When the older wolf had awoken, she found this winter day is mild. Eulogy quickly decides that it is a perfect day for herb collecting but, the woman does not wish to go alone. So, she approaches Venom and the older wolf offers to take any of the Empress’s children along that might be interested in learning healing arts. Her son, Renegade, is offered along with a couple wolves to protect them. Honestly, the woman cannot blame the Empress for wishing them to be safe, with their location to one hostile pack and another one near the place they will be going, it is for the best.

Since they will be returning to the islands they use to own and it means that the pirates will close and she knows that they have left a bitter taste in the Empire’s mouth. So, the escort is accepted and truly appreciated. With that decided, she rounds up the small group that will be going, Plague, Void, and, of course, little Renegade. Once they have all assembled, they set out on their journey, going slow for Eulogy’s arthritis and little Ren’s short legs. When the pup tires, the two big bodyguards offer him rides and Eulogy is thankful for that. It is difficult enough for her to walk without the added weight of a pup and, while he is small, it is still extra weight that her hips might not apprecate.

Even going slowly, the group arrives back at the islands that had once been Ashen’s home in the early afternoon. The winter sun shines brightly as the woman directs the group out to Dove Island where the tropical trees create some wonderful shaded areas. It is in one of these areas, on a sloped incline, that the older wolf pulls the attention of the young pup toward an herb. With a gentle voice, the woman says, “This is ginseng. It is a rare plant but its healing properties are tremendously useful.” A paw reaches out, cupping one of the leaves so he can better inspect it while she continues to speak, “Look at the leaves. See how the stem breaks off from the main stalk? Each leaf has up to five leaflets or, these guys. See the edges? Aren’t they cool?”

She allows the pup to run his paw over the leaf, if he wishes, before letting go of it to point at the small red berries that rest at the top of the stalk. Eulogy explains, “These red berries make it easier to identify the plant. But, those are not what we are after.” A soft smile rolls across her lips as she looks to Ren, watching his reaction to her words. With a soft chuckle, Eulogy points to a gnarled root that partly pokes out above the dirt and says, “That is what we are after. The root. It offers a wide range of healing properties, including; being an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, helps to treat headaches, indigestion, and fevers. But it offers so much more too.”

The woman turns her gaze to the pup, realizing that many of the big words she has used are probably going over his head. Thinking for a moment, the woman slowly tries to explain, “We, as wolves, have what is called an immune system. Think of it as a tiny army inside you that keeps out the bad bugs. When a wolf gets sick, that means that their immune system didn’t get all the bad guys and now have to fight extra hard to get rid of them.” Renegade is royalty and it seems plausible that he may understand the concept keeping out intruders or ‘bad guys’ better than small bugs he cannot see.

“Okay, so, some wolves don’t have great immune systems and they need reinforcements to keep their army strong. This” Eulogy explains before paw once more points to the root, “gives your body those extra troops so they can fight better. Does that make sense?” Eyes search the pup, waiting to hear what he says. No matter his answer, the older wolf chuckles and offers him a smile while gesturing her paw around the area, “What do you say you help me collect as many of the herbs as my bag can carry? Hmm?” Winking at the pup, she adds, “All you have to do is dig around the roots and pull them up. We don’t want to damage the roots. Here, watch me.”

Paws moves to the root that is slightly exposed and slowly and carefully digs around until she frees the plant from the soil. Scooping it up with her paws, Eulogy shows off the entirety of the plant to the pup, exclaiming, “Ta-da! Now, what do you say we make a bet? Say, whoever digs up the most ginseng gets… an extra dessert at dinner.” Eyes sparkle as the gauntlet is thrown down and she wants until the boy moves off to begin digging up more. From her leather satchel, the woman withdraws a piece of cloth and carefully wraps the plant in it. With that the cloth and plant are replaced in the bag and Eulogy moves toward the next plant. Plague and Void linger in the trees, doing… whatever they do while pup and woman dig.



WC: 879
Total WC: 879 / 1500


"Eulogy Destruction"

The young prince was absolutely ecstatic about being able to leave pack lands. He was going to be going farther from home than any of his littermates. And he got to go with Uncle Plague and Grammy Eulogy. He knew the old woman wasn’t actually his grandmother, but she fell into the role so easily that no one had corrected him either. Besides if Seere got to call her grandma why couldn’t he? He was also quite ignorant to the potential dangers they faced with this trip. Everyone kept saying they were going ‘back’ but Ashen’s ravine was the only home he had ever known.

He was born in the place where his mother had been, while his older siblings were from the island chain that he was being led to now. No matter how hard he tried to walk the whole way, the young pup could not quite manage it. His legs weren’t long enough and his stamina hadn’t built up near enough to compete with his uncles. So he may have taken a little nap between Plague’s shoulder blades. What was family for but to help carry you once you got too tired?

Eventually though the sudden ceasing of motion caused him to blink his eyes into wakefulness as they had finally made their way to the destination that had been intended. It was very different to his home. They were close to the ocean, and the warm water from Auster swept past their coast to keep them mostly warm in the winter, but it wasn’t tropical at all like this place was. Ren wasn’t sure he had ever been quite so warm in his life, and he was silently thankful for Eulogy making their little herb gathering camp beneath the shaded trees.

The boy slid off Plague’s shoulders as the two wolves moved off on their own Ren’s attention was given fully to his almost grandmother. He was told to be on his absolute best behavior, and he intended to keep his vow like a proper prince would. Bright lavender eyes found her curiously as she called him over to their intended target. Ren listeners with his silver tipped ears perked, and runs his pale pink toes along the serrated edge of the leaves when Eulogy offered him.

He looked up with interest, but she was correct in assuming most of the words were going over his head. He was doing his best to pay attention and trying to retain the information, however little it meant now. Eulogy, however, was a skilled teacher and knew what her pupil needed as she went on to explain the makeup of himself and the immune system. She made sure he was keeping up, and he nodded along whenever she asked. Ren was a sharp little thing and learned like a sponge. He also nodded when she asked if he wanted to help her gather the plants. They needed to dig up the roots, and Ren was always looking for a reason to go digging.

He watched curiously as Eulogy brought up the little doll shaped root formation and he nodded confidently, Ren knew he could do this. He was an expert healer already in his mind. What he didn’t expect was for Eulogy to up the ante, and offer him a bet, that whoever found the most roots would be treated to extra treats. Renegade leered at her for a moment, uncertain if she had that kind of power, but he decided to believe her. "I’ll definitely get the most.” He told her confidently before she dismissed him to find his own plants, and immediately the boy’s sharp eyes were searching for the bright red berries that were in season.

Ivory paws carried the little boy into the foliage, not so far that Eulogy couldn’t seen him, but far enough she wouldn’t get to the plants over here first. He looked around, surprised at how much he wasn’t seeing. Of course, he was walking past the same plants four times before his young eyes noticed it there. With a tiny self celebration after appreciating how difficult finding this plant was, Renegade carefully pulled it from the ground just as Eulogy had told him to. Very carefully lifting it from the moist soil. It occurred to him that it might be a good idea to leave the seeds behind.

Carefully the boy removed the red berries and covered them with the leaf litter before looking around for another plant. (That he wouldn’t find.)

"Renegade Klein"

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