Valentine stood in a field of flowers. Or rather, a field that would have been full of flowers had it been the time of year for such things. What he stood in the middle of right now was a field of green; a field where every plant he looked at looked exactly the same. Normally this wouldn't matter - weeds were weeds - but today he was on a mission. It seemed like every woman in his life was interested in healing. Some were fully vetted and others were still in training, but it played a part in each of their lives and was very important to them. On a whim, without any consideration whatsoever, Valentine had decided to head to the promised land of herbs in search of precious medicinal plants to take back to his beloved healers. It was only once he got to the Gulley that he realized that it was Fall and he was probably barking up the wrong tree. Even if he wasn't, what did he know about plants? He couldn't tell a good one from a plain one. While he'd like to think it was the thought that counted, what was he going to do, go home and tell them that he'd wanted to get them something but when it came to actually picking a plant he was a dumb as a duck? Staring hard at a sea of uniform green, Valentine willed the useful plants to jump out at him. If nothing else he might just grab as many different kinds as he could carry and hope they weren't all weeds. "Talk" "You" Think

Hiraeth was feeling ready to give up at this point. He had been traveling for, what, two weeks now? It felt at least that long. In the beginning he had been excited about exploring the new places this land had to offer. But he was tired of being alone, tired of wandering like a ghost. He wanted to be a part of something again, to have a family and a home. His little journey had begun in the south, and had slowly moved up into the eastern region. But still nothing had interested him, and he found himself circling back. Perhaps he had missed something important his first time through. This is what he told himself, anyway, to justify his actions and convince himself that his wandering wasn't entirely aimless. He had no clear geographical direction, but at least his goal was clear. He wanted to find a pack. Today Hiraeth had done a great deal of walking and by the middle of the afternoon his paws had started to ache. He wanted to find a nice little place to sit and rest his muscles, and by some miracle such a place soon came into view. In fact, he had never seen such a perfect place before. It was like the biblical garden of paradise, teeming with life even as autumn began to drink the colors away. The man could only imagine what it must look like in spring. He would return to see such a thing for himself, if he could. As his green eyes scanned the garden, they focused on another man standing in the midst of the grasses and weeds. This other man was very large, with an imposing figure and dark regal coloring. He was an impressive sight, Hiraeth had to admit. His curiosity got the best of him as it always did, and he let out an amicable bark to announce his prescence before moving closer. "Diwrnod hyfryd, ynte?" he said, timidly going with his native tongue. Most in this land seemed to only know English, however, so to be safe he gave a greeting in that tongue as well. "You seem to be looking for something. I don't suppose I could be of any help?"

Okay, so that one with the three little leaves was clover and the straight, skinny stalks were just plain ole grass. Knowing that eliminated oh, roughly a tenth of what grew in the field, maybe. As far as he knew neither of those things were good for anything, so if he did go the pick 'n hope route he'd leave those out of his picking. Progress. A bark announced the presence of another. As Valentine looked up he was careful to smooth out his plant hating scowl before making eye contact with the stranger. By the time his eyes landed on the tan man Valentine's expression was friendly and open, if still a little strained. He was still a little miffed. The man parted with unintelligible words that sounded like a question, but Valentine couldn't be sure. Before he could dwell on it the rogue spoke again, this time in the language he understood. Valentine shrugged amicably. "Maybe you can. This place," he gestured around them, "is supposed to be loaded with rare herbs. I know a couple of healers who might appreciate some plants from here, but I myself don't know anything about them. Do you, by chance?" "Talk" "You" Think

Yes, the other man definitely seemed a bit confused when Hiraeth first spoke. Perhaps he should have made English his default, after all it did seem to be the widely spoken language in this land. He walked a little closer, still smiling a bit as the man explained what he was looking for, and Hiraeth flicked an ear as he thought. "Well, I'm far from being an expert in that area, but I may know just enough to be of some use to you. All you need is a little help identifying them, right?" his eyes were already peering through the grasses. There were indeed many herbs here, most of which were unfamiliar to the foreigner. But his eyes landed on a small group of white flowers that made his eyes brighten a bit with recognition. He didn't know the precise name of it — if he did he would know it was called trillium — but he knew it was good for cleaning wounds and keeping out infection. "Your healers may appreciate these," he said, brushing the flowers with his nose and then reaching down to carefully sever their stems with his teeth. He came a little closer to the stranger and laid the small white blooms at his feet before moving back again and settling into his haunches. Honestly he didn't know many of the other herbs here, and didn't want to risk guessing. Herbs could be dangerous things. One could look familiar, but a slight difference in leaf shape or berry color could be the difference between life and death. "As I said before, I don't claim to have much knowledge in this area, but my mother was a healers apprentice," he explained with a shy smile.

The stranger seemed friendly enough. With a smile on his face he stepped closer and then offered a few words in response to Valentine's question. In response to the rogue's question he nodded and said, "Mmhm, that's right." Following the rogue's gaze Valentine's eyes also roved over the plants. Every once in awhile Valentine's gaze flitted to the rogue and after some searching he saw the man's expression brighten as he found what he was looking for. The stranger picked a few choice flowers and set them down at his paws. Those looked like...well, any old flower, but what did Valentine know? "Thank you," he rumbled appreciatively. "What's their name and what do they do? I'd like to be able to pass that along." "Talk" "You" Think