Learning Bandages - Chalice

Chalice was sitting in a Roenden library hidden away from the usual patrons, trying to find information on the new recipe. She was thankful the library was warm, with fire safety blazing in any corner to keep the cold away. Though, she found if she wandered too close to the windows, she could feel the sharp, cold air trying to wrap around her. Despite the warmth in the library, she hated it here; she wanted the warmth of Thedale, but she knew there were only a few places she could go to research the new recipes that had surfaced. And this library was the closest to her home, even if it was still too far away. 

Chalice had scrolls and books unraveled and open all around her. She looked over every detail meticulously, trying to make a list of everything she needed to create the new item. She found that some information contradicted other sources, so she was prepared to make several attempts. While she was deep in her books, she didn’t notice the pair of vayrons that had wandered closer. 

Fearghas and Vega stepped into the library and aimlessly walked around the massive space. They weren’t here to do anything except escape the cold outside. Their years of living in this area knew the deep chill could only mean one thing. A storm was brewing, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. Vega knew she could handle the chill, but her latest foster pup couldn’t. Fearghas awkwardly sniffed and pawed at the lower shelves as he wandered closer to Chalice’s position hidden in a back corner. 

Chalice was pulled out of her thoughts when a small white vayron started to drag one of her books away. She was startled, causing her to jump, and her sudden movement startled the pup in return. The dark blue glowing eyes widened as the pup dropped the book and raced back to another vayron. Chalice took a deep breath and moved her gaze to the large white and grey puller. 

“Sorry,” The larger vayron said as her pup shivered behind her legs. 

Chalice’s gaze shifted to the pup briefly before her eyes snagged on the large scars covering the clearly aged vayron standing before her. There was a stark contrast in the vayron’s gentle tone compared to the wounds covering her body that made it obvious she was surrounded by violence. 

“Fearghas,” The aged vayron started, “Apologize for disrupting her.”

Chalice remained quiet as she flicked her eyes towards the pup. His wide blue eyes displayed his fear clearly, making Chalice sigh, “It’s fine.”

Vega nodded, grateful, and moved to pick up the book Fearghas had pulled away. She noticed the title, and once the book was back with Chalice, the aged vayron asked, “What are you researching?”

“Bandages,” Chalice answered, “There was a new method discovered for them recently. I’m trying to find it.”

Vega looked out the window for a moment while she tried to think of the book in her mind. Admittedly, Vega didn’t spend a lot of time in this particular library, but she vaguely remembered one of her fosters excitedly talking about a similar topic. Vega noticed the storm had started in earnest. Snow whipped by the windows, and the clouds covered the sky, blocking out any light that might try to peek through the clouds. Vega glanced down at Fearghas while she continued to think about the weather and the book. 

Finally, Vega spoke to Chalice who had been quietly watching the pair, “With the weather the way it is, would you mind if I helped your search?”

At the mention of the weather, Chalice whipped her head toward the windows. She cringed at the blizzard growing outside. She was going to be stuck here longer than she expected. Chalice huffed but eventually conceded because she knew more eyes would be helpful, so she nodded. 

Vega smiled, “I’m Vega, and this, as you might have picked up already, is Fearghas.”

Chalice returned the smile and then directed it at the curious pup, who had stopped shaking. Fearghas was now standing next to Vega, looking at Chalice with curiosity. 

“I’m … Just call me Chalice,” Chalice introduced herself, but left out her long original name. 

Vega noticed the pause, but didn't dwell on the odd introduction. Vega and Fearghas follow Chalice into her corner. Vega begins sifting through the books trying to find the one she was thinking out. Chalice resumed her list and Fearghas wandered around, but remained close to the golden and green vayron. 

Hours pass before Vega finds the book she had in her memory. When she looks up she finds Fearghas curled up in a ball wrapped in Chalice’s tail. The sight brings a smile to her face and she wants to ask if Chalice has pups of her own, but stops herself to focus on the task at hand. Chalice was ignoring Fearghas, for hours he had been jumping over her tail while she absentmindedly flicked it about. It had only been recently that the pup finally tired himself out and slept. 

“I found the book,” Vega says, stepping closer. 

Chalice looked up, excited. 

Vega placed the book infront of Chalice and the pair quietly looked over the pages. Chalice immediately frowned, the information on these pages added more contradictions for what ingredients she needed to create the bandages. 

Vega, noticed Chalice’s expression, asked, “What’s wrong?”

“All these books have different ingredients. It’s just frustrating.” Chalice mumbled with a deep frown on her face. 

Vega peered at the lists Chalice had been making and noted that some of the items might be here in the library. The older vayron flickered her gaze to Fearghas to make sure he was still sleeping before she addressed Chalice with her thoughts. 

“Stay here,” Vega started, “I might be able to find some things so we can try making it now and cross things off these lists.”

“I can help,” Chalice said quickly. 

“No, stay, let him sleep.” Vega gestures to her pup sleeping soundly. 

Chalice followed her stare and noted Fearghas had now rolled onto his back to stretch out, leaning against her tail. She sighed and nodded. Vega quietly moved away to look for some of the ingredients. While she was gone, Chalice decided to look out the windows to see how the weather was progressing and much to her horror the storm was worse. If it was possible, the snow seemed to be falling harder than before and the wind seemed to scream as it shook the windows. Chalice was amazed that she hadn’t noticed earlier, but that didn’t matter now. If she thought she was stuck here earlier, she was definitely stuck here now. Another sigh left her while she waited for Vega to come back. 

It wasn’t long before Vega came with a satchel filled with items. She placed the bag down and then laid down next to it. When she was settled, she asked, “Which one should we start with?”

Chalice picked a list at random and the pair began. They tried different spells and ingredients but nothing seemed to work. Chalice noted there were a couple of ingredients that appeared more commonly than others, but she didn’t act on her thoughts while she and Vega continued. Fearghas remained asleep while the pair worked, unbothered by the weather or the noises that came with their experiments. 

Finally, when they tried every list, Chalice decided to mention some of the things she noticed. 

“There are a couple of items that appear more common,” Chalice started, “Maybe we can try our own combination.”

Vega considered it for a moment before she agreed, “We have nothing to lose.”

Chalice nodded and collected the hair, paper, and pelt. She mumbled the spell that was written in all the books for crafting and there was a slight gold glow on the items before they merged. Chalice jumped up and made a noise of joy. She pranced around excited. Fearghas was startled awake by the sudden movement and noise. He rolled on his belly and blinked away the sleep as he tried to figure out what was going on. Vega smiled at them both. 

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