When the twins reached the outpost, it was bustling with activity. Members of the Order who were wearing a variety of different colored cloaks went about their business, and Seira watched them, looking for someone she might ask about volunteering there for several breaks.
"Shouldn't you kids be in school? Unless one of you needs treatment?" an imposing looking woman wearing a blue cloak asked as she approached them with a frown.
Seira and Seri exchanged a resigned glance. A few arcs of good food under Vivian's care had helped them to fill out to the point that they didn't look like half starved waifs anymore. But arcs of not getting enough food had taken their toll on the twins. Neither of them had grown much, and at 4'1", they were often assumed to be much younger than they actually were.
"No, we're fine. And we're seventeen, ma'am. You can even ask our teacher if you want. We missed out on a lot of school when we were younger so it took us two arcs longer than normal, but we graduated totrial." Seira assured her.
The woman looked at them suspiciously for a few trills, then accepted their story as truth. It would be easy to confirm their story if she decided to call them on it, and for that reason, she decided that they were probably telling the truth.
"What do you need, then? As you can see, we're quite busy." the woman said briskly.
Seira nodded.
"We were hoping to be able to volunteer for a few breaks totrial."
In anticipation of the question that the woman was likely to ask, she continued.
"Seri and I don't have any medical training, but we are hoping to join the Lightning Knights later totrial. We thought that it would be a good idea to know a little about medicine because we want to join the branch that serves as field medics more than actual fighters. And we were hoping to volunteer here in order to learn a little as we work."
The woman considered her request. Skilled help would be better than having someone who had no idea what they were doing, of course. But any pair of hands could be useful, and there were plenty of simple tasks that didn't involve treating patients that they could do. And in doing them, they would be freeing up someone who did have more skill for other work. So she agreed, and thanked them for the offer.
She led them into a room that smelled strongly of herbs. So much so that the scent was almost overpowering. Several people were bustling around The twins tried their best to stay out of the way of the people who were moving about as she bought them over to a middle aged woman who was wearing a blue cloak with three white trims on the sleeves.
"These two don't know anything about medicine, but they were hoping to volunteer their time here in the hopes of learning a few things. Think you can put them to good use?" their guide asked the woman briskly.
The blue cloaked woman gave them a calculating glance. Then she nodded.
"If they can take directions, I can." she said firmly.
Seira and Seri nodded quickly.
"Good. I'll leave them in your hands, then."
Their guide left, and the other woman looked them over again.
"My name's Zerith. We're completely out a lot of the herbal remedies that we use here due to some idiot who forgot to take stock of our supplies and let us know that we were running low on them. I'm sure that even kids like you can understand how important it is to not run out of supplies. It is even more important when those supplies are critical ones that someone's life might rely on."
Seira and Seri exchanged wide eyed glances before turning back to the woman and nodding in agreement. They ignored the comment about them being kids out of a desire not to bring the woman's obvious ire down upon themselves. If they did, she might decide not to let them volunteer their services.
"The first task I'm going to give you is simple enough. Do either of you know what an infused oil is?"
The twins shook their head, and the woman frowned.
"Well...Ceri did say that you didn't know anything about medicine. And at least you're honest. So. An infused oil is exactly what it sounds like; an oil that has been infused with herbs. You're going to be making them."
Zerith eyed them closely to make sure that they were paying attention.
"When making infused oils you need a one quart jar, a carrier oil and some herbs which can be either fresh or dried. If you are using fresh herbs, they need to be allowed to wilt for a full twenty four breaks before using them to help to get rid of some of the water content and they should be chopped before use. Dried herbs should be cut and sifted before you use them. Do you understand it so far?"
The twins nodded.
"Good. Put the herbs into the jar. If the herbs you're using are fresh, fill the jar until it is three quarters of the way full. If the herbs are dried, fill it half way with the herbs. Then cover them with your carrier oil so that they are completely submerged in the oil. There needs to be at least an inch of oil over the top of the herbs. You will need to use something to push all of the herbs under the oil and release all of the air bubbles."
Zerith hesitated for a trill before continuing.
"If you were going to be making the oils from start to finish, you would have to do this several times throughout the first trial. And if the herbs you're using are fresh, they will rise to the surface for the first seventrial or two, so you would have to check on them periodically and push them back down. If you don't do that, there is a good chance that the herbs will get moldy or turn rancid. You won't have to worry about that, though. Once you fill the jars, you can use the lid of the jar to cover them if you are using dried herbs. But if the herbs you are using are fresh, you'll need to cover the opening of the jar with cheesecloth instead. That will allow the water from your herbs to evaporate and escape the oil, which will decrease the chances of it turning rancid. When you've done all of that, you put the jar in a place that is sunny and warm, but not hot. The sun will help with the infusion of the herbs into the oil. It is very important that you label the jars with the type of herbs and oil that you used. If you forget, it will be impossible to tell what the infused oil is, and it will be useless."
"How long does it take for the herbs to infuse the oil?" Seira asked curiously.
"Twenty eight to forty two trials. After that time, you would need to strain the herbs out of the oil if they were fresh when you put them into the oil. You will want to keep the oil covered with cheesecloth for a couple of trials after you strain it so you can check to see if any water gathers at the bottom of the jar. Should that happen, you will need to extract the oil from the jar, leaving a thin layer of it on top of the water so that you don't take any of it by mistake. Then you can put the oil into a new jar. If they were dried, the herbs can stay in the oil until it is needed. When you are ready to store your infused oil, you need to put it in a brown or cobalt colored glass jar and store it in a cool, dry, dark place. You will need to label the oil with the date that it was made because an infused oil is only good as long as the shelf life of the oil you used to make it. Past that, it will turn rancid. But you can add a few drops of myrrh or rosemary essential oil to the infused oil when you store it in order to increase it's shelf life. Any questions?"
Seira and Seri shook their heads in unison.
"Good. I'll give you a list, and let you get to work. Once you've finished the list, or if you have any questions later, come find me. You can find the jars you will need in the cabinet over there." she said as she gestured to the cabinet she meant.
"The herbs and oils you will need are in the larder, and they are all labeled clearly so you should have no trouble finding what you need."
Seira and Seri took the list they were given, and got to work. The list was easy enough to follow. Every item on the list was numbered, so they started with the first one, which was dried lavender and almond oil. Seira got the lavender and the almond oil that they needed from the larder while Seri got the jar. Then Seri began writing the label they would need while Seira began sifting the dried lavender. When that was done, she put the dried lavender into the jar and help it so that Seri could pour the oil in. Since the required herb was dried, they covered the jar with the lid that came with it before they set it on a sunny windowsill so the herb could infuse into the oil.
The second item on the list was chamomile and olive oil. But this time, it called for fresh chamomile instead of dried. The two girls split the work between them as they had before. And they continued to proceed down the list in the same way. Neither of them knew what any of the herbs they were using were good for. But they didn't have to. All they had to do was put the herbs in a jar and add oil to it. Nor did they have to know which oil went with each herb because the list told them exactly what was needed. And since all of the oils and herbs were clearly labeled, it didn't matter that they couldn't tell one from the other if their lives depended on it; all they had to do was read the label.
When they finished starting the infused oils on the list they had been given, Seira and Seri went to look for Zerith to see if she had anything else they could help out with.
