Stonewatch Timbers A Familiar Fungus

For @Lenae . Mid-morning. Overcast Clouds. 55.4 ° F, 13 ° C

Neko had spent a day traveling and exploring the forests southwest of home in hopes of finding more useful herbs before winter set in. The first day had passed uneventfully, and she had found a place to sleep for the night. The following morning, she was up again at first light. She caught a rabbit and ate before traveling further.

Around mid-morning, she noticed a pleasant and familiar scent on the breeze, but she couldn’t identify it. Following the scent as it was occasionally carried on the breeze, she finally tracked it down to what at first appeared to be chunks of bark on birch trees. When she looked closer, she realized that what she had thought were chunks of bark were in fact mushrooms.

She examined the mushrooms and searched her memory for the familiar scent, trying to remember if her mother had ever said anything about them. She could remember most of the common mushrooms and which ones were edible, which ones were poisonous, and which ones were medicinal. She knew that the shelf fungus that often grew on the sides of trees was generally useless at best, but for some reason, she thought this one was useful. She wished she could remember it, or anything that her mother might have told her about it.

(Ironically, the mushroom that Neko couldn’t remember was known for improving memory.)

With winter drawing in ever closer Lenae knew it wouldn't be long before there wouldn't be a single flower in sight. The thought made her sad, knowing that it would be a long long time before she was yet again graced with their presence. But what was she to do? Yell at the sky and tell it not to snow? She'd tried that once before and it hadn't worked out too well, so she doubted it would be any different this time.

So with that in mind there was only one thing left for her to do. Before winter truly settled she would seek them out one more time. That's all she wanted one more chance to admire their bright colours and sweet scents before they were all gone. Heading south-east, Lenae found herself in a unfamiliar forest. She'd explored Kingsfall a fair amount, had gotten to know the smell of the grass, it's towering trees and of course those wonderful lavenders she had stumbled upon. But these woods were different.

She had thought Kingsfall had been a  claustrophobic, a little too crowded for her comfort. But here the trees were densely packed together, and rather than the occasional gentle slope the terrain was steep and everchaning, rising higher and higher to the peaks she saw off in the distance.

It was pretty, she supposed but impressive scenery was not what she'd been looking for. Where were the flowers, the meadows? A frown tugged at her lips as she puffed out a sigh. She'd never been to these woods before, how was she supposed to know where, or even if they grew? Maybe this had been a foolish venture all along. She'd much rather spend time with Cyril than chasing the empty promise of flowers.

With a frustrated huff, Lenae kicked at a stone, only to wince at the sharp pain that ricocheted through her toe.

"Yeouch!" She yelped, gingerly raising her though she was lame. For all she knew, she was. It hurt so bad! The constant throbbing and aching similar to that time she'd slipped over on some ice and landed on her elbow.

Neko jumped as she was startled out of her thoughts by a sudden yelp. Her ears flattened, and the fur on the back of her neck and tail poofed up. Fully alert and ready to run, she turned towards the sound to see a small tri-colored she-wolf, only a little bigger than herself, holding a fore-paw up in the air. Neko’s fur settled when she realized that the wolf was not threatening her. Still, the wolf appeared hurt, and that meant something nearby hurt her, and that was cause for alarm.


She quickly looked to both sides of the other wolf as well as behind her, searching for any threats. Not seeing or smelling anything unwelcome, she slowly approached the wolf. She stopped and sat down at a respectful distance and softly asked, “Ma’am? Are you alright?”

Neko could tell that the wolf was in pain, and a part of her wanted to rush to her side to comfort her, but to approach a stranger like that uninvited would be rude. She doubted that the older wolf needed her to comfort her anyway, not to mention that whatever had just hurt her had to still be close by, perhaps lurking behind any one of the nearby trees. But if the woman was hurt, Neko would feel obligated to try to help her.

Sorry for the delay!

Lenae's heart raced at sound of a strangers voice. She should have known, yelling like that had been such a silly thing to do. But her foot hurt and it was a knee jerk reaction, she hadn't been able to help herself! She wanted to run, or at the very least scamper off and hide until the coast was clear but...Hadn't that been a girls voice? Soft and concerned, like she was worried for Leane's welfare. She knew full well that not everyone was as earnest as she but...they truly did sound as they they cared. That they wanted to make sure she was alright.

Hopping around, Lenae spotted the little black wolf. And oh how little she was, she was even smaller than Lenae! An odd sight, for sure, she was used to being the smallest of the bunch. Like a little coyote in compression to all these tall wolves. That helped put her at ease, she always felt more comfortable around ladies. Maybe it was their soft smiles and warm eyes, or just how they smelled nice and soothing. They were just good..Or at least most of them were, better than some of the terrible men she'd met, that's for sure.

"Ahh-ouch, yeah. I kicked a stone and it hurts."She admitted, feeling and looking rather embarrassed about this all. And yet, despite her hunched shoulders and dipped head, her tail still wagged for she was happy to receive some help, in any shape or form."I feel really silly but...could you look at it, see if it's okay? It really hurts."

It did hurt, but in her heart of hearts she knew it wasn't a big deal. She was just being a bit of a drama queen, old habits died hard she supposed.

What a relief! Neko had been sure that something had attacked the other wolf, but it turned out that she had just hurt her paw kicking a stone. She relaxed knowing that there was no attacker to worry about. She approached slowly and cautiously. “I’d be glad to look at it, and there’s no need to feel silly about it. Better safe than sorry. Right?” she said with a soft and soothing voice.

“My name’s Neko, and I’m a healer for my pack,” she said as she leaned close to the paw to get a good look at at it. “Well, I guess I should say a healer in training. I still have so much to learn, like some mushrooms I was just looking at. I’m sure I’d seen them before, and I’m sure Momma had said they were useful for something, but for the life of me I can’t remember what she said, or even what they're called.”

Having looked over the wolf’s paw, she couldn’t see or smell any blood, and nothing looked out of place, though she knew that bumps and bruises that don’t bleed often hurt worse than ones that do, and there was only so much she could see with just a visual check. “It looks okay,” she said, “but I think of should feel your toe to make sure. It’ll probably hurt when I touch it though. Will that be alright?”

"Right!"Lenae chirped, feeling well at ease knowing her well being was in such good paws. Not a healer, but a healer in training! Someone else might have assumed Neko-such an interesting name(!!)- didn't know what she was doing, but not Lenae. Her foot wasn't seriously hurt, but like she'd said it was better to be safe than sorry.

"I'm a teacher! In training too, I suppose. I'm from um...I swear I'll be able to say it one day, but it's the pack that lives on the big rock out in the tundra. Whitestone something."

How embarrassing, how long had she lived there now? She'd have to sit down with Wraith or Piety one day, just so they could lead her through saying the pack name. Otherwise, wasn't she an embarrassment to their pack?Sort of bringing shame to their name? It wasn't her intention, she'd never do anything to make her family look bad but...

"Mushrooms?The smelly things?"They weren't really pretty so she didn't pay too much attention to them but she was pretty sure they carried a heavy scent."If they're anywhere then I think they'd be here, though I'm no expert. Maybe when you find them it'll help jog your memory. We could look for them together after, you know, if you want. Two noses are better than one, right?"

Lenae nodded at her request. Toes were sensitive little things but she trusted Neko with hers!

(This post was last modified: Nov 10, 2017, 08:31 PM by Lenae.)

Neko’s ears perked at the name ‘Whitestone’, as she recognized the name of her neighboring pack. “I think I know the place,” she said, her voice raised slightly with a hint of excitement, “Whitestone Morning…” She paused, trying to remember the name, then sheepishly said, “Something. You’re right, it’s kinda hard to say.”

She continued to speak softly to provide some distraction as she gently felt the other’s paw. “I believe that’s close to where I live. I’m with the pack in Wild Rye Fields.” She wasn’t sure exactly where it was, but she knew it was close from what her pack-mates have said. She finished feeling the other’s paw and withdrew her own, then smiled and said, “Your paw feels a little tender, but nothing’s broken. I would try not to put any pressure on it for the next day or so, but I think you’ll be alright.”

Neko listened to what the other had to say about mushrooms, then said, “I actually just found the mushrooms I’m thinking of. They’re on this tree over here.” She gestured in the direction of the birch tree she had just come from. “They just look like bark, but I can tell from the smell that they’re mushrooms. I remember my Momma saying something about them when I was a pup, but I can’t remember what she said.” The other had said she was a teacher, and Neko hoped she would know something about them.

(Neko is looking at chaga mushrooms, but she can’t remember what they are or what they are used for.)

Whitestone Morning, that sounded lovely. She could imagine it, the sun rising over the Lowlands, it's light gleaming off the sides of the rock, sparkling and shining like gold. When she'd first laid eyes upon the stone tower she had been intimidated, because it was grand and imposing, but now she saw it in a different light. Safe and beautiful in ways she'd never even really thought about until now. She couldn't imagine living anywhere else, it was all she ever wanted really...little did she know it would all come crumbling down sooner rather than later.

Wild Rye Fields. She knew of that place! Her friends lived there! Did the Fields attract good wolves or was it just a massive coincidence? She couldn't help but wonder. Either way she would have to drop by again sometime soon, just to say hello and maybe to have a sniff about if she was granted permission to.

Neko was so gentle it barely even hurt when she examined it and soon enough she came to a conclusion. Lenae puffed out a long breath as relief flooded her system. Good. She could deal with tenderness, but if something had been broken she would have cried her eyes out!

"Oh thank goodness."She could manage hobbling about with a limp, it was a little awkward but...she hopped once, then twice to test it out. This wasn't so bad, she'd trundle home then rest up! "Oh! I didn't even notice them, they blend in really well."

It was a shame Lenae couldn't really help with that, unless she read her mind then told her what she'd forgotten. But that was silly, wasn't it? Only a child would think of something so ridiculous. A frown tugged at her lips as she shook her head. Today was a good day, despite the fact she'd hurt her paw she'd made a friend who'd ensured she wasn't terribly hurt. It could be far far worse than that, she should have been grateful.

"My Mother never taught me about plants...She showed me her language but...no one really spoke it back home or even here so it's sort of useless, I guess." That was sad, it was all going to waste, wasn't it?