With snow still thick on the ground Cricket kinda knew she would be pushing shit uphill to find what she was after, or so she thought. Sticking her head down some rabbit burrows told her this was the right sort of soil, and when she'd found what she was looking for before, it had been in an area dotted with Willows too. Maybe there was some similarity in what they needed to make them sprout? or spore or whatever it was that made mushrooms grow.

The green creature travelled with her characteristic jerky movements. A freeze, a twitch and a lightning fast scurry, only to do it all over again. She stuck her head into badger sets, careful not to wake the snoozing occupants, inside tree hollows and bird nests, anywhere at all that might offer her some reprieve from the freezing snow while still providing the damp conditions the red and white spotted mushrooms needed to thrive. On this particular occasion, the owner of the nest was home and not pleased to have a predators head upsetting her late winter preparations for the nesting season.

A cacophony of beating wings and bird shrieks were punctuated by yelled curses as Cricket backpedaled and fell off the branch she had been balanced on. Her head was pecked and her fur was pulled. She snapped her teeth in a threatening fashion, down lining from the nest clinging to her muzzle and small feathers decorating her face. “I don't wan'yer lousy fuckin' eggs, I'm just lookin' fer some mushrooms yer twat!” She yelled at the bird as if it could possibly understand what she was saying. With a snarl and a grumble she moved to the next promising site, a patch of bare earth beneath some bushes. Maybe she'd have more luck over there.

“Speech”

It's time to play the music, It's time to light the lights

-301/1500-

She doesn’t have a lay of the land yet, and that’s enough to make her uncomfortable. On edge. More than just on edge, but not quite paranoid. No, Sanna wouldn’t call herself paranoid yet. Her steps are high and confident as she eats the ground beneath her with long strides. For as oddly proportioned as she was, she’d always get the job done. Utilitarian, or whatever it was called. That’s what you call girls that aren’t pretty and aren’t strong– utilitarian. Sanna was used to hearing it. She’d long since learned to apply it to herself. Gritting her teeth as she moved over her still sore but mostly healed leg, she fixed her gaze on the world around her.

Hunting for herbs had never been a particularly strong suit. May as well learn what’s out here, though. This was a bitch who’d splint her own leg with a piece of driftwood and some scavenged cordage and move on, not someone who’d try to dull her own pain. Better to feel pain, feel anything at all– that’s what would keep her alive out here. Need to hurt to know your own limits. Need to hurt to thrive properly. That’s what she’d always been taught, at least. As long as she was still hurting, as long as she was still actively bleeding, then she was still alive. For as long as she’s alive, she should figure out how to do the actual healing things a pack probably needed. If she was going to be in a pack, she had to be useful to them. Couldn’t be a burden, but also this sucked to a degree. Scowling, she fixed her gaze back on the ground and her nose back to the herb hunt.

As Sanna browses, she becomes acutely aware that she’s not alone. The frantic flapping of wings, and then someone yelling at the birds. Yelling at the birds? What the fuck? Whoever else was out here, they were far too close to continue to ignore. Not that the girl was necessarily worried about being attacked, but it would probably be beneficial to not startle a stranger. She would know– talk about someone who does poorly when taken by surprise. Her gaze narrows, trying to pinpoint the source of the movement, the scent of another on the breeze. Ah– there. Someone who also appeared to be looking for something.

Looking for mushrooms. Functionally the same thing that Sanna was doing, but… what the fuck? She squinted, gaze finally settling on what could only be a child. What business did a child have with mushrooms? How much did Sanna really care to find out? Still, she couldn’t very well continue to ignore the girl. “Which mushrooms?” She finally calls out. Not much of a conversationalist, but it would do.


"Speech"

767/1500

The bird had finally fucked off back to it's nest and for that she could only be grateful. She was taking stock of her new bruises, grateful the little bastards claws had avoided her eyes, although her ear was stinging something smart. Maybe there was a cut there? Not that it would bother her, she was always getting picked on by the wildlife. Finally she heard a voice calling out to ask her what sort of mushrooms. She glanced around quizzically before peridot eyes fell on the wolf that looked almost like a tree caught between summer and winter, she thought somewhere in the back of her mind that the effect was quite pretty.

Cricket's rosetted tail gave a high wave of greeting, her back end doing a happy wiggle. Generally, if they spoke first, well at least they weren't biting first. "Little red ones with white spots, they can be real good if you wanna have a good time! An' if you have someone you want to give a really bad time, well they're good for that too," her smile took on a slightly darker edge before lightening up again. "They're usually found around the bottoms of trees but I'm worried there might be too much snow at the moment. They keep well enough if you dry them out, but I haven't been in one place long enough to give it a proper go." She began to nose under the bushes in earnest, her heavy sigh clearly communicating they weren't under here.

Dry foliage rattled as she backed up and twitched her head around to find her next target. "Do you know much about plants? Willow bark is bitter as shit, but good for taking the edge off pains if you can stand the taste. Keeps for ages too, if you've got need to keep a stock." She could detect a scent of pack about the other woman, but she wouldn't come straight out and ask. It wasn't really her business after all, she was but a little loner, looking for a high.

“Speech”

It's time to play the music, It's time to light the lights

-1111/1500-

Giving intel to strangers was hardly something Sanna was in the business of– she knew better. She knew better than to give away her position on this great global map, but also… well, this stranger was awfully tiny. She knows better than to discount someone based on size alone, but this one seemed like she had bigger issues than concerning herself with sabotaging whatever plans Sanna had for the day. Or for the life. Or whatever. That thought wasn’t fully formed in her head, but she knows she needs to be careful. She knows she needs to be careful, but she doesn’t need to be that careful– does she?

The small girl gave a wag of her tail and a wiggle. No, there was certainly nothing threatening about her. Well, she wasn’t actively threatening Sanna at least. She didn’t have to put more energy into keeping her guard up any extra. Always on guard, but not paranoid on guard. Good enough. Red and white mushrooms for giving someone a good (or bad) time. Sanna was fairly sure she knew exactly what the girl was getting at, and it’s enough to bring a bit of a chuckle to her throat and a glint to her eye. “The winter was probably too cold for any of them to survive, but it’s worth looking. Here, check somewhere that looks like it’s well insulated from the cold like this.” The suggestion comes before she can stop it. Conversation with a stranger wasn’t usually her strong suit, but maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. At least she had something specific to look for, instead of just browsing without aim.

Sanna gestured to a tree before making her way over. At the base it cast a shadow, like the bottom had been hollowed out. A fox or a badger, or something of the like, had made its home here last season. It was empty now, but the hollow had been left behind. Carefully, Sanna cleared away the snow and the brush that had gathered up in the space. She listens to the stranger chatter away, happy that she doesn’t have to be the one to fill the air between them.

In the sheltered hollow beneath the tree, she finds them. The mushrooms with the red caps and white spots, the ones that the green girl had been searching for. There were a few clustered together in the damp undergrowth. “There are some here,” there’s a victorious note in her tone. She’d managed to find something out here after all. “As for herbs, I know enough to keep myself alive. I’ll keep the bark in mind.” It’s surprisingly polite from the medic, with her typically limited social skills. Sanna is proud of herself, at least.

"Speech"

1569/1500

Cricket had also spotted a similar tree a short distance from the one the other wolf was searching in and was greeted by her own small stash of mushrooms which she quickly gathered up. She gave another wiggle when her new friend found some too. "You should keep some incase your friends force you into a date with a bore, tell 'im it'll be a good time then try t'not laugh when 'e gets all drooly and can't stop throwin' up." She giggled like a hyena and that slightly sinister smile was back but gone just as quickly as it had been before. "I'm Cricket by th' way. I reckon I might hang around these parts for a while. Don' be a stranger! I'm always down for a mushroom or a herb hunt."

“Speech”

It's time to play the music, It's time to light the lights