Chase led the way through the fungal forest with Celestial and Prime on her heels. At the back of the group was Iro, carrying a sleepy Eidolon. Unlike the other two whelps, she had grown tired quickly and needed help to carry on the expedition.

The five colonists were on a trip to L'Hatzif so the whelps could experience a new location, and so far they had all enjoyed it greatly. The tall mushrooms blotted out the sky, a vastly different view to the wide-open plains of Mireh, and the wildlife was completely different from the animals they knew at home.

While Prime stuck close to Chase, Celestial charged up to every new thing she saw, giving the adults quite a workout to keep her safe. Off to the right of the group an especially wide mushroom came into view, larger than some of the prefab houses that the Station had built. Celestial pointed it out, loudly exclaiming "Wow!" before bolting into the underbrush toward it. Iro chuckled at the whelp's enthusiasm and Chase gave a patient sigh, leading the rest of the group toward the mushroom as well.

The squat fungus stood in a small clearing that looked almost manicured, cleared of brush and the grass low and trimmed. A few flowers grew in the clearing and a stream flowed on the far side, quiet and clear. Celestial bounced against the side of the mushroom, scratching at it as she tried to climb. Prime, at Chase's urging, cautiously walked up to the giant fungus and began sniffing at it. Iro set Eidolon down so she could explore and then moved to sit next to her mother, the two adults relaxing in the warm sunshine. Eidolon picked a few of the flowers, sniffing at them.

Over the chirping of bugs and rustling of leaves came the incongruous sound of a door opening, followed by a purple-blue tsabhua walking around the side of the mushroom, looking rather annoyed. "Hello?" he called. "Who on Xiunus is scratching on my wall?"

Celestial froze, staring at the newcomer, and Prime sprinted back to Iro and Chase. Chase immediately got to her feet, walking over and nudging Celestial behind her. "Our deepest apologies," she said, "Is this your house? We didn't realize."

The newcomer stopped in his tracks, surprised to see a bunch of whelps on his lawn. "Yes, this is my house, and I'd appreciate if you stopped scratching at it," he replied. "I'm Zatch. Mister Zatch."

"I'm Chase, and this is my daughter Iro," Chase pointed out each colonist as she introduced them, "We've brought Prime, Eidolon, and Celestial so they can learn about L'Hatzif!" Eidolon waved while Celestial bounced up to Zatch to shake his hand. Prime, meanwhile, stuck close to Iro.

Zatch's expression softened at the whelp shaking his hand. "Well, I do suppose it's nice to meet all of you," he said. "How are you enjoying L'Hatzif?" He looked around expectantly to each of the whelps.

"It's a little scary!" Prime called from his spot at Iro's side. Iro patted him.

Eidolon held up the flowers that she had picked from Zatch's garden. "I like all the plants," she said quietly.

"We saw a wild shriiv!" Celestial commented, excited, puffing herself up.

"You've been busy!" Zatch replied, a smile on his face. "You know, there's a spot just off that way where the mushroom trees grow extra tall. They make my house look tiny." He pointed past the stream, and the whelps' eyes grew wide.

"Can we go? Can we look?" Celestial begged, turning to Chase.

Chase smiled. "We've got another hour before we need to head back, so I don't see why not," she said. The whelps cheered. "Thank you for the advice, Mister Zatch," she added, and the whelps chorused,

"Thank you Mister Zatch!"