Moonspear sing hard for the sunshine

The dark cub had devoted this afternoon to shadowing his mother when she had been the first one (besides his littermate sisters) he spotted lurking near the rendezvous. She had been heading off to nose around in the woods, so he had attempted to join her, but his attention span waned when his questions were met with complicated answers about plant stuff—like names and how different things grew and why. Since it was a lot of information coming at him fast, he swiftly found he wasn't really in the mood for that.

So, looking to be rid of him anyway if he wasn't going to be useful, she tasked Jarilo with delivering flowers instead. She didn't tell him very much about it since he hadn't asked about that, but she'd pointed him down the trail belonging to his older sisters with a small clutch of raspberry leaves and dandelions in tow. He at least knew that much, and assumed, someone at the delivery point would know what Mama was talking about because he sure did not. Stretching out his ever-lengthening stride over the mountain path, he just went galloping where his nose led, eager to do something. 

Since he wasn't the best at telling his identical sisters apart yet, he didn't exactly realize he was honing in on @Lyra most of all, and by extension, the new wolf he had heard his parents mention once or twice maybe, @Rannoch. Scent of such an unknown tickled his nose oddly, even over the freshly-picked plants held tight in his teeth.

He was getting better by the day, but that still didn't mean Lyra panicked every time the boy moaned in pain or shifted in the den. She found that feeding him a constant supply of those yellow flowers — and occasionally scraps of meat — kept his movements to a minimum and so she would continue doing that until he protested. Or until he was conscious enough to do so.

She was just about to do another run for the plants before a small, dark figure interrupted her. She came upon him on the path up to the den and she immediately noted the plants in his jaws. At first she was curious if he had picked them himself or had been instructed too. Though she was more thankful than anything. It meant she didn't have to abandon her patient which she was loathe to do. "Oh, hi Jarilo!" she greeted with a smile and wave of her tail. She hadn't gotten to know her baby brother — her only brother — very well yet. He kept to himself a lot, just like Vela. "Are those for Rannoch?"

Scents were telling him he was getting close. Very close, and a half-step after that notion occurred to him, one of the dark sisters appeared. He perked, tail wiggling, and was eager to show off the greens clamped in his teeth (and by extension, those very teeth) as she greeted and then questioned him.

Deciding then was a good enough time to put them down, he dropped it all at her feet—dandelions, leaves and (just two) flowers, then some serrated raspberry leaves, which there were more of. His tail stayed swaying, although slower now. "Rannoch? Oh, I  guess. Mama said to help and take them here," he eyed her hopefully, provided she could know what to do with them. "She said the plants'll be going away soon..? Why's Rannoch need these?" Jarilo gestured down at them, although couldn't help but scrunch his nose at the strange name on his tongue for the first few times. ...Did Rannoch eat leaves?

She stared as he brightened and smiled in greeting. He was so big now! Though as proud as she was, as she looked at him, she noted the slimness of his chest and legs. Perhaps grown was the right word. He seemed to take after Amekaze in both colour and build, as he seemed to be filling out into a more gangly sort of figure. Vela and Galaxy — especially Galaxy with her recent affliction — were similar in size, causing Lyra to wonder if her little siblings were just small wolves.

No less helpful, though! "Thank you," Lyra grinned as he deposited the bundle of herbs at her feet, and she bent to sniff and pick through them. She didn't know them all, but the dandelions were one of her favourites. She twitched an ear as Jarilo explained Amekaze had given him instruction, nodding. His confusion about the man's name told her that maybe he wasn't entirely aware of the situation. Had Charon or Amekaze explained it all to them? Was it even that important that they know?

"Rannoch's the wolf who got hurt outside the borders," she explained, gesturing up the path a little to where the den was. "I'm helping him get better." She touched the plants lightly with a forepaw. "And I use these plants to do that!" She hoped that explained enough, she didn't want to go into detail about how Rannoch got hurt, wanting to shield her baby brother from the dangerous outside world. At least for a little while longer.

His tail wiggled happily at the thanks, and he beamed back up at her. He was pleased it was well-received, so to him, he could check that much as a successful chore even if he had come into it knowing little--and he realized now that he may as well find out more about the hows and whys of all this. Shadowing his parents was often a wealth of information (sometimes more than he wanted to deal with even), so he realized this was probably no different, even if it was a topic he didn't delve this far into; he listened to where Lyra began with a careful, thoughtful squint as he pieced it together--and decided what he was going to ask about.

"Oh." with a soft nod, he concluded, and put that name to that situation he barely knew about. "Is he getting better already? Will I see him sometime?" Hadn't this all just happened? He thought so, but he was kind of oblivious to Big pack matters that concerned more individuals than just his immediate family. All he did know was that he had not seen a Rannoch around anywhere, so probably, he was still not well enough to be spotted like that. But it was really good she was helping him get better. "How do the leaves help do that?" 

I'm so sorry for the wait pls forgive

She watched with both amusement and curiousity as the boy tried to piece together the information she gave him. She could practically see the cogs in his little mind turning over and it fascinated her to no end. Perhaps this litter were the brains. She knew Galaxy and Vela were naturals at astronomy and had a mighty interest in it. Maybe Jarilo shared her passion for botany. He could even become her apprentice!

"He is getting better," she affirmed, but added with some hesitation and an uneasy glance to the side. "It might be a while before you can see him, though." For some reason, she felt possessive of the burly male. Jarilo was her brother — and a child, at that — but she just couldn't shake the feeling. At his next question, she refocused back on the bundle of plants. "Well, some have healing properties," she explained, delicately separating the herbs into smaller piles before gesturing to the dandelions with her nose. "Such as these ones; chewing the leaves helps with pain."

what of course. u know i know how it is<33333

She didn't deny him entirely, so he couldn't see anything wrong with that when he knew he wasn't going to be helpful to any healing. There was far too much he didn't know yet, so the boy wasn't going to push his luck. "Well.. that's good though. I don't need to see him right now anyway," he accepted, filing that away for later and hoping this Rannoch could live up to the suspense. But, if his sisters were good to him and gave him healing leaves, he had to be pretty cool.

With big, owlish eyes he watched whatever she was doing with the dandelions. "Okay... that's neat," he said after a scrunch to his face. How useful! No one liked pain, and if something as easy as chewing these pretty-easy to find leaves could help it.. ?? Well! "Do you have others I could get for you??" he asked, tapping his paws lightly and looking about like he was ready to go with or without some sort of answer in mind. But he thought he would offer before he took off. Picking flowers was certainly something he could do.

<33

She neglected to go into too much detail about how exactly chewing leaves helped with the pain. There was a specific part of the plant you were meant to chew, a certain amount of time needed before it fully kicked in, and even an actual amount to give a patient before it became too dangerous of a dose. Truthfully, Lyra herself was still an amateur when it came to herbs and healing but she couldn't have her brother thinking her incompetent! No, to him, she sought to appear as knowledgeable as any master medic.

His comment after her explanation was almost dismissive, but she reigned back her indignation. He is only a child. He also seemed eager to help. Lyra grinned as he asked what else he could get, hoping he didn't let excitement get the better of him. He was no use to her if he simply bolted off without the necessary information. "I can never have enough of these golden flowers," she said, gently touching the dandelions with her paw. She thought devilishly for a moment of a different type of plant, a rarer one that would take a while for the boy to find. It was cruel, perhaps, but if it meant she got to spend more uninterrupted time with Rannoch...

"There is also this other one," she began slyly, hoping to recapture his interest again, at least for a moment, before he took off to gather the herbs.

He still didn't entirely wrap his head around the healing matters, although could pretend he did. The doing something part of picking flowers did appeal to him more.. mainly because he had never been hurt, and he didn't see the fullest extent of why the healing arts were so important. But with an expanding worldview, hopefully, he'd know more one day.

Jarilo answered her back with an eager nod. More of those golden ones, check. He could do that--especially knowing what they looked and tasted like. That alone was a distinct advantage. "Ohh??" he perked, very obviously baited by the way her words drew off for more. "What does it look like? Where does it come from??" he asked, very carefully reining himself in so he could hear about it, if she decided to share the answers to this.

Success! He was obviously intrigued by her purposeful musing, and at her brother's questions, the girl lit up once again with a wave of her tail. She hoped he at least would be a little smarter going about this than, say, someone like Korei would, for her pale littermate had proven time and time again how clueless she was. Lyra wasn't too keen on looking after another patient. But she trusted her younger brother; he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders.

"It's called nettle, it helps with swelling," she said, pawing gingerly through the bundle of plants for ones that looked similar. She pointed then to a couple of smaller green stalks. "They grow at the base of trees and look like this," she explained before falling into a serious tone, hoping Jarilo took her warning to heart. "Just be very careful around the leaves, they can sting you and it hurts a lot, alright? Just grab it by the base of the stem and be slow about it."

The medic then lightened again with an encouraging smile, hoping he understood.

Each detail received a nod of its own. Nettle. Swelling. Base of tree. Like this. He watched sharply, going to where she indicated and willing himself to remember every. single. bit. Jarilo's tail soon picked up a new rhythm although she had warned him to be careful.. and inherently, as a young brash boy, he wasn't always the best at that. Still, he was excited about the chance to try this new challenge and actually, he  could get behind the notion of collecting more plants one day.. especially if spring brought new things like mama said it would. "Okay! I will," he teetered a fine, happy line of ready to bolt with every breath. Because he loved his sister and was happy when any of them spent any time with him, he stayed long enough to plant some very speedy licks along the underside of her chin before he was spinning off, readying to go. "Thanks!!" and he barked some kind of goodbye, then ran off at top speed.