Dawn Treader Valley i could be very happy with this

if this isn't okay lemme know <33

Petal invited @Dahlia to come along with her today, a rare initiative from the usually pensive girl.

She had admired her sister and how she had truly seemed to become perfect in the wake of the trio's life changes. She admired the dark furs and how their mother seemed to have put a golden necklace on that daughter.

A waterway blocked them from the paradise valley that bordered their own valley of gold.

Would you go over there with me to see the plants?

no this is perfect — i love that you referenced that post

although dahlia had initially dismissed her quietest sister as boring, she had come to realize that with a little patience, petal would easily prove her wrong. she had a sharp mind. it was this that dahlia respected the most.

so she took her time to sit in shared silence, let the flower bud and bloom. it gave dahlia plenty of time to think, too — though she tried her best not to.

it had been a month now without their mother.

would you go over there with me to see the plants?

the distraction was nice.

sisters are important, dahlia.

she did her best to keep her wincing to herself.

of course, she supplies easily, i'll keep you safe unspoken. summer made this border safe, the water about as treacherous as a rain puddle. do you recognize any of them? dahlia was as eager to learn as her sister — perhaps if they split their efforts, they could all make the most out of every subject.

Of course and she felt treasured. Protected and cherished in such a nonchalant answer. Petal was careful as they moved through summer-low water. Her eyes scanned here too in case something important stood out to her.

Not yet, She whispered softly but there was no disappointment in her voice. Only determination.

I want marigold. It's like... She looked to Dahlia and found herself a bit humored. Your eyes almost. Only a bit more orange, I think.

I could settle for cobwebs. No spiders, though.

not yet, she said. that was okay, because learning together was equally enticing. petal makes a comment about her eyes that brings a reluctant smile. she had caught but a glimpse of their peach-pink colour in her reflection, but it was her favorite attribute — aside from her golden tail, but these days, that only made her sad.

in their mother's absence and dusty's preoccupation with her illness, dahlia had found herself to be the rattlesnake-scarer, so she had no issue being the spider-snatcher too. i'll take care of them, she announced. no spider will stop us today.

the water felt good as they waded through, even though there wasn't much of it to be found where they were crossing. marigold sounds pretty, she mused. i can't believe anything grows out here. the afternoons had been hot while they still had to huddle together at night to stay warm.

what should i be looking for?

She appreciated it, hesitant to get involved in the wild life. Everything out here seemed as harsh as the weather and she had not yet learned how to tackle that. Even if it seemed like all of them needed to tackle everything each day.

Anything, everything. Especially flowers. Pretty but it seemed most things that bloomed might be medicinal. The marigold is a flower. There's comfrey too that's a round purple flower... It was not entirely lost on her. Petal and Dahlia looking for flowers.

Would you ever want to be a healer?

Her sister seemed so brave. Snake warden, spider defender. With Dusty busy, it was nice to have someone act like a guardian for her.

Dahlia embraced a little pain. She liked to suffer a little. everything she had done to become beautiful involved suffering; it reminded her of her efforts.

No, she said decisively. I like learning from you, though. Hopefully that softened any expectation that Petal might have had — although her sister seemed to conscientious to project anything onto Dahlia.

She didn't know how to describe what she wanted to do. She hadn't been taught the word diplomat. There was something about posturing and politicking that enticed her, though.

That, and she just liked to be the center of attention. Like that would ever change.

If that's what you want to do, I think you'll be a good one. Maybe Petal could become the greatest healer, and then one day she could even heal mom.

. . .

I think I see something. A gash of colour. Do you want to go check it out?

It was hard to be upset when her sister was still willing to bond with her over this. Admittedly she felt a touch flattered too at her sister thinking she could learn from her! Petal still had so much she needed to discover, to teach herself or learn from others.

She allowed herself this piece of flattery and the following praise, allowed it to carry her on light steps as they adventured.

Yes. She declared rather eagerly with a nod of her head. Prepared to follow her sister to the colors she had seen. Let me touch any plants.

If she was a teacher to her sister in these things, it would also be good to be the one exposed to who knew what.

Dahlia realized that she liked seeing Petal flourish, so long as she was the one doling out the attention. It confused her, and the thought carried her until Petal interrupted with another declaration.

Though this was no bed of wildflowers, the grass began to change as they approached. Aside from the color and vague smattering of shapes, they more or less would all look the same to Dahlia until she knew what to look for.

All yours, she said, staying behind Petal, though she was worried to let her traipse into the unknown. What if her sister ate something nasty and they lost her too?

She crouched into the grass. Nearly pressed against the earth so that she might look at every little thing up close. Some things she even lingered her nose over to sniff it.

None of these were what she had come here for, but she gathered up the small colorful things she could find. small, pale flowers that grew in a tangle low upon the ground — chickweed, not that she knew the name.

Yet as she had worked her way along the earth, low and slow, they moved forward. Up ahead there was a more colorful patch of flowers that seemed to creep up among the taller grasses. purple flowers that seemed to be long and narrow like a muzzle.

I want those. She decided suddenly and set out at once to begin gathering them, uncertain what exactly they were. Purple and flowering, surely they must be useful somehow.

To be honest ... this wasn't very interesting to Dahlia. She was more interested in watching Petal work, the careful way that she pondered and sniffed. Anything Petal sniffed, Dahlia sniffed afterwards, but none of it really seemed to catch her sister's interest until the small groups of chickweed.

dahlia didn't help her pick those, but when petal took sudden interest in a beautiful purple bloom that made her speak her desire aloud ... well, dahlia would help with those.

she plucked carefully until she accidentally uprooted one, which spurred the question — should we pull the whole thing? or just the flowers?

She was grateful for the help and her eyes widened with a curious kind of look at the uprooted flower. Were the roots useful? Or maybe...could it be replanted in the valley? If wolves could move and root themselves again and again, why couldn't a plant?

Keep that whole one. I have an idea for it. She nodded softly while her gaze shined with appreciation.

I'll collect some flowers too, just so we have everything before we go.

Had she become greedy and selfish in the absence of an active mother figure? Maybe it bloomed from the fear of being unprepared again.

Dahlia saw nothing selfish in this — only budding curiosity and the earnest desire that trailed in its wake. She does as she's asked, then finds a leaf broad enough to carry a good portion of what they'd picked. If only wolves could weave baskets — they were surrounded by reeds.

How should we carry them all back?

For all her thoughts of plants, flowers and the sudden interest she had taken to... she had missed the largest part.

How indeed. She had no fur to use as a sack of sorts and they could only carry so much between the two of them. What about a giant leaf? She looked around as if the answer might be sitting somewhere before them.

I can come back for whatever we can't take. She decided that might be the best way until she figured out how to carry more things. But that — The uprooted plant her perfected sister had managed to free. Needs to come with. She did not want to lose it to someone or something else.

She nods, saying, We can make the trips together.

She pawed a small amount onto the broadest leaf she could find. It was better than letting it all wilt in her mouth, anyway. She grabbed the uprooted plant and turned to her sister.

Ready?

willing to fade - happy to have another with you soon but i'm getting sleepy

that works perfect since im winding down myself! feel free to archive <3

Dahlia continued to rise in the soft gaze of Petal. She was uncertain how her sister did it, held everything together so tightly like ribbon around a package. It was nice to be held together by it, though.

Ready.

It would be nice to go home and sort these new finds. Rest, then rinse and repeat.