The continuing hunt for the golden nukap was tiring, but at least it was a good excuse to get the adolescents some training and travel. Glow waited at the trailhead for the others to show up. Bloodstone, Noodle, and Seafoam had all taken a brief break in the nearby city, and were meeting her and Lairi and Marchus here.
She waited by the trailhead into the mushroom forest, strange fungal trees towering overhead. It was strange, coming from the mountains, where trees were often not much more than bushes, to come here where they towered so high and were of such strange stuff. What passed for grass here, smaller mushroom stalks, waved lethargically in the breeze, making soft thonk noises instead of the rustling she was used to.
Some familiar figures came around the bend in the trail, feet thumping on the boardwalk, and Glow perked up and waved. Marchus and Lairi waved back, and it was only a few minutes more before Noodle, Bloodstone and Seafoam came around the bend as well. The group regarded where the boardwalk ended and the swampy trail began with a mix of exhaustion and distaste, then Seafoam shook themself out.
"Well, we're not gonna get a golden without stepping food there are we?"
Lairi laughed. "Certainly not!"
Marchus nodded with a grunt of agreement, then started to lay out the plan. Again, they were going to try and track a herd and target golden-looking ones. This time, though, it would be with manned snares, so they could choose to tighten the noose or not depending on the nukap's coloring. If it wasn't gold, they could leave it slack and let the nukap wander off. With the footnote of if an obviously golden one happened along, more direct means would be used.
The group nodded in agreement, and set out. Glow blinked as Noodle passed her, "You have boots?"
The shorter tar'kee gave her a mildly exasperated look. "I don't like guessing if it's my fur or if it's mud."
Glow nodded at their words, understanding, and walked on beside zem.
This section of the forest was different than the others - the group had decided to move locations, just in case the golden nukaps in the other area had been targeted. Bloodstone was helping Marchus search for signs of Nukap off-trail, red and black coats winding through the mushrooms on either side of the makeshift trail. Seafoam and Lairi were mostly chatting, carrying the equipment, while Noodle walked beside Glow, taking up the rear.
Glow considered striking up a conversation with Noodle, but ze was a solitary individual, and Glow couldn't think of a non-awkward way to start something. She was saved by Bloodstone calling out from the right side of the trail, sticking her head back through a strange curtain of mushroom vines. Or whatever they called.
Glow eyed them suspiciously as the group pushed through, Marchus slipping to the front to examine and validate the signs Bloodstone had found. After a moment, he nodded, confirming them, and the group hushed. They followed Bloodstone and Marchus to a space under a particularly large mushroom tree that had obviously been used for foraging by nukaps.
Setting up the snares went mostly as it had gone before, Seafoam and Noodle needing refreshers on the best practices. Seafoam because they had been mainly becoming one with the marshy puddles the last time they had been here, and Noodle because ze had only joined the colony after the last snare hunt.
Lairi handed Glow some of the stakes and wires, and they set to setting them up. These were slightly different, with a longer wire that was half-buried that allowed the concealed colonist to pull to tighten, instead of leaving that up to luck.
The group was starting to run the wires when the mushroom above rustled and a familiar glowing green head poked down.
"Well! You again," Lumen said, wings rustling as they moved off of the large mushroom to a smaller one, fastidiously keeping their paws off of the muddy ground.
Bloodstone gasped in awe, while Noodle stared wide-eyed and Seafoam made a fascinated noise. Glow mostly sighed internally and went back to her snares, as did Marchus. Lairi, however, bounded over to the aerobic.
"Yes! You wouldn't believe the trouble we've had catching a golden nukap," she said seriously, and the aerobic laughed.
"Oh! I can believe it. You and everyone else I've talked to." they flicked a claw lazily. "Don't mind me."
Glow tilted her head at the aerobic while Bloodstone, Seafoam and Noodle regained their senses and scuttled off to hide. "Hoping for some free food."
"Oh, you wound me!" the aerobic splayed a claw across their chest, but Glow noticed they did not dispute it.
Marchus, apparently noting the same thing, made a hmmph noise and sat back to eye the aerobic. "You better not disturb the nukaps," he warned.
"Oh, never… I'm merely here to take what you don't."
Lairi, Glow and Marchus shared a look, but the three heard the rustlings of a small herd of nukaps and went into hiding. The nukaps didn't seem to notice the snares as they shuffled into the clearing, Lumen having vanished once more into the forest, though they sniffed the air suspiciously before moving in to forge.
Glow noted that curiously. Though she shuddered at the thought - since they tended to get covered in muck anyways, would it help to hide their scents?
One of the nukaps fell with a squeal and the rest scattered, alarmed, and Bloodstone popped out to pounce on the fallen creature, knife in hand. Noodle and Seafoam scrambled after, though Seafoam paused and turned away as the knife fell. Marchus, Lairi and Glow emerged just in time to see Bloodstone wiping away the blood to reveal a coat that one could argue was gold.
The group shared a look. Wouldn't hurt to try.
A squeal in the distance marked Lumen's success, but the group paid it little mind as they hauled their prize back to civilization.
Marchus: 2 mentions
Noodle: 2 mentions
Glow: 2 mentions
Bloodstone: 2 mentions
Seafoam: 3 mentions
Marchus: 2 mentions
Noodle: 1 mentions
Glow: 2 mentions
Bloodstone: 1 mentions
Marchus: 2 mentions
Noodle: 4 mentions
Glow: 5 mentions
Bloodstone: 3 mentions
Seafoam: 3 mentions
Marchus: 2 mentions
Noodle: 2 mentions
Glow: 3 mentions
Bloodstone: 2 mentions
Lumen: 1 mentions
Seafoam: 2 mentions
Marchus: 2 mentions
Noodle: 1 mentions
Glow: 3 mentions
Bloodstone: 2 mentions
Lumen: 2 mentions
Seafoam: 2 mentions

Here Piggy Piggy
borring lairi and marchus again... PLEASE RNG BE KIND. i offer uhhh chocolate
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