Stavanger Bay I don't mean to dist-herb you

@Lagertha or @Szymon in particular, but any Blackrock wolf wanting to tag along is very welcome! Takes place directly after this thread.

After leaving Skellige and Sharkbait, Atoll moved to her den to check on her stores while she waited for someone to arrive. While she was out finding the proper herbs for Sharkbait, she wanted to pick up anything else she was running low on as well. The less often she had to leave the bay, the better.

"Hm - yarrow, daisies, need more fennel, good on snakeroot..." she murmured, eyes darting around the various hollows and shelves carefully dug into the walls of the den she shared with Szymon. It seems like I have enough of most things, but I'll look out for fennel while I'm out looking for slippery elm and honeycombs.

Satisfied with her mental list, Atoll slipped out of her den and picked out the longest, widest piece of kelp she could find. It would be useful to carry herbs back in, if she could roll them up in it like Szymon had done with the lemongrass and mint.

Lemongrass and mint... ah!

She would have to remember to offer Sharkbait some mint julep. It'd always helped Atoll to feel better as a cub.

Lagertha had just come off patrolling, scented her witch doctor of a friend, and soon followed after the trail with a jaunt in her step. It didn't take her long to come across the prophet of Eir, whom was sorting through her cache of herbs.

"Skol," she murmured, wondering if it would be detrimental to disturb the völva in the midst of her work. "Whut ya doin'?"

"Laggy," Atoll greeted, a wide smile splitting her face as she sidled up to her friend. "A little girl washed up on the beach today - I need to get some things from the woods for her, but I can't go alone," she explained, tail wagging solicitously. Though she did not think that Laggy would say no, Atoll hoped she might also see the trip as something fun, and not just an errand she had to run. Atoll knew that it was something of a burden to have a wolf with such fickle memories among their ranks, and as long as she had to request help, it seemed prudent to do so as kindly as she could.

She had hoped that Szymon would come with as well, but since her talk with Skellige... well, it was best to keep work and romance separate, sometimes.

The explanation caused a brow to raise in curiosity, wondering how a little girl had just managed to wash up on the coast. Then again, what kind of parents let their child fall into the ocean? Her own Da' hadn't been so callous that he hadn't tried to keep her from the fjord as a child. 

"Aye, I vill help you," Lagertha murmured, shaking her head at the carelessness of the girl's family. 

"Vhich vay?" The Shield-maiden turned, pausing to wait for instructions on where to go from here to find the herbs.

"Well - I'm looking for slippery elm bark," she explained, not really sure whether or not Lagertha knew of the plant. She did not have any that the other woman could scent, so she could only hope that it was something the shield-maiden was familiar with. "I haven't seen any around here, but maybe if we look in some forests, we'll find what we need. We're also looking for lavendar and a low-hanging beehive - but you don't have to help with that one once we find it."

It would be good to get out of the territory without worrying about finding her way back, and even better that she would get to spend the time with one of her few friends. Perhaps, next time, Shadow could come along - Atoll had a feeling the two would become fast friends as well.

There were many plants here that were completely different the plants she had seen in Kattegat and Lagertha was unfamiliar with many of them. Slippery elm bark was not completely foreign, recognizing it as one of the names the Seer of Kattegat had called it. 

"I vill help, bees are not too bad," Lag offered, padding into the forest with Atoll, sniffing around for the bark and lavender plants.

There was plenty to find, though the few elm trees they came across were not fit to have their bark harvested. It was a setback, but not one that Atoll minded. She found plenty of honeysuckle, and that would do well while she searched out more elm - later, though.

"How have you been, Laggy?" she asked conversationally, investigating a plant that looked rather like sage, but smelled like it might be toxic. It would be nice to find mom's magical cure-all around here, but I haven't seen any since I left home.

"Life is gut, I tink I need to find a purpose. All I do now is hunt and patrol hunt and patrol everyday," she mumbled, an anxious frown on her face. It wasn't much of a complaint, she had food to eat and place to live. But the Pelagic couldn't help but want something to do with her life, something besides pack work.

Lagertha shook her head, turning to Doe with a smile. "Is nuthing. How is your life, and the man Syzmon?" 

Concerned with the distressed look on her friend's face, Atoll slowed down and studied the dove-grey woman. It seemed like she needed something else to do with her time, but hunting and patrolling were really the only available passtimes. Perhaps it would be good to find something the pack could do together, as a community - but that was a problem for a later date. For now, she would focus on Lagertha, and what she could do to ease the monotony of pack life.

"It's good that we're going out today, then," she decided, brushing her shoulder against the other female's. There was an anxiety festering in her own heart, now - she did not want Lagertha to leave Blackrock, as she had left her two former packs. "It'll be an adventure - just you and me."

Her ears flickered happily at the mention of Szymon, but she made no effort to articulate what was currently happening in the strange relationship they shared. Their communal den might be noteworthy, but Atoll settled for lashing her tail in answer, not up to the task of explaining this change to the other female.

To shift attention away from the answered question, Atoll nipped at Lagertha's side before darting away, stopping to give a playful bow once she was out of easy reach.

"Let's play," she entreated, a coyote smile stretching her face. "The girl will keep."

Lagertha stopped, one paw frozen midair in confusion as Doe offered to play. Her head cocked, brow crinkled slightly. Surely this marooned child was more important than a play session in the wilderness?

"Shud ve not be finding the plants for the gurl?" Lagertha voiced her concerns, wondering why Atoll had wanted to do suddenly play in the first place. Surely another time, any other time, would be better.

Slowly, Atoll straightened out. Her heart ached, though the sensible voice was telling her that this was no a rejection of Atoll herself, but of wasting time in current circumstances. Thinking quickly, she tried to cover up her slip - she thought Lagertha to be a compassionate creature, and sensed that her selfishness would not be well received by the woman.

"You're right," she said crisply, turning away from her friend. "There was nothing terribly wrong with her - I would bring her back things to soothe her throat, but she is still healthy and strong. Still, we should hurry back."

She plodded on a few feet, but then stopped and turned back, unable to let things alone so easily. "It's not nothing," she said passionately, gazing fretfully at the dove-toned woman. "Needing a purpose, I mean. I don't want you to feel that way - I want to help. But you're right - we need to help Sharkbait first, and then we can figure out how to make you feel better about Blackrock."

Feeling slightly more at peace, Atoll continued her search. Slippery elm was still off the table, but the buzzing of bees hit her ears almost as soon as she began to smell the honey. "Hear that?" she asked, bounding toward the sound and stopping when found herself facing a buzzing hive. They'd struck gold - it was low enough to the ground that she'd have no trouble knocking it down.

Setting down the seaweed-bundle of herbs, Atoll circled once in a wide arc around the hive, looking for the best place to charge. She'd be stung no matter what - probably harming herself more than Sharkbait's sore throat called for - but honey was something that was always useful. It was important to have some on hand, even if it cost a bit of pain.

Lagertha felt a stab of guilt but stood by what she said, this patient of the witch doctor was more important than play. She reached out, nudging her head against the shorter woman, which took a bit of craning, similar to the way an affectionate cat might. 

"Don't vorry. I am sticking around fur gut tis time. If only for my friend," Lagertha beamed at Doe, certain even if Thor himself came down from Valhalla and commanded her to leave; she would not. The Viking cared for the odd little woman. 

"Aye," she muttered anxiously, under her breath as to not let on about her sudden worry over the bees. It was silly of her, Doe needed this honey and stings would heal quickly.

Circling back around, Atoll picked up the bundle of herbs and trotted just out of sight of the hive, laying it down just far enough away that she could pause to pick it up without worrying about the bees overtaking her.

"I'm going to knock it down - as soon as they're all up in the air, dart in and grab the biggest piece of the hive you can easily reach and carry," she instructed. "Most of them should be on me, but you'll probably get stung a bit, too. I'll grab the bundle, and then we'll both high-tail it back to the bay. It should be far enough to lose them."

Tail wagging weakly, she tried to determine whether or not her friend agreed with the plan.

"Aye," she murmured anxiously, in agreeance with the plan. Lagertha didn't like the idea of having Doe get stung and decided she would try to shield the witch doctor from them as much as possible. Hopefully she could compensate by getting a good deal of honey.

"Ready vhen ya are," Lagertha mumbled, eyes locked on the prize or in this case; the beehive.

Looking back at Laggy for one last moment to make sure she was ready, Atoll took a deep breath. This was bound to be painful and unpleasant, but it would not be the worst thing in the world - and, like all things, it would eventually end. The sooner she did it, the sooner that could happen!

Pep talk completely, she did a little dance to make sure her legs were all working the way they ought to be and then barrelled ahead before she could lose her nerve or change her mind. Running full-tilt, she hit the side of the hive and felt nothing for one moment, and then shooting pain the next. Already, she was dashing away - not as fast as she could be, but fast enough that more of the buzzing stingers could not easily attach themselves to her.

Hopefully, Laggy had done her part - Atoll was out of there!

Grabbing the medicine pouch on her way, Atoll picked up speed and ran with a mad passion to a nearby pond. Pausing, she gave her coat a violent shake and then ducked into the water, shaking herself again under the rippling surface of the pond. Pain was still blazing over her body - it would get worse before it got better - but the bees were mostly either spent or few in number, and she had bigger things to worry about than the hurts that were to come.

Popping her head out of the water, she peered into the trees for signs of her friend.

It seemed her plan of shielding Doe from the brunt of the bees was unneeded for the witch doctor was gone in a flash, leaving Lagertha to deal with the worst of the bees. For a moment, the Shield-maiden was stuck staring after Doe, just as the stinging of the bees hit her.

With a yelp, Lagertha snatched up the biggest pieces that she could hold in her mouth and took off after her friend. The bees fell behind but she could still hear them faintly buzzing in anger somewhere behind her.

The sound grew silent as she reached the pond, dropping the honeycombs next to Doe's pouch and leaping into the pool with relief.

"Thank Akai!" Doe exclaimed, leaping out of the pond as Lagertha approached, honeycomb in jaw. A little dance revealed just how anxious she'd been, and then she followed after the dove-colored woman, hovering as she submerged and then moving forward to pick the bees from her dappled fur. "Did many get to you? I tried to kick them all up and have them be after me," she said anxiously, seeing a good number of still-angry bees buzzing weakly against her sodden coat. Some of them, she discovered, still had stingers left in them.

Leaping out of the pond, she shook off her coat and tried to ignore the shooting pain as she examined the honeycomb. There would be plenty for Sharkbait - but she wasn't sure she wanted to use the honey on their own injuries as well. Perhaps just Lagertha would do; but not now.

"I'll take this back to the pack - you should find some lavender to roll around it," she said, indicating the bundle of plants and the honeycomb. "I'll get some things together to put on your stings after I make sure Sharky is taken care of."

"Ja, ja, I'm gut," she shook off Doe's concerns. The stings still burned slightly, for the most part they itched something terrible. Lagertha grimaced as she rose from the water, shaking her coat out despite the painful tugging of her bee stings.

"I vill find the lavender," called Lagertha, turning her head over her shoulder. Padding away, carefully to avoid the remaining bees, the Viking went on the search for the purple flowers.