After thoroughly harassing the winged wolf about his miraculous appendages, Pesto went out in search of a new stranger to bother. It was so very freeing to be here, knowing her parents and family were watching out for her ready to eat anyone who wanted to hurt her. In Pesto's mind, she could do anything she wanted and she had the man-power to back it up. The princess wandered through the crowd until she saw another pup. He was black and white like she was, but almost reversed with more white then black. Pesto thought of the very best idea - all of her ideas were the best - and barreled over towards him, skidding to a stop in front of the pup and beaming up at him with a wide smile. "Hi! My name's Pestilence!" Her tail cut through the air behind her rapidly as it wagged. "Do you want to be my best-festival-friend?" This would be sooo much better then spending the event with her brothers and sisters. She turned her head abruptly as if to make sure no one else was around, and then leaned over to whisper. "I'm a Princess, by the way." There, that'll hook 'em. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

I'll tough it out, I won't give in

Álarr decided to do some herb hunting while he was out west. The weather was warmer here and he was seeing more plants in the nicer weather than he had in other parts of the territory. Deciding to take advantage of it he set off in search of lavender. He really liked the smell and decided it would be a good plant to have on hand plus he knew it could be dried. First he just had to find some. He paused for a moment to scratch at his head. The funny bumps were still there and no matter what he put on to deal with the inflammation it wouldn't go down.

Suddenly another pup appeared out of nowhere and skidded up to him announcing that her name was Pestilence. "I uh… sure?" She stated she was a princess of some sort and his eyes grew wide. "Wait, like really? What pack are you princess of?" He sometimes wished he was a prince so he could brag about it.

Pestilence was exceedingly pleased that this pup was willing to be her best festival friend, her small feet tapping upon the ground with excitement. "I'm a princess of Ashen." She elaborated happily. "Do you have a pack too? Oh! You have nubs on your head like my sister, Calamity. She headbutts things when they itch her. What do you do to fix the itch? Maybe I can bring her back some tips!" She leaned in to examine the small bumps, wondering what it was growing from his skull. Not that it bothered Pesto any, it seemed like every one of her siblings had something cool and unique about them. Except her. "So what are you doing away from the adults? Seems a little boring." She gasped suddenly, as if it occurred to her. "Are you trying to run away? You could come to Ashen." Boy would it be fun to have pups there who weren't related to her in some way. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

I'll tough it out, I won't give in

Álarr hadn't heard of Ashen but he had no reason to disbelieve her. "Yea, I'm a member of Legion. My brother is the alpha!" So he wasn't technically a prince but he still felt he was royalty. He was really surprised to hear that her sister had nubs on her head to. "Really?! That's good, I'm glad I'm not the only one. I'll have to try that. I've been trying to put ointments on them to make it go away but I haven't had much luck. I have a few thinks for itching but I swear the bumps get bigger every day."

As the girl leaned forward Álarr dipped his head so that she could get a better look. Boy she was full of questions! She was pretty hard to keep up with. "I'm looking for the lavender plant. I don't want to run away, I like Legion a lot I just got tired of looking at market stuff. Do you want to come with me? You could help me look. It's a plant with narrow leaves that grows a couple feet high. It has pretty purple flowers all over it."

Wow, the boy really did have nubs like her sister! But why would he need lavender flowers for that? Pestilence was still somewhat confused, but she was happy to agree and help him. After all, princesses were about helping subjects just as much as they were about telling them what to do, and if dad was right and Pestilence was a God then the whole world were her subjects. "Okay!" She agreed pleasantly, skipping forward to look for the purple flower. "Why do you want it, anyways? Would it help your itchy head do you think?" Maybe she should bring some back to Calamity just in case. The boy mentioned ointments for his bumps, but didn't elaborate further. Pestilence was sure this lavender must have something to do with it. She recalled his description. A plant with narrow leaves, pretty purple flowers, and it grows high. Shouldn't be too hard, right? She set her gaze firmly upon the grasses and looked hard as she walked around. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

I'll tough it out, I won't give in

Álarr was glad the girl wanted to keep him company. It made it less boring. Afi was fine but they were together all the time and the cat had a tendency to be critical. He trotted along with her as he continued looking. "Naw, I don't think it helps much with itching but it can help some wolves relax and even feel sleepy. It smells really nice to." He trotted along, eyes scanning the horizon til he saw what he was looking for. "There's some!" He bounded over to it. Spikes of lovely purple flowers stuck up out of the ground, out of plumes of leaves. The flowers were slowly starting fade and would likely be gone if it weren't for the warmer weather out west. Reaching out he used his fangs to snip off some of the spikes, adding them to a small pile before he glanced at the girl. "Do you want any?"

Pestilence gasped softly as he explained further. Of course she wanted some! A plant that made wolves sleepy? She imagined all the trouble she could get into making her aunts and uncles sleepy, or maybe making Sirius take a nap so she could sneak off for some playtime outside of the territory. The boy ran over to collect the herb and Pestilence focused on it hard so that she might remember it later if she stumbled upon some more. "I can do it." She declared, stepping forward as he looked back to her and mimicking his method of collection with her teeth. She grabbed some of the spikes off, and then stood there for a moment with them in her mouth. Aww damnit how was she supposed to hide these well enough to get them home? Her ears flopped sideways dejectedly for a moment as her idea to drug her family members went up in smoke. Oh well. A new idea came to her though - these could still serve use to her! Her mother was an accomplished healer, Pestilence was sure she'd be proud if she presented mom with an herb and could tell her the uses of it. She'd just have to find some more closer to home if she wanted to send a wolf to an early nap time. "Thank you for helping me." She told him softly, giving the boy a smile. "You're the best best festival friend ever. It's too bad we couldn't find something for your itching though. I would have liked to bring something to Calamity so she'd stop headbutting me all the time." "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

I'll tough it out, I won't give in

The girl was eager to gather some herself. Satisfied with his haul, Álarr set a few spikes aside to dry. The other spikes he started to carefully chew into smaller sections. He wanted to make a tincture of it and thanks to Brynhildr's help he had a few small bottles of something called 'wine'. He sat for a moment as he tried to remember what the exact ratio was. He need the fronds, water and wine from what he remembered to make a lavender tincture.

Pestilence spoke up and he smiled at her. "Sure thing! Oh, would you like to find something for itching? Are you in a big hurry? If not I'm happy to help you look for some herbs for itching after I finish this lavender tincture." He needed to remember now what he used and how he'd made the ointment if she wanted to make something out of the herbs after they'd found them.

Pestilence watched as the boy continued to gather spikes, and she stepped forward to swipe a few more of them before they were all gone. As she worked she watched him quietly, interested in what other knowledge was bubbling inside that small pup mind. Pestilence made a note to herself to learn more herbs from mother and aunt Lucretia, so that she might be able to appear wiser and smarter to the other pups. She held the plants in her mouth for a moment before placing her pile gently upon the ground, pleased with her haul. He spoke up again and Pestilence returned his smile. "Yes I'd love to find something for it. My sister would appreciate it." Or, rather, the people Calamity headbutted daily would appreciate it. "I'm in no hurry. What else do you need for your.. tincture? What does that mean?" She sat upon her butt and watched him, wondering what else he'd need to gather for it and if there'd be enough for her to share. If she made something with the herb, mother would be even MORE impressed. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

I'll tough it out, I won't give in

Álarr stuck his head inside his pack and pulled out a bottle of water and a small jar of wine as well as an empty bottle. Oh boy, he was going to need a bit of help. He let out a call for Brynhildr then turned to answer Pesto's questions. "I need water and herbs mostly but my companion has learned to make a special liquid out of rotting fruit. If its purified it helps get the good stuff out of the herbs faster. Basically you put the herbs in liquid to pull out the good stuff. It will keep longer as a tincture than just hanging onto the plant but drying lavender also works."

Brynhildr, the white raven, heard his call and flew down to him. She dipped her head in greetings to the girl. "Hello, child. What do you need Álarr."

"Can you help me with this tincture. My paws aren't good at bottles." The bird hopped over and uncorked the three bottles. Gently, Álarr stuffed a few fronds of lavender into the empty bottle.

The boy withdrew from his pack a few containers and Pestilence watched with unconcealed interest. She told herself to remember that fancy accessory later, it'd do her well to acquire one if she wanted to gather her own herbs later on. She couldn't for the life of her think of why he'd need bottles and jars for herbs, but Alarr quickly began to explain. "That doesn't make much sense, wouldn't it just make the herbs mushy and gross to eat?" She wrinkled her nose at him. "If I wanted to dry it instead, how would I do that?" Pesto eyed his companion as the raven flew down to uncork the bottles for him. She had to get herself one of those, too. Pesto looked at her pile of lavender - which she had no means to carry anyways - and walked closer. She grabbed a few of the bits of her herb and as Alarr pulled away from his bottle she put a bit of her own inside too. She wanted to help, and mom wouldn't notice if she gave some away. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

I'll tough it out, I won't give in

He smiled as the girl added a bit of her own lavender. "Thanks!"

Once the lavender was safely in the bottle Álarr gently seized the bottle of water in his jaws and carefully poured some of the water into the container with the lavender until it was about half full. Since the had so little of the wine he ended up pouring the whole thing in but it was worth it in his opinion. Brynhildr could make some more wine later and autumn was a good time to harvest grapes. Satisfied he gesture to the bird to cork the bottle before he turned back to Pestilence and shook his head. "Naw, if you make a tincture you don't have the wolves eat the herbs. You put some drops of it in a bowl of water and have them drink it. Drying is simpler you just want to hang it upside down in some place dry or you can just lay it out on some stones some place hot. Bugs don't like lavender much so you won't need to worry about them eating it."

Álarr packed everything snugly back into his bag and stood up. "Shall we go look for some Comfrey now? That's what I use for my itches."

Pesto nodded, showing him she understood his words. "Got it, don't eat it but drink it. Sounds weird but alright." She observed his technique, watching as he poured the liquid into the bottle with the herbs. She'd probably just dry hers, that made more sense to Pestilence. Put them on a rock and let the sun cook them - sounded easy enough. He mentioned the herb for itches, and Pestilence nodded again. "Yes, lets! Please." She paused, remembering her manners. "What does this comfrey look like? And how is it supposed to help an itch?" "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

I'll tough it out, I won't give in

Álarr was enjoying sharing his knowledge. It was nice to be the teacher for once instead of the student. "I mean, you can eat it if you want to but it's kinda icky." Though Afi seemed to think lavender was good with mouse liver but he would happily pass on that. "Comfrey is hairy all over and about two feet high with big leaves." He didn't think to describe the flowers since the plant would not be flowering any more. "We'll find it on the banks of rivers. It's good for coughs to, not just itches!" He bounded across the territory, hunting for a body of water that the plant might grow near. There were probably a number of streams that flowed through the dancefloor.

Pesto started forward to follow the boy, trying to visualize this new herb. Hairy all over? Pestilence would need to see it to understand, she assumed. The two wandered further in their search for water and the pup wondered if her mother and father could still see her. Hopefully she wouldn't get in trouble for exploring. A distance off, Pesto saw a bit of running water. "There!" She directed, beginning a quicker trot towards the water. There were many plants along the shore, but she still wasn't sure what she was looking for. "I guess, this one looks kind of fuzzy? Is this it?" Her head tilted, unsure. Otherwise the plant seemed rather normal looking. Pestilence wondered how many vital herbs she'd wandered past unknowingly in her life. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

I'll tough it out, I won't give in

Álarr trotted along next to the girl, scanning across all the plant life. It was so easy to get distracted though. There were so many plants. Some of them he knew the names of but there were many he didn't and he couldn't help but wonder what hidden treasures he was passing by. Pestilence spied a stream and called out. "Hey, good work!" He trotted after the girl as the duo combed the river bank. He spied something that might be water wort but he decided it wasn't worth going after. There was a chance he could grab the poisonous version and besides he didn't want to get to distracted from his mission to help the girl's sister who was also suffering from head bumps.

She spoke out again and he wandered over to the plant. "It sure looks like it." He reached out with his nose and sniffed the plant before turning to the girl. "Hey this is it, you're a natural! I like to check the smell of plants just to be sure. Sometimes they look a lot like each other."

The boy confirmed that she'd found the plant, and Pesto fluffed up proudly beneath his praise. Darn right she was a natural, she was an Abraxas-Klein. She leaned into the plant to observe it better, eyes drifting over it's odd hairy bristles. Comfrey. She reminded herself of the name so she might not forget. It heals itches and coughs. This would be perfect to bring back to Calla Lily. Pestilence listened to the boy's instructions carefully, and he told her to smell the plant for further confirmation. She took a deep sniff next to it's oversized leaves to try and commit that part to memory too, but she doubted she'd remember the smell if put beside other herbs. "Okay, what's next?" She looked back at him expectantly. "Is it the leaves or the stem or the root or the little fuzzies that we want for this one?" Pesto would have just picked the thing, but she was worried about doing it wrong. This boy seemed to know so much, he'd surely be able to walk her through this herb as well as he did the lavender, right? "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

I'll tough it out, I won't give in

"Okay, now we need to collect it. We'll want the root and the leaves so we might as well dig up the whole plant." When they removed the root and leaves and left only the stem it would die any way so he figured they may as well pull the whole thing up.

Álarr bend down and started to dig. He worked quickly with his paws, pushing the dirt around and relishing in the feeling of digging. There were a lot of things he liked about being a healer and digging was one of those things. After some time the soon revealed the root which was an inch in diameter and half a foot long. It was smooth and blackish. Álarr dug a bit more and then when he felt they'd moved enough dirt, he seized the plant stem close to the root and pulled, yanking the plant free. He set it down and grinned.

Pestilence listened to the instructions, committing them to memory as she had the previous lessons. The root and the leaves for the itchy-cure plant Comfrey. It was fascinating watching him work to dig the thing out, but Pestilence felt a little dejected that she'd not been able to help he dug the whole thing up all by himself. How rude. The princess lifted her head and sniffed before turning to look further down the stream. He'd said comfrey grew near water, so surely there'd be more, right? She looked hard for the tell-tale fuzzy leaves before spotting a cluster downriver. As she moved towards it she remembered what he'd said about double-checking it via scent and gave it a sniff just to make sure it was the same one. Pleased with her find, the pup moved down to it's base to dig it out the same way he'd done. It took a long time with her tiny paws, but eventually she had the dirt swept away and revealing the roots underneath. She leaned into the hole - her small head fitting close to the root - and grasped it down low on the stem before tugging it upright and pulling the plant from the ground in it's entirety. She sauntered over back to the boy with her prize in her mouth and a pleased grin on her lips. She spit it back out onto the ground before him. "I got one too!" "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

I'll tough it out, I won't give in

"Ok, so the root is useful for things like coughs but we'll use the leaves to help with itching." Álarr bent his head down began to chew off some of the leaves. He thrashed his head sharply to detach the leaves he wanted pausing for a moment to speak. "We'll want to make a poultice out of these. You can use fresh leaves or dried leaves that are all crumbled up." He wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue. "They taste weird but I guess some day you'll get used to it." He still hadn't. He really wasn't fond of the taste of most plants but there wasn't much he could do about it. He didn't have a beak or talons like Brynhildr so he had to use his teeth. Álarr bent his head down again and continued tearing off leaves until he felt he had a good little pile of them. Sticking his head in his bag he rummaged around for some useful items. He pulled out a piece of dried tree bark he'd picked up at the festival and set it down between himself and Pesto.