Chapter 12

Fugue Fungus Frustrations

Witch

It was a little after midday when I felt Luke's presence make its way through the forest and I heard his knock at my door. "Much better timing today." I said simply as I opened the door. He smiled and shifted somewhat uncomfortably. Perfect, we were making progress. "Since I haven't reworked any potions to human dosages we won't be doing anything like that today." The wave of relief that washed over him was plainly visible. "However," I said; he tensed. "We're going to be spending the afternoon searching for a rare ingredient that I've run out of. Come along." I breezed past him, closing the door behind me, and walked across the bridge over my swamp. He stood frozen at my door for a few seconds and I grinned towards the forest. Oh yes, things were certainly going my way.

"Wait, what are we looking for?" He called, jogging forward to draw even with me. He kept pace easily enough, being rather tall.

"Fugue Mushrooms."

"Fugue what?" I glanced at him, irritated with his stupidity. Honestly, didn't everyone know what a Fugue Mushroom was? At the very least he ought to know them as the most poisonous mushroom on the peninsula. He was a woodsman for the Goddess's sake, only a fool would spend all day in the forest and be wary of what was poisonous.

"Fugue Mushroom." I said sternly. "They're purple with pink spots, and they sort or glow. Or sparkle or whatever. Very poisonous and very, very rare. I need them for potions. So keep your eyes peeled!" I commanded imperiously.

He quirked an eyebrow at me, those amber eyes looked bored with my description. Before I had a chance to purse my lips and demand what, Luke shrugged and walked on in front of me, peering at all of the fungus on the sides of the path and dashing about madly whenever something slightly shining caught his attention. More often than not he was just digging around in patches of toadstools and falling into puddles hidden by the leaves of bushes. I rolled my eyes and trailed behind him, carefully peering into the shadows that he had neglected and crossing my fingers to find a mushroom. There was only ever one fugue mushroom in the forest at a time, and sometimes none at all. I had my suspicions that Wizard was still trespassing into my forest to take the mushrooms, but he was good at avoiding me so I hadn't caught him in the act for quite some time.

"Hey is this one!" Luke called excitedly, pointing down at a green and yellow toadstool, grinning widely.

"Tch. I said pink and purple, idiot! That's just a stupid old toadstool, nothing magic about that." I flipped my hair and continued past Luke, relishing the sight of him deflating at my criticism. Serves him right, he ought to pay closer attention to me when I talk!

"Oh…" He muttered before catching up and starting the search anew. He was so energetic, it was kind of uplifting. An hour passed that way, with us aimlessly combing the forest for a Fugue Mushroom. I began to wonder if Gale really had come and taken the mushroom; I hadn't felt his presence but he was strong enough to mask it if he wanted to. I considered calling off the search, but that would defeat my purpose in irritating Luke. He was still bouncing from place to place, but his fruitless efforts were beginning to wear him down. I could see it in the way his feet were starting to drag and he didn't have as hopeful a look when he indicated a new fungus to me. It wasn't much longer before I felt Kasey, the farmer trying to set things right with nature, approaching through the forest. He had entered the forest earlier that day, but hadn't come to see me. He was busy trying to befriend the villagers and ring the fifth bell, I presumed.

"Yo, Luke." He shouted, having caught sight of Luke digging through a patch of mushrooms up ahead of me.

"Oh, hey dude!" Luke said with a grin, standing up and brushing the dirt on his hands off onto his pants. "What's up?"

"Oh I was just on my way to see the Wi-." Kasey cut off, having turned his head and seen my not standing far behind Luke. I smirked and gave him a little wave. "Witch… Luke, what are you doing with the Witch?" He said in a confused tone. Right to the point, like always.

"Ah… That's a long story." Luke said with a little laugh. I applauded him for the dodge, it would probably be a little embarrassing to explain that I was punishing him. "But we're looking for Fugue Mushrooms!"

Kasey shifted uncomfortably. "I'm out, and I need them for my potions." I supplied with a little smile. The brunette scratched his head, seemingly still at a loss for how to handle the unexpected appearance not only of me out in the forest but of me with Luke. Suddenly, he pulled off his rucksack and started to dig through it, shuffling towards me as he did.

"Is it one of these?" He asked softly, offering up the shining piece of fungus in his hand. It was absolutely perfect, the purple-blue cap covered in bright pink spots. He didn't flinch when I reached out to touch it, so I took it from his hand.

"Ah, you found one! Thank you, Kasey." I discreetly quirked an eyebrow at Luke. He almost looked disappointed at the thought that he wasn't the one to find the mushroom. Perhaps he had been enjoying the challenge. I decided to rub it in a little and brandished the mushroom in Luke's direction. "This is a Fugue Mushroom." I said with a toothy smile.

"I thought there was something magical looking about it." Kasey said with a grin. "I found it this morning."

"Well thanks for giving it to me! I love them. I'll see the two of you some other time, lots of work to do." I gave Luke a wink; he'd better prepare himself for the next day. He still hadn't found a Fugue Mushroom, and I wasn't about to let him off the hook on this task. But that was a matter that could be left for the next day. I turned on my heel and left the two boys together, already on my way to conduct experiments and brew potions with the fungus.

Author's Note: I supposed I should apologize for the brief chapter, since that's something readers often don't like. In my defense, this is still sort of a slice-of-life story and there's just not much out of the ordinary happening in the Witch and Luke's daily routines. I imagine it would be quite annoying if I detailed the same mundane stuff in each chapter.

In other news: To the handful of readers actively following this story, sorry. Thanksgiving is next week and after that there are only 2 weeks until finals at my college. Which means there's plenty of studying and final projects on my plate - and less time to work on fanfic. So there may or may not be an update for the next few weeks, depending on my use of free time. After the end of the semester things should return to the 2 chapter a week Thursday updates.

Thanks for reading! Please review!