Rarely had Ava imagined a time that she would welcome unrelenting rays of sun on her back. Even though her coat lost thickness with the coming of summer nothing could help the way her jet black fur absorbed the heat like it had a particular thirst for it. As a northern wolf she could tolerate it to a degree, though she much preferred it colder - but as a person she disliked it entirely. Even hated it, on such days that she would consider using her language so definitively. Yet it had been some time since she'd seen her way out of the pack territory. The verdant canopy that hung over them provided cool shadows to rest among and the rapids enhanced the fact, though those feeling particularly warm could approach the wild waters and enjoy a chilling spray for added comfort. Oh, she certainly loved it there - her mate had found the most wonderful place for them - but it was almost natural to miss something you hadn't had in a while. Even things you weren't fond of - an eccentric aunt, the obnoxious cousin, etcetera.

Wandering beyond the Darkwater border made her uneasy, but it was necessary. A Leader had to be aware of their surroundings - and of course, she longed to know for herself as well. She knew literally nothing about this side of the mountain, oblivious as to what to expect. Who was there? What was there? The coal-pelted female had hardly gone far before she stumbled across the first life outside of Darkwater Rapids... although 'life' was being generous. Up ahead she could see a puffy grey form, moving slowly in a manner that immediately suggested it was unwell. A raccoon? she pondered as she squinted. Ava pushed forward until the trees thinned out into a clearing, revealing a lovely patch of green grass that sloped slightly before it banked into the river. The creature hardly noticed her as it wobbled across the open land, its breaths heavy and hot as it struggled with the great labor of finding somewhere to rest. But Ava knew that was one luxury beyond his reach.

It wasn't often that the dark Queen had come across victims of poisoning, but three times - in the summer, too - she'd seen a bird or mongoose along the deadly nightshade path that lead her to her home in the Lake who'd found the plump, dark berries too tempting to resist. Two times she'd found them already dead, and once she found one, a little boy mongoose, sitting in his own vomit and looking for mercy. His eyes had been wild and dead all at once, round and nervous and in horrible pain. His muscles clenched uselessly, writhing inward in an attempt to soothe the stabbing feeling in his gut, but to no avail. Young Ava had watched in a silent state of morbid curiosity as he hacked and struggled his way into an eventual death.

The raccoon would suffer the same fate. She could tell now that she was close. His steps were short, unwilling to stretch his stomach out as he moved for it caused him too much pain. All around him the air was tainted with discomfort and sickness. He hacked and panted in a way that suggested he'd soon heave whatever was in his stomach on to the pretty clearing floor. With a cluck of her tongue, generous Ava strode forward. She grimaced as he hastened away at her approach, but there was no avoiding it. A short pounce and a slash of her teeth against his throat would relieve the raccoon, forever. Backing away from the corpse she spat, having no desire for his tainted blood, and paused to consider the lump against the grass with a narrowed gaze. What had he eaten? Was it lethal? Was it close to her children?

Her muzzle wrinkled into a snarl, giving an agitated shake before she turned on her heel. Now teeming with a nervous energy, the dark Leader began a slow saunter along the bank of the water, her pawsteps purposefully placed as she moved to seek out the source of her recently departed comrade's misery.

The sun that peeked through treetops warmed Maksim’s very being; it wasn’t something he was extremely accustomed to but he enjoyed it, certainly. It made a change from snowfall. In fact, he decided that, for once and today only, he’d abdicate from his self-given duties and take a stroll. This was his first time over this side of the mountain; he too wanted to know more about Secret Falls. Casually weaving through the trees, it didn’t take long for him to catch Ava’s scent. He raised his nose to the sky and sniffed. She wasn’t too far away. Perhaps he should seek her out and catch up with her? A brief conversation would do no harm. She was a new mother, after all. He wanted to know how the young were doing.

He quickened his pace, to the direction that his alpha’s scent led him. Maksim had guessed it right and she wasn’t too far away at all but something else caught his eyes, something that had clearly caught Ava’s before she moved away: a raccoon. The subordinate wrinkled his muzzle slightly at the bloated creature. It stank of sickness and despair. It didn’t take the Baranski long to put one and two together. This vermin had succumbed to poison. It raised a lot of questions, ones that he was sure had been raised in Ava too. “Ava,” he called out, hoping to catch her attention, before hurrying after her. Looks like his day off had been cancelled; duty called.

“Ma’am,” Maksim addressed her respectfully, as always, but with an edge of caution in his voice. She was obviously worried that whatever had caused the demise of the raccoon was still around. She’d want it gone, that was for sure. “I saw the raccoon. What can I do to help?” He’d be dead before he let anything harm the Darkwater pups.

The violent hurtle of her one-track mind came to a halt at the sound of her name by Maksim's voice, prompting her to pause. Ma'am, he said, a word which caught her off guard. It'd always been miss up until now, a transition which produced a warm - but brief - smile before she swung her head and met his vibrant green gaze. She was pleased to see him, the sway of her tail reflecting it as she waited until he was at her side to continue her (now less agitated) walk along the bank. Immediately he expressed a desire to help, to which Ava passed along a grateful expression while she formulated a plan of action.

Her eyes swept over the plants that grew along the bank. Reeds, cat-tails, tall grass, green-purple flowers. She blinked hard, kept looking. "Well, we have to find-" Abruptly she fell silent. The white flowers had blended in with the ninebark shrubs, but once Ava recognized them she could see the threat plain as day. Several purple-striped stems reached over a meter in to the air, splintering off to support clusters of smell-petaled white flowers. One of them glistened near its base, giving off a faint but foul smell like it was rotted inside. She shuddered and returned her attention to the loyal subordinate.

"I once studied - briefly - under Naira, former Leader of Poison Path, former home of your's truly." A wry grin appeared on her dark face. "By no means am I a skilled healer, but I can recognize a few things. These flowers here can be green, purple-edged or purple themselves. They are called hellebore. It can slow the pulse, decreasing blood flow and preventing a bad wound from bleeding out. Breaks the fever, too, sometimes." Her gaze darkened considerably as she angled her muzzle towards the long stalks along the bend. "And this is cowbane. The stems are toxic and the roots will kill you."

That time she could not even manage a dark smile at the juxtaposition, one plant to heal and one plant to hurt. The lady pursed her ebon lips, trying to prevent her anxious energy from projecting too far. "Maksim," she addressed him quietly while unpleasant scenarios developed in her mind, "They can't smell very well, maybe not enough to tell bad plants from good. And by the stars, we all know how they like to chew." That was it, the big problem. Neither of them - much less the children - could put their teeth on those plants. How else was there to weed a garden?

His arrival pleased Ava, it seemed, and that in turn pleased him. He reciprocated the wag of his tail before he was at her side and, together, they walked. His alpha's eyes focused on rich foliage that grew along the bank. Maksim hadn’t a clue what to look for, so he simply tried his best to follow her gaze, looking for anything peculiar or suspicious. As she spoke his eyes darted back to her and when she fell silent suddenly, his gaze followed her own. She explained hellebore, a healing plant. He nodded slowly but masked his slight confusion; was this the cause of the raccoon’s demise? Was it a case of too much of what can heal can kill?

“And this is cowbane. The stems are toxic and the roots will kill you.” ... Oh.

Maksim raised his head and his ears folded back ever so slightly, perhaps a little shocked at just how close it seemed to home. There was an odd and foul scent in the air, rotting but not quite decomposing. Immediately he understood her worries but Ava elaborated on the direness of the situation and the Baranski cringed a little at the mental image that unfolded: a pup chewing away. He wished, briefly, for Tall Tree’s healer—Jenova—to be here, the old codger. He could handle any plant, could categorically explain the effects of flora you brought him. Wise old man, if not a little odd. Smelt of flowers and dirt.

“So,” Maksim began, his gaze darting up and down the tall purple stem, “if pulling it from the ground is out of the question, how do we dispose of it?” Would they have to dig it up? Or would it cause irritation to the paws? The Baranski was very much stumped and would continue to be until he learnt more. He was never really a healer man.

Ava watched the recognition appear in Maksim's expression, keeping still for a moment of shared grim as she considered his question. How, indeed? If they'd been anything less bothersome she would've suggested just kicking them in to the river, but it was their roots that provided the greatest problem and she really didn't want that in the water supply, no matter how small the risk.

Before she could respond she smelled another, and within moments of that he showed himself. Swiftly she assumed an authoritative stance, head and tail raising as she cast a wary amber stare toward him. His words were calm, polite, and entirely perplexing - did he just offer his help?

Ava looked him down, from his ears to where his paws were placed on the sward. He smelled of a group, but the location she could not place. The fact irked her, but only slightly - after all, she could not go off romping about until her children were well and grown enough. Then maybe they could all go romping together. Preventing an idle smile from appearing on her face at the thought Ava blinked and re-focused on the dark youth, swallowing her questions. If someone came offering help she hardly thought it was good manners to offer an interrogation in return. Perhaps later. Ava knew in any case the poison beneath the surface was a bigger threat to them than any yearling - for now, anyway.

She exchanged a quick glance with Maksim, hoping to see if there was anything inherently hostile or distrusting in his green eyes, before giving a gracious nod to the stranger. Relaxing her posture slightly to invite him closer, she motioned toward the tall plants and looked from the white flowers to the black-coated male. "These plants are poisonous through the root and stem and they're growing awfully close to my home. I'd rectify that, if I only knew how." Ava left the details vague out of plain common sense, not too keen on anyone knowing where her infant children were quite yet. Still, she rarely failed to reciprocate. Where kindness was given, kindness was due.

"I'm Ava, by the way." She added with a generous grin.

Maksim’s head whipped to the appearance of the stranger, a very brief raise of his tail, just to signal he shouldn’t try any funny business. This was his home and Ava was his leader. He wouldn’t tolerate anything other than respect. The Baranski briefly scanned over the wolf, noting it was a yearling but it smelt strongly of a pack. Where this pack was, he hadn’t the slightest clue. He was black as night (so many black wolves!) and his eyes burnt like fire. He was scarily similar to Ava. He offered his help and Maksim eyed his cautiously. Strange of a loner to suddenly enter the scene offering help but there was no need to bare his teeth … well, not yet anyway.

Maksim shifted his gaze from the young black male to his alpha, his eyes still holding a look of caution. It seemed like they could trust him but the Darkwater subordinate would keep a close eye on him. If the loner attempted some form of attack, the male had no doubt he’d be able to handle the youth. Ava gave the boy a nod and Maksim relaxed ever so slightly, still on alert. He stared in the direction the boy came from, ears forward to listen for any others, to see if this was a surprise ambush sort of thing but, luckily, he caught nothing but the rustle of trees. No scent similar to the boy’s, either. It seemed he was, indeed, alone. At Ava’s voice, and her somewhat openness about the situation, the Baranski knew she trusted him.

Upon his alpha’s introduction, he saw it only fit to introduce himself too. “Maksim Baranski,” he began, “and could I be so bold as to ask if you have experience with this sort of plant?”

Ava was satiated by his return of their greeting, visibly relaxing even further. "Pleased to meet you, Ataneq," she responded, quickly filing away the snippet about Magnolia Glen and Phineas and Borlla. None of the names were familiar to her, which was certainly annoying. She'd have to wise up to the rest of the world and soon; being this oblivious was simply stupid of her.

Deciding to be unperturbed by anything but the lethal plants, Ava nodded slowly. Digging them up would be the smartest thing, to prevent them from regrowing. There were not many stalks to begin with and being that they were on the river bank many seeds might have gotten swallowed or damaged by the raging rapids for which they were named. Plus, "If they're anything at all like I was as a child, a fence will only invite them closer," She chuckled, noting that with four of them at least one was bound to turn out a little like her - and perhaps not always in the best of ways.

Her fire-colored gaze tested the white waters, watching as the waves crashed furiously against one another. At least they lead away from Darkwater Rapids territory. If they buried them somewhere downstream and erosion happened to occur, they wouldn't be washed up closer to home. "We'll find somewhere downstream, where the land is most dry and not close to the water. It'll have to be deep, but narrow, and we can cram all the danger into one small target. Perhaps we can drag them by the flowers if we're delicate with our teeth." She looked between the two males, her expression asking if they had any better ideas.

Ataneq. Maksim glanced over the young male over, knowing that he should possibly scope out and try to find this Magnolia Glen, though he was no scout. It’d be many days for him to travel there and back home again, of that the Darkwater subordinate was positive. He had very little knowledge of the packs in this land, something he hoped would soon be rectified. For now, however, there were more important things to think about and attend to, something the Baranski hoped this Ataneq boy could assist in.

Dig them up and dispose of them elsewhere, bury them or erect a fence. It seemed he was just as stuck for ideas as Ava and Maksim, though one of those would have to do for now. A small chuckle, perhaps a little nervous, shook him at his leader’s words. He knew that exactly the same would be applied to him and his siblings when they were younger, especially Arman. He was always the one to get into trouble, wasn’t he? Breaking from his little trip down memory lane, the Baranski followed Ava’s gaze to the rapids. Maksim opted to keep quiet—he had very little knowledge of the way to properly dispose of poisonous plants—however he turned his head to look straight at her upon the mention of moving the wretched flora with their teeth with wide eyes of surprise.

“Ava,” he began, “I mean no disrespect to you, ma’am, but it would make me feel rather ... concerned if you were to take hold of these.” The Baranski frowned, very much uncomfortable with the idea of her moving the plants. What if something happened? The pups would lose their mother … he hoped he conveyed this well with his eyes as he’d rather not express such a dire situation with words. Stupid as it seemed, he didn’t want to jinx the situation at all.