It had seemed pretty straight forward. The gash on her thigh from her failed spar with the blue unicorn had been severe enough that Alysanne was sure it would count toward her quest.

‘Receive injuries without receiving any healing, magical or otherwise’.

It was the one part of her quest that didn’t have a soul-wrenching effect every time she even thought about it.

But even though she thought it would be easy to allow the wound to heal on its own, her body betrayed her. It became infected and was tender - even the soft brushing of her feathers against it as she moved provoked a wince or a strangled cry from her. She had been spending little time in the Edge lately because of it - avoiding her friends and any who might mean well when they asked her what was wrong or why she wasn’t healing herself. Besides, the few that she had told of her quest had hardly taken kindly to the idea. She didn’t want to get drawn into another argument over it.

The sun was baking hot by the beach when Alysanne woke mid-afternoon and the sensation was increased further as she realized she was running a fever.

“You promised.” The small owl was agitated as he hopped around the sandy soil - more prints added on top of those he had made while she had been sleeping fitfully after their journey down from the Edge. They had sought shelter in a small copse of trees, just near where the grass began to give way to sand. But as the day grew old, the shadows had moved on and now Aly was only partially sheltered.

She had promised him. As soon as it got infected, she said, she’d do something about it.

“I know… let’s just try one more thing.” She pleaded with him. No healing just yet, there was still something she wanted to try first. Her head was swimming but whether it was from the fever or Hemlock’s dislike of this next plan, she couldn’t tell. He didn’t know what to do and that was the worst part. What was there to do but watch as she stood on shaking legs before walking towards the ocean. Not healing, but a cleanse. He could leave to find out but leaving felt like a betrayal. How could he leave her like this?

No, he would just have to hope that someone would come to them.

So his sharp black eyes watched both Alysanne as she began to wade in and the beach for any signs that someone else was near by - he flew in erratic circles around her.

She tried her best to reassure him. “It’s okay Hemlock.” But she was trembling as she moved. Would the anticipation be the worst part? Or would the pain be? She needed to heal it, she knew that the easiest thing for her to do was find Evangeline and get it healed. Her head was swimming and she wasn’t sure she could do it herself.

But they were here now and if she could just work up the courage to try this first…

She was hesitating, standing where the swell of the waves crashed just at the bottom of her abdomen - when she flexed out her left wing to expose the infected wound, she gasped as a few droplets got too close.  

Alysanne thought the logic had been there - wash out her wound with salt water to cleanse it of the infection - but now… well, she wasn’t so sure.