There was still some green left in the world, but according to her parents it wouldn't be sticking around for long. That sort of fascinated Suriel, but it sort of freaked her out too. She had a hard time picturing it in her mind. The whole world just... brown and gray? No thanks! The morning was leaning into afternoon and Suri had lost track of her siblings but the smell of other pack wolves was all around so she knew she wasn't wandering too too far afield. All she wanted was to track down a few more bits of green anyhow, something neat she could hold on to. Maybe if she stuck it in the den and kept it warm it wouldn't turn brown like everything else... She had to find something first though, and not just any clump of grass or leaves would do. The older she got (and wasn't she so old and wise already,) the more she had come to appreciate just how MUCH was out there to be seen and sniffed and poked at. And if what she heard was right, some plants could even do magical things, like make a sick wolf better. Or even make a healthy wolf sick... So yeah, she wanted to find a plant like that, something cool and magic and she'd keep it in the den all winter long. It was clearly a flawless plan. "Talk" "Listen" Think

Autumn was the season to hunt for the roots of a number of medicinal plants. Álarr had managed to get a small patch of Abscess Root growing in a lower area of the range behind the barn. Now it was time to see if it was ready for harvest. He hoped his hard work wouldn't be in vain but one could never quite tell. He'd failed twice already with ginger and hoped the third attempt would pan out.

After gathering his pack he headed out into the crisp morning air. He loved days like this, a fine break from the sweltering heat of summer, even if the strange red sun still cast its terrible tint on the landscape. Nearby Álarr could see the fluffy tail of Afi off in the tall grasses hunting and further on he saw the pale form of… well, one of Thalia and Theory's daughters. Álarr had done a rather terrible job getting to know the newest members of the pack. He really needed to correct that.

Clearing his throat he approached the girl. "Not off to get into trouble, I hope."

A voice over her shoulder caught Suriel off guard and she spun on her heels. She hadn't heard the old man approaching, too fixated on her chosen quest to be aware of anything else. Heat flushed under her fur, but a second later she remembered that she actually wasn't getting into trouble... Or at least, she didn't think she was. And a second after that she remembered her manners, and nodded her head in greeting. Her mothers would be cross if she didn't show an elder wolf proper respect. "Good morning Mister Alarr! Mama told me that soon almost all the plants will be dead, so I was going to look for some before that happened." She wanted to ask him if it was really true, but she didn't want to doubt her mother either. Sureil didn't know much about the other wolves in the pack besides her family, she hadn't spent much time with any of them, but she knew Mister Alarr was a healer so he probably knew all about plants too. She stood at quivering attention. "Do you think if you were really careful you could keep a plant alive all winter? Like if you kept it warm and everything, maybe like a bird with her eggs?" Except, you know, not sitting on it exactly. She might not know a lot, but she could guess that a flattened plant probably wouldn't grow very well no matter how warm you kept it. "Talk" "Listen" Think

A small, amused smile, appeared on Álarr's face as the girl spoke, explaining that she was looking for plants before winter came. He nodded. "As it would happen, I am doing the same. I'm going to harvest some plants that I have tried growing, you're welcome to join me." He took a few steps toward the crop of Abscess Root, and glanced to see if she would follow before taking a few more and shrugging off his pack. He used his teeth to pull it all the way off and set it down next to his feet as he considered the girl's question.

"It really depends on the plant. Some can survive through the winter without any help, like juniper and pine. Others are more sensitive and need more light to grow than winter sun can provide. Even if you found a way to keep them warm without enough light they could die. Why do you ask?"

Suri's little tail shot bolt upright and began to quiver when she heard that the old man was also out looking for plants. Perfect! Sure he was practically ancient (if you asked her at least,) but as long as he didn't break a hip within the next hour or two she could probably learn a lot from him. She stood at attention. "I'd love to join you! I'll be super helpful, I promise." He was growing plants, like on purpose? So it was possible. She filed that knowledge away for Future Suriel to ponder and hurried to catch up. Suri was careful to listen, paying more attention to his words than where her paws were going, and ended up stumbling a time or two but it was worth it not to miss a single syllable. She hadn't even considered sunlight. She's not sure she'd known plants needed sunlight in the first place to be fair, but even in her youth she could notice the nights beginning to stretch, eating away at the day. He asked after her reasoning and she shrugged. "I just thought it might be useful is all. Like if a healer needed a plant but it wasn't growing anymore. You could have secret plants growing somewhere the cold couldn't get 'em." Now all she needed to do was figure out how to harness a little bit of sunlight... Couldn't be that hard, there was plenty of it during the day, right? Eh, she'd figure it out. "Talk" "Listen" Think