They had a good fire going and Halla settled down, a bundle of peppermint in her mouth. She intended to make some tea to enjoy and a poultice of the leaves to practice on making use of the plants properties for healing sprains. In order to make tea and a poultice she'd need the leaves. Halla set down one of the plants between her paws and started peeling the leaves off with her teeth. One by one she worked through the plants until she had a nice pile which she then divided into smaller piles, one for the tea, one for the poultice.

While Halla worked on gathering peppermint, Káti turned his attention to finding marigold. Káti loved marigold, the colors were so pretty, though he'd never openly admit it. Guys weren't supposed to find flowers 'pretty' and while he thought that sentiment was stupid he still found it hard to break the habit.

Káti sat down next to the fire with some fresh-picked marigolds. He had a few topical applications to test. He planned to make an infusion of the leaves and then a poultice of the flowers. Setting one of the plants between his front paws he started snipping the flowers off and then the leaves. Soon he had a small pile of flowers and a small pile of leaves. Excellent, now to get something to put them in.

It hadn't been long since he and Sedna fought the cougar here in the woods. The slash marks across his face were still pretty fresh, though scabbed over and starting to itch. Although he knew better, he couldn't help from scratching at them and inadvertently removing the scabs as his rear paw clawed at his cheek. It also didn't help that other things clouded his mind and thoughts, allowing him to zone out from the clawing and scratching he was doing. Thinking about Deathbelle had nearly driven him crazy that he was trying to displace his feelings onto others, like Sedna. She was young and a good companion, but he couldn't help but think of her as a rebound. She was attractive and kind, but he still had deep feelings for the former Ashen Empress. There was no way he could just drop that like it meant nothing to him, when in reality, it meant everything.

And there went the scratching again. If he knew any better, he'd say it was the stress and anxiety causing the obsessive scratching, egged on only by the itchy scabs that pulled and tugged at his skin. He'd chosen not to go see Iolaire or any of the other healers within the Armada, or anyone else really, so they wouldn't see him visibly upset over something they may or may not understand. Especially Iolaire or any of the Fatalis children. There was no way he was ready to explain what had him so upset.

"Speech!"

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Halla removed deer hide bundle from her travois. Inside were two ceramic bowls. She took them out and then roughly measured out an ounce of the leaves into one bowl and an ounce into the other. Picking up a deer bone she pushed the flat end down onto the herbs to bruise them. She was working away when the sound of approaching paw steps caught her attention and she looked up to see a large male. He had stopped in his walking and was scratching at his face. At first she thought maybe it was just a typical itch. Summer was the season of mosquitos after all. She had a fair number of bites herself. Then Halla caught the scent of blood. An injury? She looked to Káti to see if he'd noticed.

Káti dug around in his travois, looking for his bowls. Pulling out a rabbit hide he set it down and unwrapped it, grabbing the ceramic bowl that was inside. He took the bowl and set it aside. Taking the leaves he added them to the bowl then turned his attention to the flowers.

Deciding to use a bowl instead of chewing them he grabbed a second ceramic bowl from the travois and set the leaves inside. These needed to be well bruised so he took her deer bone and mashed them until he was satisfied with the results.

Káti set the bone down then paused as he heard the sounds of scratching. He looked up to see a large male scratching at his face. Halla looked to him and he turned to the stranger and cleared his throat. "Excuse me! Do you need any help with that? I'm a healer. I'm working on an ointment for itching right now actually." While marigold was typically used for bug bites the same properties could help soothe scrapes and scratches.

Having barely noticed the two working wolves, he continued to dig and claw at his face and the itchy scabs. Some of the scabs were starting to come off and a bit of blood was seeping from the reopened injury. When they spoke however, it quickly got Magnus' attention and his gaze turned to the two wolves mixing and mashing things together in bowls. Magnus hadn't a clue what they were actually doing, but with their words and their actions, he assumed them to be healers. Traveling healers, maybe? He wondered if Iolaire knew of them. Of course the Armada had their own set of healers, but you could always learn something right? Maybe this pair of wolves had met Iolaire before.

"I'd appreciate that." He rumbled, slowing his scratching to a stop as he spoke and looked between the pair of them. They seemed friendly enough, plus he wanted this scab taken care of. He hardly knew a thing about healing, although he did know scratching a scab was bad for it. When it was this annoying though, how could you do anything else?

"Speech!"

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Káti volunteered to help the stranger out with his itching so Halla went back to work. Taking her water skin she poured a pint of water into the bowl for her tea and then a bit into the bowl for the poultice. It was just enough to get the leaves moist. She pushed both bowls toward the fire. The tea would need to get to at least a simmer but as soon as the poultice mixture was warm she retrieved it from the fire and mashed it up into a paste. She wasn't sure if it would really help the man otherwise she'd offer it. She was still experimenting with peppermint as a poultice and she didn't want to accidentally cause more harm than good.

Káti worked to finish up the marigold ointment, seeking to have a little conversation while he worked. "Did you run into a big cat?" He thought perhaps that was the cause of the other man's scratching but there could be a number of clawed creatures that could cause that kind of damage.

Káti dug out is water skin from his travois. He poured about a pint of water into the first bowl for the infusion and added just a little to the poultice mixture. A runny poultice wouldn't do. Káti scooted the bowls toward the fire. The infusion would need to boil but he was just heating the poultice mixture up a bit before it could be applied. "Ok, I think I have this about ready to put on now." He scooted the bowl from the fire then dabbed some onto his paw and reached up to apply it to Magnus face.

Conversation would help the time go by faster, so he was thankful the man was willing to talk a bit while he worked on whatever would help his itching. At the mention of the cat, Magnus remembered fighting the cat with Sedna as if it were yesterday. Not that it was that long ago, really, but taking the moment to stop and remember the day had put a pause before his answer. "A cougar was lingering outside the pack I'm from." He said, watching as the man mixed the water into the bowls.

"You should see him, though." He laughed a bit, remembering teaching Sedna how to skin the cougar. The skin had been given to her, so whatever she did with it was a mystery to him now. But what mattered was that the cougar wasn't threatening her opossum or the pack anymore and it was one less nasty predator near the Armada. If it were up to him, he'd have some sort of perimeter fence secure the area to keep things like cats and bears out. Though he supposed the inside of the Armada and Empire hardly had any trouble with predators besides the bear he'd tried to take care of.

Once the medicine was ready and his attention had been grabbed by the male treating him, Magnus sat still for them to apply the ointment to his face. Anticipating some kind of burning sensation, he hoped it would be more soothing than painful. Of course he could take it if it was, but he'd prefer something that ceased the itching instead of making him want to itch it more.

"Speech!"

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With her projects setting by the fire Halla was able to relax a bit more and listen in on the conversation the men were having. Her ears perked up at the mention of a cougar lingering near the pack the man was from. She chuckled at the man's insinuation that the cat was in much worse shape. "Well, that's good. The predators in these lands seem particularly bold." There were also a number of predators she hadn't seen before. Not long ago she ran into a small group of hyenas feeding on an antelope corpse. She opted not to disturb then and went hunting for her own prey but it was good to know there were other predators that stuck together in packs. Thankfully, she hadn't run across any that were as large and organized as the wolves were.

Káti finished up the application then moved to a nearby stream to rinse the rest of the mixture off his paw. He shuddered at the mention of the cougar. He didn't like fighting big cats or really anything with big, sharp claws. He had enough of a time focusing on a set of fangs let alone razor-sharp claws on every single paw. "I'm glad the cougar was dealt with, hopefully it won't be hanging around wolf packs anymore." He didn't know what would possess a lone cat like that to get so close to wolf territories. "Is your pack nearby? We'll be heading on our way soon but we'll be sure to go around it if its close by." They'd been planning to head west but a change in direction could always be made. They weren't set on their travel path.

Once the application was over and the wolf walked off to rinse their paws, Magnus chuckled a bit at the words they had both said about the cat. There wasn't anything left of the cat besides the pelt and whatever Sedna had done with it. The meat, organs, and bones would also have their own purpose, finding their use sooner or later. The meat smoked, the organs dried or eaten, and the bones sharpened into tools or weapons. Magnus hadn't much part in the tasks besides teaching Sedna how to skin and tan the hide, the rest stored for later.

"Oh it's hanging around, alright, just not in the way it intended I'm sure." He joked, a light smirk crossing his lips. By now the cat's skin was probably finding itself as a nice throw rug or blanket in Sedna's den, or maybe she was crafting it into some armor or weapons. Who knows, but it certainly wasn't walking. His smirk faded as he was asked about the pack and his tone changed to neutral. "The Ashen Armada is just west of here." He would warn them of the warriors inside, but figured the name alone would do enough of a warning. Besides, these two hardly seemed the type to go traipsing across well-marked pack borders.

"Speech!"

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