Two Tsabhuas stood before a much larger Tark'ee, the first Tark'ee they had met up close. Zephyr was the first to break the silence which blanketed over the three. "So… I assume that you are Citria?" The Tark'ees' eyes closed gently and she nodded her head. "I am indeed… so then you must be Zephyr and Cosette?" They gave a nod to acknowledge their names when said, much like Citria had. Zephyr a few days prior to this had approached Vermillion, and requested that he could go searching for the flowering hounds within the forest. Vermillion had contacted another researcher, and requested an experienced colonist or two to go with Zephyr, alongside Cosette to fulfill the Tsabhua's request. The researcher, Ycthuthrheth in response had sent Citria though warned Vermillion that while she was not a fighter this kind of "recon" would be beneficial for her. Zephyr looked upwards only more "You are so tall… how do you navigate around here, there's so much debris all throughout L'hatzif. I'm sure it's difficult to find a path where you don't run into anything…" he trailed off in thought, clearly more curious than anything else. "On the contrary, I'm not sure how you are able to find your way around bigger debris, generally I can maneuver over the debris or I can see enough of the surroundings to find another way!" Citria's response made sense to both Zephyr and Cosette, it would make it easier to be able to see over all the debris which would make it easier overall to plan how to get around. "Well no matter how tall or small, thank you for coming here to help up with Ze's request, he's wanted to find and watch a flowering hound since he was a whelp and first heard them in the night." Cosette bowed her head gently again as she thanked Citria. Citria gave a small bow back in return before in a gentle tone giving the other two a much needed nudge. "As much as I would love for us all to chat all day… I fear if we don't set out now, I don't know if any of us would have a chance to see a flowering hound tonight." A sharp nod from both Tsabhua's was followed by the golden colored Tark'ee pivoting on her feet to turn away from the colony and towards the darkness of the mushroom forest. Citria herself had caught glimpses of many of the wildlife of L'hatzif, and she knew to see a flowering hound they would need to travel quite a distance from the main colony to find them. This is due to the hounds nature of avoiding other creatures, as more colonies sprout up the hounds become harder and harder to track. Citria looked lost in thought as the three began to travel through the terrain, but Zephyr and Cosette traveled close behind. While Citria was large in scale, if she got too far out of their sight they may not be able to find her due to the density of the forest. Citria took measured steps, as she knew that Zephyr and Cosette had a smaller stride than her as she continued, and even slowed while climbing debris. There were large downed mushroom stalks, the dark soil a sharp contrast to the lighter colored fungi. As Citria's head swiveled she caught sight of an even larger fallen stalk which was the reason of many smaller mushrooms breaking off and crashing to the ground. These stalks were easy enough to traverse but still required a steady foot while climbing to get over them. Cosette and Zephyr both traveled quietly and swiftly, clearly trying their best to avoid stepping on crunchy or otherwise loud debris.

About half a day of swift travel had passed before Citria stopped as she stood upon another of the larger fallen stalks, surveying the grounds around them. She leaned her head down slightly before breaking the long silence between the group with a soft voice, "We are almost far enough out. Keep and eye out for any type of 'den,' in my experience they generally try to make home in shallow caves made either of stones, fallen mushrooms or trees. If you see footsteps in the dirt, don't move further and slowly move away from the area. We don't want to scare them off by alerting them while they sleep." Zephyr kept his voice low trying to match Citria's volume, "A den? How would I know when I see a den??" Citria responded before Zephyr could continue asking questions as his voice began to raise. "Hold on, take a breath, this is the easier part. After we find a den, then we only have to wait through the night for them to appear." Zephyr deflated, he opened his mouth to respond but was stopped as Cosette touched the back of her upper arm to his shoulder interrupting his thought. "Zephyr you knew this would be a long trip, you've been more than patient this far. You knew it would likely take all night, there's no reason to get upset now. Plus nightfall is only a couple hours off, so let's find a den and then we can settle down and relax." Citria didn't add anything on merely waiting for the moment to pass, as clearly Cosette knew Zephyr well enough, to know it's simply impatience which caused his earlier reaction. A long huff came from Zephyr, followed by two longer deep breaths. "I apologize Citria for starting to raise my voice," the Tark'ee was surprised but replied quickly, "Think nothing of it, it is hard when one is excited to contain it at times." Her words were followed by a gentle nod of acknowledgment. Zephyr continued, "so… how do we spot these 'dens'? Do they leave any kind of objects around the spots they stay, maybe they clear out an area? I'm just not confident in what I'm looking for…" Citria thought for a minute before continuing, "generally they do clear an area. However petals from their manes become scattered in their dens and do often end up in front of the area as well. They may look similar to large leaves as the petals sometimes lose color as they age in the sun. Some individuals will line the area close to their den with sticks or with another kind of barrier before digging a shallow trench just inside of that barrier." Both Tsabhua's nodded and Cosette replied before turning to search through some of the forest herself. "Thank you Citria, that will definitely help Zephyr and I know if we have found a den!"

As daylight disappeared, and the ground was darkening, the three met on the fallen mushroom stalk they had started their search of the area at. Zephyr was the first to arrive back, then Citria and before Cosette had arrived the two began quietly discussing. "So Citria... Did you find any dens at all? I think that I found two though one looked relatively destroyed and unkempt." He was clearly bummed that he hadn't found something more exciting on his search. "Well…" Citria started, "let's wait for Cosette then I'll tell you wait I've found." There was clearly a smile in her voice, as she must have found something promising. Cosette was a fair deal behind the other two, and the Oat colored female didn't appear excited when she came into view either. Cosette joined the other two, before telling what she had found. "I hope you both had better luck… I found Nukaps, and afterwards a soft portion of the ground which gave way. I'm not injured but it took me a while to find my way back." Citria's eyes narrowed in the dim light as the transition between daylight and night made it difficult to focus one's eyes at times. "Are you sure you're alright Cosette?! You're sure nothing is broken or out of place-" Cosette answered quickly "I'm fine- I'm fine Citria, I promise… plus all that's left is to get in position and wait right? You can do a once over after we stake out by a den." Citria gave a stiff nod, "Deal. Now I found something I think you'll be excited for… I found a couple dens which were abandoned, but I found one which was very active even with a little pup which had poked its head out before being called back inside." Zephyr's eyes widened and his mouth fell open, "Pups- Like mini flowering hounds?!" Citria made a quiet hissing noise much like a shushing noise, "Don't forget we need to remain quiet- I know you're excited, but we gotta get a move on before the rest wake up." With that the trio got down from the stalk, and with Citria in the front they began carving a winding path. Citria stopped as they got close holding up a hand, causing the other two to stop as well. She then brought her down slowly, causing the other two to drop closer to the ground. All three moving quietly and slowly, as they moved along Cosette and Zephyr caught sight of the den. Large petal-like debris was packed in the ground, leaving a clear transition from "den" to outside of the territory. There were branches and stalks laid out that defined the barrier even farther. There will little petals almost the size of leaves, ranging in yellows, oranges, and reds which Zephyr assumed was from the pups. There was an overhang behind the barrier, roots extending a a small lip of a wall to a cave-like entrance. There was another over hang, with no barrier but which had scattered petals much like the other. Citria pointed to the second overhang, before moving towards it herself. Cosette and Zephyr followed, the area would be more than enough to fit all three so they could see the active den.

As they approached Citria moved under either the underpass first, as she was the largest she wanted to get settled first. The other two nestled in afterwards all three faced outwards and towards the active den. There was plenty of room in the old den, after they all settled Cosette held up and moved her different legs to prove to Citria that nothing was broken. Daylight finally dissolved into darkness only to be softly lit now by the moonlight. Then it began, there had been a stillness and a quietness as the daylight transitioned into nightlife. The sounds started softly, first short clicks and low thuds of movement a sign that the hounds had awaken. At least the pups had, even with their heads low from the overhang, Zephyr could see the pups bound from their small cave. A soft cooing noise left Cosette, as she had not expected the hounds or their pups to be so cute. A soft smile appeared on Citria's face, she whispered in a soft voice, "they are so precious aren't they?" A nod from both Zephyr and Cosette in response caused a soft humored rumble in Citria's throat as she did her best to stay quiet. Time seemed to move slowly as the night stretched on. The cubs wrestled and played but never moved past the barrier around the den. Finally low howls started soft and short, before an adult hound stepped out of the den. It seemed to survey the area before shaking its petal-like mane and turning its nose skyward with a loud and long call into the night. Zephyr, Cosette, and Citria all flinched at the volume of the howl. Which only got louder as other unseen adults and the small pups howled in turn as well. With the drowning sound of the howl bleeding through the night's silence finally fading, another adult appeared from the darkness of the den. The adult moved past the barrier, making small sounds to the pups and so they followed over the barrier and into the wild debris. The adult hound sniffed at the debris, before finding a place suitable to lay down. Moreso the creature unceremoniously plopped down before rolling around in the ground. Rolling back and forth along its back before it moved to lay on its stomach once more. With the continued sounds of the pups exploring and disturbing the debris, there were another three adults had emerged from the small cave. The individuals all had different color manes, the first to step out had purple, followed by blue, orange, and red. The hounds each explored at their own pace before finding a place to settle. The orange maned adult settled close to the old den where the three watched on. As the hound shook its mane dust rained into the air, dust which ended up right in Zephyr's face. Zephyr tried to keep from sneezing however he was unable to stop the inevitable. A loud crashing sneeze disturbed the wildlife before them as everything stilled, both Cosette and Citria jumped as they hadn't expected the sound. All the flowering hounds, pups included turned to the small overhang and found three pairs of eyes staring back. No creature hound or otherwise moved a muscle. Citria had an idea, hoping not to scatter all the hounds, she tried to copy one of their whistles, followed by a couple soft clicks. A series of sounds one of the hounds had used earlier, the closest hound's ear flicked followed by a head tilt and a curious returning whistle. Citria returned another whistle of the same kind, resulting in the hound letting out a huff. A low soft grumble from the hound and suddenly the flower hounds resumed to their activities once more growing lively. A small pup approached the old den, passing the orange maned hound. The hound huffed but let the pup pass and approach the three watchers. The pup come up to Cosette first, sniffing at her upper hands before making a tiny fierce bark, sniffing once more before sneezing. The other pups ran to the one which barked, the pups began to sniff at the three intruders before climbing upon them sniffing at the strange one's fur. Even Citria seemed surprised at the pups' actions, nestling and digging in her fur as they examined these strange creatures. The night dragged onwards with the pups continuing to sniff at Cosette, Zephyr and Citria before they were called back by the adult hounds to the den. Dawn would be soon, and so it was time for the hounds to turn in for the day. A truly unforgettable night for the trio, but one which had made them very tired. It was time to return to the colonies do that they can rest. Zephyr picked up some fallen petals as they prepared to leave once more, and Citria did the same. But all three had been touched by the experience of watching flowering hounds especially their pups so closely. It left them feeling at peace, and one with nature.