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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 8:46:49 GMT -6
When the squash and the flowers were put away, Fiera finally returned to her tree, ready to finish this one up. Really, this lone tree had proved to be far more effort than it was worth. So much for wrapping up the mulching quickly. Still, once she finally had the opportunity to do it, it didn’t take long for her to even out the mulch around the sapling, giving it the same round base as the other two. Then, Fiera grapes the bag and heaved it onto the gravel pathway. Then, she flopped it again to the other side. Might as well make sure her mulching was symmetrical between both sides of the path. She whistled to get Michael’s attention and he padded after her, picking his way carefully over the metal loops lining the path before coming to sit next to her. She nodded at him politely before getting back to work.
Fiera 20 Michael 5.9/6.0 25
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 8:51:37 GMT -6
Her sense of subtlety was on a lunch break, as she simply pushed the bag over for the next tree, rolling it around the base of the trunk until she was sure there was enough there. Then, she plucked it back up and moved it next to the following tree she’d need to do. Michael padded over to the bag and began poking at the plastic material curiously, continuing his trend of bemused confusion toward man made objects. Fiera left him to it- it was harmless so long as he didn’t rip any holes in the bag. Which she doubted he could with his level of strength. She began working the mulch, pulling it out from its bunched up pile in front of the tree to about two feet out from the base. She repeated this on all sides, adjusting with her foot, until a near circle of mulch had been drawn around the tree.
Fiera 21 Michael 5.1/6.1 26
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 9:46:58 GMT -6
“How’s that look?” She chuckled, turning to Michael. She heard only some fainting shuffling from him, but on a closer look she realized that he was holding something in his hands and looking at her intently. “...Whatcha got there, bud?” She said, and walked over to him. He met her halfway, and placed something in her hand. She lifted it up to look and found a couple of colorful, almost glowing berries. The gears in her mind turned for a moment, wondering where he could have gotten these from when it suddenly hit her. These were magic berries- a harvest exclusive to kings of the evergreen. They were a vital component in node creation, a valuable ingredient, and even if she didn’t personally use them she knew just how much she could sell them for. It was, to say the least, a VERY thoughtful gift on Michael’s part.
Fiera 22 Michael 5.2/6.2 27
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 9:51:41 GMT -6
Fiera felt a little bad about assuming he was always up to something now. After all, he had chosen to give her a literal piece of himself, and he must know in some level what the worth of his own berries was. She opened her mouth, realizing that she should probably say something. “...Oh WOW! Thank you, Michael!” She said, trying to contain her excitement. “I’m so happy you- hey!” She cried. Apparently while she was busy examining the berries, Michael decided to bust himself with gnawing a hole in her bag of mulch. He looked at her, just as startled as she was, and ran off to hide behind a (very thin and not at all working for the function he wanted it to) tree, a mouthful of mulch stored in his cheeks. “Yeah, you better hide, mister!” Fiera chided. “Don’t think I’ll be letting my guard down now!”
Fiera 23 Michael 5.3/6.3 28
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 9:56:10 GMT -6
Fiera turned back to her supplies, huffing. It was readily apparent to her now that Michael was an absolute trickster, no matter how he behaved otherwise. He might harbor real affection for people, yes, (he DID give her magic berries after all, even if that lead into a trick) but it was usually a set up for some prank or another. Well, she could play that game. She used to manage armies, and could surely manage one wily tree elf. She’d just have to keep one eye peeled at all times. For now though, she needed to inspect the damage he did to her mulch bag. It wasn’t TOO bad, she mused. It was quite a large hole, enough for him to get his nose in and steal a bite of mulch, but the mulch was all coming out of the bag anyway. She supposed it didn’t matter if it came through two rather than one hole.
Fiera 4 Michael 5.4/6.4 29
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 9:59:41 GMT -6
She hefted the bag up- it wasn’t any lighter either, so he couldn’t have stolen THAT much. She glanced back over at the king of the evergreen. He seemed to have gone back to rooting through her dead flower bed for snacks. That was fine by her- he was easy to keep an eye on like that. With that clear, she started work again, spreading the mulch around this tree as well. It was admittedly a little more difficult to tell how much she was applying with the added hole spraying mulch everywhere, but after a few moments she was sure that it was enough. She could always add more mulch later, after all. So she dropped the bag of mulch, now much lighter, and got out her rake to start shaping the pile. After a few moments of pulling and prodding, this tree looked just as nice as its fellows Fiera 5 Michael 6.0/7.0 30
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Post by Renathan on Jan 29, 2020 18:28:14 GMT -6
Berries and more berries! The king of evergreen sheds another set of berries for you reluctantly, and nearby one can find a lovely set of snowberries!
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 20:46:58 GMT -6
Fiera turned around, only to find another magical berry at her feet. She picked it up hesitantly, and looked around for the one who grew it. Sure enough, she saw Michael trying and failing to hide behind a tree again, peering out from behind it every couple of seconds to figure out if she could see him or not. "...I can see you." She confirmed, and he finally came out from behind it. He looked at her, and then pleadingly at the bag of mulch, and then back to her. Fiera took a deep breath and sighed, realizing that he wasn't going to leave her alone about this. "Ok... you can have some." She said, throwing her hands up in defeat. She tromped over to the back, and plunged her hand into its depths. Thankfully she was wearing a glove, or else she'd no doubt get covered in splinters first.
Fiera 6 Michael 6.1/7.1 31
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 20:50:46 GMT -6
She pulled out a fistful of mulch, the sight of which caused Michael to immediately start... presumably bouncing with excitement. Unfortunately, he didn't have a particularly expressive face, so Fiera had a really hard time figuring out what he was feeling. For all she knew, his odd bobbing movements were a sign of aggression. She doubted they were, but she really didn't know anything about king of the evergreen body language. Still, she held up the mulch. "This is what you want, right?" She said, and Michael only increased the speed of his bobbing and crept a little closer. She shrugged and stood up before holding her fist out to him. He held up his sticklike hands eagerly, and she poured the mulch into it. He stared at it a moment, as if in awe, and then immediately shoved the whole clump into his mouth before skittering back to the tree he had been hiding behind.
Fiera 7 Michael 6.2/7.2 32
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 20:55:05 GMT -6
What a weirdo, Fiera thought, though the idea what tinged with amusement as opposed to disdain- a distinct difference from most of the thoughts the humanish had about other people. At least this would keep him quiet and out of the way for a bit, even if he was just... eating mulch. Fiera desperately hoped that eating mulch wasn't BAD for him, but to be fair, if plant based creatures couldn't handle things that most plants found beneficial... it would be weird. And besides, kings of the evergreen were supposed to be pretty smart... right? Fiera suddenly and sincerely hoped that what she just did wasn't the plant creature equivalent of feeding a dog chocolate because it begged for it. She briefly glanced back at Michael, who seemed to be perfectly fine and crunching away on his treat, and decided to bury her head in the sand with work instead.
Fiera 8 Michael 6.3/7.3 33
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 20:58:21 GMT -6
She only had one tree left on this side to make it symmetrical with the other side- might as well get it over and done with. Fiera hefted the bag up one more time, no lighter from having fed Michael a handful of it, and spread it around the tree. She had to stoop over some to avoid getting her hair caught in the branches (these trees were still very small, after all), but otherwise it was quite an easy job, especially now that the bag had been lightened up some. Soon, there was just as much mulch next to this tree as the others- it just needed a bit of distributing. Fiera stepped on her rake, letting it rise up to meet her face before snatching it out of the air. Then she got to work on spreading the mulch out with a grace that was well practiced by now.
Fiera 9 Michael 6.4/7.4 34
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 21:01:06 GMT -6
Now the tree was perfectly mulched, and so were the others in its row. But... now she had another empty bag of mulch. She sighed, balled it up, and started back to the garden shed again. She found Michael on the way, still chewing on... well it could have still been mulch, but for all she knew he had stuffed something else into his mouth by now. She pointed at him authoritatively, determined to not have him follow her this time and stir up more trouble. "Stay there." She demanded, and he rolled over onto the ground, as if to say that he had no intention of doing anything else. She nodded and continued on her way, clearing the rest of the distance to the shed. For now, it was easily visible from the path, which she didn't like- she'd much prefer her garden to look as if it spontaneously sprung up.
Fiera 10 Michael 7.0/8.0 35
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Post by Renathan on Jan 29, 2020 21:04:10 GMT -6
The winter garden is pretty cold, and it seemed like the king of evergreen was giving a bit of a cold shoulder when it came to the remaining berries...
[Nothing happens]
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 21:04:33 GMT -6
Granted, fences and little metal decorations didn't just grow out of the earth, but she definitely didn't want a big, highly visible shed just lying around in plain sight. If she was lucky, the trees and bushes would, well, bush up a little bit during the spring, giving the shed a better disguise than it currently had. Maybe she could try planting more bushes in this area too, to better give the experience that this wasn't a place that anyone (Except for Fiera, of course) was meant to be. That would also have to wait until spring, though. As of right now, the ground was too hard and frozen to really do much of anything that involved digging. No tree planting, soil tilling, rock digging, or anything of the sort until the spring thaw came. Trying to dig right now would be like trying to chip off pieces of rock, and she already did enough of that in the mines.
Fiera 11 Michael 7.1/8.1 36
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 21:09:18 GMT -6
As if reminding her of the season, a particularly cold breeze swept across the garden, rustling what was left of the trees. Instead of their usual calming rustling noises however, they simply made scratchy, unnerving crackling noises. Fiera's ears involuntarily flattened against her head and she pulled her tail a little closer to her to keep it warm. She sighed and turned back to the shed, pushing on the door again. Without even looking, she attempted to do a free throw of the mulch bag into the garbage can. She missed of course, and made an annoyed 'tch' as she went over to pick up her bag and deposit it properly. She didn't even have the excuse of the garbage can being mostly full, considering how little gardening she had done this season, the can was practically empty, with only a few dead plants and the other mulch bag in it.
Fiera 12 Michael 7.2/8.2 37
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