Submission (#1104) Approved

Nested beneath a tangled blanket of outstretched trees with long branches that hug and tangle with the neighboring greenery lie two Nyampura, both on their backs, staring up at what little sky peers through the woven leaves.

The bright one, Happy, glances over at their mellow friend, Lecter. Lecter's eyes are closed, so he must be asleep. Happy fidgets in place, reaching their paws up towards the sky to stretch. It's a nice day out, hopefully they'll get to scavenge for flowers soon. It's Happy's favorite springtime tradition, the forest is always blossoming with life around this time of year. He shuffles around in the grass, unable to keep still. Lecter stirs beside them and slowly opens his eyes.

"Happy?" He grumbles. Happy's attention snaps over to Lecter.

"What?"

"Are Luca and Peach back yet? I'm hungry."

Typical Lecter, always straight to the point. Happy snorts out a laugh, amused by Lecter's straightforwardness. When did Luca and Peach leave again? It feels like so much time has passed since they've arrived, they forgot that their friends had left to find food at all.

"They aren't here yet," he says, pausing to think. "I think they might've gotten lost."

Lecter grunts and rolls over to his side. "Hungry..."

Time ticks by slowly. From what Happy can tell, the sun is starting to set. The sky glitters in purplish pinks with orange streaks that cut through the clouds. If only they could see more of it from here.

Faint rustling and conversation catches their attention. Their ears perk up as they nudge Lecter awake again, stifling a laugh when he tiredly groans.

"Luca! Peach! You're back so late, what happened?" He bounces to his feet, kicking himself off the ground to greet his friends.

Luca and Peach glance at each other, then the bag of fruits and berries. "We went bug-catching, sorry! There was a whole nest of somethings, I don't know what they're called," Luca says, "they were really cute though. I had to hold one!"

"I wasn't that into it," Peach admits, handing their excited friend the basket. Happy gladly accepts it and bounds over to Lecter, who now sits upright with an eager look on his face. He takes a paw full of berries and scarfs them down almost immediately.

"I forgot you don't like bugs." Luca and Peach walk over to Happy and Lecter. "You can have as many as you want, by the way. We already had our share."

"Great, because I wasn't too keen on sharing," Lecter says with a full mouth. This makes Happy laugh again.

Happy takes a few berries and picks the leaves off the top, tossing them in the grass. "You guys always know of the best spots. These berries are so good!" He chews with a wide grin.

"I'm glad you like them," Peach says, brushing dust out of their fur. "Are we heading home soon? It's getting dark."

"I need to finish eating first." Lecter paws at the bottom of the basket before stuffing more berries in his mouth. "Then we can go."

"All right, you berry eating monster," Luca teases, pointing towards a small path hidden in the bushes. "That's the way out. I'll stick behind so that you guys don't get lost," he chirps, not realizing that Lecter already had his share.

"We can leave now." He burps. Peach cringes.

"Excuse you. Okay, come on, Happy." Happy looks over to Peach with a flower in their paw. "Coming!" They tuck the stem behind their ear and bound over to the group. Luca does a quick headcount for good measure before turning to the path.

"All right, let's go." Luca steps into the bushes and his friends follow suit, disappearing into the greenery and laughing alongside each other.

Reward	Amount
Pink Treat	1
Cherries	1500
Oort	1

These items have been removed from the submitter's inventory and will be refunded if the request is rejected or consumed if it is approved.

Item	Source	Notes	Quantity
Fruits	Received rewards for foraging in test.	N/A	1