ooc: navigation deadman's scrap

Bleck! Well this was a disgusting place. Rœkia sniffed at the trash eyes narrowing as she debated whether it was really worth going into or not. Course with Peregrine right behind her there was no way she was going to turn around now.  Now…. where had she found that blasted weed.  “Hmmm… well…. I know its here somewhere…. maybe on this third, or maybe this half… yeeeep.” She glanced at Wolf. "Wolf, I'm on the lookout for Jimson Weed, scout from the air and let me notice if you spy anything promising." The bird nodded. "You've got it Rœkia." He took to the sky as she set off on foot, sniffing around the wastes.  Goodness…. now where had she found that stupid weed?  “This is frustrating… I’ve been studying Jimson Weed since I was six months old.  I should be able to find it.”  She growled lightly to herself. Rœkia slid down the trashpile, shaking gunk and mud from her fur.  She needed to get to a dryer part of the scrap if she wanted to obtain her target.  Scrambling through the trash she continued on her way, pausing to glance back toward Peregrine. “How’s the going?” "Talk" Wolf Think

Okay, so Peregrine had gotten separated. Tsiry would call it "lost," but in truth she'd simply taken a detour that had cost them a bit of time and a close encounter with a band a thieves (who had found her unfortunately lacking.) A smart bit of navigating still had her arriving not long after Mags, and she found the pale woman at a distance rooting through the debris of the land. It seemed to have been used for... well, some purpose, and some time ago, but she could make neither heads nor tails of most of what she saw there. There were shards of sharp, clear stones of many colors that would bite at her paws if she did not watch her step, but other than that her mind was thrown into a frenzy by the possibilities that surrounded her. So many things, so much to see and root through. Goodness, she should have been born a crow, or at the very least a magpie. Oh, right. Mags! That's why she was here. She let loose a sound that was very nearly a frustrated whine and set off towards her friend. Once within hearing distance, and unsure if the pale dame had noticed her, she called out, "You know, I've heard about this swath of land but this is my first time visiting. I may never leave." It was essentially an all-you-can-eat buffet for those in her profession, but Mags had whispered word of Jimson Weed which was valuable enough to keep her on track for now. Tsiry did not seem to care one way or another what wolves got up to, and Peregrine peeked over her shoulder to make sure that her friend had not fallen asleep. She received several lazy, blue-eyed blinks for her trouble. Well then! Time to get to it. "Talk" "You" Think "Tsiry"

Rœkia turned around to see that Peregrine was not behind her. She sighed. No doubt the woman had gotten distracted by something. Who was the magpie here? Rœ chuckled to herself but before she set out to hunt for her friend the woman reappeared. “I told you it was something to see! There’s a lot of shit here but some of it’s worth keeping. The dry heat makes it a prime spot for Jimson Weed but you sure have to look for it.” Rœkia flipped through a few bottles and scraps but was coming up empty pawed until she heard Wolf cry overhead. “Magpie! It’s that strange blue thing look!” Rœkia looked up to see the rusty, blue truck that had served as a landmark last time she was here. “Good eye Wolf!” She sprang up one of the many trash dunes and perched upon the truck for a moment as she got her bearings. Her nostrils flared as she drank in all the scents. It was dirty work but then she caught he distinct scent of Jimson Weed, also called “stink weed” for good reason. Rœkia sprang down the pile, excitement racing through her as she caught the scent. “Come on Peregrine! This way!” Sliding down the pile she saw a patch of Jimson Weed growing in a patch of dusty earth, ringed by an old tire. “There’s my beauty!” She turned to Wolf. “Alright, Wolf, start snipping, lets start with some of the leaves. I can’t decide if we should take the whole plant or not, it’d be nice to keep it alive and always have it available.” "Talk" Wolf Think

Her faith in Mags would not disappoint. The paler woman was luckily easy to spot among the heaps and piles of refuse that surrounded them, and it was a lucky thing too. Peregrine's eyes flew from on point to another. She had merely skirted the edges of this place in her cursory survey of the land. The rancid smell had driven her away. Magpie hardly seemed phased by it, and with Wolf's sharp eyes looking out ahead for them, they were making their way like a pack on the heels of a buck. He picked out a landmark and made a hard line for it, all while Peregrine and Tsiry zigged back and forth around the field like mad rabbits. Her first instinct was to begin grabbing everything in site but her pack could only hold so much! Soon the smell of the pungent plant began to fill her nose. It was a miracle that the pair she roamed with could find their way so easily. Their pairing was one of friendship and convenience alike, it would seem. She quirked a brow and smiled up at Tsiry. "See, look at them go! Why couldn't I find myself a flying lemur?" she quipped. Tsiry rolled her eyes and scoffed, watching as her own companion rooted around through the debris. "You have to look at things from my end. Think of the state of the world if it had been the other way around! We're simply not ready for flying pigs." Peregrine through up her head and laughed. Magpie called out ahead of them. The earthen woman kicked up her heels and found a ragged patch of the stuff. Its leaves were ragged and dark, sharply toothed, and its odor was nearly overwhelming. Although she did not see them yet, she knew the plant would flower after the height of summer. Magpie began to break down one plant, looking it over like she was casing a victim. Pere grinned. There was not much, but there would hopefully be enough for both of them. She liked the idea of transplanting sprouts, they would keep for a few days if she let them soak on a creek bank for a while each day. She remembered a secluded glade she'd stumbled across the other day, and the idea of making a private garden all her own was more than tempting. "The young springs could be clipped and moved, maybe some of the yearlings. I'm after the leaves, personally." She knew wolves who dried them and smoked them to speak to their gods, and she suspected it might be common here as well. And maybe she just wanted to try it a little bit. "Talk" "You" Think "Tsiry"

Rœkia watched with delight as Wolf worked to carefully snip off some leaves from the Jimson weed. She was wary about getting her mouth too near the plant and its toxins though the brief contact was unlikely to cause her to much distress it was better to be safe rather than sorry. Wolf rolled the leaves and grasped them in his talons before he turned to her for further instruction. Rœkia laughed. “I know it’s not in my nature to share but Peregrine is a good friend, snip some for her to please.” Wolf stepped back as if alarmed. “Goodness, I did not mean to forget miss Peregrine. Do forgive me!” He hopped back to the plant and finished stripping it, leaving a few leaves for the top to allow it to continue to access sunlight. Fluttering up to Peregrine’s bag he sought to deposit the leaves in it for her. Rœkia grinned. “That is a nifty item you have there for carrying things Pere, wherever did you find it? As for the sprouts I would try transplanting them if I could settle down in one area but alas… it just hasn’t worked out. If I were a pack wolf that would be different.” "Talk" Wolf Think

Peregrine had forgotten how utterly unpleasant this rotten weed was. She was quick in her ministrations, and Tsiry joined in with her efforts. She attempted to summon every last bit of knowledge she'd collected about the herb so far. She tried for discretion in her leaf selection, leaving the frail behind in favor for more valuable stalks. Every now and then she would carefully grab a young shoot between her toes and tug, capturing as much of the root system as she could. It was a delicate process and she was too afraid to keep track of how many she broke or mangled for each that she obtained. Tsiry had a much easier time of it, what with her nimble digits. She gave Pere many a satisfied smirk while watching her friend struggle.

Mags asked about her bag before long, like most did, and she smiled. "Its not the first I've found, but they're easy to lose. Or, you know, get jumped for." She let out a dry chuckle. "I found this one in a cairn of some sort. Well, technically I found Tsiry who found it, and she traded it for a ferry service." The chuckle that followed this one was much more sincere. She tried to give the prosimian a warm, cheesy smile but she only waved her away. Returning her mind to the problem at hand, Pere wondered the best way to preserve the stalks she meant to offer. A flat rock did wonders, she supposed. If she found some wild grape the small tendrils could be used to bind the bundles afterwards. Perhaps that would be her next step.

Rœkia moved to another stalk and used her claws to dig down around the roots. She’d take one whole plant for experimental purposes. If she could find a victim of course. Perhaps that shy girl from Abaven was still nosing around in loner lands. She hid a cruel grin, uncertain of what Peregrine would think of her less than noble pursuits. A part of her knew it was wrong, what she’d done but it was always drowned out. Maybe some day she’d address it, but not now. Not when there was knowledge to be gained.

Finally freeing the plant from the earth she gestured to Wolf… who stared at it then looked back at her. “Come on Wolf, don’t be a pansy.” The bird sighed and grasped it in his talons as well. “Are we done then?”

Rœkia nodded. “I think so. The question is where to now. Peregrine do you have any temporary hideaways in which you store your herbs or a base of some sort? I have a store den not far from here in the Whisperer’s Gorge.”

Before long Peregrin had gathered as much of the plant as she deemed wise. She didn't want to cripple the population here, after all. It would be better to take only what she needed and be able to return to this place in the future if she ever had need again. Which, based on the rarity and desire for this particular plant, she assumed she would. It would seem that Mags had come to more or less the same conclusion. She asked after a lair or something, and unfortunately Peregrine had to think on it for a moment. "Well, I've been trying to find someplace worth stopping in but..." She wheedled off with a weak head bobble.

So far... Well, let's just say she was still looking. "For now, we ought to find some place sunny where we can dry these out, and keep them out of the wind. Maybe somewhere away from this rank stench." She wrinkled her nose at Magpie, and tossed a glance back towards the horizon they'd come from. Between the decaying refuse and and the plant they'd come in search of, she was more than ready to get far, far away. She'd had a hard time finding landmarks on her way in, but she was ready to give it a shot, and hoped that Mags would at least call out if she made a wrong turn.

Rœkia eyed her collection of Jimson Weed. It was a small gathering, far smaller than she wanted but this was the only plant she knew the location of and finding another was going to take a better portion of the day. Peregrine didn't seem to have a storage place either. Rœkia nodded sympathetically. "Having a stable place to store herbs makes me tempted to join a pack but I'm not really enthusiastic about all the rules and junk that would go along with it. Most of the packs here don't seem very… oriented to my line of work, ya know?" Rœkia nodded. "Sounds good to me. I need to find away to store the juice of jimson weed but alas I haven't found a method yet. If I could figure out some sort of sealed container it would work a lot better." She wasn't worried to much about the fact that she could not manage the fine motor movements for such a task. Magpies were clever and nimble and she had no doubt that Wolf would be able to figure it out if she could ever find anything. "Lead on!" "Talk" Wolf Think

Mags had her thinking now. What would the best place be for storing all her supplies. Obviously caching them somewhere would be the most effective way to build up an inventory but this continent was so varied and extreme, it was hard to pick just one. The planes and deserts out west would certainly be the best for drying and storing what she gathered, what with the hot and arid climate. In the north there were many resources that could only be found in the polar areas, and many unique animals to hunt that were unlike anything found in the south. The east was rich in herbs and packs and commerce, but the south was pleasantly palatable and it's temperate climate could be found in some of the most central areas of the realm, perfect for easy travel. See, this was exactly why she was forced to wander! It hardly seemed like her choice when it was laid out that way. "I don't believe I've seen enough of this land to choose," she said at last. "Perhaps you'll have to wander with me for a while longer until we find the perfect hide out?" It was laid with a grin and then a lolling tongue, one brow quirked to keep the conversation light if Magpie decided she'd rather continue her venture solo.

Then again, they'd been traveling off and on before, who was she to say they ought to mess up that tempo? Before she could delve into that instead, Magpie brought up another query. Ah yes, the age old challenge of a worthwhile container. It was a constant irritation to see Tsiry so nimble and deft with her projects, while Pere's short toes and blunt limbs were clumsy with many similar attempts. Looking to Wolf, she reckoned that she'd seen plenty of crows and magpies accomplish more than she ever would has suspected. He might be able to help her manage, right? "I've stumbled into old cairns and ruins that sometimes house pots made of clay, sometimes those of wood or glass. I've no idea how they were made, but for a while now I've been searching for a decent river deposit of clay. Might as well give it a try, right?" After all, if she were able to do something like that, it would go a long way towards gathering more valuable items to trade. But, perhaps a venture for another day. Before long, she had managed to bring them to the edge of the midden, stopping to find a gnarled old cedar tree clinging to life among the wasteland. It was bowed over and half of it had died away, leaving a tangle of tightly wound branches barren. Peregrine gently extracted the Jimson Weed from her satchel and began to weave it in amongst the branches, with a little help from Tsiry. She tried to position it out of the wind wherever possible, just in case. She cast a quick look at Mags to see if she'd join in, or if she had something else in mind.

Rœkia grinned. "Nothing would make me happier than to wander the world with you, Peregrine. Also, you're not alone. I've been wandering awhile but there is still so much to see and discover." The idea of a perfect hideout pleased her greatly. Rœkia had a number of misses and had even lost entire dens full of supplies to miscalculations and inclement weather but each loss was a lesson gained and sooner or later she'd get the game down. Containers would be incredibly handy and Rœkia could feel excitement bubbling up in her gut with the possibilities of elements contained and at the tips of her toes that she could not hold before. Many of the best remedies required being mixed with fat and some poisons, like the Jimson Weed, were most potent when the juice was used. "I'd like to give it a try or perhaps have Wolf try for me." The bird puffed up his chest. "My dear ladies there are very few feats of dexterity that I can not accomplish!" Rœkia chuckled to herself and watched carefully as Peregrine laid out the jimson weed before following suit, directing Wolf with a few knowing gestures. When necessary she'd pierce a leaf on one of the twigs, threading it down to hold it in place though for the most part she wished to leave the plants undamaged. At least for now… "Talk" Wolf Think

Peregrine couldn't help but grin as Mags declared her intention. She beamed at the other woman and raised a brow, in the same moment that Tsiry rolled her eyes. The prosimian couldn't figure out for the life of her why anyone would want to spend so much time with the same heathen she'd come to know... even if, maybe, Peregrine was starting to grow on her. Just a little. Anyways, Peregrine's eyes had lit with fire and she responded, "Well, your wish is my command, darling! Hear that, Wolf? You're stuck with us!" Peregrine double checked her satchel to ensure that she hadn't missed anything, then gave the heaping mass of scrap behind them another look.

The sun was still high in the sky, they probably had time for a bit more work but she wasn't sure what exactly could be done. She turned to Tsiry. "Do you remember a fortnight or so ago when you said you might be able to weave reeds together to carry a bundle of herbs? Why don't we give that a shot so poor Mags here doesn't have to carry this around in her mouth, and so the poor bird doesn't work himself to death doing it for her." Personally, Peregrine would want the stinking weed as far from her snout end as possible. The lemur wheedled for a moment before giving the paler wolf a quick glance, and finally shrugging. "Sure, so long as the bird helps too. I can't see a damn thing from all the way down here." Peregrine smiled and turned back to the other woman, raising her brows in a wordless question, tossing her head back towards the drying Jimson Weed and saying, "These will take about a day to dry out all the way anyways." Honestly she was open to suggestions, but they had some time to kill and Pere had never done well with being idle. Hopefully Mags would either agree, or come up with something of her own.

Now she just had to be patient. Rœkia sighed. This was the part she hated, waiting for things to dry or cure in a way so that they could be useful. In the meantime perhaps she'd scout around the scrap for something useful to carry her things in like Peregrine though it seemed that Pere already had a temporary solution. "That's a good idea. I'm sure Wolf would really appreciate it." The bird nodded. "It does get tiring being the pack animal." Rœ chuckled. "Hey now, you do quite a bit of riding around on me and I do treat you to some of the best parts of the kills. But before we go through all that work I've been wondering… Peregrine, did you say that you found your satchel out here of all places? I'm thinking I may see if I can find something similar." Overturning an old cupboard she pawed the door open to reveal some vile smelling cans. Well yuck, that was no good. "Wolf, be a darling and do some scouting for me. I'll treat you the liver of the next deer kill we dine on." Wolf nodded and quickly took to the sky. "Talk" Wolf Think

The other pair bickered a bit, and while it was nice to see that she and Tsiry weren't the only ones, theirs was a bit more congenial than what she'd experienced so far. Then again, Wolf was quite the gentleman and Tsiry was a hopeless barbarian. That was probably the difference. Mags suggested going to find herself something like Pere's satchel and the idea was more the pleasant. "Well, I'm not exactly sure. I think so, but Tsiry is really the one who found it. I'm sure we could get something like it here though with a bit of hunting around. Let's go then!" Peregrine had had items like this before, all lost to time at this point, and while they certainly weren't easy to find it wasn't impossible! And they had four pairs of eyes looking out, she'd only ever had one, after all. Certainly it wouldn't take them all that long at all. She doubted anyone would would want their stinking plants in their absence, so she felt little apprehension in leaving them be. She turned back towards the heaping piles of scrap to start turning over bits of this and pieces of that, really just hoping something would stick out to her.

Rœkia was nosing through bag after bag of weird human crap before Wolf suddenly landed next to her head. She promptly stuck her nose in his feathers and took a deep breath of the familiar scent in an effort to clean away the awful smells that seemed to have gotten stuck there. Wolf immediately fluffed up and scooted back. "Magpie! What the hell was that?" Rœkia sniffed and feigned injury. "I just think you smell nice is all. Well, better than most of this crap. Please tell me you found something." The bird eyed her a moment before nodding. "I found the remains of one of those large, metal beasts. It may contain something useful." Rœkia's ears perked up as she followed Wolf to the site, her agile form scrambling over the assortment of junk before she found herself at the base of an overturned jeep that seemed to have sunk partway into the earth. Her head tilted to the side as she gazed up at it. "Hey Peregrine! This looks promising." "Talk" Wolf Think

Peregrine promptly trotted over to where her friends stood. They were beside one of the dead metal carcasses, peering at it hopefully. She picked her way around a scattering of shattered glass before hopping upright and pressing her paws against it, trying her best to peer inside. It was hard to see with the contraption sitting on it's side but she thought she could see a bit of something strap-like laying against the far side. She frowned in thought and said, "You might be on to something here. Tsiry, can you drop down inside the window and root around?" The lemur took one look at the glass clinging to the edge of a shattered window pane and scoffed. She turned her head away. "I'm not going to do all of your dirty work here! It's as if you only keep me around for my digits!" She wriggled her fingers as if to make a point. Peregrine rolled her eyes and huffed, but knew it was no use trying to convince the lemur to do anything she didn't want to. "Fine. Mags, it looks like we might be able to clamber up on the sides here and peek in." Some of the other carcasses had glass protecting the insides from scavengers, but this one only had shards of it sticking to the outsides of the frame, having long ago busted inward. "Just be careful you don't cut yourself," she tacked on at the end, surprised at how concerned she was with her companion's wellbeing. Then again, it wasn't everyday you found someone as witty and intriguing as this other fae. Best not let that go to waste!

Rœkia's legs bunched beneath her for a moment before she sprang on to the jeep. Hmm… well this was certainly a curious thing. Her claws clicked along the metal as she walked along it. Wolf followed suit and pecked lightly at one of the windows before cawing excitedly. "Magpie, Magpie! Peregrine is right! I see something in there!" Rœkia moved next to Peregrine as she peered inside, spying the leather straps. Excellent! But now how to get at it. Rœkia eyed the broken glass but as she started to maneuver inside Wolf suddenly cawed. "Wait, wait let me! Stand aside ladies. Wolf will get that bag." Hopping carefully inside he fluttered over to the bag and seized a strap in his talons before flapping his wings violently to try and lift it up. "Careful Wolf don't hurt yourself!" The mapgie shifted slightly and suddenly the pack dislodged and sent Wolf careening through the broken window. "Wolf! You ok?" The bird got to his feet and shook himself. "Yes, yes I am. But you owe me the livers of all your kills for the next month." Rœkia grinned at the bird. "Now hold on when did we make that arrangement? Teasing of course, you earned it!" "Talk" Wolf Think

Watching the small bird struggle with the otherwise heft pack left Peregrine feeling somewhat frustrated with her own companion. Was Tsiry really so finicky that she was going to make such a small creature do so much work? Of course in the end it looked as if she had made a miscalculation or two, because after a bit of strife the smallest creature did manage to pry free the bag! He shot out of the window, having been exerting so much force, and Mags let out an alarmed cry of her own. Peregrine managed with just a frown, but was still delighted to see that the bird was okay. She grinned at their success, claiming at least part of it as her own even though she'd done next to nothing to assist. "Excellent work," she crowed, trotting towards where he'd ended up. "Let's have a closer look, shall we?" She wanted to let Magpie have the full glory of the moment but gods, was she impatient. Peregrine had never excelled and reigning in her rampant curiosity and this moment was no different from the countless others.

Rœkia gently licked Wolf's head causing the magpie to fluff up before she pawed over to Peregrine to investigate her prize. Sniffing it lightly she overturned the leather knapsack, flipping open the main compartment…. hmmmmm. "Anything good?" Rœkia's ears flipped as she withdrew her head and grabbed the bottom of the knapsack before shaking it sending rocks, mud, leaves and a few random tins and pens onto the ground. The tins were dented but could be cleaned and used later. Seizing them she stuffed them back in but frowned. Wolf, figuring out immediately what the issue was hopped onto the pack and latched the main compartment shut. Rœkia's tail wagged. "It's perfect! Wolf help me get it on." Like a sled dog she carefully worked her legs through the straps and with a heft hauled it up onto her back. Yes, yes very good! "This will be perfect. Shall we go see if the jimson weed is dry?" "Talk" Wolf Think