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 Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:06 pm
 Daenerys surveyed the area that they seemed to be trapped in. She had made a great mistake in listening to the directions of the raven. In her land, ravens were trusted messengers. Apparently here they were tricksters and thieves. She sighed slightly and stole a glance at her herd. They didn't like being stuck in the swamp any more than she did. The worst part of it all was finding food. The local plants were mostly scrubby and tasteless. She could tell by their listlessness that not all were getting as much to eat as they'd like.
Nicoletta stood close beside her, and Daenerys looked over to her. "Have you been eating enough?" she asked her friend. Nicoletta had suffered enough on her behalf. Daenerys hated to think that her mistakes might have led to more suffering.
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:11 pm
"I am fine." Nicoletta smiled weakly to her lie. She didn't want to worry Daenerys. She had enough to think about and one more hungry mare wouldn't change much. They weren't exactly lost, but they weren't in a good place either. The swamp trail was firm enough to walk on, but not firm enough for the usual plants they might eat to grow.
Nicoletta felt a little envious of the soquili who ate meat, like Daenerys herself. They had fish, frogs, geese, and enough other animals to keep them stuffed for the whole trip. It was the herbivorous ones like herself that were feeling it the worst. She was reminded of their time in the desert. At least they had plenty of water now. No hope of becoming dehydrated in a swamp.
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:18 pm
Mi Ren Ko was much more at ease in the swamp than the other soquili. The Padmapani had plenty of wetlands bordering their territory. They routinely ventured out into them to collect the beautiful lotuses that grew there. Some of the greatest beauty could be found in a wetland, though few soquili bothered looking. Because of her ease in the environment, she suffered less than the others. She wasn't hungry like they were. She didn't even realize there was a problem. She knew which plants were edible and nutritious. It was such a common thing in Padmapani that she didn't even think that others might not know it.
She walked forward, not realizing that the others were staying behind. She soon found herself separated from them and close to where the Khaleesi Daenerys was speaking with Nicoletta. She paused, not wanting to disrupt their conversation. She knew Daenerys would be kind to her if she did approach, but it was rude to interrupt.
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:24 pm
Daenerys didn't believe her friend. Nicoletta didn't have her usual arrogant energy, which meant something was wrong. It wasn't hard to guess that what was wrong was lack of food. She wished she had more to offer than just words.
"I have been told by a local fox that we are not far from the grasslands," she said, attempting to comfort Nicoletta. "It will only be a few days longer." She was glad they didn't have any foals or elderly with them. If that was the case, they might be in an even more dire situation than they were now. Their current group was all healthy adults... or they had started healthy, at least.
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:29 pm
"A few days?" Nicoletta couldn't help herself. She moaned with dismay at the thought of spending another few days with damp hooves and an empty stomach. "What are we supposed to do? Eat pond scum?" The slimy green stuff coated the surface of the water entirely in places. It revolted Nicoletta... but she wondered if it would sustain her. She might have to make some regrettable choices if she wanted to have the energy to get out.
She wished she had held her tongue from the sad look Daenerys gave her. It wasn't her fault. It hadn't been her fault when they had gotten lost in the desert either. Somehow, bad luck seemed to follow her. Really, bad luck seemed attracted to Daenerys' whole family. Nicoletta had heard some stories from her parents that could have made her mane curl.
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:34 pm
Mi Ren Ko really hadn't meant to overhear them, but Nicoletta's loud exclamation carried clearly to her. Pond scum? Why was she talking about eating pond scum? Mi Ren Ko looked around the area. There were plenty of cattails around. Those were good enough that even the humans ate them.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said quietly, moving closer to the two of them. "But are you hungry?" When she wasn't immediately silenced, she continued. "I know some of the plants here that are good for eating. Do you need help foraging?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 2:10 pm
Daenerys hadn't realized that Mi Ren Ko walked close enough to hear them. They hadn't been speaking of any secrets, but she might have been more careful if she had known they had an audience. No matter what misgivings she might have, she tried not to show them among her khalasar. They had enough of their own worries without adding her own to them.
"Are you hungry?" asked Mi Ren Ko. Daenerys herself wasn't hungry, but it still struck her as a silly question. Certainly the unicorn mare must be as hungry as the rest of them... or was she?
Dany's eyes widened when Mi Ren Ko mentioned foraging. "You know good plants to eat here?" she blurted out in haste. "Ones that the whole khalasar might eat?" She valued all of her herd members, but if Mi Ren Ko could do this... she was more precious than Dany could ever have imagined!
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Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 2:13 pm
Nicoletta was just as surprised as Daenerys to hear that Mi Ren Ko might have something important to contribute. Mi Ren Ko had always seemed like such a delicate mare to Nicoletta. She had assumed that Mi Ren Ko was one of those ladies that didn't like getting their hooves dirty and didn't know much about the wilderness. Apparently, she was wrong! It was strange to think that the silken-maned unicorn could be of such use in the middle of the swamp.
"Is there enough for all of us?" she asked, echoing Daenerys' question. A food source wouldn't be much good if there was only enough to feed a few.
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Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 2:21 pm
"There's enough for everyone." It was as she suspected! Mi Ren Ko now felt a little guilty, like the knowledge of which plants to eat had been some secret that she had kept from them. It hadn't been intentional on her part. She would have helped them immediately, if she had only known there was a problem. She ducked her head a little and averted her eyes. She had been eating while the others were going hungry. Now she wondered how she possibly could have ignored it.
"I should have told you earlier, your grace," she said. "But I thought that everyone knew. Where I come from, we all eat these plants." She wondered what things she might be ignorant of in other environments. She had never seen a jungle. Would she be just as confused there as they were here?
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Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 2:24 pm
"Be at peace, Mi Ren Ko," Daenerys said soothingly. "No one is permanently harmed, only a little hungry. It sounds like that can be fixed soon enough." She could almost feel the look Nicoletta was giving her. Clearly her friend was not feeling as forgiving.
"Just, tell us what foods you have been eating, so we can tell the whole herd." A glance over at Nicoletta told Daenerys that she was right in her guesses at the mare's reaction. Nicoletta was starting to look like she might want to take a bite out of Mi Ren Ko herself.
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Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 2:28 pm
Nicoletta had moved from amazed to angry in a very short time. It was wonderful that Mi Ren Ko knew some magic source of food in the swamp... but why hadn't she said anything earlier? Only a fool could have possibly ignored the hungry downtrodden state of the khalasar. Mi Ren Ko might be good with plants, but apparently her head was in the clouds. Daenerys glanced over at Nicoletta, as if to tell her to stay her anger for now.
That's fine for her, thought Nicoletta. She's had enough to eat over the past few days.
Rationally, Nicoletta knew that she was overreacting. She was just hungry, and being hungry always made her susceptible to sudden foul moods. Still, knowing the source of an emotion didn't always help to lessen the impact of that emotion. Nicoletta managed to keep her mouth shut, but only just.
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Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 2:32 pm
Mi Ren Ko couldn't help but notice Nicoletta seething, which did nothing to improve her mood. Trying to pull herself together, she looked around them to see what she could find. Immediately she saw a large clump of cattails standing in shallow water not too far off their path.
"Those are what I've been eating." She flicked in their direction with her horn. "They're called cattails. The tips of the leaves aren't very good, but the softer part near the bottom is much better." She waded out to demonstrate how to pull them out of the ground. "And you can also eat the furry part with the seeds. She liked the leaves more, since the seeds were hard to eat, but both would do in a pinch.
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Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 9:33 pm
Daenerys followed Mi Ren Ko into the murky water. Her long white fetlocks dangled amid decaying plants but this did not overly bother her. She had been far more filthy during her time lost in the desert. So long as she had that experience to compare with, she didn't think she would ever feel unclean. She saw that Nicoletta followed them too and resolved to stay as calm and patient as possible. Problems were being solved. There was no need to rush or be frustrated.
"So you pull them from the base, not the tips?" Dany observed. Even though she did not often eat plants herself, she wanted to be able to teach her herd members the technique. "I wouldn't have ever thought these were edible," she mused thoughtfully. She wasn't used to thinking of plants that grow out of the water as a food source.
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Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 9:36 pm
Nicoletta did her best to imitate Mi Ren Ko but was much more impatient than the unicorn mare. In her hunger she grabbed a mouthful of the cattail leaves and whipped her head sideways, trying to yank them out of the soft mud. Instead of pulling them out by the roots, the tips of the leaves tore off in her teeth. She was left with a mouth full of bitterness and she quickly spat it out. Scowling, she glared at the plants. She wasn't ready to attempt to eat the "cat tail" part of the cattail and the more familiar part was giving her trouble.
"How are you getting at the bottoms?" she asked querulously. "I have hooves, not paws. I can't go digging around in the dirt to get at them."
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Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 9:43 pm
"If you would listen, I have just explained that to the khaleesi," said Mi Ren Ko. It was said gently, but still a reproach. Nicoletta was starting to remind Mi Ren Ko of her time spent raising her children. They had had their moments of frustration and reacted similarly unhelpfully sometimes.
"Let me show you." She stepped beside Nicoletta and lowered her head to the base of one of the cattail stalks. "You grip them here." She closed her teeth around it firmly, but taking care not to snap through it. "And then pull," she mumbled around the stalk as she followed her own direction. The muscles in her neck bunched as she fought against the roots of the plant, but then it was out. "Here, try this one." She easily stepped into the cadence of teaching. "You want to eat it where the color is palest."
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