After her venture off to Auster, she had made sure to stick pretty close to the Armada's lands and was maybe a little overly particular about making sure one of her father's companions was tagging along with her. She knew her father would forgive her eventually, but until then she didn't want to test her luck even a little bit. The last thing she wanted was for him to completely take away her privilege to go out of the pack's territory. That sounded like a nightmare. So with Marigold and her father's bear in tow, she went out to the weeping woods to collect some of the willow bark. It was one of the very few things she knew she'd be able to get while it was still so cold, even if she had to break through a layer of ice to get to it. They carefully crossed the little frozen streams as she climbed through the snow, the antlered girl silently cursing all the wintery weather. "Briar" | "Marigold"

Rœkia had a good fire going to make a decoction of bistort root. It was one of the few herbs she'd be able to harvest in this frigid spring. Ideally the root would be used in a powdered form but she didn't have any dried yet so a decoction of the bruised root would have to do for her bleeding. She could set one of the roots out to dry in the mean time. As soon as they were both dug up. Her paws worked quickly to dig up both the roots, fangs severing the roots from the top of the plant. She could use a few leaves in the decoction but the most potent chemicals would be in the roots. Picking up both roots she trotted over to one of the partially frozen streams. She bent her head and rinsed the roots in the freezing water. She was about to go when she spied a familiar antlered form. It was the girl that had helped her against the bear. She carefully set the roots down in the snow. "Well, well, we meet again."

Briar's attention got pulled away as Marigold tapped her hip, causing her to turn her head away from the willow tree she was walking toward till she spotted the gray and black woman that she had previously seen out here being attacked by a bear. She hadn't expected to run into the other woman again so soon, but she wasn't opposed to it either. She happened to look in the loner's direction as she was beginning to wash off some kind of roots in one of the icy streams and that certainly caught her interest and had her abandoning her original purpose for being here. As she approached Rœkia, she smiled and dipped her head in greeting. "Hello again," she said in return. Nodding toward the freshly cleaned roots that were laying on top of the snow beside her, Briar asked, "What sort of roots are those?" The only herb she had learned so far that she would typically use the roots from was dandelion, but there certainly wasn't any of that growing right now and it looked different from the thin roots of the yellow flower. "Briar" | "Marigold"

Rœkia glanced down at the roots then back over to the girl. "These are bistort roots. Good for bleeding." She jerked her head back just slightly, indicating the wound she had on the back of her neck from the fight with the bear. She'd been scratching at the scab and it was bleeding again so she planned to use a decoction of the root to help with the bleeding. "You're welcome to join me by the fire if you like, its just there among the willow trees." She padded back toward her little camp site and set the roots down on a piece of rawhide. The first root she intended to dry and she laid it out on a nearby stone she'd cleared of snow. She'd get it tied up and hanging from her travois in a bit. The cool, dry spring would make for good drying weather. The cool weather would keep bugs from the root and of course the dry air would help to dry the root out faster.

She took the other root and set it in a bowl. "So, do you have an interest in healing or just curious?" She picked up a bone in her jaws and tilted her head to bruise the root in the bowl. She worked to mash it lightly.

Briar kept her eyes on the herb in question as Rœkia explained its name and purpose, making her tip her antlered head curiously as she examined them and tucked the knowledge away. When she was invited to join the woman at her near by fire, Briar lifted her head to look in the direction she indicated, spotting the whips of smoke in the distance. "Sure, thanks!" she agreed easily. She was certainly not one to turn down an opportunity to sit by a fire if nothing else and now that she knew that the loner had knowledge about healing and herbs she was even more interested in seeing what else she could learn. As she followed Rœkia over to the fire, Marigold followed along but she glanced behind her to see the small bear that her father kept as a companion drifted off into the near by trees. She knew she wouldn't go far, but she also didn't loom over her usually either. It was one of the reasons Briar usually picked the bear over Marshall. Briar settled herself next to the fire while her fox companion found a rock nearby to rest on, her studious gaze watching as Rœkia put the root in a bowl and started mashing it a bit with a bone. "I'm training to be a healer," she replied with a nod, confirming the fact to her acquaintance when she asked about her interest in the root. "Well... Trying to, anyway. There's not many to learn from in my pack at the moment. It's mostly a lot of trial and error along with the herb knowledge that Marigold has." She nodded toward the curled up, antlered fox to indicate who Marigold was when she mentioned the name. "Do you use that the same way as dandelion root? Or is there a better way to use it?" "Briar" | "Marigold"

The girl stated that she was indeed training to be a healer but there was a shortage of instructors in the girls pack. Pity. Rœkia could be tempted to arrange a deal wit this girl's pack in exchange for food and board but there was still the problem of what to do with her young cousin who was family, but also enemy. It was complicated and she didn't know what to do yet.

Rœkia grabbed her water skin from her beaten up travois and poured water into the bowl with the bruised root before scooting it next to the fire to create a decoction. She looked up at the girl. "Sort of. I'm making a decoction of the root just as you would for dandelion however I'm going to apply it topically to my wound after it cools. Dandelion you usually drink. Although, I have heard of wolves drinking decoctions of bistort root for internal bleeding." She'd never tried it herself.

Rœkia took a strand of sinew and carefully worked to tie it around the other root. It took some doing as she did not have her companion, Wolf, with her yet. She had no idea where the magpie had gotten off to but she hoped he returned soon. Eventually she got a sloppy not around the root and she was able to hang it from her travois to begin drying in the cool winter air.

Briar watched with fascination as Rœkia explained what she was making and how she would use it, giving an interested hum as she absorbed the information. She was like a sponge in the rare occasions that she had someone to teach her something new and this was no exception. She watched as her acquaintance went on to try and tie something to the end of another root and even though she was able to get it tied it wasn't the neatest knot in the world. "Marigold is really good at tying knots if you need her help with anything while we're here," she offered, to which the antlered fox lifted her head from where she was resting on a near by rock. "Her paws are pretty small so she has better luck at it than I do. She even helped me make some saddlebags for my other companion and we're working on some leather armor as well." Not that any of that had anything to do with healing or what she was currently working on, but it was at least some examples of what her companion could help with. She turned her attention to the bowl of water that the bruised root was currently floating in by the fire, leaning closer so she could take a closer look. "Do you always need a fire to make a decotion? Or could you do the same thing with just letting it sit for a long time?" There was usually some kind of fire going somewhere in the pack these days, but she didn't know if she'd want to go through the hassle of building a fire every time otherwise. "Well... whenever it's not so cold that it'd freeze, of course," she clarified with a little chuckle. "Briar" | "Marigold"

Briar mentioned that her companion was good at knots. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I've got it. My own companion, Wolf, is good with knots. He should be along soon." Ornery magpie, probably got distracted by some shiny bauble and that's why he was late. Here ears perked up at the mention of leather craft, or at least what Rœkia assumed was leather craft. "Wow, that sounds like quite the crafting project. I take it you like to make stuff?"

As she talked with the girl Rœkia peered in at the decoction in the bowl. With leaves and flowers there was usually some sort of leeching of color. There was with roots as well but in the brown clay bowl it was hard to tell sometimes so she relied on smell.

"Good question, you're a sharp girl. Yes, you can make a decoction by letting it sit in the water, it just needs to sit longer. Really, a decoction and infusion are basically the same thing. A decoction is normally made with the roots of a plant while an infusion is made with the leaves and flowers. Make sense?"