|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 14:42:02 GMT -6
Fiera was on her way back from the market, her bags still empty. Alas, she hadn’t found anything that interested her this time around, and was a little bored. Desert’s saddlebags were completely empty, though she was sure that the thundergug preferred it that way. He had always been a bit of a brat after all. Still, Fiera was determined to get something out of this day. It would be a waste if she just went home now- why not see what else she could do? As she rode though, she realized that she was near the quest board. She mulled it over- quests were pretty hit and miss, in her experience. Usually she had to deal with someone absolutely infuriating for just a pittance of credits… but, it was better than nothing. Maybe she could ride on by and just keep going if she saw anyone particularly annoying nearby. Fiera 1 Desert 26.1/26.1 1
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 14:43:40 GMT -6
She flicked Desert’s reins as a result, getting him to pick up the pace a bit. Might as well! She trotted down the street, one that she knew well by this point as it was on the way to the breeding center. She could probably guide Desert down the street with her eyes closed- though, uh, she wasn’t going to. He could be a bit unpredictable if she wasn’t firm with him. The thundergug snorted loudly, as if to confirm her thoughts. He would absolutely run off if she wasn’t keeping an eye on him. Fiera sighed, and kept skimming the road for the quest board. Sure enough, it slowly came up alongside her, and to her relief there was no one standing beside it. Thank goodness- she and the owner of the questing inquisitor didn’t get along too well. Fiera was a bit of a jerk, and that woman was a HUGE jerk, in her opinion.
Fiera 2 Desert 26.2/26.2 2
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 15:09:28 GMT -6
With no one around, Fiera stepped down cautiously, scanning the area. She slid off of Desert’s back, and gave him a gentle pat on the flank. “Stay there, buddy.” She said reassuringly, and Desert flopped onto the ground, grunting softly. Fiera kept glancing around, half expecting someone to leap out of the bushes and accost her by this point. She reached the quest board without issue though, and found herself in the clear. “...Huh. Guess not everything has to be a huge issue.” She said to herself, and looked at the board. A bunch of them were generic things- getting groceries, babysitting kids. Ugh, how boring. It looked like this day was going to be wasted after all- Fiera couldn’t imagine herself doing any of these, or at least not without whining relentlessly and dragging her feet every single step of the way. She doubted they’d be accepting of a thundergug, either.
Fiera 3 Desert 26.3/26.3 3
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 15:10:10 GMT -6
Desert was a big boy, after all, and she didn’t want to just take him straight back to the kennels. At the same time though, she couldn’t imagine him fitting in at, say, a baby sitting job. Literally- he wouldn’t fit in the door. So she’d have to find something else that would be a better match for him. Then, her eyes landed on something… interesting. It was a folded up piece of paper, in the shape of a flower. She had seen napkins folded something like this in restaurants before, but she was impressed at the size it had been folded to. It also had something dangling from it, pinned to the board with the same pin that kept the flower stuck tight. It looked like a little clear satchel, filled with a variety of seeds. Fiera could only guess what they’d grow into, but she couldn’t help but be intrigued.
Fiera 4 Desert 26.4/26.4 4
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 15:10:45 GMT -6
There were a couple of these flowers pinned to the board, now that she was looking a bit harder. At first she thought they were just decorations now that spring had sprung, but now she was starting to think otherwise. She gently unpinned it, catching the sack of seeds before they fell off. She slipped them into her pocket, willing to take them even if she wasn’t interested in the job. Then, she unfolded the flower. It was a little harder than she thought, with how complex it was in shape, but managed it eventually. “Nature Month!” It declared, in large but elegant letters at the top of the wrinkled page. It would have been easier to read if they hadn’t folded it up, but what could you do. She’d figured it out. Fiera read the rest of it, letting her eyes skim the page, running one finger down it to help keep her place.
Fiera 5 Desert 27.0/27.0 5
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 22:01:06 GMT -6
They were looking for volunteers to… help plant trees? For nature month, which would help promote habitat for local species and keep the air cleaner. Hm… well, Fiera was always down for more creatures living in the labs, which she could scoop up and claim for her own. Maybe. Possibly. She supposed that clean air was nice too, though she could care less about the increased benefits for other people. Fiera was a very self centered creature, after all. Still, it did seem like something that Desert could help with! They were providing all saplings, though volunteers would need to transport them to the specific spots that they were to be planted in, and would obviously need to be the manpower planting them. Still, if it was a wide open area, then Desert could easily fit in, and she could definitely use the thundergug’s help in dragging saplings around the fields.
Fiera 6 Desert 27.1/27.1 6
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 22:01:23 GMT -6
Fiera wasn’t too strong after all- she would be exhausted after dragging one single tree around. Not to mention… yes! There it was! A mention of a special prize for the one who planted the most trees! Fiera just knew she’d have to get in on that. With Desert helping her plant like, a half dozen trees at a time, who could she possibly lose to? Someone with TWO thundergug? No, Fiera decided that she definitely had a chance at this competition- even if it wasn’t meant to be interpreted as such. She folded the paper back up (though nowhere near as fancily and nicely as it was originally- she was no paper folding master) and placed it in her pocket, the address in her mind’s eye. She knew where that was, roughly. If she got Desert to hurry, it would take her no time at all to get there.
Fiera 7 Desert 27.2/27.2 7
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 22:01:38 GMT -6
Fiera scrambled back up onto his back, ready to go. “Ok Desert!” She said, a note of determination in her voice, and flicked the reins. Desert sighed, not really wanting to get up, but he wasn’t about to disobey Fiera. Soon they were off, trotting down the city streets, shoving off anything in their way- a benefit to owning a thundergug that Fiera quite appreciated. The day was the perfect temperature, and the sun was shining bright overhead, making the trip quite pleasant for her and her pet. Her clothes weren’t too unsuitable for work either. She’d have to put her gauzy scarf away first of course, and maybe roll up her sleeves a bit, but otherwise she could see herself planting some trees in this. This outfit was even machine washable, which was nice for a change. For all she knew, this could turn out to be quite fun!
Fiera 8 Deert 27.3/27.3 8
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 22:01:56 GMT -6
After about half an hour, the pair had reached the future forest. They had made quite good time- even after all Fiera had done already, it was only about halfway through the day. Desert sniffed around gently as they entered the field, approaching someone who looked like they were in charge, sitting with a clipboard at a small folding table set up close to the road. Behind them was several rows of saplings, all tied up in bags and lying against each other. People would come up to the pile, grab a tree (or two, in the case of a massive uthax that approached and hefted away two of the biggest saplings) and walk off further into the field, where there were hundreds, maybe thousands of little flags indicating where saplings were to be planted. Many of the spots nearest to the road were already filled with freshly planted trees.
Fiera 9 Desert 27.4/27.4 9
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 22:02:14 GMT -6
The baby trees were tied down with stakes to make sure that they stayed upright in any upcoming storms, but otherwise sat pretty in their new holes, each one surrounded by freshly overturned soil, with volunteers going to each one and covering the bases with mulch to to promote their health in the upcoming spring. Regardless, there were still plenty of trees to be planted- Fiera and Desert were in good shape to help. The humanish slid off of her thundergug again, and looked at the bags hooked up to her saddle. Suddenly, she was quite glad that she wasn’t able to find anything to buy today- the saddle bags were completely empty right now, which meant that she could carry as many as one, two… four bags at a time! That was certainly more than any big ol’ uthax could manage. They’d have this competition won in no time!
Fiera 10 Desert 28.0/28.0 10
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 22:02:29 GMT -6
The humanish marched up to the front desk and leaned over it to address the head volunteer- a bit more intimidatingly than she needed to, to be honest. “Hello there.” She said politely, her silhouette blocking the sun. “I’m here to join the com- I’m here to VOLUNTEER to plant all of these lovely trees.” She said smoothly. The volunteer, a short mammalian man with some sort of fuzzy ears sticking out from either side of his head smiled awkwardly. “Oh, yes, you’re in the right place!” He said, stammering a bit. “Just fill out these waivers, and we can get you started!” He said, handing her a clipboard and a pen. Fiera nodded and took it, scribbling out her name in the requisite boxes. Paperwork- the bane of any good woman. Then, the volunteer peered behind her to look at Desert, who was slowly ambling his way over to the trees.
Fiera 11 Desert 28.1/28.1 11
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 22:02:46 GMT -6
He sniffed at them hungrily, and the volunteer turned back to Fiera. “Uh, is that? Is that your thundergug over there, ma’am?” He said, raising a finger to point. “Hm?” Fiera said, looking over. “Oh, yes. Here Desert! Come here, boy!” She said, throwing a whistle in. Desert’s ear flicked up and he slowly ambled over to Fiera, cutting off several people who were trying to get over to the saplings in the process. One person (who wasn’t looking where they were going) even bounced off of him and fell over. He stopped next to Fiera and shoved his face into her side affectionately. “Aw, there’s a good boy. Aren’t you a good boy, Desert?” She said affectionately, rubbing his ears. “He’s here to help me plant the trees today! He can carry a whole bunch at a time!” She said eagerly, looking back over to the volunteer while Desert tried his best to devour her shirt.
Fiera 12 Desert 28.2/28.2 12
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 22:03:02 GMT -6
“Oh!” Said the volunteer, who seemed quite a bit more relieved now that he knew her intentions. “That’s a fantastic idea! I’m assuming you’re going to use the, uh, saddle bags?” He said curiously, pointing to his saddle. “That’s exactly right!” Fiera said, passing the clipboard back. “I figure he can fit about four in there if I use the space right.” The volunteer scratched his chin, looking over Desert with a strategic eye. “That sounds perfect! Well by all means, feel free! Though uh- do try to keep him from eating the trees. We want these saplings to survive and thrive, after all!” Fiera nodded politely. “Of course I can assure you of that. Desert would never do such a thing.” She said, dragging her shirt out of the thundergug’s mouth. “He’ll be as well behaved as a silky houluh, I tell you.” She said, and gave a sharp nod.
Fiera 13 Desert 28.3/28.3 13
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 22:03:18 GMT -6
“Well by all means, go right ahead then! We’re uh, trying to plant the trees in phases- red flags first, then orange, then yellow and green. So if we don’t get everything done in one day, at least we can get a bare minimum spattering of trees in to help promote the biodiversity in the area. Feel free to take some equipment- we have shovels and hand trowels- load up your thundergug with trees, and enjoy the day!” He said, gesturing over to the field and the cluster of packed saplings. Fiera then noticed that there was a pile of tools next to the saplings that she had missed the first time around- how convenient. It made sense, though- she couldn’t imagine digging all this out by hand. She gave the volunteer one last friendly wave, and made her way over to the pile to pick up her planting supplies.
Fiera 14 Desert 28.4/28.4 14
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 14, 2020 22:03:32 GMT -6
The shovels were easily hefted over Desert’s back and strapped down to the saddle, just behind where Fiera would sit when she was done. She had the thundergug sit for the loading process actually, making it easier for Fiera to access his back and attach things. Then there was the trees. She lifted one up by the trunk, letting the sack full of potting soil hang beneath it. The tree itself wasn’t so heavy- it was the soil that was the issue. She groaned with effort and eventually decided it would be easier to drag the tree along the ground. Once she managed to wrestle it over to Desert, she unclasped one of his saddle bags. Giving it a firm heave-ho, she lifted it as high as possible, moving hand over hand until she was grasping it at the base, allowing her to lever it on her shoulder and into the saddle bag.
Fiera 15 Desert 29.0/29.0 15
|
|