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Post by Noa on May 2, 2021 12:49:02 GMT -6
“There you have it,” Noa said, in the same flat tone that he had maintained for most of their presentation. “The perfect gardening companion. Get yours today at a retailer near you.”
{Thank you! I--- Hey! I’m not for sale,} Rhys amended hastily. {But it was a pleasure performing for everyone! I hope you enjoyed it!}
Noa gave a bow with a flourish, and Rhys landed on his shoulder. Together the two of them exited the stage, at which point Rhys finally let him have it.
{Why did you eat the mushroom?} he said. {You know it was poisonous!}
"Well, you fixed me, didn't you? That's a gardening skill too," Noa said with a grin. "If someone stupid were to eat the wrong thing by mistake..."
{Don't do it again! Gosh, if I didn't know better, I'd have thought you had a real death wish.}
"Yeah, yeah," Noa said, laughing it off. All was well that ended well, as far as he was concerned.
(end)
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Post by Kristofor on May 2, 2021 13:16:39 GMT -6
The fox and the panilla watched the first two acts with rapt attention. A cat-person with a tiny faerie (yes, he's read faerie stories and knows what one should look like), and a human? with a faerie dragon. Their acts showed great knowledge of how a creature could help in the garden. More specifically a creature who could speak the same language you could. Kristofor's ears drop back briefly in disappointment. Wheek! Mira tugged briefly on his cheek fur. Indignation! Good Mira! Praise. He pats her tail, draped over his shoulder. He's done his best to brush out as much of the loose blonde tufts out of his fur to look his best, and even found a sash to wear around his waist that shows off the silver of his companions fluffy fur. Finally the faerie dragon and his...companion are finished and the multitude of props are wheeled away. Guess it was time to give it a try.
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Post by Kristofor on May 2, 2021 14:40:00 GMT -6
The attendant asked him as he came forward to take his own turn if he would require any props for the contest. "A bed of soil and a moderate table will be all I need." he tells them, and with a nod, someone goes off and brings in a completely naked bed of soil and a table as the two come up to the stage. "Hello, I am Kristofor, this is my companion panilla, Mira." he introduces himself to the audience, with a small bow. Mira, holding onto a longer portion of his ear fur, stands up on her hind legs to survey the crowd. The two can hear a few 'aww' comments. Surprise. Sounds! When her friend fox puts his arm down to the table, she clambers down onto to the smooth table surface. "We are not as interesting as our fellow contesting faeries, I am but a novice gardener." Pulling his satchel off, the fox starts pulling out his props. Offering a little grass ring to Mira, who takes it, and holds onto it. She likes her ring. [Hold]
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Post by Kristofor on May 3, 2021 2:10:04 GMT -6
"Because Mira is smaller then most animals, what she's able to hang onto I believe to be limited; I would like to teach her eventually how to hold onto a tiny cup of water to water little seeds with. But today, she'll hold onto my seeds until I need them to plant." Fishing out the pouch he'd intended to be used to get her used to a bulkier object, the fox opens the top of the pouch and pours in a few seeds. Offering it to the panilla, and she trades her grass ring out. Curiosity? Heavy. Peeling the lips of the pouch apart carefully, she looks inside with a curious wheek. Praise. "She is able to hold onto a great many things for me while I'm gardening, small enough things." the fox moves to the table of dirt, and starts digging small holes with his fingers. The tiny clicks of the panilla's feet he can hear as he digs as she watches him. Curious? Diggy? [Drop, Hold repeat]
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Post by Kristofor on May 3, 2021 2:36:46 GMT -6
"Eventually, I want to teach her how to dig holes and drop the seeds in, but I have all spring to learn how to do that." he's practically rambling down the line, making little holes enough for a seed or two. Once finished, he dusts his pawhands and offers the panilla an apple twig. Its almost as tall as she is with a murmured "Trade?" She wheeks happily, taking the twig and chewing on it noisily. "After I'm finished digging my seed holes, I can give her soemthing else to hold, like twigs or other objects. Sharing isn't a problem." Distracting her, he trades the panilla a seed. Having another one pinched in his claws, he directs her attention to the little hole, and drops it into the hole. Wheek? It takes two more tries in the holes he's dug before she waddles forward, and drops her own seed onto the dirt. It lands just above the hole, but he praises her anyway with a few rolled oats. [repeat hold and drop, twice]
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Post by Kristofor on May 3, 2021 2:43:38 GMT -6
While she eats the oats, Kristofor covers up the seed holes and pats them gently, watering them in with his watering jar. "Finally, I want to show her how to pull up plants at harvest. Or pull off." He picks out a carrot, and a banana, burying the carrot up to its stalk and setting the banana aside. "Trade?" He offers the planted green stalk to her, and Mira waddles over, passing over her chewed twig. But it doesn't pull up when she backs away. Wheek? An experimental pull. Another pull, Before she finally yanks hard enough to pull the carrot partially upwards, but steps back with a few pawfuls of carrot grass. Wheek. Flicking the grass on the table, the panilla puffs her cheeks a bit like a squirrel, her tail doing that annoyed twitchy thing. Something yellow dangles in her vision. "Trade", the fox replies. She has nothing to give, but reaches out to take the banana, which is another pulling but the fox lets go of the stem, leaving the panilla holding a banana. "She tries real hard, and we're just learning how. Thank you, please give a round of applause for Mira and her valiant attempt of carrot harvesting." [repeat hold and drop twice again] -done +1
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Post by Silver on May 4, 2021 23:51:07 GMT -6
Silver took a deep breath in before entering the contest hall with Maggie. They had done this plenty of times before, so they should be just fine. They had even won a few contests before! They had to at least a little bit know what they were doing. Right?
"Come, Maggie," Silver said softly. She was reluctant to go inside, as she was much more comfortable outside and didn't like being confined into a room. Eventually, she gave in and timidly followed them into the hall. There, the two of them anxiously awaited their turn to show.
Quin loved contests. He sat on a desk in the back room and watched all the performances. He chirped along cheerfully as one person after another took their turn to show. So many sparkly, pretty things! Quin had long since learned he was not welcome to join them for their shows, but he really wanted to.
Silver and Maggie were up next. Silver rested their paw on Maggie's mane and led her out into the heat of the bright lights. It was time to start.
[123.3, 11.4]
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Post by Silver on May 6, 2021 19:34:20 GMT -6
Silver never did like this part. Speaking to one person was enough, but speaking to a whole crowd? Forget it! They tried to focus on their hand, resting in Maggie's fur, to help ground them in reality. Otherwise, they could get totally lost in their own head.
"This is Maggie," they sounded confident so far. They just had to keep up the energy for the rest of the show. How hard could that be? "She's a special Repointe, ah, as you'll see! She can do incredible things, and, ah, why don't I just show you?"
They hadn't stuttered too much, so they were going to count that as a win. Maggie clearly looked a bit intimidated by the crowd, but the two of them leaned on each other for support. Silver felt safer with Maggie there, and Maggie knew that Silver would not allow anything to harm her. They made a good team, and now it was time for the real show to start.
[123.35, 11.6]
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Post by Silver on May 6, 2021 22:19:34 GMT -6
In the middle of the floor was a raised garden bed full of fresh dirt for them to use to show off their gardening skills. All they had to do now was sort out the routine, just like they had practiced at home.
Silver reached into their pocket and pulled out a single seed. The seed was a small one, a simple flower that would take months to grow. That wasn't important, though. This single seed would be a sacrifice to the drama of the contest.
"I have just one small seed," they said, facing the crowd once more. "Let's see what Maggie can do with it."
They led Maggie into the middle of the room and into the garden bed. Her heavy hooves sunk silently into the loamy earth. She watched Silver carefully for what they had to say next. She was expecting them to do something, and she wanted to be ready for it.
[123.4, 11.8]
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Post by Silver on May 6, 2021 22:26:01 GMT -6
Silver didn't think that the crowd could even see the tiny seed, but that didn't really matter. It was just a plot device to show off Maggie's more interesting abilities. Even making her dig the hole was just a part of a story they wanted to tell, more than an actual trick they wanted to impress the judges with.
"We will take... take this single seed, and put it into the err, the soil," they said. They had practiced the speech a hundred times, why did they keep stuttering?
Silver squatted down and pushed some fresh dirt aside with their paws, then they made some motions to get Maggie to do the same. They quickly slipped the seed in under her paw, then made a quick sweeping motion like they were going to cover it up. Maggie mimicked the motion with her hoof against the ground, causing the seed to be lost in the dirt. Hopefully, from the audience's perspective, it looked like she buried it herself.
[123.45, 12]
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Post by Silver on May 6, 2021 22:45:17 GMT -6
Now for the water drops. That was another thing that would take time to have an effect, but it was all for show. Silver was smiling as they focused less on the audience and more on their performance. This was the most interesting one they had done in quite some time! Much more involved than holding up Tiffy and letting people tell them how cute she was. Not that she wasn't cute...
"Now, for the water drops," they said. They carefully pulled out the bottle of pink liquid and held it up for Maggie to see. She sniffed it gingerly, then ignored it. There was nothing in that bottle for her, so she didn't care about it.
Then, Silver very delicately hooked the handle of the bottle onto one of Maggie's horns. In the same motion, they had a treat in their other hand, and distracted her while encouraging her to dip her head down to grab it.
[123.5, 12.2] [Silver used the Enriched Water Drops]
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Post by Silver on May 6, 2021 22:52:47 GMT -6
The pink drops slowly dribbled out of the spout, which might have startled Maggie had she not been so interested in the treat Silver had to offer. As she finished up the treat, Silver swept away the bottle so she wouldn't be upset by it hanging from her horns when she finally noticed it.
"To make them grow," they continued. Maggie was briefly distracted by licking the treat out of her teeth, but she knew what that word meant, especially in that tone. They emphasised it in order to cut through and get her attention, which it did.
Maggie carefully planted both of her feet on the ground, right around where the seed would be if she could still see it. Slowly at first, some small leaves and vines began to grow out from under her hooves. They sprawled forward and soon covered the whole garden bed in twisting vines, including wrapping up and around Silver's feet.
[123.55, 12.4] [Maggie used Verdant Growth]
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Post by Silver on May 7, 2021 0:08:21 GMT -6
Silver smiled nervously and tried not to think about the creeping vines wrapping around their feet and ankles. The audience didn't know they were stuck there, so they would do what they could to play it off like they meant to do that.
Maggie was feeling peaceful and not aggressive, which was good for them. If she had been in chase mode, the vines could be strong enough to really hurt when they squeezed. Silver kept a cautious eye on the leaves and vines as they twisted and twirled around the garden bed. They would be fine, all they had to do was get to the next part. Right.
"Look at that!" they said, throwing their paws into the air. "All from one... little seed."
Now, for the next part. Silver took a deep breath. Being the centre of attention was getting to be too much for them. They just had to hold on for a little longer.
[123.6, 12.6]
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Post by Silver on May 7, 2021 0:32:25 GMT -6
"N-now, I'm sure you're all waiting," they said. They looked directly at Maggie and smirked. "For the bloom."
Once again, Maggie heard a word she recognised. She was ready to go and stopped her focus on the growing vines. Instead, she gently touched her horns to the ground, causing the entire garden bed to burst into life. It was filled with beautiful flowers that gave off a comforting feeling to those nearby.
Silver breathed a sigh of relief as the vines slowly retreated, making way for the healing flowers. They slowly stepped out of the garden bed and watched the space where they once stood fill with plant life.
They smiled at Maggie and her wonderful abilities. They also felt a small sense of pride for managing to get through the show with so few mishaps. For a moment, it was as if the crowd didn't exist. That moment of peace was brief, however, and they soon remembered that they had to conclude the show.
[123.65, 12.8] [Maggie used Rapid Bloom]
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Post by Silver on May 7, 2021 0:56:19 GMT -6
That was it. All of that practice and all of the nerves had led up to that moment. Now they were done, and they had to conclude the performance. Why was that the hardest part?
Silver smiled softly and turned to face the audience. "That.. that's all," they said with a quick nod. "Thank you for coming."
Whether or not they impressed the audience, they felt good about their effort. It was always so nice to take a creature and really show off what it could do. Silver liked to think that someone had learned something today. About creatures, or about gardening perhaps. It didn't really matter.
"C'mon now," Silver said softly. They gestured for Maggie to follow them out of the garden bed and into the backstage area. Quin dropped off their head and landed in the garden bed, wanting to soak in the beauty of the flowers for just one more moment before he, too, disappeared backstage.
[123.7, 13] [Fin.]
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