[myth;]

username; myth + destiny
name; Samba; this name was derived from the Latin name for the elder tree, Sambucus nigra
gender; Female (she/her)
how do they keep themselves from getting sick?;
During her life time, Samba has witnessed much sickness and death.
Her father lost his life to septicaemia after a run in with a pack of rabid dogs, the humans nor healers could save him once the sickness spread to his blood. Her brother fell ill with hypothermia, it led to ammonia and he too faded into the abyss.

Because of these tragedies, she had lost a great deal of faith in modern and traditional medicines alike as they failed to save those whom she loved, so she has made her own circle of protection, to stop her from getting sick as her family have also done. Samba does this by creating a shrine to the spirits of the forest, especially those of the Snowball tree, Elder wood, Ginkgo, Hawthorn, Prickly Ash, and Witch Hazel; these trees are often used in medicines due to their healing and preventative properties.
Her theory is that the spirits have long been forgotten and are angry at the mortals for stealing their healing powers for so long without crediting or returning anything to them; so instead of consuming the wood, leaves, roots.. she brings them offerings, shiny rocks she finds at the beach, minerals from the cliff, and feathers from birds of prey. Her offerings are also a thanks… though her family may have died when the trees did not help, she is thankful for them trying and for saving others in the past.
So far this has worked in her favour, for she has never gotten sick, her wounds have never festered, and she keeps bringing her offerings to the spirits.

In reality, she has a remarkably strong immune system, her treks to finder offerings keep her fit, and her organic diet of plants and fruits keep her healthy, that and a great deal of luck... or, who knows, maybe it is a bit of magic.

(313 words)

[Kyar]

This is closed for judging!

[Kyar]

Thank you all for your wonderful entries!
It was really fun to read all your ideas, but it did make it awfully hard to choose a winner. I was going back and forth right until the end, there were so many good ideas and I really wish I had more I could give - there are so many stories I wish I could see continue!

In the end, the form I had to go with is...
whim!
I really loved the way you developed Juniper's story, the transition from her fearful avoidance of germs to acceptance that you can't just run and hide was really interesting, and I enjoyed the ties to her family and how her choices will lead her and hopefully others to a brighter future!

I'd also like to award HMs to:
puddssoul
Iwa-Chan
Wιℓ∂ƒιяє
fernmoon
myth + destiny

Once again I really wish I could pick more than one winner, you all did such a great job of coming up with unique and interesting stories - I hope you'll all keep trying out for more kalons and maybe even use some of these ideas in the future! :)

[Cyrano]

congratulations!
whim and HM winners!

[moondust405]

congrats!!

[【Ｗｉｌｄｆｉｒｅ】]

Thank you for the HM!

[whim]

wow, thank you so much kyar!! I'm so happy you enjoyed Juniper's little story, and I'm real excited to be able to develop it more!!
her character's been in the back of my mind for a while now and I'm thrilled to add this lil munchkin kid to my world <3

and congrats to the hm winners as well - there were some real creative answers to this unique prompt! ;v;

[puddssoul]

Thank you so much for the HM, and congrats, whim! ^-^

[rabidlynxeon]

ahh congrats whim! andthank you for the HM <3