Sprig nodded nervously, trusting James's word for it. There was much he had to learn. He watched as the horse struck the two stones together, creating sparks to light the tinder. Soon, the wood started burning, and when he saw that it didn't spread to the forest, he smiled.

The cub nodded at James's words, not quite sure how it was even possible to extract sweetness from a plant. But just pure sweetness wouldn't taste good anyway, he agreed with James that you needed the taste of fruit along with the sweetness.

"When the juice is done, what are we going to put it in?" the idea of just drinking pure fruit juice didn't sound good. Maybe they could pour it over a yummy mouse, or a deer! Then he remembered that James didn't like to eat meat, and continued pondering the matter as he watched the juice cook.

@James

"I don't put anything in it," he said, "It's sweet and once it's rolled up, it gets this really nice, chewy texture. And while a fruit rots once picked from a tree, these stay fresh for a lot longer."

James picked up a stick and stirred the mixture, picking out chunks with the end and setting them on a leaf, "We don't want a lot of chunks, it'll make it harder to spread. You can eat those if they're cool enough."

He continued to stir, the bowl heating up and the mixture very slowly starting to bubble.

"You see! Those bubbles mean it's heating up," he said, and set the stick against the side, "You try stirring, now."

@Sprig

"Ohhhhh." Sprig nodded, storing the information into his head. Cooking makes it last longer, and if you boil fruit you can roll it up to make it chewy. This was all very important if he was going to try and make some recipes of his own one day. He watched intently as James used a stick to pick out the chunks.

"Ok." he gave the chunk a careful sniff, before reaching out with the tip of his tongue to test how hot it was. It was hot, but still tolerable. Sprig gave it a blow before eating the whole thing. "Yum!" he licked his lips, and watched James stir the bowl. And once again, he learned something else. Bubbles = heating up. "Okay." Picking up the stick gingerly in his mouth, he tried to stir the thick fruit juice. Although the thick syrupy substance held some resistance, he stirred it without too much problem. "I'm doing it!" he said through the stick. But then he got another question. "How do we know if it is ready?"

@James

James dipped the stick in and lifted it up, the liquid easily dripping off, "If it does this, it's not cooked enough. You'll know when it is when the stuff in the bowl shrinks to about half of what it was. That's about how I like it, and it spreads better. But when you dip your stick in and it drips really slowly and sticks to the stick easily, it's ready. But keep stirring, or else it'll burn and taste bad."

He'd learned that the hard way.

He watched carefully as Sprig stirred, ears perked forward, "You're doing very good, Sprig! Look, it's starting to get thick. When it does, we'll pour it out onto a flat rock and let it dry and harden."

@Sprig

"Okay." he nodded, easy enough to remember. James seemed to be experienced at this, and he knew to learn from those who knew more than he did. Continuing to stir, he waited for it to start to become thicker before trying to pour it onto the rock.

Tipping it over just right, the thick liquid spilled onto the rock, covering the surface just right, not a single drop spilling out. It was actually quite satisfying to watch. Sprig waited for as much as possible of the fruit juice to come out before putting the cooking rock back into its place.

@James

"Easy...", he said, and breathed out as it worked, the liquid pooling evenly, small fruit chunks appearing in it.

"Good job! Now we wait," he said, and lay himself down, "So, Sprig, I know your siblings, but I don't know you. How are you doing? Anything exciting going on?"

He was interested in the child, who sported a very odd look, and a rainbow one at that.

@Sprig

Sprig settled down in a comfy spot on some grass. He liked how James decided to talk to him about what he was doing, as he had much to say! "Well, I am working on breeding a fruit called a Caterjack fruit. It's just a random name I came up with. I already found a good fruit that I can use to breed in crunchiness, but I just need to find some plant that is transparent, or at least partially so, so I can mix the two to make a crunchy fruit that looks like glass." The colors on his back started to flash a bit at his excitement at talking about his project. "And after that, I can breed in some traits that will make the plant taste sweet, and also helpful!"

@James

James gasped in genuine awe, "That's amazing!! How are you going to go about actually breeding them? I didn't even know you could do that."

He'd never questioned that plants could breed. He knew they dropped seeds and grew, but that was about it.

"You're so smart," he praised, "Figuring out such a thing and then going about using that to your advantage. I'll be the first to try out your Caterjack fruit."

@Sprig

He smiled at James's praise, and nodded. "I'll give it to you first!" Sprig wrinkled his nose in thought at the question of how he was going to breed them. Because honestly? He didn't know. "Hmm, I guess I would have to ask someone about it then." Who knew a lot of things? He hadn't met enough gembounds to think of one who did, but it was very likely that no gembound did know. Then who could he ask? "I don't... know. Maybe I could meet the Collector. I heard he knows A LOT."

@James

James immediately grabbed Sprig by the shoulders, "No. Absolutely not. Whatever you do, whatever you need, unless you are so desperate that you are willing to risk your life and others, then don't go to the Collector. He's a snake with a silver tongue and he'll trick you into doing harmful things."

He pulled away and smoothed down his feathers, brows furrowed, "Now... candy's ready."

He picked up a stick and started cutting the fruit mixture into strips before rolling them up. He did the same to what was left in the bowl so nothing was wasted and offered one to Sprig.

"Come try," he urged.

@Sprig