Whitebark Stream Her secrets still like songs I'd never learned.

The baseline reasoning for her desire to collect was obvious, she thought—yet his words made him question that. There were few reasons to retrieve plants, after all, so what exactly did he think she might do with them? Rather than answering a question with one of her own, she opted to say, “Yes, I am a healer.” Whilst her mother surely knew more than Kaori, she hoped to someday harbour the same, vast knowledge of the flora. Someday, there would be not a single ailment presented to her that she could not cure, she wanted to believe.

“This season is not kind to those of us that seek out the plant life,” she noted. “But, come spring, I will be of more use.” With the warm weather, there would come more plants—more herbs to collect, to store for safekeeping. And whilst she did not wish for any of her packmates to get injured, she felt confident in her ability to help them, should it happen.