永程

Sirius had shown Yong Cheng to the Garden, and told him that he could have his own spot to plant his own things. Now, he needed to gather the seeds and plants and place them there. He already had the horsetail, and watercress, and marigolds that he and Sirius had collected, but they weren't very well planted. Yong Cheng was still shaken from the bird attack -- small holes pricked his sides where the bird's claws had dug into him -- and he had been shaking still when he planted them. The boy carefully righted them, digging deeper into the soil where they'd been settled, packing the roots in more securely. He still needed to divert a stream of water from the river, but that could be done later; they were near enough anyway that for now, it would do. Later on he might build structures to protect his precious plants, but his small garden was nowhere near that stage yet.

What else did he need? He didn't want to venture out into the open any time soon. Yong Cheng shuddered at the phantom brush of talons in his skin, and the lurch he'd felt deep in his stomach when he'd been wrenched out of the air. What could he find in the Plains? Well -- he could always get more marigold; he'd seen it growing in the fields when they'd first moved in -- but shouldn't he acquire a more... uncommon herb? It was a garden, after all. He should be focussing on growing the things they needed most, until the skies all around Boreas finally cleared and the ash dissipated.

Ash. That might make good fertiliser, he realised. Perhaps a trip to the volcano, when things had settled down? It would enrich the soils and help things to grow better. Lost in his thoughts as he was, Yong Cheng didn't realise when another wolf approached.

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Eliphas was slowly settling into the new lands in the south. He wasn’t completely comfortable yet, the quakes and ash saw to that, but he supposed one day when the sky was blue again it would be pleasant. Not that Eli wasn’t at home in such environments as this, though he preferred the lush forests of his home he could live near anywhere. He wondered if it would be better to make his den closer to his blood kin. He’d seen more than one forested Island in the Empire’s Archipelago.

Delicate ivory paws pulled him forward over the Armada’s territory, he’d heard of a garden being built and even if he wasn’t partial to the territory chosen he could help with that. He liked plants, liked horticulture. Eliphas’s alabaster paws secretly held green thumbs. With his ears perked the delicate Klein man found his way to the healer’s garden.

There was already another here doing his work. Eli thought he might have seen him at the meeting prior to their move southward. With the volcano’s nasty tantrum the plants hadn’t comeback near as strong as they should have. Finding rare seeds and nourishing them in the pack was their best course of action. Eliphas approached the small healer, his focus on his work and not on the approaching Druid.

”Armada Healer.” The shapely albino called out as he approached so the other might not startle so heavily. Snow white tail wagged at his hips as he offered the younger boy a crooked grin. ”What have you planned for this plot?” He asked curiously, wondering if he would be able to offer help.

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"Armada healer," said a voice. Yong Cheng looked up, searching for its source -- and there he was, a vision of white and seas of pink and blue in his eyes. The stranger wasn't much older than himself, Yong Cheng realised, and by the casual stance he held, not unfamiliar to this pack, too. Was he a higher-ranking wolf? Should Yong Cheng be grovelling? Ah, but he'd not grovelled to Iolaire, Zee, or Sirius, and he wouldn't be grovelling to anyone else either.

Instead, he smiled.

"I have planned," Cheng said, filtering a hint of grandeur into his voice, "A great structure." He gestured vaguely with his paw, up and down. He coloured his tone with weight and gravitas, seeming for all the world to be giving an address to adoring subjects. "A den with walls as clear as day, so light shines through. A temple to seeds. A place of rebirth, renewal, and rejuvenation. I have planned --" he winked,

"-- To fill this land with greenery and colour, the likes of which no eye has witnessed before."

Then, as if visibly deflating, Yong Cheng drew his shoulders in, and shrank, seeming an inch or two shorter. He seemed almost to wilt, like the plants did at season's end. His ears drooped; his tail ceased to thrash upon the earth.

"Alas," he sighed, "I have yet nothing with which to do so."

"Ah!" As if suddenly realising who it was that stood in front of him, Yong Cheng once again rose to his feet, winking at the older wolf. He was older, by the looks of it. He looked as if, all at once, all his problems had been solved. It was all dramatics, of course, but Yong Cheng wished to have some fun. "My great compatriot. Might this humble wolf interest you in a little bit of farming?"


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The small wolf looked up as he was addressed and Eliphas felt his pale lips pull back in the hint of a smile. The younger boy seemed to debate what he should do for a long moment as he took in the sight of the beautiful Klein. Eliphas was faced with the earthen toned man, not being the smaller of the two was on odd experience but he’d still approach slowly. Eventually the teacher was given a smile.

He didn’t expect the explanation he was given though, and he didn’t miss the tone of his pack mate’s voice. Eli cocked his head curiously as the younger wolf became more animated and offered his vision exuberantly. Eliphas was no stranger to the strange, and though he couldn’t really comprehend the eventual dream there was little doubt it would be possible. Eli had experienced stranger before.

He slowly deflated though and Eliphas anticipated the next words from the wolf’s mouth. His own alabaster ears fell to his skull as he was told there was no way to create such a structure now. Eliphas nodded his head knowingly, big dreams needed big supplies and if he hadn’t been in the Armada for long it wasn’t a surprise. ”Where there is a will, there is a way.” Eli offered encouragingly before the smaller man could continue.

His sorrow forgotten the smaller male seemed to suddenly realize that there was more work to be done. He sprang up and offered Eliphas a wink. Ivory ears perked forward curiously as he was addressed with seriousness. Would he enjoy farming? Eliphas was technically a healer, he worked with plants he was a creature of the forest. Eli much preferred to focus himself on the work of the flora than the fauna. He nodded confidently and added a suggestive wink of his own, though the other wolf was a bit young.

”Yes, I’d enjoy a bit of agriculture.” He chuckled softly, his dual toned eyes searching the ground around them. ”Do you have any seeds or plants ready or are we in store for a collecting mission?” He asked with curiosity as his delicate features did another sweep of the area. This would be a good spot for an eventual garden. He wondered if the wolf’s dream would be seen to fruition. ”My name is Eliphas Klein.” He offered his name and looked to the smaller wolf expectantly.

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”Where there is a will, there is a way.”

"Wise words, wise words," Yong Cheng agreed. He found himself wondering just who this mysterious stranger was -- a pale ghost, with dual-toned eyes and a kindly smile. He had a graceful air about him -- the kind of gentleness that you couldn't quite place as due to age, or due to character. He was quite a small fellow, compared to the behemoths in the pack (mainly Sirius), but he was still taller than the boy healer.

"Bird," he responded, the alias rolling easily off his tongue. By this point it seemed as though most of the pack knew him by his nickname; there was little sense in using his actual one, and he doubted that they could pronounce it anyway. "Agriculture," he hummed, "I have no idea what that is."

Ah -- Eliphas had returned his wink! With a smile befitting a boy, Yong Cheng dipped his head in a playful bow. He returned to his dramatics, adding flair into his tone and a sparkle in his shimmering green eyes. "A mission, my friend --" here he lowered his voice conspiratorially -- "-- that I must bid thee undertake with me, to gather seeds and carry plants, and fill the land till it flourishes with life!"

It had been a few days since the Bird Incident, but Yong Cheng had managed to rescue his bundled herbs from the woods before they'd had a chance to shrivel up. Now, he'd planted them in careful, neat rows, but he knew he'd still need more. Just -- what? "Good Eliphas, what herbs might a healer need in greatest amount?"


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The young Klein chuckled as Bird told him of his wise words. Eliphas had a good teacher and his maturity was thanks to his primal father. He had his own problems with allowing himself to regress too far into his feral side, but living in Sirius’s pack helped guide him. To keep him civil. To keep him grounded. Bird gave his name, and admitted not knowing what agriculture was. ”Farming basically.” He told him with a good natured chuckle.

His actions seemed to give Bird the boost he needed, and it kept a smile on Eli’s dainty features. The primal Klein wagged his ivory tail at his hips as the boy grew playful and offered up their plan of action. Eli was usually more mature than the games he was playing, but letting loose was something Eliphas needed to embrace. ”A worthy endeavor I believe” He admitted, moving forward.

What plants did they need to gather? What would help them the most. ”What do packs use the most? Or should we find rare herbs so we don’t have to look so hard next time?” Most of Eli’s plant uses were for his potions, but the Armada needed to be thought about. ”Dandelions are everywhere, surely they don’t need cultivated.” He thought for a moment. ”Pain relief, maybe plants to focus on the prevention of infection? Eli wasn’t a talented healer, he was a potion master. This was fairly new to him.

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"Those are good ideas!" Smiled Yong Cheng at Eliphas, totally unsure of what was actually a good idea or not. He knew enough to keep himself alive, and he'd learnt some things upon joining the Armada, but the boy was far from a full-fledged healer. "Rare herbs, I think, if we can find them. I am not sure how the volcano will affect things growing in the wild, and-- " he stared at the plants he currently had. They weren't the rarest he could find, but he was contented with them. They were water-loving plants, and with the volcano drying up some water sources, he wasn't sure how long it would be before he could find them again. "-- It would be good to have a secondary resource."

"I know a few," he mused then, thinking about what herbs he wanted to put in his currently tiny garden. "Like ginseng. It helps to strengthen the immune system -- that is, the body's fighting force." It was one of the rarer herbs he was familiar with. Despite it being uncommon, his mother somehow knew it very well. "But I'm not too sure where to get it from."

There was also a flowering plant with white-petalled flowers he had heard of that was rumoured to ease childbirth pains, as well as for the general cleaning of wounds. Cheng was sure that he could use other herbs to clean wounds, but the aspect of childbirth was something he'd need specialised plants for. It might be good to get that too, and this he let Eliphas know.


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Bird was quick to tell him that his ideas were good, and they were decent ideas. The Armada was a fighting centric pack, there were always odd wounds to be healed and infection was always a threat to any bite wound. The budding ‘healer’ knew that at the very least, even if he didn’t focus on the healing aspect of his plant cultivation. Bird didn’t offer much indication that he was as inexperienced as Eliphas, he seemed eager in his ideas and confident in his decisions. He was also unafraid to voice his lack of knowledge. The young primal Klein found himself holding quite a bit of respect for his new acquaintance.

The young man was eager to speak up about rare herbs, they were likely one of their best bets. Eliphas didn’t know this land as well as the forest that he had come from, but there were definitely some plants that he was having a much more difficult time finding than others. Like the dandelions he had proposed, they were literally everywhere and they’d be fools to cultivate the numerous plants. Eliphas eyed Bird’s collection as the younger wolf took them in. They weren’t incredibly rare specimens, and they might have been a bit too dry for what they were going for. Eli needed to find something fresh, something that he could pull the roots and bring back to the garden. Bird also agreed that the two of them would do well with secondary plants. Eliphas nodded, agreeing with him completely.

The young man gave an example, Ginseng. ”That sounds familiar.” Eli returned, his dual toned eyes looking to the sky as he tried to recall some long forgotten information. That was a plant that his father had cultivated carefully, it took years to cultivate from seed and it was much better to take mature plants. They took a good five years to produce viable seeds and that kind of plant was what they were looking for. ”Ginseng, Ginseng..” Thinking for a few more moments he drug out the information from its dormant place in his memory. ”There are two kinds.” That was the easy part. ”The species I am more familiar with is slow growing, and it mostly found in moist forests.”

He stood up, knowing too well that the plant wouldn’t be found anywhere in the Armada territory. It was much too flat and dry, without the canopy cover that the plant needed. ”I don’t believe we will find any in this area. Maybe we could find it on one of Ashen’s islands.” He hadn’t been to all of them but surely one of the forested islands had moist enough soil to encourage the growth of the plant. ”If we want it to grow here we’ll have to create shade for it too.” He added as he looked over their garden once again. They could do this.

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"Yes, yes," mused the boy, brow furrowing. He felt older than he actually was in that moment, weighing the burden of the pack's health, and finding himself bearing some of it. Lost in his thoughts, Eliphas' words filtered in like the smell of the sea on a breeze -- slowly, and lightly, and there in the back of Yong Cheng's mind. He was considering, considering, considering... what might it mean to cultivate a rare plant? Ginseng was his best bet; his mother knew it, and so he knew it too -- but as the older wolf had said, it wouldn't be easily available anywhere in the Armada. And... Ashen? Yong Cheng tilted his head, cocked at an angle as he looked curiously at Eliphas. "Ashen, you say."

"You mean the Armada?" Another wolf might have laughed at the boy's question, but Yong Cheng had a feeling that Eliphas was not like other wolves. He had a kind face, and bright eyes, and a silvery smile, and the younger wolf felt somewhat at ease around him. He'd not known a world outside the Armada, except for when he was a loner; why would Eliphas mention a pack that was not theirs? "Well... we could try a lake? Somewhere with lots of water... And shade..."

Once again, Yong Cheng's head filled with visions of what he'd imagined for his little bit of earth. A shelter, to protect his plants when it rained too hard. A mini stream, diverted to water his herbs. A fence, to keep out the animals that lived in the Armada's territory. He felt rather like a "farmer" -- like what Eliphas had said agriculture was. "Firefly lake," he decided then, nodding at the white male. "There's lots of water, and it's not too far from here -- at least, not compared to other lands." It would be a day's travel there and a day's travel back, but that was the cost of rarity. And the whole pack was counting on him and the other healers to keep them hale and hearty; Cheng couldn't let them down.


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