Hikaru looked out the entrance of his den at the sky. It was clear for the first time in weeks. While the spring rain was good for the plants the constant downpour had been demoralizing for the herd. Stepping outside he decided today was a good day to tend to the small medical garden behind his home.
As he walked along the path to the garden he noticed some Mushrooms growing of to the side. He frowned unfamiliar with this particular species of shroom. After eyeing them for a bit he decided that some research was in order to learn more about them. He recalled he had picked up a scroll about local mushrooms from a traveling merchant. Maybe there was something about then in it. Nodding to himself he continued on his way.
Reaching the garden Hikaru froze in shock. The herbs and flowers had flourished with all the recent rain. Many were expanding past their beds. While he had only been planning on doing some weeding today he was strongly considering harvesting some of the herbs to start drying them.
Rather they be herb or flower everything in his garden had medicinal properties. Carefully walking along the beds he looked over the Chamomile and smiled, it was growing nicely. He checked the next bed over which contained multiple herbs and pulled out the weeds that had started to intrude. He continued along the beds stopping here and there to pull the unwanted weeds. He laughed softy to himself as he looked at the growing pile of weeds. Some of his beds were made up of plants most would consider weeds such as Dandelions which actually had medicinal uses. The weeds he was pulling out were non medicinal and as such had no place in his garden.
As he reached for another weed his paw hit something hard and he looked down. Spotting the Garden Gnome he had almost tripped over he frowned at it. The Gnome in question was a small two leg creature wearing a long red pointy hat riding on a frog. His sister Asami had thought it cute when a traveling merchant came through with the things. Hikaru thought it was creepy but after some nagging from his sister he let her put it in the garden. Carefully stepping over the Gnome he continued to tend to the garden.
Once he was satisfied he had gotten all the unwanted weeds pulled he looked around at the herbs and flowers trying to figure out what he should spend the day harvesting. He decided that herbs that were also used for cooking would be best as the herd was always running low on those. Decion made he turned and headed back to his den to get a basket. He would need it to carry the herbs.
Basket secured he returned to the garden and started to pick some Rosemary followed by some Thyme along with other herbs in the same bed. Once the basket was nearly full he walked over to a nearby bed and carefully dug up some ginger. He then pulled up some of the garlic growing in the same bed. Stopping by the first bed he picked some of the Chamomile before going back to his den with the overflowing basket.
Entering his workroom he started to separate the herbs and get them ready for drying. With the help of his assistants he got the herbs into bundles and hanging up to dry. He placed the ginger and garlic into bowls and placed them on one of the shelves near were the herbs were hanging.
He surprised himself with a yawn and left the room to go look out the entrance. He was surprised to see how late it had gotten. The sun was near fully set. Heading back inside he returned to the workroom to tidy up. Once everything was put away he headed to his study. He had a mushroom scroll to find. Digging through a pile of books near one of the many overflowing bookshelves he found the scroll he was looking for.
Scroll in paw he settled down in a pile of pillows in a corner of the room to read. Stretching out he smiled contently. For a lazy day he had gotten a lot done. The garden was weed free, he had some much needed herbs drying and he was about to do his favorite thing in the world, research. Unrolling the scroll he started reading. Today might have just been a normal day in Hikaru's life but it had been a good day.
