[imgright]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgright]Holdfast was out of his depth.

He had struck away from his habitual environment -- a piece of swamp near the coast that was more water than land -- to range farther inland. One did get sick of eating fish after fish. And there had been his mistake. In retrospect it was simple enough to see where he'd gone wrong. He had deviated from his usual habits and gotten himself into trouble, when he should have stuck to his routine and made do with what he had. Fish had carried him this far. Eating another one would not have hurt him.

But he'd found a rather striking doe and struck up what had seemed to be polite conversation, and then things had happened too quickly. The next morning she was gone and he was left with a splitting headache and a sinking feeling.

He sighed, picking his way along old, half-rotted logs in tangles of undergrowth, trying to take care enough to keep his delicate tail from getting snagged on the errant twig. He had heard about swamp-chosen kin distributing blessings to the needy in times of -- .. in times like these, he reasoned, and he had decided to search for one. It was something he could give his future clutch without making any more rash decisions.

@fluo

Albatross eyed the zikwa who was carefully picking his way through the underbrush; she paid no mind and her hair and its captured prizes snagging on all the grasping undergrowth made it all to evident. She veered too close to one branch and it became a battle of wills to see who was more stubborn- the dead tree the Mare. The event went on long enough that she hedged her bet- a good number of the zikwas came blind. Today was an unlucky start for her, but she was here for the green buck.

It wasn't just the spiderwebs that now adorned her horns that gave her a sneaking suspicion.

"You look a bit glum" she started, hoping the other one would feign ignorance at her spectacular entrance. "An acorn for your thoughts?"

@phoe

He was not, in fact, blind. But it was easy enough to pretend that he was, to avoid embarrassing the mare.

"What's that?" He swiveled his head around to her direction and stared blankly into the middle-distance, blinking owlishly. "Oh. Ah. I -- am seeking one of the swamp-chosen," he said, stating the perfectly obvious. It became harder to control his expression, because this was just silly. "I've made an -- indiscretion," he finished, weakly. "Not that I'm regretting it, you see, but I didn't exactly plan for it."

@fluo