Dragoo, Bani, and Rooibos followed a teenage belemoid away from the central area of the Station. They had come to Mireh seeking basaraytz flowers, and while most of the colony was busy, Desert had agreed to lead the trio to where they could find some of the massive plants.

It wasn't long before they split off from the established trail and began walking through open prairie. Low hills rolled into the far distance, only broken by the occasional spire. To their right, a group of Wayward Station ranchers rested near a herd of hojenst, and Desert waved as they walked past. The journey was a long one, over an hour of travel with no cover from the sun overhead and Bani and Dragoo were beginning to feel the effects of it when Desert led them down an incline into a depression so large it could almost be considered a small valley.

At the bottom, a few moundlike shapes rose from the earth. At first glance, they could be mistaken for lumpy, moss-covered rocks, but as they drew closer the material more closely resembled smooth skin, with a mouthlike hole near the top. They were covered in lumps and folds, and surrounding the ominous hole were round red things- flowers. Desert pointed up at them. "Those are what you came for," she said. "If you want to climb up there, though, you have to be really careful. They're filled with this sticky, acidic gunk so if you fall inside or one of your feet goes too deep into one of the folds, you'll be stuck and the plant will eat you." She cast a serious glance back at the trio of tark'ee.

Dragoo looked nervous, while Bani looked openly ill. Rooibos, by contrast, had a determined expression on her face. "I've faced worse," she growled. The others watched as she stalked forward and placed a paw on the basaraytz, testing its surface, before sinking her claws in and beginning to climb. The common tark'ee's retractable claws proved to be a strong match for the plant's smooth outer hide, digging in and preventing her from slipping. Rooibos hauled herself to the top, carefully poking at the lip of the hole before reaching out and tugging some of the flowers free. She stacked them in her beak before turning, gauging how to climb down. This proved to be a bit trickier, but with Dragoo calling out directions she made it safely back to the ground.

Desert, Dragoo, and Bani all cheered for her. Rooibos dropped the blossoms into a hard-sided container, then turned a sharp gaze on her traveling companions. "Your turn, now," she told them. The excited expressions dropped abruptly from Bani and Dragoo's faces.

"A-Are you sure?" Bani asked. "Maybe we have enough."

Rooibos shook her head. "We've come all the way out here, and I'm not doing all the work," she replied firmly.

"Let's try this one over here!" Desert said, hoping to diffuse the situation by leading them over to a shorter basaraytz than the one Rooibos had just climbed. The two aquatics eyed it dubiously, but Dragoo summoned up his courage and stepped forward. The paw he placed on the plant was wobbly, and it soon became clear that his shorter, blunter claws were not as useful for climbing.
He made it halfway up before he slipped and a foot nearly went into one of the plant's folds, and Dragoo's courage left him. "Okay, I think it'd be best if I came down," he called, and carefully reversed his route back down, jumping the last few feet when he neared the ground.

Rooibos snorted in disappointment. "Bani, you're up," she said. Bani hummed nervously but still stepped forward. Her ascent was far, far slower than that of the other two, carefully examining each spot before she tried to place her weight on it. She was nearly at the top when part of the plant sagged under her, sending Bani sliding backward. She yelped in terror, scrabbling, only barely managing to stop her fall before she was caught in the basaraytz's trap. She sat in the same spot for a few minutes, trembling, before beginning her equally slow descent without a word. Rooibos eyed her critically, but did not comment.

Bani sighed in relief when she reached the ground, and simply sank into the grass. Dragoo sat down next to her, giving a comfortable pat on the shoulder. "It's really hard, only our quickest colonists can manage it," Desert commented sympathetically.

"I suppose it'll be up to me if we want any more of those blossoms," Rooibos quipped. She extended and retracted her claws a couple of times as if warming up, then began to climb.