Quests

The hot sun beat down on the island causing mass heat waves across them, most hid away from the heat but some took the chance to use it to their benefit. The large sty herd was on the move again and it had been a couple months since they had some out this far for foraging staying close to the Forest while the young were growing as it provided cover from the weather and much worse things like carnivores but now that they were grown they were using the heat wave as a opportunity to forage further out. 

A familiar set of scales could be seen throughout the herd and they were pink in color followed by those bright blue eyes. It was Peach and she had grown into a strong young cow. Now fully grown she was out foraging with the herd and no longer needed to stay in the forest, she made her way out further in the field sniffing the air as she shook her body getting the dust off her small prehistoric birds clung to her back cleaning the various bugs off her scales. The herd had some younger stys running around as they were the same size as she once was learning the ways of what to eat and what not to.

But not all of them were good listeners like she used to be, her bright eyes scanned watching over the young running around as she Munched away at the grass below her, grass was always so boring to her but she understood why it was good for them to eat. The two young stys getting ever so close to the tree line as they searched for food while playing and giggling with each other, with the heat wave hitting it allowed a bloom in plant life, new types popping up all the time and it only screamed food to the young ones never the thought of safety. 

“ This way I smell something good” the young one called out to the other as they dashed along the ground, as the smaller one caught up.  Soon coming to a large plant that was purple in color and gave off a wonderful smell, large green leaves sprouted from its base as pink fruit hung from the flower. The little sty leaning up to pluck it before hearing a voice it was Peach who had followed the younglings to watch what they were up to, she quickly walked over to them snorting “Don’t eat that!” she said stepping in front of them so the plant was behind her “its poisonous “ she added before turning and pushing the plant down, smushing the fruit under her feet. 

“You shouldn’t run off and try things without knowing about them, It happened to me and it wasn’t fun if you come with me I can show you some fruit that is very tasty” giving off a small smile as she nudged them along, as she looked back at the smushed plant before shaking her head leading the small young stys forwards. Salem had taught her so many things in regards to what was tasty or toxic on the island but he had gone off by himself and hadn’t been in the herd for a while so she had taken it upon herself to teach the new generation about the survival tips for foraging. As she walked with them they came to the same tree that Salem had taken her two many months ago , standing on her back legs stomping on the large stump that soon dropped the juicy yellow fruit that she had first tried.

“Here try these, they provide water as well” she said, dropping down and picking one up, placing it in front of the young stys who were taken with curiosity. A small smile across her beak as she watched them dig in and turned picking one up herself, crunching it down and swallowing it , as she had grown Peach had learned more and more about foraging always making sure to help the herd members out if they were unsure about what was ok to forage. Peach watched them eat and grabbed another one before looking up and turning back to them “I can show you one more thing that is okay to eat, come along” she said softly to them as they ran in front of her trotting. The three walked towards the main area which was the grassy lands the rest of the herd was in although grass was not very yummy it was essential for them as herbivores, she always complained about it but Salem showed her many ways to make it a tad better as it wasn’t just grass various flowers grew out there that were safe to eat and tasty with the mix of the two.

 

“ This here , the grass was always plain to me but the flowers out here are very tasty when you mix the two” she said, bringing the two smalls to the grasses and walking over to a patch of blue flowers picking them up in her beak. Peach leaned down munching some grass in her mouth before paring it with the blue flowers , it always made the grass more bearable to eat.

“Now you two try it” she said, motioning towards the blue flowers  sitting in the grass. The two young stys were a little hesitant before digging right in and laughing before turning back towards Peach. 

“Thank you for showing us this taste way better, and stopping us from eating that bad fruit that could have been bad Peach” they said bowing towards her and running off back to the herd. Blue flowers in their mouths. A smile came across Peaches face as she nodded watching them run off the herd moved around so much and with the different seasons there was always new plant life that was different so knowing about it was a key thing in the herd and helping others was a good thing Peach liked to do besides she was taught all of it by Salem, who watched her first mess up when she was super young just learning like those two.

Peach sighed before turning back sniffing out the mushed plant she had crushed when she found the two younger styracosaurus, coming to it as she sniffed it studying it. It oozed with purple juice from being mushed as she leaned down to sniff it but pulled away at the stench it gave off “That's weird , it gives off a sweet smell and then when it's crushed it smells gross” she mumbled to herself. Peach had never seen this type of plant when she forged it must've come with the intense heat wave the island was having, it was forsure poisonous and not safe to eat good thing she stepped in when she did or those young stys would have had some bad side effects.

“This could be bad if there is more around, I’ll have to crush more Salem mentioned crushing them and the herd would know not to eat it” she mumbled to herself, walking to find more of the plants with the vibrant petals she was on a mission to make sure nobody had to have a run in with something toxic. As the pink sty made her way through the thick brush seeing more and more of the plants blooming crushing each one she could set her sights on. Not everything on the island was safe and Peach knew that the brighter the plant the more chance it packed a rancid punch and the side effects that came with eating the wrong thing were rough as she had experienced.

Without a great teacher she would have never have known the difference in the two as she was so young at the time but now with the knowledge she had Peach could pass it onto generations of styracosaurus who roamed the island and maybe possibly one day to her own offspring, but that was far in the future for the young adult cow so for now if crushing yucky plants was the thing she needed to do so be it. The pink sty kept at it crushing each plant as she walked by them the stench turning rancid as she did the now sweet smell that wafted in the air gross and rancid. After a couple minutes she stopped and snorted looking back at the work and tossed her head as she walked back towards the herd leaning down to grass on the once boring grass she hated but least it was healthy. 

She always wondered where Salem had gone , he always was up for teaching but one day he just wasn’t seen in the herd as she looked for him but found nothing, others saying they had seen him leave and not follow as they moved. She would always remember the things he taught her and to her that was enough until he would return to the herd once more so she hoped.