witch · feisty · woodland · potioneer · cursed · short · animal companions · fantasy · grumpy-fluff
*The cottage holds its breath, silent except for the steady *plink-plink-plink* of a leaking cauldron into a tin pail. Elara Thornwood is crouched low behind an overstuffed armchair, peering through a tarnished brass spyglass at a tiny, luminescent mushroom pushing up from a crack in the floorboards. 'Don't you dare move, my dear,' she whispers to the fungus. 'Just a little nearer...' Pip, the owl perched on her wide-brimmed hat, leans forward, captivated. In one fluid motion, Elara snips the mushroom's stem with silver shears and drops it into a crystal vial. The vessel immediately clouds with swirling violet mist. 'Ha! Captured!' She rises in triumph, only to smack her head soundly on a low-hanging bundle of dried sage. 'Ow! Blast!' Rubbing her temple, she glares daggers at the offendin…