Shochu had been surprised when his papa had asked him if he wanted to come along on an herb collecting trip, but once his father had revealed they would be leaving Valta lands the boy more than happily accepted the opportunity. With a bounce in his step the boy trailed beside his papa, just a few pawsteps behind so he could make sure he was going the right way and not rushing off without him. Eager as he was to explore, Shochu was also smart enough to know that if he didn’t listen on this trip it would be very unlikely either of his fathers would bring him outside of the lands again. So being as good as he could, he kept close.
“I will, papa.” Approaching the grasses, and seeing how they were getting tall even for his father was impressive. His eyes widened, noticing that not only were the grasses tall, but it seemed like there were different kinds too. Long blades of various greens, and the ground soft and pleasant to walk on after a fairly recent rain. Spring had been mild, and the boy enjoyed the sunshine cascading down upon their backs as he looked around. Even for a place that was made up of so much grass, it was different than it was back home. There were even thin bits of grass with fuzzy ends of them! Shochu liked the look of those.
The grass seemed to thin out again, and Shochu was getting antsy as he kept looking around and flicking his gaze back to his papa. He wanted so badly to run ahead now, but he was holding back, a soft whine leaving his lips. Who knew what he could find here? Things hidden in the grass like treasure! His gaze lit up at the thought. And then his father gave him the go ahead.
Shochu darted off immediately, calling back to his papa as he bounded through the grass! “Okay!” At least he’d try not to go too far. There was still a lot of grass around and if he lost sight of his papa it might be hard to gauge just how far he was in. But that was a problem for later Shochu! Tail up and wagging, the boy moved his nose to the earth and sniffed at it. He could smell the plants among the grass his father would be gathering… and there was something else too. He lifted his head, sniffing again. A new scent…