Yang
Flea Market Artist
Posts: 1,001
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Post by Yang on Jun 16, 2022 16:41:28 GMT -6
Something can be gleaned, not far from where you are...
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2023 9:12:33 GMT -6
Audrey was something new, that was for sure. Fiera was used to having fearsome creatures- Donner and Algol in particular came to mind- but she didn't have any experience in working with a plant pet so aggressive. She couldn't really stay hands off with her either- she needed to keep an eye on Audrey for harvesting purposes. She had harvested plant pets before such as her leaf skitter, but leaf skitters were far more sweet and humble than this ornery creature. She could practically pluck the berries right off of her tail- but Audrey could pluck the fingers right off of her hands. Even now, the leash Fiera had her on was more of a suggestion than a rule- if the whip tailed vine snatcher decided to go somewhere else, Fiear would prefer to just go there rather than argue the point, especially when she was so new and untrained. Fiera 11 Audrey 0.1/0.1 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2023 9:19:22 GMT -6
She had bought Audrey just a few days prior for a specific reason- to harvest wyrmlings. Apparently vinesnatchers gave birth parthenogenically... from their backs. Fiera glanced at the sprouts coming from Audrey's back. They were bright green and every so often one of them would twitch and thrash under her skin. Fiera shuddered- she couldn't stand the sight of it, but it seemed to be business as usual for Audrey. She didn't even blink when one of them thrashed around, but Fiera supposed that she couldn't, given the lack of eyes. Despite that though, the vinesnatcher seemed to understand quite well where it was going. Some sort of animal instinct, the humanish supposed- or perhaps a very good sense of smell. But with regards to the wyrmlings- Fiera had been meaning to buy a whip-tailed vine snatcher for a while for a couple of purposes. First of all- they were very cool.
Fiera 12 Audrey 0.2/0.2 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2023 9:29:54 GMT -6
It was a shallow answer, but Fiera had always been tempted by the more interesting looking creatures in the city, and Audrey was no exception. Then, there was the wyrmlings- apparently when the little creatures finally managed to pop themselves out of their mother's back, they were quite easy to sell. Fiera was always looking for additional streams of income, so it felt like as good an idea as anything else. She'd have to get lucky to get any though- Fiera knew it could be quite difficult to harvest supplies from creatures that didn't trust you. A creature as aggressive as Audrey wasn't likely to give away her babies easily- FIera would have to try and work with her to gain her trust such that she was willing to give a couple up. They had all day to work on it too- Fiera didn't have anything else going on. The day was bright, the sky was clear- she wanted to see what happened.
Fiera 13 Audrey 0.3/0.3 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2023 9:33:31 GMT -6
Still, it wouldn't do any good to keep harassing the poor pet and getting in her space. She'd have to find something to do in the garden and let Audrey come to her at her own pace. Fiera's mouth quirked down a bit. Besides, it wasn't like there wasn't anything that needed to get done here. It was the height of summer, and Fiera had a lot of messes she needed to clean up around the garden. It seemed like whenever she pulled a weed, three more grew up in its place, not to speak of all of the pest insects she had running around. The pesticides weren't cutting it- and she didn't dare put more down for fear of harming the beneficial bugs around. So more often than not, she had to scrub her plants down manually, which was a task and a half. She thought about what part of her garden needed the most help.
Fiera 14 Audrey 0.4/0.4 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2023 9:45:30 GMT -6
Perhaps... the orchard? It was less an 'orchard' than a smattering of fruit trees mind you, but it was still worth maintaining. There was nothing better than an apple or orange you had grown yourself. With that in mind Fiera set off down the garden path, practically dragging Audrey along behind her. The vinesnatcher didn't seem thrilled at the idea of taking a walk, but didn't have any better ideas on what to do, so she tentatively plodded after Fiera. That was fine by her though- as long as she was moving and not biting Fiera's ankles off, Audrey could take as long as she pleased to get where they were going. It wasn't far either- just down the path and around the pond and terrace, and they would be there. A cool breeze brushed Fiera's face, ruffling her hair and soothing her skin. Today would be a good day for gardening.
Fiera 15 Audrey 1.0/1.0 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2023 9:58:14 GMT -6
But it was not, apparently, a good day to be a plant. Fiera cringed as she looked at the nightmare that was her orchard. She had noticed something was wrong the moment she rounded the corner. The trees... were not the right color. Fiera must have stiffened or shown a response in some way, because Audrey immediately started growling. Not out of any loyalty to Fiera, but if you could get a good growl in, why not? Fiera tied Audrey to the nearest fence post- the leash was plenty long, so she would have access to the entire orchard so long as she didn't tangle herself up on the trees. She needed to take a closer look at this after all, and not focus on her pet quite as hard. As she approached the first of the trees- a nice pink lady apple tree- she realized what the problem was.
Fiera 16 Audrey 1.1/1.1 6
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Post by Nadia on Jul 25, 2023 20:29:45 GMT -6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 10, 2023 11:54:09 GMT -6
They were just, COVERED in bugs. Fiera could help but squeak and recoil a bit as she realized what she thought was the natural texture of leaves waving in the breeze were actually the movements of several caterpillars... per leaf. She resisted the urge to gag, but realized that she didn't bring any insecticide with her... not that she usually used it in her garden. She preferred to keep the natural insect populations high, and the pest populations were normally taken care of as a result. There were never too many aphids because of the presence of ladybugs, never too many critters chewing on the roots of her plants because of the firefly larvae, and never too many caterpillars because of the presence of wasps, but neither of those seemed to be present here. "Someone's not doing their job..." Fiera muttered to herself, lifting the leaves gently to look at the little wobbling creatures on them.
Fiera 17 Audrey 1.2/1.2 7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 10, 2023 13:50:19 GMT -6
Audrey however, seemed quite interested. Fiera stepped back as the vinesnatcher shoved itself in front of her, sniffing loudly at the leaves. Then, there was a loud whipcrack. Fiera nearly jumped out of her skin, stepping back even further, her ears ringing from the noise. When she finally managed to open her eyes however, she found the branch shaking and Audrey looking curiously at the ground. Fiera looked down and realized what had happened. Audrey lashed out with her whip tails, snapping them against the branch and shaking it violently. The combination of the sudden movement and sound made the caterpillars flail out to defend themselves- only to fall off the branch onto the ground. It wasn't a solution that Fiera would have thought of, but it seemed to have come naturally to Audrey. "Well I'll be damned... good job, Audrey." Fiera said, still too afraid of her pet to actually try giving her a pat on the head.
Fiera 18 Audrey 1.3/1.3 8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 10, 2023 13:52:34 GMT -6
It seemed that the act of hunting was its own reward however, as Audrey leaned down and started eating the stunned caterpillars off the ground, stepping carefully over the grass with surprising delicateness to do so. "Oh, ew." Fiera hissed, her appreciation of Audrey leaking away again. She supposed the caterpillars had to go somewhere, but she didn't like watching the creature mash them up. But... maybe she didn't have to. Fiera stepped up to the trees, put her gardening gloves on and got to work. She started pulling the caterpillars off and tossing them behind her, hearing Audrey snuffle up to them and chew loudly each time she did so. If there was one way to get to a creature's heart, it was through their stomach. And boy howdy, was Fiera shaking hands with Audrey's stomach, letting her come to associate the humanish as a source of tasty, delicious food.
Fiera 19 Audrey 1.4/1.4 9
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 10, 2023 13:54:53 GMT -6
After an hour or so, the apple trees were free and clean of caterpillars, or at least they were as far as Fiera could tell. If there were any left, the local insect predators would take care of them soon enough. Audrey seemed fit to burst, rolling her tails around happily along the ground. It wasn't the most orthodox bonding session Fiera had ever had with one of her pets, but it seemed to do the trick well enough. For now though, the heat was getting to be a bit more than Fiera could take, so she decided that it was probably best to go home. Besides, who knew when she would next find Audrey in an agreeable state- she might as well quit while she was ahead. So with that in mind, Fiera took up Audrey's lead again and gently led her out of the gardens, to be trained better on another day.
Fiera 20 Audrey 2.0/2.0 10
(Fiera takes Audrey and leaves the gardens.)
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 11, 2023 14:39:58 GMT -6
As much as Fiera liked Audrey, she knew that some caterpillars weren't going to keep her distracted forever. So swapping her out for a more agreeable pet was a good idea, especially for all the work that had to be done. Sasha was a much sweeter critter, and her shyness meant that she always wanted to stay by Fiera's side. This meant that Fiera could easily work without fear that the little reptile was going to go far- she could probably just glance down, and she would be there. Not to mention, unlike Audrey Fiera had actually bothered training Sasha at some point, so even if she did wander off a bit, Fiera could easily call her back using one of the tricks she had been taught. "Follow me, Sasha!" Fiera said, trotting into the gardens once more. Sure enough, dutiful little Sasha wandered in after her, blinking up at Fiera with her big green eyes. Fiera 1 Sasha 22.1/22.1 11
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 11, 2023 14:56:06 GMT -6
"That's it, good girl Sasha!" Fiera said, beaming down at her. She was so obedient- others in Fiera's kennel could stand to learn something from her. The little stomper fossil had to move at top speed just to keep up with Fiera's long strides, which was adorable to watch. Luckily, they wouldn't be doing much wandering around- Fiera knew exactly where to go first. Now that the caterpillars were taken care of, there were other targets on Fiera's list. The pair wound their way through Fiera's prodigious garden before finally landing beside some tall hedges, with flowers planted underneath them. Not that you could see them very well. The hedges were massively overgrown, resembling fluffy green clouds more than anything structured and shaped. Fiera regretted letting it get this bad- they wouldn't look very nice when trimmed back, but she knew it would ultimately be for the greater good- that is, for the good of her garden looking nice.
Fiera 2 Sasha 22.2/22.2 12
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 11, 2023 21:01:08 GMT -6
To that end, Fiera had brought a lovely pair of shears with her. Sturdy and sharp, they would be perfect for snipping those problem branches. She also brought along Sasha. Admittedly she wasn't going to be too much help in this particular task, but she WAS an herbivore. If Fiera dropped down some branches with nice, soft, newly sprouted green leaves on them, they probably weren't going to go to waste before her waiting beak. Despite her small size, Sasha could fit a surprisingly large amount of food into that little stomach of hers. And not necessarily plant matter either- Fiera had noticed that most of her fossil creatures were omnivorous to a degree. Apparently they only specialized in a variety of ways- not just diet- when they got older, developing preferences over time according to how their owners treated them as opposed to any inherent biology. Fiera supposed that made sense.
Fiera 3 Sasha 22.3/22.3 13
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