⊗ hmm, we're obviously exhausted, but can we squeeze in another trip to go looking for the herbs we need?
⊗ what if we don't do that and our parents DIE!!!!!!!!!!!
⊗ OUR PARENTS WILL DIE IF WE DON'T GO!!!!!!!!!!!
The Broken looks up from grooming when you ask her if she wants to come with you while you try to look for herbs again. She flicks her ears, looking you up and down, but after a pause she agrees. Yeah, sure. Someone's gotta keep an eye on you, eh?
You laugh a little, and grab her paw as she stands up. Together, you run out of the camp.
You've been looking for arm growers for long enough that you feel like you've made a mental map of exclusively where they should be growing but aren't. You're trying to figure out whether it'd be worth checking one of those empty places - would a newly sprouted arm grower have enough of the roots you need? Surely anything would be better than nothing - when The Broken speaks up again.
You know, I've been getting pretty good at hunting. I do have a couple months on you as far as training goes, and while it's not totally the same, it's still about spotting things. In fact, when you think about it, it's harder to hunt because your target wants to run away from you!
So I bet that means I'm gonna be better at finding those herbs than you are.
⊗ oh yeah???? prove it.
⊗ is that a challenge????? forget about your parents maybe dying. it's on
Oh, you're challenging me, huh?? You rear up to your full height - still shorter than her - and swish your tail back and forth playfully. There's no way you're going to be able to do that! Go ahead, try and prove it! Do you even know what herbs that we can use look like?
Um, yes?? She folds her arms, not ready to back down yet. You've totally told me about some of them!
Like what? You point at her. Tell me what you remember!
...
She bends down and pulls up a pawful of grass at both of your feet, throwing it at you. >I know this stuff helps when we have stomachaches, so there!
You bat the faceful of blades away, laughing at her. It's hard to forget that your parents are both sick, and your dad might be dying, but when you're out here with just The Broken and you're playing like this, it almost feels like it's just at the back of your mind and you don't have to worry about it as much, and not like there's a sick pit in your pouch every day.
You're not exactly the best person to know this, given that you spent your entire puphood following The Little so you know what you think is common knowledge is going to be skewed, but you wonder if knowing that common grass can help tummy pain is really something not everyone is aware of.
⊗ okay that and do you talk about medicine that much??? damn. oh well
⊗ we should quiz everyone we know when we get back
⊗ ask broken something she TOTALLY can't answer. just to prove you're smarter than her
⊗ do this. right now
Maybe you really do talk too much about medicine... It's one of your passions, and some of the only things you know best. But, but, that's not your single defining trait! You talk about people's relationships with The Broken too, there's just not too many slugcats in the clowder so you can't really gossip too much, especially since you know them so well. Who are the eligible candidates, anyway?
The Amber and The Rust don't even have a fling, they just wanted children. Your parents are already known to love each other romantically. The New Sun, The Wind, and The Untouched aren't an Official Thing but still feel like old news. You guess there's something going on with The Rain and The Rust, and you know The Broken's alluded to something going on with The Wild, but you're pretty sure that's just her guessing.
Now you really are curious how much is first aid common knowledge, and how much is healer level stuff. You resolve to try asking around when you get back to camp.
Oh yeah? You say in challenge. And do you remember what pole plant leaves do?
She makes a face at you. How am I going to know that? I didn't even know they did anything except stick to you and try to suck you into the plant's den!
You puff your chest out, playfully proud. Well, their leaves actually have medicinal properties when you can rip a pawful of them out! The scent when the plant is "injured" - like when we rip the leaves off, or tear up the leaf - is soothing, and eating them can help slugcats with anxiety and shock.
⊗ how's that. aren't we cool broken.
⊗ please say we're cool. /JJJJJ
What did you think of that! You shove her with your paw on her shoulder. Aren't I cool for knowing this stuff you don't remember?
That's not exactly what I'd call "cool", Winged. She retorts, pushing back at you with her tail. Kind of like, the opposite, actually.
Aw, that's not what I wanted to hear! You have to name me cool or I'll cry.
Sorry, but if anyone's getting the title The Cool, it's DEFINITELY not going to be you. She snorts.
You scrunch up your face at her, miming wiping at your eyes as you pretend to weep. She is utterly unimpressed.
The Broken, in the process of ignoring you, notices something in the distance and points. What is that? A plant? It's too small to be a predator.
You lower your paws as you turn and look. It's not any plant you've seen before; it's even more brightly coloured than most of the flowers you've seen before. There are petals, and a centre that could hold pollen, but even as you watch the petals rotate in a way you're never really seen. It must be a mobile plant, like monster kelp or a pole plant - would you need to keep your distance? But Broken is right, it looks too small to be able to hunt you.
⊗ toss a rock nearby and see if it reacts
You look down at the floor, hunting around for a good rock. You're getting close to the forest, but aren't entirely in it yet at this point, so the ground is starting to fill up with fallen leaves and other debris more than the scattered bits of rock that are more underfoot further back. You find not a rock, exactly, but a chunk of metal, and decide that works good enough.
You aim the rock near the plant and toss gently.
Too gently, apparently. Your throw comes nowhere close, dropping closer to you and Broken than near the thing, and the plant tilts slightly to regard the thrown object.
The Broken stares at you a little. I forgot you haven't had any physical training yet at all...
You stick your tongue out at her, defensive. I am getting some physical training! The Little has me carrying buckets of water back to camp! I just, misjudged!!
⊗ get close to it and whack it with your paw to intimidate it.
⊗ why are we so cringe and fail at throwing rocks. wallow at this.
⊗ no! we're strong and cool. whack it with your paw several times.
⊗ do either of you have a spear? attack!
You're disappointed and a little embarrassed by how badly you threw that. It was much harder than you thought it would be - especially with having played a bit of pebble toss, you'd think you'd be better at it! Maybe you just didn't play it enough.... Maybe you've been neglecting that stuff too much...
Well, whatever! If you can't do it from a distance, then do it up close! Determined, you perk your ears forward in an aggressive stance and stomp closer to the plant with intent.
Neither of you have any spears - it might be smart, now that you think about it, but you don't have too many of them around, and you had thought about how that would make it harder to bring a lot herbs home, with one paw full - so it's only with your paws that you have to swat with.
As you get close though, the plant vanishes in an instant. You freeze, pelt puffed up in confusion, paw still raised like you're aiming to strike - where did it go?
It went up a tree! The Broken shouts behind you. When you turn to look, you see the plant again, and your friend scaling quickly and deftly up the trunk. But once again, when she gets too close for its comfort, it vanishes from sight.
How is it doing that?
⊗ CHASE CHASE CHASE CHASE CHASE
⊗ CHASE CHASE CHASE!!!!!
⊗ hold still so it comes close...then grab!!!!
Since she didn't manage to get it then, you guess it's your turn to try again. You drop on all fours and walk more carefully, slowly (You're dragging your tail across the litter and it's making a sound, The Broken indicates. You lift your tail more. Agh, you guess you need to train for hunting more too. You still haven't had your first lesson...) inching up to the plant where it's rested at now, since it's looking at her. As you get closer though, it turns to look at you, and then ducks back out of sight. It's like it's burrowing into the ground, except then it wouldn't come out of a tree like that... You just don't get it!
The Broken tries running at it since stealth didn't work - you might just be bad at stealth, but she seems to be content to give something else a whirl - and that doesn't work either.
Eventually, the two of you decide on just staying still and seeing if the thing will get close enough to you by doing that for you to grab... After all, it's still staying nearby even though it avoids you. Maybe its roots still won't let it go too far from this area?
The more you wait though, watching it from a distance, the more you're starting to feel like you're wasting your time. Whatever this thing is, it's not an arm grower. That's what you came out here for; to hunt for herbs for everyone, not to play around in leaves chasing something you don't know. You only have so much time before the rain comes down. Surely you shouldn't be spending it like this.
⊗ :( FINE let's go look somewhere else. But we're trying again if we see it again on the way back!!!
⊗ you better ask your parents about this when you get back- ah, no. maybe... the little will know what this thing is.
⊗ let's look for arm growers
Yeah... The Little would probably be the best option. Since it's a plant, they'll probably be the most likely to know anyway. And if your mother doesn't know what it is, she might start getting worried over it on top of all the other stuff she's worrying about... Stress isn't good for getting better, so you'd better just ask The Little. Maybe you can try catching this thing again when you come back this way, if - when you get the herbs you need.
Hey Broken, You say, turning your attention from the thing. I never told you what arm growers look like, right? They're these long, wiggly plants that go straight up into the air. I think there's two other kinds that looks like this that's not an arm grower, and they're different colours. So it has to be not green and not pink. Then if we find them, we can start digging up the roots.
She starts, almost guiltily, like she too feels bad for spending so much time chasing it around instead of focusing on what you came out here for, and nods. Right, okay. Do they have any specific kind of place they like growing?
You shrug and look around. Not really. I think they're just supposed to be... Everywhere. I don't know why, now that we need 'em, we can't find any.
The north would let you push further towards your territory borders; you think you recall that further beyond your territory in this direction is where The Savior's clowder resides.
The wall stretches in the east, like always.
To the west would let you properly enter the forest.
The south is where you came from, and you've already seen no arm growers in the direction you travelled in. They stretch so tall, surely they should be easy to spot.
⊗ would there be some way to partly climb the wall for a vantage point?