Felucia's Open Terrain

*Morgan beamed and beckoned her with a wave of the arm.* "Well come on!" *She turned, then stopped as a thought came to her.* "Wait. Better let Rush get your scent first." *She turned to face Kent again, smiling reassuringly.* "He won't bite, honest! Just hold out your hand and he'll take your scent. That way he'll know who you are!"

*Despite Morgan's myriad mothers, her mind instantly recognized which one Kent was referring to. She went silent for a moment as Rush licked the proffered hand, flicking the scent into his nostrils. She looked up into the sky then away, sighing.* "Really fun, when she's here..." *But she'd come out here to escape those thoughts. Willing a smile onto her face, she continued,* "But she'll be back! And so will Na'an. C'mon! There should be some roots around here..."

*Morgan did her best to ignore Kent's observation about Mama and turned to go search the woods again, Rush and Terror following her example. Kent's statement about seeing other kids with their mothers was telling, but she shrugged it off and shook her head in response to the question.* "You don't cook them! Or I don't. They're fine by themselves! Oh!" *There, at her feet, several purple ones protruding from the ground. A side effect of Kent's lack of control... but whatever! She crouched down to tear a piece off, then tossed it to Kent.* "They're like marshmallows! ... well, they're just soft like them. But they taste okay!"

"You've never had a marshmallow?" *Morgan asked in disbelief. She took a bite out of the somewhat-bitter root herself, having acquired their taste. At least Kent seemed okay with them... She chewed in contemplation, wondering what kind of life Kent had; after all, the girl had just implied she had no mother.*

*Only ate when she needed to eat? Morgan couldn't imagine. She'd never truly known hunger, and scavenging in the jungle whenever she was alone and hungry wasn't much of a challenge. Sure, most of it was simple stuff like these roots, but it could tide her over. Plus, something about these kinds of foods essentially being a gift from Mommy made them a little bit sweeter.

She tore off another piece, which she again tossed to Kent, and then took another for herself. She sat on the ground, only saying,* "You can cook these, and they're better that way, but they're okay raw." *She chewed this next piece of root a little more slowly, contemplatively. After swallowing, she asked,* "How old are you?"

*For a moment, Morgan didn't think she could say the same about having had worse, apart from pickiness. Then again... did ration bars count? They were technically healthy, but she couldn't help gagging just thinking about them.

She recovered in time to swallow her food without accidentally spitting it out, then frowned at the question.* "I said I was eleven already," *she answered, then sighed and looked into her lap.* "I've always been small. Nobody gets my age right, or Jake's. I didn't mind before, but it's starting to get annoying..."

*Morgan's eyes rolled slightly and she shook her head, doubtful of any such growth spurt. She'd like to think such a thing was in her future, but after this many years of her life, she wasn't exactly optimistic. Fortunately, Kent had offered the perfect subject change, allowing Morgan to smile as she looked up and around at... well, the flora that hadn't been damaged.* "It's great! You still gotta be careful what you breathe though, because the spores can be dangerous. And you sorta... made a lot of them show up. I pushed most of them away though." *She paused a moment before following up with,* "Did you get your vaccines?"

*Morgan didn't exactly recall Mama inoculating Kent, but then that wasn't normally Mama's job.* "You probably just forgot, then," *she concluded after finishing her root and wiping her hands off. She then stood up, explaining,* "I dunno what you've been through, but if you're not careful here, you can get really sick. The vaccines help, but you still don't want to breathe in the spores, or get any injuries infect. There's some plants here that can help if you do, but you're gonna need a doctor to fix them all the way." *Turning towards where she had come from, she beckoned her again.* "C'mon! There's a path this way, and there's more places we can go!" *She then made for that direction, her pets following her at either side with a wide distance.*

*A smile came to Morgan's lips as she sensed the realization setting in on Kent and her underestimation of Morgan's abilities. This should be fun, then. She shook her head at Kent's question and replied,* "Nope, just since I was seven. I first visited here when I was six though, and I really loved it. I was so happy when we moved here! It's always gonna be my home."