On the southeastern side of the maw Rœkia found an elderberry bush. The berries were still green and not ready to be used yet but that was fine as she was mostly after the leaves to teach her annoying little cousin how to make elder ointment. Rœkia reached up with a paw and patted bush. "Ok, this is the Elder plant. What we need is the leaves so get to gathering so we can make this ointment." She stretched up the bush and reached out with her teeth to start picking off leaves and letting them fall to the ground into a scrap of hide that she'd rolled out onto the ground. She'd let Lukina pick from the smaller branches/stalks while she gathered from higher up. They wouldn't need too many for this small batch.

Lukina was particularly excited to learn more abut the elderberry bushes. She'd learned a few childhood poems about Elder and she was eager to see what she could make with it to further her goals of learning to be a healer. They arrived at a small clump of elderberry bushes and Rœkia instructed her to gather the leaves. She eyed the bushes for a moment before reaching out with her teeth to gather some of the smaller leaves that were closer to her height. Eventually, though, she scrambled awkwardly up the branches with her claws to pick a few leaves off of the top. When Rœkia wasn't looking she stuck out her tongue at her cousin. See, she could get the top leaves too!

Spirit and his siblings were back in Abaven after their long, fruitless search for their mother and sister. Well - it hadn't all but without reason. Poltergeist had heard their return and finally they had reunited with her. There was still no sign of their mother though, a fact that weighed heavily on his chest. But regardless of how their journey had gone, it was time to get re-accustomed to living within Abaven. It would be a slow process - though hopefully no slower than it had been upon his first return - and with the weather slowly shifting to something more pleasant, he was determined to start building up a decent store of herbs. Not that he was an skilled healer by any means, but he had to start somewhere, right?

At least traveling on his own had bolstered his confidence in exploring new lands, if nothing else. He wasn't far from home now anyway, but he was confident he could find his way back with ease. The rocky, mountainous area was proving tricky to navigate, though he wasn't going to explore too far up in the range. Nimble paws brought him higher, pausing when he saw the figure of two wolves up ahead. He was quiet as he continued on, noting the area they'd found was more heavily vegetated than the rest. Perhaps it was a worthwhile area to start? Timidly Spirit let out a little bark to alert them to his presence.

Rœkia picked off as many leaves as she intended to use, pausing when she heard a soft bark. She looked over at the source of the sound to see a young black and white man standing there. He seemed a bit nervous and unsure which made Rœkia feel a bit better. He wasn't displaying any aggressive or threatening behavior and she was curious as to what had brought him here. "Oh, hey there. Do you want to join us? We're making green elder ointment." She gestured to the elderberry bush they were gathering from and then to the small fire being tended to by her magpie.

She looked back to Lukina and spoke. "Put the leaves in the bowl and use your claws to bruise them a bit. Then you'll want to add some fat and suet." She took a piece of rawhide and unfolded it to reveal a mix of deer fats. She then moved some leaves into her own bowl and started to scratch at the leaves, bruising and cutting them.

Lukina paused in her gathering at the sound of the bark. She gazed curiously at the shy man and smiled as Rœkia invited him over, secretly wondering if he was a healer time too. "Hi, I'm Lukina! What's your name? I have an extra bowl!" Without waiting for his answer she scrambled over to the travois and grabbed one of Rœkia's spare bowls. It had a chip in the lip but she was sure it would work well enough. She set the bowl down then bounced back over to her own. Lukina picked up her leaves and dropped them into her bowl. When she went to scratch and claw at them though her cat claws made a grating sound on the bowl and cut the leaves more than bruising them.

Almost instantly the stranger invited him to join them, and apparently it was his lucky day - she was making an ointment! Shyly he nodded, though he quickly took a few cautious steps forward. It was a great stroke of luck that he'd found these two apparently, but he was going to question it either. So much of his knowledge had been gained by complete accident; he had to take advantage of it when he could though, despite his shyness. "S-sure," he stammered quietly. Though he'd grown more bold before leaving Abaven, he felt like since his return he'd been even more timid and skittish. Oh well - he had to attempt to get over that.

His posture remained reserved and cautious as he drew closer. The presence of a younger girl brought him a little bit of calm though. He listened as the older wolf instructed her on what to do. "I-I'm Spirit," he introduced himself with a little smile. "T-thank you. You must be a healer?" He glanced to Rœkia inquisitively. Lukina offered him a bowl and he moved over to it quickly. Making sure it was okay he helped out, he grabbed some leaves in his own bowl and followed the girl's motions, using his paws and claws to squish at them as instructed.

Rœkia wondered a moment at the boy's speech impediment but opted not to pry. He introduced himself as Spirit and she nodded at his question as to whether or not she was a healer. "Yes, I am. My name is Rœkia. I take it you have an interest in healing or are you just looking to pass the time?" She didn't want to assume, but the knowledge would be useful either way. Warriors and hunters tended to accumulate cuts and bruises as it was.

"Ok, once you have your leaves bruised its time to add the fat. You'll want to do about 1 part leaves, 1 part lard, and a half part suet. Like this." She eyed the amount of leaves she had before taking part of an antler and proportionally scooping in fat and then suet. Once that was done she scooted the bowl next to the fire. "Now we heat it til it melts, stirring occasionally. When it turns green we know the medicinal properties of the leaves are in the mixture and you can move it from the fire to cool."

"It's nice to meet you, Spirit. I'm Lukina!" She happily introduced herself and she was glad when the boy agreed to join them. She liked having fellow students. It got lonely being an only child. She listened and watched as Rœkia went over the next step of making the ointment. Picking up a stick she started scooping some fat and suet into her own bowl before enthusiastically stirring it and sending a few globs flying out of the bowl. Once done she scooted her bowl onto a scrap of hide, then taking the hide in her mouth she carefully dragged her bowl near the fire. She moved slowly, trying to make sure not to spill it as she had done with teas in the past. Thankfully the fat mixture didn't slosh as badly. Once it was set she bounded back over to the older wolves.

"Y-yes," he answered her as swiftly as he could, gathering up what he was instructed to and getting to work, mimicking Rœkia and Lukina as best as he could. Keeping an eye on what they were doing while he tried to tend to his own bowl was difficult though. "I'm interested in healing. A-anything I can learn, I'm happy to," he explained quickly. It wasn't like he'd found a proper mentor, instead he was learning bits and pieces from different wolves he stumbled across, and he'd been quite lucky so far.

He nodded obediently to her instructions, adding in the parts to his bowl. He compared with her bowl before deciding his was probably close enough. He nudged his own toward the fire, grinning a little at Lukina's antics. She seemed excitable; he wondered sometimes if he had been unintentionally robbed of that part of childhood. He didn't remember ever being so friendly or energetic as Lukina. Not that he blamed anyone, just the circumstances. Spirit thought on that for awhile as he gave his bowl an idle stir and watched it near the edge of the fire, waiting for more direction.