Sanguine Cove kamikaze airplanes in the sky

But I put it out of my mind Long enough to call it courage To live without a lifeline

She knew there was a lot of information to throw at a wolf who had little experience with healing. Still, he was listening and she could tell that he was trying, which she appreciated. She smiled, the heat rising to her cheeks at the compliment as she wrinkled her nose and shook her head shyly. “Just doing my job… I’m sure any healer would do the same.” Silently, she added another ‘if not better’. She found it difficult to take a compliment when she did not see the reason for one, though she also never hesitated to hand them out.

She motioned to each individual plant that she had pulled out. “This one is Goldenrod. This one is Prairie Crocus, and this one is Arnica.” She motioned with her paw first to the tall, woody weed with vivid yellow flowers off of it. It made a nice poultice. Then she motioned to the small fuzzy purple flower that compared to a tulip, and then finally to the vivid yellow flower, much bigger than the ones that grew on Goldenrod plants. “These ones are dried out for storage, but others might simply be more vivid or bigger because they have more moisture in them.” She offered hoping that information would help as well. “We have an alliance with a pack down the mountain, Dead Empress Backwater… their healer might have surplus of some of them that she might be willing to share.”

Nash nodded as Aquene showed him which plant was which. He carefully examined each one over her shoulder, carefully logging them in his memory so he could try to find the living ones. Goldenrod. Prairie Crocus. Arnica. He repeated each name several times over. At the mention of the other pack he looked up again. "Chan and Jethro took them some herbs a few months back. If I can get in touch with them, I bet they'd be open to sharing some excess." He remembered working with his mother to collect and wrap their local herbs for the other two men to take down the mountain. He should see about finding a pelt he could use for carrying the plants. He couldn't imagine they tasted very good anyway.

He smiled at his friend. "Don't worry, Aquene. I'll bring some back for you. We're going to be just fine this winter."

But I put it out of my mind Long enough to call it courage To live without a lifeline

Aquene nodded eagerly at the mention of sharing. It was truly the best way to go about this. She could tell he was intent and focused on the herbs which was a good thing. It meant his likelihood of remembering them once he got all the way down the mountain would be higher. “I’m sure they will be.” They seemed friendly, and had a good relationship with the Cove so surely they were open to sharing a few herbs back and forth. It would make the job of the healers on both sides easier, and they could focus on treating rather than wandering about to collect.

She smiled at him, giving him a light nudge on the shoulder in a friendly way. “I know you will.” He never let her down, after all. “I know… you just know how I get. I worry.” She couldn’t plan for every possible thing that could go wrong this winter, but she could try and so that was what she always tried to do.

With his offer accepted and the first steps of teaching done, Aquene seemed to be settling down a bit and Nash felt his goal was sufficiently achieved. He examined the herbs again, and would probably stop back by to quiz himself at least once before he left. He'd need to talk to Chan of course, make sure his brother knew where he was going and was okay with it. He'd only be gone a few days; hopefully he'd be back before any worse weather hit.

Nash pressed against Aquene's side one more time. "I know," he said, "It's part of who you are. But you don't have to worry alone, y'know? I'm here to help. Whatever you need."

He'd get the herbs, and then they could go into winter fully prepared.

FADE