pick a flower

Acacius had gotten more than he'd bargained for upon finding the injured coyote. Against his best efforts he and the stranger were unable to cure it's ailment, and could only ease it's suffering as it slowly succumbed to the oozing disease. The experience had brought up for him the fact of just how few herbs he knew of, and how little he'd been taught of healing so far through his young life. Now even more puppies would be coming into their pack and Acacius had no desire to fight them over teachers and lessons, so instead he'd found himself a companion. Or rather, two companions.

The porcupine pair had approached him during the eternal night, their quills glowing faintly and speaking of some sort of prophecy. Acacius did not understand much of what they tried to tell him, but it boiled down mostly to their master had died, and he was to be their new one. The pup nearly turned them away - until they admitted that their departed master was a witch, and they'd over years learned much of herbs and healing and potion making. Acacius was hooked on the idea right off the bat, and along with his imaginary friend dove into the knowledge they offered.

"For your first lesson we'll see how natural your talent is." The porcupine female instructed softly. "We'll need a few herbs, Agrimony, Lavender, and Yarrow." The porcupines had insisted Acacius go out on his own to find them, as he'd learn little from being guided around by his paw. The male spoke up to describe the flowers, using his small paws to approximate size and shape. "Agrimony is yellow, lavender is purple, and yarrow is white." The pup committed the description to memory, bid his new familiar's a short good bye, and headed off into the knolls in search.

The first flower he was to find was yellow, described as a plant with lots of petals. It made the boy nervous that he might get it wrong and bring an entirely different flower back - would his new friends decide he wasn't good enough to be a witch, and find another new master? He snuck along the knolls low to the ground, shoving his nose through shrubbery and grasses and thoroughly investigating each plant he came across. In his search he'd managed to find two separate yellow flowers, and held one in each paw to try to determine which was the one he needed. One of the flowers had yellow, but the petals looked more like blades of grass, and there was only one flower at the end of the stem where he was taught there should be dozens. Carefully he placed back down the stringy yellow one, tucking the one he supposed must be Agrimony into his borrowed pack.

Next was lavender, a plant he'd been told he'd easily distinguish by scent. The porcupines had hidden some of the flower in their paws and allowed him to sniff, but not see it. Bringing back that memory to the forefront of his mind, he sniffed hard along the knolls in search of the distinctive smell. Following his nose like this was not something he was used to and it took him much longer then he'd expected to catch a whiff of lavender. By the time he'd found the purple flower his nose was sore and the smells were beginning to blend together. He tucked the lavender away in his pack beside the agrimony, continuing on for the last.

Yarrow was supposedly a white flower that grew in flat clusters, looking almost like the tops of a tree. Acacius went off in search of the described herb, second guessing himself upon every plant he encountered along the way. Was he looking for a plant that looked like a leafy tree, or a hard pokey tree? He'd forgotten to ask, and now the mental picture he had formed of the plant was not specific enough. He came across some plants that had thistles along the stem and wondered over them - some trees had sharp thistles just like this plant did, but the plant was not white and the porcupines were clear in their description of color. Acacius abandoned the sharp plant, continuing forward and feeling the exhaustion of the hunt.

It was nearly night by the time he'd found the white flower, and as soon as he lay eyes on it he knew it must be correct. The white petals they'd described were there, and so was the weird center that looked almost bubbly. There were clusters off flowers all atop the plant, so he ducked his head beneath them and snipped low on the stem with his teeth. Feeling accomplished and proud, the boy tucked the last of his assigned flowers into his sack and headed back to the den to show his companions.

Word Count: 810