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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 21:17:53 GMT -6
She sighed and dropped the empty bag in, her mischevious high being thoroughly ruined now. Then, she turned to grab the next bag... only to find none. There was a bag of fertilizer yes, but she appeared to have misplaced her bag of mulch. She sighed again, even louder this time, and crouched down, looking under all the shelves and the table to see where it had fallen. But indeed, there didn't seem to be another bag of mulch at all. Did she not restock them? She could have sworn she had more... but then a memory hit her, of her at the store thinking to herself "I'll only get two- how much mulch could I possibly need? And it's getting cold, I probably won't be going out much. This is fine.". Fiera groaned into her hands, knowing that this wasn't fine. Now she had a half-mulched entrance path and no way of getting more.
Fiera 13 Michael 7.3/8.3 38
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 21:23:19 GMT -6
After a bit more desperate searching though, Fiera realized that she really was plumb out of luck. She didn't want to leave yet, not while there was still time in the day to work on Michael, but her tree mulching venture... had definitely reached its end. Still, she quickly scribbled "Buy more mulch, idiot." on her mental to do list, before huffing and storming out of the shed, closing the door a little too hard behind her. Then, she just about tripped over Michael, who had been waiting for her just outside the door. She yelped with surprise as she stumbled to the side, and he leapt away as well, his 'fur' poofing out in all directions with surprise. She hadn't even heard him approach! Perhaps the snow muffled his footsteps? Or perhaps he was just that good at moving around unnoticed. Regardless, his prudence had scared the crap out of both of them.
Fiera 14 Michael 7.4/8.4 39
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 29, 2020 21:29:56 GMT -6
Fiera breathed out heavily, collecting herself, and Michael seemed to calm down as well, carefully patting down his needly fur with his hands. "We're moving on now, buddy." She said in an imitation of calmness, gesturing down the path behind him. "No more mulch for now. Sorry, I know you liked to eat it." She said, amusement creeping into her voice as he stared at her curiously. She kicked the rake up into her hand as she walked back across the path, but only succeeded in flipping it a few feet away and causing her to have to trip over herself to catch it. Not the most graceful, but at least no one was watching but Michael, who didn't seem to feel one way or the other about it. Even if he was mischevious, Fiera was grateful that he wasn't a particularly mocking creature. Decima, her red devil, would be having a field day with Fiera's mistakes.
Fiera 15 Michael 8.0/9.0 40
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Post by Renathan on Jan 29, 2020 23:50:54 GMT -6
A strange burst of bright red in the wintry garden reveals that some strange fruits grow during the winter... And the King of Evergreen casts off another lucky set of berries reluctantly.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 30, 2020 9:24:06 GMT -6
Once she was able to handle her rake properly again, Fiera set off down the path. When she first started her garden, it looked pretty small to her, all things considered. She wasn't sure how anyone was able to make a satisfactory green space out of the pathetic patches of land they had been granted. Now that she had worked on it some more though, it seemed a lot more bigger on the inside than when she was looking at it from the outside. She knew where everything was, of course. She built this place after all. But walking around on the winding paths, it took a surprisingly long time to navigate through the garden, especially now that she had added different levels to it. Ordinarily, Fiera loathed stairs, but having a nice place to look at the rest of her garden from had proved to be a fantastic idea.
Fiera 16 Michael 8.1/9.1 41
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 30, 2020 10:45:12 GMT -6
She hadn't built the terraced hill herself, of course. Fiera wasn't afraid to get dirty, but as a former leader of men, she knew how to delegate to others. Instead, she sat back and watched a colorful variety of men toil (occasionally shirtless) to build her hill- a large outcropping of concrete, led up to by stairs, with a secondary garden terrace on the top. Needless to say, it certainly made her garden the tallest thing in the area- though that wasn't saying much, considering that the surrounding plots were abandoned. The 'cliff' leading off of it was nicely cobbled, and she was even able to get a water pump installed to make a small waterfall coming off of it. If anyone asked, Fiera would refuse to say how much she spent on it for the sake of the aesthetic... but it could be assumed that the number was pretty high.
Fiera 17 Michael 8.2/9.2 42
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 30, 2020 10:48:49 GMT -6
Still, it would make a great vantage point for seeing what to do in the garden next- or at least checking on the pond to see how it was doing. The waterfall coming from the cobblestone cliff had to lead somewhere, after all. It wasn't yet stocked with fish, but Fiera figured that that was a good thing, considering how cold this winter had been. It would probably be frozen solid by now. Michael would probably have a good time with it though, if she knew him well enough. She rounded the corner, keeping an eye out for the pond, and... couldn't find it. The carved stairs leading up to the top of the terrace were there, yes, but all she saw of the pond was a mass of weeds. There were streaks on the wall from calcium deposits, so she was able to trace the dead waterfall to where it SHOULD have been....
Fiera 18 Michael 8.3/9.3 43
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 30, 2020 11:09:29 GMT -6
But there was no pond on the other end. Fiera hummed and hawed, trying to look through the weeds, and Michael crept up behind her, becoming infected by her curiosity. While she was distracted, the king of the evergreen darted forward into the weeds- and squeaked with surprise as he slid right through to the other side. "Oh." Fiera said, figuring it out as he scrambled back up onto the bank and ran back to her, hiding behind her legs and hissing quietly. It looked like this WAS the pond- it had just become absolutely choked with weeds before the frosts came. Now that it was cold out, the pond was completely frozen solid, keeping the weeds in place and likely feeding them with fresh water underneath. Fiera cringed- she didn't know that ponds NEEDED weeding, but at least she could do it now. They were probably a lot less likely to grow back in this weather anyway.
Fiera 19 Michael 8.4/9.4 44
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 30, 2020 11:56:56 GMT -6
She had expected to go up to the top of the terrace to find things to do in her garden, but if she had a task waiting right here, Fiera figured she might as well do it. She crept closer to the pond, trying to judge where the edge of the water was by tapping her rake ahead of her. She waited until she heard the distinctive clinking of plastic on ice and stopped, ready to start weeding. "You hang out over there Michael, I've got to clean this up." She said, waving at her king of the evergreen. He slunk back from the water's edge, looking at the mess of ice and grass suspiciously, clearly happy to obey this particular order. Then, she stomped as hard as she could on the ice, trying to break it up enough that she could drag the plants out without them breaking and falling back in.
Fiera 20 Michael 9.0/10.0 45
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 30, 2020 14:27:55 GMT -6
A loud cracking noise emanated from the surface of the ice, a welcome change to the silent winter air. Fiera stomped a few more times though, until she heard splashing. That would do, at least until she moved on to another spot of the pond. With a quick flip of the wrist she had her rake turned around and jabbed it into the water. Almost immediately, the water weeds got caught on the times of the rake, allowing her to lean back and pull them out. She let them drip off into the slushy pond before dropping them unceremoniously on the ground beside her. Michael came over to them, sniffing curiously. “Don’t stick your nose in there Michael, you’ll freeze it off.” She said, thinking about how well soaked they were. Michael seemed to consider her words for a moment... before he darted forward to grab a weed.
Fiera 21 Michael 9.1/10.1 46
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 30, 2020 14:32:52 GMT -6
Fiera could only sigh as he ran off with it, head held high with pride for his successful scavenging. At least he wasn’t liable to get his tongue frozen to it... yet. There was no doubt in her mind that the pile of weeds would freeze over soon, making any future conquests of his a lot crunchier than he was expecting. For now though, there was no harm in it so Fiera shrugged and moved on. She scraped her rake closer to the shore this time- some attractive reeds near the edge might be nice, but not these random leafy plants. They would all need to go, whether they liked it or not. She quickly flipped the rake over at the end of the scooping motion, keeping the plants trapped on the top while the water and mud slipped through the gaps. Then, she slapped it onto the pile.
Fiera 22 Michael 9.2/10.2 47
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 30, 2020 14:38:44 GMT -6
The pile grew quickly as time went on. As it turned out, the rake was just long enough to reach the center of the pond, and the ice there was just thin enough that Fiera could break it with the rake. That solved a lot of problems fof her, that she thought she’d end up solving with tape, extra sticks, and rocks. Instead, she found the task easy enough to complete, and went ahead and got it out of the way while she still had the energy to try and balance heavy loads of weeds out there. Michael sniffed around the pile a few more times after his initial thievery, but he didn’t seem as fond of it now. She was sure it was because everything in ig was now too freezing cold for him to comfortably pick up. Instead, Michael sat a few feet away, fascinated by the movements and sounds.
Fiera 23 Michael 9.3/10.3 48
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 30, 2020 14:38:56 GMT -6
The pile grew quickly as time went on. As it turned out, the rake was just long enough to reach the center of the pond, and the ice there was just thin enough that Fiera could break it with the rake. That solved a lot of problems fof her, that she thought she’d end up solving with tape, extra sticks, and rocks. Instead, she found the task easy enough to complete, and went ahead and got it out of the way while she still had the energy to try and balance heavy loads of weeds out there. Michael sniffed around the pile a few more times after his initial thievery, but he didn’t seem as fond of it now. She was sure it was because everything in ig was now too freezing cold for him to comfortably pick up. Instead, Michael sat a few feet away, fascinated by the movements and sounds.
Fiera 23 Michael 9.3/10.3 48
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 30, 2020 14:50:59 GMT -6
Soon, the work was just about done. The pile had gotten plenty tall, up halfway to Fiera’s knee- and she was not a short woman. Around the other sides she had had to be careful, trying not to drip water all over her shoes, but she had managed it. Michael watched carefully, as if it were all a very interesting tv show. Once she was done though, Fiera couldn’t spot a single weed above water. She didn’t feel like digging around in the water to find the ones that had sunk, either. Instead, of looked nearly how she remembered it- a beautiful, placid pond. In some spots near where she had started, the water had already begun freezing over again, forming the familiar smooth plain interspersed with the jagged chunks from the original ice. It was quite pretty and calm actually, and Fiera allowed herself a moment to just stop and look.
Fiera 24 Michael 9.4/10.4 49
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 30, 2020 14:55:20 GMT -6
She sat there for a moment, just listening to nothing in particular, before another chilly wind swept by. She shivered and sunk lower into her coat, quietly cursing the breeze for ruining the moment. Oh well. She did still need to clean up these weeds. She shuffled around in her gardening pants’ pockets, looking for... yes, there it was! She pulled out a rolled up scrap of plastic and flapped it a few times, letting it expand into the distinctive shape of a garbage bag. Michael came over to investigate, but she held it out of his reach. “Ohhh no. No biting holes in this one, buddy.” She said knowingly, and turned away from him to start packing the weeds into it. It wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be really, mostly because the majority of the weeds had frozen together into one big, solid chunk of plant matter.
Fiera 5 Michael 10.0/11.0 50
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