SKILL Herbalist 1/5 AW but attn. Daryn

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sunlight wove through the willow canopy, dappling cloud lash's back as she knelt among the roots. her nose twitched with every crush of leaf and stem—goldthread, soapwort, wild licorice. she sorted each into tidy bundles, murmuring thanks beneath her breath to skedzay for the scent-rich wind.
north of the valley, the air was cooler, sharper. she liked it here.
a concoction of bark and twine sat at her side, already half-filled. still not enough. she worked on, deft paws busy, red eyes flicking now and then to the hills beyond. she would need more for the season’s turn.

Violence, his mother once whispered into his ear, was a Zaal’s favorite game. They had been watching their siblings beat each other into the ground. Whirling dervishes of snapping teeth and loud snarling, under the keen eye of the King. The Lady Winter, delicate was she, watched in apathy. Daryn, who had never delighted in war, instead watched their courtiers. Maybe that was what led their mother to send them away in finality. After all, violence was for Zaals. It was Daryn’s favorite subterfuge that was a game for Amulets to play.

Violence still tickled their spine even as the pair moved further afield from that accursed cottage. It dragged sugar-sweet claws through their skin, whispering into their ear. Didn’t it feel good? Didn’t you like it? Wearing that smile full of knives, ready to go to war for your sweet? Didn’t you like watching that stranger’s face fade from malice to confusion? Didn’t you like sliding that paw full of murderous intent in front of you, curling like a viper ready to strike? A cold sweat broke over them, and Daryn had begged off from Harvest’s company for a while. It was too much to bear, for now.

Instead, they stomped through the forest, trying to drive that writ of violence away. Before it did to them what it did to the rest of the Zaals. Before it did to them what it did to their father. Daryn could feel it, that edge they were approaching between anger and overstimulation. It was dizzying, like the taste of far too much wine coating their tongue. Their head was spinning by the time they slowed down, and their haunches gracefully gave way into a hard sit.

SKILL Herbalist 1/5 Cloud Lash means no offense; she judges sex based off of scent.

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cloud lash was not startled. not at first.
she had felt the birds hush. the way the wind curved differently through the grove.
but when she saw the stranger, she did not bristle.
female. tired.
no blood on her breath. no threat in her weight. only the storm of a mind gone too far and now returning.
the sharadoii girl stood with a sprig of mountain mint between her teeth.
she blinked—soft, slow. and then she let the mint fall from her mouth into her palm.
a small nod. no words, of course. only the gentle movement of a girl who lived with the spirits and the herbs and the old ways.
she stepped forward—once. placed the mint beside her. a gesture. a peace.
then she stepped back again.
tail a low sway. eyes steady.

There was someone else here.

At first, they bristled. Felt the fur along their shoulders spike as if they were an alley cat rather than the noble bred creature they actually were. Had the miasma of anger corrupted this one, so far from that accursed cottage? Were they about to be set upon? Their tongue probed Acanthis’s name, but no teeth came. Only a gentle woman the color of a snowy peak. With some sort of leaf in her mouth. She rested it beside their paw, and took a hasty step back.

And Daryn? Was at a loss. There was no need for this, to be kind. And yet she was anyway.

Thank you. It was stilted, but they reached over to pluck the plant up and look at it closer.

What are you asking for it? That made sense, right? Asking for something in exchange for this?

SKILL Herbalist 2/5

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cloud lash blinked, slow and soft, at the woman’s question. her tail gave a gentle sway behind her, brushing the earth. she did not understand all of what was said, but the meaning was clear enough.
shaking her head, she tipped her muzzle back toward the offering — no. nothing asked, nothing expected. it was free. her gift.
she pressed a paw lightly to her own chest, then extended it back toward the woman, the movement sweet and open. ts’itusiine. her people’s word for the act: to give freely, to offer without want of return.
cloud lash smiled, a small, quiet thing, and sat back upon her haunches, waiting patiently to see if the woman would understand.

She didn’t speak, just gestured emphatically to the plant in Daryn’s grip. A gesture they could almost parse, the touch of a paw to her chest, then towards their own. A gift. A kindness.

They wanted to sneer. Instead, they looked at the plant in their grasp. How much would Harvest make fun of they ate a poison from some gentle faced woman out in the woods? That was how they got you, poisoners. Sweet faces, gentle eyes. But the smell from the plant was fresh and sharp, like the breath of winter itself. They popped it into their mouth, chewing on it languidly. Waiting, for what they weren’t sure. But the unexpected punch of the mint made them cough, before they swallowed around it.

Thank you. They finally managed around the plant and the flavor, tucking it into one cheek like one would with tobacco. Then, they quirked their own smile, small, in a copy of the woman’s own.

cloud lash watched, breath held small in her chest as the stranger accepted the plant. she shifted her weight lightly, paws brushing the earth in nervous rhythm, but when they coughed and then smiled — even a little — her ears lifted.
encouraged, she touched a paw to her own chest, feeling the steady drum of her heart beneath her fur. carefully, so the meaning would not be lost, she pointed again, then spoke, soft and round in the common tongue she barely owned: nuvts’eyaȟa.
her name. the shape of it carried like a leaf caught on the breeze, fragile and honest.
cloud lash smiled in return — small, almost shy, but bright as a sun-warm feather — and dipped her head in a gesture of peace, of offering. she did not know all their words, but kindness spoke well enough.