She's been grey more and more lately. Things were getting a bit quieter now. The pups had grown into yearlings. Sirius was being tended to by the slave woman, who seemed pleasant enough from Halo's distance. Hanako was... stable. She was stable enough that Halo wasn't losing sleep over the idea that she might not make it. All of the things that she was usually wrapped up in had stilled. Aside from the arrival of the girl who had yet to speak, Halo found herself without much of anyone to take care of. It's times like these when the grey is at its worst.

So she busies herself taking care of her plants. Her garden was flourishing, thriving within the rich soil of the woods. Each of her garden beds was marked out with carefully placed stones, all planned meticulously within the general vicinity of her den. She'd watched the sun for days before marking those boundaries, and tilling the soil with whatever help she could scrounge up. This season, they seemed to be doing even better. Still, with as well planned as the garden was, there would be the odd unwelcome resident in each garden patch.

Halo busied herself pulling weeds this morning, carefully prying them free from her garden patch. Around her shoulders, the mid-morning sun shone softly down. At least it was a pretty day.
"Halo"

She could not speak, or read, or fight, or heal, or much anything at all other than survive. After waking up on that cold shoreline and meeting Mortis, her life had been more or less a whirlwind. While she could not verbalize her wants, needs, or anything about herself, Mortis had been kind enough to give her a choice. He was kind, generous, and the kind of friend she needed. It was a miracle that he had been the first wolf to find her on that beach. If it had been anyone else there was no telling what would have happened to her. Except, Mortis was busy. Even though he had returned from Valta, she had hardly seen him. She understood though. He was an important wolf to the Armada and she was merely a slave. His father, the Warlord, had been cold but welcoming and that was all she could expect from the man taking in wayward souls. The next wolf she had come across, Halo, had been very kind, just as kind and if not more than Mortis. She liked Halo and that was why she was seeking out the girl today. Even if she still had yet to utter a single syllable, Halo somehow managed to get by. It made her feel like more than a slave. Heading toward the garden that marked Halo’s den, the chocolate brown girl’s tail wagged happily at the sight of the ivory healer. A short but happy bark leaves her lips as she skips up to the garden beds. Standing there, ears alert and baby blues sparkling in the morning sun, she smiles at Halo. Tilting her head to the side, it is a question to what Halo is doing and if she needs help. Lifting a paw, she offers if Halo would like it.

A bark draws her attention-- Dee! She's pleased to see the girl, her head lifting to offer a gentle smile. It's comfortable, warm. Inviting. She doesn't speak, and that's okay. There's enough that can be said without words. Halo inclines her head softly, beckoning the girl closer. "I'm just doing some weeding, if you'd like to help." An invitation, giving her the option, though she'd already offered. Soft and polite, as she basks in the mid-morning sun and Dee's company.

"Have you done much gardening?" Leaving her the opportunity to give a yes or a no, allowing for things that are easily answered with a nod, a shake, or a look. "While the dandelions are useful, I'd prefer they not grow among our flowers and herbs. They tend to be bullies, and elbow out all of the other things that would like to grow. It's important to pull them out by the roots, like this," she demonstrated, gripping the plant firmly and freeing it from the cultivated soil below. "If we don't get the roots then there's not much of a point to pulling them. They're a good medicinal plant, and they can be used to make a lovely mead. I've been piling them over here to process later." Halo is happy to chatter on, filling the silence with talk of weeds.

"Would you like to help me with making wine, when the time comes?" A soft invitation. Many hands made light work, and Halo was excited to be able to teach. She works away gently at the plants, checking up on her charge periodically.

"Halo"

Her tail wags excitedly a few times as Halo asks if she would like to help weed. Not that she knows exactly what weeding or gardening is, but by the looks of it, it doesn’t appear complicated. The days following her arrival, she had spent much of her time perusing the Armadan lands to get an idea who all lived her if she wasn’t already spending time with Halo. She liked the snow-blanketed girl with her bright purple eyes. She was sweet, kind, nice, tender, soft, all the good words one could think up to describe someone. At times, she felt that maybe there was a sadness that lingered behind Halo’s chipper facade, but since her brain still couldn’t figure out words, she was happy to keep Halo company if it helped. Giving her head a firm shake to say no, she hadn’t done much gardening, she steps forward to watch intently on how to pull the dandelions. With what little she had tried to do with healing and crafting, the young girl could already tell that it would not be her forte. Using her paws was hard at times and getting the hang of remembering so much made her head hurt. Maybe she just wasn’t smart and honestly, she was okay with that. Stepping over to the next section so she could still hear Halo but pick her own portion of dandelions, she would nod in understanding at what Halo was saying. Though her going was slow, she was meticulous in being careful pulling the weeds. Reaching her paw at the very base of the flower, her toes would dig into the dirt slightly so that she could really grasp the root before pulling. As she made her own pile, she would periodically move it over to Halo’s larger pile for later use. When Halo mentioned what she would be doing with the saved dandelions, the girl smiled and nodded again. Anything she could do to not be alone and be helpful so the Warlord wouldn’t kick her out, she would be more than happy to help with.

 

   

Even though she didn't talk much (okay, she didn't talk at all), Halo was pleased to have Dee's company. Really, any company was good company. The grey was more likely to stay away when she wasn't on her own. Working in the garden was typically pretty time-consuming, so having someone else around to pass the time with was the best possible outcome in Halo's mind. "I hadn't either, until coming to the Armada. My family was nomadic, so the idea of tending to plants every day was out of the question." Her tone was light, though she's not really used to speaking about her family. Not much, anyway.

"You're doing a good job." Halo reassured, moving to begin ripping out patches of crabgrass from her garden bed as well. The stuff was hard to get rid of, and it took some effort to get it out of the ground. It was so stubborn and resilient, Halo almost felt bad about evicting it from among her plants. Well, it would do damage to the things that she'd planted intentionally, and it had to go. Carefully, she pried it from the ground, continuing onto the next. My goodness, she thought. It really was in there good!

"What we'll do is we'll wash the dandelions really well, dirt doesn't have a very nice flavor. Then we'll take the dandelion petals for the mead, and the roots will be dried and added to the healer stores. They're really cool plants because pretty much every part is useful." Halo is always happy to ramble on, really. The sun shone warmly on their backs, dappled through the stately trees. A lovely day indeed. "Is there anything in particular you'd like to learn about, or how to do?" Halo asked the girl, considering how she could narrow down things into yes or no questions, should her response be yes.
     
   

 

As much as the girl wanted to speak, she found that she was quite fond of listening. Halo’s voice was soft and almost melodic so listening to her ramble on was comforting in a sense. It made it easy to get lost in their choring - or hobby, however one might view it. She was very careful in how she plucked each dandelion since she wanted Halo to be able to use every bit of it as how she described. If she was careless, it was possible she would ruin it. It was when Halo told her that she was doing a good job did she look up with wide eyes. Her? A good job? She wasn’t even really sure what she was doing. A lot of things were still lost to her like talking, for one. Lately, she had been getting the itch to hunt. Every time she saw a mouse or a rabbit run by, she had the urge to chase after it. That was at least one step in the right direction to figuring out who she was. Other than that, she felt hopeless and useless. Very reliant on others around her - especially Halo and Mortis. In a way, she felt as if the two had taken her under their wing (quite literal for Mortis) and helped keep her safe from whatever tragedy might have befallen her. She smiles anyway and lets out a quiet yip as a way of saying thank you. Her tail even wags a few times before she moves back to finishing up her pile of picked dandelions. Lost in listening to Halo ramble, she was surprised to feel the sun’s warmth on her back. Had the afternoon really gone by that fast? Glancing up through the treetops, she wondered what it was like up there. Before her mind could really wander, Halo was asking if there was anything she’d like learn or know how to do. Taking a moment to think, it wasn’t long before she shrugged. Unsure, she sat back and lifted up her way so that she could hold them as far apart as possible. She hoped Halo understood that as I want to learn everything.