the ravens stare down at him as he snuffles around the base of the cliff. they are suspicious. this is understandable! hopefully it will not be for long.
he can remember this. lavender likes…dryer weather…and there is water nearby, he can smell it. this is unfortunate. also, it is dark so it is difficult to see – also unfortunate. this is okay, though. he has a good nose, after all, and a friend to help. if he can’t find what he needs now – he can come back in the morning.
he is going to try though! raising his head, he yips for vrána, who spirals back down out of the air to land on his shoulder like a scrap of torn cloth.
“hello! i know what we are looking for.” caw looks around. “blood is the best, but it is hard. you tell me if you can find it.” he waits for the dip of vrána’s head before continuing. “good! and then there is the lavender, mugwort, oak. no nightshade until we know them. just to be safe.”
so absorbed in this conversation is caw – and paying so little attention to anything that is not the ravens – that he does not notice anything until vrána stops watching him and starts watching someone else instead.
he does not even have the chance to question it.
caw flips around like a startled deer in headlights at the voice, but being the way he is, he immediately starts towards them, yipping curiously. he has been told at least a dozen times not to do this, but there is no fun in that! and there are no parents here to scold him! there is only vrána. she has given up.
and he has to get close to see! it is a little hard in this light. this is sad because she is very pretty, her fur all black and white just like his. her eyes are not red like his, though. caw has to squint to see, but one looks to be purple, the other snowy white. and she has a bird! it is not a raven or crow, but his tail wiggles as he sees it anyways.
“hello!” wait. that is not right. “hello!” he tries again, this time in heavily accented english. “caw is name.” he gestures with his nose to his crow. “this vrána!” introductions thus made, he peeks over her shoulder as best he can, staring after the little bird perched on her back. “you have owl?”
caw is not overly concerned with any wrath that might come down upon his head for any decision to leave, simply because he would not be even if he had bothered to consider it. he is not the type of person who thinks in anything but the short term; this is more often a problem than a blessing, but it is what it is.
tail still sweeping from side to side, caw looks back at vrána before he speaks. finding no objection, his head swivels back around again. “yes!” he chirps. “can protect the court. will do best to provide!” caw is truly not great at most providing tasks that do not involve gathering plants and hunting tiny animals, but that is still something! and as far as he is concerned, having the correct plants around is always important.
it will take him quite some time, still to get familiar with this new place. he is aware of this much. lumiya’s offered information, then, is appreciated. caw sweeps his tail around his hind legs. “you have healer?” that is good! perhaps he will not have to spend so long searching, then. “will speak with! can work with healer. help collect things.” he has done it before! he is very good at the things he does, when he cares to do it.
her response to his offer, then, likewise earns a friendly, if toothy, smile. of course, caw is not aware of her…difficulties with blood. he cannot imagine anyone not liking it! it is a part of his work, yes. but there is no part of his work he does not enjoy! otherwise he would not have left and still be practicing. “will take few days! maybe less with help from healer.” he has not gathered anything yet, but the ravens will wait if he is not choosing to sleep here.
instead, he tips his head back and offers a short little howl, putting the proper notes in it to inform the ravens of his intentions, before he returns his crimson gaze to lumiya. “there. now can safely go and return later.”