Roam turned the fruit around in her hand, frowning. It wasn't *bad*, but still she sighed, already knowing from it's colour that it would be way more sour than she had hoped. Fawn, on the other hand, seemed happy as can be as they foraged across the fields in Mireh. Roam wasn't surprised, Fawn loved the more sour fruits, after all. Wait and Alter, who had insisted on coming along for "extra hands" were lounging under the shaded area just below a large tree. The two hadn't been too helpful, clearly not knowing much about the region, but Roam was still glad they came along. Carrying the bags of fruit back home with just him and his love would be heavy work- which neither of them felt up to. With their bags full, they joined the two reef belemoid under the tree. "Looks like we got everything we needed." Roam added the two bags they had been filling up to the others they had gathered previously, which sat with Wait and Alter under the tree. They got caught up in chatter for a while, but Roam eventually noticed that Alter was staring somewhere behind him, looking mortified. He raised an

eyebrow "What's up bud? Something we should know about ? Alter?" Just as Roam turned around a shadow fell over the group. "What" a voice boomed, "do you think you're doing with *my* fruits." He whipped around, and was instantly met with bright red, angry eyes. Roam stuttered "A-ah hello! Good afternoon to you-" he started, but was quickly cut off when Fawn moved in front of him protectively. "These aren't yours. We've been gathering them ourselves for days now." Fawn said, clearly angered by the stranger's sudden interruption. Alter and Wait had gathered between him and Roam and the bags of fruit, too. They seemed unsure about everything, worried frowns on their faces as they looked at the elder two for guidance. The strange Tark'ee narrowed his eyes. "The fruits that you took from *my* trees. So *my* fruit, then." Roam tried to think deep, not recognizing the Tark'ee in the slightest. The Tark'ee had gradually started popping up everywhere, but most that had been sighted had then been gossiped around between settlements. Still, white blue and black- was that a mohawk on their back? Cool- did not ring Roam any bells. Fawn pushed Roam further back. He wasn't

sure how he felt about being treated like a damsel in distress- but at the same time, Fawn could be *scary* and disagreeing with her right now would definitely escalate things quicker than anyone would be able to handle. "These aren't yours- or anyone's, for that matter. You can't just rock up somewhere and lay claim to it," Alter nodded "The nearby tribes and settlements have been taking care of these trees for ages now- they aren't anyone's property." The stranger narrowed his eyes at the small reef belemoid, In turning making Wait bear his fangs in warning. Roam tried giving the belemoids a Look to get them to calm down- but the Tark'ee had already noticed, and bristled up in response. "Alright!" Roam called out "Let's not turn this into a fight." he glanced pointedly at Wait, Fawn, and the stranger at that. "At least not a physical one, please. It wouldn't do any of us any good." All parties seemed to ease up the slightest, but were still keeping a watchful eye on each other. Roam sighed, grabbing one of the bigger bags filled to the brim with fruits. "You can have this one bag." Roam spoke, narrowing

his eyes. "But the rest are ours." He could feel the rest's eyes on him. Nobody probably wanted to give up their hard work to the rather rude stranger, but Roam also really didn't want this to turn into a fight. Despite being a 4 against 1, the Tark'ee was far bigger than them, and would easily pose a threat. The stranger again squinted, "Fine." he hissed, picking up the bag and turning around, giving the colonists one final glare as he did. Roam huffed, slinging one of the other bags over his body sighing. "Let's just go home." The tense group nodded, each grabbing their share of bags, and following Roam back to L'hatzif.