Jungle... Delights?

Tanise carefully picked her way after Arya, watching the Ortusi’s moves carefully. She was smaller, and had to be a little more careful in the rougher parts of the jungle. The group she was with was made of mainly Ortusi, and she felt rather small. Arya, though, was gentle and patient with Tannise as she struggled to keep up, and coached her on how to get to the stone paths between stretches of jungle. Tanise wondered how many times Arya had made this journey - she knew that it must have been hundreds, from the way she confidently moved through the jungle. Tanise felt more confident as she picked her way through, Arya’s encouragement fueling her.

“You grew up here?” Tanise ventured to ask when they made it to a stone path.
“Yeah,” Arya replied, stopping to let Tanise gather herself.
“Did you travel a lot before we met?” Tanise shook her mane gently to regain her focus and motioned she was ready to move. As the pair began to walk down the even path after the rest of the group, Tanise felt a warm, thankful feeling for Arya as she noticed that not once had she expressed frustration over being behind.
“Not really, no,” Arya said, but changed her mind. “Well, I did go to the Lunae festival once before I met you.”
Tanise looked up at her, intending to ask a question, but ran into another Ortusi in front of her. “Hey-” she started, but Arya placed a hoof near hers.
“Shh…” the Ortusi said quietly, suddenly focused on something ahead, beyond the others. 

A quiet murmur had traveled to the back of the group, and as Tanise heard the news she felt the warmth inside her pause. A slime?  Tanise had only heard about the roaming plants, never seen one. She knew they were something to fear, but did not understand why. Curiously, Tanise moved towards the edge of the group, gently leaning around the crowd to take a look.

A huge, green mass moved slowly across the path ahead, seemingly paying no mind to the large group. Someone nearby made a motion, drawing Tanise’s attention. The group was debating what to do, and someone had pointed off the path and back onto the forest floor.
Arya moved closer to Tanise, but listened to the group.

“The small one will need help over that gap, but…” the one suggesting continued.
“Tanise,” Arya corrected the speaker.
“Ah, yes, Tanise. I should have asked,” The Ortusi continued, offering Tanise an apologetic look. They turned back to Arya to ask, “Can you help her across, or do you think we need a bridge?”
Tanise looked over to the suggested path. She wasn’t sure any of them could make it over that gap, but she’d seen some fantastic feats from her brother before, so perhaps…
“Tanise, do you think you can make it on your own?” Arya repeated after a moment, her gaze also on the gap. “You’ve done wonderfully so far. I think you can, but I can help if you need it.”
Tanise blinked, opening her mouth. She paused a moment before replying, “What help is there? Just be there to pull me up if I miss.”
Arya nodded, and the group moved to enact the plan. A few Ortusi went first, and waited on the other side. This should be the last gap they’d have to cross before getting to the temple, but Tanise knew that it would still be tough.

She braced herself, finding a good spot to get a running start from. Most of the group only needed a few steps, but Tanise knew herself - she’d chicken out if she didn’t run full speed ahead. She’d come here to be a good partner to Arya, and she was determined to make it.
She took a deep breath, envisioned fire warming her from the inside, and ran. Just before the lip, she gave a great leap and jumped the gap, only barely catching the edge with one hoof on her landing. Triumphant, she puffed up her mane and smiled goofily at Arya, who jumped just before her. Arya returned the big, goofy smile with an excited sparkle in her eyes. “Proud of you,” she whispered, careful to keep her volume low. 

Tanise tried not to giggle in excitement, following the group around the slime and back onto the paths, ready to make it to the temple itself.