Valspan would accept small amounts of food,  but he wasn't craving mere physical nutrients.  That he could collect from the salt water or soil like any tree(though they were on the ocean,  hence why he did nibble a little bit on real food). No he'd patiently explain,  as Barusa tried to get him to eat an entire tuna the crew had captured.<br/><br/>"Young Hanaryuu,  I am afraid 'food' is not what I need. Much like the great being you have given your soul to, I require the essence of life to continue.  Was there any female Goada present, they could draw the energy I require from plants, animals and the crew in small bits and donate it to me, but as I am alone,  my only way to consume life is to ingest and fully<span style="font-style: italic">digest</span>someone.  Fear not,  for as long as there is a meal I can take at our next destination, I will be fine.  I am only conserving energy at the moment,  not starving."  He still sounded cheerful, somehow, if a little tired.<br/><br/>To Wiska and Sin's offers to dip their toes into his trunk,  he would decline.  At this point any one who entered his stomach would not be released voluntarily and he didn't feel like trying to fight off Spectra. He could continue to wait.  He did play with them in his vines briefly,  earning his name by tickling them quite thoroughly with his actually quite soft roots.