You Look So Worn So Thin

His heart leapt as his father dry heaved and heedless of the wolverine or the woman he distantly identified as his grandmother the boy began to nose through the gathered herbs.

“Cloves?” he asked frantically, his heart racing as his wide eyes looked into the pale cataracts of his grandmother’s.

They had met other wolves in their travels, mostly those that could offer directions, but the healers of the packs that welcomed them had always appreciated Rain's curiosity and had happily taught him what they knew. Now however they were in a strange land; stranger than the barren terrain they had crossed in search of the man named Bass. He had no clue what grew here and what didn't, what his grandmother might have found or gathered and if any of them could stave off the effects of malnourishment.