Mellowed Out
It was time to return, she decided. Except when she finally did return, there was no empire. She moved through the creek, eyes peeled for signs of the rest of the family. It seemed they had packed up and left, had they simply moved and she missed them? She imagined that if the pack had disbanded, she would have heard about it through the grapevine. Perhaps the mortals even praising the Abraxas' fall from power. But knowing Malleus, that simply wouldn't happen, oh no. She knew Malleus was still holding them together, and possibly stronger than ever. She felt a little guilty that she had been gone so long, but it was all in a quest to gather information, and she felt she was successful in that endeavor. So without worry, she decided that she would gather up some fresh herbs and then go and find where the rest of them had relocated. She knew they would still be in Auster, because she had been nearly everywhere in Boreas and found nothing to indicate they had moved there.
She decided then, that she ought to collect a few fresh herbs. A little gift offering for Malleus to go with her apology for being away for so long. Although she thought her mission was noble enough to warrant being away for a time, she hadn't planned on being gone for as long as she had. Oops. In any case, she would make it up to him one way or another, assuming he wasn't too upset about it. The first thing she did was locate her old den, and once there, she pulled out the few good rabbit furs that were left. Then, she sought out some herbs that had grown here before she left, and wondered if they were still there. It was a good season for them as opposed to Boreas. While winter hit them, Auster had the opposite. Which made it a prime time to collect what she needed. She wanted to collect some herbs that would help the pack - pups especially - through the cold seasons when they came. So she went towards the creek to look for the stalks of Marshmallow that she remembered being around there.
It took a few minutes, but finally, she spotted a few good stalks that seemed to be growing beautifully. A smile graced the Goddesses lips as she moved towards them, dropping the rabbit furs on the ground. Carefully, she began to dig at the base of the roots. It would make it easier for her to collect them and strip what she needed. Of course, the roots were the main things that she needed, along with the leaves. The plant would be one of a few things she could store away for any ailments that got hold of the pack. Especially for the younger ones. In her experience, colds could often turn serious and deadly if not treated and monitored properly. She had seen pups pass from a cold turning into the flu, and in worst cases, pneumonia.
One plant down, two to go. Muddied paws gently got to work on the next plant, carefully carving a hole around the roots of the Marshmallow plant she was digging up. She was careful not to damage the roots since they would be the most crucial part of her treatments on any potentially sick kin. A couple of minutes passed, and she had gotten the second plant out. She gently grasped the stalk in her mouth and placed it with the other, then got to work on the third. It didn't take her long to dig the last one out, and once she was done, she gently grasped the bundle in her jaws and moved towards the creek. One by one, she gently dipped the roots into the slow-moving water to wash them off. With her paws, she gently scraped off any leftover dirt and made sure there weren't any impurities left behind. Once satisfied, she grabbed the plants and the rabbit furs and headed off to her old den to begin prepping them.
Kas took great care not to bend any of the leaves or break roots as she rolled out the pelts and placed the plants on top of them. Ever so carefully, she started to nip the leaves off the base, placing each one inside a rabbit skin until she had collected all of the good looking and healthy leaves. Next, she carefully chewed the stems off from the roots until all she had was just that. The roots. She inspected them carefully, picking off any parts that looked decayed or that she thought wouldn't be good for use, and stored them away in a separate rabbit skin. She eyed the flowers then, wracking her brain to try and remember if the flowers had any use in them...then she remembered. Of course! She had heard of the flower extract being used to try and support heart health, though she couldn't remember exactly if it was successful, or simply being tested. She supposed she could use them anyway and test them herself, so she stripped them off the stems and placed them with the leaves for now.
Now that she had what she wanted, she carefully rolled up the two skins, careful not to damage her precious cargo. She then grabbed some twine she had laying around her den, wrapped them around the bundles, and carefully made a single loop so that she could carry both bundles without worry of biting down too hard. She tested her work by picking them up with the twine in her mouth, swung her head every which way, and when the bundles remained safely in place and the twine didn't tighten any further, she put them back down.
"Well, am I genius or what?" She smiled at her handiwork before slipping out. The sun was rising higher in the sky, indicating it was well past noon. Well, it would soon be time for her to get a move on...but first, she needed to wash off her forelegs. Mud still clung to her fur, so she went to the creek and slid in until her forelegs were submerged. The water felt nice...so she decided to relax for a bit before heading out to find the rest of her family.
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