The summer’s heat was unbearable. Sitting underneath the shade of a tree, fanning its own self with their own hand was a young girl, no more older than 18 years, her height of average with a rather petite figure and hair as white as snow. Soft, silver strands of hair blew in the wind like a kite as a gentle breeze entered the town, soothing the chests of many townsfolk. The owner of the said perfect hair was no other than the Blue Pegasus mage, Snowflake, who would often visit the park of Magnolia mostly to read books in her own leisure time. Using the shade of the large tree to her advantage, the youth tried to stay away from the sunlight as much as possible since she hated the heat. Clothes clung onto her body like a child to a mother, mimicking how several strands of silver stuck to her neck in a grubby fashion, and the sheen of sweat that lined her temple would become more pronounced each passing second. Sweaty hair tangled over her slowly reddening complexion insistently, framing her already irate features with the notion of exhaustion reaching her bones.

With a loud thud, the android closed her book that she had been reading, although unfinished, clearly annoyed by the weather and her thick, black clothes would only make the entire situation worse. Pushing herself onto her heels, Snowflake brushed off the dry leaves and blades of grass that were stuck on her dress. Families and children filled the playground while couples hid behind the trees, snuggling against each other while they whispered their love for one another. Seeing these cute couples stirred something inside her and a thought of someone would cross her mind. It was unexpected and she would be taken aback immediately just by the thought of it. The girl gazed towards the direction of the couples once again and noticed how they appeared so happy together, their eyes filled with nothing but love and happiness. Although it might be a little to cheesy for her, the girl wondered if she would want that sort of relationship with a special someone. It would mean commitment and if she was serious enough, she would have to spend the rest of her life with this particular person.

The white-haired woman shook her head, forced the thoughts to the back of her mind and began to walk out of the park. Not sure how she should kill the time, the girl decided to give a look at the job board by the centre of the town. The streets were crowded as usual as she weaved through the crowds, edging through the dense flow of people before she found herself standing in front of a wooden board where numerous sort of papers was pinned up; news, gossips and mostly job requests. Her finger idly glossed over the rough texture of papers, eyes quickly scanning over the lines written on the brittle papers before she tugged on a sheet, hard enough to separate itself from the board.


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Her steps would all but falter as she addressed the message written on the paper properly, the crowds that filtered through the streets of Magnolia shuffling quietly around her still figure. The message was of a simple request, which was to collect the herbs that her client needed. The coordinates of the abode of her client was easily found since it was written on the brittle sheet of paper in details so it was almost impossible for her to get lost. Within the thick realm of woodland was a small building that she would find, surrounded with gorse of bushes and large trees. The scent of grass filled the air, mixed with the fragrance of flowers that grew nearby.

A few knocks on the wooden door, the girl rapped against the structure while she waited to be welcomed inside. Soon, a rather old man would appear by the door, his height slightly shorter than hers and greeted her with a withering smile. ”You’re here again.” The old man smiled only to receive the same gesture from the mage before he permitted her inside. It had been a while since she came to the East Forest although, there were barely any changes compared to the last time of her visitation. Her eyes wandered across the room, taking in everything of her sight. She remembered the first time she did a request for Khalesh, her client and every single time, she would be attended with a small smile as if he had been expecting her.

”How’ve you been, Khalesh? It’s been quite a while, isn’t it?”

”Yes, my dear. I’ve missed you. Although, I’m glad to see you’re doing well.” The smile from the old man never seemed to fade away as he treaded towards a table, his movements slow and heavy. He hunched over his lounge chair, as if to support his own weight due to his fragile body. The light that seeped through the windows illuminated his tired, worn face, wrinkles boring deeply into his skin and she couldn’t help but think that he had the resigned look of one who knows that at his age, life had stopped giving and only takes away. The man retrieved a piece of paper that laid on the table and handed it out over to her.

”This is the list of herbs that are to be collected. You take care of the rest, dear.”

Without another word, the youth nodded and silently departed the room with a list folded in her hands. The first one was a curly fern, or so it was called. After working with Khalesh for quite a few times, she had grown familiar with most of the herbs so she knew how the common ones looked like. Separating the fresher ones from the rest, Snowflake would place an ample amount of the herbs inside the basket she had taken from Khalesh. The next one was a blue lichen and she was told that they were to be found near rotting logs. Since the colour was easily noticeable, it was not that hard for her collect them. Last but not least, the ultimate herb that she was supposed to collect was a red leafed vine in which she was informed that they would be located deep in the forest. After much wandering into the woods, she discovered the vines lodged onto the large rainforest trees. Ripping them off from the trunks of the trees, she would return to Khalesh with a complete set of herbs.


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