ooc: Navigation Avian Estruary

He thought that where he lived was bad, how the hell did the wolves survive the heat here? Qualm had to find cover in a estuary, which he was more than happy about. Giving him time to rest, and explore. The male would rest underneath a tree, as he stretched his muscles and looked around. Where to start, see how to navigate, what herbs lay here and how he could use them. The male would yawn, as he looked over the place. There was birds all over the place here. He shuddered lightly, but now he was far too big for that experience to replay itself. He had a good set of teeth as well. Maybe they'd be a good snack before he headed back to the maw as well. "Talk"

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Did this honestly even count as leaving home? She had only gone just past the border into the neighboring land and had not wandered much farther than that over the last few days. Still though, she could tell the Celestial scent had slowly begun to fade from her fur and she already missed her alcove in the ravine. Her mind was still firmly on her parents and it almost made her leaving more stressful than relieving. Almost. She looked around the estuary and listened to all the birds that were chirping away around her. She took in a deep breath and let it out in a sigh, letting her mismatched eyes close for a moment. She had wanted this. She just wished it was in happier, easier terms. Another wolf's scent caught her attention and her eyes popped open, her turning this way and that while she tried to spot who it belonged to. Her first run in with a stranger since she left the pack! Her ears flicked nervously and she considered just running away before he noticed her, but she spotted him moments later. She hesitated for a moment longer, but she knew she was going to have to talk to some wolves eventually if she was going to make this sabbatical worth it. She padded closer and called over to him, "Hello there!" "Talk" "You" Think

He wasn't expecting to be confronted so willingly. He smiled, after all usually he was the one doing the interaction. As his tail wiggled slightly he would keep his smile and greet the woman with a dip of his head. "Hi there wonderful morning isn't it?" Qualm asked as he went to stand up straight. However he did keep himself a bit on edge. There was always a chance of a stranger attacking, but he was always open to strangers becoming friends. "My name is Qualm Rivers. I came here to explore and maybe find some new herbs before I head home." He would explain himself as he looked around. "You're free to join me if you like." He normally extended these offers. Lately he'd had more run ins with women other than men as well. So being polite was his usual gesture. "Talk"

Zuriel was glad to see that he seemed friendly and returned her greeting willingly. She would have hated for her first interaction as a loner to be a bad one. She kept a friendly smile on her lips as he introduced himself and described what he was up to. The moment he mentioned herbs her face lit up excitedly, her smile growing and her tail wagging more eagerly behind her. Another healer! This was even better than she could have hoped! "I'd love to!" she replied enthusiastically to his offer before she realized how odd she might look suddenly so excited to herb hunt with him. She chuckled awkwardly and forced herself to calm down a bit, giving him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I just haven't met many other healers. Fighting is much more popular in my family than healing is. I love it though, especially learning about herbs. Oh! And I'm Zuriel by the way. Nice to meet you." She looked around as well, trying to remember where some herbs had been the last time she had searched around here. It had been a while, but she didn't imagine their location had changed that much since then. "Lets see... Oh! I think some horsetail was over here last time I checked. Maybe we can find some marshmallow as well while we're at it." She motioned with her head in the direction she thought they should go, looking at him to see if he liked the idea. "Talk" "You" Think

It was refreshing to see someone so excited. The male had not interacted much with others and with that he would keep the smile on his face and a wag in his tail. Zuriel was enthusiastic about the fact he was a healer - he saw that in a lot of them. After all in daily life fighting was seen as the main form of defense and life style. Healers more often than not were either treated like precious cargo, or like pieces of trash. As far as he knew at least. After all if a pack only had one healer, they'd probably hold that healer dear if someone got sick, pregnant or otherwise hurt. "I feel you there, fighting always seems to be all around. Horsetail you say? Mind if you taught me a lesson!" Qualm would jump up a bit with his ears perked forward. "You see there is only so much I can learn on my own, when I was assigned a mentor he soon disappeared after. " Qualm was a little upset over that. He himself had held himself inside his den for some time. Because of his injuries, however he knew living in the maw would fix that. "Talk"

Zuriel nodded in agreement when Qualm reaffirmed what she had said about fighters being more popular than healers. It was something only another healer could sympathize with after all. Zuriel's ears perked with interest when he requested that she give him a lesson after she mentioned the possibility of finding some horsetail out here. She understood how hard it could be to learn things on ones own. She had done it for a long time after her grandmother passed and before Kavdaya came around. There was a lot of trial and error and exploring to be done when she was learning like that, but progress was slow and not always easy. Luckily for him, she loved sharing her knowledge! "Absolutely!" she agreed easily with a smile. "Lets go see if we can find some and then I can show you how I liked to use it." She motioned with her head the way they should go before she started leading the way. "I see it pretty often out here. Horsetail likes places that are pretty wet and sandy like this. I'm not sure how healthy plant life we'll be able to find since it's been so dry, but we'll see!" she said as they walked, keeping her nose and eyes peeled for the green plant. After a few minutes she spotted some horsetail growth a short distance from the last place she had collected some from. "Oh, here we go!" she said happily, a pleased smile on her muzzle as she padded over to it. She carefully bit off a small branch of the plant and turned back toward Qualm. Sure enough, there wasn't an abundance of it like there usually was, but there was enough for them to practice on and even enough for him to take some with him. She rested the piece of the plant at her paws for a moment, settling back on her haunches as she spoke. "So this stuff is really handy for closing up scratches and lacerations. If you chew it up just a bit it gets really sticky and you can use it to glue the edges of the wound so it won't get infected as easily. See, watch-" She picked to the horsetail again, biting off a small portion and setting the other half back down before she started chewing the smaller piece into a pulp. She lifted her forepaw and used her tongue to spread the paste she made across the fur on the lower portion of her foreleg. She held it out to him with a grin so he could see how the sticky plant had basically glued her fur down to her leg. "It'll wash off of course over time. But it's really handy to have around!" "Talk" "You" Think

He was multi tasking at this now. The male would pay attention to his surroundings thoroughly as he followed Zuriel. A tinge of excitement ran through his body as he hoped behind her. Watching her after she had found the herb, Qualm made a mental note of it's uses and the appearance. He was also thankful that she showed him a way to apply it. How she chewed a piece and then spread it across her leg. The male was more than impressed - after all it wasn't every day he even got a lesson. His mentors were a few and far between at this point. Like a small puppy being shown something amazing though his eyes were lit up. "Is there a special way to store it by any chance? My storage is within a cave, so there's dry and wet places to store it depending on how well it does." he would want it to last as long as possible. Qualm had noticed some plants he gathered withered faster than the others. Forgetting this for a moment, he looked off into the distance to watch the birds. There were so many here, guess it didn't get its name for nothing after all. "Talk"

Zuriel was a bit surprised by his question and she eyed the horsetail curiously. That was a good one ask about! She hadn't really thought about it too much. "I imagine a wet place would probably be better. That would help keep the sticky quality of it intact for longer at least." They always grew in more wet places as well so she couldn't imagine that a dry environment would do it much good. The alcoves in the family den were always pretty cool and dark where they kept their herbs, but every time she had used horsetail it had been fairly fresh so they hadn't had to store it too long. "Although, when you chew it up to use it I bet your saliva would moisten it again. So I'm sure it would be fine either way!" She smiled at him, not noticing that his attention had wandered while she was pondering her answer. "Do you have any other questions? You can take this horsetail home with you if you want. I don't have anywhere to store it right now." "Talk" "You" Think

His attention snapped back to Zuriel. How stupid of him, here he was curious about the estuary. Anyhow he had heard what she said about the plant. To store it in a more wet place, that would be perfect seeing as he could keep it in a special section of his den. He smiled when she said he could keep it, wagging his tail slightly. "Thank you Zuriel I'll take it before I leave. I still also want to explore the estuary more. If you'd like to join me of course." it was always nice to have some company. Qualm knew that he didn't like being alone too much for one. Then again that was what made him so pack orientated. He loved Ivory Ridge and what it was doing for him. Qualm would stretch out his paws and gave the horsetail another sniff. Taking in it's scent so that he could memorize it. "Talk"