• PM To Join • From the Forest Floor

[Shea]

114 Ashan 716

The fruit-bat turned sharply in the air as the inexperienced rider tried to regain control, reining in the wayward creature, which drunk on overripe, seasonal berries, was not too keen on the idea of making a landing. Through a maze of jade and emerald leaves, Shea did her best to guide the animal to the ground, a less than gracefully plunge towards the lower branches of a tree, about the best she was going to get today.
Carefully she unwound Tere’s arms from about her middle where the boy in a fit of terror, had refused to let go. “We are close to the ground, look,” Shea encouraged. “We can climb down the trunk.
Shaking, Tere let go and tiptoed along the narrow branch towards the trunk of the large, twisted willow tree. “We can climb the vines!” He grinned and raced ahead!
“Wait!” Shea called after him. “Those aren’t vines!”
Tere froze to take a closer look and stiffened with fright, backing away from the trunk towards Shea as a handful of small, thin, green tree-snakes wound about the branch, looking for a spot of sun to warm themselves up in. “Snakes!” Tere grimaced as Shea took up his hand and led him down the edge of the tree.
“Don’t worry,” she smiled endearingly. “They are only hatchlings.”
“Snakelets?”
“Right,” she giggled and carried on down the edge of the tree, keeping Tere ahead of her in case he fell.

[Shea]

At the base of the tree Tere went in search of mushrooms while Shea walked along the high, narrow set roots protruding from the ground like tentacles. She was looking for a specific flower that her mother used to collect, one with poisonous sap found in its stem that tended to make humans very sick, a plant most animals had the sense to stay away from, recognisable only by its darkly coloured, purple flowers and long, yellow tongue that was spotted with black dots.
While on the hunt, Shea heard a loud crunching sound behind her and twisted about to see that Tere had got his hands on a tasty little sacater shell, the ghost of the bug it had once been.
“Where did you find that?” She inquired, looking up the length of the tree trunk in case she could spot anymore.
“Under the leaves!” Tere grinned, “There is another one, look!”

Shea ran up to sort through the leaves, looking for a second sacater shell she intended to save for later so that she could decorate it with paints and add it to her collection on the wall at home. Unlike the rest of the Tunawa, who were every fond of the crunchy little treats, Shea always put her little masterpieces first. She stashed it up in her long, grassy hair and twisted a few thin blades about it carefully to make sure it stayed in place while she got back to work, looking for the Yellow Tongue Flower.