Chapter Text
Peacemaker had a problem, and although it was red, round, and perfectly healthy-looking, it was also far too small for what he had planned.
He crouched in the middle of the strawberry patch and stared accusingly at the berry as if it had personally betrayed him. “I gave you water, I gave you sunlight, and I even moved that rock because I thought it was blocking your view, so I really don't understand what else you want from me.”
The strawberry, being a strawberry, offered no explanation.
Peacemaker narrowed his eyes. “You could at least try to look sorry.”
“Are you arguing with a fruit?”
Peacemaker jumped so hard that his wings snapped open and flattened two nearby plants, while Kinkajou stood behind him trying very unsuccessfully not to laugh.
“You almost killed Gerald!” Peacemaker cried, immediately turning to inspect one of the crushed plants.
Kinkajou's scales flashed bright yellow as she stared at him. “Gerald?”
“Of course. What else would I call it?”
“You named them?”
“All of them.”
Kinkajou slowly looked over the patch, which contained several dozen plants, and then looked back at Peacemaker. “You desperately need another hobby.”
“This is my hobby.”
---
The trouble had started when Hope told him that the nearby villages were holding a harvest festival, complete with music, games, food, and, most importantly, a contest for the largest strawberry in Pyrrhia. Peacemaker had stopped paying attention to the other categories almost immediately, because the moment he heard the words *largest strawberry*, something deep inside him had decided that winning the contest was clearly his destiny.
Unfortunately, after three days of intense dedication, his strawberries had failed to become enormous.
“They need encouragement,” Kinkajou decided after listening to Peacemaker complain about this for several minutes.
Moon, who had just happened to be walking past the patch, stopped and looked at her. “Encouragement?”
“Dragons do better when someone believes in them, so maybe strawberries do too.”
Moon looked doubtful, but Peacemaker had already leaned toward Gerald.
“You are strong,” he told it solemnly.
Kinkajou crouched beside another plant. “You are beautiful.”
Both of them turned toward Moon.
Moon sighed, looked down at the nearest strawberry, and said, “You have... a very impressive stem.”
Kinkajou snorted. “That was terrible.”
“I've never complimented fruit before!”
For the next several minutes, they continued encouraging the strawberries with increasingly ridiculous compliments, until the bushes suddenly rustled.
Peacemaker froze. “Did you hear that?”
Kinkajou's eyes widened. “Maybe they're growing.”
The leaves exploded apart, and Bumblebee burst out of the patch with three strawberries stuffed into her mouth and a fourth clutched in one talon.
Peacemaker stared at her in horror.
“You ate Poppy.”
Bumblebee chewed.
“And Sammy!”
“Snudoo?”
Peacemaker pointed dramatically at her. “THAT IS NOT A DEFENSE!”
Bumblebee ran.
“STRAWBERRY THIEF!”
Peacemaker charged after her, with Kinkajou close behind.
---
Bumblebee was much faster than Peacemaker expected, especially for a dragon who had just eaten several stolen strawberries, and she darted between trees while he raced after her shouting about crimes against agriculture.
“SNUDOOO!” Bumblebee called cheerfully.
“You are fleeing the scene of a crime!”
She ducked beneath a fallen branch, and Peacemaker tried to follow without slowing down.
**BONK.**
He hit the branch headfirst and landed flat on his back.
Kinkajou skidded to a stop beside him. “Are you alive?”
“Yes.”
“How many claws am I holding up?”
“You don't have claws on your wings!”
“Good enough.”
They continued the chase until Bumblebee reached Hope's cave, where Hope was peacefully sorting berries into baskets and had no idea that a full-scale pursuit was about to arrive.
“STOP THAT CRIMINAL!” Peacemaker shouted.
Hope looked up in surprise as Bumblebee hid behind her. “Criminal?”
“She committed berry murder.”
Hope stared at him. “Berry murder.”
“She ate three contestants.”
Hope pressed her lips together, clearly trying not to laugh.
Peacemaker narrowed his eyes. “You're doing the face.”
“What face?”
“The trying-not-to-laugh face.”
That was enough to break her, and Hope burst out laughing while Kinkajou joined in and Bumblebee began giggling even though she probably had no idea what was funny.
Peacemaker sat down in the grass and folded his wings. “This is a serious agricultural emergency.”
---
By evening, Peacemaker had finally accepted that none of his strawberries were going to become gigantic overnight, and he lay dramatically beside the patch as if his entire future had been ruined.
“My farming career is over.”
“You've been farming for three days,” Kinkajou said.
“And what a three days it was.”
Hope sat beside him and looked over the plants. “You know, you don't actually have to win.”
Peacemaker lifted his head. “That sounds suspiciously like something dragons who aren't winning say.”
Hope smiled. “You still grew all of these yourself.”
Peacemaker looked around at the patch. Some strawberries were small, some were crooked, one had grown in a shape that looked slightly like a lizard, and Berry Number Thirty-Two was still having unfortunate mold problems, but there were a lot of them.
Then Peacemaker's eyes widened.
“I have an idea.”
Hope immediately looked worried. “What kind of idea?”
Peacemaker stood up, suddenly grinning. “If I can't grow the largest strawberry in Pyrrhia, then we make the largest strawberry pie in Pyrrhia.”
Kinkajou gasped as if he had just revealed the greatest plan in dragon history.
Hope stared at him. “Do you know how to make a pie?”
Peacemaker paused. “No.”
Kinkajou jumped to her feet. “Neither do I!”
Hope closed her eyes. “No.”
“YES!” Peacemaker shouted.
“Only if I supervise.”
Peacemaker and Kinkajou cheered.
From behind them came a tiny voice.
“Snudoo?”
Peacemaker spun around and saw Bumblebee creeping toward the strawberry patch again.
“Don't even think about it.”
Bumblebee ran.
Peacemaker chased after her, Kinkajou laughing as she followed, and a moment later Hope heard a crash followed by Peacemaker shouting from somewhere in the bushes,
“THAT ONE HAD A NAME!”
Hope smiled and picked up another basket.
Tomorrow's pie was going to be a disaster.
Probably a delicious one.