Suddenly, Grim shouts, "I can't take this anymore! Epel! You gotta get me one of those apples! PLEASE!"

"Sure thing! Hold tight and I'll grab some from the folks at the orchard," Epel says.

He then hops over the fence, walks to one of the trees, and picks a few apples from there. Then returns to the others with some fresh apples, picked from the tree.

"Here you are! I got enough for everyone, so help yourselves," Epel says.

Grim happily says, "Aww, yeah!" And takes one of the apples, "IT'S CHOMPIN' TIME!" Then Grim begins chomping on one of the apples, "...S'GOOD!"

Epel giggles, "Ahaha, glad to hear it."

"We don't need to wash them?" Briar asks.

"Nope! They're fine to eat as is, Often we don't even peel 'em," Epel answers.

Sereia giggles, "Grim, you've got juice dribbling down your chin."

"Who cares?! This is so good!" Grim happily says.

Eepl laughs, "Haha, that's not surprising in the least."

Then says, "In my family, we snack on apples while we're out picking 'em. We just pluck 'em right off the tree and take a big ol' bite."

"I also prefer my apples unpeeled. I hear you get the most nutrients that way," Sebek says.

"I peel mine, generally," Jade adds, "When I came on land, I was interested to learn that land-dwellers in some parts of the world often peel their fruit. But I have no issue eating them this way. As they say, when in Harveston!"

"I only eat fruit if it's canned or already sliced and peeled. But peeling this thing myself sounds like a chore..." Idia says.

"Really?" Jasper responds, dumbfounded.

Then Epel says, "I can peel one for you, Idia. Just gimme a minute."

"Then why don't the rest of us dig in?" Jade says, and takes an apple, "Don't mind if I do!" And begins eating the apple. Jade responds, "Mm... That's quite good. A bit sour, but in a refreshing sort of way. I could definitely eat more of these."

Sebek eats one as well, "...Delicious! And such a satisfying crunch when you bite into one!"

Briar and the others begin eating as well.

"Mmmm, these apples are really good," Briar says.

"They're delicious," Sereia says.

"Yeah. They're good," Tanzanite says.

Jasper simply munches on it and nods. Trinket even happily tinks and nods

"Yep! Apples are best fresh off the tree!" Epel says.

"I want some more!" Grim says, excited. Then turns to Briar, "Hey, Briar, lemme have yours!"

"What?" Briar says, confused.

But Epel says, "You can't take someone else's food, Grim."

"Then I'll snag this one right there!" Grim says, beginning to make his way to the tree.

But Epel stops him, "Hey, don't pick any off the trees! That's valuable merchandise!" and is still peeling the apple.

Jade is impressed, "My word. You haven't missed a beat peeling that apple, even when talking and looking elsewhere. That's quite the skill, Epel."

Epel giggles, "Ahaha, I've been doing this since I was a kid," Once he finishes peeling the apple, he presents it to Idia, "There you go, Idia. All peeled!"

"Uh, thanks," Idia says and takes the apple.

Idia begins eating the fruit, and says, "...Mm, mm. Yup, p. Dece."

Then Grim complains, "Epel! Gimme some more of them apples, stat!"

"Hold your horses, Grim. I'll make sure you get the good stuff once we get to the house," Epel says.

"Epel is right, Grim. Try to be patient," Briar says.

Then Jade notices, "Ah, there's a guide map up ahead. Let's have a look."

The group walk over to the map to have a look.

"Mount Moln's name is written in rather large text. No one's getting lost with this around," Sebek says.

Grim asks, "How could you get lost when there's only one road?"

"...It's a good thing there's only one, given how worn the rest of the text is. I can hardly read the map," Sebek says.

"This guide and the front gate both look like they were handcrafted," Grim says.

"They are, yeah!" Epel says, "Some villagers made 'em out of wood from the area. Aren't they nice?"

But Idia says, "Personally, I think it'd be more helpful AND user-friendly if the map was a touchscreen."

"I don't think that's in the cards. This is a small town, remember," Epel says.

"Not that I need a map, of course..." Idia says, and brings out his tablet, "I've got THIS baby right here - a tablet loaded with all the Harveston info I could ever need. Whee hee! And even if I DID need to look something up, there's this little thing called the world wide web!" However, Idia notices something, "Wait..."

"Hm?" Epel questions

Idia questions, "Harveston does get cell signal, right? Because if it didn't, that would be a whole THING..."

"Don't worry, we've got internet here," Epel reassures.

"You've come to this lovely place and you're worried about CELL SIGNAL? Ortho would definitely tell you to get out more if he heard that," Sebek says.

"Yeah, whatever, Sebek. We all need the internet. You're no exception," Idia replies.

"Actually, I'm perfectly fine without it," Sebek says, "I grew up in Briar Valley. We didn't have much in the way of modern technology. Not many places had internet access."

"I think I remember that Briar Valley isn't really into having modern technology around. Though, I vaguely remember that detail from my childhood," Briar replies, "I think Hollow Fae is kind of similar, but they are a little more advanced then they are, well, from what I remember."

"You are correct. However, there is no one living there anymore, due to the illness striked," Sebek says.

"WOOF. I think I'd literally blink out of existence if I had to live in a place with no internet," Idia says, shocked, "Note to self: never visit Briar Valley or Hollow Hae for any reason, ever."

"No one's asking you to," Sebek points out.

Then Epel turns to Jade, "What was it like where you grew up, Jade?"

"The Coral Sea is incredibly vast and deep, so... I'd say it's a mixed bag. Harveston has more modern amentities than I expected," Jade says.

And then Grim says, "I'm only gettin' hungrier, ya know... I could eat a whole apple tree, trunk and all..."

"Don't you dare!" Epel shouts, "Come on, guys. Let's head on over to my house!"

"Yeah. Before Grim actually decides to eat the whole tree," Jasper says.

And with that, everyone begins walking along the trail to Eepl's family home.