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killjams-ocs · 1 year ago

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Chapter 1 - Foraging

Summary: Foraging in the deep woods, ignorant that anything bad could happen.

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The main area of Star Cas, which was about a few minutes’ walk from your new home, was the most active part of this town. Many buildings close to one another with a cobblestone pathway connecting each building to each other. There was an occasional wooden bucket housing different flowers with a variety of colours. A few people were out and about, some walking to another building, others having a chat. Since it’s been a good while from the last time you visited, you couldn’t tell who was passing by or who lived here.

You take note of the many stores available in this area, ranging from a classic book store all the way to a store dedicated to photography. There were other buildings such as a café, post office and a local clinic. You make sure to take note of where everything was just in case you have a need for any of these locations in the future.

Walking passed the people and stores; you walk into where the woods were notably thicker and dense compared to everything else in the area. You have some memories of foraging through these plants and trees to help Nagi look for ingredients.

Fishing around your messenger bag, you pull out the notebook and flip the pages, not really needing to take a look through it as you have what is where memorized to a degree. There was a section dedicated to different drawings of what you’ll need to get yourself started with your new job.

Eyes carefully going over the grass below, you make sure you don’t accidently step on anything that can be useful or be missed from your view. There were a few sage roots that caught your eye by a tree trunk, so you gently kneeled down by it to harvest it in a way not to damage the root too much.

This is the wild variant, not as potent as what you can grow yourself with special seeds, but it’s a good starting point. You look over the plant’s info in the notebook, written in neat handwriting.

“Wild sage roots are a common find near star cas and many other areas of Cosmos Thicket. Can be used to make potions mainly healing the body from any type of injuries. Only used for light damage.”

You nod your head after reading the passage and mentally note down some possible brews you could make from these roots if you are able to find their other requirements. Standing back up, you take a look around to see where to go next. Over by some rocks, there were a few red capped mushrooms and you couldn’t help but to do a little sprint towards them. The closer you got, the more their blue stems came into view.

This was the amanita cap, no doubt about it! Flipping through the pages once again, you find information related to it.

“These mushrooms, often found in moist or damp areas, can be used to lesson lethal poison effects on the person. Make sure to cut the head from the root, as it can regrow its cap in a few short weeks.” You take note about the harvest technique writing down with the information. Luckily, you brought a switch blade with you in case it was needed, like now. You lay on the front of your body and carefully maneuvered the tip of the blade to only get the cap of the mushroom off. You couldn’t help but make a few slip ups here and there, but it was nothing too damaging to the root to prevent its regrowth. At least, that’s what you want to believe.

Like with the wild sage root, you carefully place it in your bag. Hopefully, you can find more variety of whats available in this forest to have a decent selection in your shop for the customers to buy.

The sun up above slowly inched through the sky as you made your way through the forest, snaking around the many trees and bushes, getting as much coverage as you can. By now you’ve got a decent collection of what you already have plus some new ones as well. All commonly found, so nothing too fancy can be made right now with what you have.

It was at least better than nothing. Perhaps if you can get the funds, start a little garden for yourself to grow these herbs and fungi so you can spend more time in areas with rarer ingredients. Just a thought for now.

Deep in thought, you didn’t realize the incoming threat who just laid their eyes on you.

Without any time to realize something was coming your way, a huge wild wolf catches you off guard. You yelled out as it knocked you to the ground, only aiming for your jugular for a quick kill. With what little strength you have, you block its teeth from your neck, earning many bites along the way. It was painful, but more bearable than missing a part of your flesh.

Your mind was blank as you tried your best to kick off the beast, but its determination was much too much for you to handle. First real day in Star cas, and you’re already dead meat. Great.

“HEY-“A voice could be heard somewhere around you, “I TOLD YOU I’LL GET YOU” Suddenly someone came running towards you and chucked their body into the wolf to get it off you. You quickly get up, legs shaking from the adrenaline rushing through your veins. You watch as what seems to be a tall woman with white hair take on the wolf with a claymore. You looked away after she gained the upper hand, not wanting to see what almost kill you get killed itself.

You didn’t hear her walk up to you, the only thing you can hear is the blood rushing through your ears as your eyes was squeezed shut.

“You alright, little one?” You peaked through your eye lids and took a good look at her. She had a pointy smile and heterotopia eyes, one yellow, the other purple. Small, black horns pointed out the top of her head, indicating she was at least part demon. There was blood splattered on her, but she didn’t seem to mind judging from the way she was smiling at you.

“Alive at least” was what you were able to speak out loud, arms violently from the many cuts. She looks down at your injuries.

“Ah- not in the best shape now are we?” She attaches the claymore to the sheath on her back and picks you up effortlessly from your spot, making your heart jump from the sudden contact and being held up from the ground. “Here, why don’t I get you to our nice doctor?”

“P-please do”

Along the way to where the suppose doctor of star cas lives, the woman starts a conversation with you.

“The names Veronika” She starts off, “didn’t expect to see the new face already almost dying on us”

“You know who I am?”

“Of course! Everyone is aware of the new potion maker in town.” She giggled. “I just didn’t think to meet you in these circumstances”

“I didn’t think monsters were this close to star cas…” You admitted.

“They kinda are, you just wandered off from town a bit too far for your own good” Veronika pointed out.

“Oh uh-“You felt embarrassed now. “Sorry, got carried away with foraging…”

“No need to apologize cutie” She winks, “gives me an excuse to carry you” You didn’t realize she was also a flirt. After that, there was a silence between the two of you. Not that you had anything else to say other than complain about the pain and stinging from your cuts, but you didn’t want to come off as annoying to Veronika.

It wasn’t long after you both reached a cabin. If you remember right, it was still a bit of ways away from the main town area, but not as far as you went out in the first place. Veronika didn’t bother to knock and just kicked the door open, causing you the gasp from her sudden intrusion and possible property damage. Inside the cabin was pretty clean, aside from a desk with a variety of medicines, a mortar and pestle, with a variety of open books. More books could be found stacked beside the desk. You couldn’t help but to notice a cup of tea, still steaming, on the desk.

‘OI DOC MAN!” Veronika yelled out towards one of the rooms. “NEED SOME HELP HERE!” Soon after, a talk man on the lanky side walks out of one of the rooms and looks towards you and Veronika. He chuckles at the sight, smiling with the same kind of pointy teeth like Veronika. He didn’t seem to be part demon, in fact, more elf like thanks to his pointed ears. His eyes however… you couldn’t tell. Diamond pupils, yellow eyes with red sclera. A first for you to see.

“Ho ho~” He spoke up, not caring if his door was kicked in. “I knew we’ll eventually meet thanks to our close professions, but this was much sooner than expected” The makes his way over to you and Veronika and lifts one of your arms to take a close look at the wounds. He silently tsk’d from the sight. “Nothing I can’t fix, but I will need some time” He then walks away to another room and gestures Veronika to bring you over there. In this room was a makeshift hospital room. A clean bed with bright light magic to keep thing clear in here. You were laid on the bed as the man looked over some bottles on a shelf to the side.

“Just found them out in the deep woods almost getting killed by a wolf, like some innocent kid who didn’t know better” Veronika laughs. “I don’t mean this in a way to bully you, by the way” She reassures to you.

“Mind I ask why you were out there?” The man brings over a seat and starts to clean your wounds with a liquid from one of the bottles he brought over to the beds side table. As the medicine did its job, you couldn’t help but to seethe in pain from the stinging of it on your cuts.

“I just wanted to get some herbs and other things I could find to start brewing potions” You admitted. “I didn’t realize it was dangerous, I thought it was safe”

“It was safe,” he cleans another cut, making you hiss, “however, these days monsters have found a home in those parts of the woods.”

“Ah…” You let out. You can’t help but to feel a bit foolish.

“Nothing to feel bad about, Nagi had you last here many years ago” he tells you. “Before those things somehow got here” You couldn’t help but to feel a little confused. You didn’t know this guy, so how did he know you way beforehand?

“Welp- now you know more, albeit through the hard way” Veronika was leaning against the wall as this was all happening. “Thank the stars that I just happened to be near by to stop your death”

“Yeah, I greatly appreciate it, thank you” You continued to hiss from the pain before any left-over medicine was wiped off with a clean cloth. The man, whose name you still didn’t had, proceeded to use some magic from his hand on your arms, making you feel a little numb before getting some medical grade twine to stitch the deeper cuts closed. You kind of wished he did that numbing spell first.

He takes a bandage and wraps around both the wounds that were stitched and the shallow ones to make sure everything was closed up for proper healing. You glanced over your arms, faint red specks could be seen from the cuts, but it wasn’t anything too bad now. Since calming down from the whole situation, you almost pass out from the sudden realization from just how tired you were. The two people with you seemed to have noticed this.

“I would highly suggest you stay here for the night; I’ll wake you up once you need some fresh bandages.” The doctor stands up and starts putting some things away. “Before anything else however, please let me brew some tea for you” Kazuya stands up and walks over to one of the tables with a tea set on it.

“Tea? What kind?” You asked, curious as to why he was suddenly making you a drink as he went through the motions to brew some for you.

“It’s a medicine for the pain to keep at bay and to help you fall asleep. The healing process can be sped up this way.” He walks over to you and places the cup on the bedside table for you to have. “Please, allow yourself to rest after drinking this. In the meantime, Veronika,” he looks at the woman and she nods.

“Yeah yeah-,” She moves herself away from the wall and walks out of the room, soon followed by Kazuya. Now left in the room yourself, you help yourself to the tea. Blowing some of the steam off to cool it down before taking a drink. It wasn’t sweet nor was it bitter, nothing too notable in the first place aside tasting like the colour green. It was medicine after all, they’re not known to tasting like anything special or good.

You didn’t realize how thirsty you were in that moment however. You have been out for a bit before getting here, and almost being killed did made your throat dry from all the stress. Despite how warm the tea was for your liking, you gulped it down to quench your thirst. You placed the cup back on the table and decided it was time to lay down and rest for the night.

Body feeling light and eye lids becoming heavy, it didn’t take long for you to pass out in bed.

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killjams-ocs · 1 year ago

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Prologue - First Day

Summary: You just got to Star Cas and get some unexpected help with moving in

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It hasn’t been long since the funeral for Nagi has taken place, and you’re already moving into his old place and shop now. You never planned on moving to Star Cas in the first place, but after being left with the old potion shop in Nagi’s will, you felt it wouldn’t be right to not take it over. Considering how important his role as potion maker was in this town and as someone who was personally trained by Nagi himself, you felt like it wouldn’t take much to be able to fill that role that was left empty by his death.

You look over at the building before you. It was a combination of a shop and home. The home being on the second floor, above the actual shop area itself. The inside has been cleared out, clean for its new owner. As you looked through the front window of the shop and its dark insides, two people approach from the side and alert you of their presence.

“Ah, good to see you’re here early.” A tall man with white long hair in a low ponytail gives you a lazy wave.

“Good to finally meet you!” Besides the man was another person, a woman who was on the taller side as well with orange hair and bunny ears, “I’m Bree! This is Barrett” Bree gestures towards the man. “We were told to meet up with you to help with your move in.” Bree flexes towards you, proudly showing off her guns as a silent way to tell you she’s more than fit for the job.

“Oh-!” You piped up in surprise. “I really thought I was going to haver to do this all on my own!”

“No worries,” Barrett walks over to you and holds out his hand. “We wouldn’t let Nagi’s good friend all on their own now, would we?” You gladly shook his hand.

“Anyways, just tell what goes where and we’ll move it for ya!” Bree explains the strategy, seemingly excited to move your stuff for you.

“You sure about that?” You asked, “I don’t want to load all the work to you guys!” You didn’t want to feel rude on your first official day living here.

“Its all good my friend” Barrett walks over to your wagon and takes out a box, “We practically booked our day off to help you out, plus you’ll need the rest after getting to Star Cas in the first place.” He did bring up a good point. The time to get here from your old town took a few good hours, and you barely got any sleep last night just to prepare for this at the last minute.

“Well, it is true I am a bit tired…” You trailed off giving yourself a moment to think. “If you guys really insist on doing all the moving, I’m not gonna stop you.” Bree smiles at your words.

“Alright! Let’s get to work then!” She takes one of the boxes from the wagon and brings it in before you could tell her where to put it in the first place.

“Thank you so much you two” You smile towards them after an hour or two of bringing in your items and setting them in the right rooms. “I probably wouldn’t been able to do this all in the first place without your help”

“Like I said, its all good” Barrett waves his hand as if this whole thing was never hassle in the first place.

“Oh!” Bree suddenly remembers, “I got some stuff at my farm to bring over for you!” She points to the general location of where said farm is. “Something me and my family put together to help you settle in as you get yourself used to Star Cas”

“You’re too kind!” You couldn’t help to feel a little spoiled right now.

“Yeah, let me quickly get it-“And with that, Bree starts to sprint to her home to get your home warming gift.

“Trust me when I say this.” Barrett says as you both watch the bunny girl run into the distance, “their fresh food is the best”

“I can believe you on that” You replied, excited to get some kind of food in you after a long day of moving. “I have been to Star Cas a few times in the past to visit Nagi, but its been a good while since I last been here”

“Oh, is that so?” Barrett questions. You nod your head.

“Yeah,” You confirmed, “Nagi mostly visited my town for ingredients and other errands which is how I got to meet him in the first place.”

“So, you’re Nagi?” You asked the light blue haired man. He nods.

“Yep! I’ve heard of some unique flora in this area, so I decided to check to see if they can be any use to me and my potions.” You can’t help but to feel curious about what he was talking about.

“Potions? You brew potions?” He nods again.

“Not really a big deal, but its something that I really hold dear.” He opens his backpack and brings out a worn-down notebook and opens it to a random page. The pages are yellow, aged from constant use. There were a few years here and there, but not enough damaged to prove anything concerning.

“There’s a lot going on with that notebook” You point it out as if he didn’t already know that.

“Just something I’ve had for a good while now” Nagi points out. He quickly skims over the words and does a notable ‘ah’, as if he found something he was looking for. “Right here is a basic potion to help clean infections” You look over the ingredients and brewing method to bring it all together. “Its nothing too fancy, but a lot of doctors use this one to help with fresh cuts on the skin”

“Wow!” Even if it was basic in his eyes, it was something completely new to you. “What else can you make?” Nagi smiles at your question and turns to another page.

You smile at the memory that suddenly took place in your mind. That meeting with Nagi was many years ago, both of you still very young when it happened. It wasn’t long afterwards that Nagi would sometimes teach you a thing or two about his potion making skills as you were always willing to learn what he was doing.

Without noticing, you started to cry.

“Hey, you okay?” Barrett looks over at you with some concern, placing a hand on your shoulder bringing you back to reality and the now. You jumped a little from the sudden contact but steadied yourself not too long afterwards.

“Nothing bad,” You bring a hand up to wipe away the few tears that streamed down your face. “Just thinking about Negi…”. Barrett takes a moment not to say anything before talking again.

“I feel ya on that.” He sighs, “Nagi was a good person. Everyone liked him. Almost saw him as a son” He admits.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring the mood down” You apologized.

“Its okay,” Barrett comforts you, “its still… a fresh wound for all of us who knew him” You shifted in your spot. “But,” he spoke again, “I’m sure we can all get through this together” Even with all the sudden sadness, you couldn’t help but to feel a little hope for the future.

“Guys! I got the food basket!” Bree’s voice could be heard in the distance as he quickly made her way back to you two. Once in front of you, she gladly holds the large wicker basket full of colourful foods and fruits. There were also some animal products ranging from milk, cheese and eggs. You couldn’t help but to be overwhelmed by this gift.

“That’s- a lot!” You couldn’t believe your eyes.

“Yep! We made sure to make sure you had everything you needed!” Bree does a little laugh, proud of her family’s efforts to help you. You took the wicker basket, which had some weight to it to no one’s surprise considering the number of items in it. “You’re always welcome to swing by the farm if you need anything, our door is open to you!” she gives a nice hearty slap to your back, almost making you drop the basket, which quickly earns a small, but silly, ‘sorry’ from the taller woman.

“Now, thankfully Nagi was able to keep this place in top shape, but if you ever find yourself in need of upgrades-“Barrett’s words suddenly stopped with Bree gave a slap to his back as well.

“Come on old man, they just got here! No need to do a sales pitch” She scolded him with a friendly tone to her voice.

“Just letting them know, that’s all” Barrett puts his hands up in defense about his actions. He then turns to you. “Aside from that, just let either one of us know if you need anything.”

“Thanks again you two, I really mean it” You smiled.

“It’s a ok!” Bree gave a thumbs up at you, “As much as I’ll love to stay here, I need to make sure my siblings get to bed on time. Ma and pops asked me to do so”

“And I’ll be heading off too, this old man needs to get back home and make dinner” He pats your shoulder and gives it a nice firm squeeze. “Have a good night kid, and welcome to Star Cas”

Barrett and Bree made their way to their homes as you set the wicker basket on the kitchen table. You took a piece of cheese to get something in you from the long day you’ve had. It was great.

The next morning, you woke up and took a deep breath. Today was your first official day in Star Cas. You’ve already put the food away in the kitchen before heading to bed, just to have some kind of peace of mind knowing your morning self wouldn’t need to do it.

Getting dressed and after having breakfast, you walked downstairs to the shop area of the building. The displays and shelves were empty, making the entire place a fresh slate for you. The counter with the cash register was near the back of the big room, and behind the counter was a door to another area.

In the other room was where the magic, quite literally, happened. The big metal caldron with a fireplace below it was the main center piece of this room. Also cleaned out and ready for you. Aside from that, many shelves to store ingredients, bottles, potions and what not was lining the walls. The only thing really left behind was some dried herbs hanging from the wall.

You walked over to said herbs and took a look at them. Purple like flowers and other things that were a deep dark green. Very dried at this point, but something you knew what to do with from the knowledge Nagi shared with you.

You took out a notebook. The same one Nagi showed off to you when you first met. It was entrusted to you at some point before Nagi passed away. Flipping through the pages, you scanned for what these ingredients could be used for.

Considering this is what you could only find in terms of what can be used, it wasn’t really enough to make anything sadly. You’ll have to go foraging for some plants to make anything. Closing the treasured notebook, you go back upstairs to place it in a small messenger bag to keep it close to you as you go out to explore Star Cas.

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