Herbalists' Cache though winter be a brittle beast

@Godbrand I wasn't sure if he'd be with her or not but feel free to join in. (Dated for 12/27/2020 -  12/31/2020)

she'd arrived at the thick glen several days ago, a tangled wood that provided shelter even though the flora had lost the majority of their foliage. it spoke of a tiny haven that might've been a treasure trove of life, sustenance - had the weather been warmer. 

as it was, there were small creatures buried away where one might be clever (or desperate) enough to look. aerin feasted on tiny critters buried in hibernation burrows, scratching her pinkpads raw on tree roots in search of the micro meals; the voles and squirrels groggy with instinctive slumber or else frozen in their beds. 

it was shortly after her arrival that the cloud cover inched in, growing darker and heavier as the hours crept by. a metallic current charged the air, smelling of her northern homeland and singing to something forgotten in her blood. 

her paws cracked and bled often as the winterwhite turned her attentions to instinctive digging over the span of several days. by the time the storm struck, it would find aerin curled up safely inside the earthen den - her dainty paws flayed and ruddied by her frenzied efforts. 

in the black of night, the halfling rasped a soothing tongue over her shredded paw pads - the sensation like that of flames streaking across the raw flesh and also somehow easing the pain. she could not have slept if she tried, her heart thrumming wildly in her chest as she listened to the wind roar.