The last time she had come here she had been alone, but this time she wanted an extra set of eyes to watch her back and help to load and transport supplies. She was dragging a sled behind her, an assortment of skins and pretty stones wrapped in a bundle. She wasn’t sure the witch still lived in the hut, but she still felt it was best to leave an offering for anything she chose to take.

The croaking of toads put the Archer-Lyall on edge, though none had the thunderous, earth shaking tone of the one she had encountered all those seasons ago. The swirling mist and deep shadows could play tricks on the eyes, but she knew in her bones it hadn’t all just been a dream. “Jus’ keep an’ eye out, this place can get strange.”

“Speech”

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

Ophie knew there was a lot she could learn about healing from Sedna but...did they really have to come here? Beyond the smell of dust, all manner of scents filled her nose making it a little hard to figure out which belonged to what. And then there were the toads...too many hecking toads. Struggling to pay attention, Ophie glanced over at Sedna only for her gaze to dart across the room in alarm. How strange? Wasn't it already strange enough?

"Oh um...Okay." She carefully padded-or rather thudded, with her heavy paws against the floorboards- her way across the room. "What do you hope to find? What is it for?" All very important questions for her to ask, the sooner she learned stuff the better, right?

A tight smile that she hoped would be reassuring crossed her lips, though the tension in her shoulders would give away her own nervousness about the whole situation. “There’s a good store o’ dried ‘erbs in th’ back.” Her voice was soft, but not quite a whisper. “I’ve never seen anythin’ like th’ way they’re stored. Usually I just take a bit o’ this, an’ a bit o’ that an’ leave a gift behind, jus’ in case. I think this time we’ll take a bit more.” She didn’t have a word for the glass canisters or the mortar and pestle, or the kettle, but she could see their use over her empty shells and open shelves. The peeling labels were illegible but as Otis prised the cork stopper out of each and stuck it under her nose, she gave a sniff before her companion offered it to Ophelia.

“This one’s goldenrod, yer can mix it up in a tea with some berries ter take th’ edge off an’ it’ll help with sore throats, or yer can mix it up in a poultice usin’ that thing, she gestured to the mortar and pestle that was already bundled into the pile to load onto their sled “fer open wounds.” The next to open was lavender, and while it wasn’t exactly anything special she shrugged and nodded as well. “This one is jus’ some dried lavender, it smells pretty an’ calms down some when they get stressed. Never been a fan m’self.” Pale eyes wandered across the shelves as her opossum continued to rattle through the shelves, pulling down some containers and turning his nose up at others. Those would be the ones she would have to go back and check.

“Speech”

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

Lesson 1/3

Ophie nodded slowly, trying to store away as much information as her mind would allow. That was her main issue with healing, she supposed, there was so much to take in and if she made one misstep someone could really get hurt. Drying the herbs made a lot of sense though, meant they'd last longer and were easier to store...maybe? Sedna's line of thought made sense, they weren't here to ruin anyones day nor were they stealing. it was more of an exchange, this for that with a very heartfelt thank you on top.

Wandering a little further away, she tilted her head back and tried to see if she recognised any of the plants contained within the strange cones of  glass. Oh! She'd seen that one in a tea Gos had made once, was meant to help with fatigue and weariness, but what was it called? Ophie squinted, only to glance back at Sedna as her companion offered her a good whiff. Breathing deep she nodded, goldenrod and then lavender. Two very nice smelly smells, the sort that would spring to mind if she smelled them again. Hopefully.

"Sedna. Don't you ever worry you might accidentally make someone sick? I-I'm not saying you're a bad healer or nothing, it just feels like a lot of responsibility, I guess."

It was a thoughtful question, and Sedna tried to offer what she thought was a reassuring smile, but it felt foreign on her face. “Nobody’ll expect yer ter fly solo until yer comfortable.” Each of the jars Otis had passed over were bought down in turn and the monochrome woman squinted against the distortion the glass offered. “Otis ‘as a habit o’ passin’ over poisons, so I know that this one needs ter be treated a bit more carefully. O’ course, ‘e’s a lot smaller’n we are, and poison is in th’ dose.” She opened her jaws to pull the cork stopper free and gave the jar a sniff. “This one is pennyroyal, it can be mixed up as a tea an’ used as a contraceptive, but add too much an’ yer’ll give yer patient th’ shits. May even shit themselves ter death. O’ course yer can add other herbs to it ter offset the side effects an’ make it taste a bit less like ass. But it’s not gonna be pleasant fer whoever chooses ter take it.” She gave a shrug and added it to the pile of things she wanted to keep.

The jar of dark dried berries made her eyes light up ever so slightly. “Ah, now this, this’ll either be dried blueberries, or nightshade. What do yer reckon we’d use either o’ those for?”

“Speech”

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

Lesson 2/3

Sedna just had an air of confidence about her, like even if she messed up she'd know how to make it right. Ophie could never be like that, just wasn't smart enough but maybe one day she'd feel more comfortable with this sort of thing. Won't fret and worry she was doing more harm than good. Shooting Otis a concerned look, Ophie then turned her attention to the pennyroyal. She wasn't sure how it worked or what it did to function as a contraceptive but...ew, the thought of giving someone the poops so much they died sent a shiver running down her spine. Not a way she wanted to go for sure.

Padding her way closer, Ophie took a tentative sniff at the containers contents. Dark and dried berries, with a lingering sweet scent.

"I've seen birds eat blueberries sometimes. Nightshade...isn't that poisonous?"

Sedna’s wide grin would tell the girl she got the answer right, “Fer us it is.” She confirmed, taking another sniff, her nose twitching excitedly. “But some rabbits can build up a tolerance ter it. I used ter have a companion rabbit that loved it. A stranger ate ‘er, but they were already dead ‘fer I could catch ‘em up. Didn’t kill th’ rabbit, but there was enough in ‘er blood ter kill the wolf foolish enough ter eat ‘er.” She had been meaning to build herself some sort of enclosure to keep rabbits in, maybe she would have to move that up.

“Blueberries though,” She continued with a smile, “usually jus’ make things taste a bit nicer.” She added the nightshade to the keep pile, tuning out Otis’s complaints as she did so. “We better look at gettin’ outta here, eh?” Best to make a move before the sun set completely. Last thing they needed was to come all this way and catch themselves in quicksand.

“Speech”

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

Lesson 3/3