Ouroboros Spine xvii. like we're lovers

AW, botanist #5

As father sky lightened with the day, soft and grey as a dove's feather, Aiwë slipped from the warm confines of her dwelling -- stirred by the light that brought the dark corners of her dim den into sharper relief, heather-blue as dawn lengthened into morning. The sun remained hidden as the green-paw loped slowly through the pines, winding through the trunks towards her hidden garden plot. She wanted to check on the plants she had growing there currently, as she was considering adding a few new ones to the small grove, before taking a break from all the herbology and botany to go hunting for painting supplies. 

The doe slowed as she broke through a bend in the trees, dipping beneath a low branch as she trotted into the garden -- noting that she needed to dig out some budding grass growth along the edges again soon. A faint smile tugged the corners of her lips skyward, tail wagging as she approached -- until she drew close enough to really see her once-thriving marigolds. It was then that smile disappeared, peridots widening as she gasped in shock. 

A handful of fat caterpillars had claimed the leaves of her citrine blossoms, the leaves riddled with holes not unlike swiss cheese where the hungry insects had gorged themselves on the botanist's hard work.

"Oh...you!" she sputtered at the bugs with an angry whip of her fawn tail, faltering in her attempts of cursing the caterpillars even as she stomped a step closer to them and squinted down at the offensive pests menacingly. 

The past turn of the moon had been introspective for Sialuk. She had thought long about her impending trip to the Redhawks, and with her mother's recent visit to Yuelong, Sialuk knew it would come soon. Anaa's injury was in the final stages of healing, and the trek to the Redhawks would be the biggest Sialuk had ever taken away from her mother. It was one she wished to take, and there was only one wolf among Moonglow whose company she thought to enjoy along the way.

Sialuk found the pale bird tending to a plant, cursing it with the tone of her voice. At first, the raindrop wondered if she should pull away and leave Lótë to her cursing, but she thought better of it and approached with caution, her tail swaying as she tried to observe how the plant had wronged the Moonglow follower.

The birdwatcher, so enraptured by glowering at the caterpillars, startled slightly when she caught the pale movements of the Star in her peripherals. Wide peridots full of surprise met Sialuk's sunbeam eyes, fallow ears splaying in her chagrin as she smiled in embarrassment at having been caught. "Greetings to you, Sialuk," the herdstalker demurred softly, tail wagging in return as her annoyance was dispelled by the other woman's presence.

"Apologies, I was just a little upset to see these bugs," she stressed the word with a hint of disgust, "eating my plants."

Lote, she spoke, the girl's name falling from her mouth with ease. Sialuk had always felt a kinship with her, for reasons she could not explain. Perhaps because Lote had come to them when Moonglow had needed it most. Whatever the case, she smiled at the apology, shaking her head.

No need to apologize, she said. Are there ways of ridding the plants of the bugs? she asked. There were other questions she had, particularly about asking Lote to come with her, but those could wait. It seemed uncouth to change subjects when they had only just greeted one another.

"They can be plucked off and moved somewhere else but you have to keep a close eye on the plants in case more come back," Aiwë answered. "I find that planting peppermint and garlic within one's garden usually helps repel many insects -- they don't seem to favor the strong odors," the herbalist tacked on, squinting down at the bugs as she moved to brush them from the leaves with her muzzle. 

"And making the environment more habitable to birds can also help," she added as an afterthought, glancing up at the Beta momentarily. She straightened once she'd finished pawing the wriggling insects into a pile -- planning to find a leaf to wrap them in and transport them to a new home far from her garden plot. "If one scatters some grains or seeds nearby, the birds might come and eat the caterpillars but they may also try to eat the seeds of your plants which is the opposite of what you want."

The raindrop readily soaked in the information that Lote provided freely. There was much and more to be learned about plants and the pests that attempted to eat them. Sialuk had always foraged what she needed rather than try to grow anything in any controlled fashion. Let the earth give her gifts at her discretion rather than attempt to curate something artificial.

Nevertheless, she was not about to tell Lote she was doing anything wrong. Each wolf had traditions passed down from one to another. Just because Sialuk had not been taught these things did not mean that they were wrong.

Thank you for sharing, she said, a smile pulling at her lips. But pests are not why I come to you today. Soon, I would like to make a visit to Redhawk and make greetings with them. It will be a quick trip, but I would like you to come with me.

It hadn't occured to her that Sialuk might be searching for her for any particular reason -- let alone for official pack business. Aiwëndil had been a girl of little status and she had grown into a woman of similar social standing. Even now that she was Lótë, this was as high as she had ever risen -- Epsilon of her tribe, intended woman to the village's sivullik. She was not used to being sought out for matters of importance and had simply assumed that the Star had come across her by chance and stopped to chat.

The herd-stalker blinked in surprise but soon composed herself. "I would be honored to accompany you," the two-year answered, dipping her head respectfully. Thinking then of @Adrastus and their upcoming plans, she asked: "When did you plan on going to Redhawk?" A silent thought spared to wonder where and what this 'Redhawk' was but she figured it had something to do with the allies she'd heard of in passing -- having forgotten about the woman they called Meerkat from the early days of Moonglow.

When the time is right, Sialuk replied. She knew it to be a vague answer, but she could not know exactly when it would be. Perhaps when the days begin to grow shorter again. By then, it would be cooler and more comfortable for traveling. I wish to extend a greeting to them, let them know we are brothers and sisters to them, just as you are a sister to me.

The raindrop did not have a blood sister, but she considered several of Moonglow's residents as equals to her late brataa. Not all family was given; some must be crafted from beyond birth.

Lótë simply nodded, accepting the loosely framed answer as it was. The fall perhaps, she surmised from Sialuk's words. Her mind wandered to the possibility of motherhood and whether she would be able to tear herself away from her -- their, she thought of Adrastus with a small trilling of her heart --  pups. Yet, the spring was nearly gone and soon the whelping season would be upon them. The cloudberry often feared that the summer would come and pass without any sign of her first fever, that she needn't worry about worrying whether she would be able to travel at all. 

"I will be glad to meet them and extend them our kinship," she told the Beta with a small wag of her tail, putting aside her fretting for a moment to think of the wolves she might meet. "Just as I am glad to have found a home and family here. I did not imagine when we met...it is more than I ever hoped for," the shy two-year struggled to piece together words that could properly express her gratitude and love that would not sound mushy but it came out a bit corny regardless. 

The corners of her mouth turned upward in a pleasant smile. Lote had been such a good addition to their ranks. Sialuk could not think of a more fitting wolf to go with her, so she was pleased that the sister had accepted her offer.

We will have much time to discuss before we go. I will leave you to your plant tending unless you may use my help? she asked, wondering if there was anything she could do to aid her packmate in her quest to rid the plants of insects.

"I would not turn away your help," the doe demurred before adding, "but I know you must have other things that require your attention, I wouldn't want to put you out." With a light chuckle, she joked: "Plus, most wolves aren't too keen on getting rid of pests." She hadn't met many wolves at all, aside from @Keyni (reference), who liked toiling in the dirt -- let alone plucking off all the bugs that plagued the plants in the garden. If it wasn't something Sialuk wanted to do, then Lótë didn't want her to feel obligated to help. She was certain she could manage the task on her own if the Beta had more important tasks to see to.

"I'll probably start with removing the caterpillars and taking them somewhere else in the Spine away from my garden," she mused, half informing the Star and half thinking aloud, as she glanced around at the budding plants in speculation.

Lote seemed to believe that the work was beneath Sialuk, but the raindrop thought no such thing. On the contrary, learning what her sisters and brothers did was part of her duty as a leader and as a member of Moonglow. Even if she did not wish to make it a part of her every day routine, Sialuk thought it important to know how to care for plants in the way that Lote knew.

To remove small bugs from small plants sounded like a difficult task, but Sialuk surmised her moon sister would show her the way. The girl blinked, then spoke. How do you remove them? she asked.

Aiwë blinked in return, never having taught before. She glanced down at the bugs, feeling inexplicably awkward for reasons she couldn't quite explain. Shaking it off, the dove leaned closer and gestured towards the fat caterpillars with a tiny jerk of her muzzle. "Some wolves just pick them up in their jaws but personally, I don't favor feeling them squirm around in my mouth," Of course, the two-year had eaten bugs before when the need called for it but she wasn't overtly fond of insects or their flavors. 

"I usually just..." She bumped the plant's stem gently, careful not to hurt the plant while still shaking it enough to loosen most of the caterpillars and send them tumbling down to the dirt. "Give them a little shake," she finished with a light laugh as the wriggling worm-like bugs rained down.

Sialuk was not above eating bugs, but she did not know if these ones in particular were edible. Will the bugs make your stomach ache? she asked. Perhaps, if they were easily digestible, they could provide sustenance as well. She took note of Lote's actions, watching as the wriggling worms fell to the ground in a shower. Here, Sialuk knew they would die without their food, just as wolves would without these medicines.

Give and take was the way of their world.

The greenpaw cocked her head as she examined the bugs a little more closely, bending to peer at the pile of them squirming upon the ground. “I don’t believe these particular caterpillars are toxic but it’s always best to err on the side of caution,” she murmured with a vague tone of warning. “Most bugs have a strong taste but those that are especially bitter or make one feel sick tend to be poisonous.”

She finished plucking the last of the vermin off her plants before trotting over to the tree line and snagging a broad leaf off of the ground, scanning the forest floor for a moment until she found the right kind for the task. After returning to the Beta’s side, Lótë gently nudged the caterpillars onto the leaf and wrapped them up in the bit of foliage. 

“There,” she stated neatly when she had finished, “now they’re ready to be moved onto other plants away from the garden.”

Lote explained about the caterpillars, and Sialuk listened with rapt attention. It was good information to know, even if bugs were not a regular part of her diet. Spit out those that were bitter or unkind to her stomach.

She watched as Lote worked the bugs off of the good plants and onto a large leaf. She did not kill them, but rather relocate them. It was a clever trick, and Sialuk wondered if anaa knew of such things. Being the wisewoman she was, she likely did, but it was new to learn from somebody who was not Kukutux.

you get Lótë’s 200th! :D we can wrap with your post if you’d like?

Perhaps another might’ve just squashed the bugs but Lótë understood on some level the delicate balance of ecosystems —  even if she didn’t completely know the total effect every being had on the forest — and had long been drawn to their preservation. It was not such an important task as hunting or healing or guiding but she was content knowing that her efforts would protect their territory’s health and inhabitants — preventing such issues as overhunting or the depletion of resources. It was a vital issue even if deemed of less significance. 

”Shall we find them a new home?” she asked, wondering if the Beta wished to accompany her or would be heading off to fulfill another task. She gathered up the bundled caterpillars and trotted off, with Sialuk at her side — given that the Star had followed and two hadn’t already exchanged goodbyes before parting ways separately. 

<3

If there were other plans on her mind before, Sialuk set them aside to spend time with Lote. She was a sister of Moonglow, and Sialuk found that she pulled great comfort from sisters. A new home for the small creatures that took life away from plants. But there were so many plants on this earth to eat!

The raindrop grabbed a leaf full of insects and followed, happy to spend her afternoon this way.