The senior restoration druid looked over his newest class, "To begin your studies, each of you will be given a tree seed and a flag. Your task is to plant the seed and watch it grow for the next hundred years. The restorative energies you seek to master are exemplified by trees such as these. You will eventually master the form well enough to draw healing energy when you are not shapeshifted, but you will have the greatest capacity to pull those energies when you are."
The master gestured to his assistants, who went around the group distributing seeds and flags. When they were finished he said, "I chose these seeds for their vitality. They will grow well for you. Choose a place to plant and mark it with your flag. We will meet here each day after noon meal to discuss the observations you have made so far."
The group excitedly dispersed, except for one student.
"Is there a problem, Jerathai?" the master inquired.
The young druid looked at her instructor, "May I study this seed for a week or two before I plant it Master, or will that hurt the seed?"
The senior druid was pleased, "This is the proper season for these seeds to sprout, but a week or two will not harm it if you would like to study it for a while."
"Thank you master." She thought for a minute and then asked, "Is the mother-tree of this seed in this area?"
The teacher was surprised, "It is somewhere in that grove over there," he pointed, "but I did not mark which tree each seed came from. I regret that I can't tell you more precisely."
"Thank you, sir," Jera replied. She walked off towards the grove he had indicated, studying the seed in her hands.
The two assistants converged on the teacher. "Well that's a question we've never heard before," one commented.
"Indeed. This one will be interesting to watch," he replied.
Jera spent the next two weeks studying her seed closely. Every afternoon when the class met the teacher asked each student what they had learned so far. Every time he got to Jera she replied, "I have not yet planted my seed, Master."
The other students smirked in self-congratulation and superiority and the teacher moved on to the next student.
Two weeks after beginning their assignment, Jerathai finally responded to the master's question with "I planted my seed today, sir."
The senior druid and his assistants sat up with heightened interest. "Tell us what you have been doing with your seed for the past two weeks, young Jerathai."
His student complied obediently, "You mentioned that our seeds showed exceptional vitality, so for the whole two weeks while I was working with the seed I was focusing on sensing that. I took it to the grove where it had been born and noticed that all its kin grew in groups. So I thought it might grow best in a place where there are others of its kind."
Several of the students were startled by that.
The young elf continued, "The place where its kin grew strongest was dry ground. Where the ground was damp they did not grow. So I knew I needed to find similar dry ground for my seed."
Another couple of the students flinched.
Jera explained, "I know that there are many creatures that will dig up and eat seeds if they can. I'm an alchemist, but not that experienced yet. So I visited a master alchemist in Darnassus and asked her to make me a potion that would repel such creatures to make sure my seed would not be harmed."
Now even the assistants were looking impressed, but their charge wasn't done yet.
"When I had found a place and was ready to plant my seed, I took it to the Temple of the Moon. I told one of the priestesses what I was doing and she gladly gave a blessing to the seed. She also gave me a cup of water from the Temple Moonwell to water the seed with. I planted it at moonrise last night. After working on sensing it and with the moonwell water on it, it was easy for me to detect.
The instructor slowly rose and then bowed towards Jera. The assistants started clapping. Her fellow students were looking quite chagrined.
The group dispersed after hearing from the remaining students. The assistants converged on the senior healer as he watched the green haired elf walk off in the direction of her seed. "Master, young Jerathai is already proving quite exceptional."
"I know," he responded quietly. "I will be informing the Archdruid myself."