[Trade] Foraging Quest- Iroka; Picky Eater

Picky Eater

Foraging Quest- Iroka

The sky was wet and misty when Iroka woke up in the morning, the ground outside of her den misty and damp. Curious, the Dacentrurus poked out her head out of her burrow, sniffing the cool air curiously. The foggy air caused her to sneeze almost instantly, the droplets tickling her nose and causing her to paw at it in irritation. 

Iroka quickly wiggled out of her burrow with some irritation, her spikes digging against the especially soft dirt of the burrow. She snorted unhappily; it seemed she was getting too big for this shelter. Regardless, she quickly pulled herself out and checked the surrounding areas. The air was as cold it ever was, and half-melted snow covered the ground. Curious, Iroka stepped onto a pile of the slush only to pull her foot back quickly; the soft snow was making the ground soft, and now her foot was covered in mud. Gross.

Iroka quickly set off in the direction that seemed the least muddy, which ended up making her take longer than usual to set off in the direction of her favorite feeding place. In the cold area she lived in, vegetation was rare and sparse. However, the protection of her snow white hide was worth the lack of menu items, the camouflage a must with her lack of a herd.

Entering a small forest, Iroka huffed unhappily as leaves and branches started to get snagged in her growing spikes. She rubbed her shoulders against the rough trees, leaving fresh scars in the tree alongside older, smaller ones. The Dacentrurus couldn't help but smile as she saw the difference between the sizes; she really was getting bigger. However, the growling of her stomach snapped her out of her musings. It was time to find food. 

Arriving into the usual clearing she fed at, Iroka scanned the area judgmentally. Patches of dark, bushy plants were scattered across the clearing, their spikey leaves making them an unappealing meal to most creatures. The branches of the trees were too high for her to reach most of the time, and the prickly needles stuck to her tongue the few times she tried to eat them in the past. Pinecones made for a good snack, however, sniffing around the bottom of the tree showed a distressing lack of them. A few small flowers dotted the clearing, but most of them were bitter or too small to be of any flavor. 

Iroka ignored the options in favor of trotting over to her favorite plant in the clearing, a large, leafless bush covered in small berries. These small berries grew in huge bunches, and were sweet to the taste. Iroka hummed to herself happily as she remembered what it was like to eat them. Without a doubt, they were what she was going to have today.

However, once she reached the bush, Iroka was dismayed by the complete lack of berries. No matter how much she nosed around in the bush, the only mouthful she ended up with was of cold, bland sticks she quickly spat out. How could this have happened? Where did the berries go? Looking at the ground under the bush, she noticed several small, twig shaped footprints. Birds. A lot of them. They must have eaten the last of the berries; or maybe this was inevitable.

Iroka sighed sadly, hanging her head. Her favorite berries were gone… what was she going to eat now? The Dacentrurus cast a sorrowful look over the other plants in the clearing; she didn't want to eat any of them! The young herbivore couldn't help but lash her tail in frustration, accidently taking out a nearby bush. Whoops. Even less food now. 

Suddenly, Iroka had a new thought. Maybe this was an opportunity? She stared into the distance, deeper forest where she had never gone before. Maybe there was new, better food there? Some part of her spoke that this might be a bad idea, that this was unexplored land for her and it would be dangerous there. But another, more bold part of her mind argued back. It told her that she had outgrown this small, cold area, that she was big enough to be able to look after herself. Wasn’t she tired of the same dull area, of a too-small burrow, of not enough food? Why not venture out to find more food? Better tasting food? 

The dacentrurus nodded to herself. Yes. She would go forage for food, somewhere new. She wasn’t quite ready yet to leave her home, but exploring wouldn’t hurt- especially to get food! Excitedly, Iroka started to trot in the direction of the thicker woods, shouldering bushes aside as she entered the dense forest. Instantly, it felt cooler, with the trees here having thick coats of leaves and sheltering the forest floor from the snow. Iroka walked for a while, often getting foliage stuck in her spikes as she muscled her way through the forest. Eventually, a sweet scent caught her attention, causing the albino’s head to raise.

Nearby was a small lake, with fresh, cold water from the melted snow. The clearing was sunny and warm, with sweet smelling grass tickling at Iroka’s feet. She couldn't help but reach down and take a bite out of it, only to sneeze as its feather-light touch tickled her nostrils. The grass was sweet but lacked sustenance, and felt similar to chewing twigs. Iroka quickly dunked her mouth into the water to wash the stray bits out, before quickly walking over to the next interesting plant she could see. 

The tree she approached was tall, and had long, narrow leaves. Dangling from the branches were plump red fruits that were shaped like eggs. Eagerly, Iroka attempted to reach for some of the branches, but to her frustration they were too high up to grab. Turning her gaze to the ground, she saw some of the fruits she had been trying to reach lying on the ground in front of her. Eagerly she took a bite out of one, only to instantly rear back and spit it out, retching. She was unable to tell the flavor of the fruit as the one she had attempted to bite into was rotten, the overly sweet flavor making her want to vomit. Iroka quickly ran back over to the water, dunking her head in to wash the nasty flavor out. Pulling her head out, the dacentrurus sighed sadly. That had not gone well. Would there be anything here she could eat at all?

Casting her gaze over the clearing again, a small tree practically hidden behind the tree with the red fruit caught her interest. Curious, she padded over. This tree was much smaller, barely bigger than her, with long, broad leaves that she curiously took a bite out of. The leaves were, well, normal tasting for leaves; which was tasteless. However, the small yellow fruits on the tree were what caught her attention. They were soft and circular shaped, almost as if the fruit had been made in the shape of the sun. They also grew in large bunches, so there were plenty of them.

Cautiously, Iroka took one of the small fruits in her beak and bit down. The taste of it was both sweet and tart, fresh but with a bit of a tang. Inside of the fruit was a hard pit, but she simply crushed it with her powerful teeth and swallowed it down. Iroka found she quite enjoyed the flavor, happily wagging her tail as she started to devour the fruit. This fruit was so good! A happy grumbling sound swelled up inside her as she continued to eat, until the tree was practically bare and she was covered in juice. Some of the “sun fruits” had even gotten caught on her spikes, but Iroka couldn't find it in herself to be irritated. 

It was not long before Iroka realized a problem; she liked this fruit so much, and she had just eaten all of it. Sadly she scraped at the ground with her foot. The young dacentrurus was getting bigger and she was eating more and more food with each passing week. She had just found this place, and already all the food had been exhausted.

However, in her wallowing, Iroka noticed a flash of familiar leaves from across the clearing. Quickly hauling herself to her feet, she ran over to check it out and almost ran right into another, small sun fruit plant. The albino snorted happily; she hadn’t eaten it all after all! Scanning the clearing again, she was able to notice another two of the plants. It seems like they were fairly common in this area. Iroka couldn’t help but wag her tail again. She had found a good source of food! The dacentrurus let out a sigh of relief, letting herself relax for the first time all day. No longer would she have to chew on bland grasses and leaves; this was a good source of food she could return to! 

Iroka happily shook herself off, sending bits of fruit everywhere before turning back the way she came. Time to find her way back, but she would be sure to return tomorrow to the sun fruit!