SA | Ianthe | Chapter Four - Gathering Resources

    To being called a 'feather duster', Ianthe had only one reply and that was sticking out her tongue and blowing a massive raspberry at Jemin, eyes twinkling with delight. And she followed that up by spinning around to face him, half-rearing and kicking the air with her small hooves, wings unfolding. 
   
 "Oh yeah?! Well I bet you if any dumb dingos come our way, I'll kick their fluffy butts so hard, they'll run screaming back to mommah! " she snorted, dropped back on all fours with folded wings, gave him a wry wink and turned back around once more, trotting along. It really wasn't easy to get under her skin, and she had taken the mule's words with a grain of salt and cheer. She was a happy feather duster after all.

    She barely took notice of Nero's suggestion that they take a break, not until the rest of the flock chimed in, agreeing and tickled down to to the river's edge. Ianthe stood still a moment with a heavy frown on her face, chewing lightly on her bottom lip. She wasn't in need of a break, too focused on their goal to admit that it would be nice, but as she watched her companions drink and refill canteens and waterskins, she batted away her irritation. 

    Ianthe joined the crowd at the water's edge, drank deeply, surprised by her own thirst, and filled her own canteen. She was silent for now, staring at the river flowing down their chosen path, worrying her lip again while the group spoke amongst themselves. She didn't fancy herself a leader, more a follower or a solo adventurer, yet this task of finding the precious ore had been dumped on her feathery shoulders. Her first instinct was pride to be trusted enough for that, but now she was beginning to doubt. She didn't know what made a good leader or how to direct the group and set them all up for success. Stars, she barely knew how to direct herself. 

    Her flow of thoughts was interrupted when Aspen questioned the existence of the plant, which had her head whip about with a grin plastered on her lips. "What? Of course, it's real! " she chuckled good naturedly, rolling her eyes mildly as others chimed in with equal doubt. 
    "C'mon! Just because we haven't found it yet, doesn't mean it's not here... somewhere. It wouldn't make sense to send us out looking for nothing, hah! We, uhm, we just gotta keep searching. It's still early! There's plenty of time left. "

She was trying her best to cheer them all up, because the faces staring back at here were a sorry mix of tired and irritated to her eyes. "What if, uhm, we split up? Us feather-dusters scout ahead from the air and, uh, Ryder, maybe you could use the river? The rest of you... uhm... " she said and paused, suddenly feeling the burden on her shoulders double. Geeeesh, she was a kid compared to this lot! What right did she have to make demands?

    "You uh... maybe check the shadowy areas? The plant is like a succulent. With curly, blackened leaf edges. Succulents like the sun but not directly, yeah? So I imagine they would prefer shadow at least half the day... What do you guys think? "

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Originally I had a huge setup with every character, but there was no way I could finish that in time for the chapter rewards. So I put it on hold (with plans to finish later) and did this 'little' piece instead  

Jemin belongs to JellyBlubber
Nero belongs to seechem
and Ianthe is my child!