One sun was in the sky, and while it was early by Xiunus standards the tsabhua were rousing themselves, relighting fires and sorting out breakfast.  The three colonists were travel-worn and knew the routine already.  Dawnbreaker set about getting food while Cygnus packed up their sleeping blankets.  Kukimbia watched them, munching on berries she had in a bowl.  Orion, who usually helped with the morning proceedings, was instead suspiciously checking over their bags.  She muttered as she counted their contents, then finally sat back, satisfied.  “No one stole our things in the middle of the night,” she told them.

Cygnus’s eyes grew wide.  “I didn’t even think of that!”

Orion shook her head.  “You have to, when there’s a bunch of other tsabhua around.”  She tossed her bag over her shoulders, clipping it in.  The baskets followed, and Cygnus hopped over to help her strap those on.

“Not waiting for breakfast?” Kukimbia inquired.  The bowl was empty now, but she ran a finger around the inside, tucking the juice inside her lips.

“We can eat on the way.  What won’t wait is all these tsabs going in to get the turak fruit.  I want to get ahead of them.”

Kukimbia chuckled.  “Pretty smart,” she admitted.  “But there’s plenty for everyone.  Even all the others you see here.”  Dawnbreaker offered her a strip of jerky, and she took it with thanks.

“I know fights tend to break out at these things.  I want that fruit gathered and us gone before tensions start to rise,” Orion countered.  “We have to dry them, too, and it’s a two week walk home.  My herb garden will be in ruins.”

Kukimbia huffed a sigh, and stood up.  “I can understand missing your home.  Just don’t run the whelps too hard.  Let’s go.”  The four tsabhua finished gathering their things, though Cygnus looked put out about not getting a stationary breakfast.  As Orion suggested, they ate while they walked, claws clicking against stone as they passed campsite after campsite.  There really were a lot of others here, and it took time to reach the entrance to the canyons.  Some tsabhua seemed to have had the same thought as them, and they weren’t alone in filtering past the late sleepers.  Orion tried to keep her distance from them, but both Kukimbia and Dawnbreaker would wander over to other groups and make conversation.  Cygnus nervously kept near Orion at first, but after a few passing natives smiled at her she grew more confident and trailed after Dawnbreaker.

Everyone loved whelps, and Orion began to see the wisdom in having one traveling with their party.  No one wanted to cause problems where a whelp might be hurt.  And, she supposed, it was good experience for the little one.

As the second sun rose, they made their way down into the shade of the canyons.  The wind whistled through hollows in the stone, and everyone’s voices echoed back at them.  They were boxed in tighter, but unlike the previous night, no one showed aggression.  They were too excited for the fruit gathering ahead of them.  The path wound about and down, down, down, until they reached a small stream at the bottom.  This late in kerah, it was low in its banks, and the visitors found easy purchase walking along it.  The fruit grew here, and ahead came shouts from the earliest arrivals as they found what they were looking for.

Orion sighed.  Kukimbia had better be right about there being enough for everyone.  It looked to be a long walk until they reached their own patch.  They wandered, Kukimbia introducing Dawnbreaker and Cygnus to others.  The shadows in the canyon shortened, then vanished entirely as one of the suns passed overhead.  Those ahead of them simply filtered into the nearest open space when they reached it and began stuffing the orange fruits into baskets and satchels.  While most of the fruits were ripe, some were still green, and Kukimbia explained that those would be left to grow and drop their seeds for next year.  This singular event was meant to ensure not all fruits would be taken.  The line ahead of them shortened and shortened, and eventually they were at the front, red rock speckled with green and orange plants stretching empty ahead of them.

Kukimbia led their group to the steep walls, where the turak plant leaned out, heavy with fruit.  She plucked a few, showing them how to twist them gently so as not to rip the plant from stone.  Orion nodded, and she and Dawnbreaker began gathering the fruit as well.  It took them both a moment to realize that Cygnus was not helping.  Upon turning to her, they immediately saw why.  The plants grew too high up the wall for her to reach.  Dawnbreaker hummed, uncertain what to do, but Orion crouched, nodding at Cygnus to climb onto her shoulders.  Her younger sister did so and Orion stood.  She carefully resumed plucking fruits while Cygnus happily grabbed hold of her mane and did the same.  The fruits were round, with thin skin and a ring of knobs near the top.  Popular in Issiq fruit dumplings, they were rare in Mireh, given the long trip to reach their native range.  Despite their grainy texture the turak fruits were sweet, and said to be good for one’s vitality.  For Wayward Station, they would make not only delicious treats during shemesh but also valuable trade.

Other tsabhua passed them by, respectfully leaving them a space to collect their patch of fruit.  They gathered farther down and on the opposite canyon wall, as endless as the stream they walked along.  Orion began to wonder how they would get back against all this traffic, and expressed this worry to Kukimbia.  The other doe glanced back the way they had come.  “We walk back near the edge, where the plants have been plucked.  Those coming in stay near the stream.  When the group next to us has left, we’ll be able to go too,” she said.  Orion nodded, and turned back to her task.  Some of the fruits were simply too high, even when she stood on her hind legs and Cygnus did the same, but it was for the best that some remained.

Dawnbreaker munched one of their fruits on the sly, passing the other half to Cygnus.  Orion smelled the juice on their breath, but made no comment, simply making sure her baskets were properly balanced while they waited to be able to leave.  The two whelps had a cool rock finding contest in their little space, though unfortunately there was not much variation in the stone and neither could find anything particularly interesting.

Finally the group next to them shuffled off and Kukimbia motioned for them to follow.  Orion took a few steps, huffing at the weight.  It was fortunate the fruit wouldn’t be nearly as heavy after they had dried.  Their native friend had graciously let them take most of the share, only filling her own small basket.  “I live mostly on my own,” she told them.  “This trip is so I can have a lovely few weeks enjoying the gifts of the season.”

They filtered back out of the canyon as afternoon wore on, passing newcomers that looked jealously at their filled baskets.  Orion kept an eye on her flanks to make sure no one snagged any.  Dawnbreaker, despite how trusting she seemed, kept to Orion’s side, blocking any potential wandering hands.  Cygnus didn’t seem to notice the underlying tension, instead hanging out ahead with Kukimbia and chatting with her.  At last they reached the entrance, but instead of leading them back to the campsite Kukimbia led them back out into the badlands.  “Best to be far away from strangers now that we have something valuable,” she said over her shoulder.  Orion grunted in agreement.

The group walked far as the suns began to set.  They stopped briefly to gather more low-lying brush for firewood, which Dawnbreaker and Cygnus now had to carry.  Occasionally they spotted other tsabhua, also on their own treks back home, but no one came near.  Orion was now leading, but as the day grew late Kukimbia tapped her on the shoulder and pointed out a potential camping spot.  They made their way over to it, the whelps dropping their firewood in a pile while Orion sighed as she took off the baskets.  Kukimbia smiled, setting down her own basket, and rubbed a hand over the other doe’s sore back.  For the first time that trip, Orion’s expression changed from gruff to happy, and she leaned in.  Dawnbreaker and Cygnus started the fire, and as the sky turned dark the little group ate dinner.  Tomorrow, they would begin drying the fruit.