The Heartwood 'Cause if your heart is set on something that it's not suppose to be

The glen held a lot, but Fennec occasionally had found that straying into outside lands was a fantastic way to add to her repotoire.  And her arsenal of plants.  That in mind, she had made her way carefully into the neighboring forest and spent most of the morning gathering up full plants that she could relocate to a spot near her forming den.

Her pouch was half full, and once again she found herself in the presence of an unknown plant.  An idea had crept up on her, but to accomplish it, she'd need to track down a small kill.  She didn't want to waste anything the glen wolves hunted for this.  

In the meantime she began to carefully dig, this time not using her mouth for any part of the process.  It didn't smell sickly-sweet, but that didn't mean too much right now.  First she needed to determine if it was safe to ingest; she could sort out what it did after.

Navigating a path to the caldera proved a little complicated once they reached the Great Bear Wilderness. Although Towhee doubted @Hydra or @Osiris would deny them safe passage, she had no desire to infringe on their claims. They went around their allies' homesteads, which led them into a forest that showed signs of fire damage. It seemed a good place to spend the night despite this. They could head due south to the caldera at first light.

While the others milled near the far eastern edge of the wood, near the stream there, Towhee did a quick lap around its fringes to make sure they weren't disturbing anyone and that they, in turn, wouldn't be disturbed while they camped out for the night. During this cursory patrol, she discovered the remains of a pumpkin patch, then a little later on, she stumbled across a digging Fennec.

A look of delighted surprise crossed her face. "Fancy seeing you here," Towhee called out. It wasn't that crazy, considering they were soon to be sharing a neighborhood. "We're on the move," she informed the yearling as she came up beside her, offering a nudge before querying, "What're you up to?"

At first, the sound of someone approaching with purpose made Fennec's fur rise defensively.  She was always on edge when she was out on her own.  It thankfully didn't take her long to recognize her mom's tells, so by the time Towhee called out, she was already turning and smiling.  Hey!!

She let Towhee come to her and returned the nudge.  On the move?! Oh, right!  We are going to assume she found out, because Hydra knew, and that meant it only makes sense she'd know too.

So you will actually be closer.  That's pretty neat.  This isn't the caldera, is it? Her ear twitched a little skeptically.  It felt like a normal forest to her.  I was collecting herbs.  Don't pick this one up though! I don't know what it is yet.

WC: 133

"Yep," Towhee rejoined, glad Fen seemed to know what she was talking about, "and nope. We're in a place called Bramblepoint, I believe. It's kinda halfway between your digs and our new ones. We're definitely a lot closer now but we'll do our best not to cramp your style too much." She laughed lightly and bumped her muzzle against the yearling's.

It pleased her to hear that her daughter was still keen on her medical pursuits. An eyebrow raised a little at Fennec's warning and she almost asked if she was being careful, then held her tongue. Of course Eljay would've trained her well in this regard, plus she was capable and intelligent in her own right.

"What's this?" Towhee wanted to know, pointing a toe at the pouch and remembering to add, "This... is it a pelt of some kind?"

Better not, though you'd have to do a lot to cramp all mine.  Fennec responded with a playful flick of her tail, but she eagerly met Towhee's muzzle bump.  She'd missed her and Phox and Fig a hell of a lot.  If this was halfway, then that wasn't far at all, and Fennec suddenly wondered if it wasn't a trip she could make herself.  At the very least, she could come out here and meet them anytime.  

Fennec was just opening her mouth to do some clever response when Towhee amended her question, and she bit back the words with a coy smile.  Yeah.  Bronco gave it to me a while back.  It lets me carry stuff like this, she didn't bother to gesture at the plant, but figured context would work, without having to hold it.  Which is really great, because you do not want to swallow some of these.  At least, not until you could work out what they might do to a body first.

WC: 167

Fun fact: I got Bramblepoint mixed up with The Heartwood and now Towhee and Fennec get to live with my mistake.

Also, I think The Heartwood is totally burnt to the ground.

*rolls with with it* :superlaugh:

Little did Towhee know she'd just given her daughter bad information, not just with the name but also the location. Hey, she'd never claimed to be a good scout! Happily unaware of her mistake, she continued peering curiously at Fen's little—for lack of a better word—satchel. It was actually quite pretty, though more importantly, it was useful.

The fact that Bronco had gifted it to her did not escape Towhee's attention. She could've pressed Fen about this, maybe teased a bit, but she let it go. Instead, she said, "Have you shown it to Eljay? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it and I bet he'd get use out of one too..."

fun fact... when you talk about people not reading territory descriptions... I am one of them ;)

Fennec turned her attention completely away from the stunted little plant (one that, as she uncovered it, was starting to give off a pretty intense scent) and reached out to idly put her paw on the pelt.  Bronco had said it was pretty.  Silver and... black?  She thought she recalled that, but she'd been so caught up in the what, she hadn't really been listening.

No, I guess I didn't think about it.  You could really use about any pelt.  Bronco and Kukutux had put a lot of work in that Fennec simply couldn't note or appreciate, but the main concept was simple genius.  A wrapper around what you were carrying, a way to bunch it together and carry the lot.

That did give her an idea though.  I could ask Kukutux, but she's been pretty busy lately.  It'd be neat to give him something for all of... everything, though.  She thought about it for a second, then laughed.  Watch me find the ugliest rabbit...

WC: 165

kek

The yearling hadn't shown her mentor, though she spoke of giving him a gift as a show of gratitude. Towhee thought this would be a great gesture, though before she could say so, Fennec joked about finding the ugliest rabbit. Her lips twitched and she huffed a laugh.

"It's the thought that counts?" she quipped. "Yours is very pretty, don't get me wrong, but as long as it works, that's all that really matters, right?" She paused before wondering aloud, "Who is Kukutux?" Then there was another brief pause before she blurted, "And what is that smell?"

Kukutux is the healer at Moonspear. I've been training with her some, she's alright, but a little weird.  Fennec smirked, but wrinkled her nose at the question on smell.  That's this plant.  Usually smell means something, so when I caught a whiff, I wanted to find out what it was.  She'd unknowingly unearthed an onion, something that Kukutux would reveal to her when she brought it back to the Moonspear and showed it to her.  See if it'll be worth putting in the garden.  I think this will make me go a little further from the den to dig it though.  Eugh.

Anyway.  She actually reminds me a little of Eljay, but even more agreeable.  If that's a requirement for being a proper medic, I'll stick with 'witch'.  Fennec finished with an amused snort.  Then she began to idly dig at the roots again, trying to clear the last few she felt holding it so she could lever it out of the hole and roll it into her carrying pouch.

WC: 170

I mean, Towhee thought unkindly, what do you expect from someone named Cuckoo Tux? She did not voice this thought aloud, mostly because Fennec had a lot more to say. She shooed away that thought and focused on the yearling's lips, head canting ever so slightly at the mention of a garden. That made her think of Weejay, whose garden had been washed away. Then they'd gone and made this move.

Fen spoke of her preference for being a witch rather than developing a good beside manner, earning a snort from her mother. Towhee stood and watched as Fennec began to dig some more, the sight triggering her to ask, "So you keep a garden now? Somewhere in the glen, I assume?"

Not yet.  She reached under and prised it up, then felt the roots tear as it fell sideways.  She drew the pouch over and, with a paw, pushed the plant in.  Then she turned back to Towhee to fully answer the question.  I was planning one.  Eljay's was always super helpful for knowing where to find plants, and sometimes it takes forever to hunt something down.  Especially without her eyesight, having a collection that she'd organized and maintained would be priceless as compared to constantly traipsing the wilds for stock.

What made you decide to move to the Caldera, anyway?  She asked, swapping subjects as she thought again on how wild it had been to run into her mom here of all places.  It couldn't be entirely to be closer to them; Fennec wasn't that vain.  If it was, Towhee would have done it when Meerkat first decided to relocate.

WC: 150

Hearing her daughter describe the pouch's purpose and seeing it were two different things. Her orange eyes followed in utter fascination as Fennec casually yanked the onion from the ground and felt around before inserting it in her utility bag. She would've kept staring, though Fen said something, drawing her mother's eyes back to her lips.

A thought hit her suddenly, though before she could voice it, Fen asked for more details on the move. That made Towhee glance back in the direction where she'd left the rest of her currently nomadic pack mates. She should probably stop loitering here and get back to them. Especially after Alyx's wayward trip during the floods, they needed as many sets of eyes on everyone as possible...

"Few reasons," she replied, returning her attention to Fennec again. "A couple of packs popped up right next door. We decided that if we're gonna have neighbors, they should at least be our allies. It'll be a bit like when Asterism Grove, Firebirds and Frosthawks were a thing." Although there was much to look forward to, Towhee still felt a pang of nostalgia as she recollected their too brief Tuktu collective.

"I should get back to them, actually," the Sovereign said reluctantly a moment later. "Before I do, I had a random thought: what if you guys made a garden here, in Bramblepoint?" Towhee still hadn't realized her error. Hopefully she would at some point, so her daughter didn't try to build a garden in the husks of The Heartwood... "All three packs could share it. Anyway, just an idea. Take it or leave it. You're the expert," she finished with a smile in her usually toneless voice.

All of those made relative sense to Fennec, though she'd hoped for something a tad more interesting.  Maybe one of the packs was full of cannibals, and tried to eat Weejay, or some shit like that.  Things that were cool inside Fennec's brain and also probably not cool when said out loud in practice.  Fennec had zero issues with Weejay, she just liked a good cannibal story.  And how interesting would it be to go meet them?  Meat them.... fuck.  She snorted.

Fortunately Towhee had moved on to talking about a garden.  Even more fortunately, Fennec didn't have to explain why she'd made that noise in reference to her mom's idea... Towhee wouldn't have heard it.  Thank fuck for her mom's deafness sometimes.  Maybe not here, exactly.  She felt the soil skeptically.  The plant she'd dug up had been a scraggly one, and the dirt felt a little dry here to be really worth anything growing-wise.  But once we find a midpoint, yeah, I think that might be neat.  She thought about it a moment longer.  Part of the appeal of a garden near her den would be that she didn't need to go far to collect.  But if they moved something out here as well, they could split taking care of it... and it could grow, and encompass a pretty wide swath of ground as a result.  Besides, three wolves finding different plants was better than one.  At the minimum, because maybe other packmates would take interest too.

I like it, she summed up with a small smile.  I'll see if I can come that way once you move? and pick a spot.  She could tell Eljay and he could do the same, probably.  Meet in the middle, see what they had?

WC: 293

Fennec countered the location, though not the suggestion itself. Towhee waved her tail, pleased that she'd actually come up with an idea that might prove useful. She could picture it already: a bunch of wolves from three separate packs, toiling over an enormous garden, each with his or her own dead animal pouch full of stinky apples (or whatever it was Fen had pulled from the earth)...

"You're welcome to drop by anytime," Towhee said, even though it probably went without saying. "I'm sure we'll see each other again soon. 'Til then." She slipped her snout toward Fen's, gently touching noses before licking her daughter's cheek. She then stepped back, offered a final, "Later," and then swiveled to reconvene with the roving flock of Firebirds Redhawks.

Fennec gave an exaggerated grimace when Towhee licked her cheek, but as soon as she pulled away, bumped her own nuzzle to Towhee's shoulder/size/whatever.  Later.  She listened to her steps retreating, then snagged up her bundle and set off back towards the Glen.  Her mind roved over the idea of the central garden and how that might look, but first, she needed to finish her den project.

WC: 69