Moonspear If your eyes are looking for something, you're not suppose to see

absolutely zero rush or obligation <3 but at some point I want these two to meet up!  Feel free to decide (if you do join) what the plant is and if it is dangerous or not <3 or if it's absolutely nothing at all!

Before Fennec attempted her little experiment, she wanted to exhaust her options.  Hunting down small prey was a chore and she hadn't managed to find any scavenged kills around aside from those set for the pack to use.  She wouldn't take those.

So she made the slow, careful trek up the Moonspear to see @Kukutux, her fur clutched in her jaws, unknown plant inside.

Her mentor was a busy woman and Fennec had, for the most part, enjoyed her freedom to explore and get to know the area.  Eljay had taught her many of the basics and what few lessons she'd had with the woman engrained more... but she'd been minimal in bothering the Moonspear woman for a lot of reasons.  Fennec didn't quite know how to handle "pleasers", and Kukutux was an even larger one than Eljay by her estimation.

Her ears flicked and tried to determine if the healer was here, judging from where she thought her chosen densite was.  It was always guesswork for now until she learned it by heart.  She couldn't call out without dropping her bundle, which she would do in a few moments if she heard nothing.  It just felt a wasted effort if the woman was already here.

WC: 206

<3!! always for u

in her heart, kukutux was worried for the match that bronco had seen fit to make in fennec. she was a beautiful sort, well-made and kind, gently mannered and intelligent, but spirits had stolen her vision. even now, with all the moments that they had spent together, kukutux felt the chill of nerves when fennec turned her sightless muzzle in the duck's direction.

but she would say no such thing; she was not cruel. perhaps the girl's mother had not observed the proper taboos during her time of carrying fennec; it was not unheard of that a child should be born with moonswells for eyes instead. and so she had no reticence in her toward the girl, answered what questions she would, and tried to make the way easier for fennec.

she was at her ulaq when the young medicine girl returned; a chuff to announce herself and she was approaching, though nostrils flared at the bitter, telling scent held in the carryskin. "what have you found?"

;.; <3 btw Fennec would be THRILLED if she knew kuku thought she was cursed

Her new(ish) mentor was indeed around.  Fennec spun slightly in place to face the chuff and allowed a small smile around the bundle she carried.  Something about Kukutux stymied her immediate sass response... perhaps an innate sense, however inaccurate, that the woman was quiet and would not rise to it.  There was little fun to be had in teasing a wolf who didn't tease back.  Fennec was rude at times but never intentionally cruel.

She set the pelt down before her and felt to open it.  A new plant.  I've never seen it before and wanted to ask you if you knew what it was?  She was hopeful, but also intrigued.  If Kukutux did not know that would mean she had no choice but to attempt her scheme to determine its nature.

She'd dug the entire thing up in Towhee's company and stashed it, roots and all, to be transplanted to her gardens later.  I found it in the forest near the glen.  Directions were sometimes hard for her to suss out.

WC: 172

LOL *plots*

the smell was rather unbearable; kukutux blinked as she came closer. and then her gaze sharpened; she glanced to fennec's unseeing gaze, to the cheerful nature of her voice. "this is paatitaak," she murmured swiftly, and used her paw to push aside the pouch.

"you did not taste it, fennec?" the duck inquired, leaning forward to sniff the girl's muzzle for any indication that she had ingested part of the leaves. only the rich scent of dirt; tangled roots indicating how it had been pulled. "it is dangerous. to even have a very small bite brings the sickness to your stomach, and the wet snow to your mouth." worried, searching all about the girl. "you have ache in your skull? yes or say no."

Fennec had no idea what the word she said meant, and initially from the tone she wasn't sure Kukutux knew either. She caught on fairly quickly from the context after, however.  Poison, then.

No, she answered.  I used the pouch this time because I wasn't sure.  She took in the scent and made sure to memorize it.  It was definitely characteristic enough she doubted she'd have trouble.

Snow to the mouth, what is she talking about?. Kukutux tended towards language that was more symbolic than was useful, to Fennec's amusement and sometimes annoyance.  If I did, what would I do?  She had a vested interest in this subject and her voice upticked a bit with it.  She'd already slipped up once and was bound to risk doing so again... plus, if she was going to keep the plants, she needed to know what to do about any who might get too curious for their own good.  Never raid a witch's garden.

WC: 161

it was good that fennec had borne it back in the pouch. kukutux clucked her tongue, and, relieved, stepped back from the girl's immediate presence. "it is a poison. it will cause sickness. but if you eat some, you will want to make vomit."

"the bitter red berries," she said, attempting to describe the currants that grew wild in the left-most forests. "they will sour your stomach and make vomit. we dry them and keep them for that purpose. and then water, much water. it is easy to avoid the illness of this plant if you are quick." 

a humming sound. "i will be a moment." turning back, re-emerging a scant time later with the distinctive currants in the shell of a dried leaf. "touch them and smell them," the healer instructed as she set the edge of it gently against fennec's paw so the girl might know where it was.

Fennec was about to question Kukutux's methods when she described the berries as no more than "bitter red".  She could go through the forest and try every berry until she hit the bitter ones that made her throw up, but somehow that didn't sound too appealing.  She was pleasantly surprised, though, when Kukutux left and came back with an example for her to smell and touch.

She breathed in, taking in the scent and trying to categorize them against the others she knew.  They were smooth, had a slight bite to the scent, and between that and the size might be recognizeable.  She didn't recall ever encoutering anything like them in the past, not while she was paying attention at least.  In the past she'd been less likely to notice the berries on any given bush.

How many would you eat?  Water made sense, as did making the wolf throw up.  She thought she remembered another plant with that same property, but she might have been thinking of the pumpkin.  That memory made her smirk again, though she tried to hide it quickly.  They smell terrible, so I guess that's the first clue that they work.

WC: 196

"for a large man, give three. for a small woman, give two," kukutux murmured, attempting to explain the proper dosage for each size of patient that fennec might have. "yes. foul odor, you know it is the right berry." such medicines were naturally made to cause aversion, and the duck was pleased at the quickness of her pupil.

"this plant is good for one thing. use paw, break open the stem. it has a harsh smell that will help when one has a wet nose and a cough in the chest. do not eat, but use the odor." pondering what else of these two plants she might tell fennec, the wife was quiet, waiting for the girl's reply.

Easy enough, she thought, committing it to memory.  The extra gave her pause.  She'd never really considered that just the scent of a plant could have an effect on a wolf, beyond even applying or consuming.  

Does other plants have that, with the smell?  Were there plants that could poison by scent?  The onions certainly had a strong one, but she didn't recall any effects from it, good or bad.  If so she wasn't sure how she'd avoid it though.  Without her nose she had no way of knowing whether a plant was even there.

WC: 95

"there are several with a similar odor," the duck nodded. "they are to be treated in the same way." a pause, then a thump of her tail against her own pale flank. "i will answer more questions, but it is time for a meal," she announced in a manner that did not invite disagreement, circling 'round the clearing to return with a strip of dried trout for her pupil.

fade here?  we should have another sometime <3 if she makes it back this way!

Yeah.  Alright.  Fennec listened as Kukutux went and fetched something, then brought it back and set it before her.  The scent of fish washed over her, but when she went to eat it, she found it was an odd consistency.  When she finished eating, she'd ask about it, as well as more about some of the other herbs that her new mentor had to offer.  For now, lunch was more than welcome.