Minted Measure [AW]

Paladin padded slowly through the Estuary, keeping an eye out for predators as he went. He was out for a gathering trip, seeking plants that liked this habitat. He wasn’t in direct search for any particular herb, but he’d be happy to come away with several different plants for his stores. The season was nearly half over, so time was thinning to stock up.

He spotted some likely stands of water mint and smiled, humming gently under hos breath as he padded to the plant, slipping his saddle bags off his back and setting them to one side and open, ready to receive his finds.

Gently, he brushed a paw over the mint, deftly separating the various stems before he bent and snipped the first few stems with delicate nips of his front teeth, ears taking over to keep attentive watch over his surroundings, pausing as he heard wet pawsteps approaching from the southeast.

He assessed the distance, judging that he had a minute or two before the other wolf reached his location, and gathered the stems of mint into a bundle in his teeth and tucking them into the left saddle bag, arranging the mint so that more would fit in without crushing them.

He straightened, scanning the surrounding marsh foliage for another stand, smiling as he found another and went to it, glancing over as the approaching wolf came into sight.