Silent Graves

They had their water. They had their firewood. They had a cleared out spot to set everything up. They had three hours of daylight left. It was time to set everything up. "Okay, boys," said Open Skies, "who has their guide to local flora on them?"

Each of the colts reached into their packs and pulled out a book. It contained a detailed listing of all of the flora and fauna spotted in this area, with accurate descriptions and pictures. There were sections on trees, grasses, flowers, mushrooms, shrubs, ferns and berry bushes. It clearly denoted what was safe to eat, both raw and cooked, and what wasn't.

"Excellent preparations," smiled Open Skies. "Since you all did so well in that regard, you can all go on food collection. You can all decide what we're having for dinner tonight!"

This was magnificent news to the boys, and they celebrated in their own ways. With a dismissal from Open Skies, they split. His assertion that they knew the forest better than some kids knew their own backyard was not entirely inaccurate. They had tasted many of the bounties of the forest, and as a result, they knew exactly what they wanted to eat and would be focusing their efforts on that. They ate healthy in their normal lives; they could treat themselves out here in the woods.

Stargazer went north. There was a small clearing filled with onion grass, lemongrass, and peppergrass. He loved these herbs, either together or separate. It was mostly about the texture for him. The fibres in it meant that the flavors stuck around in his teeth for hours to come. Much like the other two, he brought with him a knife and a basket with which he would carry it all back to camp.

He began cutting the grass, making sure it was still sustainable. He had been coming out here for years, and he was planning on coming out for years to come. He wanted to keep them sustainable. To that end, he'd collected seeds from these plants and replanted them at home, and if ever something was out of balance, he would cultivate new ones out here. That would keep the ecosystem in a nice balance.

Seeing a fluffy bunny hop in under a root, he looked past it and saw some clover. Both he and Red Cap loved clover, so he offered a bit of lemongrass tips to the bunny to exchange for his collection of clover. This would be a fine gift for his very best friend.

Off to the west, the direction they'd come from, there was an orchard with some wild fruit. Nestor was a big fan of fruit, and he knew this section very well. The largest was a very substantial apple tree right in the middle, but it wasn't in season right now. All of the buds had only just begun to bloom. They were not even close to bearing fruit. On the other hoof, there were four little apricot trees just to one side. They had produced a fair few apricots that were of decent size, and those were quickly pulled down by the little unicorn colt.

He then spent a fair few minutes in the bushes, picking berries. He saw a few birds, and scattered a few seeds from his shirt pocket. He was so enthralled by the cardinals and blue jays that he almost forgot what he was doing. He quickly finished picking wild strawberries for his basket. Just beyond the strawberry patch, he suddenly spotted some wild leek. Stargazer loved leek when he could find it. With a swift cut, it was added into his basket.

To the southeast, Red Cap was walking through a section where the trunks of the trees were very thin and the canopies were very wide. The grass was fairly short, and the trees were thin. He could see so much of the area around him. He was looking for a fallen log that had begun to rot a few years ago. As soon as he found it, he followed it west to a small field of flowers. He loved flowers. Loved the taste, loved the smell, loved looking at them. They were bitter, they were sweet, and they were sour. Everything about them was divine.

His basket was filled with dandelions and daisies very quickly. Over-filled, actually. Flowers were spilling out over the sides. He picked up his basket and started back to the campsite. However, as he'd spent so long in the field, it was beginning to grow darker. He couldn't see as well in the dim light of the sunset. He tried to use the position of the sun to find the way north and east. Camp was north, and the river was east. If he could find the river, he could definitely find the camp.

As he saw a light in the distance, he rushed forward a few steps. He would have gone further, but he tripped, losing some of his flowers on the ground. As he picked himself up, the light came closer. Stargazer had already returned to camp, and with Red Cap still missing, he'd come out with a lantern to bring him back. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," answered Red. "I just tripped on this vine." He lifted his leg. The vine he had tripped over was in fact, not a vine, but a tree root. A look up the tree revealed some manner of citrus. It was either some early oranges, or small grapefruit. "Hey, can you help me pick some of those for Nestor?"

With a nod, Stargazer flew up into the tree and dropped down eight of the fruits. Four for tonight, and four for tomorrow morning. He then flew back down and helped Red put them into his basket without crushing the flowers. The two then made their way back to their camp.

While they were gone, Open Skies has set everything up. His tent, a small one, was on the west side of the site, and the boys were to the north in a medium sized one, with the firepit being right in the middle. There was a stone and clay basin that they used and fixed up regularly to make sure that their fire stayed where they wanted it. It wouldn't do well to have the trees catching fire. That would cause quite a bit more trouble than they wanted to deal with.