Ragna carried a bundle of elderberry leaves and green inner back wrapped tight in a rabbit skin back toward her temporary camp site. The sun had finally risen over the island and a warm, tropical breeze was blowing in from the south. It was a gorgeous day.

When she arrived she settled down next to the fire and pulled out a couple of ceramic bowls. She set down the rabbit skin and opened it to reveal her bounty. She took a bundle of the elder leaves and added them to one of the bowls. She then used her claws to bruise and mash the leaves.

She'd need to get the tincture started to. She added the green bark to the other ceramic bowl and worked to mash it and break it so that the healing properties could more readily be absorbed into the water.

The Archer-Lyall hadn’t done much more than swim out and sleep the last time she was here, but Chips had been pecking at the back of her head and rawking enough to leave her eyes in a permanent squint, scowl etched on her face. So she had set him to keeping an eye out for sharks as she took the swim from the mangroves out to the island where they had first met. She hauled herself from the ocean, fur sodden, breath coming heavily, but it didn’t seem enough to earn her a nap today. Her companion was strutting among other ibis, stretching his now clean wings, no doubt bragging about how regular his meals were over on the mainland since he found the stray wolf. She rolled her eyes with a snort and shook out her coat, the large shiny rock glinting from amongst the underbrush still. She never quite got around to exploring the place.

But again, she was distracted. This time it was the scent of smoke, a smell that once would have sent her high-tailing it to the hills. Instead she moved towards it with some interest, spotting a wolf doing something with bowls and leaves. Now that really caught her attention. "Whatcher workin’ on?" She questioned with some interest, thinking again that she should really establish a fire pit near her den.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

Ragna carefully used one of her paws to scrape the fat and suet she'd brought with her into the bowl. She got as much as she could and then licked at her paws t clean them. With the fat added she took a stick and mashed the fat and the leaves together, looking to get everything well mixed. She gave the concoction a quick sniff and nodded lightly to herself. Yes, this looked and smelled right. She scooted the bowl onto a piece of raw hide and dragged it over to the fire so the long end of the rawhide was facing away.

At that moment another wolf entered onto the scene. She seemed a friendly enough sort. Ragna smiled. "Hello there! Oh, I'm working on an ointment and a tincture. There's an elderberry bush right there, thought I'd make some use of it. If you want to share my fire you're welcome to."

Ragna turned her attention to the tincture. She pulled out a bottle of water and a small jar of wine as well as an empty bottle. Inside the empty bottle she carefully placed some green elder bark.

Sedna watched the other woman work with unbridled interest. "We didn’ use fire where I learned. Everythin’ took a lot longer. Infusin’ in a bowl in th’ sun can take days. Yer’d have better control over the strength of it this way yeah?" She wasn’t sure the woman was up to giving a lesson, clearly she had her own tasks to complete and the Archer-Lyall didn’t want to be a burden, but to extend her knowledge past that passed down by her grandmother? Well, she’d be a fool to pass up the opportunity. Eyeing the elderberry bush contemplatively, and the deeper shade that rested behind the see-through structure (hut? thing?), the silver woman would put hard gems on finding wild ginger in that shady patch. She just needed to sniff it out.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

Ragna carefully picked up her bottle of white wine and added some to the bottle with the green elder bark to create a tincture. Setting the tincture aside she scooted the bowl with the fat and leaves over to the fire where the fat could melt and soak up the properties of the elder bark. Eventually when the mixture started to turn green she would pull it from the fire and let it cool into a solid ointment.

She chuckled and nodded as the other woman spoke of heating everything in the sun. She nodded quickly. "Yes, it makes it much easier to gauge the time something heats in order to get the strength you need. I remember doing things the old way before I found my husband. Luckily, I used to live near a hot spring so I could use the water there but with wolves occasionally bathing in it I'm not sure that was the best idea. My name is Ragna, by the way. You're welcome to sit and craft with me if you'd like."