The pair had been taking a break in their travels to rest, recharge, give Ameya time to parse through her notes. Kebechet still had some energy for the day and offered to scope out the area for points of interest, may sources of water and where some good food may be. The uni-angeni had smiled up from her collected thoughts and gestured with a gentle, graceful sweep of one of her wings to indicate for her to go on ahead, before refocusing on her scholarly task. Kebechet gave a little bow of her head and turned to go searching, walking from the patch that they had chosen to bed down in to go exploring. During their initial flyover of the area, the kirin-uni-wind hybrid had spied a few wandering streams and narrow river that branched into a pair of offshoots a little bit further back. They were set for water. Still, Kebechet wanted to find something good for them to eat, maybe something more specific to this area than the locale that they had started from, her companion would like that. Ameya would be wrapped up doing her own thing for at least a couple of hours if no one reminded her to take a break or pick back up with what she was doing for tomorrow.
On her own, the hybrid mare drank deeply from one of the streams she found, finding the water clear and cool, a refreshing drink after nearly a full day of travel. The trees around here were a bit closer together, making it a tighter squeeze between her stockier build and her wings, but she found the narrow path quite rewarding! After a time of walking, it opened up to a quite lush clearing. Wildflower speckled grasses flourished in the middle while around one of the edges had a few different fruit trees, looked like to her eye! Kebechet nosed around the longer grasses. There seemed to be smaller trails of rabbit or other sort of small beastie hidden amid the longer lengths, before she meandered towards the edges of the clearing to investigate the fruit trees.
One of the trees seemed to be in peak fruit season, how fortuitous! Some of the fallen fruits seemed to have been sampled from by birds or perhaps the previous noticed rabbits. They smelled pretty fragrant, seemed safe, though Kebechet couldn't quite place what variety of fruit they were. There hadn't been anything of the kind where she had grown up, where she and Ameya had met. There had been figs and dates and pomegranates but these were something else entirely. Giving a little hum, the mare ate one, chewing it ponderously. The skin was a bit thick, but with enough pressure the fruit inside was a soft, almost custardy texture. It was super sweet, nearly cloyingly so, but Kebechet found she didn't mind too much in spite of not having a strong sweet tooth. She ate some more before grabbing one to carry back to Ameya and their resting spot.
The walk back was uneventful, though were the paths more winding? The trees felt a little closer together. Not in an ominous way, heavens no! The little leaves, young and almost fringelike for some if them, seemed to almost stretch out and brush through her mane or tickle her ears as she passed. She chuckled and shook herself as she walked, trying to walk with her head a little lower to see if that would help any. It did a little, though some of the lower branches brushed over the top of her head, thwacking against her horn or flicking the tips of her ears. She tittered around the fruit carefully held in her mouth as she walked. She'd just have to deal apparently. It wasn't a problem. She hadn't wandered that far.
Kebechet nearly staggered into the stream that she had drunk from earlier and she chuckled at her clumsiness. How silly of her! It wasn't like it had just leapt out in front of her. The trees were older here, taller, so she was able to walk with her head up again. Sure enough, Ameya was still looking over her findings, but paused at hearing Kebechet approaching the clearing, the sound of her strides apparently enough to draw the erudite mare from her reading, her bright eyes alert and ears pricked forward, her head held at a curious incline.
Kebechet murmured a greeting around the fruit, smiling proudly at her find as she trod up near the other mare as she set the fruit down beside the angeni mix. "I found a clearing that had some fruit! Pretty, pretty good, if I do say so myself! Enjoy! I can show you the way in a bit, if you'd like." She chimed helpfully as she settled down a little ways off to give Ameya space to read or get up or whatever. The other mare gave her an appreciative smile and a thankful nod before returning to her reading.
The quiet that settled in their cozy clearing was a comfortable one. Kebechet sniffed softly as her mind and eyes wandered with a little flick of her tail. A breeze picked up, cooler now in the waning hours of the day than it had been earlier, that cut through their resting place. Her own mane shifted and danced about her head and it made her grin. Looking over at her companion, she paused as she watched the other mare for a few moments. At first glance, it didn't look as though the wind disturbed Ameya's focus, but the longer Kebechet watched, she could see little chinks in the otherwise serene poise that the angeni mix seemed to exude when she was wrapped up in her studying. With her longer, wispier mane, her hair was really subjected to the wind's whims and at first it was just a little flicker of her ears that had the draft mare pressing her lips together to stifle the laughter that was threatening to burble up in her chest, but another shift had some of those long, fair locks fly right across her face, making her flinch as they brushed her lashes and splutter as softly and delicately as Kebechet had ever seen someone do so. She simply could not hold back any longer. She curled up, trying to hide her face as she struggled to stifle her laughter under her wing.
Ameya turned her bright blue eyes to the scaled, winged draft mare, her face hidden but her whole body practically shaking with laughter and mirth. Her eyes drifted down to the fruit that Kebechet had laid next to her. Curiously, tentatively, she took a small bite, finding the snap of the thick skin a little surprising but the contents therein told her, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what she needed to know. She sat up, amusement lilting in her voice as she shook her head. "Keb! Ah, dear heart... How many of these did you eat? These have started to ferment!" No verbal answer was given, just a hearty laugh as Kebechet cracked up in earnest.
[WC: 1188]
