priscillia izalith

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The young woman continued on her journey. Realizing that she was in a completely new world, full of wolves that she had never met before. She wasn’t sure if it was exactly unsettling, but it was something new. Perhaps exciting even that she had been able to meet a new face. She guessed it wasn’t so bad to now know that she wasn’t exactly alone, and that maybe one day she could find a new home and have a stable environment and even make some new friends.

Now she found herself in a new place. It was quite flat, which was a change from the peaks that she had visited prior. It was still a bit chilly around this area, but she didn’t really mind it in the end. Her pale gaze roamed around the area, trying to familiarize herself with the new territory. She wondered, would she run into somebody new today as well?

"speech" - thought

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"Hurry up, squirt! We're wasting daylight." Rœkia trotted back toward the edge of the garden near the small fire they had made. Her magpie companion, Wolf, flew along above her with clumps of yarrow held in his beak. It was a lucky find. Auster tolerated the winter a bit better than Boreas had but even so the herbs most healers relied on were not growing back in the numbers they had been in the past.

When they reached the small campsite, Wolf set the flowers down and flew off into a nearby tree to preen. "Ok, let's get to work. Normally the tea is made out of dry leaves but lets see how the fresh do." She bent her head and began to carefully use her teeth to snip off the leaves before placing them in a pile. She then paused to watch her cousin for a moment before Wolf called out that there was someone nearby. Rœkia glanced about for a moment. "Hello, is someone there?"

Lukina wanted to reply that she was hurrying but she couldn't do that very well with the yarrow plants clenched between her teeth so she had to swallow her quip instead. Maybe the opportunity would arise for her to use it later in the day. She settled down near the small fire Wolf had build and watched as her cousin began the lesson on making yarrow tea. She tried to remember if they'd had this lesson before but perhaps she was thinking of chamomile tea. Carefully positioning the plants between her paws she started using her puppy teeth to pull the leaves off the stalks before setting them in a pile. Thank goodness it was a calm day so she didn't have to worry about the wind stealing her leaves. She paused when her cousin asked if someone was there. She tensed, hoping it wasn't another mean dire wolf.

priscillia izalith

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The young wolf continued to wander through the new area. Trying to familiarize herself with the new lands that she had found herself in. It wasn’t too long before she heard a faint voice, her dark ears twitched slightly. “Hello?” she called out, beginning to follow the voice and seeing two other individuals not too far from her. From what she could tell they were both females, so she felt pretty safe. One of them was a bit younger than her as well.

She lowered her head, showing that she wasn’t a threat. She could see that they had a little fire, and a magpie sitting very close to them. “I didn’t know there were other wolves out here, my name is Priscillia,” she introduced herself. She hoped that she would start off with a good impression, and in a way, the two faes reminded her a bit of how she and her mother would live. It was almost a comforting sight, but she wouldn’t bring that up unless it was somehow asked about or something. She just hoped that they were friendly and the older one wouldn’t chase her off.

"speech" - thought

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Rœkia listened carefully, hearing an answer to her call. "Over here!" Not that it was normally a good idea to attract attention as a lone woman with a child but the voice hadn't sounded too threatening. Soon a yearling female cloaked in an ebony pelt arrived and introduced herself as Priscillia. "Nice to meet you, I'm Rœkia and this is Lukina. There are wolves most everywhere these days. Some very big and not so nice. You're welcome to join us. There are some clumps of yarrow nearby so I thought I would show my cousin here how to make tea." Rœkia was glad the strange, massive dire wolves that had descended on Boreas seemed to be scarce in this part of Auster. With a little luck it would remain that way.

Rœkia gently picked up the small pile of yarrow leaves in her jaws and deposited them into a bowl. She then picked up a deer's leg bone in her jaws. Tilting her head she mashed the leaves a bit before setting the bone down next to her cousin. "Mashing them a bit helps the healing properties absorb into the water faster."

Lukina watched carefully as a black wolf not that much older than her appeared. Her tail began to wag as the other girl appeared to be friendly. "Hi!" she chirped, right after Rœkia introduced her. "Do you live here?" She was curious if the other girl had a stable home or if she was nomadic like they were. Her attention was partially drawn back to her cousin as the older woman continued on with the lesson. Lukina was quick to copy the movements, gathering the leaves in her mouth and spitting them into her own bowl with probably a bit too much gusto. One of the leaves stuck to her lip and she shook her head sending it onto the ground. Oops. Ah well, she'd ended up picking too many anyways. She quickly nabbed the bone from Rœkia and set about trying to position it in her jaws.

priscillia izalith

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The older fae would introduce herself and the younger wolf. She explained that there was a wolf in almost every territory, which was a bit surprising to hear. She even said that some were big and not exactly friendly either. She however, welcomed Priscillia to join them to make some tea. Priscillia would slowly make her way closer, being careful not to invade their personal space. However, she had never been taught how to make tea so she was quite curious.

“It’s nice to know there’s someone else who specializes in plants,” she commented, watching as the woman handled the yarrow with proper care and precision. The younger wolf then would greet her, and ask if she lived here. “I came from a place that is pretty far from here,” she said, and then she watched as the younger girl would also grab some of her own leaves. Copying her mentor as best as she could. She looked at all the tools available, “How did you two find all this stuff?” she inquired, her eyes shimmering a bit. She was interested and wanted equipment of her own.


"speech" - thought

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Rœkia nodded as Priscilla spoke. "We're from a long ways away as well. As for these items, we've just picked them up on our journeys. The bones were taken from a kill. Some of the bowls we found, one I made. You can find all sorts of things in human ruins." Many wolves were wary of places where humans once lived but she found the old ruins useful and many items could be gleaned from searching about the strange dwellings. Rœkia glanced over at Lukina, and checked the girl's progress.

"Ok, now we want to add in some water." She trotted over to the nearby stream that cut through the dancefloor. With her bowl secured in her jaws she carefully scooped up some water. Walking slowly and carefully back toward the fire she set the bowl down near it. "Now we wait for the water to heat up. We want to see bubbles coming up." She walked with Lukina to help the girl with her bowl.

Lukina awkwardly held her head sideways as she tried to mash her leaves. She persevered, though, and soon had made enough progress that Rœkia moved onto the next step. She watched attentively as Rœkia went to the stream for water. She marveled at how carefully the older woman was able to hold the bowl in her jaws and scoop water into it without loosing any of her yarrow leaves. Lukina moved to do the same. She carefully picked up her bowl with her upper fangs over the top on one lip of the bowl and her lower fangs underneath. She trotted over to the edge and tipped her head forward, trying to scoop the water up. A few leaves floated away but with some help from Rœkia she was able to set her bowl near the fire as well before flopping down on her belly and yawning. She was getting tired.

priscillia izalith

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It seemed that the two other wolves were not natives. She then explained where they got all the tools. It seemed like these two were quite resourceful. She also mentioned human ruins, and Priscillia nodded slightly. She knew of humans, but she had never seen one in her life. She heard that they could be dangerous, but she wasn’t exactly sure how. Though if a place was broken down to just ruins, she doubted any of them would stick around. “I suppose I’ll look for these human ruins, it seems like they’ve got a lot of useful things,” she commented.

The older woman then explained that they needed water, and grabbed a bowl. She would fill it with water from a small nearby stream and place it by the fire. She explained that she wanted the water to be bubbling. She nodded, watching intensely and taking note of every single step that they took to make the tea. She had never even heard of a wolf wishing to heat up water, but she was sure that if it helped make tea then it was definitely a useful skill to learn. She watched intently, minutes passing. Steam began to rise and as she peered over she could see small bubbles coming up… Then, the surface of the water finally began to roll and bubble itself. “I think it’s ready,” she informed them. Curiosity clearly glimmering in her soft gaze.

"speech" - thought

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Rœkia nodded. "Indeed, they really do. I'm glad they're extinct though. I've heard to many unsettling stories about humans to have a desire to meet one." She shifted her body into a more comfortable position and soon the tea was done. "Ah, now comes the really difficult part. Getting a hot bowl away from the fire to cool. I'll handle this part." She purposely positioned her body between Lukina and the fire, knowing the girl would want to help and she didn't need the dangerous combination of a pup and hot water.

Rœkia carefully picked up the base of a deer antler in her mouth and approached the fire. Using the antler she rested two tines against the bowl and the carefully scooted and walked the bowl away from the fire to where it could cool. She then repeated the process with the other bowl. "Ok, that should do. We'll let it cool. So, Priscillia, do you know anything about the packs around here?"

Lukina yawned again, flopping on her side near the fire and basking in its warmth. Her energy level was crashing but as it was mentioned that the tea was ready she perked up. Lukina moved around her cousin, intent on getting a closer look at what the older woman was doing. However, once the bowl was pulled away from the fire it seemed the would have to do more waiting. She flopped back down and stretched out on her belly, resting her head on her left arm. She tried to stay awake but she could feel her eyelids starting to droop.

priscillia izalith

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Rœkia spoke briefly about humans, commenting how she was glad they were long gone. Though quickly the conversation would switch back to the tea. She explained that this step of the process was the most difficult of them all. Priscillia made sure to pay close attention, watching the woman move in a very careful manner. She used even more tools, including a deer antler. Priscillia didn’t exactly feel brave enough to stand so close to the warm fire. She was glad that all she had to do was watch.

Then came another question, “I actually don’t know much,” she replied, she glanced over at the younger wolf who seemed to not care too much for the conversation. “I suppose I should start learning soon though, do you know anything? Are there any bad ones around or ones I should watch out for?” she questioned.

"speech" - thought

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Rœkia shook her head in response to Priscillia's question. "I'm afraid I don't know much about the packs here. I generally give the pack lands I run across a wide berth. I know there's a couple near the center of Boreas near the Volcano and one near a strange human shrine." She'd gotten into battles in both locations, not with any of the pack members but with invading predators that had happened to chase her near or into pack lands. She bent her head and tested the tea. Yes, this was ready. She reached out and nudged Lukina. "C'mon Luki, its ready." This would help her cousin get a deeper sleep, hopefully one free of nightmares.

Lukina groaned as she felt her cousin's paw nudging her. However, once she realized the tea was done she practically sprang up to her paws, her little tail wagging as she bounded over to her bowl and swiftly drank down her tea. She wrinkled her nose. Bleck. Honestly, it wasn't very good. It tasted a little bit like dirt and she wondered if there was a way to make these kinds of teas taste better. Lukina stuck her tongue out at her cousin before curling up in a little ball. Her tail wrapped around her and covered her nose. She sighed softly and then drifted off to sleep.

-exit via sleep-