Herbalists' Cache iii. whispering woods of wild and lurid dreams

@Sherigrim <3 , healing #1

Sunlight poured over budding branches to scatter in fragments as they reached the earth, coaxing forth tender growth with the promise of nourishment. Light dappled too over the pale tawn of the Sami's soft layers, head bowed as she hunched in examination. 

Careful, methodical movements plucked the tart blackberries from the thorny brambles they rested upon. There was not nearly enough of the fruit to bother gathering them to add to her growing bundle of supplies though they made for a tasty snack. A pink tongue flickered into sight, curling around her chops as it lapped the acrid juice staining her lips. 

Having broken her fast on the berries, satiating the rumbles of a protesting stomach, Elve set her cerulean sights upon the leaves of the blackberry bushes. They were known for soothing the stings and bites of insects - particularly bees - and the healer unfortunately found herself requiring the anti-inflammatory properties of the leaves. 

The sight of a hive nestled into the crevices of an abandoned rabbit warren had been too tantalizing for Elve to pass on. She had emerged victorious, her prize several honeycombs to add to her food stores, but not without several painful bee stings.

With a mouthful of leaves, the elven blonde turned and shrugged free of her caribou-fur wrap - nosing it open upon the needle-carpeted forest floor and gently unwinding the bundle of moss that dropped free of the shoulder fold. With an incline of her ivory snout, Elve placed the leaves gingerly upon the worn hide and allowed her ocean eyes to drift over the meager collection of possessions in survey. 

A stranger would likely notice the Sami's medicine bag upon initial glance - an otter which's throat had been slit and its entrails removed via this opening. The bones of its feet and head remained - hard little lumps beneath the folds of loose skin - but its skull had long ago flattened so that it formed a cover flap of sorts. 

Without opening the pharmaceutical bag Elve knew it contained two different bundles - both wrapped in small rabbit furs. One held a plethora of medicinal supplies, the other the sum of her efforts to sustain herself - traveling cakes made of fat, dried fruit and finely ground meat, a few strips of dried fish and caribou, some salt and solidified syrup from the ruins of Raikseiû's caves alongside some fresh produce she had gathered in Teekon. Perhaps she should not have taken food from the people after being cursed - she was still uncertain whether it might have angered the spirits - but she had reasoned that she had assisted in storing the food for winter which entitled her to a portion.

At the bottom of the bag hid a few trinkets tucked from sight - the small stick upon which she carved and counted the phases of Lumi, the moon, and the gifts of her Totem, the caribou. She possessed only a handful of such favors from the Spirit of the Caribou but each was dear to her heart and held great significance.

A chunk of red ochre to symbolize her adoption into the clan, the claw of a lynx which had revealed her Totem's desire for Elve to master hunting, a piece of golden amber that reassured her it was alright to love Laisse as the daughter of her heart and it would not offend the spirit of the girl's birth mother, a chunk of clear quartz that promised she would survive the curse of death. 

That was it. All she owned and needed to survive - alongside intelligence, courage, and resiliency. 

Elve tucked the leaves in with the rest of the medicine, feeling a familiar weight settle over her shoulders as she considered the future. Seeking to take her mind off the echoes of mistakes and the uncertanties of looking forward, the Sami opened the package of dried herbs to examine them for expiration.