Foraging Amidst thorns [hunt]

by **Taylani** on November 4th, 2013, 5:22 pm

Time Stamp: 54 Fall 513

The days light found the Drykas busy at work, many pulling up stakes and moving the city, for others it was a time to gather food to store for the coming winter. This day finds a group of women out in the sea of grass, knowing that The Watch was not far should trouble arise, gathering from a thick thicket of bushes. Some gathered leaves that were said to make good poultices, others were gathering branches and twigs to strip for various crafting. There was one though, who was tasked to gather the dark black berries that hung plumply from the thick branches of the bush.

Taylani squats easily in her dress, her balance impeccable as she balanced on her toes, looking into the bush. She watched another woman reach in and just pluck the berry, so the red head followed suit. As soon as she stuck her hand in amid the branches a pinprick of pain bloomed and she uttered a soft "Oh!" in response, instinctively dragging her hand roughly back out. This caused more thorns to catch and tear her skin, leaving thin red weals that beaded tiny droplets of red blood. Sticking her finger into her mouth, tasting the salty slightly coppery taste of her own blood as she soothed the poked appendage.

Apparently these black berry bushes were filled with thorns. The other Drykas women laughed lightly, but Taylani didn't get the feeling that they were laughing at her to be cruel but just found the naivete' of the newcomer amusing.

When she had been asked to go along on this foraging party she hadn't realized that they were going to be leaving the Tent city quite so far out. However for now there were no signs of predators she once more delicately slipped her hand into the bush.

by **Taylani** on November 4th, 2013, 5:45 pm

The berries were plump and overripe, so occasionally Taylani's fingers would squeeze just a little too hard and the berry would burst. This sent a black-purple juice over her fingers, that tasted a mixture of bitter sweet that tasted wonderful on her tongue. It stained her fingers a purple, and soon her hand was scratched up and raw from the thorns that no matter how slowly she went, seemed to always rip at her flesh.

The other women didn't seem to mind, occasionally taking a scratch but their hands did not look like a crisscross pattern of red stripes that alternately burned and ached. However Taylani bit her tongue before she would complain to these women who she was pretty sure looked down on her lack of Pavi understanding, her unbraided hair and lack of beads. They didn't say so, not that she knew of since they only spoke Pavi to her much to her extreme frustration. This frustration was something she was becoming increasingly familiar with since most did not indulge her common tongue, wanting to just throw her into the world of the Drykas and their funny language.

Standing, Taylani had not realized how hard that had been on her knees and back until she was upright once more. Moving, letting the pins and needles prick her back and knees as much as they wanted without fighting against the sensation of feeling returning, Taylani moved to a different side of the bush. This time when she bent, she sat fully on the ground, with her knees curled beneath her. Once more stretching her hand into the bush, and once more feeling a sharp pain but this time the pain grew and she dragged her hand out once more quickly. On the tip of her finger already a welt raised, but no blood. It burned something fierce and she sucked in her breath in a gasp as she shook her hand as if that would cool the fire of the wound.

One of the women noticed and immediately went to her, and grabbed her hand, looking at it hard. Then she carefully grabbed the leaf of the bush and dragged it down. Out fell a scorpion, a small brown insect with a wicked tail that raised over its body to a point with a stinger. The woman calmly stomped it dead, then used her fingers to dig up a small amount of dirt. Before Taylani could stop her, she spit on the dirt to make a clay mixture and pressed it onto the throbbing welt. And in common, the first common Taylani had heard from these women all day, "Better. Sting ok. Not bad." A smile is given and the woman returns to her work.

Taylani looks at the mud mixture that did seem to be cooling the sting. Yet another thing in the sea of grass that Taylani must look out for.

by **Taylani** on November 4th, 2013, 6:35 pm

Now Taylani had a dark cloud over her features; stung, scratched, and bruised along with a mud pack on her finger and purple stains on her hand did not a happy dancer make. However her small basket was filling up well, the berries were big so that helped, and the other women seemed to focus more on materials not meant for eating.

That seemed to be how the Drykas worked, as a community dividing up the tasks so that each task is done efficiently and easily. Taylani assumed they had given her the berry picking task for two reasons, it is easy to know that these berries were good to eat and useful, secondly she was low man on the totem pole so got the job with the most thorns.

When the bush was stripped of all berries, most of its leaves remained intact though the women had taken a good bit for their poultices, and the ground barren of anything useful to them Taylani and the women begin to head back toward the City. Taylani's basket was small but was filled with the plump black berries. If her hands ached from her struggles the ache was overshadowed by a sense of accomplishment.

by **Taylani** on November 4th, 2013, 7:00 pm

Walking amid the grass, knee high for Taylani though for some of the women the stalks reached thigh high, and for one poor woman of very short stature they came almost her hip. It always amuses Taylani to walk beside shorter women, only because she wondered what it would be like to not look down on most human women. Literally not figuratively, having to look down to talk to someone was almost demeaning at times because it made her feel gangly and awkward. Then there was also the problem of all the extra arm and leg to fold up on oneself when seated next to people. Of course her height was a benefit to her dancing, but out here it was not so much.

With a sigh she continued to walk toward the city, her eyes cast into the grasses, wondering if she might spot something interesting or not. Sometimes she would find a fallen log, or a tin cup that a caravan might have left behind. She picked up the trinkets, but left the logs and other things that didn't have obvious uses in them.

Once in the city, she followed the women to turn in her berries that she had foraged following the women's example before turning to head back to find Fallan and his family. The day was only half over, and she was already weary and tired.

by **Magpie** on December 12th, 2013, 8:35 pm

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Taylani :

Notes :

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Solo Foraging Amidst thorns [hunt]