A small pond, slightly stagnant, but water nonetheless. The most amazing thing was that the pond was connected to a thin stream. This cave wasn't just a single cave, it was connected to a whole system of caverns, with the stream running right through all of them.

"This stream runs through this entire system?" Alana asked.

"Yes. And you know what that means. If we follow the stream, we should end up in a bigger body of water," Lance said, a smile breaking on his face. The coyote next to him yipped.

"This tiny pond would never sustain Las Lagos, but maybe the water at the end of the stream will," Jaylin realised.

"Well," Camila said, "there's only one way to find out. We should follow the stream. It's the most promising sign of water we've found yet. Let's go!"

"I think we should follow the stream too, but maybe not right now. The sun's setting anyway," Jaylin reasoned, gesturing to the sky.

"I vote we stay here for the night too. We can recover that way. We've had three fights in one day! The sentries, the snake and now this," Alana said.

"I guess that's a good idea," Camila said, yawning.

"It's settled then," Lance declared, "we'll sleep here for the night. But first thing in the morning we follow the stream."

Agreed, they walked over to the stream and refilled their canteens in the water. The water felt cool on Camila's tongue and refreshed her as it trickled down her throat. She would be reinvigorated the next day, as long as she could get something to eat.

While Alana stayed at the cave and nursed her injuries, the other three set off to find some food.

"Let's hunt in the forest," Jaylin suggested, "there were lots of animals and fruit there."

They entered the maze of trees and vines, surveying everything for potential food. Camila looked up at the canopy and saw a scampering silhouette, but she had no idea what it was. It scurried briefly into a shaft of light, and she saw that it was a magpie with shining feathers, beady eyes, and a long, squirrel-like tail. It flicked its tail once and then vanished into the shadows.

"How will we even know what's edible?" she asked.

"I might have an idea," Lance said. He revealed a notebook and opened it to the first page.

"This is my catalogue of flora and fauna in the forest," he explained, "I saw a squirrel eating these things, so I don't think that they're poisonous."

He pointed to a paragraph in the catalogue. Jaylin and Camila leaned in to read it. It described a black acorn that contained edible purple liquid.

"Well then, let's do this!" Camila said, catching sight of a tree with the dark hued acorns. She morphed her fingers into sharp fox claws and jumped onto the tree, her claws digging into the tree. She scrabbled up the bark until she was in the uppermost branches.

Carefully, she stretched out a claw and took an acorn. Then she smashed it against the thick bark of the tree. It cracked open and liquid streamed out.

"Magical purple juice! Yummy," Jaylin laughed from down below.

Hesitantly, Camila let a droplet of the liquid fall onto her tongue. She instantly wished that she hadn't.

It was horrible. It didn't have the burning, acidic taste of a poison or the blunt, sterile feel of a chemical, but it was bitter enough to make Camila's face contort in repugnance.

"Well, it doesn't look exactly delicious," Jaylin quipped.

"How very observant of you," Camila said drily, swinging down from the tree.

"Looks like we'll have to find some other fruit," Lance sighed as Camila landed on the ground.

He wrote DON'T EAT under the acorn description and underlined it twice. Then he lifted his head to scan the canopy for more potential food.

Jaylin pulled himself into a fir tree with his tentacles and Lance climbed up a palm using his claws. Camila looked down from the foliage overhead and instead scrutinized the ground for fallen fruit or ground-sprouting berries. She spotted a bunch of viridescent, spherical fruit, the size of melons.

"Look over there!" Camila exclaimed, pointing to the fruit, which sat in a group on the ground, connected to the earth with thick green vines.

Jaylin and Lance came down from their perches atop the trees to see the possible food.

"Let's see what's inside," Camila said.

Lance lifted his saber with a steady hand, muscles bunching underneath his skin. The fruit looked like a bright green melon, covered in spikes. It's skin looked thick, there was a chance that even his sharp blade couldn't pierce it.

He brought the saber down on the fruit. Surprisingly, the blade passed through it quickly. A spray of juice flew into the air.

The inside of the fruit was strange. Despite its melon-like exterior, it was filled with little berries. Upon closer inspection, Camila could see that they contained the seeds of the fruit, kind of like a pomegranate. The juicy membrane that surrounded each seed was smooth and shiny, almost crystalline.

"It's... beautiful," Lance managed, mouth agape.

Camila agreed. It was beautiful. The pieces of fruit sparkled a rich ultramarine, like a lapis lazuli covered in dewdrops. They were luscious: as Camila picked up one and squeezed it between her fingers, juice flowed onto her hand in blue rivulets.

"Guys, we need to remember the real question. Is it edible?" Jaylin wondered. Camila glanced toward the remaining fruit on the ground. A creature was scuttling towards them through the grasses. The scent of the blue juice must have attracted the animal.

"I guess we're about to find out," she said. The creature looked like a raccoon, with the same markings, deft hands, long snout and soft fur. The difference were its eyes. Where raccoon's eyes were dark and doleful, this animal had the huge, piercing eyes of an owl. It turned its head almost completely around to look at the four, without moving its body an inch.

"Don't threaten it," Lance instructed. They slowly stepped back from the owl-raccoon. The animal turned back to the fruit, extending an arm. With a flick of its paw, sharp talons extended outwards. It ambled forwards and sliced one of the fruit in two, dropping its head into the blue mess that spilled from the chopped melon. It lapped up the juice and crunched the seed capsules between its teeth, eyes unblinking.

"I think we found our answer," Camila whispered as the raccoon dragged half a melon into the undergrowth with its teeth.

When the raccoon had gone, Camila, Lance and Jaylin went back to the cave, carrying two melons each. They found Alana deep inside the cave, standing in the water of the pond. She had morphed her fingers into claws and was scanning the water for any signs of movement.

"Sshhh!" Alana hissed, poised over the water, "I think I've found a fish."

Indeed, there was a creature in the murky water of the pond. It was silvery and pale, with sightless eyes and six spiny legs that moved quickly, letting the fish scuttle across the cave floor.

Alana lurched forward, claws outstretched. The fish darted, but her claws caught it first, spearing the fish. Alana roared triumphantly.

They ate in relative silence, too hungry to talk. After Jaylin had snagged some kindling with his paws, they had made a fire. The flames licked at the dark night air, the tongues of a hungry orange monster. Alana had then skewered the fish on a spit and held it over the fire until it roasted. Then Camila cut it into pieces with her throwing knives. They ate the cooked fish and the melons with relish. The fish was for the most part tasteless, but they ate it vigorously, knowing that the protein was valuable. The actual flesh of the fruit was quite sour, but Camila squeezed out the juice, which was sweet and refreshing. Once the meal was finished, Alana spoke.

Dear readers: Hi, Sylver here. For our heroes, this is their first ever dinner beyond the wall. But with the threat of mutated creatures looming at every corner, they have to hope that it won't be their last. Oh, and also, what's Alana gonna say?

If you've enjoyed reading it, don't forget to vote, comment and add it to your reading lists. I will be adding a new chapter every day. If you have any tips for how I can improve my writing, or what I did well this time, please feel free to tell me (in a nice manner). Thanks so much for reading my story!