03-08-2021, 03:02 AM
Content Warning
This post contains content that may be unsettling to some readers, including:- Mild reference to drug use (mushrooms)
Aplomado awoke to an ear-splitting headache, and for a few moments just lay prone with her eyes clenched shut, fighting off a sudden wave of nausea. Her limbs were leaden and a thick fog clouded her thoughts. The mushroom had been from her personal stash, tried and tested and free of mold, so perhaps she had just overdone it. Groaning, she kneaded at her forehead with a paw and rolled over onto her side - she didn’t usually feel this rotten after one of her forays. Evidently a trip back to her cave for a nibble of willow bark was in order, but she hardly felt that she could move at all.
A squawk and gentle tug on her ear brought her back to the present, and she sluggishly swatted the crow away. His cawing and pestering did not cease even after another pointed swat, however, and Aplomado risked opening her eyes - but only a slit, lest the sunlight intensify her migraine further. Her immediate surroundings didn’t particularly look like her regular haunt, but then again, she was known to wander quite distantly while under the influence, so that wouldn’t have come to a great surprise to her.
What did come as a surprise was the shrivelled little plant at her feet. It had lost its leaves to frost and would have been easily overlooked as any other winter dormant plant, except for the tiny starbursts along each branch. Her crow fluttered down to inspect the plant at eye level and pecked at one of the spidery blossoms. Clusters of fine yellow tendrils radiated out from a series of purple nodes - flowers in the technical definition of the word, but most unorthodox ones. “Witch-hazel!” she yelped, and immediately regretted her outburst as the volume sent a fresh wave of pain through her head. This was a northern plant she had heard of only in tales from elders and travellers - it did not do so well in the desert lowlands and highland forests of her home. She swung her head upwards to fully take in her surroundings, and found that while the aromatic woods with towering pines did resemble her territory superficially, it was not quite right. The pine was of a feathery-needled species she had never seen before, and evergreen ferns were peeking out from the lee side of a slope in the shadow of a mighty oak.
Immediately energized by the prospect of rare plants and new stock for her coffers, Aplomado awkwardly rolled to her feet and gave the plant her equivalent of a circle check. She gave it a cursory sniff and snipped off a branch at its base, spitting at the bitterness but continuing until she had gathered a small pile of sprays. As far as she could recall, it was the bark that was particularly useful. “Come help carry some of these, will you,” she motioned to her corvid companion, who gave a mechanical-sounding gurgle and scooped up a beakful. “Now it’s just a matter of, uh, finding our way out of here and back home.” Wherever here was...
the staff team luvs u
A squawk and gentle tug on her ear brought her back to the present, and she sluggishly swatted the crow away. His cawing and pestering did not cease even after another pointed swat, however, and Aplomado risked opening her eyes - but only a slit, lest the sunlight intensify her migraine further. Her immediate surroundings didn’t particularly look like her regular haunt, but then again, she was known to wander quite distantly while under the influence, so that wouldn’t have come to a great surprise to her.
What did come as a surprise was the shrivelled little plant at her feet. It had lost its leaves to frost and would have been easily overlooked as any other winter dormant plant, except for the tiny starbursts along each branch. Her crow fluttered down to inspect the plant at eye level and pecked at one of the spidery blossoms. Clusters of fine yellow tendrils radiated out from a series of purple nodes - flowers in the technical definition of the word, but most unorthodox ones. “Witch-hazel!” she yelped, and immediately regretted her outburst as the volume sent a fresh wave of pain through her head. This was a northern plant she had heard of only in tales from elders and travellers - it did not do so well in the desert lowlands and highland forests of her home. She swung her head upwards to fully take in her surroundings, and found that while the aromatic woods with towering pines did resemble her territory superficially, it was not quite right. The pine was of a feathery-needled species she had never seen before, and evergreen ferns were peeking out from the lee side of a slope in the shadow of a mighty oak.
Immediately energized by the prospect of rare plants and new stock for her coffers, Aplomado awkwardly rolled to her feet and gave the plant her equivalent of a circle check. She gave it a cursory sniff and snipped off a branch at its base, spitting at the bitterness but continuing until she had gathered a small pile of sprays. As far as she could recall, it was the bark that was particularly useful. “Come help carry some of these, will you,” she motioned to her corvid companion, who gave a mechanical-sounding gurgle and scooped up a beakful. “Now it’s just a matter of, uh, finding our way out of here and back home.” Wherever here was...
the staff team luvs u