Bramblepoint It comes in waves, the letting go

Today she searched for the other garden. After her conversation with Towhee, she'd settled on the same method she'd used here, and there were plenty of thorns in the southern part of the ravine for her to use. She'd gathered a few (and had the scratches to show for it) but would worry about the rest when she'd relocated them. Who knew if anything was even left?

This one was harder to find. She'd spent less time in it, for the first part, and it was smaller and well concealed. The bramblepoint was full of brush and tangled undergrowth in places, and finding the right batch of thorns was proving to be more difficult than she thought.

Shit. Fennec pulled her nose out and winced, rubbing the sting against her foreleg. Alright, maybe literal poking around wasn't the method here. But where the hell was it?

Rodyn was on a hunting trip. Determined to make sure that his pack survived without him. They had before and they would continue to thrive until he returned, but he couldn't help the nagging feeling that he was abandoning them, even if it was at leave of his leader, that she had requested this. So he could make his own future, make their pack stronger, prove his worth.

A noise, and a expletive curled around from his right and he turned to lope in that direction. He stopped a way away, so as to not startle whomever was there, and he chuffed.

Hi, uh, is everything okay? He asked kindly, mannerly. Tail tucked tight against his rear, ears flat to his head. There were thorns here, and they would dig and tear at his pelt and tail if he were not careful. He was not fond of prickers as it were anyway.

I'm fine. Her response was immediate. She'd heard him coming, so luckily wasn't startled, but she was beginning to get a tidge frustrated trying to find the thing. Just... trying to find something. Apparently I hid it pretty well.

The other woman had helped, back then. Was it further towards the Caldera? She'd always kind of used Quick's den as a reference point, but that seemed to be gone, along with any trace of her badger friend. She didn't think about why.

It's a certain bunch of brambles. It's hiding a garden, sort of. Unless the brambles got moved. Shit.... she hoped not.

Rodyn studied the brambles and the prickers, and frowned. Why would she have hidden something in there. It looked annoying and painful to say the least. Though he also didn't understand at first why she didn't walk around them.

Rodyn finally got it. Oh so it's one of those ones that seems overgrown, but isn't it's hiding a pathway. A garden for herbs and healings? You're a healer? or a naturalist?

He smiled and spoke. I apologize by the way. I'm Rodyn Ardeth of Village Moonglow.

He bent his nose down to the ground. What sorts of plants do you have in it? Maybe we can sniff it out?

Wrong on every single count. Impressive. Fennec couldn't help smiling though, if only a small one. The assumptions were natural. Fennec herself was just hardly one to fit expectations.

It was a barrier. The plants are poisonous. I grow both, but I'm no healer. Not anymore. She wasn't honestly sure what she was... witch still wasn't something she was ready to reclaim and any other title just felt incomplete. Hag. That one reminded her, fondly, of her old mentor. Maybe that was the one for now.

So if you do find it, I'd keep your distance from the actual herbs. I don't know what all is left in it. Well, if they didn't find it, he could at least maybe spread the word. Could be that everything was dead and there was nothing left to find.

I'm Fennec. She didn't bother to say where from. She wasn't sure she wanted him knowing, or anyone from that pack showing up in Mereo later. Better to leave things simple.

Rodyn gave a dry chuckle. It's certainly impressively bad.

Though he counted it a win she smiled as she did.

Ro blinked and froze for a moment. So more a naturalist who can heal, but also possibly make your enemies cry. Good to know. He joked in return, though he continued further slower.

Well met miss fennec.

Hard to cry when you're dead. I mean it when I say be careful, if you find it. Fennec replied, still with the ghost of a smirk lingering. It was at least a little refreshing that he had a sense of humor.

I used to read fortunes, for a price. Unfortunately the pack I'm in now isn't the type to appreciate that kind of thing. It was a bold claim on something she didn't know for sure, but she could infer it so easily that she didn't need it verified. No way the soldiers of Mereo would put their fates in the hands of a witch. They thought enough like she did to know better.

Moonglow is different. She knew he would take the invitation to confirm it but she already knew that. Kukutux bought into that sort of superstition wholesale.

Rodyn chuckled. If i die finding your poisons Miss. Fennec, I'm coming back to haunt you. He continued forward though slowly and with a more careful air.

Rodyn lifted his head and turned it to sideways glance at her. You are a seer? Or a witch? Truthfully he didn't have much knowledge of such things, though he found it fascinating and a little frightening. And he made sure in the back of his mind not to cross her then.

Rodyn nodded as he turned back around. Yes they are. Moonwoman convenes with spirits and will take readings form seers. Truth be told you'd probably get along. She is also a healer and a naturalist I believe.

A sweet cloying scent came to him traced with bitter edge. He backpedaled. I'm not sure what this plant is, but is it one of yours?

He shifted so she could move closer to him and the plant.

She let out a breathy laugh, but it had an undertone to it. Get in line. She had no desire to elaborate on that, but she had enough ghosts to keep her busy for a while. The most unfair bit of it was that most of them weren't even dead. Honestly? She'd welcome the change.

Neither, anymore. That response was flatly delivered. Then she relented, realizing she'd kind of led him to this. I just grow things now. She'd given a couple of fortunes but for entertainment only, as a way to connect with her younger siblings and distract herself from the way they'd made her feel.

She knew she had. She should have taken the opportunity, maybe attempted to build an old bridge, but she let it pass silently. She definitely wasn't ready to go back to those mountains, or answer questions about wolves they'd both known.

Fennec sniffed at the plant instead and grimaced slightly. It is. Here, let me. She began to carefully nose about the area, but from what she could tell, it was the only one left. This had to be where her garden had been, but when the thorns had been scattered, the plants had been left in the open. They were dead or torn up by now. Seems like the only one left. But it's better than nothing. She began to dig beneath the roots, carefully, preparing to pull it up and transport it home.

Rodyn chuckled with her. That doesn't sound good, seems i have a right to fear your knowledge of the plants then. He teased. Rodyn knew of hauntings from the living. Mostly his father's brunt of expectations.

Well i'm sorry to hear that. And if you ever Take it up again, i'd be glad to hear about it. Maybe not take you up on a reading, but I'll listen. He tilted his head, trying to wonder about what he knew of it. And what it could possibly mean.

Rodyn studied her as she moved forward. Do you want a rabbit skin or a leaf or something to carry it with? He was concerned that it would possibly cause her death. He was sure she knew what she was doing, but even the best could sometimes make a mistake.

You don't want to know your future? Who you'll love, or how you might die? Fennec asked, mostly facetiously. There was a grain of curiosity there. She didn't know that she had ever met anyone who had flat out refused a reading and she wondered if he would be her first.

If she was offering, that is.

I have one. Fennec tapped the tattered, well-used hide she'd set aside, then grabbed it in her teeth and spread it next to the plant. She'd gather some soil along with it to increase the chances that it would survive the transplanting. The pelt had clearly seen better days, but it had proven invaluable in carting plants back and forth.

Rodyn frowned. No I don't think so. Because that would be too easy right? Or perhaps to hard depending on my way of thinking. Because you figure.

He stopped speaking to think through what he wanted to say and then continued. Say you tell me something I Don't like right? Perhaps when i'm gonna die right? Well then I may worry so much about it, I forget to live, or maybe iworry so much about it and I Try and stop it from happening and rush it in someway.

A soft sigh left his lips. And love, well that feels like something you gotta figure out on your own, most everything you should, because then how will you get the lessons you need to be a better wolf, than another if you know what the outcome will be.

He nodded. Naw I'm fine with the unknowing, but i know many that would want to know. I'm just not one.

Rodyn shifted and moved closer to watch her work, and also to offer. DO you need me to help you dig? Or anything? Or you got it?

You can help pile some dirt with it, if you want. The dirt here is a little softer than what I have back home. Fennec flexed her paws in it, feeling the loamy dampness that cooled her paws. The spot she'd picked had trees, at least, but the foliage must not be nearly as dense as the canopy here. There didn't seem to be near as much leaf litter to work with.

The secret is treating any fortunes you don't like as bullshit. Just because some stranger tells you it's fate doesn't make them right. Fennec twitched her tail and sat down, letting him take over the digging for a moment. She probably shouldn't be decrying her own 'trade' but she didn't think what she said conflicted with it. Just because you treated it like a lie didn't make it one.

Her mind went to a tree, rotted to the center, then cut uncomfortably away. Sometimes fortune tellers fucked up a reading.

Besides, it isn't that exact. I don't tell you what to do, I just answer your questions. There's nothing wrong with needing help and taking advice from where you can get it. At least the universe is unbiased. Without even thinking, she began to try and peg him down. Realist, helpful, maybe a bit pessimistic since he assumed a bad fortune. Or at least cautious. She was willing to bet he took his word seriously, and the pack scent he wore was one he was pretty happily settled in.

She could do a lot with that. But she also got the sense he wasn't the type to dwell on questions.

Rodyn followed her directions. Making sure to add extra dirt to her small pouch. Hoping he did it right. He tilted one ear towards her to better here as she spoke. A voice of whispered secrets here.

He chuckled. I like that thought.

Questions? He frowned in thought. Well that right there could be bull shit could it not? I ask questions and there are many different answers to some of the same questions. Everyone needs help now and again, this is true.

Rodyn gave a grim nod. Then realized she probably couldn't see and spoke instead. The universe takes and gives away without bias. That's True Enough. I see it often enough with hunting. One day I may catch every game I set out for, another day I may catch nothing. There is no rhyme or reason. I could certainly make up excuses, scream to the hill tops woe is me, but that doesn't fill my belly again. And I still have no answers as to why it happened.

Hunting. Fennec inwardly did the equivalent of a sideye at the simplified example. Sure, hunting was random chance and complaining about rotten luck wouldn't help. But there were way more complicated questions than that, and sometimes screaming at the world was all you could do to get through it. Fennec did a lot of that.

Sometimes there are answers. Not everything is as straightforward as a hunt, she replied, but she dismissed the idea of convincing him. If his world was that simple then good for him - hopefully he could keep it that way. The more complicated your life got the more it sucked in her experience.

I should get back. But thanks for the help. The thank you was something, if delivered a little noncommittally. Whatever dirt he'd managed to pile in would be fine.

Perhaps hunting was not the right analogy to use. Though Rodyn didn't understand why. Granted for most it was not like it was for him. For him hunting was no simple thing. There was a flare to it. It's own life force. It was his worship of the world.

He honed his body to be a perfect hunter. There was a practice to his precision. The earth between and beneath his paws, the way he breathed. The sounds and smells and sights of the creatures in front of him. Sometimes the days of tracking, just to get that one deer or elk or goat.

Rodyn knew there was complicated questions to ask of the world. However, he also knew he didn't really want the answers. There was a drive in him to find it all out for himself. It seemed to him that it meant more that way, but it would be a lie if he didn't admit, he was at least curious.


He smiled. She could hear it in her voice, but he was not trying to be rude or condescending. Instead he spoke to how he felt about it.

To me hunting is not straightforward. It is how i provide for my family, how i show case my talents. How I get the furs I need to trade with other packs as provided. How I pay a bride price as a man of Moonglow.

He didn't see the wrongness of sharing that there was a bride price. He hadn't had one yet, but he knew that it was required of males who wished to marry any woman in Moonglow.

There was just a small amount of dirt he put in. Very well. It was nice to meet you Miss. Fennec and I hope to do so again.

Fennec didn't respond to his words. She had no comparison for hunting, but she still disagreed. Hunting had two outcomes - success and failure. Too many things in her life seemed to have highs and lows of both, and right now, her failures were piled high. She didn't feel like arguing.

And she especially didn't want to know what a bride price was. Even the mention to marriage sent a shot of bitterness through her. The price is regret. That's all you'll get.

Sure. Maybe, was all she responded with. Then, with a lazy flick of her tail, she departed back towards the canyon with the last of her garden in tow.