In her hand, she held a brown basket, clutching it desperately as her eyes continued to wander, scrutinizing any detail she found relating to her goal for the day. Her free hand slipped inside the pocket of the black cloth, pulling out a small folded paper from inside, which she skillfully unfolded. Reading through the three word list with small, rough drawings underneath, she couldn't help but give out a sigh. How was she supposed to find the objects she was told to find in such a vast forest, which such little information and barely a rough idea of what she was even looking for? She had ventured out into the forest upon the request of an peculiar individual who had previously, also set her out into the same area, for a different task. Her client was Khalash Saton, the well known owner of the drug magic shop who had sent the female out, not to deliver food to some old hermit this time, but rather, to collect some herbs for his latest potion.
She looked upon the list once again, 'Curly Fern' was the first item listed. She was told that it was quite common and shouldn't be hard to find. her gaze drifted to the rough sketch at the bottom which truly indicated uniqueness. Tiny curled branches were as difficult to find as she thought when her eyes landed upon some of them that rested next to the legs of a tree. Bending down, she picked a few up, only to feel a bit of moisture stick to her hand. Xandra opened her clenches fist only to see a it of black plastered on her palm; the ferns weren't fresh, not all of them at least. With another sigh, she put them down and began searching through them, picking up any and every fresh fern she could find. It took her approximately five minutes to be satisfied with the amount of curly ferns which she then placed within the basket. Her eyes drifted to the piece of paper once again as she dusted her hand. The next item to be collected were 'blue lichen'. She was told by her client that those were slightly tricky to find; they were to be found near old rotting logs. Rotting logs were often found near water. She racked her brain, letting her eyes fall shut as she tried to remember any signs of water where it could be found. It was then that she remembered that there was a small river that flowed through the forest. The only problem was, which direction was it?
Sighing, her journey began as she walked and walked, but found no signs of the water. the afternoon sun still hung in the sky, accompanying her and providing her with light. She stopped, sitting beside a large tree to rest for a few moments before proceeding her walk. Time ticked by slowly but she finally found it, peeking upon it from between the bewildered openings of the trees. Jogging towards it, joy seeped through her as she realized she was right. Next to the river lay old, wooden logs where she easily found the blue lichens. Now all she had to do was find the last ingredient before she sets back to the shop. 'Red leafed vine'. She recalled being told that this would be found in the midst of the forest, on the largest tree. Her memory was fresh as she recalled gaping upon the tree that was the largest. Without further ado, she set forward towards the direction of the tree which she happened to vaguely remember. It took her about ten to fifteen minutes to reach her destination. Bending her neck backwards, she took in the sight of the large tree that stood before her, scrutinizing it's details fro, branch to root. Her eyes stopped once they landed upon something that looked similar to what she was looking for. Looking upon the reference picture, she was assured that what lay before her was truly the red leafed vine.
Shoving the paper back into her pocket, she stood on the tips of her toes and extended her arm further up the tree to grab the herb that she wanted. It took a while, even a few jumps on her side for her tall figure to grab the vine which she ripped off and put in the basket. Wiping the sweat off her face, she ventured back into the town. Twenty-five minutes later, she was at Khalash's shop. Sauntering inside, the first thing she saw was the small old man running around and dumping things in a cauldron before stirring. "Oh, you're here at last!", he exclaimed before grabbing the basket from her hands and looking through the herbs to see if she had brought the right ones. With a nod, he dumped them into the cauldron and started stirring again, "Go sit over there, you'll be tasting this." Xandra obeyed as she sat herself down on the seat before being given a vial which contained the freshly made potion. "Go ahead and try it", the old man said as she eyes it suspiciously before hesitantly, taking a sip. A sudden rush of energy seeped through her body as she slurped down the whole thing. After that, she was simply given her reward and made to leave.
[Word Count: 1080/1000]