"And this one is...wait, actually-" Ark raised a paw, touching his forehead carefully with a single clawed finger. "Ah, sorry Tauko, Veldet, I don't actually remember what this one is, or its use." Veldet looked dejected for a moment before slithering off to look at some other plants, but Tauko just frowned. Ark used to know more about herbs, he thought, but ever since the incident his recollection has been…off. It was frustrating. He wanted to learn, about these plants and about Rekes, but trying to get any information out of Ark was simply useless.

They had done nothing but wander around the tundra for hours, occasionally finding a neat-looking plant in which Ark would only have a ten percent chance of sharing some genuinely useful information about. Then Veldet would call Equinox over, regardless of Tauko’s protest, to promptly drop his new find into the basket that Equinox was carrying. At least the views are nice, the young reef belemoid thought, staring straight up at a gigantic, crystalline structure which arched high over his head. It sharply met into a point at its end, with other structures just like it towering far off into the distance; all lined up, pointing in the same direction like the ribcage of an ancient creature.

“Oh, Equinox, bring the basket over here!” Veldet crowed from some damp crack between the rocks he had managed to crawl into. Equinox was a still a young tsabhua, although very little of his whelp mantle still remained. He was only here to help the foraging group carry their findings; despite not being particularly interested in foraging, the tsabhua looked pleased to be outside of Spear’s walls, seeing the wider world—even if it was only just one region. Equinox paused for a moment before strolling over to where Veldet was calling him.

“Look!” Veldet said again, but this time a variety of slimy, shiny green berries came flying out of the opening. Ark, Equinox and Tauko all looked on in a mixture of dissonance and amusement, respectively. “I have no idea what these are, but…maybe they’ll give me superpowers!” The tark’ee exclaimed as he went to drop the berry in his mouth-

“I wouldn’t eat that one if I were you.”

Every single one of them whipped around at once, facing the direction of the stranger’s voice. A belemoid stood there, onyx-black with glowing blue spots pinpricked into his pelt like little stars. His ears lowered a little before he spoke, “My apologies, I didn’t mean to startle you four—my name is Bilo’bjorn.” He bowed his head in greeting to the group as he introduced himself, which Ark momentarily returned before introducing himself in kind.

“Greetings! They call me Ark.” By this point Veldet and Tauko had rushed to hide behind Ark, who had seemingly completely forgot that Bilo’bjorn had startled him a moment ago. Equinox simply waved before curiously inspecting the berries Veldet had dropped. “These two are Veldet and Tauko, the tsabhua back there is Equinox.” The wooly belemoid said, pointing to each member of his party in turn. Veldet craned his head curiously out from behind Ark’s leg, while Tauko squinted at the stranger, then cast a quizzical look over to the apparently dangerous green berries.

“Pleased to meet you all. But if you all are out here foraging, then you ought to know that taking any random plant and putting it in your mouth is…not a great idea?” Bilo’bjorn tilted his head at them as he spoke, but Ark, Equinox, Tauko and Veldet all just tilted their heads back.

“Oh…we apologize.” Ark chimed after a short moment of silence, “I decided to go out to try and collect herbs for our colony, but I’m having trouble remembering…” He trailed off, then gestured to the three whelps. “And they are young, still learning a lot of things. Our researcher had me bring them along for the experience, we were not planning on travelling too far—you can still see our colony from here, actually.” The stranger simply nodded as Ark spoke, who finished his sentence by pointing to some distant spot directly behind Bilo’bjorn. The bioluminescent belemoid looked off in the direction Ark had indicated, vaguely spotting a grey structure standing in a wide, snow-covered plain.

“Alright, look,” Bilo’bjorn began, turning back to face Ark once again, “If you all would like, I could show you a couple of herbs that I know—just so you won’t stumble across something poisonous and put it in your basket by mistake. I don’t know them all, but I’ve survived as long as I have out here for a reason!” Ark and Tauko grinned at this offer, with Veldet now deciding it was his turn to inspect the green berries. Equinox swiftly brushed them back into the hole with his tail as Veldet approached, the Tark’ee giving the larger tsabhua a dejected look. Tauko emerged from his hiding spot behind Ark to stand next to him, looking up at the wooly belemoid with perhaps the widest grin he had ever seen. He grinned back, before regarding Bilo’bjorn again.

“We’d greatly appreciate that.” Ark stated with gratitude, “Tauko and I are particularly curious! He’s always been fond of plants and exploring.” Tauko beamed at the recognition, perhaps he could learn something today after all. Maybe Bilo’bjorns teachings will help Ark remember, too!

“Glad to hear it! Let’s start with what you have in your basket right now…” Bilo’bjorn stated as he approached Equinox, who had once again been silently listening where he was sitting. The tsabhua removed his harness with the basket so Bilo’bjorn could easily take a closer look at it, those interested gathering around the basket as the onyx belemoid picked out each plant, giving a short lecture on what he knew of each one. Equinox and Veldet opted to explore the immediate area some more, occasionally bringing back some interesting finds; but Tauko and Ark listened intently as Bilo’bjorn explained the herbs. Eventually, once they did run out of herbs to discuss in their basket—the group of now five set off in search of more.