Once again, there was one weirder animal in the woods that nobody propably expected to be roaming there. It was pretty round and hairy, but had this weird crest on its head that swung from side to side over its head, as its equally humongous beard flopped about on his face. It was sniffing around, looking for food in these trying spring times. There was not a lot of food to go around for birds, and only thing that there was to eat for the bigger creatures were very new mushrooms and berries, and the rush was on for everyone to get them. Oh look, a fox has clearly decided this one to be his next meal!

"DON`T YE DARE TOUCH THAT YE FURRY SCARF!"

Yup, Kurdran was once again digging about the forests near oak. This time though, he was working again, though for a different employer... A person he didn`t specifically like, but what could he do. After that whole incident with the weird as heck medicine he had been stung with, this weird doctor had occasionally called him over to check how he was doing, and this time he wanted Kurdran to bring over next ingredient he would be adding into it...

Well assumedly atleast. He didn`t tell ANYTHING to Kurdran, other than that he needed a specific kind of mushroom. Kurdran on the other hand didn`t really like eating mushrooms, so it made for a decent choice for him to do on the side of little hunting for himself.

He proceeded to look at the mushroom... which turned out to be just a typical brown capped and bread footed shroom. Nothing special about it. "Well... guess that fox can find something meatier on his own. Ain`t a proper carnivore gonna live with just some mushrooms..." He grabbed the mushroom and threw it into his tiny pouch. Admittedly, he himself usually preferred meat too, but this was a bit more convenient for him. He could perhaps buy a drink to wash all this stuff down too with the money he would get afterwards...

Honestly, the spring woods were awfully nostalgic for him. Besides the whole dissapointment of "the one that got away that one time", It reminded him more about the times when he worked with his family to gather this stuff while his father and other bigger dwarves got the actual food. It was more of a thing to pass the time before nice times around the campfire... though he would have been lying if he said he didn`t miss the pies made back there. Honestly, maybe if he found some berries, perhaps he could ask somebody to make that pie for him...

Though who? He didn`t exactly know anybody who could cook proper besides the matrons of the inn and he doubted they would prefer him helping them make something like that. If he asked Jerr and the kids for help, he would propably end up with no pie at all for himself... Then there was that little lady lilja... But he doubted she would be interested in it. The girl was a bit too ominous anyway... Asking the doctor to help him out in exchange for the mushroom was of course out of the question, he would just shove a giant fricking pod into it and force it down his throat, with it all ending in horrid nightmares again. Kurdran couldn`t help but shudder just thinking about it. Why was he technically even working for the bugger? Oh yeah... money...

Next batch of mushrooms he found uncontested... and for a reason. All poisonous red mushrooms with white spots... or purely white poisonous mushrooms, whatever was the difference. He groaned.

Then there was only one more option... The little teeny tiny princess. He outright stopped walking for a moment, before bursting out laughing and scaring birds in nearby trees. That little brat? Cooking a pie for HIM!? Fat chance! May as well ask her butler or whoever that "demon lord of tatas" was! Actually, the succubus propably could have made one hell of a pie... literally. But it was pretty much the same as asking the dang doctor for a pie, except propably scarring both mentally AND physically.

...For some reason he had a sudden need to actually wrestle a bear. Make his story come true you know... Perhaps he really just didn`t want to think about this sort of things, you know, bad things happening to him.

Now where the hell would he be, if he was a little grey mushroom with green dots on it? Under a tree or deep in the melting swamp? Honestly, with all the thinking of a pie, he felt more like he should try and find some berries and actually make something. He wasn`t too bad of a cook afterall. And besides, sweetness comes from the berries themselves. Maybe he could add a tiny bit of sugar but...

"GAH!" Some kind of snake was looking at him all sorts of frustrated. Guess it was still trying to slowly wake up in all the sunlight. "Oh go and slither somewhere else, at this point these shrooms can go eat themselves." Sigh, he was starting to get a bit antsy. and smacking a snake would be awfully desperate.

However, after about fifteen agonizing minutes later, he found the mushroom that he needed... admittedly, he was curious what was so special about it, what could you do. The doctor didn`t like ever opening his mouth about this stuff. Now he just needed to find a way to carry it without ruining the stuff already in his bag... So he wrapped it in his hair like worlds weirdest hair knot. Now, he just needed to go back to town, and ask a permission to use a pot or something...

Man, wonder how much spices he should actually use on mushrooms? Wonder if the bartender was ready to spill some secrets about more special cooking... Heck, he was planning to flush this stuff down anyway so.

[WC: 1007]