Yummy yummy, in my tummy

Early spring was upon the Kaima Archipelago, the chilly morning air was full of mist in the marchland of Isla Kela as two shuno and a dacen wandered about together. The sun could barely penetrate the thick, white clouds, but some light still managed to escape and shine upon the trio. The mostly pale but dark accented Lance let out a sigh as he shook his neck, temporarily ridding himself of some swamp flies and mosquitoes, though they quickly returned by the time his scaly skin was no longer in motion. He looked up at the two shunos, both of them walking to his right. The female, Yuji, was very light gray with a soft darker back while the other, Thiaz, was a much darker colour, framed in a desaturated purple.

“Do you two even get any flies up there?” Lance scoffed, he sounded much more upset than he actually was, and the two slightly taller herbivores knew this, especially since they were barely taller than him.

“I don’t have any, you two must be filthy.” Thiaz jokes back, intentionally sounding serious when it was not.

“Very funny Thiaz, very funny.” Yuji replied, sticking her tongue out towards Thiaz, who could not help but smirk back at her.

Lance just shook his head, he was neither offended or amused, but either way, he was sick of the pesky bugs hitching rides on them. Thiaz just grinned, it was very amused at its own bad humour, seeing the other two unamused just fueled this amusement even further, though its smile was suddenly interrupted by a loud, rumbling noise. The framed shuno looked down on its belly, which was loudly roaring in hunger. Very typical.. It smiled somewhat apologetically as it looked at its two friends.

Yuji had to stop herself from laughing at Thiaz’ goofy face. It was definitely an expert at not heading out prepared, even when it came to food, despite loving to eat. Though perhaps that could also be why, to create an excuse to have a food break. It was hard to tell whether it was intentionally done or not. 

Lance let out a long sigh before he started to look around for any easily accessible food so they could perhaps just have a quick snack and then move on, but alas, it seemed that no such luck was on his side. They would have to look around for food, among this dreadful, mucky marsh. How delightful..

Thiaz smiled a little as it took the lead and moved towards the forest bordering the marsh, its friends following close behind. The forest was sure to have a lot more edible vegetation than the marsh, anyway, so it was not like either of them had any objections to this decision. Also a lot less bugs, which was definitely a huge plus for Lance, seeing how annoyed he had grown as they had passed through. 

As the three dinos finally got out of the muddy marsh, they shook most of the excess mud off of their feet and legs. Sure, it would eventually fall off on its own, but that was besides the point, speeding up the process harmed no one and brought on relief faster. They were all glad to be out of there. Now, to the mission at hand, find some sustenance to quiet the rumbling tummy of Thiaz.

Lance started looking around between the trees, knowing very well that a lot of mushrooms grew close to them, though he was very bad at identifying which ones were edible so if he did find any, he hoped that either Yuji or Thiaz would know which ones were safe, so he just started foraging whichever mushrooms he could find. The only ones he knew for sure to avoid were the bright red ones with white spots on them. Sure, they were big enough to not necessarily be affected that badly by the poison, but it was best to avoid it still. Besides those, he found some slender, yellowy ones, some pale beige ones, and some with rich dark caps. He also found various other ones, but those were the most noteworthy, as a lot of mushrooms look very similar both in shape and colour.

While Lance was busy foraging for mushrooms and the like, Thiaz itself was rummaging through bushes and ground foliage in a determined search for sweet berries. Sure, it could literally just graze some grass, or eat some boring leaves like a normal herbivore, but where was the fun in that? Something sweet and much more appetising was obviously higher on the priority list, despite the ravaging hunger it felt.

Yuji shook her head as she watched the other two quadrupedal herbivores disappear among the foliage and trees. She was much less interested in going out of her way to forage for maybe edible plants, though she was very good at identifying what was dangerous to consume in larger quantities. Since the three of them were such large animals, small amounts of poisonous plants and fungi would not have any devastating effect on them, though it was of course always good to avoid eating them excessively and on purpose. Some of them are surprisingly potent without looking the part. In order to appear as if she was not slacking, Yuji did end up digging some roots out of the ground that she promptly started to chew on as her two friends made their return. 

“Hey, why did you start eating before we returned? That is not fair.” Thiaz huffed as it dropped the berries it had found on the ground while giving the other shuno a somewhat offended look. 

Yuji grinned as she shrugged unapologetically, she had no interest in defending herself, she knew they were well aware she would not go out of her way to get something annoying when something easier was available. She would, however, happily offer identification aid. Not that she had promised that out loud, but she knew they expected it, and she did not mind. 

Lance dropped all of the mushrooms he had found next to the berries and Yuji started to look over them all, quietly sorting things into different piles with the tip of her tail. The largest pile would be the one with edible food, thankfully, but the inedible one had also grown quite large over time. The third pile was stuff she was unsure about, where things looked very similar. Some blue berries were particularly difficult to identify, as she knew one was deliciously edible while the other one was less so. Thiaz and Lance were both waiting anxiously as Yuji was sorting the foods, and they happily looked back and forth between the piles, trying to guess which was which. Once everything was sorted, Yuji sighed lightly and smiled. 

“This pile, do not touch it.” she said, pointing towards the pole with some white berries and pale mushrooms. While the mushrooms were similar to some edible ones, these ones in particular were death caps, a highly poisonous type of mushroom that could cause death pretty quickly for smaller creatures. She was unsure how it would affect them since they were so large, but it was not worth trying. 

“The middle one I am admittedly unsure of so try at your own peril, I suppose. But do not complain that I did not warn you if you choose to do something stupid.” she also added. “I can assure you that the last one is all good to go though, so enjoy your food!”

“Thank you Yuji!” Thiaz cheered as it started to split the pile in two. “Here we share brotherly.”

“You are so silly.” Lance chuckled as he scooted over the half of the pile that Thiaz pushed towards him. “Are you sure you do not want any of these, Yuji?”

“I am quite satisfied without anything, thank you. Go ahead and eat your fill.” she assured her two friends, who then happily started to eat up their respective piles of delicious treats. 

Lance was quietly humming to himself as he happily munched on his food, and Thiaz happily wagged along to the dacens tunes, also very pleased with the very delicious food. 

Thiaz then proceeded to eye the uncertain pile after having finished, asking itself if it was worth trying to figure out which berries were edible or not. What was the worst that could happen? It surely would not die.. But then again, an aching stomach was for sure no fun, so it shook its head after eventually deciding some extra berries were not worth the risk. The group could surely find something safer along their travels anyway, it was not like food was scarce during this season. 

Thiaz let out a pleased sigh as it got up from the ground with a big smile, very pleased with the food break. 

“I would call this little feast a success!” it said happily, followed by stretching a little. “Let us proceed with our travels.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Do you also feel ready to go, Lance?” Yuji asked as she, too, rose from the ground to prepare to leave. 

“Do I feel ready to leave? Yes. Do I actually want to get up? No. But I will do so regardless, it is unreasonable to lay here all day, after all.” the dacen sighed as he got up and shook himself a bit, hoping to help feel a little more invigorated. 

Yuji took the lead as the three dinos started to make their way forward, though she was not certain where she wanted to go. They never really had a clear goal in mind and just improvised, adapting to the situation.