Now she just needed to find some grains, clean everything up, and she was done. The only problem would be... trying to figure out what a grain was. Surely it was some kind of plant, and surely it would be grainy, hence the name.

She crinkled her nose as she reached out to her magic again, but this time found nothing in return. Perhaps that in itself was a sign-- stop pushing it, leave people with eyes to collect grains. Aurelle's worst nightmare, after all, was bringing back something bad and getting people hurt.

"I suppose we'll start cleaning," the elf told her backpack, returning to the cave wall. She took down her bag and sat with her back leaning against the wall.

First, the berries. It'd be easier to clean them and the inside of her bag at the same time-- so carefully, she took out the two fish and the leafy green vegetable, setting them neatly in front of her. She angled her hands into the inside of her backpack, tongue sticking out with concentration.

A low heat emanated from her fingers as her magic began sterilizing the inside of her bag and the gunk from the berries. Although she couldn't sense the bacteria swarming around in there, there was a dim sense of comfort that it was now clean and free of microbial life.

That was always something that put her mind at ease. It was difficult not to think about how many tiny crawlies she was eating whenever she put something in her mouth.

Next, the green vegetable.

She wished she'd known what it was called, but she supposed that she could just ask Bartholomew, and make sure that it was, indeed, green. She lifted it into her warm hands and took a deep, tired breath. Her hands got even warmer, almost burning, as the bacterium was cleansed off the surface.

Aurelle turned it, then, bringing her fingers carefully between the layers and the little folds that the leaves made in on themselves, just to make sure it was good and truly clean. Then, she sat it back into her bag. Just two more to go and she was done.

Next up, Aurelle took the larger fish-- the silverling, not that she could tell any real difference between it and the whiteling, only the sizes of them. It'd long stopped thrashing, unable to breathe above the water. A pang of pity went through her gut. It was a horrible way to go, but Aurelle didn't know how else to end them. She didn't have teeth or jaws like Lichen, and she had no weapons to make it a clean kill.

Maybe a little knife would come in handy, next time.

Her magic was wavering, now, as she cleaned this fish. Weaker than it had been the previous time, for sure. "Just one more." she murmured, sweat beading on her forehead. She was uncertain if she was soothing herself or her gemstone, which she assumed was the thing giving her the ability to cast, considering it tingled whenever she did so. "One more and we're done."

The newly-sterilized fish was placed into her bag, and Aurelle picked up the final, smaller fish. She took a shaky breath, her hands trembling with adrenaline. She would be exhausted by the time she got back to Scorpio, she knew, but a good meal and some sit down time would be good for her. Or, at least, good enough to get home where she could flop over onto her blankets.

"Come on," she encouraged her magic. "Just one more."

Her magic flickered but returned to her near-burning hands, sterilizing the final fish. "Thank you," she murmured aloud to her gemstone before placing the fish back inside. She closed the satchel and pulled it up onto her shoulders again.

After casting so much, her hands had gone numb again, but she didn't mind too much. They'd regain feeling again once she got into the tavern and had a nice meal in her.

Maybe Bartholomew was doing lunch.

exit