View source for Log:The Healing Spring

{{ Log
| cast = [[Joel_White|Joel]], [[Eden_Lopez|Eden]], [[Lucky_Donovan|Lucky]], [[Max]], [[Logan Brenner|Logan]] with [[User:Datura|Paige]] as ST
| summary = News of a healing spring reaches some Lost's ears, they go to investigate.
| gamedate = 2017.05.10
| gamedatename = 
| subtitle = 
| location = The Hedge
| categories = Changeling
| log = 
A couple of the Lost listen to hobs when they talk, and really, when do hobs ever shut up? These hobs are talking about this spring that they found deep in the woods. Big deal, it's a spring. They're all around, right? Except the hobs ''claim'' that this one can heal anything, which, of course, makes it a lot more valuable. They don't claim to know ''exactly'' where it is, but they said that it was deep in the woods, near a single stone that juts from the earth like a spear, and supposedly hidden by some foilage. Some happily chat about a monster guarding the pool, but others say nothing. Some of the Lost have decided to go hunting for it together, while others have simply run into them once in the Hedge.

Amongst those who was about for the Hobs spirited discussion about magic wells and healing springs and scaaaary beasts was Eden, and the promise of a healing spring is one that gets her attention, wether for it's culinary use, or a more altruistic purpose is up for debate, but she has joined with the impromptu expedition to go out in search of it.

Sometimes you just gotta get out from behind the bar and go out and do something. How Joel ended up here in this particular moment chasing after this particular spring is anyone's guess, but something must have piqued his curiosity, because here he is, strolling along through the woods dressed in unremarkable casual clothes, jeans, a dark long-sleeved t-shirt, hiking boots. Maybe he intends to boozify it and turn it into a drunken healing spring. Maybe he's just bored. But he joins the expedition, falling in with the others easily enough.

Logan and Max appear to be a team, of sorts -- at least when it comes to checking out weird, unknown things in the Hedge. The golden boy leads the way through the woods, wearing what looks to be performance hiking gear and a Dodgers baseball camp, plus a small blue backpack -- almost like he came here fresh from a hike. But there is also a golden crossbow on his back, which just adds to the shimmer and shine that naturally surrounds Logan. He would stand out nearly too much if it weren't for the shadow that always chases the light in his Mien around. "Try to keep up," he says to Max just behind him with a big grin.

Lucky didn't even hear about the spring. He's too new here to even know which hobs to talk to. But also being new here, he's trying to get a feel for the area, which means a little exploration is called for. Which is precisely why he looks both dubious and cautious. He's standing there by Joel's side, hands shoved in his pockets and looking alert. Mostly just keeping quiet for a change.

Eden has with her her fancy smancy space rifle, that looks like a twisted piece of wood with a crystaline matrix, and a long barrel, as well as a chef's knife made of crystal and solid air tucked into a belt. She carries a satchel across her back as well. "So, what sort of creature I wonder guards a magical spring." She muses.

"I can keep up!" Max exclaims with a playful smirk as she looks over to her golden companion. Since they've ventured into the Hedge, the mortal sticks close to Logan as they wander along. She's dressed appropriately, a backpack as well as a bow and quiver of arrows strapped to her back. Her hands lightly grasp onto the straps of her bag. "So, where exactly are we headed now? You mentioned something about a spring?" she questions with a raise of her brow, a curious expression in those bright blue eyes of hers.

Joel shrugs his shoulders and says, "Guess we'll find out," to Eden. He glances over at Lucky then and gives him a little nudge with one elbow. "You're quiet. Too quiet." He notices Logan and Max as they approach, recognizing the man from the bar. "Hey," he says in greeting with a nod and then one for Max as well. "Sounds like we're all headed the same way. Mind company?"

"The kind that's used to getting hurt a lot, and doesn't wanna share that with the things that tend to hurt it," Lucky tells Eden, theorizing. It might not be terribly helpful, being at least somewhat obvious, but it puts the point out there just in case nobody was thinking it. "Can't really say I'd blame it."

"Yeah, it's supposed to be near a stone that's shaped like a spear," Logan tells Max. He nods in Joel's direction as well, offering a friendly smile. "Hey. Joel, right? Master drinkmaker." Glancing at those he doesn't know, he can't help but take a good, long look at Eden's Hedgespun rifle, bright blue eyes wide for a moment. "/Wow/. Your rifle is /beautiful/. Where did you get it?"

"What, Sunbeam?" Eden asks, flashing a little smile at Logan, "My old mentor helped me spin her so I would have something suitable for hunting even the worst of the hedge beasts out here, she does quite well, most of the time. And it may only hurt people who try to steal from it's well, I wonder if it's delicious though.. the guardian beast I mean."

"Hey, the more the merrier. Well, not exactly merrier but the less chance of one of us dying on this little adventure," Max replies, offering a light smile over to the others that join her and Logan. "Nice to see you all." Then her gaze turns curiously toward Eden, her brows raising slightly. "Are you going to use the meat to cook a meal?" she wonders. "If so, I'd definitely like a try of that. I mean, if it's not poisonous or something."

Once the group decides to go together, they make their way into the woods. It's not a quick journey, though they manage not to get found by any hedgebeasts who want to chew on them. There's some discussion now and then, but eventually they find a random, single rock, spearing up through the earth, just like the hobs mentioned. Unfortunately, the whole area grows thick with greenery, some thick enough that it's impassable. But the spring must be around here ''somewhere'', right?

Max leads the way! The mortal spends a lot of her time outside, so it's only natural that she's pretty good at finding a trail to follow. Even if she /is/ leading the way... well, she kind of requests that Logan walk beside her. And slightly in front of her. She's squishy so she doesn't want to be the first thing a creature attacks if they run into anything. "Anyone want some bottled water?" she offers, taking a sip from her own. "I have plenty in my bag."

"I have water too, if anyone needs it." Logan probably picked Eden's brain about that rifle as much as he could before they finally find the rock. He gladly strides next to Max, perhaps even trying to take the lead and stopping himself a few times. He wants to touch it, even puts his hand out, but thinks better of it. At least for now. Then he gestures to all the greenery around them before resting his hands on his hips. "What are we going to do about /this/?"

Joel follows behind, letting others take up the lead, seeming to be along for the ride more than anything else. He takes in the path that they took, the things that they pass along the way, the flora, fauna, and even the way that the earth feels beneath their feet, those black eyes reflecting everything around them. And then they end up at the rock, "Well they did say it was hidden by some foliage. And foliage there is. Any spots look less dense than others?" He peers around, trying to get a closer look.

While the conversation about hedge navigation goes on, Lucky hangs back by Joel, watching the interplay between the others curiously. Though he does start to lighten up a little, it seems, because he's at least smiling now. Still, he hangs back, a little behind the brewer as he takes up a rear guard position.

"Well, we can probably cut our way through it, but that would be a lot of work and probably get some undue attention. But, I would guess there's a way through, we're just not looking for it in the right way." Eden says with a soft little hmmn as she eyes the thick, thorny brambles.

"I could probably hop up on top of the rock to get a better view. Or maybe it's one of those hollow things. Like, the serial killer's hollow was hidden in a bunch of rocks," Max offers helpfully as she looks over toward the group. Then she peers around, falling silent for a moment as she tries to listen in around them for any sounds of water. Running water, falling water, maybe even just some faint splashing.

Logan nods his approval in Eden's direction. "That's not a bad idea." He turns to glance at Max for a long moment, as though considering her suggestions. "My intuition tells me that the rock itself is involved, somehow. Not merely a marker. I think we should start by examining it closely." Provided no one stops him, or nothing gets in his way, he moves deftly up to it and begins looking for any markings or anything else that would indicate that it is anything other than an ordinary rock.

"Maybe so." Eden says with a glance towards the rock and a little hmmn, she starts over towards the brambles and greenery herself, searching around for some manner of passage through the green, or at least a glimpse through it.

"Logan, you know I'm usually against the touching thing, but, if I fall I'm totally okay with you trying to catch me," Max tells him with a smile. Then she takes a few steps back, giving her enough room before she takes a run at the rock. With the momentum she builds up, she's able to get half way up in a rather fluid motion. Then she has to actually climb, which slows her down quite a bit. But she's still moving, slowly but surely!

Joel goes poking about in the foliage with Lucky, the two of them searching about, pushing a little bit at the leaves here and there, glancing under them. Eventually, Lucky points something out and Joel comes over to look at it and after a moment they turn to the others. "Hey guys? There's a patch here that looks like it's getting a good deal more water than the rest. This might be it."

Logan runs his hand over the rock at last, examining it very closely, but then the unusual frown passes over his features. The shadow around him grows slightly deeper for a moment. "Nothing." He nods in Max's direction with a grin. "I'll catch you. Don't worry." He stands at ready to spot her, though he does spare a glance back at the others. "How are you guys doing? Did anyone find anything?" /Just/ when Joel says that they have, indeed found something. "Great! Good work!" He doesn't move right away, though -- he did promise to be Max's hero.

"You think so?" Eden calls out as Joel announces his find and she starts her way over towards the man poking and searching around, "Do you think that's the spring itself, or is it just drainage from it?" she asks curiously, her gaze drifting over towards the rock with a slightly little hmmn escaping her lips, "If that is the spring, do you think that the rock might be it's guardian?"

It's hard to hear everyone from over halfway up a big rock. Max hears... something about some water being found. Did they find the thing? It distracts her as she tries to lisen in better and she doesn't gain any traction on her trek upward. Glancing down briefly, she calls out to the group. "Did you guys find it? Want me to still be climbing up to the top?"

The foliage that Joel and Lucky are in front of ''is'' greener, bigger and thicker. But that means that it's almost impossible to see past, and there's no easy way to get past it as it is. Without special help, anyway.

Lucky shakes his head, looking at the foliage, clearly at a loss as to what might work to pass through it. Glancing at the others, he asks, "Ideas?"

"May as well climb up and see if you can see anything up there," Joel says to Max, "Can you see a way over or maybe if there's a thinner part we can get through, or some hint as how to get past it?" He looks over toward her where she is climbing.

Logan cups his hands over his mouth so Max can hear him. "Yeah, why don't you keep climbing up there, Max? But be careful!" Just in case that rock /is/ the guardian. He keeps one eye on her and one on the lush foliage behind him, his mind working on a solution. Which might not be forthcoming without whatever Max can see.

"I can get us through." Eden says rather confidently to the others, her hand reaching to pull out that long bladed chef's knife of hers, crystal handle, and what appears to be the solidified essence of air for the blade. She bursts into flames as well, an initial flare up that is larger and flashier, which dies down to a little aura of flickering flames hugging close to her body. With the cloak of flames about her, she then moves forward to that thick patch with that knife of hers, and moves to start cutting a path!

"Well," Lucky says, watching Eden go up in a fiery conflagration while she hacks away with the knife, "So much for the subtle approach." But it's not like he had any better ideas, either. Instead, he looks to where Eden is chopping and burning and doing her thing, saying, "Hope the monster doesn't mind guests."

Max hears Logan tell her to keep climbing, but then she sees Eden start to hack away. Well, maybe they won't leave her behind and she can join them on the other side. So, she continues moving upward, starting to move a bit further up the rock again!

Logan tends to prefer the subtle approach himself, and the shadow around him grows just a tiny bit darker again as he watches Eden do her thing. But he doesn't leave where he's standing. He's still Max's spotter, after all. So he is uncharacteristically silent, for a moment, as he tends to be a bit bossy when left to his own devices. Natural leader. Whatever you want to call it.

The hedgespun knife cuts, extremely well, as Eden starts working away at the thicket, however, there is an awful lot of thicket to work at and progress is slow as she slices and dices the greenery. "I mean, if anyone has any better ideas, but we could be sitting here all day otherwise! And I'm sure whatever's in there will be thrilled to see us! And, if you do find a subtle way in, it'll be too distracted by me, right?"

Eden hacks and hacks, and eventually the greenery opens up. Mostly because it likes water, but can't actually grow /in/ the water. And there's a pretty little spring there. No more than ten feet across, max, and it seems to bubble up from the ground rather than pooling from a stream.

As Max continues to climb upward and reaches the rock, well, she can't see the others past the greenery anymore. And the others can't see her anymore either! "Guys?" she calls out as loudly as she can from her perch on top of the rock. "Can you still hear me?"

The four who see the spring notice something...the plants growing direction around the spring are healing fruits. Growing nice and healthy.

"I can hear you, Max!" Logan calls out. "Can you see anything up there? I think we found the spring, if you wanna shimmy down!" He stands at his post, waiting for her. Just like he promised.

Lucky looks around at the plants, then over to the others. "Plenty here," he tells them. "Though I say we don't get greedy. If you think you'll need one, take one. But leave some for others," he cautions. "Plenty of bad shit can happen, and I doubt these things grow back overnight." And then, to Joel, "You can have mine. Try and make a nice beer out of it."

The knife Eden was using is returned to it's spot on her belt as they emerge into the clearing, "Hello friend!" she calls out in greeting, "Is anyone here, or can we fetch some water and fruit for the road? It's been an incredibly hot day, and an awful lot of work!" says the catgirl who's lit herself on fire.

"I can't see anything from up except lots of greenery!" Max calls out to Logan. "I'm coming back down!" And so, the mortal starts to carefully make her way back down the rock. Tracing her steps back the way she had climbed, she hopes that she won't run into any trouble on the way down.

Joel glances over to Lucky and says, "Alright. If you don't want anything, I'll take whatever you would have picked up." Though for the moment he seems to be hanging back a little, waiting to see of Max manages to shimmy her way down from the rock okay, and keeping an eye on Eden to see if anything reaches up out of the pool to grab her. He remains somewhere near the back, toward where they came in.

Eden's call doesn't get a reply, at least not by any monster hiding around. Perhaps the hobs were wrong?

Out comes a water bottle from Eden's satchel, and she moves over towards the water's edge with intent to crouch down and fill the bottle from the spring, "Guess nobodies home." She says to the others, "Those blushberries look nice and ripe." She adds with a little grin, "If anybody needs some.."

It doesn't take Max /too/ long to reach the bottom of the rock once more. "Well, even if I didn't see anything up there, that was a fun climb. We should totally go rock climbing sometime," she suggests, though her tone conveys that they can make any actual plans on they're done with their hedge-venture. She sees the path that Eden had chopped through with her blade and fire. "So it's over that way?" she asks, gesturing toward it.

Lucky leans down, trailing his fingers in the water a bit. He watches as Eden scoops up some of the water in a bottle, adding, "You're probably gonna wanna test that before you actually use it," he tells her. "If it can fix bite marks and bullet wounds, great. If not, you'll wanna find out before you need it to."

"Good call," Logan says, grinning in Max's direction before he starts over to the spring, stat. Burning with curiosity. "Yeah, it's this way. Looks like there's plenty of fruit around here, though I'm not sure we should take anything." Lord knows he's thinking about it.

Joel goes over toward the bushes then, making a small pocket by folding up the edge of his shirt and begins to gather some of the berries into it, being gentle with them so as not to smush them as he does so. He takes his time, though he keeps an eye on the others by the water as well, always trying to keep aware of what is going on around him.

"Yeah, I was thinking I'd take this water to one of the more senior Greenies." Eden says with a little nod of her head at Lucky, "See just who it heals, or if it just helps these plants grow nicely. It could be that the blushberries growing here in the water so nicely are what makes it a healing spring too."

Follpwing Logan along, Max can't help but smile at the scenery of the spring and the fruit around it. "Wow, this place is really pretty. If the hedge wasn't so dangerous I could see myself lounging around here," she says with a mild chuckle. "What are all these fruits anyways? I mean, they're probably goblin fruits, right? But, I was told they can do different things."

"Blushberries, I think," Logan says, getting closer. He watches Joel for awhile, like he's checking to see if he gets eaten or bursts into flames before he fingers some of the berries for himself. "Yep." He grins over his shoulder at Max. "These are healing fruits. Pretty useful." He glances at Lucky and Eden as he begins to pick a few for himself. "You're taking some of the water as well? Not a bad idea, if there doesn't appear to be an adverse effect." He's keeping his eyes peeled...

Lucky seems content to keep an eye out, looking for anything suspicious. He's kneeling down, but he looks as tense as a coiled spring, ready to move at the slightest provocation. "I say we don't stick around too long," he tells the others. "If those hobs you heard about this place from told you, they probably told other people too. And they might not wanna share, either."

"I agree." Eden says, capping her bottle tightly and returning it to her satchel. She then produces a small ceramic garden gnome from that very satchel which she sets down in the ground nearby the pond, "In exchange for the water." She says, moving to rise up from where hse's crouched down and turns to look back towards the breach, "I don't imagine that'll stay open very long either."

Nothing prevents the Lost from taking the water, or the healing fruit. When the gnome is placed, does the water gurgle a little? Nah, it's just the imagination, right? But Eden's words are proving true. The green stuff she cut is already starting to regrow.

"Do these work on humans too?" Max wonders as she plucks one of the berries from a nearby plant. She studies it over rather curiously, even sniffing at it briefly. If she's told that the goblin fruits are safe for normal people like her, she pops one into her mouth!

Lucky manages to get a few in good condition. The berries, being so moist, are hard to pick without them disintegrating into goo. Not that lucky has much experience with picking berries. But he does have the benefit of long, nimble fingers, which makes getting them at least somewhat easier. HOlding out his hands to Joel, he says, "Here."

Indeed, Logan seems to have no luck harvesting the berries either. Every time something doesn't quite go his way, the light around him dims a little, though it's usually back up to full force a moment or two later. Instead, he goes to take some water for himself, using an empty bottle in his backpack; when he has finished, he leaves a surprisingly shiny Indian Head penny in his wake. "Thank you," he says to the water, grinning.

"No, it'll probably just taste like a kinda gross fruit." Eden says to Max, "Or maybe a nice one.. I'm not really sure, I don't usually feed my goblin fruit dishes to mortals usually, so I've never gotten much feedback." She goes about collecting from the berry bushes with a deft experienced hand, and one that's guided by the wyrd as well. "Here, you guys split these up however you'd like." She holds out the berries she's gathered in her hands. "Let's go, yeah?"

Joel collects the berries that Lucky picks and adds them to his own meager yield giving a grateful, "Thanks" for the assist. He continues to hold them in his shirt, careful not to squash anymore than he's already managed to. That shirt is either going tie dyed or has been ruined. He doesn't seem particularly concerned about it though.

Max is mortal and therefore can't properly carry goblin fruit out of the Hedge! So, while the others are gathering fruit, she keeps an eye on things. The surrounding area, the water they're nearby, any suspicious looking bushes. She doesn't want her or the others to be caught unaware by any sort of threat.

Logan flashes his beautiful smile in Eden's direction, taking enough berries for himself and Max, putting them into an empty rescue kit he had in his backpack. "Thank you. I'd love to try your food sometime." He takes another glance around the area, making sure he hasn't missed anything of note.

"Well, once we get back I'll give you my number and you can come by and get a little taste sometime?" Eden offers the bright one, a little grin offered, "I don't have much meat on hand, but I can whip up something simple at least, same goes for any of you as well, perhaps I'll have a little luncheon soon, and you'll be able to have a meal at the Cyclone's back room later on this month, one of these sundays!"

"I would dig that," Logan says to Eden as they start back to 'civilization,' such as it were. "Thank you, that's generous. I heard you do catering as well? I'm throwing an affair at my home, end of the month. Would love to utilize your services." He makes sure Max is getting along okay, wherever she is. Usually keeping an eye out for her, like he considers her his responsibility here in the Hedge.
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