It wasn't long before the final bush picked clean, and they dropped off the berries without any further issues. Once it was all done, Layla lead the gatherers back through the hole they came out from, while most of the rest of the scouts began helping the basket weavers with.. Whatever they did after the basket was all loaded up. Soon enough, they were all back in the room with the map. Layla and the few scouts that came with her began packing up the map, while Jackie stood up on the edge of the stage with a huge smile on her face. "Oh, wonderful job everyone!" She said happily. "That was our last run of the year! The snowy season will be setting in any day now, and so you all get to take a nice long break, and next time we all meet up it will be a new year! How exciting!" "Yes, congratulations everyone." Captain Layla said, stepping up next to Jackie. "It's hard to believe we went through the whole year with almost no incidents." Sybil couldn't help but feel the Captain was staring her down as she said this, whether or not it was actually true. "See you all next ye-" "Wait!" A voice yelled, as a faerie dressed in grass stumbled into the room from above. "Wait, wait, wait! We've got a really big problem!" "Calm down. You're a basket weaver, right?" Layla said. "What is it? Something go wrong counting the berries?" "We don't have enough food!" Immediately panicked mumbles began to echo through the room, and Layla glanced down at the gatherers, before looking back at the weaver. "What do you mean we don't have enough food? We picked all those bushes clean." "I know, but we don't have enough food. Look." He handed Layla a piece of a leaf that had writing all over it. "This doesn't make any sense to me." Layla said. "Well, the bottom line is, we haven't hit our quota for the snowy season. We need more food." The worried whispers grew louder. "Calm down, everybody. This isn't an issue. We'll just find a new bush. Make a new route." "Oh, but.. But Captain Layla, the snow could fall any day, now!" Jackie said. "And making a new route takes so much time, how will we ever get a new one set up in time!?" "Are we going to starve!?" One of the faeries from the crowd yelled. The panicked chatter got louder, until the entire room was in an uproar. Layla tried to tell everyone to calm down, but nobody seemed to be listening to her anymore, even with the other scouts backing her up. It was only after an unexpected voice rang out through the crowd that everyone stopped panicking. "I have an idea!" Sybil's voice yelled out, as she flew up above the crowd, and up onto the stage. Layla looked over at Jackie, who shrugged. "Alright. Let's hear what you got." She said, putting one of her hands on her hips. "Why don't we go out there to help scout?" Sybil said. "Then, you don't have to plot out the entire route, and we can just start gathering then and there." "No." Layla said. "That's not how this works. You gatherers aren't trained to survive out there on your own." "Well, actually, Captain, if I can step in.." The basket weaver said. "Look, I don't think we have enough time to get the food we need before the first snow falls. Maybe this faerie here has a point." "Are you suggesting I send a bunch of unarmed gatherers out there into a wood full of predators!? They'll-" Layla stopped herself, and looked back at the crowd, before turning back to the weaver, and speaking in a hushed tone. "They'll get gobbled up!" "Of course that's not what I'm suggesting. But, maybe you could take a small group of them with you. Y'know, guard them, and let them pick food under your watch. It might not be as secure as planning out routes, but we're short, Captain. We need more food, and we need it fast." "They aren't ready for that!" "I'm ready!" Sybil said, raising her hand. "I can handle it, really! You can take me with you! And then, when I come back safe and sound, the other faeries will see I'm okay, and they'll be ready, too! Please! I can do this!" "It's too dangerous-" "Captain." Tori said, fluttering up to the two. "With all due respect, I think they can handle it. We aren't that short, right? Just a little bit more?" "Yes, just a little bit." The weaver said. "So we take a small group of them. Put them up in some armor, and then guard them while they do their work. We can handle that, can't we?" Layla looked at Sybil, and then at the rest of the gatherers, before finally looking at the weaver, and back to Tori. "Get this one armored up." "Does this mean I can come!?" Sybil asked excitedly. "We'll give your idea a shot. Let's hope neither of us regret it." "Alright, come with me, then, Sybil." Tori said, grabbing Sybil's hand, and leading her out of the room, and all the way across the Grove, to one of the buildings built into a tree trunk. Inside, there were various nets hanging from the ceiling, holding all sorts of things that Sybil didn't recognize. Tori let go of Sybil's hand once they were in, and began picking little bits and baubles out of them all, and dumping them at Sybil's feet. "Alright, so we can't weigh you down too much, or you can't fly." Tori said, tying a nutshell breastplate over Sybil's dress, and a similarly made fauld over her waist. "But we can stick these on ya." "So how strong are they?" Sybil asked, tapping her fist against one. "Can they block teeth and claws, and-" "Nope. If something wants to crack you open, they'll snap you like a twig." "O-Oh.." "Buuut, here!" She shoved a breastplate in Sybil's face. "Give it a lick!" "A lick? Like, with my tongue?" "Yeah!" Sybil gave Tori a confused stare, as she pushed her tongue against the piece of armor. Immediately she pulled back, with a loud "Euugh!". "It's so bitter!" She yelled. "Exactly! Anything tries to gulp you down, make sure to push your armor up against their tongue, and they'll spit you right out! Hopefully! But, that's our second line of defense! Our first line of defense is.." Tori began flying around the room, until she finally found what she was looking for, and began rummaging through one of the twine nets, eventually pulling out a bright blue piece of cloth. "This!" "How is a belt your first line of defense?" "Because it's bright blue color will make things thing we're poisonous! Hopefully, anything wanting to eat you up will see this, and just say 'nope', and leave!" Sybil began wrapping it around her waist. "So, what if neither of those work?" "Well, that's when we'd recommend a normal scout to stab the beast in the tongue with a stabby stick, but I guess you won't be carrying one of those, since you'll need to carry berries and all.. So, uh.. Try not to get swallowed? Captain Layla and the others will use their stabby sticks to fight the thing until it spits you out--hopefully--and if we're in a really big spot of trouble, I'm a poison-carrier!" "A poison-carrier?" "That's right! I carry around a poison berry with me, and if things get real bad, I stab the berry with my stabby stick, then stab whatever beastie is causing us trouble! It's not enough to kill them, but the poison we use can knock most beasties out in a few seconds!" "How come not all scouts do that, then?" "Well, 'cause the berries are kinda rare, for one, but also because we're a lot smaller than the stuff we use it on. If something happens, like the juice leaks, and it makes it into another faeries' mouth, we're not exactly coming home.." "That's scary.." "Don't worry! I'm the best of the best, that's why I'm the poison-carrier! Oh, and one more thing, we'll all mostly be keeping an eye out for predators, so please don't wander off." "I won't! I promise!" "Great! You're all set, then! Let's go!" Tori grabbed Sybil by the hand, and began dragging her along again, heading back to the gatherer's nest, where Layla and Jackie had gone back to pouring over the map. They stopped when Tori and Sybil fluttered back in, and Tori waved her hands towards Sybil with a big "Ta-da!" "Oh my goodness!" Jackie said, happily trotting over to Sybil, and looking her over. "Why, Sybil, you look so.. So.. Big, and scary, and professional!" She let out a loud laugh. "Oh, what would Mama Amy say? A gatherer dressed up like a scout!" Sybil laughed. "Yeah! I'm ready to go!" [spoiler]I know that's something of an awkward cutoff point, but this confounded character limit wouldn't let me post anymore, so it'll have to do.[/spoiler]