Slithering, slippery snake plants

He strained to sniff at the basket as the other wolf returned and placed it on the ground. It didn’t smell too unusual, although the stripped pattern of the leaves was pleasantly unique. “Hmm,” he hummed, staring at the plant for a moment and marveling over what the stranger had told him. He thought it was strange that it might kill you from the inside, yet it might heal you from the outside. It was quite the opposite for snakes themselves, he had thought. Arató had gnawed on a snake or two in the past and had not been turned sick, but he knew the bite from a venomous one could be deadly. Slowly he began to mumble, “death and life in one. Pay the price by choosing. Careful now. Eat the serpent, just don’t get bit. Watch the herb, it is a trickster, see. Let it bite, but it chews to poison. Pay the price by choosing”. His words were quiet and breathy with exhaustion, uttered to no one in particular.

The battered boy finally turned back to his company, tail swaying back and forth atop the muddy ground. The stranger seemed rather happy to be talking about their harvest, and the pleasure they showed had only made Arató eager for more. He turned to scan the rivers edges while lifting his muzzle to test the air. “Are there other treasures here, gardener?” He was more familiar with the northern environments after all and didn’t know nearly enough about what grew here.