Let The Shadows Fall Behind You

The pull of water had lead her along the banks of the source creek for the sunset falls. The moist soil there held all sorts of useful plants, even moss and lichen that could be used by the healers, though it was best kept fresh and moist and there was plenty at the bottom of the falls, so she left that be. The strange golden-red berries though, well on their way to ripening tugged at the back of her mind. Theo had told her they were Salmonberries, and the healers back home had often kept a stash, bitter as they were, so she set to collecting them, gently placing each berry she picked between her teeth into a small scrap of hide she had grabbed just for this purchase. One day, she would get herself some sort of bag, but she didn’t currently have anything to offer for one, so she would make do until she either caught something with a hide worth trying to figure out how to make into something useful, or found someone to sell her one.

With the bush picked clean, she gathered in the edges of her makeshift sack, carefully placing her paws as she picked her way down to the healing dens by the hot springs. Resin had offered to pass on her offerings, but there was no point hiding away. These were her packmates, and as much as she didn’t want to be a bother, she equally did not want to bother the leader either, and at least if she had gotten something they wouldn’t find useful, they could tell her directly, and hopefully Theo would remember the next time she tried to gather the same thing again.

The sulphuric scent of the hot springs stung her nose a little. It wasn’t overbearing, but it was certainly a scent that took some getting used to. The Avalon looked about, poking her head in one den then the next before finally falling on the wolf that was sitting in the hot water. Her head dipped, tail waving mid-height along her back as she placed her berries to the side. "Uh, sorry t’interrupt..." she said a little shyly. "I’m Percy, I found some salmonberries an’ thought y’might have use fer’em."

"Percy". "Theo".