Berry good ideas

"So these are... Strawberries?"

She was in awe the moment they'd entered the path with the food stalls, something in there...or perhaps everything there, smelt amazing. She couldn't see anything she recognized, but was more then eager to change that and learn what they all were if she had the room!

However Clops had lead her straight towards a stall covered in baskets with little red things in them, little leaves coming out of the tops of them and a sweet smell wafting off of the baskets.

"Yep!! They are super yummy!"  

She gave the birdy behind the booth the shards for one of the baskets, and almost immediately once it was in her hands there was just a misting of red and juice dripping from the bottom of the basket. When it cleared the nice shape of the little berries was gone, and in it's place was a sort of red mud coating both the inside of the basket and Clop's face.  She'd absolutely devoured the berries in record speed that both horrified and impressed the birdies around them who saw it.

Everyone aside from Lumi, who had no clue that that wasn't normal. The littles were the same so that was normal...right?

"Try some!"

She reached into the basket and pulled out what looked like the only...sort of intact berry left in the basket. It was covered in the viscera of it's slaughtered brethren, but had avoided most of the carnage itself.

"Okay then!"

She saw nothing wrong with how she leaned down to take the offered berry, leaves and all, out of her friends hand with her own mouth. A little of the red mush ending up on the sides of her mouth and ends of her bangs where they brushed against the carnage that was Clops. Leaving her, much unknowingly, looking like a vampire who'd just feasted.

"This is... a very interesting flavor. It reminds me of the icing on the cakes we'd rarely have back home in how sweet it is...but it's so refreshing as well. Aside from the leaves that are rather bitter like the tree leaves home but still not bad. Although I don't quite see how the lolly-pop was supposed to be these? They taste quite different."

The booth owner, peeking out from behind the booth where she'd hidden to avoid the splash-zone of Clops, looked at her now just as concerned.

"Um, you have a little...something..." She gestured to all around her mouth, and curiously Lumi mimicked her and looked down at the red on her fingers now.

"Oh! Thank you." And she simply licked them clean. Enjoying the sweetness very much. "Are many of your foods like this? So soft and sweet?"

The booth next to them's runner spoke up at this, giving them a big smile as she gestured to her own booth. "Not everything! We have a lot of different foods and flavors around, like my booth is to appeal more to those who like savory foods."

Lumi did look at the brown things on the stand curiously. "What are they? I have tried some barks back home that look kinda like that but they didn't smell anything close to it? And tasted more 'bitter' than good."

"You've eaten bark??? No, that's not the point. They're rabbit haunches!" She pointed to the front of the booth where, it was indeed written so.

"Oh well I guess there's no harm in trying them, I do still hunger and have the fibers." She put the fibers in the little jar where they were supposed to go, and the booth owner hands over the warm brown thing with an eager smile. Leaning over the 'counter' to see how she reacted to this new food. Lumi couldn't blame her, it was always a delight to see the new children try cake for the first time when it comes around.

"Mmmm, Mmmm!!!" She'd not hesitated at all to bite into the thing, and aside from the surprise of hitting something hard in it, it was delightful!!! Hot but not painfully so, moist with a rich sweet but not sweet juice that  flooded her mouth when she'd bitten it. She pulled back with the mouthful, minus the hard thing she realized was the weird white stick that she was holding. Bone she believed it was called?

"You like it?"

Lumi nodded eagerly, turning to Clops and gesturing to indicate a question if she wanted a bit.

"Nah I'm good!" They held up another basket of berries they'd bought while Lumi had been getting her rabbit.

Swallowing her mouthful, Lumi turned back to the booth owner. "This is delightful, I quite enjoy this 'savory' flavor. Where on earth do these rabbit's grow?"

The booth owner laughed, until she realized that Lumi was being serious, and then she just looked horrified. "They- oh no.... They aren't plants they are a meat...y'know a living thing....that...we....oh dear."

It took her a moment to realize what the other birdy was saying. "Oh! You mean like fish!"

The booth owner looked relived that she hadn't freaked out. "Yeah! You...eat fish right?"

"I do! Gramps insisted that it's important for one such as I to eat both plant and meats to be healthy, but fish is the only 'meat' we really had access to back home. It tastes nothing like this!"

"Oh good. Oh thank stars..."

She wasn't sure why that was such a relief but it didn't matter too much, as she was already very eager to continue on with Clops to try even more of the foods the few other stalls had to offer.  Mind already wandering forward.

"Thank you two! This was very enlightening!"

She offered her hand to Clops, who had been devouring the basket full of berries, and tilted her head. Seeing if Clops was ready to go further though the booths, and while it took a few moments, eventually she did take her hand, and with that they were off.

So much to learn and try. This was EXCITING!