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No one actually remembers Walter manor having an orchard on the south side. And no one seemed surprised by it either. Tests were run to make sure everything was safe and seemed edible. Once it was cleared, Arborous was sent with volunteer bots to go and pick what they could before it disappeared. Waste not want not.
With bags and baskets, they headed out. Koutali wanted to join in to make sure only the best ended up in their kitchen. Otterby knew what was useful outside of tree fruits so she wanted to help stock up on things they might miss. And well, mostly Springs just wanted to help, but the more hands, the more food they could give to the humans!
Once in the orchard, it seemed to go on forever. Rows and rows of trees seemed to go on forever. They weren’t sure if it was a trick of the light or blue matter weirdness.
“Don’t go in too far,” warned Arborus as he started picking apples from a tree on the edge. “We don’t want anyone to get lost.”
Something they all agreed with. Everyone at Walter manor knew to always be careful of anything to do with blue matter. Taking up baskets or bags, they spread out only a little to get different fruits.
Things were going well enough, until Arbrus lost sight of Otterby. Trying not to panic, he shouldered his bag of fruit and started looking for her. Hopefully, she hadn’t gone far.
And luckily, she hadn’t. Arborus found her around a large peach tree and sighed in relief. Though when he saw what she was picking, he looked concerned. “Otterby? Those are weeds.”
Her head snapped up, and she beamed widely. “They’re edible!” Holding up one of the plants, a stinging nettle, as she plucked it from the ground. “Humans have to boil them first, but they’re really good for them!” Rather proud of herself, she went back to putting them in her bag.
Arborus wasn’t sure the humans wanted to eat something that made them itch, but like Six had said when he sent them out ‘Waste not want not.’ He let her forage for things he wouldn’t have thought of, someone would appreciate her efforts. Probably.
He went back to start picking plums from another tree just a little deeper in. As he walked, he noticed a lot of fruit on the ground. Were the trees so far along? Kneeling down, he looked them over. Not much for bruising or rot, and no animals had been nibbling on them either. Strange. Looking around, he quickly saw why.
Koutali was standing under a pear tree. Every fruit they picked he brought up to inspect with a critical eye. Turning each piece of fruit, Koutali seemed to check every aspect of it. And then promptly dropped onto the orchard floor.
Something that concerned Arborus was there something wrong with the fruits he couldn’t see? Koutali was more experienced with dealing with food, but everything looked fine, and the humans said it was safe. Curious, he walked over. “Are they off?”
Looking over, Koutali put one in his bag. “In one way or another,” they agreed. “Too small, just overripe, or poorly shaped. I don’t want poor produce in my kitchen.” When he reached for another, Arborus' hands reached out to stop them.
“Please, leave them on the tree if you don’t like them.” He wouldn’t argue with Koutali. It was their kitchen, but dropping them was wasteful. And it wasn’t like they were actually bad. Even if they didn’t like them, someone would have use for them.
Koutali made a face but relented. Even he didn’t want to waste food, they supposed. Animals would at least eat them.
A small smile and a nod, and Arborus left Koutali to it. Things were going well overall. There was plenty of food in the orchard, enough to help with feeding everyone. And everyone was working hard. Arborus had a few bags full before he realized he hadn’t seen Springs in a while. She was a capable bot, but with this orchard being new and something unknown, he still thought it was best to look after the others, just encase.
When she didn’t seem anywhere by the nearby trees, he started to worry. Deeper into the orchard he went looking for signs of the smallest bot. He had warned them to stay by the edges, could she have gotten distracted, or worse? Arborus shook his head. No point in worrying without reason. Springs probably just saw something she thought was worth exploring.
For all his walking, eventually, the trees started to give way to a small clearing with much smaller plants. And he found her there picking yellowish mushrooms that were growing in a large circle around darker grass. “What did you find?” Asked Arborus as he walked over to look the mushrooms over.
Springs looked up with a bright smile and showed off one she’s managed to get from the ground with a bulb. “Humans like mushrooms, right?”
Kneeling down, he looked it over and saw the gills. He was hardly an export, but his momma had taught him a thing or two to help make sure he never picked anything she couldn’t eat “They do, but not death caps. We should probably leave these alone,” he gently warned her.
Springs looked worried at that and suddenly dropped what she had. “Oh no!” Digging in her bag she started to pull out the ones she picked. “Will they poison the other stuff?”
Arborus was quiet a moment while he thought about that. He wasn’t quite as knowledgeable as, say, Otterby about these things. He knew not to pick them, but little else. “I don’t think so. But to be safe, let’s leave those here. I’ll help you pick something safer.” Pulling himself to his feet, he offered her a hand.
One she took, still looking a bit put off by her mistake. “Okay. And maybe some berries? I saw some really pretty white ones along the way!”
Arborus sighed softly and smiled. “We can take a look.” But he had a strong feeling he would have to look at everything she wanted to bring inside. This was a rather interesting adventure just to get the humans some fruit, he thought with a grin, following a step behind Springs.