Recent spring rains had caused a nice stream for the young soft-colored pup to play in.  Splashing and kicking water made for a great game.  It wasn't going to have been a long game but then he found a frog sitting in the stream.  Perfect!  Coran walked closer slowly to not scare it.  Coran kept waiting for it to run so that he could chase it down but, nothing so dramatic happened.  The pup walked up to the large frog and it just sat there.  "hey," he whacked it with a paw and it took a small bored hop away.  Coran stepped up to it again, whacking it, once more it moved but not far.  Small animals normally run so why wasn't this one?

Coran lowered his chest with rump in air, "Hey!" the pup barked at it pleased to see it moved a little farther down the stream.  Coran bounced along to splash through the puddles with thoughts of biting it but found it almost out of sight already.  The frog was halfway burried in the mudnext to the water.  Coran tried to pick it up with his mouth and for a second had a frog leg and mud in his mouth but the frog squirmed out, saved by the mud.

Coran didn't want another bite of mud and tried digging the frog out of the mud. The pup's paw struck frog but the frog leapt directly into the spring and darted into the mud at the bottom, and kicking up the mud to dirty up the water for a moment so that Coran lost sight of his prey.  Clearly he hadn't really wanted the frog.  Now his pretty cream colored paws were black with mud.  Oh well! Plenty of water to clean them off with more splashing.

Elba trotted through the plains so she could head back toward the dens that her father had made for them. She was carrying a bunch of dandelion plants that had been dug up so that their roots remained intact. She knew the roots were even more helpful than the greens and since the ground was all soft from the rains then it was the perfect time to dig some up! She was humming to herself as she went, the sound muffled by the plants she was currently carrying. Her paws were extremely muddy from the excavation work she had just completed, though from first glance it was a bit hard to tell that with her dark, charcoal grey socks. Her mother would probably make her wash up as soon as she got back to the dens, but for now she was content to just get her prize back home! The shouts of a puppy caught her attention and made her slow her steps, her aqua blue and bright green gaze getting pulled toward the sight of her little cousin in the distance. He seemed to be very interested in something he had found, but it was hard to tell what it was from where she was standing. She knew she should probably keep going so that she could go lay out the dandelions so they could start drying, but... she hadn't gotten to really play with her baby cousins yet since she was introduced to them and now seemed like a perfect chance. She found a spot in the nook of a tree to stow her plants before turning back toward Coran. By the time she made it over to him the frog was gone and the only evidence she had for his adventures was the mud that was caked all over his pale legs. "Hey, Coran!" she said with a grin, her tail wagging happily. "Having a fun mud play day?" "Talk" "You" Think

Coran struck the water with his front paw watching as bits of the mud came off but a lot of it just got mushier and still stuck there.  Hmm.  His head rushed up and sideways to see Elba there.  "Oh, hi Elba," offered chipperly.  The pup didn't know her very well, but acknowledged her as family.  "Well, I was playing in the water, but then I found a frog."

Coran had paused to talk to Elba but it was fun kicking water so his back left leg would pull up under him then kick at the water, repeated for big splashes.  At least the splashes were big for his current small size. "It tried to get away in the mud so," he looked over at the spot where he'd been kicking up mud to try and get the frog, "I had to dig it out, but when I got it there was so much mud it slipped out of my mouth and got deeper in the mud."  So basically his prize was a glob of mud in the mouth.

Coran's back left paw didn't feel as weighted down by mud so he moved on to kicking with the back right paw. "I like playing in the mud, but I don't like how itchy the mud gets after it dries." Sometimes mud puddles did need to get taken advantage of, and spring was giving him plenty of opportunities.

She grinned a little while she listened to her little cousin explain how he had gotten into this muddy situation because of a chase after a frog. She always appreciated how pups seemed to get in the most fun situations. Chasing after a frog though the mud sounded way more fun than digging up dandelion roots, but she knew that getting older came with learning more things and having to do things that were more responsible. Although, she did feel like learning about healing and fighting were pretty fun as well... at least most of the time. "That's one slippery frog to be able to get away from you like that!" she replied after hearing how it had gotten away not just once, but twice. She nodded in agreement to not liking the feeling of dried mud and looked down at her own paws and the mud that was currently encrusted on them. It was still pretty wet right now, but it was sure to dry here pretty soon. She saw how he was kicking his paws through the water and she chuckled softly. "Well, I think you have the right idea there," she said before going over to dip her front paws into the deepest part of the puddle, swishing her feet around in the water to wash off some of the mud as well. "Besides, you don't want your mom to get upset about you coming home with muddy paws, right? Mine still gets onto me for that... Even as a yearling!" "Talk" "You" Think

Coran bobbed his head as she agreed with his way of getting off the mud.  Now he had company in mud washing, just about everything was more enjoyable when doing it with friend or family.  When she mentioned mom being upset at the mud Coran's musings stopped, thinking it over.  "Mom wouldn't be that mad about a little mud," The words were said with confidence but even as he finished saying them Coran questioned himself.  Right? He most certainly did not want his mom mad!  Not that he was really worried about it but the concept still wasn't sitting well.

Both front paws started kicking up water.  It certainly worked faster, and it was fun.  The water was spraying on his chest and belly.  “So, whatcha doin Elba? Well before joining me.  Want any help when we are done washing off?”  Coran glanced back at one paw checking on it before kicking more water.  Coran enjoyed helping out where he could, and until he got bigger there were only so many things he could do.  The little pup was game to try at whatever might be requested though!

A belated thought struck him, “Wait, even a year old and your mom got mad at you for mud?” Somehow he imagined at a year old mom’s wouldn’t worry about those kind of details.  He glanced over at the oozing mud near the waters edge.  “It feels itchy when its dried and it drips kind of but, it doesn’t seem that bad!”

She chuckled a little at how much Coran seemed to contemplate if his mom was going to be mad about how messy he had gotten. Of course, she knew not every mother was going to be quite as particular as her own, her few interactions with Aurielle had felt very poised and regal so she couldn't imagine the pure white, shimmering woman being okay with a ton of mud. Although, puppies would be puppies and all that so maybe she would be a bit more understanding of that fact than Daelos usually was. It made her wonder how she might be one day if she ever had children of her own... but that was something that wasn't going to happen for a very, very long time so she didn't have to think about it too much right now. "Oh, I was gathering some herbs!" she explained when he asked what she had been doing while she continued to wash off the last of the mud and dirt on her paws. "I found a pretty big batch of dandelion at the edge of the territory so I dug it up to take it back to the den. The roots are way more potent than the greens - which is why I got all muddy cause I had to dig up the whole plant instead of just picking them." She nodded back toward the tree that was maybe five feet back the direction she came. "They're just laying over there. I need to get them back to the den so I can lay them out to dry... You could help be wash the dirt off the roots if you want!" she offered as she looked back to him. It was kind of tedious work, but even a pup could hold the stem of a dandelion plant and swish the roots back and forth through a puddle. At his sudden realization and outrage at the fact that her mother still got on to her about muddy paws, she had to laugh a little and grin. "Well, my mom is probably a special case. She's very particular about a lot of things - especially things being neat." From what she had been told, her mother's anxiety and obsessive tendencies had calmed down a lot since living with her father, but some things never went away. "I don't know if Aunt Aurielle will be that way or not, she seems a lot more calm about that kind of stuff than my mom is." She didn't know that for sure, but she wanted to reasure the pup all the same. "Talk" "You" Think

Coran's feet appeared clean once more! He lowered his mouth to bite at the water a few times to make sure all the mud was out of it.  See? Back to his handsome self, even if a tad wet.  Hopping over the mud he left the stream back for solid ground.  The pup squared his shoulders, giving a good solid shake, getting some water droplets to fly off from around his belly and chest that had appeared after his wild kicking antics. "Sure, I can help with that!" Coran imagined it certainly sounded easy enough.  The small pup had no plans to ever train to use herbs or help with healing but he still filed away the insight of how roots were stronger than the plant part.  Maybe it would be useful to know someday.  There was nothing wrong with learning a variety of things, even if turned out he wouldn't need it later.   Coran bounded over to the tree, finding the mentioned dandelions he nudged them a bit with his paw until he could easily scoop them up  gently in his mouth.  His eyes criss-crossed as he tried to watch the dandelions as he trotted back towards the stream.  Coran's head was held up high as he carried the dandelions as if it would somehow help in keeping them safer.   "Smm whm.." Coran placed the dandelions down on the ground and tried talking again, "So what are the dandelions good for?"  Dandelions were fun for playing in, but as to how they helped aside from games he wasn't sure. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Elba gave her cousin a pleased grin when he agreed to help her with her task. It wasn't exactly something that would have taken her a long time to do on her own, but she enjoyed the pup's company and things like this were always more enjoyable with a friend to do them with. She wasn't sure if he had any plans at all to learn about healing, but maybe her little lessons could sway him toward the healer side one day. She could hope that she'd inspire someone like that one day, but maybe that was a stretch of a thing to think for a young pup like him. "Great! This way then!" She led the way to where she had stowed her dandelion plants. She let him pick up some of them and then she gathered the rest before they went back to the stream. The corners of her mouth curled up in an amused smile at the way he carried them oh so carefully with his head held high even though there was little chance of him damaging the plants badly enough to make them unusable. Even if he did, it wasn't like dandelions were rare. She settled beside the stream and sat down her portion of the plants as well before giving him a glance when he asked what they were used for. "Ah! Well, it's really good to eat when someone has digestive issues or if they need to increase their appetite - so if someone had an upset stomach the greens are really good for that. It's also really good to grind into a paste and then apply it to things that are sore or painful like joint pain, inflammation, bruises... I also like to mix it with other herbs in the same sort of paste that are good for stopping bleeding or keeping things from getting infected to apply over cuts and bites so then you're helping with the inflammation while still getting the other benefits too!" She realized that she was rambling a bit with her explanation and that his poor pup probably didn't actually care that much so she stopped herself with an apologetic grin before returning her focus to the task at hand. "You just need to swish these roots around in the water a bit and let the water flow over them to wash the dirt off. I like to make sure they're clean before they get dried to store them so they don't end up tasting like dirt later." She demonstrated by picking up one of the stems and holding it in the water, slowly moving her head back and forth to move it through the water. "Talk" "You" Think

Coran listened to here explanation and on the first, and then second reason give a form nod of listening but then she kept going on and on and out. Coran wanted to take in what information she said just in case it was ever useful to him but, his mind was getting swamped with too much information at once!   What the heck was inflammation anyway?  Tummy aches and to improve appetite, he could remember that much.  Coran couldn’t imagine any reason a wolf would need help improving his appetite, Coran sure never needed help with that!  “uhm, ok,” Coran didn’t want her to feel he wasn’t listening after all. The brindled pup took one of the roots, lowering his head so that the root touched the water, then so carefully putting it just a bit under the water before gently swishing it.  His lips were pulled up extra high as he did his best not to bite down too hard on the dandelion. “like this?” the question came out pretty clearly despite the front of his mouth holding the dandelion stick.  It seemed like an important job and he didn’t want to mess it up!  After all this plant was used for tummy aches and a lot of other fancy’sh stuff.   Elba was sure smart knowing about all these herbs.  She wasn’t even as old as a lot of the other wolves!  So if it wasn’t years that gave her all this knowledge, she must be even that much more smart. “I bet you work real hard to know so much,” this was also added while keeping the front of his teeth gently shut over the dandelion. . Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

She could tell from his reaction that he hadn't quite absorbed all of the stuff she told him, but that was fine by her. It actually made her chuckle a little and grin. It reminded her a lot of how she had started out when she was his age and her mother had started teaching her little things here and there. It hadn't really begun to stick until she was a couple seasons old. It all had seemed pretty boring and tedious when she was a puppy, but then at some point it all started to click and she started to enjoy it more and more. She watched as he attempted the same motion she had done to clean off the dandelion roots and she nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, just like that! Once you don't see a lot of dirt on there any more you can put it off to the side and start on the next one." Elba did the same, gently washing off the pile of dandelion plants one by one. Just as she finished up with one and sat it in a separate pile, her ears swiveled forward to listen when he commented on how much she knew. She smiled a little and gave a bashful shrug of her shoulders. "Oh, I don't really know all that much yet. I'm still learning. My mom knows way more than I do and my grandmother knew even more than she does! It takes a really long time to get really good at healing." She liked to think she was making good progress, but there was so much left to learn. She thought about her grandmother and how amazing she had been at all things healing and really wished she had gotten the chance to learn more from her. Her mother was amazing as well, but Grandma Zuriel really had a special way about her when it came to actually using all that healing knowledge. She mostly just knew about different kinds of herbs right now. There hadn't been a whole lot of reasons for her to practice yet which was good and bad. It meant not a lot of wolves around her had been hurt or sick, but it also meant she didn't have many chances to learn. Soon enough all of the dandelions were cleaned off and laid neatly in a pile between them. "Perfect!" she said happily, her tail wagging. "Thank you for your help, Coran! This took way less time than it would have if I did it by myself." "Talk" "You" Think

Coran’s tail chopped the air with its vicious motions of joy as he managed to be helpful in the important task.  He kept it in the water past when he saw dirt, and a bit more than that just to be safe.  The progress Coran was making wasn’t as speedy as it could be, by a long shot, but certainly, it was clean!  Elba likely had her pile done much quicker.  Clearly Coran’s had just been that much dirtier than Elba’s. “Wow, your family really likes healing.  If everyone in your family is that good you really could be the best!” Coran offered with extra encouragement, “cause they know so much it gives you a head start.” He felt pretty smart knowing this but since he got to be super good because of who his parents were it reasoned that would be true for her also. “So when mom and dad make Ardyn the alpha maybe you’ll be ready to be like the best healer of all.” Of course, for all he meant it, he would of likely wanted another healer to try just as hard.  It’s hard to want everyone to be the very best but a well-formed pack meant everyone doing their best. “Oh it wasn’t any problem Elba.”  Cheerfully said, proud that he had gotten to help at something, “Say, Elba.  Do you think you could help me at something?  I wanna get better at fighting.  I really do need to be good to help out my family.  I thought maybe if I could get a secret friend to help me on the side?  I’m bigger now so you don’t have to worry about hurting me.” Certainly Coran felt bigger in his own eyes versus the day he first got to leave the den. . Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Elba chuckled a little when Coran mentioned that her family really liked healing. It did seem like at least one wolf out of each generation got into healing from her portion of their family. She wondered if one of her pups one day would keep the tradition going the way Daelos had learned from Zuriel and she had learned from Daelos. Would one of her daughters or sons want to learn the skill from her as well? She certainly hoped so, but she would never force such a thing on them. They could learn whatever made them excited. She hadn't really thought about how the pack would change as time went on, but when Coran mentioned Ardyn becoming alpha one day it made her realize that at some point these pups would grow up to be adults and would probably be leaders for her in some way. It was weird to think about considering how young and small they were right now, but she supposed she was that small at one point too. Her ears perked curiously when Coran asked her to help him with his fighting like a secret tutor. She grinned at the idea and nodded in agreement. Perhaps some others would have a problem with sparring or training someone so young, but she hadn't been much older than Coran herself when she started her training so it didn't seem odd to her at all. "Yeah! I'd love to help you with your training! I'd be more practice for me too so it'd be a win win." Her tail wagged excitedly at the thought. As much as she loved healing, she loved fighting just as much so it'd be a good day if she got to practice both in the same day. "I need to go get these dandelions laid out so they can dry, but if you want to meet me back here tonight we can do a little night time practice session!" She gave him another grin before gathering up her herbs and turning to trot off back to the dens she shared with her parents and sister. "See you tonight!" she called back over her shoulder, the words slightly distorted and muffled around the mouthful of dandelions. "Talk" "You" Think

Alright!  Elba could help him fight better.  Coran needed to make sure he lived up to his family standards, that meant doing the minimal amount of training required but to take initiative on his own.  This would be a great start! She had to leave and that was fine. Coran’s mind went to deciding how to practice some fighting moves before tonight and how he would even spar with Elba.   Coran had complete faith that no one in the pack would actually hurt him despite size and strength difference.  It would be a great training exercise and great fun.   “Ok Elba.  See you tonight!” With that said the pup also bounded off with that hop in his step, apparently he forgot about his failed attempt at the frog. . Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think