Submission (#1498) Approved

Quest: Resonance - Act 1
Act Type: Support
Word Count: 1033
Adult Elnin Present: Ocean [ELN379]
Regional Affinity: Silveil
Claiming Regional Affinity for: Cirrus [ELN1573]
[Adventurer] Rank Unlock Mini-Requirement: Include an adventurer outfit

Cirrus sighed as he wandered through the forests of Silveil, wondering how he got dragged into such a situation in the first place.

It all started with Ocean, who took on a shady request from some even shadier client that asked for him to retrieve a sort of mushroom that made them attractive to a type of glowworm. Questionable request aside, wandering Shimmerwood forest SHOULD be relatively harmless, except… to confirm whether the right mushroom had been retrieved, one would have to taste it. That, and this was… Ocean. For better or worse, he had inherited their father’s aloof and carefree attitude.

Cirrus had offered to go with him, but the request was for adults only. While Ocean barely made the requirements merely by age, it also meant by technical terms, Cirrus couldn’t accompany him. Ocean merely laughed, saying it was “sweet” for his younger half-brother to worry about him, but he had things completely under control and would be back in a jiffy.

Lo and behold, Ocean returned several hours later with a bundle of mushrooms. Whether he had located the correct one, it was hard to tell, as he was clearly suffering from some other symptoms, probably induced by consuming strange flora with reckless abandon. When Cirrus reported this to Cloud, their father only laughed, and said the effects would wear off in a few hours.

The next day, not only had the symptoms not disappear, but they seemed to have worsened. Aside from declaring that dawn had descended upon Silveil (despite it always being nighttime) and that he could now indeed taste colour (and that Cirrus had turned pink somehow), the navy blue elnin seemed to have an abnormal craving for sweets. Normally this wouldn’t have bothered Cirrus as Ocean tended to have strange inexplicable food cravings at times, but the fact that he caught his brother gnawing on his pillow in the middle of the night, thinking it was a giant marshmallow was… a little odd.

His concern grew when Ocean, normally an early riser, was still in bed, tossing and turning about. When Cirrus placed a paw on his forehead, he seemed warmer than usual, and his breathing came out ragged. When Cloud checked in on them, he confirmed that it was no longer a side effect of just the mushrooms, but dusk fever itself. How Ocean even managed to contract it… no one knew.

While a few days of bed rest would probably help, Cirrus couldn’t help but feel guilty. Surely there was something he could do to help speed up the process? While he could procure some sweets to satisfy Ocean’s sweet tooth, he felt it wouldn’t entirely alleviate the symptoms. And while there were… questionable mushrooms that Ocean had clearly consumed, he was sure there were also ones that could be used for creating an herbal remedy.

With this in mind, Cirrus began to pack for the trip. Taking a manaberry potion, he shifted to his gijinka form. While he wasn’t a whole lot taller than his feral form, having the slight height boost as well as fingers to grasp stuff would come in handy. He wrapped a warm scarf around his neck, and put on a pair of gloves.While his tunic and pants would have been enough, he brought a light jacket just in case, and also put on a pair of leather boots to protect his feet.

Grabbing a large-enough bag to place items in, he set off, making his way towards the Silveil forest.

Despite it being nighttime, his path was luminated by the bright stars above. It was one of the things he loved about Silveil. “Eternal nighttime” he called it. While he himself wasn’t afraid of the dark, he still appreciated the lights offered. Perhaps part of it was due to Silveil being his birthplace, and had also inherited his mother’s “starlit suffusion” trait.

He had heard tales of how one could inherit additional regional traits if one spent enough time in specific regions, but… that was a tale for another time. Right now he had a task, and couldn’t afford to get side-tracked.

Venturing into the forest, he looked around. All around him were mushrooms of all sorts. Some exhibited bioluminescence, some exuded pleasant smells, and some looked… just plain odd. It probably would have helped bringing along someone who was familiar with mushrooms or flora from Silveil’s forest, but seeing it was just him, Cloud and Ocean, none of which were experts in this field and the latter being… in the state he was, he was on his own.

Well… not completely. Unlike his father and brother who tend to live a “spur of the moment” lifestyle, Cirrus came prepared. He pulled a thick book out of his bag, and flipped through it. It was a good thing he enjoyed reading, and had picked up several books concerning flora and fauna within Silveil’s forest. The pages illustrated various types of mushrooms as well as their uses, some of which Cirrus recognized as the ones before him.

Making sure to frequently reference the book, Cirrus carefully picked out mushrooms that were often used for medicinal remedies, as well as ones that could be used as part of a tasty dish. He wasn’t much of a chef himself, but figured it couldn’t be that hard to piece together a meal, or at least… something edible. Part of him wondered if Ocean would even want to eat anything in his current condition (or anything other than mountains of sugary treats), but perhaps having some warm, creamy mushroom soup would entice him.

Just the thought of soup made his stomach growl, and Cirrus flushed. Perhaps he hadn’t been as prepared as he thought, as he had been so preoccupied coming here that he forgot to grab some food to eat first. Well… no worries. He could grab some food on his way to Silveil City. After all, even if he managed to procure the right mushrooms, he’d need to find a healer to create the remedy. As capable as he was for various things, he knew better than to try to cobble together medicine when he had no experience in the field.