Rocco was chatting animatedly as she lead the way to the moss she had mentioned before. The whelp seemed to have endless questions for Woodland, who was happy answering them all.

 

"Do lots of mushrooms grow in L'hatzif?" Rocco asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

 

"Hmm? I suppose," Woodland replied thoughtfully. "Although the really cool thing is that there are these _really_ big mushrooms."

 

"Eh? As big as a house?"

 

Woodland chuckled, knowing that the ones in the fungal forest were much, much taller than that. "As big as the tallest house you've ever seen!"

 

"That's so cool!" Rocco's eyes sparkled, her excitement infectious. "Do people live in them? Can you eat them? Do they glow?"

 

Woodland laughed. "Some Xunari do live in them. They're not the strongest, and you have to be careful when living in a giant plant to make sure you keep it healthy. And ah- I suppose you could, but they're much too big for one Xunari, or even a big colony to eat, so it'd kind of be a waste. Some of the mushrooms in this area we call the Hidden Glade do glow, but the rest don't."

 

Rocco let out a small gasp. "Glowing mushrooms... Wow, I wish we had those here!"

As they continued along the path trough the tall grasses, Sinokyo and Raucer followed behind at a slower pace, their earlier tension seeming gone... Mostly. They glanced at each other every now and then, but the argument about the bags seemed forgotten.

 

"She’s really taken to Woodland," Sinokyo said, nodding toward Rocco.

 

"Yeah," Raucer replied with a small smile. "It’s nice to see her so enthusiastic about something other than causing trouble."

 

"I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so excited about foraging," Sinokyo added, shaking his head fondly.

 

Meanwhile, up ahead, Rocco had bounded up a small hill, stopping at the top to wait for Woodland and the rest to catch up. "Come on! It’s just over here!" she called, practically bouncing on her feet.

 

Woodland chuckled and quickened her pace, she was honestly quite curious about the moss that Rocco had described. When she finally reached the top of the hill, Rocco gestured excitedly to a patch of rocks near the riverbank.

 

"See? Over there!" the whelp said, pointing at a cluster of boulders covered in an unusual blue-green growth.

 

Woodland's eyes widened as she approached the rocks. The moss was exactly what she had been searching for- its color way more vibrant than she had been expecting. She knelt down to examine it more closely, running her fingers over its soft, velvety surface.

"This is it!" Woodland exclaimed, glancing back at Sinokyo and Raucer as they caught up. "This moss is rare. I’ve been looking for it for a while- we've been needing it to make healing salves."

 

Rocco beamed with pride. "I knew it! I knew we found something cool!"

 

"You sure did," Woodland said warmly, standing up with a small piece of the moss in her hand. "Thank you, Rocco. This is going to be really helpful back home."

 

Raucer and Sinokyo finally caught up, both of them taking a moment to catch their breath. Raucer raised an eyebrow at the sight of the moss. "That stuff is useful, huh? Doesn't look the part."

 

"Very," Woodland confirmed. "It’s hard to find, L'hatzif doesn’t even have the right conditions for it to grow, but here in Mireh... The conditions are perfect. I'm taking some home with me so we can try to replicate the growing conditions."

 

Sinokyo leaned in to take a closer look. "I’ve seen it a few times before but never knew it was valuable. We mostly ignore the mosses when we forage."

 

Woodland nodded. "It’s not something that stands out unless you know what to look for. We can easily share, though, and you can bring back some to your colony as well."

Woodland smiled back. "I’m just glad I could help. It’s always good to share knowledge."

 

Rocco seemed in awe at Woodland's knowledge "Do you know a lot about plants, Woodland? Can you teach me?"

 

Woodland chuckled, amused. "I know a bit, more than the average Xunari, I'd say. I grew up foraging, so I’ve learned what’s useful and what’s not. But there’s always more to learn, especially about other regions."

 

"Will you teach me more when we get back?" Rocco asked eagerly.

 

Woodland was a bit taken aback at this- "Uhm, well- I'm kind of busy taking care of my own colony." she glanced over at Raucer and Sinokyo "but I'm sure that you can ask someone at home to teach you more?"

 

Rocco's face lit up with joy at the prospect. "Yes! That sounds amazing!"

 

Woodland grinned "Maybe sometime someone can even take you to L'hatzif to see those mushrooms we talked about."

 

Rocco looke at Raucer excitedly "Can we, can we?!"

 

Raucer seemed a bit taken aback by the request. "I mean- we can talk about it when we get back, how about that?"

 

The whelp squealed, and excitedly started dashing into the opposite direction they had come from "Let's go then!"

 

 

Raucer and Sinokyo said their goodbyes to Woodland, once again thanking her for her help with the baskets. "Don't worry about it, really. We all make mistakes sometimes, it's not that big of a deal."

 

Raucer nodded "And thank you for helping with Rocco- she seemed to have a great time today." Woodland smiled, looking at Rocco in the distance- Raucer and Sinokyo would have to run for a bit to catch up with her. "it's really no big deal- I hope you guys have a safe journey home!"

 

They all waved goodbye as they left. Woodland sighed as she looked at the journey ahead of her- she had ended up surprisingly far from the colony.