Feyra jumped down to the herbs and saw the sun coming through the crowns of the trees. The light was broken and reflected by the water on the leaves of the herbs, making for a beautiful sight.
She picked up the herbs and put them in her bag. Feyra left a few of them behind, wishing to keep the beautiful sight existing.
After that, she climbed back up and looked further around again. The forest was big but had a lot of plants.
Ugh this smell... This is at least not a cadaver. But this plant keeps animals of all sorts away. Wait... I know what I can do with it! One thing I learned how to do was make incense. That should help with the smell but also keep it.
Feyra went over to the plants and got some of them. They truly didn't smell well and had a strong smell at that.
If I put in some other plants that smell strong too then I can mix them together. Any animal will know about this stinking smell and keep away, while humans can enjoy the smell of beautiful flowers or the like.
Knowing the human nose wasn't as good as that of most animals, Feyra made a plan on what she could use for making incense. If her plan succeeded, then these villagers wouldn't have to worry about the plague as much.
She went further inside the forest and looked around for any wild flowers. There were a few, but not as many as Feyra needed. She knew some had a strong smell too.
I may not need as many if they have a really strong smell but if they aren't as strong... Then I need more. Oh? This smell is truly strong...
Feyra turned to the place and saw flowers growing between trees on an incline. She went down carefully, and picked a few, before she was able to look up and see the view.
Ahead of her was more forest, but also a lot of grass. The path in the distance was winding, before at the end, a city came in sight.
This must be the harbour city. It's beautiful looking at it like this. I wish I had a camera sometimes... I know I would still have to develop the pictures but I could keep these moments.
Feyra didn't want to peel her eyes off the view, but she had to. A patient was waiting for her. With that in mind, she turned around and went the incline back up. No matter how beautiful the sight was, if it came to human life, then this sight wouldn't be worth as much.
She went back and saw that the man was still standing in front of the tent.
"Have you been standing here the whole time?"
"I did as you said. If it is for the safety of my Hilde, then I would even cross the rough sea, swimming, to find a cure for her.", he said before he went inside the tent with Feyra.
"You must truly love her. Anyway... For you to stay together I need to help her. You can now get the stuff I told you about.", she said and dismissed him. The man nodded before running away towards the village.
In the meantime, Feyra prepared the herbs and mixed them together. Hilde was awake but stayed quiet, being afraid to disturb Feyra if she talked.
"All right. This is an extract and this is some other medicine. Okay... You have to take this amount of extract each day. I'll give you some other medicine too, which helps with the bitterness of the extract, as well as the healing process. This mixture here makes it able for the extract to be accepted more easily by the body.", Feyra explained, giving Hilde two bowls.
Hilde took the extract first and downed the whole amount of it, before she slowly started drinking the mixture in the other bowl.
"It's bitter...", she complained, making a face as though she has just bit in a lemon.
"I can't change that sadly. Most medicine is bitter but it has incredible effects. To alleviate the bitterness I try mixing in some sweeter herbs and plants, but they don't work with everything. Some may cancel each other out."
Upon hearing this, Hilde stayed quiet, not complaining any longer. Shortly after, she heard noises from outside. "There is someone."
"Perhaps your husband.", Feyra said, washing the bowls that had been used by Hilde.
I was lucky they gave me some bowls... I wish I had some of my own... Hah... Do I need to make another shopping list for the harbour city?
Feyra shook her head before she went outside and saw the man had returned. In his left hand he had a sewing kit and in his right hand he had a few bandages.
"Thank you", Feyra took the sewing kit and the bandages before heading inside again. This time she closed the tent and started to undress. Her bandages were already soaked through, so she took them off and saw the wounds were already healing well.
In a week or even less time they'll be gone. So this is the recovery of a Fallen Angel... It's truly fast. Earlier it took longer. Likely because I was still a bit exhausted but now that I start eating again and am traveling across the world, my body adjusts to it.
She quickly changed them, before putting on her other set of linen clothes. She had to make sure those wouldn't get damaged any more or else she may not have another set.
She then opened the sewing kit and took a needle and some thread, before starting to sew the holes in the shirt shut.
Feyra wasn't used to doing so, but she still closed them. It was done clumsily, yet it held together. Feyra tucked it taut a few times, confirming that they would hold together. Now she only had to wash it and get rid of the blood that was on it.
The slight burns I won't get away. It's singed but I'll still keep it as a spare set. Goodness... If these people hadn't done so there wouldn't have been so much trouble.
Birds chirped outside, bringing Feyra back to the reality around her. She looked outside and saw crows flying around the village.
"Is it normal those crows are here?", the man asked.
"They're birds... I don't think anything is wrong. Perhaps they felt someone has died not long ago. That could be another reason.", Feyra answered before looking around.
"But... Are they really coming when someone died?", the man asked, feeling a little anxious.
"Yes occasionally. Yet it could also be some animals died in the forest. I see crows quite a few times. They're common birds.", Feyra said, looking at the crows flying around. "Did you know that crows are said to be smart?"
"They are? We see them as a death symbol. If a crow comes near your village someone is going to die. I didn't know they were smart.", the man said.
"It's not a known fact but just observing them shows that they aren't as dumb as people think.", Feyra said, looking over to the man who seemed stunned by the crows. "I have another request."
"What is it?", he turned his head over to look at Feyra.
"I need something to wash my clothes in.", she answered, holding up her linen clothes. They showed signs of blood that was shimmering in this weird tainted colour, but seemed to be fine.
"Okay", the man started walking towards the village, leaving Feyra behind.
Feyra turned around and went into the tent again. Hilde had started sleeping thanks to the medication Feyra had given her.
For now everything is peaceful... The death butterfly hasn't disappeared yet, but I have hopes that Hilde survives.
A while later, the man returned with a big wooden barrel. "Water is... Hah... Hah... Near... The river.", he said, fully exhausted. Either he had ran a marathon, or he had to look around and tried to be as fast as he could.
Feyra took the barrel and her clothes before moving to the river.
Just how can she carry this heavy barrel with one arm!?, the man asked himself stunned. He had trouble carrying it up the small hill and was completely exhausted, while this woman had just taken it and carried it away.
Feyra reached the river and filled the barrel with enough water before taking out some plants, looking at them. She carried her bags around most of the time.
Which one helps remove bloodstains? Didn't I have one?
Feyra looked at each one, before she finally found one leaf that belonged to the plant she needed.
Just one? That's not good. They're rare... I know... But I still need them.
She looked around, trying to find another few leaves of this plant, but she couldn't find a single one. Feyra thought about it for a while before she stepped into the river and went to the other side to look if any plants were there.
Using my wings here may not be the best idea. I could've flown over the river but I don't want to become even more suspicious. I know I said I'm a Fallen Angel but I'm unsure if they'll trust me.
She reached the other side and found a few more plants that she needed. It was sad only a few of them were there, which meant that Feyra couldn't take more with her.
I'll need to use them all to remove the blood. How sad...
She stepped into the river again, holding the plants above her head and slowly stepped forward until she was back on the other side. There, she put the leaves in the water and also kept some in her hands.
She took her clothes and started to wash them, rubbing the leaves on the blood stains and removing them this way.
A while later, Feyra was done and emptied the barrel once again before taking it with her, back to the tent.
The man was still standing in front of the tent, stunned, seeing Feyra carry the barrel up the small hill without any exhaustion.
"Is something the matter?"
"Oh it's just... How do you carry this heavy barrel just like this?", he asked.
Feyra looked at him for a few seconds. "Didn't I already say I'm a Fallen Angel?"
"I didn't get that... I tried holding Hilde back and focused more on her. My bad. A Fallen Angel... They're rare. You must be strong then."
"Likely too strong for you to comprehend it.", Feyra answered, lying the clothes on the tent to let them dry in the sun.
"That strong!?", the man asked slightly shivering. He wondered how strong Feyra just was for her to say that.
"I guess so. I also only know half of it. Someone told me something about my strength when I was in the Capital. But I can't use it. If I really want to help people, then I need to control it to minimise the damage done.", she said, wringing out her pant legs while speaking.
The man looked at her and only noticed now that her clothes were almost completely wet. "Where were you? Did you fall into the river?"
"I didn't fall in the river but I needed to cross the river to find something."
"But can't Fallen Angels fly?"
"Yes we can. I just didn't want to because I don't know who might watch me and find me suspicious. Who knows what the people in the village will do if they see something out of the ordinary."
The man was stunned and shock his head. "The people in the village... Hah... I'll go, explain it to them. The situation right now is not the best, but that doesn't give them the right to treat someone that horribly.", he said, turning on his heels, running to the village.
Guess one problem will be solved...