Winter had come to eastern Boreas with a vengeance. She'd struggled almost each day to ford a path along the borders as new snow kept falling in the night. It took up most of her energy just to patrol and make sure the snow drifts hadn't obscured the scent markers. Today was a rare day of calm. New snow hadn't fallen but it had been so chilly last night that everything was covered in a thin layer of ice. Theory had skated along the ice bridges between the smaller islands before arriving at the shores of the largest island in the chain. The shallower parts of the great ocean had frozen to a thick, impenetrable layer. Theory slowed to a stop on the chilly shores, a bone-deep shiver wracking her body before she exhaled a puff of frosty breath. On days like today it felt like it'd never get warm again - just one wintery morning folding into another teeth-chattering night. She squinted through the sharp air and padded deeper into the palm groves where the snow piled in drifts around the base of the trees. She'd wanted to learn more of the healing arts, but Rhyme's time had been taken up now that he had taken on Corvus and Poem as apprentices. Well, now that she'd made him take them on. Being an alpha still felt strange sometimes. Her father didn't belong only to her, he was her beta. He belonged to the pack... and of late, he belonged to Samara. She smiled wryly thinking about the small healer. Theory had invited her to the island today to discuss various ways of treating patients - especially methods of transmitting medication. It wasn't always so easy. Her black lemur that she'd rescued was a difficult patient. His tail bones had begun to set but he was recalcitrant and refused to take medications for pain when offered. How could she make it more appealing? Theory wanted him to trust her, just like Alouette trusted her. He was safely on the mainland tucked away in her den, but she hoped to have a more innovative way of treating him by the time she returned. The young alpha settled in to one of the only places that seemed to have bare ground - but even that felt uncommonly hard and cold as sat down. Would this winter ever end? "theory speaks!"

(Set a bit after the Rhymara thread?)

The snow she had feared would soon be upon them arrived with a vengeance, now they were bombarded by new snowfall on a daily basis and well frankly, that was not easy for the tiny woman to navigate. She jumped from snowdrift to snowdrift more than she forged any path, it also didn't help that the cold made her limbs grow stiff quicker than usual, they also ached more. Samara was fiercely independent and usually, she would be determined to make her own way but after struggling through the snow for days she was kind of just wishing someone could carry her around, she was tired. Still she would intend to keep her meeting with Theory, her mind was swimming still, it hadn't been too long ago that Rhyme had asked to make their relationship formal. Was it her place to share? She was Rhyme's daughter after all, so maybe he wanted to tell her? Besides if Theory had asked for her specifically then she probably had some topic specifically in mind and it was her duty to try and give her whatever answers or support she asked for, not be worrying over the blossoming relationship between herself and the girl's father. The going was slow, but she finally managed to make it to the ice sheet that had become the shore between the mainland and the island territories. The woman paused there panting and taking a moment to try and work some warmth back into her snow-coated limbs, though she was practically covered in it, the snow rose up the sides of her torso easily and had clung to her fur, now mixed with sweat from the exertion of the trek. Taking a deep breath the woman skated out across the water, it was a bit nerve-wracking but if the bigger members of the pack were managing it, it seemed unlikely she'd break through the ice into the hypothermia inducing waters below. Finally she made it, Theory's scent telling her that the girl was already there and likely waiting, so she picked up her pace as much as she could, finding the young alpha seated in one of the few clear areas to be found. Samara offered her a polite nod of her head and a soft smile as she approached. "Hope I didn't leave you waiting long." She said, her tone light and friendly. WC: 396 (789/1500) ""

"No, not at all," she answered warmly, standing up and stretching each limb individually. She was struggling with the cold, she couldn't imagine how the smaller female was faring. Nonetheless, Samara seemed to be in bright spirits. "Thank you for coming so far to meet me. I have a unique problem that I was hoping to pick your brain about. I found a small lemur whose tail has been broken. I've been trying to treat it, but he's been..." Theory frowned a little and scuffed her paw along the ground. "Difficult? He won't take anything to manage the pain or potential infection. I really want to help him, but I'm not sure how to get him to take his medicine." The young alpha peered around the clearing then stared up at the sky, lost in thought. She knew firsthand that herbs never came in a flavor that she'd describe as "delicious." They were often bitter, sour, or just plain inedible. It was no surprise that her patient wasn't leaping at the chance to gobble up her treatments. Nonetheless, it was the only way she knew how to help besides tightening the splint and making sure nothing was too swollen or too... ugh, healing was far, far more difficult than she'd anticipated. Fighting had become second-nature, but this was all a bit beyond her. "Any thoughts? I know you're more experienced than I am, and Octave has his paws full with another patient." Theo smiled a little and then settled down to listen to Samara's brainstorming. Together they could come up with something, and it might give her the chance to get to know her father's blossoming romance a bit better. Although their current relationship was unclear, Theo knew Rhyme was fond of the petite female - and that Samara was singly responsible for returning him back to this mortal plane, of sound mind and body. She could never repay her... but perhaps they could be friends. wc 325 (1114/1500) "theory speaks!"

Samara shook some of the snow from her limbs, or rather tried to at least but it had become wet and sticky and she was probably going to be pulling clumps of ice from her fur tonight, unless she wanted to chill Rhyme as well... and the last thing he needed right now was to risk becoming sick. The woman settled herself on a clear patch of earth and gave the young alpha her full attention. Even from the little bit they'd interacted Samara couldn't help but feel a bit fond of the young woman, she saw the best qualities of her father in the girl and though she hadn't known Shaye very well she could see that Theory had learned from her as well, though the girl also wore her inexperience somewhat openly, in her earlier years Samara might have pegged that as a weakness and done everything in her power to undermine the young woman... but now, well now she cared more about helping her than hindering her... she truly was becoming someone unrecognizable, even to herself. Samara listened as the young woman explained about her patient, the tiny woman's eyebrows lifting as she heard about the lemur. She had seen the white man and his burgundy companion but she'd had little contact with other such animals, let alone the one she shared her pack with. Still, she couldn't help but feel somewhat amused as Theory explained how hard it was to get her patient to swallow their medicine. "What are you giving them?" She asked, though it ultimately wouldn't likely change her answer Samara was also curious how much the girl knew about medicinal herbs. There were very few options that tasted good anyways so the answer was mostly for her and not for anyone else. Samara shuffled slightly, she looked up at the young woman, her eyes so much like her father's, even missing the lavender, if she ever had his would they have his eyes..? Samara shook those thoughts from her mind. She offered the young woman a smile. "There are a few things you can do for picky patients, pups and lemures alike. Right now we have access to one of the easiest ways." The woman rose to her paws and walked over to where some of the snow had began to pile. She worked her paws and muzzle into the snow, building a little bundle. Then she rolled it over to Theory. "Snow can be used to help make herbs more palatable. You can mix them in with berries or other sweet ingredients to help flavour the herbs, if you can make the bundles small enough you can ensure they take the whole dose without eating around the herbs." WC: 1570/1500 ""