He was starting to feel quite bad for the plants he continually trod on as he made his way back to the sled. At this rate he was going to form a trail! Maybe he could grow some of them back after we was finished with his tasks. He knew it was possible now after all now that he had done it once. Anyway. Chuck the berries into the bowl and repeat.
Darn it! Sprig didn't know what went wrong, but he just could not get the berries to cooperate. They were rather hard compared to the others and just. Refused to be crushed. Who knew berries had attitudes huh.

He was going to be late at this rate if he didn't get all this completed in time. Sprig rested for a few moments to gather his strength. Maybe he should use his claws to split them open before crushing them? That would make sure they could be condensed properly. Hopefully this worked so he wouldn't have to go find more of the berries, especially considering he had to pick them from a tree last time.

Inventory:

Now he was almost there. He had been planning to get more than just the colors from red to purple, but this was taking so long he wasn't sure if he had time to get any more. Now there was just one more color remaining. Purple. Final stretch Sprig! This is the last one! God he was going to be so sick of berries after all this. He returned to the forest, eyes scanning the area for a hint of purple. And then that was when he found it, some berries clustered inside of a thorny bush. Man, that sucked. He wondered what he could do to free them.

He had used his magic before to bend the branches of a tree, so there was no reason he wouldn't be able to do the same with the brambles blocking his way. Sprig focused on the thorns, imagining them moving out of the way in his head. And just like last time, the brambles folded to the side, creating a hole large enough for him to reach in and pick the purple berries out of the bush.

This was the last step. Once he finished this, he would be done. Hopefully he wouldn't fail this. He wasn't sure if he even had enough energy to keep going. This was all tiring work! He immediately started on the task of crushing them, but the same problem that the blue berries had applied once again to these purple ones. Sometimes you should not take shortcuts and that was obvious because now he had to try this all over again.

Alright, he knew what he had to do now. Splitting them open carefully and placing them in a fashion that allowed for optimal coverage, he went at it again. This should work. It had to work. This was the last one he needed to complete the set! And his efforts seemed to pay off- the juice from the berries formed a most marvelously colored purple dye, and it could best be described as so vibrant a color it simply didn't look real.
But he was done. Oh, finally, he was done. He lay on his back, breathing in the fresh air. HE WAS SO TIRED.


Inventory:


Final Inventory:

But he had promised something else. He would grow back some plants in the forest to make up for all the destruction he had caused. Well, it wasn't destruction exactly, more like he picked a whole lot of berries and definitely trampled some plants in the process. It didn't feel good to do so. So of course, he would have to give back to the forest what it had given to him. Pressing his paw to the ground, he coaxed a few dormant seeds to life. They sprouted from the ground, budding slightly. Were they flowers? Bushes? Trees? He couldn't tell at this stage.

And now, he would have to urge them to grow! To blossom! To thrive! He called for his magic once more, asking it to nurture the sprouts into something more. And grow they did! His magnesite didn't give up on him, giving him another burst of magicka, surging into the ground and further helping the sprouts. There were a couple flowers, and a single tree. The flowers grew rather easily, as they didn't require as much energy, but it was the tree that he wanted to help grow further. And who knew what kind of fruits or flowers it had potential to bear?

He wondered if he could try something he had never tried before- to grow the sapling, the tree, to something bigger than it was now. Was that even possible? He imagined the spell would be something like what he used to cause them to blossom, only using more energy. He was tired, but this was something he wanted to try. And he was curious now too, if he would be able to do it. Sprig pulled on his magic, but it seemed he had nearly exhausted his stores. It flickered, then faded away. It did not work. But that didn't mean he couldn't try again.

He could do this! He believed in himself! It would happen! Sprig paced around, taking a few deep breaths to collect himself. The lights along his back were starting to shine again, in line with the rapid beating of his heart. He didn't know what happened, he thought it would work for a moment- and then headache. Sprig collapsed to the ground, trying the bear the pain that was shooting through his head. It was a few minutes more before he gathered the strength to open his eyes, and saw to his great dismay that the sapling had completely died... shoot.
Although he had acquired more skill with his magic, that didn't mean he never failed. This was especially true with high intensity spells such as this one. He was tired. So tired.
After gathering his energy, he got back onto his feet, returning to the sled and making his way back to Cepheus. He had tried at least, but he would have to practice further before being able to truly make a forest flourish.

Exit Sprig