In her adventures back home and now here in Boreas, Atreyu had never seen beaches like what this new world had to offer. In Auster, there was a beach that glowed when you walked in the water, and here the sand was black! Atreyu marveled at the sight of the glittering obsidian pebbles and sand, Oath would love this place - Azriel too for that matter. She had not run into her childhood friend, but Oath had assured her that he lived. Each of them would be different now, after everything they had been through. For Atreyu, she would never live in fear again. There would never be a moment where she allowed herself to be frightened by another wolf or creature, Atreyu has had enough of fear to last a lifetime.

She stayed among the black dune line, searching for a plant that was needed in her ceremonies and rituals. White sage would be easy to spot once she came upon it, it was just taking her a moment to find among the shrubbery and grasses of the beach. Bigs trotted along the best he could, trying to keep up with the giant spotted wolf that was his companion. 'What does white sage look like?' He asked her, hoping she could tell him so he could help her look. "It's a sub-shrub, meaning it's smaller than a shrub, but not quite a grass. The leaves are silvery-white and the bush can grow to be five feet wide and tall, the flowering stalks sweep upward. It looks like it reaches for the heavens." Atreyu couldn't help the information dump, her naked companion needed to know exactly what he was looking for, after all, and sage was one of her favorite herbs. "Oh, and it smells sort of like marijuana." She gave a little tinkling laugh after that, knowing he would know how to find it now.

1/3 Collected an herb - White Sage
"Talk." || Think || 'Hear.'

code by bird, art by alo

Gavroche had traveled away from Boreas once more, though this time with a different purpose. His father would be coming home with his mother, and hopefully Beauregard, in tow… he had to! And when he did the yearling had no doubt that the man would be injured. His father had been stubborn in his insistence that he go alone. Gavroche hated that he agreed, but he knew that if he were captured by a group it would just make things harder for the rainbow-marked male to get everyone out safely. It was his size, Gav knew, that was his bane. He was tiny, hardly the size of a fox, and given how big some of the wolves of these lands got…

Dismissing that thought for now, Gav decided he was going to focus on finding that land near the beach where he’d found a ton of different herbs. Only… when he arrived at the shore he realized that the scents of the pack that had once lived there were gone. Curiosity nagged at him, and still on the search for any plant that might be deemed worth gathering, he stepped onto the black sands. They shifted under his paw with each step, reminding him of when he had come here before. His ears fell… If his family knew he was here, how would they feel? Wouldn’t he be worrying them…?

A sigh left the winged male’s lips. No, none of that thinking either, he scolded himself. Ears perked up and forward before spotting one of the giants of the land, her coat bright and vivid with pink and red. Gavroche furrowed his brow, moving up away from the shoreline as he watched her with green eyes… and damn near fell into a patch of silvery-green plants sweeping upward. The one he’d stepped on could still be partially salvaged, he realized as he looked down at it with a frown. Although… What was this plant? He couldn’t recall having seen it before? The stranger was forgotten as he sniffed at it, wrinkling his nose.

It stunk… ugh…

"Speech," 'Thought.'

table coding by bunni ♥

Everything would soon come together, she assured herself of that. Oath had told her he was traveling with Azriel, with the two of them looking for survivors, there was no doubt that they could bring Judila back together. Scattered as they may be at the moment, Atreyu tried not to think about it as she hunted for the sage. The thought of her siblings and friends lost and alone turned her stomach and made her sick with grief. As if he could read her like a book, the mohawked Bigs stopped and spoke up, 'Atreyu, I know you worry, and you are right to do so, but we will find them.' Atreyu smiled at her companion, swallowing the lump in her throat as she looked him in his beady little eyes. "I just know they are out there looking for us too, maybe we aren't looking in the right areas." This new world was a big place, it could take ages to find a single wolf, especially if they were on the move as well.

There was movement in the corner of Atreyu's eye then, holographic silver-to-lavender cloaked in black turned to look in the direction that motion had come from just in time to see a very small, fox-sized wolf with wings nearly fall into a sage bush. Atreyu took it as a sign of her spirits telling her that this wolf was meant to talk to her. She approached with a wave of her tail and a smile, maintaining a respectful distance and reclining on her haunches so that she didn't startle him. The sage beneath his paws made her thump her tail against the ground. "Hello. You have no idea how much you just helped me!" The yearling in her shone through in that moment and she looked him over. She couldn't believe her eyes at the wings that sprouted from his back, and she marveled at them for a moment, holographic eyes seeming to shine her excitement.

She looked him the eyes, her lovely smile reaching her gaze as warm as ever. "I am sorry to stare, I have never seen a wolf with wings, nor one as small as you. I don't mean that in a rude way either, I am in awe." Bigs wasn't quite sure of the male just yet, but Atreyu couldn't bring herself to stop looking him over. "I am Atreyu, and this is Bigs. Would you mind if I picked some of that sage?" She didn't want to invade his space, she knew from others that her size could be intimidating, but she really needed that plant. There were things to do, and the meeting place she had told Oath to meet her would be the perfect place for it.

2/3 Collect an herb - White sage
"Talk." || Think || 'Hear.'

code by bird, art by alo

The unfamiliar plant was strange. He knew he had smelled something else with a scent this strong… but he couldn’t recall what that plant was either. He looked up, ears pricking as he saw the femme from before approaching. His green gaze read her body language, his own remaining relaxed as he saw that her posture was friendly. “I did…?” Gavroche asked with surprise. Had she been looking for the plant that he’d stumbled upon? Was she another young healer? Oh! If she was looking for this plant than she would know what it was.

“There are a few small wolves in my family, though I’m of the smallest.” Gav smiled. Trixy was also as small as he was. “As far as I know though, the only other wolf in our pack to have had wings was my grandfather.” It wasn’t a common mutation by any means. She introduced herself as Atreyu and her companion as Bigs, mentioning the plant as sage. His gaze flicked back to it.

“Gavroche,” He said, introducing himself first. “You say this is called sage? Yes, yes, come gather some! But… will you tell me what it’s used for? I’ve never come across this plant before.” His gaze flicked back to the fae, curiosity in his eyes.

"Speech," 'Thought.'

table coding by bunni ♥

Atreyu smiled at the smaller male as he explained that he was not the only small one in his family, she too had small ones in her family, maybe not as small as him though. The wings he admitted were rare in his family, saying that only his grandfather had wings before him.
He introduced himself as Gavroche, a fascinating name. Her smile got bigger as she spoke, "I really like your name, it's got a pretty roll to it!" Her tail waved behind her as he moved off of the plant, moving forward and planting her satchel on the ground to open it.

He then went on to ask what sage could be used for as Atreyu sat down next to the plant and began to pick the leaves for drying and wrapping in smudge sticks and wreaths for later, putting them in her satchel in a bundle. She left some of the leaves on the sage plant for Gavroche if he wanted, explaining as she collected the herb, "Sage is used for many things, you can use it in rituals, as a medicine, as a seasoning for meat. There are more uses, but I don't want to bore you. It's one of my favorite plants, I just love the way it smells - though it is strong so be careful." She held one of the leaves out for him to smell if he wanted, "You know it could be used to help prevent memory loss, as well." It was an interesting factoid on the plant, one she found comforting in case she should ever need to use the plant in that way.

3/3 Collect an herb - sage
"Talk." || Think || 'Hear.'

code by bird, art by alo