Foraging for Relaxation PV Tatiana Crane Closed

It had been quite some time since Tatiana was able to afford herself enough free time to forage and explore. Being one of her most treasured activities, it had gotten her in a slump as of late. It was something she was always doing when she'd been living at home, and most of the time she was doing it with her parents. Ugh, she missed them. Her mother's apothecary job ensured that their potion making herbs were in constant need of restocking. Collecting the ingredients also allowed a fun art opportunity for Tatiana as she thoroughly documented each new plant her mother introduced her to in her sketchbook.

This close relationship with her mother and her work also prepared Tatiana for Potions and Herbology, and they were quickly becoming her favorite subjects. And luckily, it was summer now, and classes had been over for a while, and she had nothing but free time. Well, when she wasn't busy with Maggie's activities and getting to know her cabin mates better, that is. For the first time in at least one complete week, Maggie hadn't had anything specifically planned for their group. Tatiana knew if she didn't jump on her opportunity to get away now, it may be the last chance she got for a while.

With that in mind, she decided to get up that day as soon as she opened her eyes, instead of waiting around in bed for the other girls to get up like she usually did. Careful to tiptoe around, as to not arouse anyone, she quickly got changed, brushed her teeth, and made her way out of the cabin. Knowing she would be walking through tall grasses and brush, she made sure to wear long pants and closed toe shoes, but opted for a sleeveless white cotton blouse and hat, knowing it was probably going to be another sweltering summer day.

She took her time walking to the forest, making sure to enjoy the slightly cooler air while it lasted, as the sun was just starting to rise. As she approached the edge of the forest, she felt a surge of excitement rise in her chest. She probably couldn't explain why it made her feel that way if anyone had asked, but it was like getting to eat her favorite food again for the first time in months. She was carrying her gathering bag- a special, over the shoulder satchel her mother had enchanted for her before leaving for school. It was leather, with a flap that clasped over the top, and was worn from years of use. Inside were several little pockets and compartments- though not so little anymore, thanks to her mother's magic. It was perfect for collecting all sorts of different things she might happen to find on her excursions.

Foraging could be a delicate process, but Tatiana didn’t mind, attention to detail was one of her specialties. One couldn’t just romp around the forest, hoping to stumble upon something interesting. If you didn’t pay attention to where you were stepping, you could step on a mushroom, or a bug, and completely ruin the potential ingredient. And you had to know where to look- this was very important. Mushrooms and other fungi typically grew in warm, damp areas close to the ground, but sometimes they would also grow up the base of a tree. And if there was a fallen and decaying tree, it was practically guaranteed you could find fungi thriving inside.

Tatiana kneeled down beside a log, this tree having fallen long before she got there. The inside was completely hollowed out, totally dry, and one of the ends was long since rotted. She wasn’t really looking for anything in particular, but she typically gathered anything and everything she found that she knew could be used for a potion or other tonic. She was a bit of a hoarder in that sense, unable to pass up a single thing she might be able to use in the future.

A few wildflowers grew along the floor of the forest, and she gathered up a handful- not particularly useful for anything, these flowers, but they were always pleasant to look at and their cabin was still looking rather drab. If nothing else, one of the other girls would surely enjoy having them around. Peeking out from the base of the tree were a few herbs she’d recognized from her time in her mother’s workshop. Lavender, a fairly common herb with a wide variety of applications, from simply a nice aroma to warding off certain critters, such as scorpions. And dittany, a magical herb with restorative properties, often used to regrow skin over an open wound.

Gathering a small bundle of both, she tied the stalks together with twine before placing them each in a separate pocket of her bag. Standing up, she brushed some dirt off the knees of her pants. Thankfully, the days had been very lacking of rain recently and the dirt powdered up and cleaned off with ease. Just as she was turning to head off in a new direction, she heard the crunch of leaves and the snap of a twig behind her. Before she could turn to see who it was, a timid voice asked, "H-hey, are you also l-looking for herbs out h-here?”

Slightly startled, she whipped around to face a boy, not quite a stranger, but she was unable to put a name to the face. She’d been meeting so many people through Maggie, she was having a hard time keeping up with everyone. They’d met at her end of the year party by the lake, and he was also staying in the cabin with Carson, Mac and Oliver. Dale. That was it. It took her a moment, but she remembered Maggie mentioning his name when she was assigning teams for their upcoming game of manhunt. “Hi,” she smiled, collecting herself and taking a second to remember his question. Ah, the herbs, yes. “Sorry,” she apologized, realizing she'd taken a bit long to respond. She took a few steps and closed the distance between them. “I am, I was just picking a few. Is that what’s brought you out here today as well?”

Dale was still hadn't found the herb he was looking for, the rare Asphodel. While it had its uses in potions, Dale simply wanted it for its looks alone. He thought it would bring a bit of a homey feel to his cabin. But he doubted he would find it today, or ever even. He first read about it in a herbology book from the library, Its flower was in the shape of a star, that's what he found the herb so attractive. He planned to but one from Diagon alley on his home, to put next to his bed.

Dale looked at the girl trying to remember her name. Tatiana, that was her name, he remembered her from the first cabin. Her hair had a similar shade of brown to his own. Dale didn't seem to have anything in common with anyone in his cabin, so it was nice to see that at least someone liked herb also.

"Y-yeah, I'm looking for s-some herbs to put in my c-cabin." Dale wished he could get rid of his stutter. It made him seem a lot more nervous than he actually was most of the time. He decided to ask her if she had found the herb he was on the hunt for, "Uhh, h-have you seen or found an Asphodel herb, it has a star-shaped f-flower. "

Reducio

OOC: Sorry for the low word count, iv had writers block for a while now

"Y-yeah, I'm looking for s-some herbs to put in my c-cabin," the boy responded. He had a bit of a stutter, though Tatiana was unsure if it were part of his speech or if he felt nervous for some reason. "Uhh, h-have you seen or found an Asphodel herb, it has a star-shaped f-flower. " Ah, the Asphodel flower. She'd read about it many times, though rarely ever saw one in person, at least not outside of the potions classroom. Her mother had used it in a healing tonic once, but it wasn't something they commonly found in the woods. On occasion, they'd been forced into buying herbs from other suppliers due to their rare occurrence in the wild. But while they weren't native to her hometown, she did remember they were rumored to grow on the Hogwarts grounds.

Though she hadn't had any luck in finding one yet, helping him find it seemed a lot more exciting than aimlessly wandering, hoping to run into something interesting. "Dale- was it?" she asked, hoping she'd remembered his name correctly. "No, I haven't found any, but I wouldn't mind helping you look, if that's alright with you." If he'd come out there looking for some alone time, she didn't want to intrude, but where was the harm in just offering a little company. She couldn't think of any personal use for the herb at the moment, but they were a particularly lovely bloom. He was right about the flowers, the petals were arranged to display a sort of star shape. And while it was most commonly known for its use in sleeping draughts and healing potions, it was also a very popular symbol in ancient mythology. Trying to make a little conversation, she figured she'd share some interesting tidbits about the plant in question.

"Did you know, Asphodel was commonly associated with death, especially among the ancient Greeks. It was often placed near graves, and the part of their underworld where they believed souls used to go after death was believed to have a meadow full of them." Tatiana started to walk, in no direction in particular, canvasing the forest floor and thumbing the belt loop of her pants as she went. She hoped she hadn't come off as odd for spewing such useless information, but she was feeling a little over eager to have an opportunity to talk to someone else with similar interests.

The girls in her cabin were all very sweet, and perfectly nice, but they mostly talked about boys and Tatiana was interested in, well, not talking about boys. Talking about almost anything else, really- though she particularly enjoyed discussing herbology, potion making, and even magical creatures. She could gush, on command, about any one facet of those three areas of study in the same way other girls gushed about boys when they were amongst one another. And it's not that it wasn't entertaining to do so, because it certainly was, but she spent so much time with her nose in a book and it felt like a real waste to not be able to talk about all the things she learned, at least sometimes. She knew it could come off as annoying to some, and often tried to avoid it when she was around other people. But, she felt it was a pretty safe bet to assume that someone who was also out here looking for herbs wouldn't be turned off by such topics. "Also, they do tend to like a lot of light, so maybe we should stick to the edge of the trees or find a clearing."

Tatiana seemed very nice, and she knew quite a lot about herbology. He barely talked to the guys in his cabin, and he didn't have many friends, and the few he did, didn't seem to be into herbology. So he was happy when Tatiana, offered him help to look for the plat. He never knew that the Asphodel plant preferred sunny spaces. He wished he did more research on the plant he was looking for."W-Wow, I knew none of that, t-thank you for telling m-me." He said to the girl.

Dale loved herbology, but he didn't know much about it. Most of his knowledge of the subject came from books form the library, sadly though, he didn't have much time to indulge in his favorite subject. He was going to use his extra money to buy potions books to read and study over the summer. He would have to ask Tatiana if she had any book suggestions. "Y-you seem to know q-quite a bit about h-herbology, where d-did you learn all of t-this?" He asked the girl.

It was nice to spend some time with someone who seemed to enjoy just looking for plants, sure the people in his cabin were nice, but they were too energetic for Dale, he had gotten almost no relaxation time the summer had begun. He hoped he wasn't intruding on the girls aline time.

Dale appreciated the girl's company, she had very calm energy, and it really put his nervousness at rest. His stutter was something that annoyed both him and, he assumed, other people, but it had been slowly going away, he had no idea why maybe because of all the people he had been around and talked to really helped him get over his social awkwardness.

Tati explained how her mother was an apothecary and how she used to document them, and that's how she learned so much about herbs and flowers. Dale thought that was amazing, he wished he spent his time as a kid helping his parents. Although now that he thought about it, Dale did help his dad do certain chemistry experiments and other projects his dad did in his off time. Helping his father with his work was something Dale enjoyed a lot. He also helped his mom brainstorm some of her characters for her novels. The thought made Dale a bit prideful.

"N-Not really, just as a gift for my mother, or as a decoration for the cabin. If I cant find it ill just find another f-flower to bring for my mother." Dale told the girl, his stutter was almost all gone, and he felt very at peace now. "M-My parents work regular muggle jobs, so I learned e-everything from textbooks. I know more about chemistry than herbs." He told the girl, "Are you out here looking for anything specific ?"

Tatiana smiled as Dale clarified he was merely looking for a gift for his mother, or a bit of decoration for his cabin- it was a sweet sentiment. The asphodel herb was indeed beautiful, and would be more than fitting for either of the scenarios. She listened as he talked about his parents working muggle jobs, of which she could related. While town apothecary wouldn't necessarily be considered a common profession, it wasn't exactly s magical one either. And while, she later found out, her mother did indeed use magic to procure some of her elixirs, Tatiana never saw any of that while she was growing up. And her father was just a fisherman, definitely a muggle profession.

But Dale said something about chemistry, and while it was a muggle study, it was certainly one of the more interesting ones. "Ah, chemistry, the muggle man's potion making," she joked, smiling at him. "Do you also like potions?" One might have deduced the answer to that question was already a yes, as he was out here looking for specimens that were commonly used as ingredients. But it was entirely possible to enjoy herb foraging and not necessarily translate that interest to potioneering. She shook her head at his question. "No, nothing in particular. I just like looking." The truth of it was, just the act of looking could bring her the peace she'd found herself so desperately craving more and more this summer. And besides, there was no harm in always adding a little more to your stocks. "I just like to keep a steady supply of some of the more common ingredients, if possible," she grinned, patting the herb bag hanging from her shoulder.

Tatiana couldn't help but giggle at his question. In the surprise of getting caught off guard wandering around the forest, their introductions, more typical for the beginning of a conversation, had been delayed. "That's alright, I'm Tatiana," she stopped walking and turned toward him, extending out her hand to shake. "And yes, potions and herbology are my favorite subjects, especially since they go so hand in hand. And well, like I said, my mum was a bit of a self proclaimed amateur potioneer." She thought about her parents again, and how much she missed them, sighing as the thought of having to wait until the last train left to go home crossed her mind again.

Feeling defeated after continually failing to locate the star shaped flower they were in pursuit of, her shoulders slumped and she slid her hands in to her pockets. Leaning against a nearby tree, she'd hardly noticed she was fidgeting with something in her right pocket. It took her a minute to register she didn't know what it was, and that there had been nothing in there prior to this moment. Confused, and a little curious, she pulled the mystery item out, her mouth falling open as she saw what it was. In the palm of her hand was an herb- a single green stem with small, white, star-shaped flowers clustered at the top. The asphodel flower to be more precise, exactly what they'd been scavenging for. "I-," she paused, inspecting it by holding it in both her hands before looking back up at Dale, her brow furrowed in confusion. She wasn't sure why this kept happening, or how, but she certainly didn't mind.

Ability : Components