Plant Coven classroom, which should be right across from us, I'm pretty sure there's small fruit trees in there. Cherries, I think, if I saw right. If that information is correct, then I think we can assume the rest is right too."

She hoped what she saw was real, and not a hallucination. But it wouldn't make sense for a hallucenation to be... like that. The world seemed duller now that she was missing that sense, it was strange. Like a third eye opening, allowing her to see beyond normal sight. Or her ears allowing her to hear sounds far beyond what she should have been able to. Or like a canine's sense of smell, she guessed. A sense that was alien, and so far beyond anything she had ever experienced. The closest thing she could compare it to would be information feedback from abomination creations, but even then, she would have to request a status from the goo. This sense was alive, like standing in the middle of a lush jungle, and knowing every little thing that went on. Audrey found herself envious of plant coven witches, their perception of the world, once they achieved this spell that the spores emulated, was so much more vibrant than everyone else's.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas raised a suspicious eyebrow, looking a bit worried and uncomfortable. He wasn't so sure or convinced that Audrea was fine or really "all there" in the head right now. "Listen, that sounds great and all but I don't think we want to take any unnecessary risks," he said, as if he were talking to a senile old lady rambling on and on, "I- I really do think you should sit down and rest for a while, let whatever the affects of that magic mushroom are wear off," he suggested.

"Realize that you're not making much sense," said Thomas calmly, "You're going on and on about plants that you or I can't really see that are around us, acting like you've opened up some sort of sixth sense and all, but really, I think you should just shake what ever this is off for a bit," he said with a shrug. "You are an abomination coven witch after all, I highly doubt you actually have the ability to see all these plants- that's magic I assume that would be reserved for plant coven witches only." Thomas said. Personally, the boy thought it was a load of junk and what Audrey was saying must have been a result of the yellow spores.