Silvertip Mountain The American Yew

The winter was settling quick and Zaria wasn't sure if she was liking the snows coming down. She was definitely more grumpy. She went lower and lower, spending her time more between the trees where the snow couldn't reach the grounds as well as it did higher on the mountain, or by the glass cave. Her petite body moved through the forest. She wanted to work more on her poisons, but her plants had dried out, and possibly also lost their effects. She would have to test that out on loners in the upcoming days. That would be a good and amusing day. Zaria hoped that her fur would thicken more with the cold becoming worse.

Then walking through the the forest she came upon a yew tree. As she smelled it gently, always cautious if a plant might be poisonous, something clicked. A tree with needles, taxes-something,  were often poisonous right? A hint of a grin turned on her muzzle. The trees with needles didn't shed. Possibly she did find a poisonous plant that lived through the winter. Her interest grew, this needed to be further explored...

For Trade Speciality; Toxicologist. Edit; @Krypton perhaps?

I'm here :D

With long strides covering the ground, Krypton made her way down the trail that covered the territory. She hadn't done anything very exciting or useful today, so she set out to check around. Maybe reach the borders, leave scents, anything that would help.

Reaching the flat ground from the descending trail, the burly female caught sight and scent of another wolf. With a long glance she tossed around, her eyes laid onto the petite wolf. It was only Zaria, the alpha female of her pack. She let out a breath of relief, feeling glad she would not have to brawl with anything today. Feeling that it was a duty to show respect, she padded over to Zaria, her steps almost becoming quieter.

She remembered how Zaria disliked her loud steps, she had been practicing how to walk a little lighter. Watching where who paws fell onto the snow, she made her way closer and noticed how Zaria's attention was focused on the tree she was next to. "Hello Alpha Zaria." She said lightly, bowing her head in the slightest as she kept walking. She sounded formal, but she was raised to show only the best respect to those above her.

Zaria turned when she heard the female approach. It was not that difficult to hear, yet, Zaria noticed that Krypton was at least a bit more quieter than before. It showed that she had been working on her loudness. Good. "Hello Krypton," Zaria greeted back. If one wolf liked being formal than it was Zaria. She liked to be acknowledged as the one with a higher rank. She was still pretty vain and was pretty smitten with her highest rank. She never would have guess that while joining. She would only leech for a month, but then Fitz was so nice to her. The slender female still had her cunning ways, especially with poisons. Her green eyes glanced at Krypton.

"Do you know anything about poisons?," she asked, her accent was clear. Zaria would probably never shed her Dorthran accent. Usually Zaria kept her speciality for poisons to herself, only Chaska knew. Now she thought about it, she hadn't probably even told Fitz. Wait, maybe she did when she had to explore that carcass. He even awarded her the trade so he knew. Still, other members didn't and it wasn't like she was keeping it a secret on purpose it was just that no one really asked. It would be excellent to know trees or plants that grew in winter and were poisonous. Maybe Krypton wanted to poison a loner with her. That would be a fun day activity.

As she walked closer towards Zaria after her formal greeting she looked at the tree that the alphess stood near. She had never seen a tree like that, but one thing was for sure: It was most likely toxic. Pine needles weren't edible, and if forced to eat them, one would most likely become sick or in serious cases; death would be the penalty.

Hearing how Zaria asked about her knowledge of poisons, the burly female shifted some weight from one to the other on her front paws. She had known about healing plants in Silvertip, but not deadly ones. When she was a loner (especially when food was scarce), it was critical to know which plants were safe to eat if necessary or not. Her knowledge mostly sprouted from her mother's teachings and observations from the wild fauna that ate the plants.
 
"I do have some knowledge about plants that are toxic." With that, the tawny female casted her eyes towards the tree again. The scent was rather off for her nose, it smelled quite strange. She made a quick note to never try to eat from this tree that Zaria took interest, or for that matter, any of the trees she spent time near. Although her knowledge would not be quite as strong as the Alpha's, it would at least provide some kind of assistance to her.

Zaria nodded slowly, letting the female think what she wanted. She was a rather mischievous little thing. The slender female stepped closer. "Oh tell me," she urged, wanting to know which ones she knew about. Hopefully there would be some new ones. Zaria then looked at the American Yew tree. She grabbed a branch with her teeth and started tugging and twisting her head. Within a few moments she had the branch between her teeth. Zaria cursed herself for forgetting her dear skin.

She placed the branch on the ground, until now the needles held on strong enough. She could hide them in a carcass later to test if it was poisonous. "Do you think this one is poisonous?," she asked krypton, wondering if her suspicion was right. Zaria needed more plants for the toxic stash. This could be very dangerous, but she kept it away from most wolves. It was wrapped in a deerskin which laid in an empty badger den. No critter would come close since each of those plants could also be dangerous to them.

Seeing how Zaria took in interest in Krypton's reply, the burly female felt a little worried. Something was running in Zaria's mind, something very alarming almost. She wouldn't test it on another pack wolf, would she? Krypton scolded herself for thinking that, an alpha would never turn on its own pack. Most likely she would want the plant for testing and maybe an advantage? Her eyes were on her alpha though when she grabbed a branch of it within her teeth, thankfully avoiding the needles, and setting it on the ground. She remained quiet until she was asked a question. Was the plant poisonous?


She examined the tree, finally is clicked in her head. It was a yew tree, she hadn't seen very many of them around Teekon Wild. This one seemed to be quite healthy and at its peak in age. She nodded her head towards Zaria, knowing very well poison was this female's main interest. "It is a poisonous plant. Very dangerous to any wolf who dares ingest it." She said, hopefully pleasing Zaria's ears that craved the knowledge. "Be careful Alpha Zaria, this tree can also cause bad side effects." She warned, remembering how Cloud accidentally tried to smell the tree and got terrible headaches for almost three weeks straight before their mother was able to heal him.

Zaria placed the branch at her feet. So her knowledge in smelling and locating poisonous plants grew. She also had to listen to her instinct and that was telling her to stay away. Zaria looked down at the branch she just broke off. Krypton seemed to have good information about this. Zaria was more than eager to learn. Her tail flickered, being a bit of a wag. "Good!," she let out when Krypton confirmed that it was in fact poisonous. Though, Zaria heeded the warning that it was poisonous.

"That is even more perfect!," she stated and looked at Krypton. "You know more about the effects of ingesting this plant?," she questioned. Zaria was a warrior at heart but sometimes poison was a better way to deal will conflicts outside the pack. The female did notice that the other looked rather worried. Maybe she should tell the female that she never would practice any toxic matter on a pack mate. She liked to test it on loners though, Krypton might as well been a target if Zaria hadn't been on a scouting mission.

"Zaria always careful, and Zaria never practices on pack mate, only bad wolves outside. Thieves!," she let out, she hated thieves. Maybe she would make a cache with poisons just at the border so she could see what kind of effects some plants have. Oh yes.

Seeing how Zaria was pleased with her answer, Krypton felt a little relief that her knowledge interested the alpha. It would make her the best of help if need be. Krypton heard Zaria ask about her knowledge about digesting the plant. Any wolf who would dare to eat from this plant would surely suffer. Krypton nodded her head, she could provide more info to Zaria if need be.

At first she was worried, but when Zaria confirmed that the poison would only be sued on thieves and other bad wolves, Krypton let out a breath of relief. Zaria wouldn't become a tyrant and use it on her own pack mates as black mail. Instead she would test and use it on those evil wolves. It made sense to her, sometimes combat wasn't a strong solltion. Besides, what's the point of spilling blood that's unneeded?

"That is good. When should we test it?" She asked, a little curious. Although she was never up to torment a loner, sometimes things had to be done for her pack. Besides, it would somewhat also test Krypton'd answer. Any wolf  would surely become dead from the toxins.

"It will be at its strongest when wilted." She said, hopefully giving the alphess helpful words.

Zaria's eyes gleamed a bit when Krypton spoke of testing it on someone. Zaria didn't mind at all to test it on someone to say the least. The slender female quirked up her lips. Maybe they could test it now? But for that they needed a kill to hide the meat in, and two wolves made more noise than one. Maybe Zaria would test it out later after all. Then the bigger female told Zaria that if the plant dried out that it would become even stronger. In her deerskin she had dried out plants. This was amazing! If they were even stronger now. Very valuable information, especially since they were easier to keep when dried out. Very curious.

"I test it later. Lots of loners wanting meat. I poison meat," she explained to Krypton. Then she would place it at their borders or maybe just outside of it. Hmm... yes. Very good. Then the thieves would come in and they would have to pay. That was a good tactic. It had worked a few times before. She tested it on a black female and a white male. That idea all came to her mind before a pack had left a poisonous carcass on their borders.

Sorry for the hold up, I'm trying to finish off the main threads so I can get Kryp in one place

Seeing how Zaria took an interest with Krypton's answers, the burly female felt satisfied she could be of assistance. When Zaria spoke about testing it later, that made Krypton relieved as well. She would hate to be the tester of it, but she wanted to see how severe the effects of the plants were.

However, she was still loud, and any lone wolf would surely hear Krypton if she dared to move close. Stupid body... When Zaria explained her plan about using meat as bait, the tawny woman couldn't help but feel curious about Zaria. She was very cunning, using her wits at best.

"Sounds like a plan indeed. Will you need assistance for it?" She asked, her large ears pricking forward. Zaria would most likely say know considering Krypton's loudness. But she could try at least.

Not to worry I wasn't active during the holidays! :) I was thinking we fade it after your post and make a new thread where they are going to test it?

Zaria looked over Krypton's big size. Her green eyes tuning to slits for a brief moment. She might could use some help. Oh yes. "Well you could help hunt something and maybe if I like you enough you can come along with the poisoning," she stated. Zaria was quite honest, sometimes she was even too honest. It wasn't like she disliked Krypton but Zaria usually worked alone. She realized that she could work together with Fitz so maybe she could also work together with Krypton. Who knows.

The girl did use the right way of talking to her so Zaria was at least proud about that. "Lets go," she spoke and trotted towards the borders, they would also pas a hunting ground, yet maybe if they caught two or three rabbits then they could have multiple tests. Zaria was really pleased with herself and her amazing ideas. Gosh she was so good.

Sounds good!

Krypton awaited Zaria's answer, her eyes not looking at hers but instead the background around her. She could never look a wolf in the eyes, no that would be dangerous, especially since it was an alpha. Zaria spoke about maybe needing help, then along the lines of if she liked Krypton enough. Sure, not every wolf would love to hear that, but it was progress. Krypton could understand why, she was a large wolf, anyone could spot her out in the open.

However, hunting smaller game was a simple task. No rabbit could outrun this woman, she would chase it down until it gave up. Hearing Zaria give the command of heading out, the tawny woman followed. She trotted quieter than normal and made sure to keep up with Zaria.