Ragweed Allergy Season

Achoo! The sudden sound startled Dessa one random Spring morning. Her olive eyes scanned the den to spot the older male in their group. His darker and speckled feathers were barely visible in the dim morning light. Marre would sneeze a few more times before Dessa could muster up the courage to face him personally. 

"Why are you sneezing so loudly?" She asked him. Marre gave her an annoyed look before sneezing again. Dessa actually almost felt bad for the older raptor. He seemed to be miserable with whatever was ailing him.

"Spring brings ragweed and ragweed brings.. ah.. ah... AHCHO!" After a quick sniffle and a sigh, he continued, "allergies. Would you mind bringing me some herbs I can mash into a remedy paste?" Marre wasn't exactly known to do anything himself, but Dessa could see there was a learning opportunity to be had here.

"Sure, what will you have me bring you?" She asked innocently, unaware of the work that was about to come. For all she knew, she was about to do some athletic excersion considering that Marre never wanted to do anything physical and was famously known to be quite lazy.

Marre seemed to think about his answer carefully before giving her the answer. "Citrus fruits, for starts. They're a wonderful source of vitamin-c and can give me the boost I need for my immune system. Find me some fresh honey from a local beehive. They make their honey from nearby flowers and plants that can help me get over these allergies. Lastly, I need you to fetch me some Stinging Nettle. This plant is high in vitamin-a and vitamin-c and has been used for allergy remedies for ages."

"Where would I find any of these?" Dessa asked with a confused look. Stinging Nettle? She had never heard of this pant. It seemed weird that a carnivorous raptor would be turning to plants for a cure to some sickness. "I don't even know what citrus fruit or stinking nettle looks like."

"Citrus fruits will be easy. Lemons are yellow, oranges are orange. They grow on trees in the more tropical areas. Stinging nettle is this green plant with tear-shaped, serrated leaves. They will typically have this little hairs on the leaves that "sting", but don't worry, you'll be fine. They don't actually sting you. They should be abundant in various spots and can grow anywhere along the ground." Marre looked a little thoughtful for a moment. "In fact, I'm sure you can find all of these around the tropical forest area. With any luck, the beehive will have also used pollen from those plants to make the honey." Dessa nodded her head and left the den to search for the ingredients as instructed. 

It took her a while, but Dressage did soon find the tropical forest that Marre had mentioned. Sure enough, the area was an old orchard with several fruit trees. Some of the fruits were found and red, others egg-shaped and yellow, and finally she spotted the large round orange fruits. Dessa had to manage jumping and climbing up the tree to get to the branches that bared fruit. Using her claws and balancing skills, she managed to snatch two of the rounded orange fruits and quickly stored them away. Stinging nettle was the next easiest thing to find. Marre was right again, it seemed to grow everyone on the ground like a weed. Dessa plucked a few of the leaves and even grabbed a whole plant just in case it wasn't enough and quickly stored it away too. 

The beehive wasn't an easy thing to locate. Dessa first checked around in areas with flowers. Thinking of she spotted the little buggers she could follow one back to the hive and collect honey then. Of course, this plan was much more of a hassle than it was worth and Dessa was afraid of taking too long. The last thing she wanted to do was upset poor sick Marre. She would eventually find a rather large beehive just on the outskirts of some meadow. Collecting the honey seemed just as difficult as it was finding the hive. The bees were so mean and kept trying to sting her thick skin. She was still able to collect the sticky liquid and applied it to the Stinging Nettle for safe keeping and travel. 

Marre was snoring in the back of the cave when Dessa arrived. She debated on letting him sleep, but felt that was pointless. She was here to deliver this remedy and he was going to have to be awake for it. She shook him awake and jumped back when the older raptor hissed at her upon awaking. "What now, Dessa?" He growled with a yawn. 

"I brought you the ingredients you requested." Dessa replied while scooting the ingredients over to his possession. Marre inspected each one carefully before nodding. 

"Yes, good work. Now take these and grab a bowl and a long stone. I want you to mash these into a paste for me." Dessa sighed at his words. Now he wanted her to make the remedy too? Could this raptor do anything other than just sit around and make her do all the work? 

Dessa did as she was told and found a rounded bowl shaped rock and a longer stick shaped stone. With pieces of the fruit and much of the nettle leaves and the honey, she began to grind them together and make the paste. Marre watched her every movement intently with a smirk. "Good... then rub it onto my facial sinuses and my chest." Dessa nodded and followed the instructions again. She carefully rubbed the paste on his face, following the contours of his sinuses. Sheade sure to go around the eyes and a bit on the forehead to cover the high points of the sinus cavities. She gently rubbed a handful onto his chest and throat to hit those areas as well. Dessa hoped this would work, after all, she was the one doing all of the work... again.