Sunbeam Lair Romance and stars, where you are

For as much as the girl wanted to learn, Asterr wished to teach her. Never had she been presented with an opportunity to teach the young of her place of birth prior to leaving, so to do so now was exciting. There were times when she wondered if she was acting as a teacher was meant to, as well as if the elders of the tribe would have praised her methods, but more often than not she left her memories of the past alone. Each member of her family was someone whose life she cherished, but that didn’t mean that she had to constantly look to her own lessons from them in order to show that. Those of the tribe had remained back with the family, whilst she was there and watching over her own. As long as she focused on the necessary topics, and stayed true to her roots, she believed that any method her mind might concoct would work well enough.

Prompted by Shiori’s interest, the dragoness turned her head one way, and then the other, scanning her surroundings. Finding different sorts of plants had never been a difficult task for her, but finding ones that were child-friendly had proven to be somewhat problematic. The longer she thought, the less she found—and then something came to mind, which had made her smile and motion for the girl to follow. Her steps were slow, allowing for the child to keep up, as she made her way towards an area where the sunlight could touch the ground. The opening in the ceiling overhead was larger than many, allowing for so much of the sun’s glow to reach the ground that the soil had become far drier than the shaded areas surrounding it. There, within the parched dirt, grew tall flowers with sizable centers and purple petals. Looking them over, she’d selected a single one and plucked it from the ground, then laid it before the hatchling so that she could inspect it.

“Purple coneflower,” the mother noted, nodding towards the plant. “This one can be used in many ways, such as for wounds or bug bites—snake bites, too, though I hope you will never encounter one of those.” A snake’s venom was a terrible thing, capable of delivering an agonizing death. “You must be careful when handling this, just as you should with every other plant. If you use this on someone that is allergic, they could very well perish.” Death was not a topic that she touched on often, but she’d done so then as a precaution. Shiori was still learning, having yet to even be shown the Chieftess’ herbal cache, and so every warning that should be given would be.