Morning dawned brightly over Elk's Crown, drenching the forest floor in dappled light as it filtered through the dense trees overhead. Nen'tah watched the shadows dance all around him, ears pricked forward in studious concentration. It was mesmerizing; the swaying movement of the trees coupled with the wind-shaken leaves made for an almost hypnotic show, and he was wholly enraptured.

Until a branch snapped.

The boy's head turned toward the direction of the sound. Someone coming home? Something to play with? He wandered forward on the awkward, uncoordinated legs of a pup, skinny tail wagging just enough to show he was very, very interested.

Oh!

He knew this smell. Like plants - no - strong plants - it belonged to the short woman with the white paw.

What could she be up to, he wondered as he approached.

The world of plants was mystifying. Did everything in the world have so many applications? If Nen'tah had a slightly more pioneering soul, he probably would have embarked on a taste-testing mission to find out what all plants did, but that sounded unappealing. Chewing wet dirt-smell every day seemed... dull.

How did she know so much about herbs? More importantly, who was the first wolf to risk it all by sampling every plant they came across?

Maybe she could tell him where these two could be easily found, at least. They sounded helpful in the grand scheme of things and he fully anticipated a life full of bumps.

Nen'tah bent down and carefully picked up a dandelion by its stem as he gestured with his head toward their surroundings. 'Show me!' his eyes urged her, and then he returned it to its place at her paws.

He did not protest her guidance. Stern was the paw forced to retrieve the wayward pups of Cen and Iglux̂ when they went astray; Nen'tah occasionally pushed these boundaries (as children are wont to do), but not so much that he typically got in trouble for it. Day by day he was gradually learning the behavior expected of him, and it was by far in his best interests to adhere to it.

Most of the time.

While some disappointment surrounded the loss of finding the violet's home, Nen'tah looked pleased that the herb-woman was eager to bring him on a quick tour where he might acquire a dandelion if it ever proved necessary. He trotted after her with great interest, shorter legs moving quickly to keep pace. Goldblossom wasn't particularly large for a wolf - in fact, she fell quite short even of average - but he was still a child by comparison, and he had to work just a little bit harder to maintain their stride.

He would have to adapt quickly for the March, after all.

They came to a stop close to the dens. A warm wind blew from the east, ruffling his fur; the meadow was beautiful, albeit a little too open for a pup who had only just begun to explore the vast world around him. He stood close to Goldblossom as she carefully plucked something she insisted was also a dandelion -

OH!

Nen'tah stared with wide eyes as the strange little cloud-on-stem suddenly scattered into a whirlwind of fluffy seeds all around them, caught by the breeze as they twisted and turned every which way. He leapt up to snap playfully at them with his teeth, tail wagging while he delighted in the thrill of the chase.

The boy jumped again before he finally watched them fly away. Although Goldblossom's instruction to make a wish was odd, he bowed his head anyway, eyes screwed shut as his lips moved soundlessly to mouth the words of that which he desired most.

"I wish to be a great, great hunter, and that we all survive the March."

It might not have been audible, but she could likely observe his motions and understand. Also technically he had made two wishes, but he didn't want to compromise on either.

He opened his eyes.

A fat white mushroom caught his attention. Moving toward it, he looked expectantly back at Goldblossom, curious if she had a lesson behind this oddly-shaped thing.

She knew so many things! He hadn't any idea how much there was to learn about plants and herbs and mushrooms until today. Whether or not he would successfully retain all of this information would remain to be seen, but his attention was wholly fixated upon every word that left her lips.

Nen'tah crouched low to the ground as she lifted the cap of the mushroom to inspect its gills, densely packed and oddly rib-like in their appearance. His cheek touched the grass as he observed her demonstration and tried to follow along with her lesson. Very, very sick? How sick? What kind of sick?

But she said he could eat this one, so...

With her blessing already given the boy stood up, hovered over the little white mushroom, and promptly fit the whole thing in his mouth.

...

He chewed very thoughtfully for several seconds, and then immediately spit it out as a pile of wet mush.

Bleh.

It was perhaps the first real sound that had come out of his mouth in her presence. But it was progress.