Predict sighed in relief as he found the group of whelps he had been looking for. The four seemed to be in a bit of a disagreement, and the belemoid watched curiously.

Meanwhile, Bite raised a suspicious eyebrow at the mushroom he had been offered. He and some other whelps had managed to sneak out of the colony's headquarters- all the adults were busy gathering food, muttering something about a bad harvest, and hadn't been paying attention.

"I promise you, it's fine to eat!" Avoid seemed confident, and the mushroom did look close to what the whelps would eat at home- but still, Bite wasn't entirely sure.

"I wouldn't eat that, either." Light pipped up from behind the two. "It looks all- weird."

Avoid huffed "Like you know anything about mushrooms! I promise you- Woodland told me herself that this one's safe to eat!" she trailed off "Or did she say not safe to eat..."

Cleave, who had been sitting under the shade of one of the trees to protect herself from the harsh afternoon sun, raised an eyebrow at the others. "I'm pretty sure Woodland told us specifically not to eat anything we're not sure about. I don't think you should risk it, Bite."

Avoid groaned, flicking her tail in annoyance. "You guys never trust what I say! What if I take a bite first?"

Bite shook his head "sorry, Avoid, but I think I'll pass." the small Tark'ee pushed the mushroom away from him, where a small bird hopped up to the group and grabbed it, carrying it away to it's nest.

Avoid rolled her eyes "Well, fine then." as Light gave her a small pat on the back,

Predict was glad the whelps had figured it out themselves- he was not really interested in having to parent today, and had already been more than a little annoyed to be the one sent out to retrieve the whelps. At least he now wouldn't have to drag four bickering whelps back.

He stepped out of the bushes, careful to make no thorns got caught on his fur, and approached the four whelps. Cleave saw him first, and instantly looked away startled, trying to subtly let the other whelps know.

The other three whelps jumped up when they noticed predict, scrambling to hide the mushrooms they had found- they would be correct to assume that Predict, or any sane adult for that matter, would not take kindly to them experimenting.

"We uh- were trying to find a bokbok that got out?" Light offered, clearly trying to make excuses for sneaking out. Predict huffed, rolling his eyes a little. "Nice try, but all of the Bokboks are accounted for safe at home. Where you should be too, by the way."

Avoid and Bite were trying their very best not to look too guilty- and were failing in doing so. Predict sighed. "Let's just get you lot back home, alright?"

Cleave nodded, following after him, and the rest quickly followed behind, too.

The walk home was quiet and rather awkward. The four whelps were glad that Predict didn't seem too mad at least, but Predict wasn't really feeling up for a chat either.