Since coming to Whisper Caverns, a part of Rook's worries had been put at ease. For one, he wouldn't have to worry about Bishop's well-being, hunger-wise, and he didn't have to fret over when or whether or not they would be able eat next. Secondly, he (and his sister) finally had an established home base and would not have to lose sleep about being prone to wandering bears or coyotes stumbling upon them within territory lines. Today, he was keeping true to his promise in looking for something practical to bring back to the pack. He still wanted to make up for the ergot that Titan had gathered which had unfortunately blown away in the balmy summer breeze.

He had just come upon the chokecherry trees when he heard someone moaning and groaning nearby. His bear-like ears perked up and immediately he went looking for her. "Hello?" he asked, peering about towards the base and roots of each tree. Something squelched beneath his paw pads and when he stopped to look down at his paws, he was startled by the color that stained the once off-white fur between his toes. If it had not smelled tart or sour, he might have had a panic attack over the fact that he might have been bleeding...

A grimace morphed the mask-like marking on his face and as he surveyed his surroundings, he saw a dark-furred form beneath the trees. She muttered something to herself and Rook came forward, somewhat eager to meet her... to ask if she knew where to find a few sprigs of lavender hyssop. He tried again, this time with a smile on his face and in the tone of his voice, "Hello there."

He had surprised her, certainly not on purpose, but the yelp that she emitted made him jerk back a couple steps. His large ears came down as he apologized, "Oh, God, I... I am so sorry." A number of hot flashes snaked down the top of his head and down his spine to the very end of his black-tipped tail. The young woman stood up to turn and look at him, her amber eyes wide with shock. His whiskered brows rose in worry, thinking that he might have put himself in a compromising situation just by startling her. He wondered if he should have taken a few more steps backward, All of his assumptions were brushed aside though with hearing her say two simple words: Uh, hello.

"Hi," he managed to spit out. That seemed to make her relax; to see her straighten back up and actually smile back at him made his fur smooth out and his tail slowly wag. "I'm Mataki. Are you from the Blackberry Fields north of here?" Learning her name prompted Rook to smile, but when she asked him if he was from the Blackberry Fields to the north, he shook his head. "I'm... I'm not. For a while, he wondered what difference it would have made if he had said that he did hail from the north, but he also whisked that train of thought aside, completely and figuratively derailing it. "I'm from a pack that lives south of here," he explained. "Whisper Caverns, have you heard of it?"

His head tilted to one side, the amiable grin still on his face as he considered the fact that she - just like him, Namid, Klio, and Bishop - had just come to Relic Lore. Nothing specific about the potpourri in her coat stuck out to him, but just to be sure, he went ahead and introduced himself and asked, "I'm Rook. Are you... new around here?"

Ontario. Rook had never heard of such a place, but the way it sounded in his ears was amusing to him and he wondered just how far it was from here. Most places he had known about were straightforward - Grizzly Hollow, Midnight Plateau, Renegades Reach, Willow Ridge, Enap Hollow - and were nothing mysterious compared to the likes of Awn-tare-ee-ohhh. His head tilted inquisitively as she told him that she was by herself; and, for some reason or another, he went ahead and added on a tangent, "My family isn't from here either. Well," his voice began to falter, rambling for a few seconds. "I mean, they've been here before, used to live here before, but they aren't here anymore."

"How about you?" Mataki questioned. "How long have you been here?"

The Lyall fell quiet, his left forepaw briefly lifting up and lowering back down to the ground in thought. "Mmmm..." he mused in a thoughtful hum. "Not very long. Maybe just long enough to finally figure out where to settle down and what to do." His eyes went up to the boughs of the cherry trees then; and, when a bird unintentionally sent a cherry to the ground, just inches shy of his nose and paws, he leveled his head. His brow quirked and he remembered why he had come up so far north from his new place within the pack.

"Could I ask you something?" he pitched. "Are you familiar with plants by chance? I'm looking for a certain kind. Lavender Hiccup or something like that? Do you know what those look like?"

"Yeah, I know the basics of plants," Mataki informed him, "it's something I learned when I was younger." When giggled and she said that she had not heard of Lavender Hiccup - he was sure now that the second part was definitely wrong - his tail still continued to wag. She had given him a different name - Lavender Hidcote - which, he would soon find was probably something closer to the 'Hyssop' variety Titan had originally told him about. "Yeah!" he trilled. "That sounds about right. Hid-cote." A silly sort of smile made itself apparent on his face now, his two eye teeth peeking out from beneath his black-lined upper lip.

Before Rook could even continue on down that path of their conversation (the one that would have undoubtedly sent him into asking her if she would like to join him on a search for some in the surroundings areas just beyond the Orchard), she made him aware of one thing that he had already overlooked, "I can't tell you where they grow here though, sorry." Again, his head canted to one side. Oh, right...

In the stretch of quiet that crept between them, he tried to consider other things he might want to ask if she could not help him locate such a mysterious plant. Would he know it if he saw it? ...probably not. His nose wrinkled. "Purple-blue flowers... on long stems...." He dug about inside his head for anything in his memories that might have matched the description but came up short. Now, he wished he had paid attention to his Aunt Aniu, the appointed medic and botanist in the family. Come to think of it, all he could remember about helping her with herb-hunting was how strange and icky-tasting the gathered roots and stalks were on his tongue. Inwardly, his conscience let out a resounding Ick... and in response his forehead furrowed.

His gaze went back to his companion though, brought back to the present when he came up with a decent question, "Would they grow in a place like this with other grasses? Or like somewhere near a swamp or running water? Somewhere dry maybe?" By now, he knew Relic Lore was vast and teeming with all sorts of wondrous (and terrible) things; after following Namid to Cedarwood Forest, however, he was sure he could possibly retrieve a few stalks of lavender if he was, at the very least, pointed in the right direction. He just wanted to make it up to Titan, to extend his gratitude to the generous prince and his accommodative family.

Rook mentally took note that the lavender plants he was after took root on dry rolling hills and arid patches of soil. He supposed he would have to consider traveling a bit farther in some direction other than north, since he couldn't recall ever seeing any blue-purple flowers on his way to the cherry-adorned grove. Just for a good measure, he pressed his paws into the ground, brushing the leaves and cherries away to find cool, moist soil underfoot. The last place he had been that could have been considered as dry terrain was within Cedarwood Forest... when he had last seen Namid.

"Maybe," he replied, righting his skull once again to continually smile at her. "I think I know just the place though." The Lyall's gaze surveyed the thin, shiny bark on the almost evenly-spaced trees, his eyes going from the bits of dark red on the ground to the verdant green leaves that made up most of its branches. Maybe when he had the time - or, maybe even a craving to try something new like the tart cherries native to this part of the Lore - he would come back here; and, maybe... he would have to bring his sister along, so that she could also see the orchard for herself.

"I ought to be on my way back, I think," he quietly declared, offering a broader grin to Mataki. "My sister will be looking for me if I don't arrive home when I said I would." His paws did some kind of fancy footwork that made him circle around before walking away, his gaze being cast over his shoulder at the almost-elfin woman. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mataki. Perhaps we'll meet again." His tail came up in a cordial wag, "Take care, and thank you for the tips."

After one more good look at her and giving her an appreciative nod, he took the first steps that would lead him back to the pack lands he now called home.