Sleeping Dragon Quartz

@Gluskap <3 but AW as always

The pale girl travels quickly through the territory, a bundle of green in her jaw. She's excited, mainly because these are new plants! She'd yet to find any of these in the territory before today and she's thrilled to take them back to her den to plant in her own garden. She'd left plenty where she'd found them, of course, but today she was more than happy to be getting a single plant-- root and all-- of each for her own. 

She steps quickly over a mound of rocks, careful however not to lose footing-- such a small wolf was quite agile and graceful-- and continues her trek to her den, praying she has a few avaliable skulls.

With the security of their western borders tightened for the time being, Thuringwethil feels confident to spend a little time within her own territory. One of the others are always running their lines, which she’d done that morning, but with no sign, she’s confident the Larksong wolves really won’t be much of a problem. Yet are they allowed to relax, but she plans to keep it up for a while to come just to make sure she isn’t wrong.

She’s distracted from her thoughts as a blur of a two-toned wolf comes into her vision, mouthful of plants she doesn’t recognize. Thuringwethil doesn’t move from her spot as the other nears in her direction, waiting to see if the other stops nearby or passes by on her mission.

On her journey home, Portia picks up the scent of her Heda. Her ears perk curiously, but she does not move out of her way to track her down-- she has things to do! It was, perhaps, a coincidence that she would pass the woman on her way though. Out of respect the Kru stops a ways off and dips herself respectfully. Her tail wags behind her in a friendly greeting, curious if the woman would want to talk to her. Although she felt she had plenty to do, if her Heda asked about the plants, she'd be more than happy to dive into a long explaination about each of the plants.

Portia comes into focus a moment later, mouth full of herbs, and Thuringwethil’s parted jaw snaps shut. She hesitates to speaks and the silence between them remains awkward. The other wolf has been an odd one from the beginning but in a way she found endearing and so she didn’t push more than she had to. She seems happy here, already making herself busy and getting settled into Drageda. She’d acclimate fine, Thuringwethil observes, and she wags her tail.

“Do you need a hand?” she finally asks, stepping forward to be of use.

When her Heda speaks, Portia begins to respond immediately, her voice a muffled mess of plants. She clears her throat as if to ask for a moment and spits the herbs onto the ground, clicking her tongue as the bitter taste of at least of the plants lingers. 

"I'd love some help, ma'am, if you're sure you have the time," she says, nosing the larger of the two plants towards the Heda. The second and third have a thinner stem, and although she trusts the woman fully she feels more comfortable carrying the other ones herself. She pauses, smiling a bit, "Reseda odorata-- Mignonette. A laxative, don't bite down on it too hard." It could rest safely in her jaws without being too big of a hassle, but it never hurt to warn anyone.

Portia tries to speak through a mouthful of herbs but Thuringwethil understands little. The girl figures out what to do and spits them out, takes her offer, then proceeds to explain what she might be carrying. She gives her a warning but Thuringwethil looks down at the plant, uncertain of what she’s being warned about. While her native tongue resembles that of the common language, she often prides herself in the ability to easily interchange them for one another.

“You’ll have to forgive me, this is not my native tongue. What’s laxative?”

Thuringwethil takes a step forward, drops her nose to sniff the plant, but doesn’t pick it up just yet until she knows for certain it’s safe.

With a small smile, Portia gives a small chuckle-- not to mock her, but at the fact that she'd have to explain what a laxative would do. "Just a joke, ma'am. But a laxative is used for wolves with bowel problems. Otherwise it'd just give them the shits," she explains bluntly. "It shouldn't do anything just carrying it, but one should be careful regardless-- any damage to the plant anyway would ruin it's usefulness." With brief hesitation, Portia speaks again. "I can carry that one if you'd rather-- these are Sage and Feverfew. They're used for headaches, arthiritis, and sore throats," she offers with a smile. She'd still rather carry the thinner stemmed plants, but perhaps handing her Heda a laxative wasn't the best idea anyway-- not that it'd do anything. 

Thuringwethil doesn’t understand what’s meant to be a joke and her brows knit between her darkened eyes as Portia continues to explain. Her face relaxes any confused tension and a quiet “oh” as she stares down at the plant. What an interesting thing to need, she supposes, but she never has had the need for such a thing. She hadn’t been involved too much in the sick back in Seageda, unless they were near death, so it’s not a surprise she doesn’t quite comprehend.

“I can carry it,” she says as she lowers her head and gingerly picks up the plant, letting the woman lead the way. Careful not to break any part of the stem or leaves, Thuringwethil remains stiff in hopes they don’t have to go too far while the worst case scenarios race through her mind.

When the woman takes it, Portia grins thankfully, holding back a breathe of relief. "Great, thanks," she says, grabbing the herbs delicately in her mouth and beginning forward. They aren't too far from her den, thankfully, and she's pleased that her Heda had wasted no time in offering to help-- she'd wanted to get this done right away. How exciting!! 

When they arrive, Portia places the plants on the ground and glances to the dark woman with a quick dip of her head. She then ducks quickly into the small opening into the boulders, tail wagging furiously. When she appears again she has a coyote skull in her jaws, cracked and rather tattered. She places it gently on the ground and glances back up to Thuringwethil. "Thanks for your help," she says brightly, ears perked.

If I remember correctly, you said this was the last thread you needed and since it happens IC, I'm gonna go ahead and title you up into Drageda. Once this is archived, just request your trade in the SDMO and I'll give it to you! We can wrap this up with maybe two more posts?

Thuringwethil isn't sure how far off Portia's herbal den is but all she can think about the plant in her mouth is how careful she has to be. The thought of accidentally ingesting the plant leaves an embarrassing picture of what might happen, expecting it to be an immediate result. Her stomach turns at the thought and she almost spits it out to save herself but soon the freckled kru comes to a stop and then disappears into a cache. She stands there awkwardly a moment before lowering her head and, with great relief, drops the plant at her feet.

It only takes a few seconds and Portia is returning with a small skull and Thuringwethil stares at it for a moment as she places it strategically near the herbs. She silently questions how she'd obtained it and how she'd gotten it so clean but her experience gives her the benefit of the doubt and she doesn't voice the concern. Impressed nonetheless, Heda nods her head.

"I'm happy to help," she says with her flagged tail waving a few times above her spine. Impressed with Portia's efforts so far, she finds a smile on her features. "Thank you for everything you've done," she tells her, watching as she works on her collection. She'd been there and ready to assist in Hvitserk's ailment, even if she hadn't been trusted at the time. She'd proven that otherwise anyway and Thuringwethil is thankful for the woman having shown up at our borders. "You've been a great asset to Drageda, Skayona."

yay! sounds good <3 last from me then? 

Obtaining and cleaning the skulls were her least favorite part of the job-- rarely did she ever find an already decomposed one. Regardless, she'd do it without hesitation for her beloved plants. No one had ever asked, so she'd never shared-- maybe it gave her some sort of mystique. 

"Great, thanks, hun," she says happily, her tail waving. She is about to dive into an explanation on what to do-- out of pure passion and a love for talking-- but her Heda's voice cuts her off. Her ears perk as she listens, dipping her head in regards to the dark woman's display of gratitude. As the name of what she would assume to be her new rank slips from the Heda's tongue, her lips turn up into a smile. "Thank you, Heda," she murmurs happily, tail wagging. "It is an honor to serve Drageda."

"Should we begin then, ma'am?" she asks, her muzzle still plastered with a wide smile. When Thuringwethil agrees Portia right away begins to explain her process and, with the Heda's help, begins to plant the wonderful new herbs.