Moonspear Herbal Tea

He had put it off long enough. It was now or never. He planned to venture through most of the territory, picking out herbs he remembered from his times sorting through the cache. Names, he did not know. But for now, they just needed to restock. Names and uses would be learnt another time.

But before he started, Judas sent out a howl for @Pyx, knowing her expertise. He would wait for some time, then go. With or without her. Though he wished it was with. Going around alone to find all these herbs would be hard enough.

She'd been on a walk to the cache, intent on sorting out the mess that lay within when Judas' call reached her. She was interested in what he needed and instantly decided the sorting could wait. Perhaps he needed help? Or wished to teach her of poisons? Or maybe he simply wanted company? She was fine with any combination or singular of those three. She held her head high as she went, happy and interested. She'd found that she liked Judas from there few meetings. It may have been because she'd interacted with him the most, or it may have been because he seemed to know some about herbs too. Either way, she certainly didn't mind his company.

She'd failed to really pay his hybrid status any mind. While there had been no coywolves in her home pack, they'd never fueded with the coyotes near. They had interacted on peaceful terms when they encounter each other, a mutual respect had been shown. Far as she knew, there was no bias against coyotes or hybrids.

It didn't take her long to reach Judas and she greet him with a wagging tail and a smile. "What's up?" She asked, tilting her head in an interested fashion. Herbs, poisons, friendship? Perhaps all three.

Judas was glad to see her arrive. Even his tail wagged, which surprised him. His tail never usually wagged when someone he considered a friend came along. "I may need some help stockpiling herbs and anything else we might need in the cache. Seeing as you know your way around the herbal side of life, I thought you might help. Interested?" he asked, a friendly grin on his muzzle. He still had yet to perfect it, though, and a few times he had. This was not one of those times, and his grin looked more unsettling than usual.

She was pleased to see his tail wave when she arrived. It was a good sign that he didn't see this as a chore. He intended to try and restock the cache some tonight, excellent! It was definitely in need of it. She smiled and nodded her head. He wore a smile on his face, but there was something almost...troubling about it. It seemed an unfamiliar action. She returned a smile, and tried to simply ignore it.  "Absolutely! I'll try to teach a little as we go, be more helpful to have the actual plants when I tell you what they do." She chuckled then gestured before her. "You lead! Do you know of any good areas to gather anything here? Or will we just walk through and search by sight?" She was fine with either, as they seemed to need a little bit of everything.

"Maybe if we come across some poisons you'll teach me a little too?" She was hopeful and full of a playful and happy spirit. She remembered gathering herbs with her siblings, her pack's medic. The medic had always made it a kind of game, describing a certain flower or herb, getting them to identify it first, then stating how to harvest it. She hoped, perhaps, as they walked she might get to know Judas a little more too. So far they'd simply been "business" partners at every meeting, she wanted to know more about him and where he'd come from. Had he been a part of Charon's pack, or Amekaze's before they joined? Or had he joined like she had?

Judas had come to admire Pyx's skills, and felt the pack was lucky to have her. Or otherwise they might all end up poisoned by some mistake he made when he tried healing them. She asked how they would go about this search, and he answered as he started to walk forward. "I was thinking on looking out as we look. I don't know of any places, except for hte ones at the creekside Amekaze spoke of. What were they called?" he asked aloud, then started muttering names that he thought were it. "Feverlily? No. Liverfew? No, that's not it.

Whatever the name was, it was not coming to mind. She mentioned poisons, and that got his train of thought back on track. "Oh yes, poisons. I would be glad to." And somehow, they managed to come across one. A common one.

"Stop." He bent his head down low to the ground, as if stalking prey, so he could get a better look at it without getting too close. "This is Nightshade." That was the name he had been taught. One of the symptons he knew well were vision changes. Something he found an interest in. "The berries, they are not to be consumed. Lots of symptons come with it...Can be useful against enemies" he murmured at the end with a deadly tone. He forgot how poisons were a thing that broguth out his old self. "Let's move on."

Pyx find a herb next?

She nodded to his method, it would be better to look as they went anyhow. That way they didn't end up on a wild goose chase and leave empty handed. He mentioned a herb that Amekaze had spoken of, she had never heard of it before. He tried naming it and she frowned as she thought. "I think it's a combination of what you said. Liverlilly...or Feverfew? If it's good for fevers, might be that second one." She said with a laugh.

His sudden command surprised her and she instantly froze, eyes looking for danger. After a moment she realized he'd only spotted a plant and she sighed in relief. "You startled me." She chuckled, bending low to look at the plant. "Nightshade." She repeated, sniffing carefully at it and committing it to memory. He mentioned that it was useful against enemies and she wondered how, the grimness in his voice made her not want to ask, though. She only nodded as he said to move along, wondering if perhaps looking at poisonous plants brought up bad memories for him. 

She scanned the area ahead of them, and when she spotted some flowers in the distance she gestured to them. "Let's see if this is what I think it is." Bounding over to it, she smiled at Judas. "It is! Starflower! It has another name...bora...poredge? Borage? Possibly the second, but we always called it Starflower. It's good for fevers, and if a nursing mother ever has trouble producing milk I've heard it can help that too. Useful to know it's here, with Amekaze expecting." She looked to Judas. "Should we collect it now or come back for it once we're satisfied?"

Once that was answered, she decided to ask about his history. He was a handsome male, a coywolf. What must that have been like growing up? Who was the wolf and who was the coyote? He barely looked like a hybrid, but she'd guessed that he was after seeing him a couple times. He was of smaller stature than most wolves, although she was petite herself. From certain angles you could read the coyote though. She supposed she could be completely wrong about it, however. In any case, she wasn't about to bring it up. It's not like it made a difference. "So, Judas, tell me about yourself. How long have you been here, where did you come from?" 

​She was fighting the urge to admit to herself that she found Judas attractive, admitting it would only lead to the finalization of the forming of the crush. A handsome male who had an eye for herbs, be still her heart.

The name quickly clicked in his mind. "Feverfew! That was it! Good thing I brought you along, or I would be picking things up without any knowledge of what they did or their names" he said with a low chuckle.

Judas' ears wilted halfway. "Sorry about that. I did not mean to. You mentioned wanting to learn poisons." It genuinely made him feel bad that she were startled by him, though he was not surprised. It was just a part of him that settled others. They started off, and this time he lingered back.

His ears perked up to listen about what she had found. He looked around from behind her, since he had been following her. The coywolf moved forward a bit to get a better look on the Starflower. A lucky strike, finding where they grew for later when their alpha pair had a litter. Even though it did worry how he would be around the litter, knowing about these would give him a reason to help with them. He never was good with kids. "Later. When it's closer to her time."

This time, the question came as unexpected. He usually expected the question, yet found himself caught off guard for a moment, staggering behind. "My story is...I grew up in a barren, mountainous land." he started to walk faster to catch up. "Born to a coyote mother and a wolf fa- a wolf." The 'f' word caught in his throat. He had not ever called that wolf a father before, and he was not going to change that.

She looked to him, smiling. "Is that what it was? Makes sense. Unless it has nothing to do with fevers. And I don't think you'd be too bad off, at least you'd know to avoid the poisons." She chuckled again and continued along, enjoying their stroll. When he apologized for startling her, she shook her head. "No, no, don't apologize. It was just the suddenness. I thought that maybe there was a threat around, my eyes weren't watching the ground I suppose. I'm a flincher anyway, sudden noises and all that." She shook her head and sighed. "You could blame my brothers for that, I suppose. I was the smallest, and the only female."

She wondered if perhaps their playfulness and teasing had lead her to be the cautious wolf she was today. If she'd been born first, or even in a little of all girls...would she be a different wolf? She rather liked herself, as much as she hated the jumpiness. She nodded to his reply about the Starflower and continued on, nosing the soft hairy texture once before they left.

She turned her head to look at him with interest when he began his story. He soon walked to catch up with her and she glanced away as the word father stuck in his throat. A unhappy relationship there, she reasoned. "I had wondered if you were a hybrid, honestly." She replied truthfully, her voice light. "You don't really look it, except from certain angles." There was no distaste or harshness in her voice. "Was it hard, growing up?" She glanced at him with concern in her eyes. "I know that...some wolves dislike coyotes. My pack, where I was born, had a kind of mutual respect with the coyotes that lived near us. A few of them often came to speak with our leader, to trade tricks and tips and tell us about dangers they'd found. I'd like to think the Wilds would be like that, working together and all...but...you tell me?"

She knew her pack had been an exception, and there likely was a reason why the coyotes and wolves worked so well together. She didn't know it, hadn't ever asked why they did what they did. It had just been the way of life, she'd been taught not to hate on appearance or breed, and accepted this as part of that teaching.

Judas nodded. He distinctly remembered the name being Feverfew. What Feverfew helped with, that had escaped his mind. And she was right about him being able to avoid poisons. Well, most of them. Mostly those that distorted the world in one's view. Then Pyx went on about saying she was a flincher. He knew someone just like that. And they had gone somewhere, disappeared without a trace.

Then Pyx stated that she guessed he was a hybrid. "Yeah...it's quite obvious, isn't it?" He did find it odd how she did not question the bunch of scars crisscrossing his rear end. He sighed. His childhood, it was not the best one he could have. And he definitely didn't want to scare Pyx, so he twisted his story a little. "My mother and the litter with me were killed. And I was taken in by the wolf who made me. He was responsible, and I knew he was." He glared ahead, picturing the wolf that called himself his father ahead, and his lips broke apart in a snarl. He had to cast a glance back at Pyx to rid himself of it. Then he glanced ahead again.

"It's a touchy subject." He hoped that was enough of a signal to her, along with his narrowed eyes pointing forward as he surged forward.

She had somehow dismissed the scars in favor for his markings that had announced him a hybrid. She shook her head as he stated it was obvious. "Not truly. Your markings are secretive it seems." He sighed as she questioned his childhood and she put ears back, frowning. There were no herbs to heal emotional hurt, or the pain of memories. He did tell her a little of his childhood though, undetailed for reasons she could guess at.

"Oh," She said, her voice sad. "I'm sorry that happened to you Judas." She deeply wished there was a way to soothe the pain, and she thought that perhaps she shouldn't have asked him of his past. She'd expected hardship, because she knew prejudice was something that couldn't be escaped, but she hadn't expected hardship from his very sire. She watched his eyes glare ahead, his mouth snarling. He glanced back at her, the anger still written on his face. 

She surged forward to walk beside him and, feeling a little daring, extended her muzzle to brush softly at the fur behind the ear nearest to her. It was intended as a comforting gesture, but lasted only a second as she wasn't sure if he would receive it well. Her voice was soft when she spoke and she boldly kept her gaze towards him. She yearned to look away with embarrassment from the touch, but would not allow herself to. She had made him uncomfortable with the memories, she hoped this small gesture would provide some aspect of comfort. 

"I'm sorry I brought it up, truly. You interest me, though, I only wanted to learn more about the herb that is Judas." She glanced away then, allowing him to take "interest" however he liked. She gave a small chuckled, glancing sideways at him. "At least, I think you're a herb. You're not secretly a poison, are you?" It was meant to be a joke, to break any awkwardness that might try to rise on the tail of her touch and statement.

To some, this flirting would be seen as barely anything. To her, however, a timid and shy thing, it took a great deal of courage and inward determination to happen. Her heart danced a little within her chest, excited and nervous.

Judas was surprised to hear that they weren't as obvious as they seemed. But then, he couldn't help but feel angry on the inside after her response to his little slice of backstory. How he took her apology was pity. Part of him deep under felt hatred at pity. But desperate to have a friend, he kept it hidden, only forming a small scowl.

Then she nugded behind his ear. Even though he continued forward, his pace slowed, his expression going blank. No one had ever dared touch him like that. He gulped as he felt a fluttery feeling. 

And when she said that he 'interested' him, he wasn't sure if to take that as a compliment. Part of him made that seem like he was something to stare at, to marvel at. Though that's not what he stuck with. He stuck with it being a different kind of interest. An interest in himself, not his looks or his personality. But him in being...him. "Excuse me?" he asked with a curious glance. He was so surprised by the remark, he missed the little joke there. Judas was rather like a brick wall when it came to someone flirting with him.

Slight pp assuming that he followed, let me know if I should change. Also she wants to lay down and die now haha.

He slowed after her touch and she felt her heart race even faster. He didn't seem offended by it, though, only surprised. She made the joke of him being a plant and it seemed to fly over his head, or perhaps he took offense. Her smile fell a little and she quickly rushed to smooth things over. "I'm sorry, it was just a little joke. Plants are interesting to me, and well, you're interested in healing and poisons and...I...well I only meant I wanted to know more about you. Be friends." She stumbled over herself, racing through the sentences and glancing nervously away from him.

"I only meant to be playful, not that...I actually thought you weren't a herb. Now I just sound foolish. It was a joke, that's all." Her ears flicked back apologetically and she shut her mouth, internally sighing. Thankfully, Moonspear offered her an escape in the form of the scent of raspberries. Bless you, plant, bless you. She thought, quickly changing the subject. "I smell raspberries, can you?" She gestured towards the scent with her muzzle and started off towards them with an easy lope.

She leapt over a small stream and under the shade of some trees she found the berries. She waited for Judas to arrive and nudged the leaves with her muzzle. "Perfect. They're full and healthy. And now you know how to track them by scent. The berries are always easy to smell." She thankfully transitioned to teaching him about the plant. "The leaves can be chewed to help with pain. It's gentle enough to avoid addiction, like poppy, and safe to use on a pregnant or birthing mother." She felt like there was something else....but really couldn't recall. "Just be careful, they often have thorns...and bees and other insects are attracted to their smell."

She mentally marked this location for later gathering as well, utterly thankful for the raspberries saving her. She was worried though, worried that despite her fast talking Judas had taken offense. Had he thought what she was saying was somehow related to his being a coywolf? As if he were an oddity? She internally grimaced.

It was killing her to simply let it drop and she was torn. Should she bring it up again? "For...the record," She was staring deeply into the raspberry bush as if memorizing the veins on the leaves. "I didn't mean like, interesting because you're...I mean I only meant," She sighed at her self. "You're interesting like, female to male." She was burning beneath her fur, and her eyes were narrowed on a specific leaf in particular. "This leaf here!" She suddenly declared. "...is a perfect specimen! Should we collect now?"

Judas could only stare in more confusion. It was meant as a joke, and he had made some bad jokes in the past. Yet he still did not take some jokes in a good way. And this one, it only confused him since he was not in the joking mood. He wanted to say something to liven her spirits back up.

He relaxed his muscles and followed when Pyx said something about rasberry leaves, and completely forgot the past conversation. So he made no reply about the matter. He neared the berry bush. And just as she said something about thorns, one pricked his nose. He flinched back, wriggling his nose. "So I see. And feel." Now that he knew where to find them, their uses and how to pick them, he could come here often to restock.

The conversation drifted back to before. "Female...and male?" He felt like he was missing something, a missing piece to a puzzle that would set things straight. His expression was just blank, but his eyes were just confused, narrowing at her as if she had said the weirdest thing he had ever heard. Once again the remark dropped when they both looked at a leaf. "Yes. We need to get these back."

She frowned apologetically at him as he pricked his nose on a thorn. "Sorry, I should've said that first." She was glad they had found a bush within the pack after all, it would make thing easier. This was a rather large bush too, so they shouldn't have any trouble stocking up for the winter. At her attempted explanation he seemed only further confused and she blinked back at him in a mirror of confusion. Did he really not understand? 

He was staring at her strangely and she realized that yes, he was actually confused and not understanding. Not just simply...making fun of her or something. She offered him a smile and a shrug. "Well...we can talk about that more some other time. Let's just focus on the leaves. It was just a silly joke after all. A bad one." She moved to being picking leaves off. "When the plants are thornless we can gather whole vines. As it is, it's better to nip it directly at the stem. You'll likely get a little dose just from collecting, but not enough to do anything. Might ease some mouth pain if you have any, though." She wasn't completely sure if it would even help the mouth pain in such a small amount, but if you gathered enough it was possible.

She dismissed the joke fully, she certainly wasn't about to shove it down his throat by saying that she thought he was interesting in that she was attracted to him. He was handsome, she liked plants, he liked plants and he seemed kind. That was it spelled out nice and clearly, but she had embarrassed herself enough already on this trip. She didn't truly know him, either, if she was honest. It was just the start of a simple crush. Better to dismiss it for now than to have him give her the same stare once he actually understood.  "We've only just met." She imagined him saying, confusion clear. 

She did make a mental note that if her crush did continue and ever developed into something further that she would likely need to be the one to say something. Of course, if he actually got to know her he might be more understanding and less obtuse. Either way, she'd be less subtle if she truly wanted to initiate anything in the future. Once she'd gathered a nice little pile, she glanced over to see his progress.

Oh boy, when she sees his other side...

Judas let bygones be bygones, and started to harvest what he could the same way she did. Being careful about the thorns this time. Occasionally he side glanced over at her, now thinking on it. There was something else behind it. Some other reason he was not seeing. He knew that clearly. But he was not the type to pry in another's business. Not unless it proved to affect him largely.

He felt what she talked about, the little dose from picking the leaves. Since his mouth was not sore, it didn't affect him too much. Then he turned, still thinking. He was anxiously waiting for that 'next time'. If Pyx thought something of him, he wanted to know.

"'Ere 'o?" He mumbled through the leaves in his mouth. "'Ache, 'r 'o on?

And good luck on the surgery. Recover well, take your time

She won't know what to think, but all the more fun to be had! And thank you! :)

His speech was mumbled around the leaves. She narrowed her eyes on him a moment, trying to decipher it. The first seemed simple enough, at least she thought. "Ready to go?" The second, however, flew by her completely. She chuckled as she replied. "I can't understand you very well, the second part at least. I am ready to go...if that's what you said at all." She waited a moment for confirmation or denial and then bent to gather up her own leaves, scooping them carefully into her mouth until her lips and cheeks bulged with the prickly leaves. "'Eh o!" She said cheerfully around her own package, and after a moment of waiting for him to get a start, turned and head back for the cache.

Today had been interesting, to say the least. They'd made quite a few useful finds...not to mention her own bumbling over her words. She was thankful for the leaves, blocking their communication on the trip back. The silence was, thankfully, not an uncomfortable one and she felt pleased with the progress she'd made since joining the pack.

The coywolf half-nodded, half-shrugged. It was close enough. They started off to the cache. Every now and then, he felt the need to make conversation, and then remembered that there were plant pieces in his mouth. That made him keep his mouth shut. 

They soon arrived with a silence between them. He dropped off his load from his mouth then stepped back to give Pyx room to do so. He watched as she did, his tail swaying slowly. "So..I'll see you around then?"

Judas deposited his gatherings first, into the corner where she'd piled the remains of what they'd had. Once he had moved, she put her own in place. She turned to face him and waved her tail in return, a small streak of embarrassment still burning bright in her belly.

"Yes, thank you for the invitation today. I'm going to stay and try to organize this place a little more, be easier to know what we have that way. If you ever want to go herb hunting again and trade information, just call for me." She smiled at him, waiting to see if he would leave or stay before she turned to address the cache.

I'll archive. Unless you want to make one last post

"It was no problem at all. I could use the expertise of one so smart in this area" he said with a grin. And he meant it as a compliment. He turned away and started off, leaving to find some place to sit down and think on some things that were on his mind.