He hadn't meant to track Modesty here, but find her he did, piss-drunk blind and full of bad manners to boot. If he wasn't so small he'd have had half a mind to dunk her in the pool at the bottom of the falls, but instead he let out a long-suffering sigh, medicated her and now she was sleeping it off, he slunk away to check out what was growing closer to the falls.

With her as agitated as she was, a slip of valerian wouldn't go astray, though how he would get her closer to home if he got a bit heavy handed was beyond him, and he wasn't sure how Gilgamesh would take it if he sent a bird asking for someone to bring a wagon to cart her back. He wasn't sure Modesty wouldn't skin him in his sleep if he did either. Watercress might help to boost her battered immune system too, if he was lucky... and maybe some goatweed for her obvious depression too, not matter how she would rant and rave if he bought it up.

He had to step carefully this close to the falls. The rocks were slippery.

“Speech”

Ursa was still quite young and rather timid when leaving the borders of Armada. Going any farther than the pack lines and her legs quivered. There were a few times she would wander but that was typically with others from the pack so there was a bit of safety in that. Today though, as she made her way down from the col, she was trying to feel brave. At the back of her mind, she hoped to see Erik again. The boy was sweet to her and though she didn't want to admit it, she liked spending time with him. How would her parents feel about that though? He was from another pack... Was his pack and her's on good terms?

She thought about those things as she carefully made her way to the bottom of the falls. Summer was almost here and with how warm the air felt, she knew she could find something to replant back up in the woods. From her higher up position, she could see something growing along the pool at the bottom of the valley. Though she couldn't quite tell what it was from there, she wanted to know. Practically scurrying down the rocky path, she didn't see the older boy until it was almost too late.

Coming to a skittering halt, Ursa falls back on her bum and looks at the brown-coated boy. "S-sorry! I was just trying to get a look at that plant!" She exclaims, her light and bubbly voice stuttering slightly as she lifts a paw to point at the cluster of plants nearby.

The tumbling and rumbling that only came with a large body attempting a sudden stop pulled the boy from his musings and pale blue eyes locked on the young wolf that seemed to materialise out of thin air. He fought down his anxiety as the familiar scent of Armada came to him, Don't panic, everything is fine, they probably maybe won't skin you on sight... right? As long as he didn't fuck with the kid, everything would be fine.

He looked to where the girl was gesturing, and then back to her with a tight smile. Her interest in plants took a little of the edge off but he was still expecting an army to materialise at any moment and try to take his ears. “Oh, the watercress?” He trotted closer to the pool, gesturing with his head that the younger wolf should come and check it out. “You'd have t' be careful if the water wasn't flowing so strongly, there's another plant that looks very similar that grows in still water that is poisonous, called water hemlock.” He reached out to break off a stem, giving it an experimental chew and screwing up his face when the distinctive peppery flavour set the tip of his tongue on fire. “It's very good for you, but it tastes a bit strange, here...” he broke off a small piece for her to try for herself, waiting to hear the verdict. “Are you interested in plants?”

“Speech”

-healing lesson 1/3-

Ursa is glad the smaller boy doesn't retaliate in a negative manner. Letting out a sigh and giving him a smile, she nods vigorously as he asks if she means the watercress. "Yeah, that!" She replies as she watches him trot over to the pool of water. Figuring she should follow suit, Ursa stands up, shakes out her coat, and then follows behind him. Coming to stand on the slippery rocks, she looks down at the plants as he explains the difference between watercress and water hemlock.

She nods to let him know she is listening. Her mother had been good about telling her to watch out for dangerous plants. Just another reason to not want to leave the safety of Armada. When he offers her a piece of stem to try, Ursa takes it gingerly and places it in her mouth. The bright taste of pepper stinging her tongue has her own face twisting up with a bit of a laugh. "Strange is a good word," she sputters as she wrinkles her lips. Then her ears perk as he asks if she's interested in plants. "Oh, yes! I love plants and gardening. My mama and I have a big, big garden at home!" The excitement is obvious in Ursa's voice as her tail begins to wag.

Her bright response sets his tail to waving steadily at his back, “Lucky you!” He replied earnestly when she mentioned a garden. “I tried to make a garden once, but wild pigs ate all my plants.” He looked suitably crestfallen. To get a garden happening, he'd have to fence it off, and Modesty had gotten sick so he'd kinda put the plan on the shelf. Not that most of what he could find out here would grow on the island, but it would be nice to have some sort of steady supply.

Spotting some white flowers in the distance he dips his head and motions towards them, picking up on the blush-like hue of the blooms as they drew closer. “Does your mother have anything like this in her garden? You could probably grow some, if you don't live too far away. These ones, you dry out the roots and grind it into a powder if you need to keep someone calm, or put them to sleep. Gotta be careful you don't give them too much though. It's called Valerian, I was actually hoping to find some for my friend, but if you want to take this one, I could help you pull it out?” He offered earnestly. In a place as ideal as this one, there was bound to be some more nearby.

“Speech”

-healing lesson 2/3-

Ursa frowns at his crestfallen look before her eyes widen slightly. Wild pigs?! "I've never seen wild pigs before!" She says, her head tilting slightly to the side. With all the hunt training she had done, it had mostly been up in the forest where pigs definitely were not. Looking around, she wondered if there were any here in this valley. Before she could get sidetracked, the boy kept talking and walking.

Following him so she didn't fall behind, she looked at the cluster of blooms he pointed at. Something about them seemed familiar and she could swear they had some in their garden already. When he gave her the name, she nods excitedly. "Oh, yes! We have some Valerian. We only live up behind the falls some in the forest," she lifts a paw to point over toward the top of the falls before turning her attention back to the boy. "No, no, we can pull it out for you! It sounds like you need it more than I do!" Ursa's own tail wags happily behind her as she steps forward. "I can help you pull it out! Just tell me what to do," Ursa offers with a bright smile.

Sakana grinned when she mentioned that her mother had some in the garden, and gratefully nodded when she said he could have this one. “Well, it certainly looks big enough for harvesting,” he gestured to the leaves. “You want this stuff to be at least 2 years old for the best effects, something like this smaller one,” He tipped his head to the smaller plant next to it, “Well, that'd be a good one to take for a garden, I dunno if where I live is wet enough, or if it would survive the journey home...” But maybe he could come back and fetch it for the mountain pack?

The brown wolf began carefully pushing the soil back from the base of the plant, “Generally, it would be better to harvest this in autumn, but since it's a bit older, the roots should be ok...” The soft ground made it easy to push the soil back to expose the upper hair like roots, he shuffled back to give the pup some room so she could give it a go. As they got deeper, the roots took on a more gnarled appearance, thickening and twisting like skinny tubers. “These are the bits we want, they should break off pretty easily, but try to avoid chewing on it, you don't want a nap in the middle of nowhere.” Sakana gave a gentle smile, using his paw to break off one of the roots. His new capuchin dropped from the trees and darted in to grab the piece he had broken free. “Don' you go eatin' that!” He warned the little beast sternly. He didn't need an extra body to try and drag home.

“Speech”

-healing lesson 3/3-