poisonous experimentation

"No," she assured the boy, "I'm not hunting now." She sometimes had trouble getting herself to hunt animals that she'd seen as companions for people before as it was - she doubted she would be hunting porcupine for a while after seeing them training a wolf to heal. But a wolf needed to eat, and they were prey. It was a constant balance.

The porcupine teacher assured him that he was aware of the dangers of it, and told her what they were planning to use it for. She supposed that was sensible. After all, Tornach had always said that - during her periods of intense curiosity before she'd decided that healing wasn't for her - 'the dose makes the poison' and that many dangerous plants were healing in small doses. They knew more about it than she did, anyway.

The boy, Acacius the porcupine had called him, asked about living on the coast, and if it was cool. "I don't really go near to the water much," she admitted, obscurely embarrassed. "The moisture coming off the ocean just makes really good grazing for sheep, so I live on the grasslands there. Honestly your lake is probably more interesting than endless seas of grass," she added with a laugh.