COR: Medicines and Metals

    Willow opened her eyes slowly as she woke from the fog of sleep. She let out a massive yawn, and rolled out of her bed of moss and pink flowers. Once on her paws she gave a luxurious stretch. She bent down to take a deep breath of the soothing flower smell before she turned and exited her sleeping space and entered the main area where the medic treated her patients, organized her herbs and even tested some herbs out on herself. It was a wide area inside a run-down building; the walls had lots of cracks and water damage, including a little near constant trickle of water that created a little pool in the back of the treatment area. There was an open wall area that exited into an old Zoo enclosure, as well as the main entrance that lead into the camp proper. The old Zoo enclosure, Willow had decided, was to be used for rehabilitation purposes, in case someone broke a leg or something. Her main indoors area was where all the patients, which she may or may not have, rested; she had set up plenty of moss beds with a few rose petals and lilacs for aromatherapy, as well as little naturally made stone bowls filled with Myrrh sap. She had found the Myrrh to be extremely useful for aromatherapy as well as coating ones throat and for cuts and scraps. On the other side of the building was a little alcove where she stashed all her herbal remedies.
    Willow trotted over to it and began pulling out her piles to see what she would need more of, or if there was anything that needed to be taken out. There were a few shriveled leaves and her stash of marigold was completely molded. She tossed them all onto a large leaf and picked it up delicately with her small front teeth. She turned and left her den, heading out into the camp proper. She turned immediately and made her way to the Viper's Clearing. She unfolded her leaf and dumped all the old herbs there. She returned to her den to drop off her carrying leaf. She made it to the entrance and exit from the camp just in time to see Hika and Colton taking their patrols out. She waved her tail at them in greeting and sat down to wait for her patrol to arrive. She turned her head and started to give herself a quick wash. She knew that Asher was coming with, and a mix she had yet to meet, Cassie. A rookie named Tick was coming too, and Willow felt sure that they would return laden with needed herbs and blacksmiths materials. 
    Willow was so lost in thought that she didn't hear the paws padding up to her until a tail tip touched her shoulder. She jumped with the tiniest squeak and turned to meet the bright blue eyes of Asher. She sighed and smiled at him. "Asher, you startled me half out of my fur," she told him.
    He blinked and offered an apologetic yet laughing smile before giving her a light nudge on the shoulder as though saying, "Maybe if you payed more attention then I couldn't sneak up on you. And what's up with that squeak?"
    Willow laughed and raised a paw to brush a piece of moss off his shoulder. "What, did you just roll out of bed and decide it would be a great way to start the morning to get me to make a funny face?"
    Asher seemed to think for a moment before he shrugged and smiled. Willow could imagine him saying, "Sure, we can go with that."
    Willow sighed and rolled her eyes skyward dramatically. "I never get a break," she joked.
    Two more dogs approached, one was a great dane mix and the other an Australian shepherd named Tick. She lifted her tail and perked up her ears in greeting as they approached. "Nice day for gathering," Willow commented. She turned to the great dane mix with a friendly smile. "My name is Willow, it is a pleasure to meet you."
    "I'm Cassie," she said with a slight timid quaver to her voice.
    Willow turned now to Tick, she had met him once before when he first joined the District, although they hadn't spoken much. "Good to see you again, Tick," she said with a genuine smile. The curious young dog was so energetic and happy that he often infected Willow with the same feelings.
    He grinned and blinked up at Willow. "Good to see you too." He bounced a little on his paws. "What are we doing today, are we going somewhere cool? Or meeting someone new? Or are we--"
    Willow cut him off with a raised paw. "We are looking for herbs and materials for making weapons and armor today," she told him, holding back a chuckle at his enthusiasm. She glanced around at the patrol. "Are you all ready to go?" she asked. When she got a nod from everyone, she smiled and turned to lead the way out of the camp. She turned her paws down a trail that went right by the large, fake pine tree and led into the forest that covered a small portion of Sigma's territory. For a while, they walked in silence, but suddenly Tick dashed forward, the orange cone on his head almost flying off, with Cassie chasing him, obviously annoyed. Something must have happened behind them that Willow had missed, and a curious glance a Asher showed that he too had missed whatever started the fight.
    After a moment Willow sighed, and shook her head with a small smile, watching the two dogs chase each other about. In watching them, she almost walked right by a large clump of lavender. She stopped and turned, raising her tail as a signal to stop, hoping the other two dogs saw it as she leaned down and sniffed at the purple flowers. Asher padded closer next to her and he to gave the flowers a sniff. Cassie had slowed down and was looking from Tick to Willow and back, unsure whether she should continue the chase or return to the other two dogs. After a moment Cassie trotted over, with Tick zooming right past, nearly knocking the larger dog off her paws. "What is that? It looks funny! But it smells nice! Is it something useful?" Tick asked Willow, the string of questions leaving his mouth in a few heartbeats as he reached the plant.
    Willow smiled softly. "It's called lavender, and it is very useful." She leaned down and nipped off a few stalks of the plant, placing them in a neat pile. When she turned back around Asher was sniffing in a soft patch of dirt. "Find something?" she called.
    He nodded, trotting back with a stone held in his mouth. He dropped it, revealing it to be a hunk of shinny metal. Willow couldn't tell at all what it was, but she figured it must be something important so she smiled and nodded. "Should we dig around there some more?" When Asher nodded, Willow trotted over to the dirt, Tick had already created a hole big enough to shove his head into, and Cassie was only just beginning to dig. With Willow and Asher lending their paws to the search they soon came up with a few more chunks of ore, which went into the blacksmiths pouch. Willow picked up her herbs and they set off again. The collecting was already off to a good start, and she felt hopeful that they would find more useful things before returning to the zoo.