In the cool relief of the cave Reti had introduced her to, the Little Plum relaxed. Laying on her stomach, sprawled upon the bed of pelts and grass that still remained from earlier visits, she studied her herb pouch where it lay between her outstretched forelegs. In all her time with it, she’d spent very little of it trying to keep any sense of organization regarding its contents, and now having reached her first year the brand new yearling figured it was high time to remedy that.

Gently, with far greater care than she did most things, Aneistri picked up the corner of her little herb pouch between her teeth and lifted it off the furs. The open end tipped downward, just as she’d hoped, and with a few precise nudges its contents began to fall out in the space between her paws. A momentary pause briefly interrupted her efforts, peering sidelong at the little pile she’d made, before she gave it a few last shakes to ensure its emptiness and set it beside her.

The pile honestly wasn’t all that impressive, she thought with a frown of disappointment, and most of its contents were still unknown to her, just as likely to be useless weeds as they were to be medicines. Aneistri huffed in minor agitation, sending a few bits of dried plant matter scattering before she reigned in her temper. She needed a way to salvage this.

So she began the meticulous work of trying to identify what was in her pouch by sight and separate its contents into piles. She’d figure out what each pile did—if it did anything at all—later.

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+5 Warn someone about a poisonous plant

Given that she'd lost access to her garden within the Brook and most of her herb stores, Heloise was faced with the daunting task of gathering more to restock for the coming winter, when she would be largely unable to get what she needed. She hoped whoever had taken over the Brook would recognize her garden for what it was and keep tending to it, as even if she was pissed at them for taking over the place she didn't want all her hard work to go to waste. Besides, she could just get it back again if one of the Valour ever decided to reclaim what was rightfully theirs.

She figured one of the places least likely to be affected by the coming chill in the air was the labyrinth, and so she'd descended into the depths of it in search of wormwood. The frigid breeze off the shoreline in the mornings suggested to her that it was going to be needed.

The scent of another was ahead, and though Heloise intended to pay the girl no mind and let her go about her business, a casual glance in her direction warranted a double take from the voodoo woman.

Ye uh, be havin' some thimbleweed dere, ye know dat? she asked gently as she paused. If she was aware of what she had, then more power to her, it wasn't Heloise's place to judge what someone gathered poisons for, but if she didn't... well just because she didn't know the girl didn't mean she shouldn't offer a warning.

@Aneistri

It turned out separating the plants by sight alone was actually harder than she thought it ought to be. Aneistri’s brow was furrowed deeply in rigid concentration as she stared at the plants between her forefeet, separated now into approximate piles with only the more difficult to place left unsorted. They were dry and brittle, already cracked around the edges. Maybe this pile?

As she dropped one gingerly among its supposed peers, a foreign voice, unannounced, came to her through the echoey chamber and drew her little round ears up. Her eyes followed a beat later, landing upon the skeletal-like monochromatic shape of a lioness moving about within the shadows, and her face blanked in surprise. Ani felt the fur along her neck bristle uneasily, a bit spooked by the lady’s presence despite the almost kind warning.

Oh. Right. The warning. She blinked, coming back to herself, and spared only a darting glance at the plants between her feet before swallowing and staring a bit warily at the unexpected stranger. “Yeah,” she answered, rather automatically, only to realize after she’d uttered the word that no, she didn’t actually know that was what she had. Which pile could that possibly be? Frowning, she made herself ask with a sour sheepishness, “What’s that?”

@Heloise

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+5 Teach herbology trivia to someone
+5 Warn someone about a poisonous plant

You know, maybe one of these days she'd figure out how not to startle someone when she approached. Today clearly wasn't that day, but at least the girl's reaction to her was tamer than some others had been. In her defense, she used to startle even the natives with her presence until they realized it was her.

That "yeah" didn't seem very certain, Heloise thought, and indeed it was followed up a moment later by the admission that she didn't know.

Dis pile, Heloise said as she approached and sat a reasonable distance away, pulling the aforementioned pile towards her and beginning to sort it into two separate piles. It be havin' frankincense and thimbleweed mixed together. It be an easy mistake to make, dey look very similar. But, de thimbleweed be a poison dat can cause skin irritation and vomiting while de frankincense be helpful for healing wounds. Heloise finished her sorting and pointed a claw at each pile in turn.

I not be judgin' if ye want to have poisons, mind, but I don't want ye to accidentally hurt yerself. She didn't deal in poisons, but she knew many who did. It was a useful trade, though there were many who were leery of those who practiced it.

@Aneistri

Aneistri’s eyes lowered and followed the gesture of the lady’s paw toward one of the unknown piles. She couldn’t make out the difference on her own and for a fraction of a second thought the lady must be bonkers, until she reached out and pulled the pile close to resort it properly. A brief look of indignity and annoyance flashed in the girl’s periwinkle eyes, a reprimand on her tongue, but after a second even she could make out what she had originally missed.

They were different! It was subtle, and to her inexperienced eye near indiscernible, but now that she knew it she could see it. And boy, would that have been a terrible mistake to make. Her dark ears splayed nervously at the thought of mixing the two plants up, how thoroughly unhelpful causing someone who she was trying to heal to be sick would have been. “Oh,” was all she could utter, feeling foolish and incompetent.

Neither were fun feelings, and led to the uncomfortable sensation of self-consciousness as she eyed the other piles of herbs yet to be identified. She silently scooted the safe pile of frankincense close again while gently scooting the other, dangerous bundle of thimbleweed further away, buying herself precious seconds while she tried to figure out a way to save face. Maybe if she could prove she wasn’t completely useless…

Coming to a decision, she placed her paw beside one of the smallest, most dried out piles. “Well, this one’s ashanti pepper,” Ani stated matter-of-factly, drawing upon every ounce of authority on the subject she could find, “it’s good for…” What did that young lioness say again? “...healing.”

She’d still get points for that, right?

@Heloise

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+5 Teach herbology trivia to someone

The girl was so young. It made Heloise all the more aware of how old she herself was. She was seized with wanting to help the girl, but she wasn't sure the girl wanted help. Something about the tone of her "oh" made Heloise feel fairy certain of that assumption. Still, she would try.

Oh, aye, dat be very useful. I always prefer it more dan other plants dat help recovery after birthing, she said when the girl seemed to blank on the plant's uses. It did have other uses, but that was the most useful of them, Heloise thought. No doubt there were others that would argue with her, and they were welcome to their own opinion on the matter.

Ye have a good little stock here, she commented, sincerely meaning it. It wasn't as much as she would have liked to have, personally, but it was an excellent starter store of herbs. If one didn't have a permanent place to keep herbs, it was an unfortunate truth that one had to carry less than one might want to. Though the girl did smell of a pride, so perhaps she was just starting to gather her stock, or she had a larger stock back home that Heloise would have no way of knowing about.

@Aneistri

Birthing?? Ani blinked, quickly delving into her memory for any scrap of conversation with Ianthe in which this tidbit of knowledge might have been passed along. But…no. She couldn’t remember ever being told of this, and it made her look at the tiny pile of plants as if for the first time. That was very, very good to know.

And despite her insecurities, the clearly-more-knowledgeable lioness complimented her small supply of plants, something she really hadn’t expected. Her periwinkle eyes dropped to the stacks again and a hint of a smile crawled across her lips, a spark of pride swelling in her chest. Yeah…she did have a good little stock, didn’t she?

The smile grew as she lifted her eyes to the lioness again, tipping her chin up. “I was my family’s healer,” she boasted, leaving out the fact she’d barely gotten to test her skill or minimal knowledge on her kin before they separated. It didn’t change the fact she’d been placed on that path very early on. “Now I’m in a pride, and I think I can be their healer too.” It was the first time she’d given voice to the thought, to the dream, to the desire. This lady was clearly smart in the ways of healing; strangely, Ani hoped she might approve of the idea, and watched her a little too intently as if to read her thoughts before she answered.

@Heloise

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Heloise nodded in the face of that intense stare, knowing all too well how many families and prides had only one healer among them, especially if they were inclined towards fighting. Her own family hadn't been, but most of them had devoted themselves entirely to the spirits while she had opted for a more well-rounded approach.

Every pride be needin' a healer. We be very valuable, Heloise replied. Healers were always needed, as the lands were never truly peaceful, not anymore. She'd gotten used to it, though sometimes it still rankled.

The fact that she'd mentioned she was her family's healer, and therefore wasn't any longer, wasn't lost on Heloise, and she debated whether or not to speak on it. It wasn't her place to ask what had happened to them, after all. But, she could commiserate. I was my family's healer as well, but dey left dese lands many years ago. Now I too serve as my pride's healer. Well, dat and dealing with de spirits, she said. That was certainly what she was better at, but her healing skills weren't to be scoffed at either, if she did say so herself.

@Aneistri