Need a Little Ray of Sunshine

He certainly had gained the girl’s full attention, and Paladin felt that comfortable warmth in his belly from a lesson well taught as she nodded that she’d absorbed the information. Whether she’d remember it for years to come would depend on whether the girl had a sharp memory for these things.

“Perhaps,” he remarked as he smiled gently at her eager, earnest response to his invitation, moving out along the water’s edge, dual toned eyes turning to watch the waterline, “You could come back in Spring to get a look at them when they’re in bloom. Seeing with one’s own eyes always beats a description. And thank you, I’d welcome the assistance.”

He paused as he spotted a bend in the shore where he remembered seeing a nice stand during the fall, before the winter had set in. Gathering Iris hadn’t been on his mind then— he’d simply been surveying the surrounding lands for plants in general and familiarizing himself. He lowered the hide to the ground and flipped the folds deftly open once more with his nose, stepping into the water once more.

“Are there any other plants you’d like to learn about?” It was a veiled offer of more knowledge, and from what he’d already gleaned of this girl’s personality, she was an eager learner. Didn’t they have healers in his cousin’s pack that would teach her? Of course, not all packs must hold the same firm request that everyone learn both fighting and healing to prepare them for an emergency out of reach of either a healer to treat and injury, or a fighter to fend off an attack.

He moved deliberately as he went to dig around the root he’d singled out, showing the technique and trusting Sterling to take note of the way he carefully worked it free of the mud.