Verdigris Ravine muscle

Talis said nothing, simply nodded and followed the older coyote’s lead. They approached a small pile of what looked like dead, petrified snakes. His ears fell back, though upon closer inspection, he realized they were a stem of some sort. At least, that was his closest frame of reference.

When instructed to eat, he hesitated. They smelled strongly, though not in an appealing way like berries did. Their shape also flummoxed him a bit. What if one got struck in his throat? Talis glanced at Zoug, then dipped his head down, his lips forming a strange moue as he sucked one pod into his mouth like a noodle.

Zoug said something but Talisman didn’t quite hear over the sound of his own crunching. The textures surprised him, especially when his fangs sliced through the fibrous casing and released several small beans into his mouth. He quickly ground them into mush, though the casing did not break down so easily.

Despite his emphatic chewing—and the strange faces he pulled whilst doing it—he simply couldn’t swallow it. Talis ended up spitting it out at his feet, smacking his lips a little as he raised his head and gave Zoug an apologetic glance.