The air in the colony was tense as the news spread a collective sigh of disappointment echoing through the clearing. The last harvest had been meager to say the least, and the air was fille concern. Bloo, observed the unease in his colony, especially among the smaller ones, Predict and Preserve, who were by now old enough to understand why the adults were panicing. As the leader, he felt it was his responsibility to find a solution. Bloo gathered a small team, the group gathering in the central clearing, surrounded by large mushroom structures that served as both homes and communal spaces. "The last Harvest has been bad," Bloo stated, "We need to explore the Mushroom Forest and find an alternative food source for the colony." he hadn't been used to the more "serious" role of leader, but with the colony only growing and growing, he felt it was important to make sure that they *had* a leader to look up to. The colony being bigger now than ever also meant that the food scarcity could quickly become disastrous. Especially with the many whelps in their care, who would not be able to find their own food at all if

they tried. Predict and preserve exchanged worried glances. They knew they would be too little to be considered any help. One of the small expedition partied made their way to the edge of the mushroom forest. Matter, Gideon, Twinkle and Seymore, had been asked to go to the edge of the Mushroom Forest. The air was thick with humidity, and the ground beneath their feet felt soft and spongy. Gideon scanned his surroundings, searching for signs of anything edible. The last thing she wanted was to return empty-handed to the colony. His talents lied mostly in foraging, but he had to be agree with Bloo that it was smart to split up the colony in groups of various talents. Where Seymore was mostly good at recognising and identifying plants, Matter was great at finding all sorts of medicinal plants. While not directly useful, Bloo had mentioned that it would be good to stock up on them, too, whether for trade until the next harvest, or for their own use later. Twinkle was amazing in the water, and had already cut down some kelp from the river banks to put in their baskets. It was not a popular, or nourishing food,

and drying it properly would take a while, but the young reef Belemoid had pointed out that, if it came down to that, it would be better than nothing. Twinkle had also offered to look for fish and such in the rivers, and was currently swimming around, occasionally bringing up both small and large fish. Fish and other meat had never been the colonies meat source, it easily going bad and being hard to properly butcher and cook. Animals also were often not too keen to end up on a dinner plate, and Bloo usually insisted that it wasn't worth the risk of injury. Finally there was Gideon, who was not really good at most foraging, but did know a thing or two about various plants that could be used in cooking. Most of her knowledge laid around spices and flavour; the more fine side of preparing food. She supposed that the small bits she had found could still be used for something, and she could occasionally provide a nice pair of extra hands. The backets and bags they had brought fille up pretty quickly with everyone's additions, and it was pretty soon that the party had to head back-

having found far more found then they could've imagined. Matter, Twinkle, Gideon and Seymore smiled at each other as they walked back, praising each others skills and teaching each other a bit about their own specialties. Bloo, Predict, and Preserve stood at the edge of the clearing, down below the mushroom trees that held up their structures, anxiously awaiting the return of the groups sent out to retrieve food. The sight of the overflowing baskets brought a collective sigh of relief. Predict and Preserve excitedly ran up to their elders, happily greeting them. "Whoa! Fish! I don't think I've ever had fish!" Gideon ruffled the whelp's mane, as the small belemoid ran around looking what the others had brought home. Bloo walked up to them too, seemingly was more relaxed than he had been before. "You've one well." he said, clearly impressed. He awkwardly smiled "maybe I shouldn't have panicked. You guys are the first group back, and already we have food for days." Seymore laughed hearing that, making Matter and Twinkle, who had been messing around with Predict and Preserve, look up. "I think the reminder that we all have our talents was nice, really." Twinkle piped up, Matter

nodding besides her. Gideon couldn't help but agree. "it was nice to be reminded we're all useful in different ways." Bloo seemed happy with the kind words. "I suppose we do all have our talents. The real challenge is finding out how to utilize them properly, I suppose." he agreed.