Honey Moonshine

Álarr had been careful to wrap the honeycomb in a spare rabbit hide that had been tanned and oiled with bison fat. The sweet, sticky substance would make a complete mess of his pack if it wasn't wrapped tightly. he stashed it away in one of the outside pockets to further protect the precious contents inside his bag. He wasn't quite sure what to do with the honey but Brynhildr said she thought it had healing properties. It was hard to say if there was something to the folk tales the bird told but they had plenty of opportunities to put it to the task. Poor old Afi had a cold and Álarr himself was suffering from a laceration just above his left knee from a fight with a mountain lion. He would need to tend to it again and finish getting it cleaned out after his journey.

Álarr did suppose that honey might have some sort of antimicrobial properties. He didn't see anything that looked like fungus or bacterial growth in the honey and it would need to stay safe all winter long for the bees. Well, there was only one way to find out and he'd rather experiment on himself than put any of his pack mates in jeopardy. He slipped into the barn where he'd started a fire in an old wood burning stove he'd managed to dig up amongst all the scrap. It took a little finagling to get the pipe pointed up and it didn't reach all the way up but it was enough to direct the smoke upward and out one of the holes in the chimney. He quickly pulled out a ceramic bowl and placed it on top of the stove with some warm water that he'd left sitting out in the sun.

While Álarr worked on getting some comfrey tea going Brynhildr flew down and hopped over to Afi. The cat sniffed loudly and peered over at the pair with glassy eyes. He was curled up on a coyote skin looking miserable. The cat wrinkled his nose then sneezed loudly. Álarr looked at him with a pitiful look. "Don't worry Afi. I'll get some tea made and Bryn found some honey to make it taste better." Afi snorted and tucked his paws further underneath his body. "Cat's can't taste sweet… though I suppose I appreciate the gesture." Álarr sighed. He hadn't thought of that. That was one thing that made his job tricky. He was most experienced in wolf anatomy and only a little in cat and bird and perhaps a bit more with sheep. It was hard to keep up with all these forms of life.

Álarr settled down and added chunks of comfrey root to the boiling water. He watched it for a moment more before reaching into his pack and pulling out the rabbit skin. He gingerly unwrapped it to reveal the honey comb. He smelt the sticky, sweet mess and then eyed the tea. Oh this was going to be interesting. Álarr returned to his bag and pulled out a smooth piece of bone. Carefully, using the broader end of the bone piece he scrapped and mashed up the honey then scooped it into one of the smaller ceramic bowls that would service as a serving bowl. He scooted it near Afi. Álarr truly felt bad for the cat. It was no fun being sick and he secretly hoped that whatever the cat caught wasn't contagious.

As the root continued to boil Álarr moved on to his next experiment. He pulled out a small bottle of intensely distilled liquor. It worked well to extract elements from herbs but it was strong and burned. He wondered if adding a little honey would help. With Brynhildr's help he used a similar technique to add honey to the vial. Giving it a little shake he gave it back to Brynhildr to take back to his den. There was no sense putting it in the main storage den until he knew it was worth something. Not all experiments were successes after all.

Álarr moved back over to the stove to check on the tea. He wanted to tend to Afi first so that once he put the honey on his wound he could lay on his side and take a quick nap. Even if the honey worked it was likely going to be something of a sticky mess so he figured he'd try and do as little as possible. He doubted the strange substance would harden at all when dried. Well, it was still worth a shot. He wanted the knowledge just in case.

At last the tea looked good enough. Álarr carefully poured the boiling tea into the ceramic bowl that held the honey. It was quick to dissolve and Álarr used the piece of bone to stir it. He then added some cooler water to the mixture until it was a good temperature to drink. Scooting the bowl toward Afi he smiled gently. "Give this a try." Brynhildr flew up to the rafters to roost and Álarr moved to settle down on a deer hide he'd laid out for his afternoon nap. He flopped down on his side and then eyed the wound on his leg. Taking the bone scraper he carefully added a bit to the wound and spread it out before laying the bone scrapper aside. Though he meant to do this as mess free as possible he was still curious and he reached over to lick lightly at the honey with his tongue. It did taste rather interesting and he carefully used his tongue to smooth the mixture further onto the wound. It was soothing but it also burned a bit.

Finally satisfied with the work he'd done he yawned and rested his head on his paws. It was nice to have a lazier day every now and then. He still had a lot he wanted to get done. There were only certain windows in which to harvest various herbs and it seemed like he was constantly fighting for time. It was starting to burn him out. A little rest now and then was good. With another yawn he closed his eyes and fell asleep.