@aobace
For any healer worthy of their title, a forest would always be a second home. Understanding the nature surrounding them was just as important, if not more, than knowing the bodies they’re meant to aid. A large part of it was becoming acquainted with the whims of the Spirits, gaining their favor, and harnessing their blessings. Alice quite enjoyed that part of her job, venturing into the forest and finding a spot brimming with magic to set up an offering, it was like going on a little adventure.
Ever since realizing that the elementals were musically inclined, she’d been having fun testing out their preferences. Given that she was to return with blessed water, the young apprentice quietly hummed the tune to an old lullaby as she walked along a thin stream, knowing Undine to favor soft melodies and voices instead of an actual instrument.
She’d been following a type of magic she’d never felt before, something... more corporeal than the gentle presence of the Spirits, a lingering energy left behind in erratic bursts. Alice knew that it was way too aggressive for her to able to carry out a successful ritual anywhere near it, but she simply couldn’t help the curiosity over what type of being could be its source. So she carried on, eventually diverting from the stream and going deeper into the forest, filling the little basket on her elbow with samples of flowers and plants.
After safely putting a delicate dryad seed inside a small cloth pouch and gingerly tucking it away inside her bag, she looked up to finally come across what she was looking for. Ahead of her on a large clearing was a young man, his tanned skin painted with long healed scars but also littered with fresh scrapes as he playfully wrestled with a dragon.
Halting to a stop, her arms grew limp as she watched them in awe, nearly dropping the basket in her distraction. The majestic winged creatures were far from uncommon, but it was her first time seeing one so close.