The weeks following to her encounter with her lost sister had been a bit easier in terms of now feeling accompanied and not on her own. Yet it wasn't as if this would take away all the trauma and hostility she had professed against others. Victim of the constant fear of being tortured again, of being cruely marked in her already damaged frame.

She had wandered off where she had stayed with Atreyu, seeking plants as she wanted to become a good healer, one who could help her family and do so that way. She was small and weak compared to her siblings, and thus she knew too well she couldn't fight like they did. So she had opted for the road of a medic, where she could mend them.

She walked on her own through the lands, finding a waterfall, there she aimed to search for medicinal plants which she wasn't able to spot, it was all partially frozen, under Austerian's winter.

Like this she didn't know how she would find the needed plants.

WC: 175 / 1500

"Petra Morningstar"

Speech // thought

An inky wet nose lifted into the air, puffing steam around her white and purple maw like a dragon. The hard frozen ground was awful on the pads. She was grateful for her thick winter coat. The herbal stores were going to need to be stretched through the season. The now yearling knew that no new plants would be coming up until a good thaw in the spring.

Alexa raked a few black claws over a spot of ice, just to see how permeable it was. Alas, her efforts only marred the surface of the thick ice coating everything that would not move. Mismatched eyes darted over the ground as she walked. Carefully, carefully, hoping not to slip, hoping not to reveal herself too readily. The trees offered protection from prying eyes, though she had a feeling her brother wouldn't come out this far anyway.

She spied the falls up ahead. Her eyes wandered over the frozen soil to the frozen stream then up the half-frozen waterfall. It was nearly solid except for the trickling and running water feeding the streams under the thick layers on top. How would she find herbs in this? The soil was barely viable to dig through! The roots would be hard to get in this harsh weather!

A shadow shifted and she jumped back with a gasp. They were camouflaged so well in the shadows of soil, cliff edge, and tree!

"Sorry! So-sorry!" She squeaked and hid back behind a tree. How would she dig for herbs if there was a stranger this close!? Who were they? They weren't a Raider, were they? Were they a slaver? Oh gods! She should have brought someone with her!

"Please... Please don't-" She begged with her face pressed into a tree. She didn't know what she was begging them not to do exactly, just don't do anything!

485 / 1500

"Nothing," She muttered as a frustrated sigh left her severed lips. There were plants but none that she could use for healing, and her anger a bitterness were starting to get the best of her. She didn't want to fail her family, not again, she had to make up for her lack of strength and migthiness she always saw on her sisters. She knew they would never treat her any less due to her reduced size and now clipped appearance, but herself being her biggest critic felt like she had to push more and do more things in order to feel like she is doing anything good for them.

Finally she spotted only a few plants, barely enough for any real use. Ears pinned, but at least was something right? But as she went to catch it with her jaws a noise followed by an squeak broke with the dead silence this place had held, making herself to jump and get on defensive posture, tail rose above her back as her lips curled back showing up her teeth.

Her only good eye narrowed. "Who is there?!" She snarled. Perhaps it was a tad bit of an exaggerated reaction but after all she had been through there were no room for softness any longer. "I am not afraid to fight if I have too!" She stated as she walked towards, finding a wolf yet one who didn't seem to be a threat but she knew better not to trust. Yet she dropped her aggression a bit.

WC- 740 / 1500

"Petra Morningstar"

Speech // thought

The purple girl had just entered her first year and started venturing further afield on her own. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. But the stores of herbs were getting low and she needed to find some! Haydee needed them! She had to be brave. She had to stand up for herself! She looked at the older teen who was scarred severely as they came around the corner.

"I'm just-I'm an herbalist!" Alexa replied in a hurried whisper. The scars on the other were intimidating! What had she done to get those? Was she in a fight? "I'm just looking for herbs, I'm trying to find a way to make them stretch..." Alexa uttered nervously. Her pale and purple saturated build was nothing of a fighter, she was all teen legs and skinny arms.

wc 875 / 1500

Quickly the rush of fera that had turned into aggression dropped and a sensation of warm solid relief replaced the yearlings desire to fight for her life. She sighed kind of feeling embarrassed for acting this way. Though she had get good reasons to be, it was that or being seen a weak and attacked by the wrong wolf.

More relaxed, she heard her rushed speech. "Herbalist, much like me then.." She said mostly to herself but loud enough to be heard by the other who also seemed to struggle with herb stores. "I don't know if that can be stretched without making the wrong medicament.. some herbs cant be mixed.." She said now in a soft yet wesving voice. "I am sorry...for snapping.." It was the least she could do to mend the stress caused to her poor girl.

She began to think, think if there could be a way to make the limited resources usable still, maybe making gardens? Planting on a place? Or with water? Many questions arose.

1046/1500

"Petra Morningstar"

Speech // thought

Alexa's mismatched eyes darted about as the other girl seemed to relax. She didn't know if she could trust her to be relaxed or if it was another tactic to get Alexa's guard down. Her brother had made that into a game for them. She hated that game.

Though her mismatched ears perked up as she heard the words that the other girl was also an herbalist! Oh! People who tended to be herbalists were rather kind, weren't they? Her father was kind, and Lucette was kind. ad they both loved herbs. Maybe something horrible had happened to this girl to get her scars.

Since the girl was an herbalist then... Alexa finally started to relax as the girl mentioned an important rule of healing, not all herbs worked together.

"True, like echinacea and aspen..." She said quietly, her nose pointing to the ground as she thought about what kind of herbs go together. Only to bring her attention back up to the earthen girl as she apologized.

"Oh!" She hadn't had anyone apologize to her before! What does one do when they receive a sorry? She attempted to copy how her father responded to her when she said she was sorry, "It's-it's-okay. It's fine... I can understand why you're nervous." She replied she was always nervous too.

She had an idea, "Well, okay lets say we have a patient and they have an infection. We can't find any echinacea or oregano in this cold, and our stocks are low. What can we do?" She wondered. Was there an herb she didn't know about yet? Was there a trick they could potentially try?

wc 1319/ 1500

Petra through for a bit, she too had struggles with not being afraid and snappy at everyone who approached her, an issue she did want to fix but everytime the painful memories came and she was forces to be on the hostile side of things in order to keep others away and stay free of more injuries and unwanted injuries. Scars that were never to be gone, always there to remind her of the dangers of trusting and letting others come closer.

This wolf was forgiving, if only she knew others could take that on their advantage... Many could use somone's kindness against them. Make them suffer and fall under cheap manipulation and ultimate pain. Yet she didn't feel like giving sermons the stranger. This wasn't the time or place to do so, and she knew nothing of them.

"Difficult situation, it would depend on the location. If you had your own garden you could use any of the available plants. For along as they wont represent an adverse effect on the patient. Maybe... you can use it on small dosis but confidently through the time of recovery. Maybe on smaller amount it might last longer." It was the best idea she could come up with.

"My name is Petra and you?"

1531/1500

"Speech"