Logs:Herb Gathering
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| RL Date: 29 January, 2014 |
| Who: Ali, Lilah |
| Type: [[Concept:{{{type}}}|{{{type}}}]] |
| What: Ali takes some of the candidates on a herb-gathering exercise. This seems to make Lilah oddly uncomfortable. |
| Where: Healer Hall, Fort Area |
| When: Day {{{day}}}, Month {{{month}}}, Turn {{{turn}}} ({{{IP}}} {{{IP2}}}) |
| It's late morning when Ali arrives in the candidates' barracks. Those that have already left for the earlier morning chores are probably spared, but those /in/ the barracks are subject to her corraling them after ensuring their respective cots are neat and tidy. One side benefit: they get to fly on a dragon, even if it's only for a short, five minute flight down to Fort Hold's environs. Isyath likes to fly /fast/, however, and it might not be quite so pleasant for the weak-of-stomach with her sharp circling shortly before they land. An elderly harper Master comes out to greet them - Tinevo - and leads them inside. Along the way, he gives them an easy sort of speech about herbs and their background and how they're used, his slow, shuffling pace making the lecture longer than probably welcome. Ali stays at his side, glancing over her shoulder now and then to make sure the group of candidates are close by. Lilah's shift last night at Dice was one of those that run into the early hours of the morning, leaving her just getting up for the day even for as late as the junior weyrwoman recruited those candidates still there. It's obvious she has been on short flights before, and often, given her occupation and the location of Dice, but still, she is shivering slightly at the longer flight than she's used to, not dressed for it in worn, dark clothes. And as she takes in their destination, she casts quick, anxious looks to the Healer Hall, even where the harper speaks. She remains apart from the younger Candidates, who naturally group together, and follows after them, lagging behind. They pass through an archway and out into an open space. It's a herb garden, not unlike Fort's, though much larger. The scent of the herbs is strong, almost overwhelming, but not unpleasant for all that. "Thank you, Master Tinevo. We really appreciate your generosity. Here," she gestures towards the candidates, offering each of them a hide on which a herb's name is printed, along with a picture. "I want you to find the herb you're assigned, and make sure it's the right one with Master Tinevo. We're going to harvest some stock for our stores, so grab a basket." Is Master Tinevo giving Lilah a closer look than the others under those bushy eyebrows? Lilah accepts the hide with a duck of her chin, her whole posture beginning to take on a hint of drawing in on herself where Tinevo's gaze lingers, or perhaps her own paranoia speaks to that. She barely glances at the picture of the herb, only noting the name of it instead, before she folds the piece of hide with sharp movements to tuck it into her pocket. "Ma'am, can't we bring it back to you to identify? How much are we harvesting of each?" she questions of Ali, shifting to get a basket and follow orders in any case. "Then you'd have to pluck it, and if you pluck the wrong one, it's a waste," Ali replies, logically. She seems unaware of Lilah's withdrawal, or at least doesn't acknowledge it. "As for how much," she glances sidelong at Master Tinevo, who grunts, and the junior smiles a little, "We'll see how much the Master's willing to part with. If you need help, I can help you find the right herb," she adds to Lilah, as the other candidates fan out and start searching amongst the garden. That gets another grunt - apparently that defeats the purpose of the exercise, but Ali's just as oblivious to Tinevo's unvoiced objection as she is Lilah's discomfort. A small noise of agreement catches in Lilah's throat, just that before she moves off in her own direction in the gardens. She does not look back at her slip of hide, but the plant that she was given is easy enough to remember, and easy enough to recognize. Dragon's tongue, where she finds it, is distinctive in it's dark, thick, fleshy leaves. They are split similar to a dragon's tail, branching into two leaves on each stem, and she picks both from one. Then, she hesitates, dark eyes sliding to scan the candidates as A moment of hesitation on Ali's part, but she seems to take Lilah's departure as the lack of need for assistance. Instead, the weyrwoman chats quietly with the healer as they walk along a path adjacent to where Lilah is. The Master can be heard inquiring politely enough about the quality of candidates. "Hey," one of the older male candidates - Kandan you think his name is - sneaks up behind her, "Do you know what the fellis plants look like?" Lilah startles at the voice, whipping around and only relaxing where she catches sight of Kandan with a pointed frown. However, she still answers dryly: "It grows on a tree. The trees are small with a lot of branches, and you want to look for yellow flowers with pointed leaves. Pick the blossoms and leaves, but don't touch the branches, ok?" One has to wonder how she thinks Kandan would remove a branch, but--. Kandan looks surprised, then interested, eyes narrowing. "How do you even know-" and then he goes abruptly silent and scurries away, probably because healer and weyrwoman are approaching. "How did you go, Lilah?" Ali's inquiring, while the Master healer's staring at her heavily under his bushy eyebrows. Dark eyes flash with annoyance as they flick after the retreating Kandan, likely jealous since it leaves Lilah trapped to face the junior weyrwoman and Tinevo as they approach. Both candidates, after all, can't run away. She picks up one of those fleshy leaves in her basket carefully, showing it to Ali. "I had dragon's tongue on my hide. How much can the healers spare?" she questions, a quiet murmur to her words as she avoids looking at the master. "Hm. Let me see now." The Master moves in closer and squints at the herb to inspect it closely, before nodding. Lilah, too, gets just as much of a close inspection. "That looks right. And so quickly, too. You've had some healer training, I expect?" Lilah doesn't even blink as she lies easily, "None, sir. But I read quite a bit and the Weyr has books on the subject." She tips a nod to Ali, as if the weyrwoman's presence proves that she learned what she knows from them. It just so happens that the gesture allows her to turn aside from the healer. Tinevo's frowning, but he doesn't question further. "I don't think you'll need a great deal. A couple of plants' worth should do it," the Master Healer concludes. Ali's brow is furrowed, just a little, but it clears at the Master's words and transforms into a smile. "Excellent. I'll help Lilah; could you check on Kandan? If he waves any longer his hand'll fall off. Thank you, Master Tinevo." There is a silence on Lilah's part, at least until the healer has moved away. Then, she says in a low assurance, "I don't need help. I can do it myself, weyrwoman." To prove it, she reaches to the next stem to pull off two more of the dragon's tongue leaves carefully. She glances to find Kandan as the Master Healer helps him, shaking her head. "I swear, he must be blind. You should check him for that before you let him try to Impress a dragon." Kandan, presumably, rather than Tinevo. "There's a distinction between blind and easily distracted." But still, Ali does sound vaguely amused, as her gaze flickers towards the other candidate for a moment, before returning to watch Lilah extract the plants. "You seem tense," she observes. "I've have thought the late shift candidate chores would've helped." So apparently she /is/ paying attention. Lilah's dark eyes cast a look sideways over Ali, a measuring, considering thing that lingers on the weyrwoman's expression. It takes her a moment more to decide on her answer, the delay not exactly subtle, but when she does say, "I don't like healers," it is at least truthful. She adds, changing the subject, "It isn't so bad, the later shift chores. I have more time for my own errands than I thought I would have between everything." "Not too many people do," is Ali's observation in turn, and yet the pause that follows seems to invite further comment. To the latter, she nods satisfactorily. "People adjust," she sounds pleased, "And it's still more time than you'd get as a weyrling. But," with a wry grin, "You seem to be getting the hand of reports. Here, we'd best help out some of the other candidates," there's one, a younger girl, still wandering back and forth, "If we want to get home in time for lunch." Lilah, perhaps typically, does not volunteer further explanation of her dislike of healers, instead nodding to Ali's suggestion to help the others. "I'll finish up here and then see if Thesla needs help," she volunteers, her gesture made to the aloe plant rather than the third, missing Candidate who may or may not have found her plant by now. Thesla does indeed require a bit of help; she walks right by the plant she's supposed to find without even noticing. It takes some time before the other candidates have found their plants and had them carefully inspected by the Master Healer. Stomachs may well be rumbling by the time they climb back up onto Isyath for the short flight home- though the flight itself might make stomachs again more unsettled than hungry by the time the joyful queen lands them safely back at Fort Weyr, her rider sending them off to deliver the plants to the infirmary before releasing them to lunch. |
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