As ever elusive as she was, she never strayed too far from her brother. She had been periodically checking back into Boreas in search of all the traces that he would leave behind. He was a nomadic creature himself it seemed, though she noticed this time he was in the exact same spot she'd left him in. She smiled as she neared the borders of Kesali, realizing then that her brother had started his very own pack. Her wanderlust years were finally coming to a close, and she thought to herself now might be as good of a time as any to get settled into a new home. She really did miss her family, after all.
She skirted around the edge of the territory for a while, picking up scents of Ivy and other Wreckages. A smile played on her soft lips all the while, her heart beating steadily in her chest as she imagined their faces once she showed herself again. Would they be mad at her for going on her adventures? She certainly hoped not, as many with Wreckage blood seemed to be cursed with curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. Across her travels, she had come across so many charming discoveries and set her eyes on a broad variety of aesthetic environments. She'd experienced many different kinds of storms, studied the climate differences of both of the continents. She felt far more valuable now with all the knowledge she had stored in her nogging than she ever would have had she simply remained in Boreas. She thought they would understand, though there was still a nervous kink in her gut when she thought of their reactions. Faith in their family cured all of her doubts, but she was certainly still nervous with excitement.
She lifted her nose from the ground, finishing her surveillance of who was in the territory, dainty paws shuffling to carry the piebald beauty away from Kesali for now. There were many wolves here that she didn't recognize, immune systems she was not familiar with. She was aware that her travels brought her into contact with many different germs and bacteria that some wolves here might not be familiar with, and she wanted to bring a gift for those in the pack to help protect them from what she might be bringing with her. She hummed on her way through the willows, stopping occasionally to dig at the ground and test its density. Even in winter, the soil here was loose and perfect for roots.. which made her smile in the light of her fortune.
As she left the denser part of the willow forest, she let her neck lower once again as her nose brushed the dirt on occasion just from how adamantly she was on picking up the scent of what she was looking for. This area was awash with many different kinds of roots and vegetables growing underground, but ginseng was far rarer than the lot of them. It would likely take her some time to find a sizable amount suitable for a whole pack, but she was determined. She really did not want to settle for Elderberry, as easy as that might be to find.. it was nowhere near as potent. She knew the closer she traveled to the coast, the less likely she would come across what she was looking for so she started to backtrack across the soil.
Claws created holes in the ground here and there as she started really digging into the territory, growing a bit more desperate to find a cluster of ginseng. She had usually stumbled upon it by chance and seized the opportunity of coming across such a rare find; actually searching for ginseng was much more work than she initially anticipated. Even in the chill of the winter air, she was beginning to pant with how much she was moving around. Dirt clung to her short white fur much to her dismay, but she told herself she could clean herself in a river as well as the roots once she found them. She just needed to find them.
Finally, she could smell the sweet and tangy scent of ginseng in the dirt she was uncovering. She cheered vocally as her silver eyes widened, a smile spreading across her features and lighting up her entire existence. She was joyous, animated with gratitude for her discovery and immediately her forepaws got to pulling back the earth to unveil her treasure. The dirt around the root was more compact than some other areas, really forcing her to put in her work but she did! And a few minutes later, her white nails scraped into the root she was after and released a scent so strong into the air that it made her sneeze. She giggled and became much more careful about uncovering this root, working with a much more gentle approach as she removed the majority of the soil away from it.
"Aha!" Once a sizable enough chunk for a pack was free, she cheered again and plucked it away from the Earth entirely. A muffled laugh escaped her as she skipped out of her hole and worked to refill what she had disturbed. If she needed more, she would remember this place. Her heart hammered in her chest as she raced to the stream that broke through the middle of the forest of willows. She took her time in the cold waters to carefully pick out all of the dirt in her fur and washed the roots to free them of as much dirt as possible.
Pleased with herself and what she had to supply the pack on her arrival, she neared the Kesali borders once again. Her fur was damp and she looked a little unkempt compared to usual, but she could not keep herself from grinning. Her tail wagged before she even set eyes on anyone, as she dropped the root and released her cheerful howl.
She was home.
Finally.
|
