Blackfeather Woods Not much time to lose

Winter was coming soon, prompting the witch to go into stress mode. She feverently gathered herbs, but now she was categorizing them, stacking them and wrapping them in little bundles that she, if ever rendered blind, could still successfully search through by scent alone. She did her best to separate them by use: healing herbs here, poisons tucked away somewhere where no pup could find them and accidentally swallow one. Poppy seeds she kept in a scoop in the earth. She tried to encourage spiders to weave their webs nearby, but they seemed to favor Namira's Entrance. All of the bugs in the Mire, she thought.

She separated her bundle, sending off Seff to go explore somewhere. As much as she would love to teach him, she found that she was too stressed to be pleasant and patient to him. Crescent was constantly on her mind, along with Nemesis and her pups, and @Althaia 's future ones. Would the girl actually stay with them? Or would she somehow escape like Malice did not too long ago. Potema scowled, trying her hardest to focus on her work instead of worry about the what ifs.

The fragrant scent of so many herbs was what drew her, a few easily recognizable, others not so much. The scent of the pale woman was next, and as she drew near, a little trepidly, dull scratching and rustling sounds that could only be the femme working with her wares. She was interested, having never had such a cache of herbs before but only working with what she had. Not that she was too stupid to have any forethought, but the life of a wanderer did not allow one to set up caches.

She drew near the entrance to the wraith's workplace, letting out a quiet, unsure chuff to alert the other of her presence as she gazed over the many bundles of carefully wrapped and collected herbs with interest, wondering if she could do nothing to help.

Potema, through what was almost literally a lifetime of practice, tentatively clasped each herb in her maw, placing each their rightful cubby before dipping down to find the next. She was meticulous with her organization, making sure nothing was out of place. Some of the herbs were sundried, their power locked in their shriveled leaf to keep them through the winter. She wondered if freezing them would produce a similar result.

Her musing paused as a chuff caught her attention. It was deeper than Seff's, which told her that it was an adult and not an inquisitive pup. She put the herb in its place, then turned to the voice, which belonged to Althaia. Hello, She said softly, turning to face her. Is something wrong?

The woman greeted her softly, asking should something be wrong with concern. She shook her head a subtle "no", and was silent a moment longer before speaking. "I scented your herbs. Could- could I help? Could you teach me a little of what you know? I have not used herbs in many, many months." she said, perhaps a little forward but delivered in a soft tone equal to the other woman's own. 

She shifted her weight a little nervously, hoping that this woman would be kind enough to show her a thing or two. She gravitated to Potema out of all the wolves here, for her own sister was too busy and the others were...different.

Potema thought for a moment. If anything she'd rather have Seff do it; he would benefit from helping her sort. But he had long scampered off to Sithis-knows-where, and she did not feel like chasing after him. Althaia was right here, albeit a bit behind in her herbal skills.

She moved to the side, allowing Althaia to move in next to her. I'm very particular about how I organize things here, She began, pushing a bundle of leaves to her, So you'll have to forgive me if I am ever harsh to you,

She moved to the side wordlessly, Althaia took the cue and moved in beside her, nosing the bundle she was given and listening as the other spoke. "Okay." she said, agreeing to her words without contest. "Just tell me what to do." she said, looking to her as she nosed the leaves, pushing them so that they lay together and finishing the bundle.

I need you to organize them into piles based on uses, then on the species of the herb. The crevices she had burrowed into the wall of the herbstore were divided this way, with the poisons far from the healing herbs, the like breeds near one another. It had taken her and her mother a while to set this up, but it had worked, eventually. Here she could easily group herbs to optimize her reaction time. But the process did involve a intensive knowledge of herbs, one that she hoped Althaia would have.