Rufus paused as the rumbling of his stomach echoed throughout the cavern he stood in. Hunger pangs needled his belly. He sighed, opening one of his pouches to rummage for some rations. Huh. None left in that pouch. He checked the other one. 

Oh no.

He hadn’t brought enough food with him. 

He let out a long, exasperated snort. It was quite a ways from here back to the dungeon entrance - and it would be quite a humiliating trip, having to come back to the surface empty-handed because of his own carelessness. There had to be another way. Part of him wondered if maybe Velasco would show up again and let him borrow a snack, but another part of him thought that would be even more humiliating, to have to rely on his help again as well as to let him know that he had made the beginner’s mistake of misjudging how much food to bring.

He looked at his surroundings. There were plenty of plants and fungi around in these caverns, but how could he know which ones were safe to eat? Some of them could be poisonous or something. But he was in a bind. It was the only solution he could think of. He went up to a likely looking plant, leaned towards it, and…

“Wait!” A voice called out to him. “Don’t eat that.”

It was Velasco. Rufus looked up at him. 

“Oh, hello.”

“Were you about to eat that plant?”

“Uh…”

“That plant is no good for eating. It won’t kill you, but it’ll give you the runs something fierce.”

“Oh.” Rufus eyed the plant warily. “...Do you know which plants are good to eat?”

“Sure. Moritz taught me a little about foraging down here. That plant over there, that one’s good for eating.” Velasco indicated a different plant with his hoof. It was one that was plentiful all about this chamber. 

“I see.” Rufus said, cautiously leaning down to give the new plant a nibble. It was quite tasty. 

“This is wonderful,” He said through another mouthful. “Thank you for your help again, Velasco.”

“Any time.” Velasco said, looking amused.