Gloomy clouds blocked most sunlight from reaching the frozen ground, while the snow falling from the sky didn't show signs of halting. Lands up north were growing worse by the day since the seasons seemed to take on a drastic change, letting every life-form know that winter was here in full force. Snow started to massively build up in areas to the north, ushering most creatures into shelters to keep safe and warm. Rose was not one of those wise soul's, not listening to her mother's warning on exploring this new territory they had entered. The only adult watching the young pup had been fast asleep, allowing a quick and easy escape into the freezing wilderness. Snow clung to the thick pelt, melting over time and causing her fur to become damp. Each gust of wind brought forth a new shiver that chilled her to the bone, tail tucking between her legs instead of the usual cheerful wag. Rose was freezing while being up on the top of the gorge, golden eyes looking down the steep path that she had to take alone. It was dangerous for someone her age to be out here alone, especially while blizzard like conditions passed through. She could do this! Ears perked forward, confidence engulfed the runt as features showed off her sudden emotion change. Light colored tail raised up high like a flag, limbs pushing herself forward through the soft snow that had no previous signs of life. This mission was important as she heard from an adult that there was herbs that grew around here! "Speech"

I wanted to seek, but I got distracted

Winter was not the time for gathering herbs but it was a good time to experiment. Ragna had told her of trees that bore a particularly sweet sap that could be used to sweeten the flavor of bitter herbs. It was an intriguing idea and so Lúta worked her way north despite the snow beginning to fall. She already knew where she wanted to go and once there perhaps she could gather some elderberry bark.

Lúta arrived at the entrance to Gale Gorge and the minute she stepped through the wind seemed to increase, whipping and tugging at her fur, scattering snowflakes hither and yon. She worked her way along the outer edge of the gorge until she arrived at the wild herb patch she'd gathered from in the summer. It looked completely different now, covered in white snow. However, the tall branches of the elderberry grew tall and noticeable. She trotted over to one of the trees and was just about to start collecting the bark when she noticed a pup wandering through the snow. "Goodness! Hey, are you alright? What are you doing out here alone?"

The howling wind quickly became a sound that Rose got used to, instead weight falling against the snow to cause an audible crunch that started becoming more distracting. A sudden voice ripped through the silence wrapped around the pup, startling the precious soul to the point of jumping. Four paws landed firmly against solid ground once more, frame facing the direction which a stranger appeared. One ear swiveled to the side, paying attention to her surrounding now that she got scared, all while the other ear stayed perked and listening to this adult. "Important mission!" She huffed, excitement laced in the high pitched words. Paws lifted off of the ground and smacked against it again, offering a goofy high-stepped display as she walked towards them. "Learning about plants." Eyes shined, showing off her youth to the fullest extent. Tail began to quickly wag, paws planting in the snow a few feet away from a complete stranger which perhaps had misplaced trust. It had yet to dawn on Rose that this adult was also gathering herbs, but as soon as she figured it out, so many questions would be asked! "Speech"

I wanted to seek, but I got distracted

Lúta winced a bit as she realized she had startled the pup, but there wasn't really a good way to alert someone gently with the wind swirling through the gorge. The pup declared that she was on an important mission. Lúta's head cocked to the side as the pup elaborated that she was learning about plants. Oh, so she must be a young healer-in-training!

Lúta smiled and wanted to help so she turned to the elderberry plant she'd been about to harvest some bark from and rested a paw on it. "Would some elderberry bark help? I'm going to harvest some and try mixing it with sap from that sugar maple over there to make something a bit more palatable." Ideally she'd make a tincture first but that would require building a fire and she wasn't sure she could do that with the wind like it was.

The elements didn't even phase the young pup when her attention became centered upon this wolf, ears perking forward as she carefully listened. Rear limbs gave out from under Rose, weight practically flopping on the ground in a satisfying crunch, packing the snow that happened to be under her. However, sitting still wasn't on the agenda after the female stopped speaking. Golden eyes showed emotions other than excitement, staring at the experienced adult in awe. Excitement eventually bubbled over in the form of actions, springing herself off of the ground and trotting in place. Someone was going to help her acquire even a sliver of knowledge! "Yes! Thank you!" Grin pulled at facial features, making Rose seem like the happiest thing alive currently when accompanied by her steadily moving tail. Attention shifted away from the healer and unto the elderberry in front of them. There was still so much to learn, and here she was going to pass something useful! Front paws lifted off of the ground, carefully placing them against the bark, close to where the other had her paw. "Can I help?" The question came out sincere, head tilting to the side and nearly giving her a 'puppy dog' expression. "Speech"

I wanted to seek, but I got distracted

Lúta smiled at the pup, she seemed so sweet and eager to learn. Lúta nodded. "Yes, we want to get at the inner bark of the elderberry. It can help with upper respirator infections. But it doesn't taste very good and you don't want to give someone too much or they'll puke." She felt it was important to explain some of the downfalls of using a tree bark in healing. Poor taste and too much leading to vomiting were pretty common. "You'll want to snip off one of the branches then use your teeth to peel back the outer bark, like this."

Lúta reached up and snipped off one of the higher branches, leaving the shorter ones for the pup. Thankfully elderberry was more a cross between a tree and a shrub than a full on tree and thus was shorter than might be expected. Once she had her branch she set it down between her paws and used her teeth to cut a slit in the bark. with that done she started using her teeth and claws to remove the outer bark, revealing the pale inner bark. "Do you want to give it a try now?"

Paws had stayed firmly planted against the shrub despite the other beginning to show how to retrieve the bark from the plant. Skull twisted around, neck muscles nearly at their limits while trying to accommodate her looking backwards. All movements paused, tail sticking up in mid-wag. Everything was focused upon watching this stranger rip the bark from the branch, and yet, it was done in a delicate manner to preserve what was needed underneath the outer layer. She could do accomplish this! Previous movements returned to the miniature pup, tail wagging happily and gaze averting from the female. "Yes! I will try!" A happy hum left Rose, mouth opening up to grab a smaller limb on the plant. Weight shifted to rear legs, paws pushing against the cold snow in hopes to gain some traction and start tugging. She wasn't as graceful nor as strong as this healer, but one day she would be! A snap pierced the wind, practically causing her to go tumbling. Snow mixed with unruly thick fur as she stood up tall once again, having to shake off what managed to stick. Either front limb rested upon the limb, sharp puppy teeth making quick work of slicing an area in the bark to start carefully peeling. She was doing it! She was learning! "Speech"

I wanted to seek, but I got distracted

Lúta settled down to watch the pup as she tried her paw at gathering the inner bark. She tumbled back into the snow and Lúta quickly moved over toward the girl. "Oh, are you ok?" It was then Lúta realized she hadn't introduced herself. Oh, how embarrassing! "My name is Lúta by the way. You're doing really good though. That's the bark that you want." She moved back over toward her own piece and finished cutting away a cut through the rest of the bark. Lúta had a knapsack that she used to carry her herbs supplies. She quickly shrugged it off and started digging around in her pack until she found a clay bowl. "Aha!"

Picking the bowl up in her jaws she trotted back over to the girl. "Let's put the green inner bark in this bowl." She moved back to her piece and used her claws to carefully peel the inner bark out. It was soft and corky and she flicked it into the bowl. "You'll want to soak this in water or alcohol to pull the medicine out of the bark. This makes it easier to give to a patient because you can dilute it and you're less likely to make them sick." Lúta dug into her back and pulled out a vial of white wine that her macaque, Halla, had made. She fiddled with it before finally managing to work the cork free with her teeth. She delicately poured a little in the bowl then returned the cork.

A toothy smile graced the pup, as goofy as it looked to smile while pulling apart the bark. Gleaming eyes constantly shifted between the wood and the female now known as Lúta. Rose had to make sure her technique was similar, though her being wrapped up in the moment had delayed her own introduction. One paw moved forward to rest against the exposed lighter colored bark, claws all but attempting to carve out the wood like her new friend. It was harder than it looked to make it look 'pretty'. Her own pile of the herbs looked mildly messed up compared to the older, more skillful healer. Skull raised up from her activity now that part was complete, looking a little too proud of herself for finally accomplishing something with path she wanted to choose. Even if it was something so small, it meant so much to the little one! "My name is Rose!" Eyes closed happily as she introduced herself, head tilting to the side and tail sweeping through the air. "Do I add this?" Paw pushed the pile of bark across the snow covered ground, offering what little amount she had to the other for mixing. "Speech"

Lúta grinned with amusement as she watched the young girl. She was so sweet and determined! It made Lúta wonder for a brief moment at motherhood but she had to quickly push the thought from her mind. She had taken an oath of celibacy and it meant a great deal to her. It was not the sort of thing she ever intended to willingly break. To do so would mean losing a deep spiritual connection to her ancestors and her religion. It was enough, though, just to enjoy the young girl's company. She introduced herself as Rose. "That is a lovely name."

Lúta nodded. "Yes, go ahead and add it. The good stuff in there will seep into the wine. Water works to, it just might freeze a bit faster but that's fine." She glanced at the sugar maple, originally she'd been thinking of trying to make some sort of maple candy with the sap but without her companion she wouldn't be able to do so and it wouldn't be very helpful to Rose.

She grinned at the pup. "Have you ever tried to eat fresh snow before? Want to make a snow cone?" As a pup Lúta had always been eating snow. It used to drive her mother crazy.

Golden eyes sparkled with emotions as her birth name got complimented, facial muscles pulling into a smile to show off pearly puppy teeth holding on to the precious items in her mouth. Rose tried everything to ignore the taste of the bark within her mouth, instead she slowly moved forward to put it in the mixing bowl. Lúta's words caught her off guard, causing one ear to stick up straight and the other to swivel a little to the side. Rose's head cocked to one side, eyeing the female like she was insane. There is no way this stuff was edible! Eyes fell towards the snow and snapped back up, giving her full attention again with wide eyes. "You can eat this stuff?!" She squeaked out in confusion. It didn't sound very filling, in fact it melted to nothing at the very touch! Unless there was a secret to it, this pup never heard of such a thing, but perhaps it was due to being in warmer areas most of the time. "Speech"

Lúta chuckled. "Yes! It's just water that's frozen. When rain gets really, really cold in the sky it turns into this stuff." She gently started rolling some of the snow to form two small snow balls. She then turned to the bowl and delicately picked up the side of it in her jaws. Tipping her head she poured a little of the liquid on top of each snow ball before setting it back down. "Ok, there's our medicine, now to make it taste a bit better I have a rabbit in here I was saving for later… erm… somewhere."

Lúta stuck her head in her pack and started moving items around until at last she pulled out a small hare. Moving her jaws she carefully slit the creatures neck and pulled the would down the chest. Moving the rabbit she sprinkled the blood onto the snow cones then set it aside. She could finish it later. "And now we enjoy!" She bent her head and licked at the snowcone with a grin on her face. "You can still kind of taste the medicine but its not terribly bad. Don't worry, it shouldn't hurt you." The medicine wouldn't have too much of an effect on a healthy wolf in the small doses she'd used.