Wildcrafting Club: Wednesday, October 12, 6PM

[studentwillow.livejournal.com]

Willow arrives at the front door of the library, dressed as usual for an outing in the woods. This time, she's covered herself with DEET-intensive bug repellent so that she doesn't have to tuck her socks into the cuffs of her jeans - at least not until they hit the high grass. She's also got her usual bag of tricks and basket for specimens.

[[OOC Please note: Wildcrafting Club will take place each week in slow-time, so members please feel free to post and check back for replies over the course of the next couple of days. Let's keep the thread going through Saturday so we can find some interesting monstersspecimens this week.]]

Comments

[studentwillow.livejournal.com]

"Sure, that sounds better than slogging through the snow. Although there are some rare things that can only be found in the winter. But I'm not one for slogging around and freezing my buns off all the time. Plus, it's better to do winter foraging by daylight."

"Shall we go?"

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

"Ready! Where are we headed first?"

[Sorry, was away all weekend :( ]

[studentwillow.livejournal.com]

"Let's start in the area where we found the herbs last time, says Willow. "It was around back, past the greenhouses and through the copse of oaks."

She, Willow, and Alanna head out from the main hall, through Fandomhigh's twisting corridors, and out the back door. Golden October light falls over the tops of the oaks as they make their way across the expanse of lawn that separates the main edifice from the rougher parkland. Willow pauses to pull her white socks over the tops of her jeans. "I'd rather face a monster than end up with lime's disease," she says to the other girls.

Alanna follows suit, and Willow lends Kiki some of her bug spray to coat her stockings from foot to thigh. Off they venture into the woods.

[[Feel free to throw in an encounter or plot twist here. I'm open to suggestion. Just remember the rules of improv: affirm and magnify. We should close this thread by tomorrow since the group will meet again on Wed. the 19th.]]

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

"Oh, thanks," Kiki gratefully accepts the bug spray. As the crossed the grounds, Kiki rode her broom, staying up out of the tall brown grass, but as they enter the woods, it's far too difficult to manoever a broom, so Kiki opts to walk.

As they stroll, Kiki plucks a stalk here, a few leaves there, and puts them into her basket for later research. Incidently, she wouldn't know poison ivy if she grabbed a fistful of it.

Venturing deeper into the woods than Kiki has ever been before, it is growing darker under the high tree branches. Kiki clutches her broom a little more tightly, trying not to betray her nervousness. Still, she jumps visibly at the noise of a sudden rustling in the underbrush and leaves to her left.

She glances at Willow and Alanna, and then, realizing that she is the one with a big long stick she can use to poke things, she hesitantly uses her broom to push aside some twigs. She's hoping she will see a squirrel. Maybe a rabbit.

Instead, there is the sound of a rather mischievous giggle coming from a small, nut-brown, winged creature (http://www.laurelindorenan.com/al_FroudP08_Pixie.jpg) as it darts up from the ground. Kiki jumps back in alarm.

[studentwillow.livejournal.com]

"Oh," says Willow. "It's so cute! I wonder if it's as cute and cuddly-acting as it looks."

She pulls a leather gauntlet out of her bag and puts it on her hand, then bends toward the little creature, which hovers at shoulder height, regarding the three girls.

"Hey, little guy," says Willow.

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

Kiki looks at it cautiously. Sure, it's cute but...

The creature zips about a moment, and then settles, with a saucy grin, down on Willow's hand, where it promptly pees and then takes off again, cackling gleefully.

Kiki makes a face. "It must be some type of toad-pixie. Good thing you've got those gloves on."

[studentwillow.livejournal.com]

Willow wrinkles her nose, gingerly removing the gloves and placing them in a Ziploc sample bag.

"I wonder if its pee has any unusual properties," she muses, shaking the bag vigorously a few times before placing it back in her knapsack.

The group continues on through the woods. Dying sunlight slants through the trees.

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

"Yuck," Kiki agrees. "We'll have to look it up. Or, if your gloves have dissolved by the time we get back to the school, we'll know something is particular about it, anyway."

Kiki shivers a little. As the sun drops further in the sky, so does the temperature. The leaves crunch under their feet as they walk. The trees become less densely grown, and presently they emerge from the woods far down the fields from where they entered. Kiki has set a small stick cross-wise over the samples in her basket to prevent any breeze from blowing them out.

"Say, here's an idea," Kiki says suddenly. "When we start identifying the things we've collected and identifying their use, it might be handy to start marking down the locations where we find them, so if we ever need the plants, we know exactly where to look."

[ooc: More can still happen on the way back, if you like; I'm just trying to put the thread in an easily-wrap-up-able place to reset it for the meeting tomorrow :) ]

[studentwillow.livejournal.com]

Willow smiles at Kiki. "I've been making notes of where I found stuff in my notebook -- at least plants I can already identify. I think it's a good idea, though. Also a good idea to map these woods here."

The group heads back toward the school in the crepuscular light.

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

[ooc: 20 bonus points for using the word crepuscular!!]

[studentwillow.livejournal.com]

[ooc: squee! bonus points! Can I trade them in for a shiny nickel?]

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

[ooc: Sure! Kiki digs in her pocket and hands Willow a shiny nickel. Kiki buffs it on the hem of her dress first to give it a little extra sparkle :) ]

[studentwillow.livejournal.com]

[OOC: It shines dully in the crepuscular light! Squee!]