Prosy: Gathering Herbs
Sep. 25th, 2011 11:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
clare_dragonflyTitle: Gathering Herbs
Word count: 333
Rating: G
Prompt:moonwolf's: The use of herbs in magic - either fantasy magic or pagan magic(k).
Notes: This isn't quite the use of herbs, but it is the gathering of them. Also, look! A new (to readers, not me) world!
Palua felt she had just drifted off to sleep when she felt her shoulder being touched. Her training held; she woke instantly, memory returning without a pause, and knew it was Usian, the elder priestess assigned as her mentor. She rose silently to keep from waking the fellow novices with whom she shared a room, slipped her shoes on, and pulled a coarse brown cloak on over the simple shift she wore to sleep in—deliberately identical to the clothing all priestesses wore night and day. Usian was dressed almost identically, though her cloak was more finely woven and pure white, the sign that she was a full-fledged healer.
None of the other novices this year wished to apprentice as healers. They had all been warned that it was the most difficult path, demanding great self-sacrifice and even harder work than the ordinary priestly training. But it had been Palua’s dream since she was a child, and so far, she had not found that she was unequal to any of the tasks put before her.
It did not appear that this night’s task was different. She followed Usian through the halls and out into the garden, where they nodded a silent greeting to the others working there, but they were going further, into the hills.
The moon was full tonight, which was the point, and their path was clear; but to Palua’s surprise, Usian didn’t lead them along the path they usually took. Instead they headed west, where the hills were steeper and rocker. Still, she followed without question.
“Oh!” she whispered, stopping short, when an herb caught her eye. “Look, Usian.” She knelt in the grass and reached for an herb, its bright flowers mostly closed but still reflecting moonlight.
Usian reached out and stopped her arm. “No, Palua.”
Palua looked up, surprised. “But it’s nightshade.” This herb was useful, and often difficult to find.
“Not under the full moon. We will remember this spot, and wait for the new.”
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Word count: 333
Rating: G
Prompt:
moonwolf's: The use of herbs in magic - either fantasy magic or pagan magic(k).Notes: This isn't quite the use of herbs, but it is the gathering of them. Also, look! A new (to readers, not me) world!
Palua felt she had just drifted off to sleep when she felt her shoulder being touched. Her training held; she woke instantly, memory returning without a pause, and knew it was Usian, the elder priestess assigned as her mentor. She rose silently to keep from waking the fellow novices with whom she shared a room, slipped her shoes on, and pulled a coarse brown cloak on over the simple shift she wore to sleep in—deliberately identical to the clothing all priestesses wore night and day. Usian was dressed almost identically, though her cloak was more finely woven and pure white, the sign that she was a full-fledged healer.
None of the other novices this year wished to apprentice as healers. They had all been warned that it was the most difficult path, demanding great self-sacrifice and even harder work than the ordinary priestly training. But it had been Palua’s dream since she was a child, and so far, she had not found that she was unequal to any of the tasks put before her.
It did not appear that this night’s task was different. She followed Usian through the halls and out into the garden, where they nodded a silent greeting to the others working there, but they were going further, into the hills.
The moon was full tonight, which was the point, and their path was clear; but to Palua’s surprise, Usian didn’t lead them along the path they usually took. Instead they headed west, where the hills were steeper and rocker. Still, she followed without question.
“Oh!” she whispered, stopping short, when an herb caught her eye. “Look, Usian.” She knelt in the grass and reached for an herb, its bright flowers mostly closed but still reflecting moonlight.
Usian reached out and stopped her arm. “No, Palua.”
Palua looked up, surprised. “But it’s nightshade.” This herb was useful, and often difficult to find.
“Not under the full moon. We will remember this spot, and wait for the new.”
Did you enjoy this story? You can read more stories in this world or see all my fiction posted at Dreamwidth!