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// Water 
// Story: Exile 
// by Forceful Will 
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The sparse plant life grew more dense as Jinx continued further north. Vibrant green ferns grew in clumps where Jinx assumed water was near enough under the ground to sustain them. In the distance, Jinx could see the indistinct edge of a tree-line. He approached it, walking faster than he had in the barrens, excited at the prospect of walking through the thick of the plantlife after having spent so long seeing nothing else alive. Plants had always fascinated Jinx. Some had power, he knew, when combined with certain shamanistic rituals, but others had a natural effect that any pony could harness with the right knowledge. He smiled as he recognized several of the different species spread across the landscape. None were particularly potent or useful to him at the moment, but he did kneel down to cut a few leaves of lamb’s ear to use whenever he could get a chance to clean his cuts and scrapes before moving onward.

Jinx had always tried to listen in on his sisters lessons, and once his mother had caught him, she began teaching him as well. By the time Zecora had been marked as a full shaman, Jinx had learned almost everything she knew, with the exception of the things his mother had insisted only the shaman and her apprentice should know. Jinx hadn’t resented that, in fact, he had been more than happy to leave the mystical secrets to Zecora. After she had died during her vision quest, however, the tribe’s elders had begun pressuring him into completing the study with another tribe so he could act as the village’s shaman himself. For the last five years he had been able to put off the need. At first he had insisted on staying to act as the tribe’s healer, but when the elders had him train another colt in the use of medicinal herbs so he could leave knowing the village was in good hooves Jinx had known he wouldn’t be able to remain a part of the village without becoming their shaman. He had done his best to ensure the village would not be too much worse-off from his departure, but he knew that he couldn’t have planned for everything. He just had to hope he had indeed left the village in capable hooves with his student.

The tree-line ahead was mostly comprised of large broad-leaved plants that rose at least five yards into the air. The canopy wasn’t closed, but there were only small gaps between the tops of the trees. The trees were packed close enough together that Jinx knew he wouldn’t be able to keep his relatively straight course for any considerable distance once he went inside unless he ran into a river that ran north. Even then, it would likely be much harder to walk along the banks of a river than to just head in as northerly a direction as possible. Assuming there was something past the opposite boundary of the riverlands, his best bet of finding it was in continuing to travel in as straight a path as possible. Jinx felt his ears abruptly twitch. Focusing on his sense of hearing, he could clearly hear the sound of running water coming from directly ahead. He pressed forward, pushing aside low-hanging branches and stepping over the ferns and grasses that layered the shady ground. He pushed aside a final branch and nearly fell into the stream that was several inches lower than the surrounding foliage. He eyed the bottom of the stream cautiously. It looked perhaps a few inches deep in most places, and it wasn’t flowing particularly quickly, so Jinx jumped into it.

The water was cool and refreshing. Jinx could feel the weight of caked dust falling off of his limbs as it dissolved in the water. He had judged the depth accurately enough so his possessions were still dry apart from the small amount of water that had splashed up from his impact. The smooth stones of the stream-bed didn’t feel slippery, but Jinx was careful as he crossed to the far bank, where the ground was flatter next to the water. He stepped out of the stream to set his things down, and then returned to wash off the rest of the dirt and dust that had accumulated in his coat.

After cleaning himself as best as he could, Jinx returned to his bags to press the lamb’s ear he had gathered earlier to any scratches that hurt noticeably more than others. He lay in the shade on the side of the stream drying off and relaxing. When he noticed the sky through the holes in the canopy being to grow dark, he started looking for a suitable place to spend the night. He searched for a few minutes before he returned to the side of the stream. While the ground here wasn’t particularly comfortable-looking, at least it was level. Jinx made himself comfortable on top of his heavy blanket and covered himself with the cloak. Appreciative of how much better he felt with all the dust from the barrens washed off of him, Jinx comfortably drifted off to sleep.