With Izumi at the wheel it was a bumpy ride, but not dangerous. He wanted this ATV to last the whole Miai, so wasn't going to wreck it on his first trip out to see the fungal forest.

He'd made an open invitation to the rest of the Alliance present on Asakaze so he wasn't alone.

"Ohwe'regettingclosetooneofthebigonesnow!!"

The Minor Clans All-terrain Alliance was in full swing and the lone Firefly was here to represent! It was a bit overwhelming though. Maybe that was why he couldn't parse the Fox.

"So...what's that?" He pointed at a big mushroom-looking thing. "And... that?" He pointed at another thing that looked like an asteroid had exploded.

"Its all so...weird."

"Fungalstalks!!"

Izumi shouted over the engine noise as he revved through a dense patch of vines.

"Justreallybigmushrooms, Hotaru-san."

Jin smiled. "Wow, dropping in here would be a doozy. More fun from the ground level, eh, Hotaru-san?" He eyed the nearby shroom trees. "Never been in an environment like this."

Koseki looked a little sceptical. "Okay... Aren't they a little tall for a mushroom though Kitsune-sama?"

He threw a grin at the Hare. "I'd be more comfortable doing a flyover. From orbit. But hey, every day is a new adventure, right Usagi-sama?"

"It'sallfungus. I'llhavetofindoutwhatthelocalscallthem."

He eased off on the power as they cleared the vines and closed in on the biggest stalk they'd seen so far.

"Wannagoseethisonecloseup?"

"Fungus all the way." He smirked. "Can't say I ever visited a planet like this. I believe this is Kitsune-sama's foray outside of Inari's Cradle. How about you Hotaru-san?"

He waved Izumi forward, indicating that they can go closer.

Izumi inched them up close and then locked on the brakes, obviously intending to go out on foot from there.

"Oh. All fungus. Right." He nodded, inwardly shrugging. "This is my second planet in...three months Usagi-sama. And. Well. Ever." There some clear excitement in his answer.

"Let'sseethisonereallycloseup."

He unclipped his safety harness and reached for the door handle. A quick pause to check his Lion made sidearm was with him and he opened the door and jumped down.

"Ohthat'sdefinitelyfungusstink."

Koseki managed not to lose his balance when he jumped out in the slightly higher gravity than he was used to. It was a bit trippy, all these sights and smells...

"Holy kami." He took a deep breath in through his nose. "Wha...?!"

"Decayingfungalmatter. Muchstrongersmellthanforestleaflitter."

The Kitsune headed towards the nearest fungal trunk.

"Watchyourfooting. Mightbeabitslippy."

Jin dropped down with a balance and ease that was quite unsurprising for him.

"Fungtustik Kitsune-sama? Really? Is that a local lingo?" He smirked, then took a look around. "Yeah, the smell is...not the best. Better than some other places I've been to, but still."

He checked his rifle on his shoulder, and tapped his katana, just in case. "Is this what they make food from, I wonder?"

Mumei blinks awake as they stop, after sleeping soundly through the jolting, bumpy ride. "Whazzat? Oh? We're here?" She looks out the window. "Well, somewhere."

Poking her head out of the vehicle, she inhales deeply. "Ahhhh, there's some interesting stinks out there. I want ta find the one that's putting off that tangy topnote!" She hops out, surefooted, and ties her beat-up synthetic jacket around her waist and heads after the rest. "They make booze out of it for sure. Have to imagine they eat some too."

"Somewillbeedible, butIwouldn'trecommendeatingantwithouthavingthemtestedfirstoralocalsayingthey'refine. Lotsoflethalfungusabout."


He wandered right up to the stalk and tapped it.

"Totallysolidstructure. Pitytheyrotwhenthey'redeadoryoucouldmakesomegoodstructuresfromthese."

Speaking of edible, Mumei unwraps a small, violet ball of something sticky and prys off a glob to suck on as they walk. Resting one hand on the solid stalk, she closes her eyes and lets herself get an impression of the texture without the distraction of seeing it.

"Might work if treated, hmm? I mean, wood rots too."

"Fungiusuallyrotrealfast. Maybethesedon'tgoquiteasquickasshiitake."

He knocked on the fungal trunk and listened.

"Soundssolid . . . butI'dlovetoseetheinternalstructure. Maybewecanfindawindfall."

Scuttling, clicking sound makes presence of a a giant millipede event to everyone, the three foot long critter slowly crawling over the toppled stalks, paying no heed to the humans.

Jin eyed the centipede, his hand sliding to his weapon. "Kitsune-sama, you are the expert here...what is that?"

Koseki had pulled out a small rock hammer and about to (gently) whack a stalk when the millipede appeared. His head turned and he froze, watching the thing in rapt fascination. If he had taken the time to light up, the cigarette would probably have dropped out of his mouth.

"Whoa..."