Herbalists' Cache so maybe i’m divine, maybe i’m celestial

backdated a day before the heatstroke incident :)

her father was ill, and so deirdre asked much of the spirits of olde and new alike. for she had promised to perform a task for her newest and only friend outside of the seaside forest, and it was a promise she had kept. she knew her magick was at work, and she was certain the spell for her friends father was heard. the winds whipped wildly around her, howled their promise to aid her in this, with a conviction unlike the one whispered to her on the matter of her father. they would do what they could, she knew, but the spirits had little sway in these matters. their hand was in it, and they would hold lasher upward as well as they could--it was enough, it was all she could ask for, though she wished for more!, and she was thankful. she worked her magick on the returning earth as well; she felt her great power thrust into the soil in the circle she had cast, felt that it must be working. and as the days continued to move, she knew that it was. for now, she could see the speckles of green and this, too, was enough.

exhaustion wore at her, but a dream told her she had another journey to take. the sun rose, and she left donnelaith in a state of near-possession. when she came to, she was far from home. she could still smell the ocean, and knowing it was near was a comfort--but no thing was as comforting to her as the trees of donnelaith that told her their secrets, and the birds that would tell her of the world and share with her what they had seen in the distance [the devastation wrought by the locusts--that there were some places in the world untouched by these things, but such places were far, far away]. she was tired, so very tired, but she had been brought here for a reason.

the young girl looked like a girl no more. she was, even in her hungry state, devastatingly beautiful to look upon. exhausted though she was, she moved with a dignified poise that surely would not befit others of her age, and yet perhaps this was something she could do because she looked to be not at all a child but a woman grown. her hips were obvious in her state, but she was not as emaciated as others would appear to be, now--in donnelaith, she was well-fed due to the fact that she was, in fact, still a child. in the naked and barren place, deirdre was a beacon of light; well-groomed and maintained, the only flower in this garden. she wondered at why she was brought here, and looked to the distance to see a doe perusing the soil, and the trees. young as she was, she was in no state to hunt the creature. hardly a wolf would be, she imagined... and yet, she could only feel happiness for this sight, and breathed a sigh of relief. the sight of the beautiful fauna renewed her hope, as seeing the earth had. she looked around her and quietly whispered her thanks--for the spirits had lent their hand to her, had made this so with her!

and for my own reference as i am apt to forget, this is before this.

At the height of the day, he had opted to lay low in what sparse shade there was to be found. It was far from perfect in the ruined territory, but Mordecai was not entirely keen on being choosy. It had been his body that had demanded the break, his feet no longer inclined to carry on and drum the drying earth. He felt a prickle of anger over it but found that he was far too weary to do anything about it. He had already pushed himself too much for the day to make a difference now.

He had sprawled out, entirely prone and seeming too thin in the spotted shadows and listened to the world around him. A world that lately had seemed devoid of much; he barely heard the calls of birds in what would have been lush canopies this time of year, and the bleat of game was long absent. There may have been a breeze somewhere up in those higher climes, but even their whisper was lost on him as he dipped in and out of a doze.

Instead what he did hear was the beat of his heart, far from steady. Its was a thrum uneven and anxious, as though it too had been pushed to some edge and now precariously inched along it. The strain of hunger was no doubt the culprit, though one could have easily wagered that he was driven by thirst as well. It was the height of summer, after all, and the temperatures seemed to have no interest in letting the roaming beasts of the earth have a break until the sun had set.

her eyes continued to peruse the surroundings. for where one doe was, perhaps a herd must follow. the days of famine caused her to forget what the simple rules were, but as she caught sight of a figure limp on the earth, her heart rose to her throat. what matter of blessing was this! from afar, she imagined it to be food, and the wind was terribly still this day offering her no hint or answer.

the druidic witch drew nearer still, noting the others furs and shape. not prey and certainly not food, for it lived even still. the closer she came, the clearer the outline and hue of the animal became. 'twas a wolf, and they were brown--her heart stirred in her chest, but she did not think it impossible. nor would she come to that assumption immediately, being taught well by her own father. yet she wondered at the color of his eyes! were they...? was he... ah, she must see!

she drew closer to see if this one was asleep. deirdre also worried for the others state; times were hard, and she felt she might collapse, herself. the other was thin, which was unsurprising to her--all were thin, now, were they not? excuse me, sir--are you alright?

Though he heard the draw of footfalls near him, Mordecai did not bother to stir. It would have been relatively easy to have been lying in wait like a trap poised to spring. But he also, like others, possessed the ability to differentiate whether the footfalls he heard were prey or predator. These were dainty and light, yet heavy enough to tell him the truth of which side they fell on. And on cue came a voice to match those dainty steps; he groaned mentally. Rest would have to wait, this would require his focus.

Pulling himself up, his solitary gaze opened on her with ease. She would have been hard to miss even against the slow regrowth of the land, stark white and all. "I'm fine," he said, undeterred by the dryness of his own tongue. "Just resting." He was far from expiring, at least for now. Perhaps he was a bit closer than he had been in recent years, but still, Mordecai had grown up with the twisted and bare landscape that had risen. Yet the Wilds, they were a far cry from the vast desert of Sedona.

his eyes opened, and there it was! she let out a small gasp, for even before he had spoken, she felt her magick had again done its work! deirdre could not be sure, and nodded to him as he told her he was alright, that he was resting. unbidden, deirdre asked of him a simple question: are you searching for your family? with a tilt of her head. her emerald eyes were full of wonder as she looked to him--she could not be sure, and yet, there was a way to be! for she knew his daughters name, and to hear him say it would be the surest answer she could receive. ...have you a daughter? she continued. in the distance, the doe observed the duo. deirdre kept her distance, not wanting to worry the other; perhaps her inquiries would do just that, but she lowered her head some to present herself in a nonthreatening manner.

The questions that came forth seemed chosen at random, but there was a sureness in her voice that eluded to them being very serious. It was an uncomfortable sensation that prickled along his nape, stirring at every little protective bone in his body. Such concern and unease would have been hard to hold back, and while he most surely did through the way his posture held, his one eye was swift to betray his heart. "Yes," was all that he offered her, feeling that concern harden towards uncertainty. Why was she there, asking those things?

he confirmed her suspicions, but gave her very little to go off on. well, i do not know that you are not a man saying this, so that i might inform him he is being sought. so perhaps you can complete the name i give to you, she cleverly concocted the way to discover if this was the man her golden friend sought. deirdre finished off with only half of the name she had been given: lark. and this sweet lark, she spoke of missing a man with eyes such as yours, and a coat of your color. what is her name, completed?

He did not particularly enjoy clever concoctions, but she was a pied piper that lead him along. Whatever time had passed he could not have been certain of, but the days had grown hotter and longer and his ventures had gone far. It was a regrettable thing, even more so that he would remain emptyhanded upon his return.

"Larkspur," he answered with no hesitation. It came as no surprise that even one of his children would miss him; it pained him instead that they had. It troubled him to be away from them. He drew in a steady breath, wondering after them all, and spoke. "My family, are they with your kin then?" A likely bet to place a wager upon, but he would not know that it would be incorrect. But she knew something.

this cold is kicking my ass like seriously who tf gets sick in the summer... OH RIGHT MY SORRY EXCUSE FOR A BODY LOL

it thrilled her greatly to hear him say it--the whole of her sweet larkspur's name--and a smile bloomed upon her features. the flower child, who appeared as a near-adult before mordecai, nodded to affirm what he had said... though his question she responded to verbally. they do not stay with us of donnelaith. i met larkspur when she was searching for you--i can show you the place where we met, and the direction she headed after our search finished. she stays with her mother and brothers, she informed him, being as detailed as she could with what little she truly knew. larkspur will be meeting me at the place we first sought you, the eve after the strawberry moon. but i understand being unable to wait--i simply cannot tell you for certain if they might still be where they were. though perhaps they might be around that area, at least!

There it was again, that heartbeat that was far from steady. A realization that he had not come to until then, of how he had worried after them when he had been nothing more than following in their wake. His head would have dared to go for a swim with the information she imparted to him, but somehow he kept a modicum of clarity to process. And he found that he discarded much of what she told him as he did. He thought he knew where they would go, if things had truly taken a turn for the worse. It was a consideration he felt Harlyn would hold out from making unless she absolutely had to, and there were only a couple of things that would have forced her hand. The lack of food, he hoped, would be the stressor. Better it than the cougar that had relentlessly pursued them behind wooded sanctuaries and the darkness of their dreams.

Clearing the intrusive thought with a shake of his head, he dismissed it and in turn, being led. "I know where to go," he said, though truthfully it was a shot in the dark. If they had left the last safe haven they had plucked out of nowhere, then it was Warbone and his merry band he would be seeking. "How long ago did you see her?" Had they already made it there?

alright, she responded, nodding her head. and then she swiftly informed mordecai of how long it had been--how many moons had past, since then, and when she intended to meet his daughter again.

he would surely depart her, soon, and so deirdre looked to the man worriedly. sir... would you let me look at you, to be sure you are well before your journey? he seemed in a proper state, but she wished to be sure--heat and hunger were two terrible things that could steal life as swift as a thieving fox.

*touches gorgeous avatar!*

With the information that he needed, he was intent to leave as soon as he felt ready. Which was a hard guess to make—he needed the rest, he needed to take care of himself, but the urge to get back to his family threatened to override it swiftly. It must have been evident in him somehow, all of that strain, for the words that spilled from the sylph's mouth then were careful and just as worried as the expression that came to her delicate features.

He sighed. There was a distinct part of him that was no doubt fueled by the heat of the day that wanted to shoo her away yet again, but he retired the thought with a consenting nod of his head. It couldn't have hurt and besides, perhaps a little peace of mind would do them all some good. Once she had finished, the two parted ways.