Herbalists' Cache millidelphia

Yeah, it's fine! :D

Mal had pretty much decided he should make an early trip back to Brillo to just let her know the north is basically a big empty wasteland at this point, so he'd really get serious and take a longer time exploring the western and southern areas for somewhere to settle. He'd really thought that something would have come up by now, but he didn't seem to have the greatest luck.  His hunting was doing a bit better, though, so at least he his travels weren't taking too much of a toll.  And honestly, he wasn't thinking too deeply or paying much attention because of that.  The emptiness was numbing.

Or was, until something broke the monotony.  When he spotted someone else wandering, he froze, making a sort of strangled, unsure noise as he gawked and recognized who it was.  His mother.  To a certain point he'd thought her earlier reappearance had been a phantom, but now here in this unoccupied land he felt more certain like he was staring at a ghost.  Like something wasn't entirely right, but as the oblivious creature he was, he couldn't pin down what that was.  Assuming she was some sort of drifting spirit haunting his brain was easier.  Like this was some new trick by the witches of the wild to lure him in before the next batch tried to kill him too.  Maybe he should run from it or something.