The morning light filtered through the translucent canopy of the Medicinal Gardens, casting everything in a gentle green glow. Alexander led the team toward a small structure nestled among flowering pnts, where an older woman in earth-toned robes waited.

  "That must be the herbalist Ranger Kell mentioned," Alexander said. "Everyone stay alert. This pce looks peaceful, but we've learned that means nothing."

  As they approached, Lyra scanned the surrounding pnts, her eyes narrowing with recognition at several specimens. Out of habit, her fingers twitched toward a sturdy pouch at her hip where she kept her collection tools.

  The herbalist smiled as they approached. "Welcome, travelers. I am Mira the Herbalist."

  Lyra's head snapped up at the name, a momentary fsh of pain crossing her features before she composed herself.

  Mira continued, "The Medicinal Gardens offer healing and harm in equal measure. Learn to distinguish between them, and you'll find resources to keep you alive much longer than most." Her eyes lingered on each of them, assessing. "I'll show you the basics of identification and gathering. The rest will be up to you."

  For the next hour, the herbalist led them through rows of pnts, pointing out distinctive features and expining basic properties. She pulled out a worn leather guidebook, showing diagrams of common medicinal specimens.

  "This blue-veined leaf is heartroot. Good for stopping bleeding when crushed and applied directly to wounds. And this spotted mushroom cap—"

  "Increases blood flow when consumed, counteracting the effects of frostbite," Elijah finished. "But if mixed with heartroot, it creates a compound that accelerates healing without either side effect."

  Mira raised an eyebrow. "That combination isn't in the standard texts."

  Elijah flushed slightly. "I... read extensively about botanical medicine."

  "He's being modest," Alexander said. "My brother has always had a talent for healing arts."

  Mira nodded thoughtfully. "Well then, perhaps you can tell me about this?" She pointed to a cluster of unassuming green shoots barely visible among rger pnts.

  Elijah knelt to examine them. "Verdant whispers. Primarily used for treating infections, but..." He hesitated. "The guidebooks usually say to harvest at full growth, but that's actually incorrect."

  Lyra crouched beside him, studying the pnt. Before Elijah could continue, she spoke up.

  "You need to harvest them just before flowering, when the stem has exactly seven ridges." She ran her finger gently along one pnt. "Like this one. See how the color is slightly darker at the base? That's when the medicinal compounds are most concentrated."

  Now both Elijah and Mira looked surprised.

  "She's right," Mira said. "That's knowledge most healers take years to learn."

  Lyra shrugged, suddenly self-conscious. "In Sector 17, we couldn't afford to waste anything we scavenged. You learn to spot peak potency or you end up with useless remedies."

  The herbalist finished her instruction, leaving them with basic identification guidelines. As she departed, she gave Elijah and Lyra an appraising look.

  "You two have unusual knowledge. Use it well. The pnts here are more potent than you'll find elsewhere." She gestured around. "You have one hour to gather what you can before the gardens shift."

  After she left, Alexander immediately took charge. "We need to be efficient. Valeria, document everything we gather. Riva, keep watch—we don't know what else might be attracted to these pnts. Elijah and Lyra, you clearly know what you're doing. Lead the gathering."

  "We should focus on healing supplies first," Elijah suggested. "Then pain management, and finally enhancements if we have time."

  Lyra nodded. "I'll start with the heartroot. The best specimens are usually on the edges of clusters."

  They spread out, though never beyond sight of each other. Alexander maintained a methodical grid search pattern, following Elijah's guidance on what to look for. Riva patrolled the perimeter, occasionally helping transport rger specimens.

  At one point, Lyra found herself working alongside Elijah as they carefully harvested a patch of feather-leafed pnts with tiny white flowers.

  "Moonbell," Elijah identified. "Good for numbing pain."

  "In Sector 17, we called it mercy-touch," Lyra replied. "Hard to find in the waste zones. We used to trade a week's worth of water rations for a single pnt."

  Elijah looked up from his work. "How did you learn all this? The identification techniques you're using aren't in any standard guide I've studied."

  Lyra's hands continued working as she spoke. "When resources are scarce, you develop shortcuts. See how this leaf has a slightly purple edge? That means it has about twice the potency of the others." She showed him a nearly identical leaf without the purple tint. "This one would barely help with a headache. The purple-edged one could numb a broken bone."

  Elijah examined both leaves with fascination. "That's incredible. The guides mention color variations but not their significance for potency."

  "Guides are written by people who've never had to make three pnts st for thirty people," Lyra said, then caught herself. "Sorry, I didn't mean—"

  "No, you're right," Elijah said quickly. "Academic knowledge has limits. What you learned through necessity is just as valuable—maybe more so." He seemed genuinely interested, not condescending. "Would you show me more of these visual indicators?"

  For the next twenty minutes, they moved through the garden together, Lyra pointing out subtle visual cues that indicated potency, freshness, and optimal harvest timing. Elijah absorbed everything with keen interest, occasionally adding information about chemical interactions and preservation methods.

  "Wait," Lyra stopped suddenly, pointing to a small, unassuming pnt with triangur leaves. "Is that what I think it is?"

  Elijah followed her gaze, his eyes widening. "Trillium catalyst? It can't be—they're incredibly rare."

  They both hurried over, kneeling to examine it.

  "It is!" Lyra confirmed, excitement breaking through her usual reserve. "With this, we could create enhancers that triple healing effectiveness."

  "And it stabilizes combined compounds," Elijah added, equally enthusiastic. "The guides say mixtures with trillium can st months instead of days."

  They looked at each other, momentarily united by shared excitement, their different backgrounds forgotten in the face of this discovery.

  From several yards away, Alexander watched their animated conversation with interest. It was the first time he'd seen Lyra genuinely engaged with anyone on the team. Something about Elijah's earnest curiosity had temporarily lowered her guard.

  Valeria noticed too, making notes in her documentation tablet with a thoughtful expression.

  As their hour concluded, the team gathered to inventory their haul. The collection was impressive: heartroot for bleeding, moonbell for pain, sunfrond for infection, and dozens of other specimens with various medicinal properties.

  "Now for the real test," Elijah said, pulling out his alchemy kit from his inventory. "Let's see if these combinations work as effectively as the theory suggests."

  Working together, Elijah and Lyra began processing the pnts. Elijah had technical precision, measuring and combining with practiced motions. Lyra had intuitive understanding, adjusting mixtures based on the subtle visual cues she'd been expining earlier.

  When they finished, they had created something neither could have made alone—a set of healing compounds far more potent than standard recipes.

  Alexander examined the final product, a small vial of shimmering green liquid. "Will it work?"

  Elijah nodded confidently. "According to everything I've studied, this should accelerate healing by at least 200% compared to standard formus."

  "And it won't degrade quickly," Lyra added. "The trillium catalyst stabilizes the votile compounds."

  "Good work, both of you," Alexander said, carefully storing the vials in his inventory. "This gives us a significant advantage for whatever comes next."

  As they packed up their supplies, Lyra and Elijah exchanged a look of mutual respect—the beginning of understanding between two people from vastly different worlds who had just discovered unexpected common ground.

  Alexander noticed the exchange and allowed himself a small smile. The team was beginning to gel, finding connections beyond mere necessity. Whether those connections would be enough for the challenges ahead remained to be seen.

  As they prepared to move deeper into the Medicinal Gardens, Alexander updated their team status on his interface. Their survival chances had just improved—not just because of the enhanced medical supplies, but because of something far more valuable: genuine colboration.