Welcome to Gaia! ::

As he might do for any of his siblings in the same sort of situation Chal set to stroking Takoda's hair in a soothing manner, not saying anything, but instead just letting his friend rest. It must be stressful on him, just as it was on everyone, and he wanted nothing more then to make him feel better in anyway that he could but for the moment he felt that a quiet, peaceful moment was what they needed more then anything. Soon enough they might have to deal with the fact that they were close to both the Alkidike women as well as the Leaf Tribe members, the latter of which were a mystery to Chal who had never run into one of them. He wondered where they stood in all of this and what their reaction to the Alkidike and the Shifter both appearing on their borders might be... another of those thoughts he kept to himself. Takoda seemed as though he tired enough that he shouldn't bother him with such random thoughts.

Suddenly his friend was suddenly shifting away from him, lifting a hand to his head and in a curious manner Chal did the same, "Are you feeling warm?" He asked, worried that maybe the stress was getting to him. He didn't feel warm though, just a little bit flushed. When he was suddenly thanking him and telling him that he felt better he gave a smile, "I am glad that you are feeling better. Ready to keep going? Or do you want to sit here a bit longer?" He didn't much mind but it would appear as though Takoda might be done with cuddling at the moment. Giving pause he found himself wondering if that might have been what had Takoda blushing, the fact that they were snuggling in such a manner. Maybe he wasn't used to such things? He did say that he was having troubles with others that didn't treat him as an equal... so maybe getting such affection wasn't normal for him? Chal on the other hand was used to having people hanging on him almost constantly while at home. So Takoda was shy, huh? Cute.

Chal starred at his friend for a moment before giving a smile and a nod, "Of course, it's likely best that we get things gathered and get going back quickly." As much as he would like to spend a bit more time with Takoda, just the two of them relaxing and picking provisions as they'd done the first day they met, he knew that it wasn't a day for relaxing. Instead they needed to stay together as a group best that they could. The little side mission to get healing supplies was important but not something that they could allow themselves to be distracted by all day.

"Ah! If needs be I brought some of those seeds with me." He said, the fruit seeds were quite useful from what he'd seen already and there were always plenty of them left after his siblings were done gulping down the fruit, none of them seeming to like the seeds. They were all left behind for Chal to collect for later and he'd ended up with quite a few given that the fruit didn't last long at all. When Takoda suddenly announced that he saw mushrooms and hurried off over to where they were growing. Giving a bit of a smile he trotted along after him, looking at the mushrooms that Takoda had found, before asking, "Are they the ones you were looking for?" He was glad that they were able to find them, the way that they were hiding out in a shaded spot it seemed as though they were lucky to find the fungus given the time of day and the weather.

Poking at one of the mushrooms he asked, "So, how many are we needing?" He asked, watching the way that Takoda picked the first one before he started to pick a few of them in the same, careful manner.

"Alright, I will be sure to keep a close eye on them for now and we can use them later if it becomes more difficult to find supplies of a more tasty nature." They were looking as though they were going to go into Tale after all, a place that Chalcedony knew very little to nothing about so he couldn't say that he would be able to really pick out anything of significant nutritional value. It was almost a shame they couldn't pick up a Leaf Tribe guide but who knew what that tribe was like or if they would really be all that happy to have people that appeared to be invaders coming to tromp through their lands. Shifting for a moment in place he glanced over at Takoda, finding it on the tip of his tongue to ask his opinion on the other tribe, then decided against it. He had no clue after all if he'd ever met any of them, let alone if he had good opinions on them.

After a short time of picking mushrooms Takoda was announcing that they should be well off as far as they went. Chal tossed the last one that he'd picked into the bag before he pushed himself up to his feet, brushing the dirt off on his pants, "Alright, anything else that you can think of that we could use? I wonder if any of that fruit grows this close to the border." He mused to himself, glancing upward toward the trees, "Do you want to check? We might be able to get a good look across Tale as well. We just need to be careful to climb the side of the tree that will block of from the sight of both the Alkidike and the Leaf Tribe is all." No sense in giving away their position for a bit of fruit after all.

"Yeah, I think having some fruit on hand, even to start, would be a way of keeping spirits up." He said, following after Takoda as they walked over to the tree of his choosing, glancing up toward the branches that seemed to reach up into the sky before looking over at his friend. It seemed as if Takoda were looking for something and almost instantly he knew what it was, bugs. After the Healer made his sweep for them he gave a bit of a chuckle and moved to climb up with him, eyes flicking from side to side, looking for any sort of fruit. When Takoda said that he saw some of them. He glanced over in the direction that his friend was looking before he gave a nod, "Let's carefully make our way to them then." If nothing else at least it didn't appear as if the fruit were in the direction that the Alkidike were in, that was a small bonus. He could only hope that they were in fact ones that were edible given that they had climbed up a good distance and now had to make their way over to where the fruit was growing.

"I will see about picking some of the fresh ones as well as some of those that some of the unripened fruit. I figure it can ripen while in my pack if we are out as long as that." There was no telling how long the journey was going to take so they might as well get what they could while they could get it. From time to time Chal would stop to wave off a bug that was on the path, knowing his friend wouldn't care for them at all and would either freeze up, flee, or want to go the long way around them, "Almost there." He said after chasing off one particularly stubborn bug that seemed unamused by being chased off but complied after a time much to Chal's relief.

As they reached the spot where the fruit was growing among the tree branches Chal turned to look over at his friend before giving him a smile. He waited, watching as Takoda inspected the fruit then, seemingly dubbing it to be safe for eating, the Healer set to picking it. Only after his friend started to pick the stuff did he follow suit, "You know I have been thinking about it, what I want to do after I graduate from being a prentice and I think meeting you helped me to figure it out." He told his friend as he picked some fruit, putting some of it in the pack he had handing over his shoulder, making sure to get enough to share with those back at their makeshift camp as well as good amount of the unripened ones so that they would have something sweet to snack on at a later date.

Turning to glance over at his friend he said, "I was thinking on becoming a guard." He told him, it was something that made a lot of sense to him when it came down to it. It wasn't what his father had been nudging him toward when he was younger, it seemed the man wanted him to follow in his footsteps, but after the run in with that beast that had migrated in, well it seemed as though the man finally saw clearly what it was that his son was really meant to be. Once his pack had plenty of fruit, both ripe and not as ripe, into his pack he reached out to pluck a ripe one from the tree and took a bite out of it, "I think that it will be a good class for me." He already protected everyone as it was so why not do so more seriously? Get training for it? This journey would be a good practice for when that day came if you asked him.

Chalcedony watched his friend as he flushed and fiddled with his hair, making him wonder for a moment if maybe the heat was getting to him. Maybe they should take another break? Even as he thought that he figured that the next break they took likely should be back at camp since it wasn't safe to continue to take breaks on their own when there was a band of the Alkidike nearby. He didn't trust them not to try to attack them while they rested. Best to play it safe he thought to himself, giving a slight nod at the thought before he continued to devour the fruit that he'd picked, not wanting to waste any of it as well as wanting to be at his sharpest which meant eating well so his energy would stay up. He wanted to be able to react swiftly after all.

When Takoda commented that the rank of guard would suit him perfectly he gave a smile, "I will work my hardest to be able to become one after we are home from our journey." He sounded certain that they were going to make it back safely, then again he was never one to really show pessimism. As he finished off the fruit he set to harvesting the seed, putting them in his bag as well, before putting the core in the crook of a couple branches, not wanting it to fall and alert anyone to their exact position.

When asked about whether or not it was what he always wanted to be he shook his head, "Since I was younger I was just determined to stay home and look after my mother since my father isn't at home as much as much as I always felt he should be." It was something that still weighed on him a little, that the man vanished for weeks at a time due to the patrols he went on with his men but what could he do? Not much, not really. Leaning back against the tree for a moment he said, "The man wanted me to follow in his foot steps for the longest time, thinking as his first born that I should be as he is, a Brute, but it's just not for me. At least he's finally changed his mind on that." Or else things might have gotten a bit awkward he thought to himself, giving a bit of a mental wince at that thought. He could almost imagine how the man might have reacted if he came home and learned that Chal had taken on a rank different from what the man had always wanted for him... he was glad he didn't have to worry about that any longer.

Chal tilted his head to one side, seeming to be thinking on the comment for a moment then made a face, "Yeah, quite a bit... given he is home for an extended period of time this go around I wouldn't be at all shocked if I had another sibling come nine months from now." He said, giving a roll of his eyes. His parents were in love, to the point that it seemed they wanted an entire village of their own. Shaking his head, not even wanting to think about them being that close ever he gave a bit of a smile, "What is one more sibling when there is already a brood of them running around." He said with a chuckle, wondering if it would be a brother or a sister this time around. He hoped brother since that would make the number in their family even again but one never knew.

When Takoda mentioned heading back so they didn't get left behind he gave a bit of a laugh, "Yeah, that wouldn't be a very good way to end our first journey with our tribe, getting left behind while we chat up a tree. My father would never let me live it down." And he'd feel the overwhelming urge to give the guy a punch in the gut... though given he and his friends exchanged blows like that as a form of entertainment he'd just break his hand most likely. One had to wonder about his mother, what she said in the hard headed Brute... but even with all of his complaining he did love his father, "Come on, best we get back to camp before the sun sets." The worst of the bugs came out then after all and he didn't know if he could defend Takoda against an entire swarm all on his own, he might need the help of some of his fellow Shifters.

As he started down the tree he looked at Takoda, "You know, I want to get the power of a guard to keep an eye on my family but I plan to be there for you too, Takoda." He told his friend, giving him his normal cheery smile before he started his descent once more.