Sunbeam Lair A Casual Stroll Through The Woods

Hoping for @Asterr but anyone who want to join is free too.

Early in the morning Gray woke up, walking out and into the woods he relieved himself. When he was finished he looked up to the sky, and the sun that had not yet begun to rise. “It’s too early for this.” He muttered to himself before heading back to where he had been formerly sleeping. Laying back down and closing his eyes, he tried to fall back asleep. Several minutes passed of him rolling around trying to get comfortable before he accepted the fact that he was not going to be able to get back to sleep.
 
Letting out a long and belated sigh Gray got to his paws and slowly strolled off in to the woods.  Several minutes passed as he made his way up to a rocky outcropping on witched he perched looking east as the sun began it slow crawl over the horizon. Smiling at the sight gray wonder what the day held instore for him.

Tagging more so for visibility, ehe. Don't have to join.

Weeks had passed since her return, resulting in much of her routine having been made to change. It had since become clear that her womb was the host for at least a single hatchling, the growth in her midsection being something that could not have been the result of food alone. It was because of them that she avoided harvesting many plants, knowing that a good portion of the ones she needed could prove harmful to any children that she was currently carrying. Though the act of simply carrying the herb around most likely wouldn't have too great of an effect on the fetuses' health, she was still reluctant to test it. Asterr's disinterest in toying with her children's well-being had left her without much to do, and thus caused for her to grow restless every now and again.

It was with a sudden bout of energy and nothing to do with it that had forced her to get up early that morning, nudging @Ukko and informing him of her departure before heading out to wander the lair. There were several occasions in which she'd eyed the direction of the cavern's entrance, wondering if a short journey might assist in relaxing her, but never had she actually ventured towards it. Rather, she'd continued through her home, her next stop occurring only when she'd spotted the familiar form of her kegare. Quite some time had passed since she'd last seen him, and there'd been a period in which she'd believed that he might have sneaked away. It seemed that that wasn't the case, however, and so she'd started moving in his direction, head tilting back to look up at him whilst a chuff slipped past her lips. Should his attention be gained, the girl would then motion for him to come down to her, deciding that it was about time he be put to use.

Gray sat in silence lost in thought about his family, what would they be doing this time of year with fall just around the corner. A better question, would he still be here when fall came around? As things had been going he hadn’t been able to start repaying his debt. Having his paw injured for as long as it was, he had not managed to do… well much of anything since arriving. Curiously he stretched out his formally injured appendage, it was healed for sure, but it still felt stiff from the lack of use it had received this last few weeks.
 
A sound broke the silence he had become lost in. His ears flicked bringing him back to reality as he tried to locate the source of the sound. Looking down off the ledge he perched on, he immediately recognised the black wolf who stood there motioning him down. Smiling he stretched before getting to his paws. after a brief shuffle, he timidly leaped down off the ledge to stand at what he thought was a respectful distance. “Asterr it’s been a while, how have you been?” he asked genuinely interested.

Perched upon a ledge, he'd held her attention. There was a moment in which she'd wondered how much time she had left before she could no longer maneuver as easily as he. It was a curious thought, but something that she felt she'd not need to worry over. Ukko was there, and so, should she become immobilized, he would be able to carry out her duties for her. That was what he was there for, after all, to serve as both her second and her guardian. Knowing that he remained within the lair, she'd been able to pull her thoughts back to the present, focusing on that which currently required her attention. As it was, she could still get around well, and so it was something not yet worthy of her concern.

From the risen surface, he had jumped, and she'd felt a breath get trapped within her chest. It was only once he'd landed safely on flattened lands that she'd released the air, inhaling thereafter as a moment was taken to further regulate her breathing. Already had he started to speak, though, and so her first response was a simple nod. "Yes, it has been," she'd said but a moment later. "I have been well. How have you been faring within the lair?" He seemed to be doing well enough, which she was silently glad about. Though only a kegare, he was still a piece of the tribe, and so his well-being was a part of her responsibilities.

Gray listened to Asterr, as she spoke he continued to stand respectfully although something off started to tug at his mind. Upon a second glance he noticed the subtle differences if her form and posture. Curiously he took a discreet sniff, and sure enough Asterr sent did seemed to be different than he had remembered. putting two and two together with the time of year it was, he made the assumption that she must be carrying. But fearing his assumption may be wrong, and not wanting to offend, He decided on not mentioning anything until he could be certain.
 
“It’s good to hear that you are well. As for me… I-“ he started then trailed off not really sure on what to say. After a moment to reorganise his thoughts he continued. “I am fine. it’s just I really haven’t been able to find my place yet.” He down cast his head looking to the ground as he continued. “Before coming here, I just traveled. I slept when I was tired, hunted when I was hungry, and only had myself to look out for… Now that I am hear its different, and I just don’t know what I am supposed to do.” looking up and back to Asterr he gave a quick shake of his head in a mock attempt at clearing it. “Anyway, enough about me, What can I do for you?” he said in a more cheerful tone as a small smile crossed his face.

Careful attention was paid to his words, ears erect and honed in on his voice. The answer, though unpleasant, had not surprised her. It was not necessarily by choice that he'd been made to stay there—though, given the amount of opportunities that he'd had to leave, perhaps it was—and so his lack of footing within the tribe was to be expected. Eventually, once he'd proved his worth, she planned to offer him a true place within the lair, and so it was important that he find something to keep him grounded there. Especially if he should decide to accept her future offer, as she didn't want for him to be forced to find his way after having been there with them for so long already. To get such thoughts across without revealing too much wasn't something she'd felt comfortable doing, and so she'd only given a nod, offering her acceptance of his answer.

Minutes ticked by before she'd said, "You will find your place here if you keep searching for it." It was all she'd say on the topic, which was made apparent when she'd turned and motioned for him to follow. "You will be assisting me with the harvest of herbs. My stocks are in need of being replenished, but there are a few that I would rather not risk the ingestion of at this time," voiced the girl, moving onto his inquiry. For why she did not wish to have certain plants enter her system at this time, she'd not shared, deciding to leave the subject alone unless it was asked about specifically. "None of them are poisonous, so you need not worry about that." Simply plucking the stems, flowers, or roots from the earth would not lead to the male's death, which she'd believed was necessary to make clear. Asterr was not the sort to harm another being, but whether the male knew or believed this, she wasn't certain of.

Gray a little unsure, started after Asterr following her dutifully. Matching her gate he intently listened to her as she stated that he would be aiding her in the collection of herbs. He had never really been too interested in the floral side of things, but he certainly was not going to ignore a direct request from his chieftess. However when she brought up the topic that the plants where not poisonous, and he did not need to worry. He unconsciously did the opposite of what she said, worrying more so over the fact that he would not be able to tell if one was in first place.
 
“If you don’t mind me asking, what are we harvesting specifically?” he said, not really interested in the answer, but wanting to start a conversation topic. Then as an afterthought he quickly added. “Fair warning though, I know little to nothing about herbs.”

A glance had been thrown his way every now and again, checking to make sure that he was following. Never had he attempted to sneak away, keeping pace with the girl instead. Silence had settled over them—briefly—which she'd found to be comfortable. Yet, even though it'd been disturbed, she was not bothered. When moments such as the previous arrived, she found herself able to enjoy them, but not always were they missed after fading away. His question was considered, an answer forming, which hadn't been spoken until after he'd warned her of his lack of knowledge. When she was sure that he'd finished speaking, the girl answered his question with, "Burdock root, primarily. As for the rest, I will be deciding what is needed as we move along." She knew of how her caches looked, knew of what needed replenished, but had chosen to leave the majority of it for another day. For the time being, they were to seek out the burdock, and then collect anything of interest, or need, that might be spotted along the way.

The statement hadn't been addressed right away, her attention having been directed elsewhere as a plant was inspected. Gray had not been called forth in order to harvest it, for the chieftess' gaze had returned back to the space ahead of them. "It is fine that you do not know anything," was her eventual response to his statement. "I will tell you what to harvest and how to do so correctly." She knew that he could follow instructions, and so naught a moment more was given to the topic. Rather, her pace had increased slightly, only to then slow back down until a stop was achieved. Before the dragoness there grew a collection of burdock, several plants having decided to battle for the same piece of land. Forward was the male called, a simple gesture having been used instead of her voice. "You will need to follow the stem towards the earth, and then dig just deep enough so that you are able to grab hold of and pull from the earth the roots," Asterr instructed. "Do not swallow any of them." She needed them for her stocks, and didn't wish for any to be lost; already was it assumed that many might be damaged given his lack of experience, but that was something that could not be avoided, and so she'd simply accepted it.

Gray seeing her gesture came up beside Asterr to inspect the flora in question. At first he wasn’t sure witch plant was the one he would be harvesting, as he tried to find one that stood out from the patch of  large leafed vegetation. But as Asterr explained further detailing the actual harvesting process he soon understood that the whole patch of plants was the so called ‘Burdock root’ that they had come out for. Tentatively he approached one of the specimens inspecting it closely, he had seen the plant all over the forest, but had never really considered that it might have had a medicinal use. Extending his head out a little more he gave the plant a sniff, picking up no distinct sent that is other than the dirt and verdure. A moment later he moved back and sneezed, due to the particulates he had inhaled.
 
Briefly he looked back to Asterr watching him, nervously gulped then turned back to the plant. Carefully he nosed the leaves out of the way with his muzzle before tentatively pawing at the ground digging around the base of the plant. Once a fare bit of soil had been moved revealing a portion of the root, he gingerly moved in bighting down on it softly.  Once he felt he had gotten a good enough grip, he cautiously started pulling the root up wiggling It from side to side as he did so. The root slowly began to give way. Feeling more confident Gray tried pulling a little harder only to feel a sudden lack of tension sending him stumbling back. Tasting the potent flavor of starch as it filled his mouth, he placed the half root with a small bite mark on the ground before looking to his Chieftest sheepishly. “Probably should have mentioned, I am not very good at harvesting either.”

As the male observed the plant, she'd stood back and kept a close eye on him. She was curious to see how he might do and, despite her low expectations, looked forward to witnessing his way of going about the harvest. He'd inspected it, sniffed it, and then sneezed as a result. It was humorous, in a way, but she'd not laughed. The girl's expression remained neutral enough, only a partial smile having been able to find itself a place on her lips. When he'd looked her way, she'd nodded, encouraging him to proceed; his nervousness was evident within his features, but she'd hoped that he'd be able to push passed that and focus on the task at hand. It was shortly after that when he'd started digging, and Asterr settled herself down in the meantime. For how long it might take really depended on him, as well as how confident he felt in himself.

There was a grip upon the root, and then there was hardly anything as she'd watched Gray stumble back. She'd stood and inspected the plant after he'd dropped it, finding that it wouldn't be the most useful of products. Still, she shook her head, waving off his statement. "No one does well at first," assured the dragoness, making her way towards another one of the plants. "You will learn, though. I will teach you how to harvest roots in a way that lowers the risk of destruction." Silver optics lingered upon the man for a second prior to her attention being offered to the burdock plant. It was with a gentle mouth that she'd pulled the leaves away, removing a few in the process so that the ground beneath could be seen better. Thereafter, a single paw was placed near the base of the stem, but she'd not started to dig. Rather, Asterr looked over to Gray, inviting him to move closer so that he might have a clear view of what she was about to do.

"The trick is to make the opening in the ground long, following the root of your choice," she began, her forelimbs moving in the process to demonstrate what she'd meant. Once there was a lengthy opening in the dirt, she'd moved back. "You must use your front teeth to snip through both ends of the root, that way there is less stress placed upon both the plant and yourself during the extraction." With a wave of her muzzle, Asterr instructed him to do as she'd said, whilst she kept back and observed his doings.

As his Chieftest inspected the root, gray was oddly nervous feeling himself tens up as her gaze drifted up from the specimen. But after she reassured him, silently gray let out a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding. When she had moved off to another one of the plants, he followed giving his full attention as he did not want to mess up again. At no point did he fear punishment or wrath from the female regardless of how bad he messed up the task at hand.  but instead was more worried about failing and disappointing her by not being able to aid her when it was needed.


Motioning him with a wave of her muzzle gray came up and carefully did as he had been instructed, resulting with a great deal more success. As the root came free from the ground Gray excitedly started saying something incomprehensible. Abashed he deposited the Burdock on to the ground before speaking again. “That worked so much better!” he stated excitedly, then before weighting for a reply he moved off to a fresh root, and began methodically copying what Asterr had done. When he felt ready to pull it out, he was both happy and disappointed with his varying level of success. The almost full root he had gotten was a great improvement over his first attempt, but it had still resulted in an imperfect result. Curiously he then looked back to the female, hoping to receive some kind of approval.

Asterr had remained silent whilst watching the male go to work, assessing how well he'd done, and realizing that he had been paying attention. Under her instructions, he'd succeeded in extracting a decent root, an act that she'd been glad to witness. A small smile held fast to her lips and, at one point, there'd even been a brief moment in which laughter had spilled out of her mouth. He was like a child, she'd noted, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing—in fact, in the present situation, it was a good thing. "You did well, Gray," she'd praised him, looking towards the root. "If you continue to try after having failed, you will only ever succeed—this applies to everything that you take an interest in." Everyone had an exceptional amount of hidden potential, she believed, and he was no different.

"Continue to work on it when you are able, and I am sure you will manage to harvest the roots wonderfully each and every time," the girl voiced, then approached that which had been collected. "I will be taking these back to my chamber." It was with her usual, gentle touch that the girl lifted the roots up off of the ground, careful to not pierce any of the flesh with her teeth. After offering a dip of her head as a goodbye, the chieftess departed. She'd headed in the direction of her medical space, leaving the male to his own devices.