Sleeping Dragon minging its own nature with it

For the hunter trade on my end. I got an idea. :) @Portia.

Things had begun to fall into place once more. He had no future trips ahead of him, thankfully, and his children had grown so much since he’d first seen them. He’d felt a brief sadness that he hadn’t been here upon their birth but he isn’t sure he would have been allowed to see them. The thought fades away, as something he can’t change, and focuses on the future ahead of him. The famine has long since been over and they are, for the most part, back to their healthy selves. They’d even been able to develop a cache again.

His head lowers with a half eaten rabbit dangling, dropping into a cache that he begins to cover up. It wouldn’t last long with the heat but it’s near enough to the hedonkru’s and Gyda’s dens that it should be eaten soon but he worries anyway. For now, he shrugs it off, and makes to leave again.

Regardless of any light pelts or number of dips in the creek, Portia was hot. She tried to stay in the shadows of the territory, panting heavily and trying to keep hydrated. She had eventually decided to hang back in her den-- but felt too useless and bored. So, once she'd cooled down, the pale botanist slunk from her den and into the territory again, eventually coming across a wolf she'd never met before.

The freckled beauty lets out a light chuff, her posture low, hoping to catch his attention and make nice with him. 

As he turns away, he’s disrupted by a chuff, and he freezes with one paw in the area as a strange colored girl comes into view. He recognizes her from the meeting but he hadn’t been around much longer to find the newer wolves and make himself acquainted when he’d had to go with Wildfire on their mission. Now that he’s back home, settling back in with Gyda and his children, he’s able to extend his paw out finally and meet those he hasn’t spent much time with.

“Hey,” he calls out, setting his foot back on the ground to station where he’s standing. “I’m Gavriel.”

"Portia," the woman responds quickly, pleased the man appeared to be ready to hold a conversation. "Of the Moreau family," she adds, a smile twitching at the edge of her lips. Not that family names mattered much when she was so far away, but perhaps one day she'd find another member that just couldn't keep their paws in the valley. 

"You been here long?" she asks with a slight tilt of her spotted head, tail pausing as she waited for an answer. Surely he had been, his scent was strong along the borders.

The woman introduces herself, and her family, but it doesn’t mean much to him. Being in Drageda already, he didn’t have to announce his own family, but she keeps her old attached instead of the new one she has joined. Brushing it off with the hopes she will see the change later, he nods his head with a slight smile. 

“I am a Drageda wolf,” he tells her with a swish of his tail. “I had been born in Seageda, where we come from.” Hoping he doesn’t sound too snobby about his origins—he was proud of his heritage, as she will be one day—he knows she will soon be too. It is then he remembers something he’d been told about her from Gyda, he finds himself softening a little bit. “I heard you helped my son when he was sick. I thank you. If you ever need anything,” he offers, though he doesn’t need to. 

They did things for one another without expecting it in return, loyal to one another. If Portia becomes part of Drageda as the rest of them, it wouldn’t be any different. 

“I don’t know much about herbs but I just put something in a cache and this heat… it spoils so quickly. Do you know a way to store it so it may last longer?”

Unaware that this Gyda's child was Gavriel's, her ears perk. She nods slowly with a small smile, shrugging gently. "It's no big deal, really. I'm glad he's alright though, hun," she says, dipping her head slightly. 

When he mentions the meat her smile falters, hesitant to give an answer right away. "I don't know any herbs that'll keep it from rotting but... Bay leaves and chives will keep the damned flies away," she tells him, tail flicking. "I'd just keep it cool with water-- always works the best for me." With a certain flick of her ears, the girl glances down towards the cache, pondering if she had anything else to offer. Apparently not, since she glances back up at the male.

She doesn’t have anything to help prevent the meat from rotting sooner than desired but it is soon she has an alternative solution. Keeping the flies away would keep the maggots away and, in a way, slowing down the process. It’s not a fool proof plan but it’s something. Not having the knowledge already makes him realize how vast Seageda had been, how the populous had been much bigger and jobs were often more singular. Gavriel had always been a warrior and second a hunter, but most things were devoured right away or someone else took care of storing the left overs.

“What do those look like?” he asks, wondering if they would be easy to find. Maybe he can help search for them and, in return, help himself by keeping his kills fresh. "Can you show me?"

Thrilled that the man had shown some interest in plants, Portia nods quickly. "Of course!" she chirps with perked ears, tail waving ecstatically. "I actually have chives growing in my garden," she tells him, though the plants were not native to Drageda's territory. "I haven't seen any bay leaves, but if you're interested we could go and find them? I could use a plant or two for my garden..." she says, trailing off a bit at the last part. She glances to him with a bit of hope, praying to leave the territory with a friend-- rather than just alone.

Her cheerful reply makes it hard not to plaster a smile to his face and his tail a continuous wag behind him. Wolves were often very serious, little room from play, back home in Seageda and even though Sleeping Dragon feels a lot more lax, he’s okay with it. They all know their part, at least, and they work will together, even with a few kinks they will eventually iron out. For now, he’s happy to work with another to aid their bonding.

“Of course,” he says when she offers to search for the leaves. “It’s actually my job to escort wolves outside the territory. Lead the way.” He’d escorted Wildfire, twice, through the Teekon Wilds and had taken Seregryn back to Trigeda, and while this is likely to be a short mission, it is still his job to complete it and he’s able to knock out two birds with one stone.

Excited still Portia nods quickly, her tail wagging. "There may be some in the woods just northeast of here," she says, remembering the surrounding territories from before she had joined the pack. She begins to lead the way, but waits for the man to join her at her side, feeling like she wasn't really fit to lead-- and having no desire to either, really. Along the way, she described the plant to him. It grew on a tree-- bay trees-- but weren't as tall as normal trees. She'd made sure to mention that she had always considered it a tall shrub, not that he'd really care about any of the technicalities. The leaves were almond shaped, and very smooth and a deep green. She had also thrown in a fun fact along the journey, sharing with him how bay trees were technically evergreens, though she did not find them as pretty as a pine tree. 

When the pair arrived at the edge of the woods, she glances to the male with excitement. Finally!! Free from the territory and with a plant to find!!! 

Gavriel falls into step next to the woman and they make their way out of the territory at an easy pace. The trip is mostly in silence with the occasional word but he’s never been much of a talker, especially when working, and this isn’t any different. His focus stays on their surroundings while she leads the direction to the woods. It gives him a chance to make sure there are no threats around them and he’s able to keep the girl safe during their expedition.

He slows to an easy pace as the approach the tree line, giving Portia a glance from the side. She knows what she’s looking for and he doesn’t have a clue so he’s content to let her give him direction.

Hopefully he'd know what he was looking for-- or at least have some sort of an idea. He'd probably zoned out with her long explanation, but maybe he'd managed to pick up a few key words on its description... oh well.

With a brief nudge to his shoulder-- immediate closeness never being an issue for her-- the freckled botanist began her search for the plant. With her nose plastered to the ground, she scented eagerly for the bitter plant, praying it would be somewhere in the God forsaken forest. Keeping Gavriel somewhat nearby, she wandered after different scents, mostly finding nothing but basil and parsley-- something she had plenty of. 

Some time later, she came across a scrappy little bush, bitter and dark green as it should be. "This!" she exclaims with excitement, her tail waving furiously. She pushes her nose to the base of the plant, letting out a low whine as a bit of reality crashed down onto her joy. "We'll have to dig up a smaller sprout in order to bring it back," she says, which was always a pain-- sometimes the roots would tear or be tangled with the larger plant. "But," she adds quickly, "You can still grab some leaves to take back-- they'll be useful on their own."

Gavriel follows along with Portia while she searches and he realizes she never explained what they looked like so he doesn’t exactly offer much help. He isn’t really able to tell what one plant is to the next, even if they looked different. The names of them are no where in his memory so he remains silent, instead keeping an eye out for any danger that might come there way. It’s a much better use of his time anyway, letting the expert do what she’s good at doing and in the meantime he keeps a little distance.

She has a eureka moment and he jerks his head to attention, swiftly trotting back to her side to look at the bush. He frowns when she explains what they have to do and he tilts his head at the plant anyway.

“Can’t we just dig this one up and take it back?” he asks, sniffing at the bush a little. Perhaps if they dug around it enough to loosen it from the ground, they might be able to pull it, but what does he know?

She shrugs, nodding but appearing displeased all the same. "We could, but unless you wanna lug the thing back to the territory..." she trails off, feeling that'd get some of the point across. "Besides, the roots are usually much longer, larger, and far more widespread. If we find a smaller, newer plant the roots will be easier to remove without damaging any part of the plant," she adds. With a flick of her tail, Portia began to nose a smaller sprout, a handful of leaves poking from the top. Not long from now and this would be in full bloom! she could plant it by her larger plant garden... oh it'd be wonderful. 

With a glance at Gavriel, she begins to scratch carefully at the dirt, careful not to stab through the roots or stem, but working with enough force to make some progress. With help from her travel partner, it wouldn't be hard to remove from the ground. 

Wanna wrap it up?

She gives him the options and he nods his head, figuring it would be better use of their efforts to find a smaller one. However, he doesn't have to look long once she's pointed another out and already begun working on digging it up. He steps up to an open spot, watches her dig at the ground, and tries to mimic the careful ministrations of his companion. He works as long as she works, trying to do his best to copy her actions when he's able, and only stops when she does.

sure! last post from me. feel free to respond or archive?

Finally, there is enough space to free the plant from the ground. With careful tugged, the roots remain mostly intact, dirt clinging to them. She looks to Gavriel with a wag of her tail, and speaks through the stem sweetly. "You can grab some leaves from the bigger bush, Hun, then we can go." After he does, she motions for them to leave, allowing him to take the lead back home. With her tail wagging happily behind her, she silently thanks the male for bringing her out of the territory-- a quick vacation was all she needed.