Duck Lake The Earth has music for those who listen

@FitzDutiful :3
Backdated to before this gal meets Mordecai at LCH

Last night had been cold. One among the many cold nights Arabella had gone through since she abandoned the Glacier and it's safety. Oh how she regretted having left that place.

A wide yawn and stretching out and the small female was out to get some food. She ha gotten good at catching small game the last months, but she had not had another option. Hunting consumed a lot of energy, and she had to do it often to get it back. It was exhausting, but not impossible.

Cornering her prey inside their holes was the most effective way, and it was an easy day when she found a gopher hole or a rabbit den. Today it was the latter, luckily, and after digging up a bit, the female took her prey by the neck next to the lake where she laid down and started feeding herself.

Fitzdutiful was out and about for an odd reason today. Usually he left the packlands to either hunt or recruit, on some occasions it had been to follow his daughter and make sure she didn't get herself killed on the sly trips off the mountain. Today, was for him. Solely and completely for him. He wanted to learn some more about the plants that grew around the wilds.

He had already found out that the differences could be intense between the mountain and the bay and he knew that the hot springs had specialised growths as well. But how would a lake in the valley compare to the lake in the bay?

Making his way to Duck Lake he arrived seeing another wolf, female, catching some small prey from the holes. Deciding she wasn't a threat, and not really in the mood for recruitment, FitzDutiful ignored her and instead focused on the plants growing at the side of the lake. He carefully sniffed it to get a whiff of scent, before carefully patting it with a paw to ensure it wasn't actually spiked, and then gingerly licked it - making sure he was close enough to the water that he could wash his mouth out afterwards without swallowing the plant's taste.

For a while, Bella was purely focused on her meal, but as the scent of another wolf nearby grew too strong to ignore, her instincts -and most probably her shy personality as well- obligued her to stop and inspect a possible threat. She would not give up her catch.

But when she got up and looked closer she decided the guy was definitely not dangerous. In fact, he wasn't even interested in her food. How odd. He was sniffing and licking plants, something she used to do with Miss Adara when she was younger.

"It's called Fleabane..." she said shyly as she got a bit closer, still of course keeping a good distance. She remembered the plant because Adara used to teach her a lot about herbs and their uses. She did not remember everything, but she knew this one pretty well... "You'd probably guess what it's good for..."

The female seemed just as interested in the herbs and FitzDutiful looked up at her as she approached, she kept her distance and had a name to give to it. "Ahh," he said smiling, "I had wondered why my itches vanished the last time I was here. It's why I came back to investigate. Once can be a coincidence but twice warrants more investigation."

He looked her over, studying her more than his initial glance. "You're not looking for a pack by any chance?" he asked her. He wasn't intended to recruit, and wouldn't push it. But he wasn't in a place where he could afford to not ask a wolf who obviously had some intellect about her.

"FitzDutiful, is my name by the way." he offered by way of introduction.

Bella smiled back at Fitz and took a couple steps closer. She did not like the idea of being a healer, she wouldn't stand having to deal with injuries or blood or risking losing a life on her paws, but that did not stop her from being curious about the quirks of nature and the effects herbs had on wolves.

The male asked if Bella was looking for a pack, which took the female by surprise. "I'm actually following a group of wolves. They're moving east.." she said with a gentle smile. She did not realize that this male had the intention of recruiting her, which was pretty obvious, but she often overlooked details like these that would make a huge difference. "And It is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Arabella." she said with a smile and a lady-like bow.

"Are you a healer, Fitzdutiful?" she asked curiously. Although there was a lot about being a healer she did not like, she wouldn't miss a chance to gain knowledge on herbs from one. It was almost magicall how they used nature to cure even the most un-thinkable maladies a wolf could get. Nature was just so compelling.

Arabella introduced herself and explained that she was following a group of wolves heading east. He nodded at that and let it be. He didn't want to stand in the way of what she was doing as much as he may like new members of his pack. He made a mental note to go scouting later. Maybe he should have taken outrider as a trade.

She asked if FitzDutiful was a healer and he shook his head in reply. "No, no." A gentle stroke of laughter covered his words. "I'd be rubbish at healing. I can handle emergencies but I've no liking for the job. I'm a naturalist and I study plants and natural formations mainly. Things like being able to tell which caves are safe to traverse, which mountains are safe to live on, which plants are safe to eat. A whole bunch of safety!"

"Then we're the same, you and I!" the girl exclaimed, "I would be a terrible healer to be honest." she admitted. Bella knew that her knowledge on plants could be of use if an emergency arose, but she wouldn't even think of making healing her primary job. Things would die if she did.

Fitzdutiful explained that instead of being a Healer he identified as a Naturalist, which to Arabella sounded quite interesting. Studying nature was basically what she did, and for what she understood from Fitz's explanation, Naturalism had a wide field of application. Maybe that was something Bella could take a swing at.

"That's odd... I've never heard of a Naturalist. I suppose there are other things besides safety that Naturalists take care of?" she asked, curiosity and intrigue flooding her inquisitive blue eyes.

Arabella exclaimed that they were the same for she also hated the guts and gore aspect of healing. It appeared as though she didn't know what a naturalist was for she questioned whether they did things other than healing. FitzDutiful nodded, he didn't for safety was his main priority, but he knew of wolves that did other things with their naturalist trade.

"Some watch the skies, and identify omens - good times to breed or move or hunt for example. Others are more about the earth and they study the mountains and how the earth quakes sometimes. others deal only in herbs and study their affects. They don't heal but they know which ones help and which ones hurt and use it to protect their pack." He had done the latter once, and would do it again willingly. He watched the girl, wondering which of the ones he had specified would appeal to her.

Bella listened with careful attention at Fitzutiful's explanation on a Naturalist's job, and with every word spoken the sylph was even more excited then before. Taking all of it into account, it was safe for her to say that the female that had acted as her mother, Adara, was a naturalist by trade, and that Bella herself had been trained into it without even realizing it.

"So basically naturalists study nature? Should have guessed it..." the female said and giggled, "Stargazing is one of my favorite activities, and I've been keeping track of the moon patterns since I have memory! I am a naturalist!" she squeaked with joy. This was the moment she'd found what she was good for, what she could use to help others. All the time she had spent with her dear adoptive mother had now taken a completely different meaning for Bella's life. All the time they spent watching the stars, and all the flowers and plants she had learned to recognize by name could now be put to use.

Arabella stated the obvious cause of a naturalist and FitzDutiful laughed, that probably was the better way to explain it than the long winded approach that he had taken. Still, nothing seemed to be amiss for what she made the connection to her own past-times clear enough and seemed pleased to fit the criteria. Smiling, he gazed at her, wondering what her past was that she would study that so young.

"I'm glad for you, I've never been good at stargazing myself. I find plants and formations more interesting. I live on a mountain so knowing what's going on with it is my top priority." He wondered if she would decide to round out her knowledge or become a naturalist of a more specialised nature.

What Fitztdutiful brought up was an interesting addition to Bella's new perspective. Nature, as she saw it, included all things visible and not from the stones beneath her feet to the stars sparkling at night. Fitz focused more on what made up the things he stepped on -Earth, she'd call it- which was mysterious in it's own way.

"Oh, I'd like to know everything about all of nature. It's so inspiring..." she said, thinking loudly. A smile crossed her face. "Will you teach me what you know?" she asked shyly as she posed her haunched down in a seating position, tail curled around her paws and tip wagging excitedly.

Hope you don't mind finishing this up, need to close up some older threads to make way for newer ones - new one soon?

Arabella seemed inspired by nature and the things the FitzDutiful had spoke about. She asked him if he would teach her and he nodded before looking up at the sun to get a sense of the currently time. "I will," he said, a little hesitantly, "but do you mind if we do it another day? I have to get back to my pack, but pop down sometimes - we're at the mountain there - " he pointed his muzzle at Silvertip Mountain that was just visible on the horizon.

With that, he turned to go - staying only to see if she would or wouldn't come by one day. It was past time for him to get home, he had stayed for too long with the plants, distracted by something he had forgotten he loved. At least this meeting had shown him that he didn't really want to give up his naturalist trade.

sorry for being so slow, and thanks a lot for the thread
Please ignore any typos and weirdness in this post, I'm doing it on mobile

Bella awaited for FitzDutiful's answer with a broad smile, but he seemed to be a little hesotant about her question. As the male looked upwards, Bella's eyes followed, and she too realized that perhaps it would have to be saved for another day.

"Of course I will. Be safe on your way back home..." she said with a smile, and as Fitz parted, bella went back to the real world where she would once again have to find a not so cold place to spend the night.