A Little Thing For Me

Spring arrived but it didn't come quickly. It stalled, started, stalled again, then slowly began to take hold. The world was dark and more often than not it was raining. Not an ideal beginning to the season, but Lyre wouldn't complain. She never complained. Even when she was freezing in the alcove during the winter, she hadn't complained. It was the space that Azure had given to her, so it was the space that she would occupy. Zero complaints, zero words of worry. Barely any words at all, actually. Unless Azure or Hanako needed her, the striped woman tended to keep to herself. There were some days where she didn't utter a single word and that was just fine for her. She kept herself busy tending to her master's den, making sure the items within were stocked, such as clean pelts, fresh water and other various things. It was a simple existence for the woman, but it was a welcome one. So far she hadn't been used or abused, though she knew it was a possibility as Azure had told her what her purpose was. He could punch that card any time that he wished and she wouldn't put up a fight.

There was very little that Lyre did purely for herself. She'd hunted to acquire her own furs to make her alcove tolerable, but everything else she did for those around her. Today, she was going to do something for herself that would also benefit the pack. It would be something that any healer could harvest and use for different purposes. Lyre would plant the flowers and care for them, but she wouldn't mind anyone else using them. The striped fae was looking forward to a pop of color at the entrance between the mountain passes. Just something small to brighten her otherwise monotonous days.

Lyre requested the aid of Ruga, the big blacksmith being powerful enough to acquire the massive slices of log that she needed. Together, they worked to hollow out the logs and create holes in the bottom for drainage. Once they were in place, a giant log pot on either side of the cave entrance, Lyre began filling the pots with soil. The hollow logs were large enough for a wolf to sleep within comfortably, so it took her many, many trips with a small cart that she filled with soil. By the time they were filled with rich, black earth, Lyre was filthy and exhausted. Her paws were sore and her back ached. She was so close to being finished though, so she continued her task.

Lyre had very few possessions, but one had been a small burlap sack full of plant bulbs. They were Begonia bulbs that had been given to her by her previous mistress. Lyre took each precious bulb from the sack, dipped them in water, then placed them divot side down within the monstrously sized pots. Dirty paws gently covered the bulbs with a blanket of rich soil before she watered inside the inner rim of the pot so as not to drown the bulbs. The rest would take time. There was enough sunlight between the two stretches of mountain that the woman was confident her flowers would grow.

-Time skip-

Lyre cared for the flower beds daily, checking the dampness in the soil, though she didn't have to water them much due to how rainy the spring season was. In time the bulbs sprouted into tiny green stalks. Lyre nurtured the little plants until they were flowering bushes covered in crimson, apricot and magenta flowers. The striped woman was surprised at how proud she felt at her accomplishment. Pride wasn't normally something that she felt unless it came to how dutifully she performed duties for her master. In this case though, she had done everything that she could for these flowers and her time and effort had paid off.

Daily, Lyre came to harvest the vibrant flowers. She carefully plucked the blooms from the bushes and took them back inside with her. There, she boiled the petals in water and bottled it carefully. The brew was used to alleviate headaches. The remainder of the petals she mashed up into a paste with a bit of animal fat. The mixture could be rubbed into the skin to help with burns or aches and pains. By the end of the Begonia's season, she would have enough medicine crafted to give some to each healer within the pack. That was her goal, anyway. Make herself useful. Make Azure proud. Make her master look good by being such a dutiful servant. That was what she had agreed to do and Lyre never went back on her word. Lyre harvested more bulbs so that she could repeat the process next year. She could also trade the bulbs to other healers for different items that she might need. All in all, a great success.

"Lyre"