as dark as my soul

When Morwenna finally found a way to get beyond the outer ring of the misty island from the coast she stood on the ridge and looked with awe down below at a valley of trees, then back up the side of the dormant volcano to the whispers of snow at the top.

Carefully, she tiptoed down the ridge and alighted on the forest floor littered with leaves, pine needles, moss, and ferns. She noted the echinaceas and fireweed blooming in abundance in the typical sunny patches and little barberry or uva ursi berries fruiting in the undergrowth. She'd keep this spot in mind as she spotted the small dark berries of the barberry plant, and the tall elderberries dripping above her. What a beautiful find!

Suddenly she yipped in mild pain as she fumbled over a couple of dark stones, and saw a bloom of her blood on the fur between her toes as she observed the pain. One of her pads was sliced so cleanly she had barely felt it. The pain only came after she stepped on it again to catch herself!

She held her forepaw up and scanned the ground for the culprit, but she only saw the dark shiny stones. She whined in a soft high note to herself and glanced around for some yarrow, the feathery leaves and cluster of white blooms were thankfully nearby.

As she looked for the yarrow she paused to see a large handsome male through the trees. He was returning from the mountainside with one of those dark shiny stones himself! The one she tripped over must have tumbled from the slopes long ago. She didn't know his demeanor and couldn't get a read of him from here so she abstained from reaching out to him for the moment and instead limped herself over to the stand of yarrow and treated her paw to stop the bleeding. It was going to be a little sore for a while and keep her from running very far.

After her paw was sufficiently stuffed with a yarrow paste she limped toward him curiously,
"Hello! What are you doing with it?" She asked as she got nearer, forgetting to introduce herself.