Spring through the terrain of Phoenix Maplewood. Remembering her promise to the Beta, Ukko, of how she would prove herself to the pack by proving her skills of fighting and healing. She went over tactics in her mind. Forgetting the real world for the moment she continued walking. Thinking of battle tactics first she went over a few in her thoughts. If your opponents has you pinned, rake there exposed stomach with your hind claws. Aim for the throat, stomach or chest by all means. Make yourself appear smaller and pull your fur in and show your wounds to appear weak, it’ll make the enemy underestimate you, then you take advantage of that. Spring thought on and on about battle tactics determine to prove herself to her new pack and thinking of all the ways she could help them when the time came.
Spring began to think of herbs and their uses. Ginger helps motion sickness, Blackberry treats sore throats, Calendula helps heal wounds, cobwebs stop bleeding, Chamomile encourages digestion, Cleavers reduce immflamuation, Comfrey treats bruises and sprains, Crampbark relaxes muscles, Echinacea stimulates the immune system, Elder treats colds, Hawthorn helps heal failing hearts, Valerian brings sleep, St. John’s Worth treats depression... Spring continued to list off the herbs and there uses in her mind. Still oblivious to the real world not paying any attention she walked right into a tree. Spring yelped jumping back startled.
The borders could wait... Reek had had enough patrolling to last him for a good long while. For the first time in what felt like ages, he let himself relax. He let his muscles unwind as he laid beneath a maple tree in the depths of the territory, belly flat in the cold snow. His limbs splayed in all directions, and his tongue lolled lazily out the side of his mouth. Between his forepaws was a large branch that he chewed on periodically when he saw fit. To say the least, Reek was living large in the hood... at least for a while.
His contented attention was soon stolen away by the sound of a wolf trudging through the snow. She was unfamiliar, but bore the scent of the pack. Reek immediately came to the conclusion that she was a new arrival that had been accepted by Ukko. The ragged alpha watched for a moment as the other wolf trudged along, obviously lost in thought. So lost, in fact, it seemed she was unaware of her surroundings.
Reek could hardly contain the laughter that ensued after the other wolf bumped headlong into a tree. Briefly, Reek recalled a moment when Saena had done the exact same thing— perhaps it had been the same tree! "You good friend?" he called out between heaves of laughter. "Am I gonna have to put up a sign?"
Spring turned around with still startled, with wide eyes. Seeing Reek, the an Alpha of Phoenix Maplewood had been watching her. The she-wolf laughed a little embarrassed. “A sign would be a good idea in fact,” she admitted. Feeling a little feather-brained. She made sure to avert her gaze not meeting the eyes of her leader, to show respect. She stared at the tree again still looking a little confused on how she had even gotten here in the first place since she had been so lost in her thoughts.
Rising to his feet, Reek shook the snow that clung to his pelt away. Even from his distance away, he could see the embarrassment wrought across her face. Eventually, his laughter wore off and he made his approach to the unfamiliar wolf. "A sign would be nice I guess," he began once he made his way to Spring's side. "Or... you know, you can look out for trees." He dipped his head and chuckled once more. The suggestion he offered carried no ill intent, Reek kept his tone jokingly sarcastic. "—They're sort of big... hard to mith." It wasn't like he could mark every single tree in the maplewood.
"What's gotten you so frazzled that you're running into trees all willy-nilly kid?" he asked. Surely, something had gotten his neurons all tangled in a knot to make a blunder so obvious.
“Just thinking...” Spring replied. “Remembering herbs and battle tactics.” She paused for a moment. “And well... I guess I kinda lost track of time and the world. Slipping into my own.” Spring pelt was hot with embarrassment still so she tried to change the subject. “Your the Alpha around here aren’t you?” Spring asked curiosity in her voice, although she had already guessed by the way this wolf carried himself and the way he spoke. Her ears perked awaiting an answer.
Immediatly, Spring's meantion of herbs grabbed Reek's attention. As a healer himself, he fancied himself as an expert when it came to plants. He may not have been the green-thumb that Citali was, but he possesed a near encycolpedic knowledge of the local plant life. It was as if he had an eiditic memory when it came to all things green.
"Ahhh, you're a healer, eh?" he asked with a wry grin after nodding in confirmation of his alpha position. Another wolf with herbal knowledge was always welcome withing the maplewood, especially now with so many pack members out of commission. "I'm a healer too... plants are sort of my thing." In Reek's mind they were simple. He didnt need to give chace or deal a deathly blow... all he needed was the patience to find what he wanted.
Spring’s tail wagged slightly. Happy to have meet another Healer. “Who taught you?” She asked curiously. Eyes sparkling with curiosity. She knew so many herbs she couldn’t count. Her mother had taught her, the rest she had tried and tested out. Luckily the only poisonous ones she knew of were the ones her Mother had taught her.
Spring found herself wondering about the Alpha male. Reek was his name she was pretty sure from what she could remember. Ukko had mentioned Reek and his mate Saena. She found herself wondering if she could gain any knowledge from him, about herbs. Herbs that she did not know of.
Reek's interest was decidedly peaked in their conversation. For starters, it was about his second favorite subject, plants. Secondly, he had the opportunity to talk about himself and his own endeavors... his absolute favorite subject. There had always been a selfish quality to the alpha male, a definite level of pomp and grandeaur that he ascribed to his life despite the fact that there was little of either in reality. He held his head proudly and grinned devilishly at the newbie.
"Oh, no..." replied Reek to her question. Healing as an art-form required a teacher. While practical application and experiance was important in developing the skill, one couldn't throw plants at wounds without proper guidance and expect a wolf to heal. "My mother taught me most of what I know. After she died, the rest I've learned has been through practical application."
"How 'bout you kid?" he asked. "Who taught you?"
Spring smiled at the mention of being taught by his Mother. “That must have been nice.” Spring faltered when she was asked of how she had learned. “Well... when I turned one. My Mother taught me for a week...” Spring paused choosing her next words very carefully. “Then a huge plague sickness came to my pack.” Spring shivered at the memory. “At first it seemed like the common cold... but then. After a week, a wolf would wake up and have no idea who they were and just go... crazy. Attack the others in the pack. Eyes bloodshot. Then, well then. They just fell dead, eyes stretched wide open.” Spring shivered at the memory. Remembering. “So I worked for six months. Working on a cure. Until finally it was just me and my Mother. She had been sick for a great while. Longer than the others. It had been eight cruel agonizing weeks for her. We were sleeping...” Spring paused. “Well I was awake. I hadn’t slept in a long while. I was working on a cure that had helped some of my pack mates live longer, but still ended in the same cruel fate. One more week and maybe I could have perfected the cure.” Spring whined. “Then my Mother started twitching, her eye lids sprang open and she looked at me, well she looked at me like I was a piece of meat. She looked so hungry, so unfamiliar. Then she sprang at me, and missed. She, hit her head on a rock and it looked like she gave herself a minor concussion. My Mother looked at me from the ground. And just said nothing. Then dragged herself to her paws heading towards me. I didn’t know what to do so I stood still, it was almost as if I couldn’t move. Then right as she as an inch away from me she fell to the ground twitching and fighting. She coughed up blood and it splattered on me. Then just fell silent. Dead. After that I left and never looked back. I ended up teaching myself many of the herbs I know.” Spring looked down noticing she was trembling and felt very insecure to act this way in front of her Alpha. She sat. So it would be easier to stop the shaking. But her gaze dragged on the ground, wishing she could have done something to save her old birth pack. Something. Anything. She should have saved them. But she left lighter, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It felt good to tell someone.
To be truthful, Reek only half listened to the tale Spring weaved. It was long, plodding, and his attention dragged around the third sentance. Still, he tried to gleam the minor details from Springs story inorder to grant the appearance that he was still listening. He nodded along and 'mhmed' whenever it was appropriate, but his mind strayed elsewhere. It strayed to the condition of Saena and Scarlett, possible dinner plans, and then to why snow was white... Water was clear, what was snow's deal? Crazy cold-ass snow.
"Mhm. Yep, said Reek, sensing that Spring's sob story was drawing to a close. "Ain't that some shit?" The words rolled off Reek's tongue rather tactlessly, but he failed to catch his social error.
Spring ignored that acts response Reek gave her. She had noticed how distant the male had seemed when she’d told her tale. "What are you thinking about?" The female asked. Finding herself not surprised at all he had not listened. No one ever listened to her stories anyways. She found herself gazing around the frosted area. Searching for an herb, but saw none familiar to her. She sighed inwardly disappointed, wondering if there were any herbs in this currently cold winter area that were familiar to her. She guessed she would just have to wait for Spring.
"Oh— just, you know... things," he replied in a rather roundabout manner. His thoughts bounced from subject to subject, ranging from the all consuiming questions to trivial tid-bits. To tell the truth, the raggedy wolf wouldn't even know where to begin. Empathizing and understanding the feelings of others had never been Reek's strongsuit, instead he differed away from the subject as fast as he could. That isnt to say it was impossible for him to connect on anything but a superficial level, but the process took time. Perhaps he would have the patience to listen to sob stories later, but today was not that day.
Spring seemed about as interested in the conversation as Reek had become. Her eyes darted around the snowy landscape, and Reek couldn't help but notice that she seemed to be searching for something. His curiosity was piqued. "Looking for anything?" asked Reek, unable to help himself.
Spring nodded. "I'm looking for familiar herbs." Spring admitted truthfully. "Although I don't seem many. There are a bunch of cobwebs in that bare bush over there." Spring motioned with her muzzle. "That would be good for stopping the flow of blood if applied to a wound." Spring remarked absently.
Fade here?
Her task was a fool's errand. Finding any useful plants in this snowy hell-scape would be next to impossible. A thick blanket of white covered nearly all the green that hadn't yet died away. This natural layer of white bullshit also blocked any hope of sniffing a useful plant out. Reek would have to wait until the coming Spring to resume his healing duties, in the mean time... nobody better get hurt.
"
Good luck," replied the ragged medicine man. "
You probably won't find anything right n—"
Reek's voice tapered off with the meantion of cobwebs adorning a nearby shrub. He shifted his gaze to where Spring pointed and he saw the spider silk glistening in the frost before quickly adding, "
Well, there's that." A bunch of cobwebs would be quite useful if another wolf thought it wise to go toe to toe with a mountain lion. "
Grab as much as you can... meet me at my den to cache it." With that, Reek turned away to check in on his patients and wait for Spring to return.
Fading Here
Spring nodded. Then padded up to the bush beginning to carefully lift the cobwebs out of it with her paw. Making sure not to break the elegant webs. Feeling its soft touch in her paw. The female quickly removed all the spidery silk. Then picked it up in her maw, heading towards Reek and his den.
Spring quickly reached the den and put it in the cache. She nodded and smiled a greeting and goodbye to Reek then left the den, padding back into the forest in the mood to hunt. Spring scented the air picking up the scent of a hare within a few minutes she darted after the scent. Energy fizzing through her body.