Koi stumbled after Siris, as the taller Tsabhua. The adult quite easily left Koi in the dust, but occasionally paused to let the child catch up. Koi quite appreciated it- especially since the older Tsabhua had offered Bloo to take Koi (and Toxic Woodland) with her to Mireh.

 

As that thought crossed her mind, Koi realized she hadn't seen Woodland for quite a bit. She stopped, looking behind her- at which the smaller critter instantly jumped out of the tall grass to "swipe" at Koi's nose.

 

Koi jumped back, startled, at which Siris confusedly made her way back across part of the field to check up on them both. just as Woodland bounced around Koi "C'monnnn. We've been walking for ages, play with me for a bit!" Koi groaned at the younger whelp. Woodland had *insisted* to come along as soon as Siris offered to take Koi with her while foraging. Koi has been quite annoyed; she had been wanting to visit other regions with a *good* gatherer for ages after all, no offense to Bloo, it had been quite quickly found out that Bloo was- not the best gatherer to learn from.

 

Having Woodland with them meant that Koi and Siris had been constantly slowed down on this trip- which was not something Koi was in the mood for, ever. She finally got the chance to explore and now she had to babysit quite possibly the most annoying member of the colony.

 

Koi rolled her eyes "No, Woodland, I don't want to play right now." she sighed, casting a glance at Siris that she hoped would convey a clear "help me" message. 

 

Siris sighed "Come on you two, there's only a little bit more to go." and carried on, Woodland chasing after her, which seemingly did not bother her at all. Koi followed, grumpilly rolling her eyes.

 

A little while later, Siris stopped at some bushes, waiting for both whelps to stop quabbling. "You see, Mireh has a lot of bushes and such." she chuckled to herself as the whelps both seemed to try and push eachother over to take a closer look. "Berries like this is what makes foraging in Mireh so great. If you know where to look, you can find a lot of them in just one day." Siris handed both of the whelps some of the berries she had found- both from this bush and some different berries Koi had seen her grab while they were making their way over.

 

"The key" Siris continued "Is to make sure that you come over in the right season, if you want to harvest certain berries." Koi nodded attentively- and even Woodland seemed to be showing actual interest in the lessons now that Siris *"finally"* got to the point. Siris looked at the attentive, and (temporarilly) well behaved children and smiled "it's also important to know which you can, and moreso cannot eat, of course."

 

As she carried on, the small group stopped occasionally at different bushes- with each new berry Siris kindly and patiently explained what kind of berry it was, what it's uses were, how to identify each one. If the berries were edible, she's pick some of them for both whelps to snack on while travelling to the next bit. Koi appreciated the gesture, mostly because it kept the smallest Tsabhua nice and quiet while they travelled.

 

Eventually it grew dark, and the small group set up camp to spend the night- roasting the berries they had previously found, while Siris explained that they'd visit the hills next, where there'd be fruit trees. She also explained that said trees took ages to grow, but once grown were extremely valuable in producing ample fruit for nearby colonies.

 

They eventually reached the more hilly regions of the region- filled with more trees and bushes. The fruits, hanging high up on trees were far too high up for either whelp too be able to reach- although Siris did have a good laugh at both of them trying their very best to reach as high as they could.

 

Koi gave up pretty quickly, not one for stretching herself thing to impress others, but Woodland seemed much more determined. Koi rolled her eyes, but eventually seized the opportunity to ask Siris some more questions regarding gathering.

 

"You see," Siris started "Like I mentioned- Mireh is great for finding all sorts of fruits and berries." Koi nodded along "Your home of L'hatzif is great for finding fungi- but foraging for fungi is tricky. Eating them tends to have all sorts of effects, so it's important you ask someone at home to teach you more about them before you go out by yourself, okay?" Koi nodded in understanding- no wonder Bloo had always been hesitant to feed the whelps the mushrooms he had found... and no wonder he had stomach ached so often. "Let's see... Issiq mostly has succulents. Embarrassingly, I usually don't bother with them- I've heard that they're maybe used in medicine." Koi raised an eyebrow- loosing the slightest bit of faith in her teacher, who quickly continued "Usually when I need things with medicinal properties I visit Rekes. Many flowers and herbs grow there, and Im much more familiar with them then those pesky succulents." Koi smiled, nodding. She'd have to gather more information about other regions later, maybe she could find more roaming folk to teach her the ropes of gathering if she asked Bloo to keep an eye out for people who- wanted to drag a whelp around the continent.

 

Eventually, the older two stood up- Siris helping Woodland reach for the fruits high up on the trees. After harvesting said trees, and filling their backpacks with ripe fruit, Siris walked along the hills in a similar way she did in the fields- explaining each valuable resource to the attentive souls following her around- this time also helping the two reach for anything that was still too high up for them, gently reassuring them that once they would be older, they'd have an easier time reaching for fruit like this themselves.

 

Eventually the trip was over- which meant both whelps had to be brought home. While Siris herself would be staying in Mireh, the whelps would be picked up by Roam once they were closer to L'hatzif again. Koi had grown quite fond of Siris, and was quite sad to have to see her go, hoping to stumble upon her once again in the future- maybe when Koi herself would be putting the knowledge Siris was kind enough to pass down to use for herself.

 

Koi couldn't quite contain her excitement seeing Roam again, as much fun as she had. She was glad she had a place to return home to at the end of the whole ordeal.