04.Mar.12, 05:34 PM
Breccan moved with sure strides, her bag bouncing rhythmically against one slim hip. She was lightly dressed for the autumn heat that still pervaded Katila in the afternoons, but there was an extra shirt in her bag, long-sleeved, in case the weather turned. Leaving the boundaries of Katila proper and entering the cool shade of the forest was a home-coming. Growing up in Ista meant a nose filled with sea-smells was familiar, but all of her time in Fort, and Journeying across the Northern continent, had given her a sort of nostalgia for forest scents as well. Being surrounded by the smell of warm earth and growing things allowed her soul to swell and expand, relaxed. It was marvelous.
She'd been wanting to come into the forest for a third of the season, to examine the flora and soil, but something had always gotten in the way. She was either doing extra chores in the hope that her work would be noticed or spending all of her time in the little hut that served Katila as a Healing Hall. There were plenty of minor injuries to treat, or there were younger people who wanted to Apprentice, even older ones who wanted the benefit of her herbal knowledge. It was pleasant to dispense the fruits of her study to willing students. She did not particularly care for children, and she was still prone to frustration if they did not grasp what she was teaching them immediately, but there were a few bright apples in the bunch, and she took pleasure in polishing them into competent Healers.
As pleasant as the time was, it still hadn't felt like her own. Finally she was taking time for her, to wander where she pleased and learn the things she had desired to. Her bag was filled with carefully-made smaller bags, intended to allow her to return whatever samples she took and hopefully find a place to plant them nearer to Katila. Numbweed in particular she intended to find, and fellis. There were few enough of those resources near the Weyr; it could not hurt to have them closer. If she could manage it, she'd also search for needlethorn and featherfern, just to ensure she could identify those here in the South.
Breccan covered ground swiftly, her knowledgeable eyes easily cataloguing plants she knew. She was surprised at the size of most of them, far out-stripping their Northern cousins. Echlerov must have been right about the soil here being superior to that in the North. The climate, too, was much better. She wondered why the Northern continent had been settled instead of the Southern. Perhaps the earliest Pernese had loved snow and ice. She made a face. Not for her.
She stooped to collect featherfern, just as she'd hoped. A sharp knife easily made a cutting from the rhizome at its base, and the soil was loose and loamy, easy to place in a bag. A system of knots identified the packet as featherfern for herself, and she moved on. Fellis she nearly gave up on; she simply hadn't been prepared for the sheer size of the trunks she saw, far too big for her to put her arms around. It wasn't easy to get high enough for a cutting, but she managed it, sliding to the ground with no regard for her bare legs. As she brushed bark off of herself, she noted the long scrapes, but quickly dismissed them as superficial. She wasn't confident of rooting tree cuttings -it had seemed a chancy thing at best to her- but there was no point in not trying, and having a fellis tree growing right by the Healer Hall could make a difference.
Soon enough she found herself at the man-made river, which Southern plant life had apparently been happy to colonize. As she harvested tufts of grass seed and the thick heart that was so good for firehead, she was humming. Really, it wasn't so hard to be content here. If this could be her life, this free wandering in the forest, this collecting of all the things she knew so much about, well, that would not be so bad. She ignored that revelation and simply continued to hum. She wasn't here to over-think things. Breccan waded partially into the river, enjoying the cool touch of water on her ankles and the silty earth squelching beneath her. A particularly sturdy bundle of grasses was resisting her efforts, but she was happy to hack away at the woody stalks, humming all the while.
She'd been wanting to come into the forest for a third of the season, to examine the flora and soil, but something had always gotten in the way. She was either doing extra chores in the hope that her work would be noticed or spending all of her time in the little hut that served Katila as a Healing Hall. There were plenty of minor injuries to treat, or there were younger people who wanted to Apprentice, even older ones who wanted the benefit of her herbal knowledge. It was pleasant to dispense the fruits of her study to willing students. She did not particularly care for children, and she was still prone to frustration if they did not grasp what she was teaching them immediately, but there were a few bright apples in the bunch, and she took pleasure in polishing them into competent Healers.
As pleasant as the time was, it still hadn't felt like her own. Finally she was taking time for her, to wander where she pleased and learn the things she had desired to. Her bag was filled with carefully-made smaller bags, intended to allow her to return whatever samples she took and hopefully find a place to plant them nearer to Katila. Numbweed in particular she intended to find, and fellis. There were few enough of those resources near the Weyr; it could not hurt to have them closer. If she could manage it, she'd also search for needlethorn and featherfern, just to ensure she could identify those here in the South.
Breccan covered ground swiftly, her knowledgeable eyes easily cataloguing plants she knew. She was surprised at the size of most of them, far out-stripping their Northern cousins. Echlerov must have been right about the soil here being superior to that in the North. The climate, too, was much better. She wondered why the Northern continent had been settled instead of the Southern. Perhaps the earliest Pernese had loved snow and ice. She made a face. Not for her.
She stooped to collect featherfern, just as she'd hoped. A sharp knife easily made a cutting from the rhizome at its base, and the soil was loose and loamy, easy to place in a bag. A system of knots identified the packet as featherfern for herself, and she moved on. Fellis she nearly gave up on; she simply hadn't been prepared for the sheer size of the trunks she saw, far too big for her to put her arms around. It wasn't easy to get high enough for a cutting, but she managed it, sliding to the ground with no regard for her bare legs. As she brushed bark off of herself, she noted the long scrapes, but quickly dismissed them as superficial. She wasn't confident of rooting tree cuttings -it had seemed a chancy thing at best to her- but there was no point in not trying, and having a fellis tree growing right by the Healer Hall could make a difference.
Soon enough she found herself at the man-made river, which Southern plant life had apparently been happy to colonize. As she harvested tufts of grass seed and the thick heart that was so good for firehead, she was humming. Really, it wasn't so hard to be content here. If this could be her life, this free wandering in the forest, this collecting of all the things she knew so much about, well, that would not be so bad. She ignored that revelation and simply continued to hum. She wasn't here to over-think things. Breccan waded partially into the river, enjoying the cool touch of water on her ankles and the silty earth squelching beneath her. A particularly sturdy bundle of grasses was resisting her efforts, but she was happy to hack away at the woody stalks, humming all the while.