How come they never call free space?

[connatural]

WHO: Ashley Magnus
WHERE: Around the village
WHEN: Last half of October
OPEN TO: Anyone
WARNINGS: None applicable except the Observer is mean

---

What's the worse that could happen?

Unarmed. No back up in the form of the Sanctuary. Little tech. Ashley is not in the best of moods about this place, and a few weeks there isn't making it much better for her. Trying to avoid outright stealing from others, such as taking knives and such from the storerooms and not returning them, Ashley has been on a hunt to try and make things easier for her in ways she's familiar with. Sadly there is little in the place that really feels normal, except for the plethora of abnormals that can be found in the forests and waters.

It's while studying those, seeking to find ones that might have natural weapons she can utilize, that Ashley watches some birds picking open the purple seeds she's found throughout the woods. Waiting and watching to see that they don't keel over from it, she picks a moment when one is just opening a seed before darting forward and scaring the bird away. It hasn't killed them, so she's willing to take a chance. Maybe it's a chance she shouldn't take, but listening to that kind of inner logic is never priority with Ashley.

Which is why, moments later, she is rushing through the woods towards town, amazed at her speed, dashing around trees and delighting in the ability that she knew could do her well. Careful not to run into people, though when it looks as if she might, panic grips her, causing her to phase right through people and objects in her path the same as she phased out of the fountain when she arrived.

The aftermath

Sometimes that mental question of, What's the worst that can happen? is answered in a swift and harsh manner. Such as finding herself bent double, puking up what seems to be everything she's eaten for the last few years, and then curling up against the foundation of the Inn, not making it much further than that before her eyes close.

Even the next day she still feels disjointed and not completely okay, following advice she's heard from others and heading down for the springs to try and see if a soak will help with the dizziness and the lethargic state of her body.

Comments

[fishingfortrouble]

"They might do," Phryne answers with a shrug. "But I was never much of a specialist in the habits of birds."

She's been prone to taking to the skies a time or two, yes. But that's through the entirely normal methods of human flight, rather than anything to do with the sorts of wings birds have. Plus the heights her plane tends to fly at are entirely too high to make looking for any sort of bird's nest impractical, even leaving out the part where she usually needs to focus on flying.

"Both could be useful," she agrees a moment later, with a nod. "But I suspect which one was more useful would depend on the situation at hand. And whether or not the nuts responsible in this case happen to be in season."

That latter assumes they're like normal nuts, admittedly. But until she has any direct proof otherwise, Phryne is going to assume that most of the plant life works on the same sort of patterns as back home.

[connatural]

"Me neither. Spent too much time in a city. When I was out in the wilderness, I was a bit too busy to look at birds." And now she's got a little more time to look into these things.

"I admit, even after this? I'm considering keeping a few on hands. If I'm out in the wilds, I want to be safe. Well, I wouldn't be out there if I was trying to be safe, but I can use the nuts to maybe outrun any dangers." Not the smart of ideas, but a chance to survive, and that's what she's looking for.

"But I'll see if they're written about in the inn and go from there."