After the family had finished eating, they went to the beds of grass in the back of the burrow that they used for sleeping. "Alright you two, tomorrow we are going to take you out foraging with us, so you had better get some sleep." Rigel's mother said as she layed down in one of the two beds.
"Aw come on mom, foraging is boring. Do we have to?" Rigel said as he sat down in the bed he shared with his sister.
"Yes, you do." said his mother sternly. "If you don't learn how to find food, then how do you expect to survive when you go off on your own someday?"
"Now, Caph" Rigel's father said. "Do we really need to be thinking of that now? It might be quite some time before that happens."
"Maybe, but it doesn't hurt to start early." said Rigel's mother. "That's enough talking for tonight, so everybody go to sleep."
"Yes ma'am." the siblings said as they layed down. Rigel moved around to try and get comfortable, before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep with the events of the day replaying in his mind.
"Rigel, wake up." Rigel eyes opened slowly upon hearing his mother's voice. "Come on wake up. You won't learn by just sleeping all day."
"Alright mom, I'm awake." Rigel said as he slowly stood up, before letting out a yawn and stretching. He then walked to the burrow's entrance, squinting his eyes so that he wouldn't be blinded by the morning sun.
"It took you long enough sleepyhead." Meissa said as Rigel exited the burrow. " I didn't think you would ever wake up."
"Well I'm up now, aren't I?" Rigel said, feeling slightly annoyed at his sister.
The forest was absolutely beautiful in the morning, with sunlight reflecting off of dew clinging to the trees and bird pokemon singing their songs happily. Rigel's father and mother stood near a small wooded path, waiting for him and Meissa to come to them.
"Alright, now that Rigel is here, let's go look for breakfast, shall we?" the siblings father said, walking down the path with their mother.
"Ok dad." Rigel said as he followed after his parents. He did not really want to go with them, but he didn't really have much of a choice.
"Well you two," said Rigel's father. "Today you are going to learn how to find food out here, so pay attention."
"Come on dad, can't we do this some other time?" Meissa said. "We don't need to know this stuff."
"Yes you do." said her father. "If you ever expect to go out on your own you have to learn, so stop complaining."
The family soon came to a small pond, and Rigel's father told him and Meissa to stay back as he got low to the ground and started slowly creeping towards the water. Suddenly he jumped into the water, then came back up to the surface with a small silver fish in his mouth. "And that is how you get fish." he said with a smile after putting his catch on the ground. "Stay low, and stay quiet. The little suckers won't know what hit them. I would have you try it, but I'm pretty sure I stirred them up quite a bit just now, so we should get started on those berries."
Rigel's mother and father then brought him and Meissa to a grove containing several large bushes, each one covered in brightly colored berries. Rigel looked through the bushes for berries he liked until he spotted his favorites, Tanga berries. "Hey dad, I found some some good ones!" he said before plucking a berry from the bush. He loved the taste of the berries, that mild spiciness with a hint of sourness. "Mmmm, that's good."
The rest of the day was spent learning where to find the best berries, how to tell if they were ripe or not, and which ones to avoid, such as the poisonous Shadni and Castreen berries.
"Ok everybody," said Rigel's mother. "I think it's about time we head home. We don't want to be out here at night."
As the family walked back from their outing, something off to the side of the forest path caught Rigel's eye. "What is that?" Rigel said to his father while motioning towards a large stone spire jutting up from the ground. The spire stood taller than all of the surrounding trees, and sported what looked like steps going around the sides, leading to a flat top. But what really made Rigel notice it was the color. The stone that made up the spire was a kind that Rigel had never seen before, containing beautiful patterns of black, white, and grey lines, and seemingly glowing in the fading light of dusk.
"I don't really know what that is." Rigel's father said in response to the question. "That stone has been around for as long as I can remember, but I don't know it's purpose, or if it even has one."
"Can we go look at it dad?" Rigel said. He felt as if the stone was beckoning to him, and he could not resist it's call.
"I don't see any harm in that, but be careful." said his father.
"Alright! Come on Meissa let's go see it." Rigel said excitedly as he ran towards the stone. It was even more beautiful up close. He stared at the intricate pattern of lines for a few seconds before he started to climb the steps running around the side of the stone.
"Rigel, I don't think you should go up there, you might fall." Meissa said to her brother from the ground.
"I'll be fine. Stop worrying." Rigel said back as he went higher, unsure why he was in such a rush to get to the top.
"Famous last words. What do you expect to find up there anyway?" said Meissa.
"I don't know, but if there is something I will find it!" Rigel called down. As he reached the top of the stone, he was left speechless by the view he got from it. He could see the tops of trees all around him, and a great smoking mountain in the distance. He had never seen anything like this in his life, and he stood staring out over the land for several seconds. Finding his voice, he yelled "Meissa, get up here, you need to see this!"
"Uh, no thanks, I'm fine down here!" Meissa yelled back.
Rigel let out a laugh. "Ha ha, now who's a chicken?"
"Alright you two, it's getting dark out!" Rigel's mother yelled "We need to be going home now."
"Okay mom, we're coming!" Rigel said before taking in the view one more time and walking back down the steps. After arriving back at their burrow, the family once again went to bed, with Rigel's dreams being filled with images of the stone.
