Concerning the new swimwear for the Fire Mage - he had it covered, luckily. His purchase with Criss proved just atmospheric enough to stimulate his brain cells to figure out what would suit him the best, and alas, he was now the proud owner of a blue pair of swimming trunks. He could only hope and pray that no random cod would find itself extra brave and stubborn on the day of the Beach Party and tear through his trunks like last time… especially since this event was going to host so many more people. His heart sank a few levels just thinking about it. If any fish had the courage to do so, they would find themselves charred and spiked like shish kebab.
Damn it, the laughter that would catalyze… he really had to be careful in the water. Perhaps, he shouldn’t venture there at all; the shore was where most of the activities were to be held, right? He could happily avoid the crystalline ocean… even though he had taken so much time and invested a lot of energy into learning how to swim. He couldn’t let that go to waste, especially with how forgettable he was. His Guildmaster, Alisa, had gone through quite the trouble teaching him, so for her sake too, he at least had to take a dive or two.
Tragedy struck, however. Right now, he wasn’t doing anything productive towards the Beach Party itself… as in, specifically. He was, more or less, tending to one of its future participants - his pet falcon, Coda. She had suddenly fell ill, noticeable by the pale color of her beak which showed a faint, white color with a pink base instead of its usual black and yellow combination. It was some kind of bacteria that caused it, for he knew about this condition that Coda had been in before… it had been oh so many years ago since last time Coda was sick. He couldn’t afford to let her sleep sick at home while the others partied, though. She was going with them, safe and healthy.
Okay, as he processed through his memory, he came to realize what he needed to brew a cure for the poor avian; olive leaves, turmeric, garlic and tea. Olive leaves, turmeric and garlic could likely be found back at the guild hall; specifically at the cottage turned greenhouse where Criss spent most of her time ever since joining Blue Pegasus. With huffing Coda in his arms, Daiko hastily jogged through Port Hargeon’s yet summer-warm streets, spotting the tall and castle-like roofs of his guild.
He was sweating quite a lot in situations like these. Coda was an unpredictable creature, and even though he had dealt with this kind of sickness before - or at least a sickness with the same symptoms as this one - he could never be sure if the same cure would even work. He had to try, though, for Coda’s health was his health. Coda’s wings were his wings, and her eyes were his eyes. Her life was just as valuable to him as his own.
He had so hoped to meet Criss tending to the plants in the greenhouse once he entered the guild hall’s grounds, but she was not present. She must’ve gone out to get something for the event… in that case, he would have to hurry. Many plants and vegetation were exquisitely lined up with space and sunlight beaming down from openings on the roof; Daiko could almost see the plants grow in joy…
Turmeric had pale colors, but some were also sharply orange. It took a solid 5 minutes of searching through the plants to find the beans having the matching description. A single sniff to it would confirm him that it was, indeed, turmeric. Criss sure was thorough with her collection.
The next one was a batch of olive leaves… they were much quicker to find, for they were attached to sprouting seeds of olive. A classic symbol of fruition and healthiness.
10 minutes of searching, and he just couldn’t find any garlic. This was really getting on his nerves; why didn’t she have any garlic? Coda was suffering!
In his rash anxiety, he ran out of the greenhouse with Coda still in his arms, getting hotter to the touch by the second. If there wasn’t any garlic in the greenhouse, then he would find it in one of the corner shops. Fortunately, there was one just around the block neighboring Blue Pegasus.
He almost stormed in and scared quite a dozen customers. His sweaty face and almost teary eyes looked for the garlic, his teeth gritting in fear of what could happen to Coda if he didn’t brew the cure in time. He couldn’t find it immediately, so he resorted to asking the merchant of its whereabouts. He had a net bag of garlic that he gladly let Daiko buy, given that the Fire Mage was willing to pay an uncounted sum for them.
With the three ingredients in order, he had to go back to the greenhouse and brew the tea/soup. The garlic were rattling in the net bag as he ran back to the guild hall, but he had no time to waste. He glanced at Coda’s heavy breathing and shivering, almost paralyzing himself with empathy. She didn’t deserve any of this, not Coda…
Ah, they were finally back at the greenhouse. He immediately put forth a wooden bowl and mixed the ingredients in this order; three olive leaves, five beans of turmeric, 5 garlic seeds and water. He mashed it up, then heated the bowl… realizing that it was made of wood and would burn if he heated it too much, he held a magical fire right above the ingredients instead.
And when the soup was liquid enough to be drinked - like drinking oatmeal, oof - he gave a portion to Coda. He had to open her beak manually, for she was losing strength. Fight, girl, fight…
A while passed where Daiko waited inside the greenhouse for Coda’s recovery. About half a day, maybe… or was it more than that? He had forgotten to count the hours, for they weren’t that important; his little falcon meant more to him than the passage of time, and it showed itself as he forgot what day it was. And he didn’t even have a watch… but he could see that the sun was about to set. He had spent all day waiting for-
*peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck*
Never had Daiko been so happy to be assaulted by a raptor. Coda’s energetic greeting of him, which was getting familiar overtime, took all worry from his heart like a breeze blowing away sand. She looked fine… and her beak’s colors were back
WC: 1144/2000