[PRP] Young Growing Things (Haruma, Eudeyrn)

[Talencia]

Haruma was quite proficient at seeking, finding, and gathering herbs for her teacher now. She was growing, and finding it easier to carry more back to Gerda to supply the healer with much needed herbs. She'd been learning how to gather the more potent or toxic ones. Some were used on the outside of the body, but would harm someone if put in their mouth, so these she had to carefully harvest with her claws and paws, being certain to cleanse her paws before grooming them.

She had made a request of a passing primate some time ago, and ended up with a rather sturdy bag on a cord of vines to wear around her neck that would hold the herbs as she padded about, looking for more. It wasn't very comfortable, but it worked like a charm for carrying them to and fro. Today was bright and sunny, and she was humming softly as she scanned the ground nearby for anything useful for healing. She was walking as she scanned, a steady but slow pace, giving herself time to see all that was in front of her for quite a ways. Spotting an herb, she calmly made her way to it, still scanning for others. It was a fine day to be herbing, and as she clipped and scooped up the leafy stems, she savored the feel of the sun on her back. At timese like this, she almost could forget the sobering reason why she was out here in the first place.  

[Dulcea]

He had seen her before, from a distance. She was one of the others, a cub left with the pride he had heard. But she, like him, was growing up. His mother had wished him to find friends, but he hadn't had the courage to approach, as much as he watched. Now she was out here, in the space he loved so much. But what was she doing? He had noticed the bag, but it only confused him. She had been putting things into it, that had to mean something. He had heard she was training with the healer Gerda, perhaps they were things she needed just as he needed the flowers to offer. Softly he cleared his throat, approaching her at a trot from the side. "Have you," he started, pausing to glance at his feet, "Have you seen any white flowers while you've been out here? They aren't blooming where they usually do."  

[Talencia]

She looked up in surprise at the sound of someone her size approaching, then greeted him with a warm smile. Ah yes, she knew who he was, though she couldn't quite recall his name. He was slightly younger than her, being born after she and her sibs had come to the pride. Since Haruma didn't much play with other cubs, she mostly knew her peers from a distance. More often she was either talking with Gerda, spending time with her father when he was home, or gathering herbs. "Hello!" she replied brightly, sitting down and giving him her fulll attention. She had a knack for letting people she spoke to feel as if they were the most important thing to her at that moment. It was partly on purpose, as it was the polite thing to do, but it also was a good innate ability, considering the job she was aspiring to.

She shook her head with regret at his question. "I've come from that way," she waved a paw, "and haven't seen any, I'm sorry." She hesitated only a heartbeat in consideration before adding, "But perhaps we could find some if we walked together? Two pairs of eyes are better than one." She tipped her head, letting her curly forelock slide to one side, her green eyes resting on him inquiringly. "Then we could keep each other company while we search." Granted, she usually enjoyed these quiet, private times, but she didn't mind sharing that with someone as well. "My name is Haruma. What's yours?"  

[Dulcea]

Eudeyrn's heart skipped a beat. Together? That was a good sign, his mother would be happy if she saw him walking with someone his own age rather than tailing along behind the priests and priestesses to lay offerings. She certainly couldn't say he hadn't tried. After all, he'd been the one to approach, so that had to count for something. He smiled, tensing his shoulders so that he was looking only at her. Green eyes, he would have liked to show the gods that color, though surely they had to have had a hand in creating it. "They are," he agreed, nodding to her, "I'm Eudeyrn, I've seen you around." Probably should have left that part out. Trying to salvage a bit of grace he offered a paw forward, "After you then, since you seem to be after a much wider variety of things. Is there anything else I can be looking for while we go?"  

[Talencia]

She smiled again at his chivalrous gesture and proceeded to pad on the direction she'd been going. "Actually, one of the plants I am looking for has white flowers." She flashed a pleased look at him. "They may not be the ones you are looking for, but they might suit?" She scanned the surrounding area. "The leaves are kind of bundled together, like blunt claws pointing up out of the ground. The flowers have long, thin petals and a yellow center." She paused by a low bush to snag a few dead seed pods off of it, tucking them into her pouch.

She cast another sideways look at him, studying him thoughtfully. Was it different being with parents you were born to? Not that it really mattered to her... Sliabh was all the parent she could ever have dreamed of, even if he did have to go away for long periods of time. And he brought back siblings! "Why are you looking for white flowers?" she inquired, keeping her mulling thoughts to herself. "Are they for your mother?" She was still adjusting to Eva being a mother-figure, but she was still shy of the idea. It was easier to just think of her as a friend isntead, a friend who loved her daddy. But she had heard of others bringing pretty things to their mothers, so that was her best guess on what purpose her new friend had with seeking flowers.  

[Dulcea]

"My mother?" he asked curiously, scenting the ground as they walked. It wasn't so much that he felt any certain smell would guide them, but that he needed a temporary excuse to be looking away. Others always seemed to think it was strange that he spent so much time in worship, she might be the same. Though he supposed he could lie, say that they were. But what was the use in that? If she was going to be a friend she needed to at least know who he was. "No," he told her, offering a conciliatory smile, "They're for the gods, to apologize for the past so that they'll be happier in the future."  

[Talencia]

"Oh!" she exclaimed, stopping for a moment to give him a look of surprise and intense thought. "In that case, a little herb flower wouldn't do at all." She shook her head emphatically. "Why don't you describe the flower you are looking for, and we can start looking for it more carefully." She waved a paw at her pouch. "I have plenty of herbs, really. I think finding those offering flowers is more important." She did not laugh, did not mock, and did not pause to think it odd. No indeed. Serving the gods was serious business, and was vital to the survival of the pride as a whole, not just those who suffered the disease.

Instead, she gazed earnestly at him, took him seriously, and didn't bat an eye that he would take on such a sober task at his age. Why, to her that was the most natural thing to do, to pursue your goals in the here and now. Wasn't she doing the same thing? Why wait until you were almost an adult when you were capable of learning now? "But can I ask, why white? Is there some significance?" She was curious, and was likely to file whatever info he gave her away, so that if she found the right flowers at the right time for other offerings, she could gather them for him. It never hurt to be helpful while also doing one's own tasks.  

[Dulcea]

"White is untouched," he explained, trying to think of a way to best word his thoughts on the matter. His paws tacked the ground unevenly as he let himself go forward at a seemingly random angle. It seemed to work best if he simply allowed his body to choose its own path. "My favorite kind to lay are big and plush, they have a center with just a few threads," he told her, feeling more comfortable in her presence than he did even with his own siblings, "They smell like... Well, sort of like the air after it rains."  

[Talencia]

"Those sound like they would stand out," she mused aloud, raising her gaze from the ground near her paws to scan the ground much further away. But beneath the words, she was pondering his reasoning for white. Untouched, pure... it was an intriguing idea. Did the gods require or desire such things? Did color or type matter to them? It was a dizzying concept. If that held true for flowers, what of other offerings? What of those who spent their lives devoted to those gods? Did they have to remain untouched? She cast her companion a slightly puzzled look. What would it mean to be untouched? Did that mean a mother could not touch her child if he was to be in the service of the gods?

It was an odd and troubling idea to the growing female. She decided more information was needed, mostly to dispel her ignorant unease. "What do the priests do?" she asked soberly. "Other than offer flowers for past wrongs, I mean," she clarified hastily. He hadn't exactly said he was training to be a priest, but what else would he do? It was much like her search for herbs would reveal to him what she intended to do. "I haven't had a chance to speak with one before," she admitted. She should make sure to do so soon. In fact, she'd like to get to know all the pride's members. It was easier to think of doing this now that she had family of her own. The very thought of her father warmed her heart and made her smile as she continued scanning the area for large, beautiful white flowers, following his uneven pattern of walking without trouble or comment.  

[Dulcea]

"They help," he told her softly, keeping his gaze forward as he sniffed for the hint that would lead them to the flowers. From what he had seen they often grew in bunches, it would be a good place for them to rest and gather. "Especially those who are," he trailed off for a moment, trying to think of a way to phrase his thoughts that would not elicit fear, "Those that are near time to pass, they help them accept the future. Their families too, and they help to keep people happy." That was all he truly wanted, to be able to make his mother and others like her comfortable and happy in this life and afterward.  

[Talencia]

They topped a small rise, and Haruma caught sight of a pale grouping off to their right. "Oh look," she called, changing direction to investigate, nose quivering for the scent he'd mentioned. She wasn't done thinking on what he said though. She hadn't taken the time to think about it yet, but she was appreciating finding someone her own age who provoked such thoughtfulness in her, who seemed equally serious about things and ready to consider them.

They drew nearer, and she thought that these likely were what he sought, or at least very close to them. She paused to let him move forward and examine them, speaking as she did so. "That sounds very like what a Healer does too," she commented, "though we use herbs to either help them get better, or to ease their pain." She was beginning to learn what each herb was for, and was noticing how very many of them were a way to take away the worst of the pain, especially for those who were near to death. "I want to help the sick ones, both to feel better on the outside but on the inside too." It didn't come out exactly right, but she hoped he knew what she meant.  

[Dulcea]

"It's admirable," he said with a smile, spotting the grouping when she pointed it out, "Have they tried every sort of herb?" That seemed like a daunting task to him, but in a place where nearly everyone became sick the pursuit of medicine must be a serious. He moved quicker now, passing her at a trot as he settled himself into the center of the flowers. He would need to create something like her sling, he decided, so that he could bring bigger groups back to the altars.  

[Talencia]

She sat back to watch what he did. She was mildly amused that he sat himself right down in the middle of the patch, like a king on a throne. She kept her amusement as well as the image to herself, though. "I think every known herb has been tried at some point," she answered him as best she could. "I don't think they've done it on purpose, though. It's more like knowledge being passed down from Healer to Healer," she said slowly, realizing she was putting herself into that chain now. "I guess if a new herb is found, the Healers try it out to see what happens, but always on themselves first," she said firmly. There was no poisoning of patients, no siree.

"Do you do anything more with the priests than gather and offer flowers?" she asked, not just from politeness but out of a sense of curiosity. "All my teacher will let me do for now is gather herbs, though I like to sneak in and talk to some of the sick ones," she confided, though an odd look crossed her face as she said it. One of the sick ones hadn't been so nice to her, but she hadn't let it deter her from visiting others. "I'm not supposed to, but I like to cheer them up if I can."  

[Dulcea]

She was sweet, there was no denying that. He would have liked to introduce her to his mother, who could always use a nice influence in her life, but that would mean his siblings as well. He certainly didn't want to expose her to some of them if he could avoid it. "I help fetch food for them if they have to spend time with a sick one or their family, and I try to keep the altars clean each morning," he told her, remembering that it was often better for him to be home early so that his mother wouldn't worry. Softly he began to pluck a few of the flowers as close to the root as he could, gathering them up in a little pile off to the side. He picked only those with clean and present petals, leaving the young and damaged ones alone. "Have you always wanted to be a healer?" he asked curiously, wondering if it was, like his decision, something she just felt in her heart.  

[Talencia]

"I'm not really from here," she said softly, softer than she'd said anything else. Her gaze was on a waving bud of a flower directly in front of her, keeping her eyes shuttered from him. "But when I came here, and learned how sick so many of the pride were... well, I couldn't help but want to bring them relief." For her, it was as natural as playing seemed to come to other cubs. "The best way seemed to be what the Healers were doing. They were the ones who seemed to be with the ailing members most, with soft words and healing herbs." Her heart ached to think of them, but there was a part of that ache that belonged to her and her alone.

On slow impulse, she raised her eyes to him. "Noone should suffer. Noone should be alone. I want to be there for them, like they were for us." When their mother had left them alone and hungry, it had been the pride as a whole that had taken them in, not just their second 'mother' and Haruman never forgot it. "They deserve better than pain and emptiness," she whispered, dropping her eyes to the swaying bud, a tear of pain for others and her own sorrow as well falling to water its roots.