#2 - Peace by the Water

Not having any success at first, Cintia felt further down by the stone until she was almost over the tipping point. She grimaced at the slimy feel of the moss underneath. Just as Cintia worried that she would fall in the water, the sun shone which helped her visibility. She noticed pale, almost white fungus, which she believed looked like the one in her ingredient list.

‘Come on,’ Cintia growled when she couldn’t pull it off right away, but after a few strong tugs, it broke free and she was in possession of Mercy’s Lace. Cintia ran her fingers over it, it wasn’t rough, but rather smooth and luckily for her, not wet enough that it would soak her clothes.

‘One down, some more to go,’ Cintia told herself and started looking away from the water, in the dark shadows and corners of the boathouse for the next ingredient.

Luckily for her, Cintia soon spotted both locations of her next ingredients. She didn't really want to bother the live spiders unless she absolutely had to, so Cintia turned to the right corner first, lamenting at its dustiness.

'By the end of the search, I'll have to go and change my clothes again,' Cintia said to herself and made a few steps towards the place. She fastened her hair again, hoping not too many cobwebs would stick to her hair and body and set to search for the eggs.

‘So horrible,’ Cintia complained as she began tearing the old cobweb apart. She also felt them catching onto her and she was sure her head would be full of dust and cobwebs.

At least they’re easy to take apart, Cintia thought as she kept tearing them up. After a few minutes of searching, she found what looked like a pink sac. Sighing, Cintia took it off the cobweb and brought it a little out of the corner, so she could use the sunlight to see it better, but still kept to it.

At first, Cintia tried to tear the sac apart with her hands, but it was unusually tough. It took her nearly ten minutes, but she gave up then remembered she had a quill with which she used to take notes in the morning class. Cleaning the quill of the ink, Cintia used the sharp end to start a tear, and then used her fingers to fish the red spider eggs. ‘Sorry spiders,’ she murmured and carefully put the ingredient away.

Looking at her watch, the Hufflepuff realized that she still had some time, so she turned her attention to the other corner. Cintia spied a blue spider on its silky web, carefully considering its approach. Best bet would be to use a summoning charm, sadly though, Cintia had yet to learn it.

Musing to herself, Cintia took off her shoes to prevent any echo and removed her outer robes so they wouldn’t sweep and make any noise. Or cause air drag. She softly and slowly moved to the corner, keeping her eyes on the target. Once Cintia was close enough (or thought she was at any rate), she pounced on the spider with both her arms, hoping to catch it in a cage made out of her cupped hands.