Nothing was going to stop the little gremlin from exploring the valley. Her mums had said to stay within it if they were going to be alone. Which was fine with Delphi. She was small enough that exploring even just the confines of Emerald Valley would be exhausting. Plus she was dragging her sister, Aji, along for the ride. Well, she would be the one riding, not Aji, ya know, because of the size differences. Anyway, Delphi lazed lazily atop Aji's back as she stared up at the clear blue sky. It was warm today. Not like it was at night. It was pleasant, and Delphi enjoyed it. Delphi was content to stay atop her sister until an interesting scent caught her nose. Slipping off onto the ground into a rolling tumble, Delphi was quick to run over to the large leafy plant. Reaching up on her hind paws to sniff at a leaf, her nose wrinkled in distaste. "Aji, you know what this is?" She quipped over her shoulder before turning back to look at the plant. Without waiting for an answer on whether it was safe or not, Delphi snagged a couple leaves in between her teeth and chewed it until she could swallow. Yuck! It definitely didn't taste good!

gather an herb - cannabis (1/3)

Aji didn't exactly remember the first time Delphi decided to hop on her back to get places, but she supposed it made sense. Her little sister was much shorter than her, and she often struggled to keep up with Aji's brisk, long-legged pace on the ground. She was the exception, of course; none of their other siblings had the privilege of using Aji as their own personal shuttle. Thus, Delphi could consider herself special among their litter for that. The rays of sun warmed their backs, Aji's even more so from Delphi's weight on her spine. But she was so tiny, it barely made much difference. She just had to be careful not to run around and justle her sister too much. The latte-pelted girl blinked as she stared up at the sunny expanse, squinting at the rays as they hit her eyes. It was pleasant, at least during the day. The nights were cold, and Aji didn't really have enough meat on her bone to endure anything chillier than room temperature, thank you very much. Suddenly, Delphi saw something of interest, rolling off her back suddenly. Aji huffed, seeing as her weight, though small, still swayed her on her feet. "Delph, at least give me some warning before falling off my back," She murmured. She shook off her pelt, approaching the plant her sister was so fascinated by. Delphi even asked her what she thought it was, and the taller child leaned down at the plant for a closer look. She narrowed her eyes as she observed its characteristics; deep emerald color, with a distinct spiky array protruding from a center. Like a maple leaf, yet nothing like it at all. She took a whiff, nose scrunching up. Glancing over to see her sibling take some in her mouth, she furrowed her brow. "You don't know what it is, so you just eat it?" Aji 'tsked' in disapproval, but also of concern as she frowned at the plant. Truthfully, she didn't know what it was yet either.

As she chewed through the leaves with a twisted expression, she turned to stare at her sister. Both ears folded back as her brow scrunched down. "Wellyeahwhywouldn'tI?" Delphi asks through the chewed-up leaves that were somewhat falling from her mouth. "Gosh, this really doesn't taste good," she whined slightly as she forced down a swallow. Turning to look back at the plant, she reached a paw to touch the textured leaves. Some were big and some were small but the whole thing was super green and had these sticky buds in the center. They almost stuck too much to her paw! "Ugh, I don't know if I like this plant!" Delphi said as she scrunched her nose and pulled a few more leaves off of the bush. "You think Ulmy will know what this is?" The pup turns to look at her sister with a curious look before beginning to feel slightly woozy. Huh, weird. Grabbing a few more leaves, she brings them to her nose and takes a big whiff as well. "I mean, it doesn't smell all too bad. Kind of like a skunk, right?" She sticks the leaf out to her sister for her to smell too.

Aji rolled her eyes as her sister srhugged and proceeded to chew on the plant that neither of them seemed to know anything about. Yeah why wouldn't I? Delphi said as she continued. "Maybe because you don't know if it's poisonous or not. And now you just ate it," Aji said, her brow furrowed in some mixture of sourness and concern. She really didn't need her only tolerable sibling to choke or get sick. Well, she guessed if worst came to worst, she could just induce vomiting - not that that would be desirable for either of them. Delphi complained the plant really didn't taste good, and Aji took another cautious whiff of the half-chewed leaves her sister had taken a chunk out of. Her nose wrinkled instinctively at the smell. Something in the back of her mind seemed to turn, the cogs in her brain whirring as she racked her brains for some of the basic herbs Ulmaria may have mentioned to the duo as they had expressed interest in medicinals. Her sister proceeded to mention she really didn't like the plant either, and Aji turned to her and added, "Well, at least now you know not to take a big chunk out of it next time. Right?" Her tone wasn't accusatory, nor judgemental. Her sister was just..impulsive. Something she had gotten use to rather quickly since they'd left their birthden. The thin-legged girl nodded as Delphi mentioned Ulmaria might know the herb. "Yeah, she did mention some common to this region. I wonder if it's..what it's called.." Then Delphi mentioned skunk smell. The cogs turned faster now as she found the name on the tip of her tongue. Oh dear. She knew what it was. "Delph, it's that stuff she told us smelled funny. Cannabis. It makes your mind all fuzzy, but it isn't inherently toxic." Well thank goodness for that. At least she could breathe a sigh of relief knowing her little sibling would be a tad loopy for a bit, but wouldn't be affected permanently.

Delphi continued to chew on the leaves as if she were a cow chewing cud. They were sticky and kind of rough in her puppy soft mouth. As she let her smarter sister’s brain cogs churn away, she swallowed her first bite and took another. It wasn’t a few minutes later that her brain indeed did start to feel fuzzy. Her eyes closed slightly as they began to get red around the corners. Only half-listening to Aji, Delphi grabbed a paw full more of the leaves and even snapped off a branch. “Sowhatyou’resayingisthatit’sagreatpainreliever,” her words slurred together as she turned back to her larger sister with her accumulation of the Cannabis plant. “It don’t feel toxic. It feels funny,” the runt let out a giggle as she stuffed the collection of sticky crystallized leaves into the pouch they had borrowed from Ulmaria. “You thinkUlmy willwantsome? You want some?” Delphi offers a couple half chewed up leaves as she lets out another gigle.