Shopping Day

wherever life plants you

Phoebe was at the market. Again. It seemed an every other day affair what with a growing boy in her house! He was voracious, eating up every little thing she had in her cabinets. And when he wasn't eating, he was growing. Inches upon inches at a time. He would be a tall man she predicted, her little Jude encroaching on her height with each passing day. So if it wasn't food it was cloth - or clothes if she felt lazy - just to keep her son a respectable young man!

But on this day she happened to notice someone new. By now she recognized near everyone who resided in the Greatwood. But this young woman's face was new. So she decided to do the neighborly thing and introduce herself. "Hello, there!" she said brightly, stepping up alongside the younger woman. "My name is Phoebe. I don't believe we have had the pleasure of meeting?"

Phoebe

bloom with grace

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Farrow

Farrow freezes, her whole body tensing even more than it already had been. She was new here, having left her home after her mother's death, a small pack of supplies slung over her shoulders. She needed some things, food, maybe even a warmer blanket if she could find one cheap enough. She was hoping, if she had kept quiet and small, no one would glance her way, yet here she was.

But with a measured breath, Farrow managed to glance sidelong at the woman, and found she nearly glowed with beauty. She flushed, the pink heat blushing along her cheeks and up over her ears. She sounded so nice, and so few people were nice to her.

"Uhm... hello," Farrow had yet to allow her voice to release its lifelong suspicion, her tone still low and unsure, "I'm Farrow."

When in doubt, use nettles

wherever life plants you

Phoebe would prove to be less than absudpicious character surely. Her warm and inviting disposition was one of her hallmark traits...at least in the past. She had become more jaded with each passing year, but had yet to find reason to hold anything against this young woman ' who was apparently named Farrow. "What a unique name!" Phoebe said with a motherly smile. She couldn't help it, the mother in her would never die.

"You're new around Sidhe, right?" she asked with a tilt of her head. More and more humans were moving to the wood hidden city now that the natural Fae had become more accepting of them. A new face wasn't totally out of the norm but it was noteworthy, Phoebe thought. She liked to know who everyone was around town. "What brings you to Sidhe?"

Phoebe

bloom with grace

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Farrow

 "Oh, uh" Farrow wasn't quite sure how to answer that question, "My mother died and all the people in my village hate me so I left" wasn't a great introduction, too much information for sure. "I'm an herbalist. It's easier to be an herbalist where there are.. uh... plants." Farrow tried to smile wide, the same way she saw usual neighbors do, but she was certain she was simply baring her teeth.

Shit. This isn't going great.

Farrow pushed back her urge to stomp her feet a little, a tick of her nerves she developed hen she was small, and her mother dragged her village market days. The people always stared at them, and her mother's rulebthat she not speak too much when they were by kept her quiet. Her stomping was the only way to express her unease. But she was a woman now, and, more than that, a very pretty, motherly, hopefully truly nice woman was trying to have a full conversation with her.

What was her name? Phoebe? Farrow didn't often have to remember names, and now she nearly wished she had.

When in doubt, use nettles

wherever life plants you

Phoebe could tell the smile was forced - how could she not? The poor thing looked like she was grimacing more than smiling. She must be from somewhere very remote, she thought, to be so uncomfortable around people. Or maybe she was just uncomfortable around her. She supposed she was being rather forward - not that she knew how to be anything else anymore.

"Oh, so you must be from somewhere like Halo?" she guessed. The tundra was mostly permafrost after all. Not much plant life there. "Well you've ended up in the right spot! Few places are as flora-diverse as the Greatwood." Phoebe said with a bright smile. "Is there anything you need to help with settling in? Consider me the Sidhe welcoming committee!"

Phoebe

bloom with grace

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Farrow

Farrow nearly blushed again, in the company of such a warm personality. Phoebe was so nice, much nicer than she expected anyone, even after fleeing her home village, to be towards herself.

"Oh, no, not quite so far north but my home didn't have much... mostly nettles." Farrow bit her lip and glanced around. The market was filling up, and herburge to glee to the little.xotragw at the edge of the wood was immense. However, in a singular moment of bravery, she blurted, " you wouldn't happen to know any good foraging sites, would you? I-I need to stock up on some things and would prefer not to wander in the wrong direction for hours today." a nervous giggle bubbled up form Farrow's lungs as she finished, hoping Phoebe wouldn't find her question too... weird.

When in doubt, use nettles

wherever life plants you

She must've lived closer to the border of Halo then, where the temperatures were naturally lower. Though she hadn't known of any settlements up there - it must've been quite small and self sustaining not to interact with Sidhe much.

As far as foraging sites went..."Oh there is good foraging at nearly every turn in the Greatwood." she said with a smile. "Simply project what you're looking for and the paths will shift to guide you there. Just make sure to thank the wood for its sacrifice as you pick your plants. The wood provides but it appreciates...appreciation." she said with a light laugh.

Phoebe

bloom with grace

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Farrow

Farrow nods her head "Yes, yes of course. So it's true what I've heard? The wood is... alive?" Farrow would be lying if she said the idea of a living wood wasn't fascinating and exciting to her. She only had experience with the ordinary type of plant, nothing so intriguing as the denizens of the great wood.

"When in doubt, use nettles" was her mantra, but mostly because they were the most useful healing plant she had access to up to this point, and while nettle would always remain Farrow's go-to cure-all, she was excited to work with more particular ingredients.  She was fully planning on a day trip soon, once she was fully settled, and her own cultivated seeds planted in the small garden patch behind her small cottage.

When in doubt, use nettles

wherever life plants you

Phoebe nodded, though she was surprised the girl didn't already know this about the Greatwood. She must've been very sheltered. "Indeed it is. It is all part of the Mathair, and she keeps it alive and well." she said with a smile. Though she supposed this warranted a warning as well. The Greatwood wasn't all benevolence after all.

"Just be careful with the paths. They do have a mind of their own. It is easy to get lost even when you think you're headed the right direction." she said. "And I suggest carrying water as a gift to the forest should a vine decide to wrap around your ankles." Hopefully that was enough information to keep the girl safe and give her a healthy respect for the way of the wood.

Phoebe

bloom with grace

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Farrow

Farrow nodded, a small, melancholy smile turning the corners of her lips. "That's what my mother told me. I never really believed her though." A darkness fell over Farrow's bright eyes for just a moment before she gasped and grabbed at a small journal she kept buckled to her belt and pulled a small pencil from behind her ear, hidden, until this point, by her hair. She scribbled quickly on a fresh page, though the paper itself was a dusty color and thick, like she had pressed it herself.

"Sorry," Farrow said, glancing up at Phoebe with an apologetic smile, "I have a penchant for forgetting small things. I wanna wrote this down before I forget it."

Farrow muttered Phoebe's instructions as she wrote them down in her chicken scratch. Her journal was full of barely legible writing, almost only able to be read by its writer.

When in doubt, use nettles

wherever life plants you

Her mother must be a sore topic with a sad smile like that. And the past tense - Caido was a cruel place and sometimes Ludo came far too soon for people's liking. "Well you will see for yourself soon enough just how alive the Greatwood is." she said with a comforting smile.

A surprised look crossed her features as the girl suddenly pulled a pad of paper and a pencil from seemingly thin air. All to take notes on what she said? She must be the studious type then. "It's a shame you weren't around when the medical college was running. We would have loved a student like you." she said with a wistful sigh. That seemed lifetimes ago now, what with all that had happened and changed in her life since then.

Phoebe

bloom with grace

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Farrow

Farrow shook her head a bit, tucking her pencil away and letting her journal drop back to dangle by her hip. "College? I don't know. I was never formally educated. Everything I know was passed to me from my mother or self-taught." there was a small wistful glint in Farrow's eyes as she seems to stare straight though Phoebe. "probably would have been amazing though."

And then in occurred to Farrow that she might be holding this nice woman from her own endeavors, and she ducked her head, a little blush rising on her face once more.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm probably keeping you from your shopping right? I can- I can go if you need."

When in doubt, use nettles

wherever life plants you

"Everything I ever learned was passed down to me from more experienced midwives. Education is education, formal or informal." Phoebe said with a wave of her hand. "What is important is the eagerness to learn - and you seem to have that." she said with a slight nod. Yes, Farrow would have been a good student. But alas, those days were long behind the midwife.

"Not to worry, I've nowhere I need to be." Phoebe said with a grin. "But I probably should finish up my shopping before my son is out of tutoring. It was very good to meet you Farrow." she said by way of parting.

-FIN

Phoebe

bloom with grace

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd