Káti spent the morning exploring the Vericona Plains that made up Valhalla's territory, his new home. He'd grown up on a vast prairie so the plains were a nice reminder of home. He knew he had a lot to do to make himself useful to the pack but he felt he was off to a good start. Káti had spent the season prior gathering herbs of all kinds and stashing them away in little hideaways. Now that he had a permanent home he could move the herbs from one location to another and add to Valhalla's stores of healing supplies for the winter.

He had a good storage den dug now, near his personal den, until he had time to consult with the other healers and add his total of herbs to the packs official stores. Káti had paused his exploration to grab a deer hide. Once that was done he set out to gather the last of his stores. He had a set of dried herbs of various kinds stashed away in the Algoma Prairie. It didn't take too long to dig them up and add the herbs to his hide. Bundling up the precious cargo, Káti set back off for Valhalla.

He had just made it back inside the pack's border's when he tripped on a prairie dog hole and went crashing to the ground. Káti winced as he sat back up. On the way down he had managed to slam his left forearm against a rock and it throbbed where a good bruise was certainly going to start forming. Káti sighed and opened his hide bundle. He had a number of herbs he could use but the point of gathering them was to add them to Valhalla's stores, not to use them himself for so silly an accident.

Káti glanced about and noticed that he wasn't too far from a stream. Perhaps he could find some comfrey. Wrapping the herbs back up in their hide bundle he set them aside before limping down the stream bank in search of the hairy plant that might help his injury. At least it was a gorgeous fall day and this far west it didn't even really feel like fall yet. The weather was warm and sunny, a perfect day to go for a walk for anyone who wasn't so clumsy. Well, at least he hadn't sprained anything.

As the healer walked along he soon spied a leafy plant standing about two and a half feet tall. It was a stout plant covered in bristly hairs with lower leaves that were nearly a foot long. Yep, that was comfrey. Káti padded over to the plant. Bending his head, he carefully started to chew off one of the leaves. He only needed one for this injury and once he'd gotten that taken care of he could gather more leaves to dry and store. It took some gumption since the leaves were so bristly but soon he had what he needed.

Káti gathered a few more leaves for his stores, making sure to leave enough to support a healthy plant. Once that was done he trotted back over to the herb bundle and set the leaves down. He only needed one to take care of the bruise. He pulled one out and examined it. It was a good leaf and he planned to make a poultice out of it. Comfrey leaves worked well for calming swelling and slowing bleeding. He'd also herd that it helped against infection though he had yet to test this for himself.

Ideally he would heat up water to make a warm poultice but it didn't seem worth the effort in this case so Káti girded his loins and started chewing on the leaf. He used his fangs to break it down into a mush while his saliva added heat and moisture. It was not pleasant and he wrinkled his nose at the texture. Once he had the mixture made he laid down and spat it out onto the injured forearm. Káti then used his other paw to spread the mixture out evenly across the bruising area. There. That was done. No much to do now except relax and let the poultice do its work. Luckily it was a nice day.

Káti had to admit the poultice was working already. He could feel the throbbing pain start to ebb a little, aided by the heat at first and now the coolness as the air started to wick the moisture away from the mixture. He knew the plant was also useful for easing the swelling around broken bones. Hopefully, if he paid enough attention to where he was walking, that would never be an issue he had to deal with personally. At some point he need to run an experiment on how the powdered root in water compared to the leaves when it came to easing swelling in bruises. Hopefully he wouldn't have reason to test it soon. He certainly didn't need more bruises.

Tonights the night

The plains this time of year seemed a lot more interesting than usual. Grasses were beginning to turn a yellowish brown color, despite the herbs still eating them. Elizabeth felt like she had spent so long here now. She'd made new friends, of course lost contact with her siblings but they were doing their own thing. Benson was a good companion to have, the cockatiel snuggled into her white fur as the young wolf made her way through the territory. She was not particularly heading anywhere, she had stored her herbs already for the day. She needed to stretch her legs so maybe she was just going for a walk, watching the changing seasons as she did. Liz did agree she needed to get out a bit more, explore more of the territories. After all her healing skills were beginning to get better, but she was neglecting her navigation skills as well.

It wasn't long before the scent of herbs hit her nose. Causing her to sniff the air her eyes then noticed another member of the pack. A wolf she had not seen before..... whether because they just had not run into each other or it was a newcomer. She smiled wagging her tail back and forth as it bubbled inside of her. Elizabeth trotted up to the wolf, who seemed to have been treating himself. Well little accidents happened from time to time she knew that at least. "Hello sir, seems like you've been busy." she looked at the poltuce on his paw. A trip? It was good practice to heal ones self too. Liz grinned and looked up to him.

"My name is Elizabeth Adravendi it's a pleasure to meet you. This is my friend Ben or Benson." she gestured to the rising cockatiel. The bird let out a chirp as he stood on top of Liz's head. The cute looking bird tilted his head off to the side, whistling a soft tune. "I'm a healer here but seems like you're one as well. How long have you been in Valhalla?" her curiosity got the better of her. Not to mention she was not shy nor introverted for the most part.

MADE BY MINNIE of BTN

Káti continued to relax, enjoying the feel of the cool breeze on his fur. He was just about to lay his head down on his front legs when a young woman greeted him. He swiftly realized from her scent that she was one of his new pack mates. He smiled and wagged his tail lightly.

"A pleasure to meet you Elizabeth! My name is Káti and I certainly hope to be a healer of the pack when Aurielle deems me ready." He hadn't really had a chance to show his skills yet apart from tending to a self-inflicted injury due to his own klutziness which he didn't feel was the most promising side of himself to show.

She asked how long he'd been in the pack. "Oh, not long, only a week or so. How about yourself?" He assumed she'd like been in the pack longer than he had and if she was also a healer perhaps she could show him around.

Tonights the night

Elizabeth looked around for a moment, the plains filled her with a sense of home that was sure. She frowned at the thought that she hadn't been trying hard enough to be involved in the pack though. While she had made an effort to, it felt like she slipped behind. Perhaps it was true that such a lush land was making her soft. Regardless she shook her head and returned to the conversation at hand. Benson snuggling down into her white fur as he puffed out his yellow feathers. "A few seasons now I suppose. I've still got a lot to learn, I come from a very barren land so some herbs are a mystery to me. I just recently discovered was a dandelion was." she laughed a little embarassed.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Kati, if you'd like I can show you around the plains?" she looked across the grass. The plains were a beautiful place filled with grass, flowers, and small bushes all around. Elizabeth took to digging out many herbs here while her den was in the other territory they had claimed. Benson chirped a bit, poking up his head while he began to clean between Liz's white fur. Something he enjoyed doing as her ears twitched in slight satisfaction.

MADE BY MINNIE of BTN

Káti listened as Elizabeth spoke, informing him that she'd been in the pack a few seasons now. It wasn't very long on one paw but on the other it was long enough to get settled. She explained that although she'd been there for a few seasons there was still much she wished to learn. He could understand that. He was still new to the regions of the west and while some herbs were familiar there we many that he had no idea about.

Elizabeth offered to show him around the plains. He smiled gently. "I should like that very much, miss Elizabeth." Káti slowly rose to his feet, testing his ankle for a moment before deciding that it was good. He then looked to Elizabeth to lead the way. "Perhaps we can find some good herbs to bring back."

Tonights the night

Excitement bristled along her spine when the male agreed to her offer to tour him around. Liz didn't know why but the thought itself was enough to make her happy. Her tail behind her wagged her white fur fluffed up in enjoyment as Ben tweeted on the top of her head. She gave a nod of her head when he said perhaps they could bring back some herbs. "Maybe, though most of the frost has killed herbs for now. I've dried and stored some at my den since then." the winter was never a good time for herb hunting. At least at home it hadn't been, the weather there during the winter was very cold. The scarcity of herbs sometimes made it hard to survive.

Elizabeth stood, beginning to lead the way through the plains. The grasslands were not too hard to navigate. It hadn't taken her long to learn the land. The snow here was not too bad at least. Only specks of it lay between the blades here. With a harsh winter ahead, telling by the smell, it was at least important to know where everything was. "Up ahead there's a small pond." she gestured with her head towards a small hill. Winter flowers were sprouting and the scent of the small pond wafted over her.

MADE BY MINNIE of BTN

Káti cocked his head to the side as Elizabeth stated that the frost had killed most of the herbs. "Oh? I was hoping the autumn here in the west was a bit milder but that's alright. I'm moving over the last of my herb stores. Mostly dried herbs and some tisanes." He patted the hide bundle next to him before gesturing to some of the comfrey leaves he'd gathered. "It's good to see the comfrey is able to stand up to a little bit of frost til the harshness of winter comes." Winter would truly bring the end of all plant life and make fresh herbs nearly impossible to find but it sounded like Valhalla was already well stocked with herbs.

Káti rose and gathered his things, following after Elizabeth as she trotted toward a nearby pond. He set his hide bag down for a moment before he started scouting through the herbs. Most of the herbs that would be good to gather in the fall would be root stocks. He paused near a plant he was pretty sure was Valerian. Reaching out he sniffed it for a moment. "I think this is Valerian, what do you think?" It was hard to tell without seeing the flowers but the leaves looked right.

Tonights the night

Elizabeth turned to the male with a nod to her head. "Autumn normally is very mild as I've been told here. I also have a habit from where I was raised I suppose. Though this winter is supposedly going to be harsh." The male would go on to talk about a few herbs and she made a note to try to think if she knew them and to comitt to memory what Kati was saying. Comfrey, it was a hardy herb she knew that. Her tail wagged back and forth as she saw her reflection in the pond her white fur fluffing out at the sight.

Elizabeth then turned her attention to Kati and a herb. Crawling closer she saw the Valerian instantly. There were some herbs she knew at least and since she had lived in Valhalla she had learned a lot. "This could be useful in case someone catches a caugh during the winter. Great eye Kati!" excitement bellowed through her. She looked at him for a moment, "How would you go about harvesting it?" she was curious to see what he would do. You wouldn't need to protect the roots, but if you did the herb would last fresher for longer.

MADE BY MINNIE of BTN

Káti sniffed the plant again, glad that Elizabeth confirmed that it was Valerian. He'd have felt particularly silly if he had stopped in front of something else. He turned to her. "Well, what we need from Valerian is the root so I guess we'll have to dig." He didn't know much more than that. Some healers might know exactly where to dig but alas he didn't, other than to just start at the base of the stalk and go til he found what he needed.

Káti got to work digging at the base of the nearest plant. He pushed away dirt and mud, working quickly but carefully so that he wouldn't damage the rhizome. It took some doing but soon he found what he needed. Using his teeth he snipped off the rhizome and set it aside before glancing to the Valerian plant. "It's a shame about the plant." He patted the dirt back around the remaining roots and tried to prop the plant up but he wasn't sure that it would survive without the rhizome.