This place was decidedly not good yet, she'd decided she would not be judging a book by its cover. Not that she could read yet. Yet the Collector had made the terms clear: find others who would want to learn from her. While this wasn't the best spot in the world, she didn't have to travel far from where she felt she'd have to return once her task was complete, which to her was a worthy trade-off.

Then, perhaps others who hadn't experienced pleasant things would find her and also wish to learn from what she had planned. She planned to make treats. After making her basket (which by now was beginning to fray), she'd travelled to collect ingredients from the nearby caves since the ones nearby seemed so... empty. Eerily so. However, this piglet had planned to change that.

It took her longer than she'd have liked to set it all up, having to drag materials in from all around. But, soon, she had a little round stone table in front of her with her basket atop it. Leaning against the basket was a piece of bark with the flatter underside on show; it had a chalk drawing of a little meat haunch over a fire on it, then an arrow pointing to the 'counter' that Hog sat at.

It'd taken her ages find the right rocks for all of this and the fruits that she'd assembled. They weren't all good, some of them were a little too ripe, others a little mushy; it wasn't the cave's freshest ingredients but anything seemed fresh compared to this cave.

She set out her fruit behind her little 'stall counter' rock, and she had a half-decent variety of them too. It wasn't going to knock anyone's socks off, but she felt proud of herself.

Now, all she had to do was sit in this cave and wait for people to come by. Then, all she had to do was convince them to let her teach them. How hard could it be?

"How hard could it be?" She echoed to herself, trying to ignore the foreboding feeling settling into her bones. Which had absolutely everything to do with the cave and not that she'd made a deal with a very strange being. One that made her feel watched. Not at all.

October shivered. This tunnel was cold, and grey, and creepy. The emptiness and greyness was so much more oppressive than the atmosphere in Orion; even though there were ruined abandoned buildings in the latter, at least it had signs of life and glittering crystals that studded the ceiling. This tunnel was just... awful. It almost turned back toward Orion, but it decided to force itself to push forward. How could it push itself to become better if it was never willing to face a challenge?

Defiantly, it called on its magic to warm itself and create a light that would glow from its eyes. Let its visage become a beacon for itself and for others, a sign of warmth in this forsaken dead tunnel. A flame-like aura streamed from their golden eyes as they walked onward.

Turning a slight bend, they saw something unexpected: an array of foods across a stone platform, crafted baskets and a sign, and tending the whole thing--a friend! "Hog!" October exclaimed with surprise. "What are you doing here?" It was very impressed by her whole setup, but was this really the ideal place for a picnic?

@Hog

Velveteen, as always, was a little oblivious of their surroundings. The tunnel's eerie atmosphere didn't bother them much, although they did find it a tad boring. They weren't really sure why Ruse had wanted them to visit this tunnel, since it was so empty and chilly. But he had set them down at the mouth of the tunnel, pointed at Hog's little fruit stand, and told them to make some friends and listen carefully to anything they had to say.

And, Dutifully, Velveteen would oblige. It's not like they had anything better to do. Or really any plans at all.

They'd cheerfully trot over to Hog's stand, peering curiously at her selection of fruit. "Hello! What are you doing?" And then, as though just noticing October despite the fact it was literally glowing. And warm. Mmm.. Nice.. Velveteen would lean a bit too uncomfortably close, their snout close enough to feel the faint warmth radiating off of October. "Why are you glowing?"


@Hog @October @Ruse [mention]

The atmosphere was starting to get to Hog, making her feel twitchy. So much so that when October had spoken to her, she almost leapt out of her skin, making a squeal of shock as she whirled around to catch sight of the glowing gembound. It's only after she squinted through the bright light in the dark that a flicker of recognition crossed her features.

"Oh! It's you!" She beamed, her tail swishing side to side. "I've missed you! I've been making fruit juice! It's good!" She blabbered at the poor gembound before looking at the walking dustbunny that had also entered the tunnel.

"I'm making juice! Do you want some?" She offered brightly to the pair, though her smile didn't quite reach her eyes like it usually did.

Being forced to make friends for her own gain didn't feel right... But she'd signed it now. She was going to learn everything; once it was over, there was no reason they couldn't all be real friends too.

Yes, they could all be real friends despite it. At least, that's what she told herself.

@October @Velveteen

October jumped up itself when Hog squealed, startled by her shock. "Ah! Oh! I didn't mean to scare you!" Thankfully it didn't seem to be a big deal. Hog seemed happy to see it and offered it another novel food idea: fruit juice. October blinked and leaned in closer, examining her work intently. It allowed Velveteen to lean close when they approached, and even placed a wing over the other Gembound's plush face in an awkward gesture. "I am glowing because I used magic. It is FIRE and it is GOOD and WARM," October explained without taking its eyes off the juice.

Then it returned to Hog's question. "It looks good..." it commented, eyes fixed in an unblinking stare at the juice. "You say this tastes like fruit? I would like to try it."

@Hog @Velveteen

Jim was surprised, to say the least. This tunnel was not a good place to linger, and he'd have thought that everyone would be able to get the message just from the forbidding atmosphere alone. But today, there was activity, light, and even food.

Jim padded up to Hog's stall and examined the goods there. There was a drawing of a meat haunch on the sign, which Jim was mildly interested in, and baskets of just fruit as far as he could see, which he was less interested in. Now, Jim appreciated any attempt to improve the space in which they all lived. But setting this up here? Well. Not what his common sense would've suggested, he'd tell you that.

"This place isn't good to loiter around in," he commented, though no one had asked him, "unless you have a specific reason you need to be here...?"

@Hog

"I want juice!!!" A notable pause, "-please!" They'd peer at the stand's multitudes of fruit, more than they had seen in their months-long existence. Which wasn't all that impressive, admittedly- they hadn't been to a lush cave like Eridanus or Pegasus, yet. "Where'd you find all this?"

They would ever-so-gently nibble October's wing when it was 'offered' to them, likely making the greeting even more awkward. October's explanation immediately intrigued them- it was their first time hearing of such a thing. "Oh! Magic! How do you use magic? Can I do that? I want to be glowing and warm!"

Jim voiced his concerned, and they turned, staring at him unblinkingly. "What is a loiter?" They were instantly a bit oppositional to him. Who was he to just show up and tell them what to do?

@Hog @October @Jim

"I'm making juices!" Hog announced proudly to the newcomer. Then, true to her word, set to work. She plucked up papaya, a mouthful of blackberries, and blueberries. Then, set to work grinding them up on the set-out palette, with the smooth stone she'd brought with her, at least until the rough palette had made the fruits into a puree.

Then the rest of the process is simple, slopping the puree into a dish and adding cool water; which is naturally harder when you have trotters but she seems fine using her mouth to grasp and grip.

Then, the papaya and berries juice bowl is presented on the stall's table, with a flourish of 'ta-da'. "Um, there's lots of things in the wetter caves. The ones that don't smell all fishy!" She hums.

"You can learn to smell them! Some of them, some of them have covers that stop some of the nice smells. But! Not all of them are good, a few made my tummy hurt..." Hog rattles off.

@October @Velveteen @Jim

(all fruit flavours lovely provided by a spin-the-wheel)

October stared at Hog's juice-making process with big golden eyes. It really wanted to just... gobble up one of those berries in its bill right now... but it forced itself not to interrupt despite the berries looking really big and juicy. Its stomach rumbled. The coldness and wrongness of the tunnel was forgotten in the warmth of their small gathering and the fresh sweet scent of crushed fruit in the air.

Hog's ta-da! was like a magic word releasing it from its self restraint. The chough nearly lunged forward, dipping its bill into the bowl of juice and sipping greedily. It was definitely listening to what Hog was saying, it was just... multitasking. Finally it lifted its head up for air, clicking its bill together in a satisfied manner and tilting its head at Hog. A few colorful smears of juice decorated its yellow bill. "It's good!" A noticeable pause, just like Velveteen's. "...Thank you! You are so talented." It meant that.

@Hog

The fluffy Gembound's stare seemed rather unfriendly, and Jim sniffed, a little miffed. He was just trying to look out for these young ones! Nevertheless, he explained patiently: "Loitering is hanging around somewhere for a long time without any real reason. Don't you think this tunnel isn't really a welcoming place to stay in?" Jim didn't know how it was possible for rock tunnels to be so eerily unwelcoming, either, but far be it from him to argue with the rock tunnel's foreboding energy.

He peered at Hog's selection of fruits, which she somehow turned into juice in a bowl despite her complete lack of fingers. Jim agreed with the bird's assessment; it really was impressive. "You've done very well at making this," he commented, "but why choose a place like this to set it up?"

@Velveteen