Sora had been scouting the tunnels in and around Canis for signs of a safe place to bring her siblings. Orion had provided her with little interest, but recently she'd stepped through into Tunnel I. It had just rained in Eridanus, sharpening the smells of earth and decay, and something caught Sora's attention. She'd never smelled anything as good as it before, but had no way to identify it. unabashedly, she had ventured into Eridanus -- a break from the day's plan, anyway.

But there was something in here, and she had to find it.

As soon as she walked into the mossy, still-damp room, her nose was near the ground. It had a subtle smell, whatever she was looking for -- nutty and earthy, but somehow distinct from actual nuts and earth. Distantly, she thought that this was a nice place -- maybe it was the trees sort of spot Morganite would want. She strayed almost immediately from the paths, her nose working faster than it usually did. There were so many smells at once, but this one was undoubtedly the most appealing. She needed to find it...

Already, it was drawing stronger. Every time she thought she must have been right on top of it, it somehow got stronger. The water amplified everything, had made her able to smell it from far away. It didn't take long before she stuck her nose against the roots of the tree and the smell spiked sour. She grunted as she poked around the dirt and grass, but realized that the smell must have been under the ground. What a pain! Why bother putting something tasty away from where it could be eaten?

She needed to dig for it, and dig she did -- violently.

It took no time at all for her to clear enough topsoil. Her treasure was only hidden a few inches beneath the surface, but there it was -- small, round, and black. About the size of her eye, in a cluster of dirt clinging to the roots of the tree. It looked almost like a ball of dung, but smelled much better. Sora rolled it carefully towards her and crunched it, sitting back on her haunches like Morganite did. "Holy shit," she mumbled around her mouthful.

She needed a million of these, right now. She had to share this taste with her family -- but nobody else. She couldn't have another hog coming through and stealing them. To make a point, she unabashedly scratched her back against a tree, stimulating her scent gland. Pungent enough to overwhelm most noses, but familiar enough to not bother hers -- truly, a musk hog in action.

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet followed the trail through the forest. She had already hunted smaller, weaker prey such as rabbits and mice. This time, she wanted something bigger, like deer. She had caught wind of a new scent and she could tell it was a big animal from the deep hoof prints. The trail wound through the forest in an orderly zig-zag.
Finally, she heard grunting. A strong scent hit her nose, she was unused to such a strong smell and it sort of stunk. When she stuck her head through the ferns, she saw-- a brownish animal? It certainly wasn't a deer, similar, but short and fat. It also seemed to be eating something that looked like poop. That couldn't be healthy. What animal are you? And is that poop you are eating? she asked.

@Sora

Sora was startled by the distant sounds of brush being trampled, and turned her head wildly to see. Then, closed her eye -- let the noises paint the sound. A canine approaching, and then she opened her eye again and stared at Comet. "A hog," she finally grunted. "Collared peccary. And I can kick your ass, so don't sneak up on me like that." She shuffled to her feet and looked the young wolf over. Scrawny and fluffy with youth, but clearly capable enough to take care of herself.

"It's not poop. I don't know what it is, but it tastes awesome. I'll let you have the next one, if you promise not to tell anyone they're here," she bargained, totally unaware that a carnivore with a keen sense of smell (and honestly, anyone other than a hog) would probably find the truffles extremely distasteful and/or assaulting to the senses except potentially in very tiny amounts or diluted with oil. In fact, her family would probably hate them, but Sora didn't mind -- that would just mean all the more for her.


@comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet thought it over. So that is what she was called. A hog. She felt that it was an empty threat, as she was almost sure she could dodge the hog's attacks. She looked pretty slow.
Comet let the scent of the weird not-poops fill her nose. They smelled-- horrible. And it didn't seem to be a meat anyway, so she already knew she probably wouldn't like the taste of it. Um, no thanks. But I won't tell anyone they are here anyway. she tried to hide her disgust at the smell of the weird food. It almost made her want to throw-up but she didn't say anything because the hog was looking a bit dangerous.
What do they taste like? Perhaps she could try one, she learned that some things don't taste as bad as they smell.

@Sora

"Exactly how they smell," she sighed somewhat dreamily. Sora was already sniffing around to try and find a trail to her next one. "It's the most wonderful smell in the world, isn't it? I caught it all the way in the tunnel to Orion." Sora was in a visibly good mood -- a distinctly unusual development. The last time she'd been in a good mood had been with her siblings in the cave before the Trial.

She pushed her nose through the ferns carefully, scouring the area in a cross-hatch pattern. "If you've got a keen nose, you might be able to help me," she grunted. Most animals she'd met were basically nose-blind compared to her, but Comet would probably be able to smell the truffles, too, if she could make it past Sora's own odor.

@comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet made no comment on the smell of the truffles. For what seemed wonderful to the hog stunk horribly to the wolf. She noticed the hog seemed to be a bit happier now, which made her relax a bit. She was quite impressed by the fact that she was able to smell it all the way from Orion. It wasn't every day that you met an animal with such a keen nose.
Comet watched the hog use her nose to look for more of the weird food. Sure I'll help! she had already remembered the scent of the food and tried to distinguish it through the strong scent of the hog. She lifted her own nose into the air and tried to sniff out some of the food.
There was a faint scent, almost completely covered up by the stench of the hog. Over here! she walked over to the place. It was at the roots of another tree, and she set to work on digging it out.

@Sora

Sora hurried over to where Comet had indicated, digging her way down and grabbing another one -- fairly small, still, but certainly tasty. The hog crunched it down immediately. "These are awesome. Are you sure you don't want one?" she asked, already raising her nose to the air to try and find another truffle. Sora's whiskers twitched as she caught the smells all around her... but one in particular struck her. Distinct from the other wonderful smells she'd found.

The collared peccary strayed towards it, guided by her nose alone. Finally though, she stopped in front of an otherwise unassuming tree and started to dig at its roots. She started to uncover another truffle... but this one was white. Not to mention, it was massive. When she finally got it uncovered, Sora rolled the truffle over and assessed it -- it was probably approaching two pounds, and she marveled at it. The last ones she'd been eating were only a couple grams each. This was a work of art -- a true delicacy. She sort of wanted to share it with her siblings, but also wanted to just eat it now.

... Maybe she'd decide on the way home.