Previously in Chapter 1...
She was walking through the field of grass, crushing the lush green grass underneath her steps.
...
Then something caught her attention.
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Something had caught her attention.
She saw a blur of blue in her peripheral vision and instantly whipped her head in the direction where she saw it, hurting her neck in the process. She immediately regretted that action. She thought she might have sprained her neck but ignored the pain and continued to walk towards the blue 'object' she saw, slightly stumbling from the pain. She poked the 'object' with her fishing pole to assure herself that she doesn't mistake it for something else.
It was a flower with sapphire-colored petals. It has four petals with pointy tips and four small ones at its center. The tip of the larger ones looked like they had been folded or bent. Meanwhile, the smaller ones are more straight and pointy. The smaller petals also have a freckle-like gradient from a very dark blue to a livid color. Its filaments are short, making it invisible to the eye unless you get a closer look. It has a black stem, black stepals, and black leaves. There were also thorns protruding from its stem, making it uninviting to the wildlife around.
Ziel's eyes widened as she stared at the flowers, dumbfounded.
Ziel had found one of the rarest herbs in her day-to-day fishing spot. How has she not noticed them before? Not only did she accidentally find one of the rarest herbs, but there were also two of the herbs there. Ziel had found it weird that she had discovered two of these downstream because these flowers usually grow upstream. Not questioning the situation further, she immediately pulled out a knife from her pocket and cut gently at the pedicel of the flower. Quickly securing the rare herbs, and immediately rushed back to the cottage, leaving her fishing pole behind.
She could care less about the fish now. Securing the herbs was a far more essential task.
...
Ziel dashed towards the cottage slamming open the door, disturbing the peaceful silence. Her eyes scanned through the room, looking for the items she needed, quickly opening one of the cabinets in the kitchen and laying her eyes on the two empty jars. Swiftly, she grabbed one of them and dipped it into a bowl of saltwater she had ready on the counter. Rinsing it with tap water and pouring salt crystals inside the jar. The clattering of the salt echoed in the cottage. Then gently, she put the Saphire petals inside the jar and poured the rest of the salt on top to cover it up.
She sighed with relief, sliding down against the kitchen counter and sitting on the wooden floor. She stared at the jar for a second, carefully tracing her eyes on the blue petals covered in salt.
Suddenly she remembered about the fishing pole and stood up. Going back to the front door and cocked her head up to the sky, trying to get a confirmation of the current time. The once orange sky now had a slightly blue hue. She nodded to herself, satisfied with the verification she had received, and immediately ran back to her fishing spot.
It was a perfect start for her. She had the most uncanny luck to find those herbs. She's filled with joy, still a bit of disbelief and a bit of tiredness. Who wouldn't be tired after running through a forest? Well, I guess there is the exception of people who are more fit and can actually run miles. Even so, she wasn't one of those people. Though, after five years of exploring the forests, she did gain some endurance.
Upon arriving, she scanned the field to look for her fishing pole. However, she couldn't find it anywhere. She swore that she had put it against a large rock, did she forget? No, she didn't. She didn't forget. Something must've happened to it.
She searched the field, checking every nook and cranny. She had become more frustrated as the sun rose higher, fingers slightly twitching. That is until she noticed what looked like a missing patch of grass. No, it wasn't missing. It's just squished and there were footprints, the grass had been flattened down by something or someone. She traced her hands on the dirt below and saw the trail of footprints that had been ingrained into the earth. They certainly didn't look like human footprints, "Must have been a creature from the woods" she thought to herself. She felt a sense of deja vu as she looked at the footprints but brushed it off as herself imagining things.
At first, she was hesitant to follow the footprints but ultimately decided that she would follow them out of curiosity.
The trail had led her into the dense woods. Along the way, she had seen a few chips of wood from what she assumed was her fishing pole. Those tiny pieces of wood are what gave her more reason to follow the trail of footprints. She was determined to catch this bastard that had taken her fishing pole.
The reason she cared so much for the fishing pole is because of the fishing line. The wood wasn't that valuable to her because she could make a new one if it broke. On the other hand, she doesn't have any spare fishing line. So it was valuable to her.
She had reached the end of the trail and saw a large chunk of the bottom part of her fishing pole. The line wasn't there, and that worried her. Looking at the trees and searching behind the bushes were her first action, but it was fruitless. She sighed heavily and leaned against a tree. "What am I going to do now?" she said to herself while sliding down into a sitting position.
She sat there doing nothing for a few minutes until she heard what sounded like a growl.
Her shoulder tensed as she slowly stood up, slowly sneaking towards the source of the noise. Approaching what she assumed is the culprit behind the disappearance of her fishing pole. She had tried her best not to alert the culprit as she closes in on them. Emphasis on the word 'tried' as she accidentally stepped on a twig, snapping it in half and revealing her position to the culprit. She cringed at the loud noise she had made and swiftly hid behind a tree. The culprit had growled dangerously, paying attention to even the slightest movements in their surroundings.
It walked towards Ziel's direction, sniffing the air to catch what it thinks is an intruder.
From behind the tree, Ziel could see the shadow of the creature closing in on her. At that moment, she couldn't hear anything else but the rapid beating of her heart. Her hands trembled as she pulled out the knife from her pocket, screaming profanities in her head as a single drop of sweat slid down her cheek.
This is going to be a disaster...
To be continued...
Info :
Poisonous Saphire
These flowers are generally known as the Poisonous Saphire because of their sapphire blue color and their highly poisonous thorns. The thing that makes it so valuable is not just because of its rarity but because of its uncanny healing properties. One petal is enough to heal a deep mortal wound.
People usually consume the petal by mixing them with hot water and drinking it like tea. You can also turn them into ointments but drinking them is more effective.
These flowers usually grow near the river banks upstream, where it's more humid and colder. Though on rare occasions, they can grow downstream. That usually only happens when there's fog the night before. The fog created a cold and humid environment making it suitable for the flowers to grow.
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Author's Note:
Hello there! I hope you enjoyed chapter 2
I worked hard to try and get the grammar right TvT
(I was so dedicated to describing the flowers that I had learned flower anatomy XD) (Also in case you don't know, she put the flowers in a jar with salt is to conserve them. So that it wouldn't wilt as fast)
Also, don't be shy to comment and give me your opinion on how the story is so far! :D
That's it for the author's note. I hope you have a good day!
and stay safe (also stay healthy, stay away from corona >:v, stay inside)!
See you in the next chapter!