A Fruitful Endeavor

Haize gazed up longingly at the plump, ripe-looking fruit that dangled overhead. It wasn't impossibly far, either, a full-grown styracosaurus could probably reach it unaided with a bit of effort, but unfortunately she was still far too young and small for that. Old enough to be allowed to wander a bit and discover little treats such as this for herself, but not nearly big enough to actually reach them. A fact that only served to make the fruit seem both that much more tempting and that much more frustrating that she couldn't even get at it to enjoy her little discovery.

Sitting back on her haunches, the juvenile styracosaurus considered the matter, tufted tail sweeping slowly back and forth as she thought. She could, perhaps, go find an adult to help, as one of them would almost certainly be able to reach—or if not, at least get close enough to jostle some of the fruit loose—but then she would be lucky just to have more than one piece to herself. But simply giving up and looking for something else would be even worse, as there was no guarantee she would find such an opportunity again, and the more time that passed the greater the chances of someone else finding and taking advantage of this one. No, she would simply have to both keep it to herself and figure out how to get at the fruits on her own, and do so before anyone started wondering where she had gone off to by herself this time.

After sitting like this for several moments, Haize decided that action was better than just thinking about the matter, and set about trying out different methods of obtaining her desired prize. First, she tried jumping, in as much as a styracosaur even could jump, that was. Which was to say, a little hop, rearing up onto her hind legs and attempting to hop from there, even getting a running start. Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, these efforts made little enough difference, the fruit still dangling untouched well out of her reach. Not even attempting to run and jump off of an admittedly rather small nearby ridge was of any avail. All that came of it was thudding heavily to the ground again, and having to shake the dust and debris out of her dark feathered coat.

This was far from enough to make Haize give up, however. Jumping and leaping and rearing may have proven futile, but that just meant she'd have to find another way to approach the matter. She slowly circled the tree as she considered the matter once more, looking at the problem and the prize alike from all angles. The tree was of a good size, its lowest branches out of reach of most creatures (such as hungry little styracosaurs) that were likely to want to munch on them, but it wasn't overly large, either. With a lot of effort, a large and sturdy adult could probably even knock it over altogether, or at the very least hit it hard enough to send the whole thing shuddering and shaking from the impact.

Which wasn't really a bad idea, really. If the fruit was ripe enough, then it was probably also close to being ready to simply fall to the ground on its own, was it not? Or so Haize started to reason, vaguely recalling seeing the override fallen fruits of other kinds before. So in that case, perhaps all she needed to do was to give the tree a good, solid shake, and some of the fruits ought to fall right down. A good, practical plan, if she did say so herself, and certainly more productive than blindly running and jumping around.

Bracing her still somewhat stubby forelegs against the trunk, then, she summoned all the strength she had and pushed. And then pushed again. And then squeezed her eyes tightly shut and shoved with all she had for as long as she could before dropping down to all fours again, panting very slightly from the exertion. But when she looked about, there were no fallen fruits to be found, and a glance upward to the branches overhead confirmed that they hadn't budged one bit, not even a hint of swaying that would have surely been the case if her efforts had had any effect on moving the tree. Apparently, a young styracosaur of her age simply lacked the sheer strength and mass to shake a tree as she'd occasionally seen the older ones do.

Still, that just meant she ought to try things from another angle before giving up entirely. If she wasn't strong enough to push the tree, that didn't mean she couldn't shake it in other ways. First, she backed up a little, then ran at the tree, turning at the last moment to slam into it with her shoulder and side. To Haize's delight, this time she did hear a very slight rustling of leaves overhead, but the fruit was still no closer to falling. So she backed up and tried again, with a bit more of a running start for a bit more force behind the blow. Again, the leaves rustled, but that was all. So she tried again, using the nearby small ridge to try to get some extra momentum, or running as fast as she could, but once again nothing came of her efforts but starting to feel slightly bruised under he fluffy coat of feathers.

That meant there was nothing for it, she would have to try her last all or nothing attempt at ramming the tree, this time head-on with all the force she could muster behind it. Carefully, Haize chose her path, making sure to get up to her full speed, and then lowered her head and charged right at the trunk. The tree shivered just a bit at the impact, the leaves clearly rustling and a few even coming loose and drifting lazily down, but unfortunately once again the fruit remained stubbornly clinging to the branches overhead.

Haize lay there for several moments, partly thinking, mostly just needing a little time to recover her wits after having deliberately run headlong into a tree. She'd now basically exhausted all the most direct approaches she could think of, and still had nothing to show for it. Giving up was certainly an option, but at this point, having already put so much effort into it, she didn't want to just walk away that easily.

She just needed to think of some other way to approach the problem.

Eventually, as her head cleared and she thought about it some more, she realized she was going about it all wrong. Of course, a small, young styracosaur as herself couldn't leverage the kind of brute force an adult could, and so such efforts were doomed to failure. Instead, she needed to find a completely different solution. Perhaps even one that an adult couldn't use, at that. And, after giving it a bit more thought, she got back to her feet, shook her feathered head, and got to work.

First came gathering materials. She could recall seeing a few fallen branches here and there, so it was a matter of finding them and dragging them over. A difficult task when it came to the larger and more useful ones, but not impossible. Once she felt she had enough, the next step was getting everything into position. A particularly stout branch was dragged right up to the base of the tree, and through a fair bit of careful maneuvering, Haize managed to first lift up one end, then stick her snout under it to lift it even further, before half-tugging and half-pushing it to brace against the trunk of the tree at an angle. More branches soon followed suit, gradually forming a sort of makeshift ramp.

At one point, she discovered she did not have enough after all, but unwilling to give up this late into things, that just meant she hurried off to find and drag over a few more. Adding to that a few rocks rolled over to brace against the whole mess and provide a bit of stability, and her plan slowly took form.

Finally, there came the moment of truth. Haize gingerly stepped on her newly-made ramp, testing to see if the branches would hold her weight without shifting and sliding away before continuing. Step by careful step she climbed, until she was finally both at the base of the trunk as well as a couple times her own height above the ground. The fruit that was the object of all this work hung tantalizingly close, but alas, it was still just barely out of reach. Try as she might to swat at the fruit, it hung just a bit too far from her precarious perch.

Disappointed in equal measure to how exhilarated she'd been just moments before, Haize looked about, shifting awkwardly in position as the branches under her feet groaned and began to make cracking noises. She didn't have much time, and if she wanted her fruit she only had one last chance at it. So, mustering all her strength, she reared and hopped, scrabbling at the trunk of the tree for purchase as her ramp began to give way, and snapping at the branch. Her beak closed around the wood, and she clamped down with all she had, dangling midair for a brief moment before that branch too snapped and sent her falling with all the rest.

She tumbled in a heap, the various piled branches thankfully helping to break her fall, and laid there in a daze for a few moments. Then slowly, carefully, she pulled herself out of the pile, taking a moment both to smooth her charcoal feathers as well as check to make sure nothing was hurt, before taking a proper look around.

And that was when she saw it. She'd managed not to knock down a fruit or two, but break off the entire lower branch she'd grabbed onto. A veritable feast, especially when kept all to herself. Which, after all the hard work she'd put into acquiring it, was precisely what Haize planned to do.