Story 1
Sakura left her little wool bag on the table and took a look at herself in the mirror. She didn't look that bad. Her hair wasn't completely burned, it was a nice size now. Her eyebrows, though, weren't as lucky. Her eyebrows no longer existed. Fury filled her as she looked at her face, at her strange eyebrow-less face and remembered the dreadful moment she decided to fool Drago by shoving the pill in his fish. The little beast was smart! Smart enough to know that fish isn't supposed to taste that way…or feel that way…or have that color. But what else what she supposed to do? His wing was still healing, it's been 1 week and his wing hadn't healed yet. So she figured out a little cure that would make the wing heal a little faster…alright a lot faster…alright, instantly. The pill, unfortunately didn't have the best taste.
But now, because of that little fool she had to wait for her eyebrows to grow back. What was she supposed to do now? What was she supposed to do until then? She touched her forehead and felt lucky that that was all she had lost. Drago really needs to work on his temper.
"If you ask me, you totally asked for it." Her little friend said.
"Yeah, well no one asked you." She responded trying to not get even angrier. She wondered how funny it would be to shave little old Pip and use its hair as her temporary eyebrows. Yellow eyebrows wouldn't suit her though, not with her complexion or her hair.
Pip sighed. For its small size it could really pack a lot of attitude. "Sweet pea, you can't expect Drago to accept being tested on. Who knows what that pill would've done? How about you have a little patience, aye?" It used its small wings to fly on her shoulder to whisper something in her ear. "Same goes for your eyebrows, aye sweet pea." Her fury was beyond boiling point now.
"Listen, you fluffy alcoholic! I did my research well, I know my affinity! I know what I'm doing! You know I do. It's not my fault Drago's a little princess!" She yelled the last part so he could hear her and when she heard a loud puff and smelled something burning she knew he did.
"You want me to remind you of that forest incident? Or that mission we had in the dwarves' village? I don't think you knew your affinity that well then, aye?" He flew off her shoulder and on the cupboard next to her fearing that she might slap him right into the wall. Sakura wasn't known for her calm temper or her forgiving nature.
"You know perfectly well that was out of my control. And I just wanted to make that stupid beast heal faster. I was doing a bleeding favor for a friend! How is that wrong, aye?" She used the word 'aye' mockingly as that was what she did when she got angry, she wanted to hurt the person that made her angry and so she mocked. "I'll go fly into the bleeding hole in the wall and eat my bleeding cheese because I'm a bloody flying mouse." Granted, she wasn't very good at it. It was endearing, really.
"Honestly, sweet pea, I'm only trying to help." He tried.
"Well you're not!"Sakura retorted. "You're making me angrier. What could you do anyway besides sit there and look pretty. You're not even good at that you garl smoking rodent." To be fair Pip wasn't a rodent. He was a mentor fairy, what every little girl got when she started learning her affinity. It was raised from the little girl's deepest desires coming from her soul and heart during the first summer solstice after she had discovered her affinity. It was all made out to look beautiful and special. In truth there was a factory just outside town that located each and every mentor fairy that would appear to their little menders. Truth be told they do appear to the fairy that most fits their personality and working style, basically that works best with them.
Mentor fairies are an ancient species that appeared even before menders did. They have a spherical body covered in fluffy fur of different colors. Their wings are small but perfectly fine for their body weight. They don't have gender assigned at their birth or at any point in their life because they don't see the point of it. They no longer are in charge of creating new mentor fairies as there are menders that have an affinity for nature and so they strive for balance which means that each species needs to be in perfect equilibrium. And so they create their fairies for them.
"Pip! Go calm that bloody dragon!" She yelled and added afterwards calmly. "In fact don't. Just put the saddle on him and go pack your bags." Pip was speechless. Pack its bags? That meant just one thing. Another adventure. Another long road with just the two of them trying to get along but failing miserably. And where were they headed now? What forgotten places would they see now? It was all a mystery to Pip as Sakura liked to keep it all to herself and change her mind constantly. She was a mess that girl, a true unorganized mess but when she got an idea she would not drop it.
"Where are we going now, aye girl?" She smiled and showed her excitement through her eyes as her eyebrows were no longer there to convey her emotions. She was a lucky girl though, her eyes didn't need any help to convey emotion as they were always eager to help their owner communicate.
"All in good time dear Pip. You know what I always say-"
"It's not an adventure if you know where you're going." He continued. That was one thing Pip could always agree on. So Pip went and did exactly as it was told and figured it wouldn't mind a nice trip. After all they hadn't gone on one for about two months. Life was beginning to seem normal and if the three had one thing in common it was that they couldn't stand a normal life. They hated it. Feared it, even. A fear of living for nothing and dying in obscurity and alone. A fear of never having accomplished anything. And so they travelled. And ran. They ran away from the monotony of the everyday life. The routine that would surely settle in if they stayed too long at home.
They ran around for two hours before everything was settled. Pip was packed, Drago was all ready for a long journey and Sakura was simply excited.
"Sakura, I must remind you to not play around with your potions set and to not use any potions on any unsuspecting people. I do not want what happened in Bersazt to happen again, aye?" Pip flew on her shoulder and settled in for a long trip. Sakura was sitting in the saddle ready to fly away as soon as Drago was done stretching his wings. His wing was still hurt after all so flying for long periods wasn't recommended without a bit of stretching.
"Stop worrying Pip. We're not going on a trip. We have a mission so there won't be any fooling around." A mission in which no one fooled around. Ha! That was something Pip would like to see. He couldn't help but laugh. "Laugh all you want but I didn't pack you any garl leaves." His laughing turned into puffing which soon turned into silence.
"Are you crazy girl? Do you want me to go mad?" He flew away from her shoulder and settled on one of Drago's horns.
"Pip, you've been my mentor for…what? 14 years now? That's a long time isn't it? So is it wrong that I want my mentor to be healthier? To live longer?" She tried but the truth was she simply couldn't stand the smell and what it did to her good friend's voice. "I mean why do you need it anyway? They're just leaves, you can go on without them. It makes your voice sound all croaky and when you're not chewing it you're angry."
"So if I'm angry when I don't chew them why didn't you pack any?" Pip retorted.
"Don't pull that with me. You chewed all I had for my potions and now we have to get more."
"If that's where we're going then we can find some in the backyard."
"That's not where we're going. You see, I got an idea while I made my hair growing potion to make my eyebrows grow back. What if we made a potion that could change appearance?" Pip flew back on its mender's shoulder and forgot all about its garl leaves.
"Sakura, inventing a potion is dangerous and needs hard work. As much as I believe you are ready when it comes to ability, I don't believe you are ready for the commitment." Pip tried. Sakura was the kind of person that never finished a thing so Pip thought that with everything she had to do, figure out the ingredients, gather them, then decide how much of everything. That was the simple part really. Testing it was a very dangerous thing. You couldn't do it directly on humans as it was illegal so you had to find unwanted pests to test it on. And considering the fact that an appearance altering potions meddles with the DNA it will take a lot of work and a lot of hits and misses to get this right.
"I know that. But I want to do it. I want to try it. I want to be remembered so I'll just make something memorable." Sakura smiled. All her life she wanted to be something special but she never got the chance. She decided to create that chance.
"Why do you think no one attempted an appearance altering potion? It meddles with who you are and it changes you. If you've done your reading you would have known, Sakura." Pip scolded. Sakura couldn't help but sigh. She knew of the dangers, she was all too aware of them.
"I did my reading, Pip. And I found out something." Sakura noticed the curiosity in Pip's eyes. She was happy with the reaction she got.
"What exactly did you find out?" Pip asked after noticing that she won't go on.
"I read about a different sort of garl called blue garl. Now, if garl has the ability to change your voice temporarily without permanently altering it, blue gnarl can do that and more. Though I'm not sure what exactly."
"So we're running after this plant based on intuition, aye?"
"More like rumors. Some say it can change your whole appearance if brewed correctly. Other say it changes your personality for a few days. It's all really strange, plus the fact that I found out it only grows in one place."
"Which is where exactly?" Pip asked concerned. This sort of plant surely didn't grow on a nice green meadow. Sakura hesitated.
"It's…uh…It grows in the Witch's Meadow." She finally answered. Well, Pip thought, it's a meadow alright.
"Are you insane?" Pip whispered. "And dragging us all along to…to there." It added furiously. "You know the dangers that lie there. The untamed dragons, the flesh eating flies, the creatures that named that cursed place. I really don't believe a potion will protect you when a 2 meters tall witch will try and rip your heart out to feed it to her gods, girl!" Pip's fur turned red. It always did when he was overcome with emotion. "No wonder no one heard of that blasted plant. It probably doesn't even exist, it's probably a trap to get you there or anyone who's stupid enough to fall for it." Pip finished.
"Pip just stop. I learned how to brew an invisibility potion. It will last me about four hours and you can wait at the edge. I'll be in and out."
