Belle chuckled and let out Eclipse, Thomas, and Lucifer to help set up camp and find edibles for the rest of the day and into the evening. They still had a while yet to wait.

All three stopped and watched as the tiger trotted back into camp, carrying a few pieces of wood.

"The hell?" Thomas demanded.

"Dejaal, meet some of my other bishis. Guys, this is Dejaal. That's Eclipse, Thomas, and Lucifer." Belle grinned and scratched behind his ears.

Andy couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"You had to know this was coming," she said. "Really, you did. Besides, Kaelas is bigger than Dejaal, and you're used to him." Kaelas must have been timing his entrance perfectly, because he came into the clearing at exactly that moment, behind Dejaal. Indeed, he was much bigger than the tiger.

"Yeah, but he was with you when we met you," Thomas argued. "This--" he flapped a hand at Dejaal "--is new. And I didn't know she was going to get a giant cat here."

"Oh stop whining," Belle said, rolling her eyes. "Dejaal is nice. He's very laid-back. See, nice kitty." She scratched under his chin, and he purred.

"Again, you had to have known this was coming," Andy said. "Her reaction to Kaelas was pretty much just 'OMG big kitty.' Obviously, she was going to find her own big kitty when she got here." Made perfect sense to her. Sort of.

Thomas rolled his eyes and muttered something before he went to go set up his PD room so Belle could use it.

Belle merely grinned and started working on getting the fire all set up so she could cook something for them.

"He's such a girl sometimes," Andy commented as he group went about setting up their half of camp.

Belle snorted and shook her head. "Well, yeah. He's Thomas." She glanced around. "Hmm... Now to find something edible... Because I don't feel like making ramen again tonight."

"This is about the point we send out the Blood males," Andy pointed out. "They know the area, mostly. I'm sure they can find something."

"Sounds good to me." She looked at Dejaal. "Do you mind?"

*Of course not.* Dejaal turned and loped off to go find something.

"Oh, Lucivar? Bring back some pickleberries please." Belle grinned.

Lucivar just muttered something scathing in Eyrien and followed Dejaal, with Kaelas following the two.

"That was a terrible joke," Andy said to Belle once they were gone.

"I was serious, though! I want to try a pickleberry." Belle pouted, just a little.

Eclipse sighed and shook his head, muttering something about her and pickles.

"I distinctly remember something about 'golden sweetness' followed by tartness 'so sour it made his teeth curl and his throat close,'" Andy quoted. She paused. "Damn, I can still quote that page. I'm such a geek."

"Yeah, I know. I remember that too. Doesn't mean I don't want to try one." Belle shrugged. "Besides, his version of too sour isn't necessarily mine."

"Your definition of sour is too sour for most people to swallow," Eclipse said, plucking a twig from her hair.

"Again with the tooth-curling, throat-closing comment," Andy said. When Belle's expression didn't change, she sighed. "Whatever. You won't get me to eat one."

"I know you won't, but I want to try one. Think Lucivar will actually bring any back?" Belle actually looked rather hopeful.

Andy snorted.

"No," she said. "Kaelas, on the other hand, might. Or maybe even Dejaal."

Belle grinned at the prospect and settled back to wait. "I get the feeling the rest of the day is going to be interesting."

"I can agree with you on that one," Andy said. She grinned. "You know, we can probably have the Blood males put up shields for us so the lighter Jewels around here don't sense us," she said. "Won't help much against the Blacks, but an Ebon-Gray sight shield and aural shield may help for anyone lighter than that."

"That is very true," Belle said with a chuckle. "Well, we can ask Lucivar once he gets back, see if he thinks it'll help." She looked over when Dejaal trotted back and deposited a branch in her lap, with a bunch of pickleberries attached. "Thanks, Dejaal."

Andy looked at the berries warily. She wasn't sure if she wanted to try one or not, so she wanted to see other reactions first. Kaelas trotted into the camp a moment later and set a neatly killed rabbit by the fire pit, and Lucivar was right behind him with two more rabbits. He spotted the berries as well, and grumbled a little more about trickery and warnings before thoroughly ignoring the little fruits.

Belle plucked one off and nibbled on it experimentally. She shivered briefly before licking her lips. "Well, it's definitely sour. It's not so bad though." She grinned briefly at Lucivar.

Dejaal made a coughing sound that could have been a laugh, settling down next to her.

Andy couldn't hold back a laugh at the look of disbelief on Lucivar's face.

"I think they call that a burn in most places," she teased. Then she paused, and reached over to grab a berry. "Give me one, may as well try it."

"Don't bite into it," Belle warned. "Just take a nibble." Then, ignoring her own advice, she popped the whole berry in her mouth and chewed. She swallowed a couple times, wiggled her nose, and grinned. "Not too bad."

"Yeah, I'm not that dumb," Andy replied, still looking a little wary. "I can learn from other people's stupid mistakes."

"Hey!" Lucivar protested. Andy gave him a Look.

"It's called a 'pickleberry,' Yas, really?" she said. Looking back at the berry, she nibbled on it a little. Immediately, her whole mouth felt like it was trying to shrink in on itself. "Ow," she managed, and then took another bite.

Belle snickered and ate another one, licking her lips. "I think I like these things."

Dejaal snorted and settled down, watching as she started to prepare the rabbits to make rabbit stew.