NaraMoore ⛩️👻八尺様👻⛩️ at Fedi<p><strong>Princess (Wind Head) 王女様(風頭)</strong></p><p><strong>Baneberry (ベインベリー)</strong></p><p><a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/FanFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FanFiction</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/TheApothecaryDiaries" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>TheApothecaryDiaries</span></a> x <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/TearmoonEmpire" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>TearmoonEmpire</span></a><br><a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/Wss366" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Wss366</span></a></p><p>*** Mai Tearmoon ***</p><p>While Mao gathered <em>Hou Tui Mo</em>, Princess Mai walked ahead, talking to herself. “What a strange girl. I should ask her what country she’s from. If the famine there is so bad that she’d eat a squashed hedgehog mushroom, they might attack us for food. I’ll speak to Four-Eyes about it.”</p><p>“Oh, look,” the Sage Princess said, spotting the baneberries with their bright clusters of red berries.</p><p>“A wise person always checks for danger,” she said, looking around for any gray-hooded women in the shadows. “I guess the Norns aren’t here. That’s a good thing, because I’d give them a stern lecture if they were.” Fortunately for Mai, her resolve went untested.</p><p>Still talking to herself, she continued, “I’ll just wait for that lady to catch up. If I don’t warn her, she might eat them. She knows lots of big words but doesn’t have my foraging skills. I’m sure she could have found something more edible than squashed mushrooms.”</p><p>When Mao arrived <strong><a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/later" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>later</span></a></strong>, the Wood-wise Princess pointed at the berries and announced, “Baneberries. They’re poisonous; don’t eat them.”</p><p>The apothecary stared at them, mumbling, “Bright red, glossy-smooth skin like lacquer, in plain sight.” Then she asked the Great Sage of the Empire, “Baneberry, are you sure you don’t mean bugbane? Either way, it’s not a bad name. Bane implies danger.”</p><p>“Baneberries?” The Wood-wise Princess temporized. “Did I call them baneberries? It was a slip of the tongue. Of course, I knew they were bugbane. Baneberry is what my granddaughter calls them.” Mai believed in being agreeable, even if it meant crediting Miabel’s childish vocabulary, as any devoted grandmother would. After all she was <strong>sharelater</strong> as in if share the credit, you won’t get blamed later if something went wrong. Besides, Miable would never know about it.</p><p>Mao crouched beside a stalk, brushing aside a leaf to expose the root crown. “Some variety of ‘<em>Sheng Ma</em>.’ Sweet, slightly cold, excellent for boosting yang qi.” She crushed a sole berry between her fingers, describing what she found. “Slightly waxy; clear juice, watery, no scent.” She touched her tongue to the liquid and spat. “Bitter.”</p><p>And finally, gleefully announced, “Pretty little murderers.”</p><p>Turning her attention from the berries, she smiled up at the princess. “Congratulations, you did good. I would expect nothing less from the Mushroom Princess.”</p><p>The princess beamed. It was an honor to be recognized for her wisdom by another mushroom person. She resisted, just barely, the temptation to bow.</p><p>Part 5 of 8: To be continued</p><p><a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/MicroFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MicroFiction</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/TootFic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>TootFic</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/Serial" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Serial</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/NMPrompts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NMPrompts</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/NMV366" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NMV366</span></a><br><a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/%E8%96%AC%E5%B1%8B%E3%81%AE%E3%81%B2%E3%81%A8%E3%82%8A%E3%81%94%E3%81%A8" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>薬屋のひとりごと</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/ApothecaryDiaries" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ApothecaryDiaries</span></a><br><a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/LightNovel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>LightNovel</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/Manga" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Manga</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/Anime" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Anime</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/Fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Fantasy</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/FanFic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FanFic</span></a><br><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/fanfiction" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>fanfiction</span></a></span></p>