Riviere

Hawkeye hoped that her presence in the forest was both known and desired. She cared for her wolves, even if insolence was not accepted. Shouldn't it have been known that insubordination and mouthing off would not be accepted anyway? Would they feel as if she haunted the roads of the plateau?

The black beast padded through the snow slowly, at what would be known as barely a crawl. The light crunching of the white blanket could be heard faintly, and many tracks from her pack came through this area. A small smile touched her lips as she continued on.

could my girl use this for her final co rank thread for healer? if not we can just have a chat.

Blue Willow had been searching all day for herbs to replenish her stocks. She had exhausted the remaining supply she had brought with her trying to keep Ariston healthy and well. His sickness was finally gone from his lungs and she was so happy for that. It had her scared, as she had been ill prepared, being that it was still winter and she had not had a chance to gather more stock.

Blue Willow had not seen either of her leaders since the pack meeting and she assumed that they were trying to make babies somewhere and she hoped they would be successful. She had not had a chance to really talk to Hawkeye other than her initial acceptance into the pack. She would have liked to get to know the dark female better, especially if Peregrine wanted her help with babies in the hopefully near future. She wondered though if the alpha female would want the help. She did not know. She had managed to find a few herbs but nothing profound as of yet, she had at least been able to add some more vetch and butterfly weed to her stores.

Not for the last time did she wish there was a healer nearby with a good stock that her pack was on good terms with that she could borrow some herbs and maybe find the best places to gather them. She continued to sniff around the forest snow falling from the boughs to lay glistening on her dark fur.

ooc: sorry for the late reply!

Hawkeye did not hear the wolf, but she had definitely sensed her. She turned and spotted Blue Willow a ways behind her on her left flank. The Alphess flipped herself around and began walking in the direction of her subordinate.

When she arrived, Hawkeye greeted the opposing black female with a nod and a "hello, Blue Willow, how are you today?" The midnight wolf wondered if there were any others nearby since foot traffic was so high in the area, with scents of wolves mixing together and overlapping one another.

Blue Willow blinked stupidly for a second before she took a submissive position and licked under her alpa's chin. "Hello Hawkeye I did not realize anyone else was out today.I was searching for what herbs I could find after using most of what i brought with me on Ariston. Blue willow looked around again wondering if there was anyone else around. She hoped that she hadn't interrupted the two alphas trying to make puppies that would be awkward, but she did not see or smell Peregrine other than on the other's pelt.

Blue Willow shifted and spoke again, "I am well today. How are you? She hoped her alphess was doing well and that she was getting along with the weather and the stressers of being a new leader and hoping to start a family.

Hawkeye chuckled to herself. Even with short sentences this wolf talked a lot. "At least you are doing something productive; I am just walking around and thinking. I am doing pretty well myself." She paused a moment to look around and take in the surroundings. The white blanket was dull today, and a light rain was just beginning to drip from the sky and pittering upon the tops of the trees while soft thuds sounded when hitting the ground.

As thunder was heard in the distance, Hawkeye looked back to Blue Willow. "Do you — uhm, happen to know anything that will help with pregnancy? I'd like for my pups to be as healthy as possible." The Alpha felt a bit awkward talking about motherhood and children, but she figured that Blue Willow wouldn't mind and that she could help with anything necessary for conceiving and carrying.

Blue Willow offered a small smile at her alpha's words. "I am trying to be productive, earn and keep my place as well as help those who will by extension become family. She licked at a rain drop that slid down her nose and had to smile again, spring was coming and it made her happy as could be. She would be able to find more herbs soon and it filled with with an ecstatic feeling.

Blue Willow blinked once and then said "I have knowledge to keep them healthy and you, but not conceiving if you have not as of yet. She did not mind answering that question for her alpha as a matter of fact it made her smile. She could tell that Hawkeye was a bit nervous about it and she wanted to soothe the other as best she could. "I can tell you what I have told Peregrine and also a few other herbs that I can think of, I should be able to find most of them soon as well as spring comes. Let me think.

The female sat and thought hard about what she could tell her other alpha, she did not wish to upset Peregrine, by telling the other about the blue vervain, but at the sametime she felt that it should be hawkeye's choice about whether or not she would use it. "Well Hawkeye first thing is first, what kind of plants are you looking for ones to ease pain from the growing babies? one to help you produce more milk? one to keep your babies healthy? one to keep yourself healthy? or all of the above? Blue willow's answer would depend entirely on what the other wanted to know, she could give her a huge list of herbs, or she could pick and choose a few of the best ones for what the alphess really wanted.

Blue Willow tossed many questions at Hawkeye, and she shook her head out in a "no" to most of the things she asked. "I only want the pups to be as healthy as possible." She didn't care about the pain or keeping herself healthy.

"Wait, Peregrine asked you about herbs to give me?" Hawkeye thought out loud. A small smile touched her lips. Her mate had been thinking of her even when they were apart. Hawkeye had always thought that he just did his own thing when they were away from each other, and her heart squeezed with the thought of him with her on his mind.

Blue Willow blinked for a moment at her alpa's answer. Then with a slight lick of her jaw as she went to her thinking place. If you looked closely it was almost as if you could see the knowledge passing through her mind through her eyes. She had always been a quick study of all things plant and her memory recall was near perfect. "Well then let's see, There is the Great Blue Lobelia that can be eaten by a pregnant wolf in small doses to make sure that the pups do not have any growths or tumors. I know you want just for the pups but a good herb for you to take might be Prairie Dock as it helps relieve nausea and vomiting while pregnant and excessive bleeding after the pups are born of course. Ironweed will also help to strengthen your uterine walls so it may not hurt as bad when it is time to give birth. Rose hip will boost the immune system if you want to take that and it will pass into your milk for the pups so their immune systems are healthy. And finally also for you would be Western sword fern will help to quicken birth. Blue Willow knew that her alpha had only wanted some information about good plants for the pups, but most of the herbs that you found were for sickness and poor health, however if the mother took some herbs such as the Rose Hip and she then fed her pups the herbs could pass through for the pups. She hoped she helped a little bit.

Blue Willow returned her alphesses smile and nodded "yes he did ask about you he was very concerned for you. I spoke to him about a few different herbs and some of the same."

Hawkeye listened silently as Blue Willow named and then described what could help. "Do any of those interact? I suppose I should take all of them..." Hawkeye was familiar with the use of herbs, but mostly to ward of evil spirits. The herbalists of her pack hung them around and lay them near the beds of pups and wolves while they slept. Births in her family were all natural, though. Hawkeye was always willing to try new things, and Blue Willow seemed to know what she was talking about.

A simple nod came from her when Blue Willow mentioned that Peregrine had seemed concerned about her. He acted tough, but her mate was a gooey worrier.

Blue Willow tilted her head when her alpha spoke about taking the herbs and reacting. "I try to never give more than 1 or 2 herbs to a wolf at a time, simply because they work better that way. And some of these you cannot take in excess anyway, well truthfully you should not take any herb in excess you can get addicted to some, some can kill you in large doses, you have to be careful. Not that any of these would, but just as a general rule with all herbs i follow this. Blue Willow had seen packs that did the whole using herbs to ward of spirits, but her and her family had never done that nor did they buy into that lore. Herbs could heal or hurt you yes, but they could not ward of evil spirits at least she didn't think that, and she would never tell anyone that for fear of offending.


"Are you feeling alright Hawkeye? Getting enough sleep and food? These two things are very important when you are due to have pups. She studied her alpha she did not seem to be drawn or weary so she was probably getting the correct nutrients and sleep.

Hawkeye nodded once more. "I think sometimes that I oversleep. And Peregrine keeps shoving food in front of my face. That's probably why I'm getting fat, not babies." She snorted, suddenly thinking (but not entirely seriously) that maybe it could just be her getting fatter.The Alpha was lazing around a lot lately, where she usually patrolled the borders all day long.

A smidgeon of worry overcame her with the idea of herbs being addicting or causing harm. "So, there's a potential that they could harm the pups? The herbs and plants, I mean. I'm not so sure I should try them then..." The black female shifted, slightly uncomfortable.

Blue Willow chuckled and said quietly "based on how your tummy looks Hawkeye I can most definitely say that you are expecting pups not getting fat. And it may seem like you are oversleeping to yourself, but truthfully you need that extra sleep for the babies so do not feel bad that you are doing so. There are some mothers that seem to sleep the whole time. Your body needs that time to heal you and to help the pups form better. And it is good that Peregrine is giving you food,you are eating for more than one.

Blue Willow saw the tinge of worry on her Alpha's face and felt a little bad for putting it there, but at the same time, she was not going to lie. Herbs really could hurt you, it was a known fact by many healers. There was a fine line between healing and hurting when it came to herbs and you had to be careful.

Blue Willow frowned as she thought and spoke " Great Blue Lobelia if eaten in excess can just make your tummy hurt and nauseous, but if it's not a lot it is fine. Prairie Dock will not harm you at all, as a matter of fact it is very good for you. It can even attract prey. Ironweed will not harm you either. Rose hip and Western Sword Fern will not harm you either. As a matter of fact they are extremely edible and the fern can even keep our caches fresh and the food good longer. She hoped that she eased her alpha's fears with what she knew, she would never give a pregnant wolf anything that would harm them. She tried her best to not even use some of the herbs to heal others when they were just sick or injured. She was very careful with her healing.

Hawkeye chuckled when Blue Willow mentioned that it was definitely pups she was carrying and not a fat belly. She had understood that she needed the rest, but that didn't make her feel any less restless; her job was to patrol the borders, not sleep all day. Sleeping a lot was not something she would soon be used to.

"Thank you, Blue Willow. I am trusting you with medical treatment and the fact that the pups will be okay." Her worry was still there, but she realized that she had to trust the she-wolf before her.

Blue Willow smiled at her alpha's chuckle. She could definately feel for her alpha and the restlessness she felt. Blue Willow had never gone through it of course, but she did feel sympathy and empathy for her alpha.

Blue Willow nodded her head, "I thank you for trusting me Hawkeye. It truly means a lot. I will do my best and I promise I will not do anything or give you anything without talking to you about it at first. And If you are uncomfortable with anything Please I hope you will let me know and I will do my best to remedy it.

Hawkeye nodded to the female, and gave a small smile at Blue Willow's words of comfort. "I know you will do your best," she reassured the black female.

Then, she sighed and looked around. "Well, I better find my crackhead mate..." Her eyes shifted to Blue Willow's and she stifled a laugh. "Anyway, I should probably look for him. I have emotional needs, you know." A wink came from the Alpha.

Blue Willow chuckled at her alpha's wink and winked back just as easily. "Good luck finding him Hawkeye." She smiled again and with a small dip of her head she began to walk away, on her excursion through the plateau. She was feeling like some hunting.