Kai moved carefully through the forest, his footsteps muffled by the soft earth beneath him. The air was thick with the scent of pine and damp soil, mixed with something faintly metallic.


    His eyes wandered, taking in the sheer abundance of flowers growing between the roots of the massive trees. It wasn’t just the usual reds and yellows—there were blues that gleamed like cobalt, deep greens with a bronze sheen, and rusty browns that shimmered under the dappled light.


    Kai crouched beside a cluster of copper-colored blossoms, brushing his fingers against the petals. They felt… strange. Not quite like normal flowers—stiffer, almost like thin sheets of metal.


    He frowned. "Okay, that’s weird." He plucked a petal and rubbed it between his fingers. A faint, powdery residue coated his skin, leaving behind a metallic scent.


    Stardust peeked out from his scarf and trilled softly.


    "You smell it too?" Kai muttered. He wiped his fingers on his pants and stood, scanning the trees. Something felt off. It took him a moment to realize what.


    Silence.


    No birds. No distant chirping. Just the whisper of wind through the iron-gray pines.


    Kai exhaled through his nose. "That’s… unsettling." He was so used to forests being alive with sound—birds, insects, the occasional rustling of small animals. But here? Nothing. Just the eerie quiet and the soft creaking of tree branches.


    Still, he pushed forward. He needed food and water.


    Kai crouched low, his eyes scanning the forest floor. The sheer variety of plant life was overwhelming—vivid blooms of cobalt, copper, and deep rust-red swayed gently in the breeze, their metallic hues catching the filtered sunlight. It was beautiful, surreal even. But right now, beauty wasn’t his priority—food was.


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    His stomach growled again, a loud and insistent reminder.


    “Alright, focus, Kai,” he muttered. “The girl had to have found it somewhere nearby.”


    His eyes darted from tree to tree until something familiar caught his attention. At the base of a thick, gray-barked pine, a cluster of bulbous pods rested against the roots, half-buried in the soil. His breath hitched.


    “That’s it!”


    Kai rushed forward, crouching beside the pods. They were identical to the one the girl had given him—round, firm, with a dull, iron-gray shell. Excitement surged through him as he reached for one, only to stop mid-motion. Something was off.


    Unlike the one he had eaten before, these were sealed shut, their surface covered in a waxy, semi-transparent layer. He pressed his fingers against one. It was firm—too firm. He tried digging his nails into the outer layer, but it didn’t give.


    “Unripe?” He frowned, turning the pod over in his hand. The one she gave me wasn’t like this... So, I need to wait for these to crack open?


    That wasn’t good. He needed food now, not in a few days. Sighing, he placed the unripe pod back down and kept moving.


    He wandered deeper into the forest, carefully observing every tree, bush, and patch of undergrowth. Then—


    There!


    Nestled between two gnarled roots, another cluster of pods. But this time, they looked different. The outer layer had hardened into a dry, brittle shell. Unlike the others, these weren’t glossy—they had a dull, fractured texture, almost like dried clay.


    Kai reached for one, feeling the weight in his palm. If the first batch was unripe, then maybe—


    He turned toward the nearest rock and, without hesitation, slammed the pod against it. The shell cracked instantly, splitting open with a satisfying crunch. Inside was the exact same fibrous fruit he had eaten before.


    “Yes!”


    Without wasting a second, he grabbed more, shoving them into the side pockets of his cargo pants. They were slightly bigger than his palm, but the pockets stretched enough to hold a decent amount.


    “Alright, that’s one problem down,” he muttered, patting his now slightly bulging pockets. “Now let’s see what else I can find.”


    As he continued foraging, something else caught his attention—clusters of small, glowing amber berries nestled within a tangled bush of thorny branches. The way they pulsed faintly in the dim light was almost hypnotic.


    Kai plucked one carefully. It was oddly warm in his hand. But the moment he loosened his grip—


    THUMP.


    The berry dropped straight to the ground, sinking slightly into the dirt.


    “…What?”


    Frowning, Kai bent down and tried lifting it again. The moment it left his palm, it slammed back into the earth like a miniature lead weight.


    "Why the hell is this thing so dense?"


    Stardust, now fully awake and nestled in the folds of Kai’s scarf, let out an amused chirp.


    “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, little guy.” Kai sighed, shaking his head. “Not edible unless I want to break my teeth, I guess.”


    He gave the heavy fruit one last glance be


    fore stretching his sore limbs.


    “Alright, food secured. Next up—water.”