Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 16, 2022 6:47:51 GMT -6
She still hadn't quite figured out whether any of the garden denizens were particularly fond of snowberries, or if they were even edible to begin with.. Usually the brighter the berry, the more likely it was intended for food, so something as pale as this one might have had the opposite effect.. The better to hide in the environment and avoid being eaten. To be sure, there was bound to be some books on the subject, but until she has time to take a closer look at all that, there was still the task at hand.
The sphinx tucked the berry into the inner pocket of the (first) jacket, and sighed. The much tougher part would be to get on her feet again, since struggling in loose snow is not unlike struggling in loose sand (except one compacts a bit better than the other). The leafscattered watched curiously as this strange two-legger wiggled and pushed herself with her hands, trying to get back upright on an uneven surface.
(11) Winter Darky: 11 Omèn: 3 (1/5) / 3 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 16, 2022 10:30:44 GMT -6
Eventually, the sphinx was standing again, dusting off the excess snow that caked most of her side. Taken out by a snow bank.. its a good thing she was alone and that the garden was mostly a private one, what with the hedges providing some cover along the edges of it, otherwise she'd be hard-pressed to explain how a supposed warrior could be down so easily by what's essentially powder water.. Not for the first time she wonders whether bringing along someone with a bit more fire in them might help sort the issue faster, if the snow along the paths was melted away.
Though.. that probably wouldn't go over with the plant creatures, for rather obvious reasons.. So perhaps not.
Speaking of paths, now standing again the sphinx looked around herself and found it a bit difficult to tell where the exact path would have gone, seeing as everything was covered in thick snow.
(12) Winter Darky: 12 Omèn: 3 (2/5) / 3 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 16, 2022 10:34:15 GMT -6
Lacking distinctive paving stones to follow, she tried to guess using other landmarks, such as specific trees or bushes, but it quickly turned out to be not the most accurate estimate. For all she knew she could be standing in the middle of a flower patch. Next time, bring a shovel, she minded herself, sighed, and pressed on. The orchard wasn't too far now, and the leafscatter followed along in the canopy above, curious to see what happens.
Once she reached a flat wooden plate on a pole, she undid the small knot on the bundle and dug out some seeds, scattering across the plate. Largely they were for birds, though sometimes Orchis and a few others might be interested in getting a snack as well. Shuffling along further, she reached a taller mound of snow, denoting the location of a thicker evergreen bush and dusted away some of the snow near its edge.
(13) Winter Darky: 13 Omèn: 3 (3/5) / 3 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 16, 2022 10:38:39 GMT -6
Taking something else from the bundle, she leaned down into the snow and tried to push the packed seed cake as far underneath the bush as was possible. Somewhere deeper within were Matsu and Matcha, either half-asleep or generally groggy, as neither particularly liked the deep winter and instead preferred to spend it nesting. But even nesting creatures needed a bit of food, so the cake would surely help them keep their energy up.
Before she left, the sphinx dusted a bit of snow back over the hollow, so winds wouldn't blow through the opening, and shuffled onwards. Its by that point that the leafscatter had largely begun to understood what she was doing. This strange waddling two-legger was leaving food and gifts around the garden, which was good, for winter was particularly heavy that year and even Omèn had trouble finding something to snack on most snowy days. Sometimes the blanket of snow was just too thick to dig through.
(14) Winter Darky: 14 Omèn: 3 (4/5) / 3 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 16, 2022 10:43:43 GMT -6
But.. perhaps this two-legger had something that she could eat? The seeds on the bird feeder plank were certainly already enticing enough, but the mammalian wasn't quite done yet it seemed. So, perhaps there was something else, something even better?
Omèn jumped from one tree to the next, quickly scampering along the bare branches until she reached one that hung low enough as to almost touch the ground. The sphinx had just finished setting up a ball of fat and seeds on a nearby branch, when the sudden swaying of it alerted her to the leafscatter's presence.
"..Hello, there," she blinked, not really sure if she should move, lest it scares the creature away. "How are you doing, Omèn?"
The leafscatter kept watching with an intense curiosity, seeming almost equally confused as to why she was frozen like that. There wasn't much to connect the two in terms of communication, but Omèn wasn't easily scared, even if the two-legger wasn't entirely familiar to her. So, she slowly skirted along the branch and tapped one of the bird feeds with her small foot.
(15) Winter Darky: 15 Omèn: 4 (0/5) / 4 (0/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 20, 2022 3:08:55 GMT -6
The things were hung in little woven nets, making it quite difficult for something non-bird to eat them. In a way, that had been the idea - To leave something for the birds as well, rather than have rodents or other wood folk snatch them up. (Well.. clever rodents still might, if they figured to chew through the rope holding them to the branch, but that was beside the point). Omèn had seen these things hung up in winters past, and what little was scattered from them into the snow below as the birds worked their way through them certainly tasted well to her sense.
It was just.. tricky to get at them. But with the two-legger here, maybe not as impossible?
So she tapped the hanging seed ball again, looking between it and the mammalian, tail doing slight swishes through the air as she did. The language was clear - look at this, I want this, give me this?
(16) Winter Darky: 16 Omèn: 4 (1/5) / 4 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 20, 2022 5:33:17 GMT -6
"Hungry, are we?" the sphinx smirked, and began to dig through the small bundle for something. The motion and response to the request certainly made the leafscatter more excited, as the tail continued to swish back and forth much more forcefully. Until there was a faint little 'snap' noise followed by a soft 'whomp' as something landed in the snow. Both leafscatter and sphinx seemed about as surprised about this as the other, heads turning towards a round hollow now in the thick blanket.
The inside of the hollow was something she hadn't quite seen before.. At least, not for a long while - A bright pink berry with peach-like overtones, and something slightly shifting just beneath. Omèn in turn looked to be concerned with her tail, as that's where the berry had dropped off of, though didn't otherwise seem to be in any pain or serious condition. More it seemed to surprised her than anything.
(17) Winter Darky: 17 Omèn: 4 (2/5) / 4 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 20, 2022 5:37:41 GMT -6
It must be quite a strange life, to be able to detach parts of one's self after a while.. To be sure, two-leggers like the sphinx weren't exactly free of that phenomenon, although in the case of people that generally happened in the form of hair or nail clippings. Plants creatures, meanwhile, could have a toe clipped off and still regrow it (Though in that case it wouldn't exactly be a voluntary process, unless a plant creature specifically had a reason to shed their toes for whatever reason.. Perhaps if they were more like roots?)
The sphinx leaned over and picked up the berry from the snow, gently dusting it off as she inspected it. There wasn't any damage, and nor likely would be considering it was so freshly shed, but the appearance was none the less quite remarkable. There were quite a few berries that were of value in the City, and the magical ones were certainly among them.
(18) Winter Darky: 18 Omèn: 4 (3/5) / 4 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 20, 2022 6:57:52 GMT -6
Though the sphinx wasn't necessarily always sure as to why.. To be sure, anything magical would have some inherent worth, but as far as she knew they weren't really used for anything then occasionally making a very tasty (and expensive) treat for pachee. From one plant creature to another, what strange cycles these creatures went through.
"Looks like you dropped this," Darky held up the berry to Omèn, but the leafscatter seemed to shy away. A lot of creatures didn't seem too interested in their own things, it seemed, as even Orchis barely paid any attention to the plumes he had shed back in fall. Perhaps the purpose of the berry was to be ignored, as part of some greater cycle of nature? Whichever the case, the sphinx understood the signal well enough - Omèn wasn't nearly as interested in that as she was in the food she had brought along.
(19) Winter Darky: 19 Omèn: 4 (4/5) / 4 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Feb 20, 2022 7:02:54 GMT -6
A trade's only fair, the sphinx supposed with a smile, and carefully bundled the berry away into the folds of the (several) jackets she was wearing. Then, from the remains of the other bundle, she took out one of the balls of packed seeds and carefully unwrapped it from its netting. "How about this, then?" Omèn's face was quick to light up, denoting very agreeable terms (Even if the leafscatter didn't even know what terms were, much less that they were being offered).
"Have at it, and thanks for the berry," Darky smiled, placing the ball on a junction of branches and beginning to back off. As soon as she was far enough, the leafscatter snatched up the treat and disappeared into the bare canopy of the apple tree, to find a nice quiet place to munch on it. In a way, mission achieved in more ways than one.
The sphinx spent a bit more time going about and leaving the rest of the winter food around, before the dreadful trek back through the thick snow saw her head home.
(20) Winter Darky: 20 - (added) Omèn: 5 (0/5) / 5 (0/5)
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Post by Nadia on Feb 22, 2022 22:37:47 GMT -6
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Mar 31, 2022 13:02:24 GMT -6
Matsu (female) When the weather began to turn the mammalian was all the more glad for it, making outdoor life that little bit easier as she no longer needed to keep herself so well bundled up. However, with the coming of the new season was also the coming of a series of chores, chief among them spring cleaning.. The farm house and the kennel took the brunt of the effort, though she likewise had more hands on deck able to help her there, leaving more time open for spaces that needed a bit more of a.. personal touch.
Namely one such place that never seemed to have any end of work in sight - the garden.
It was one fine spring morning, when the sun was particularly bright (and the wind particularly silent, since the cold had not left entirely, much to her disappointment) that she arrived back to the garden in a two-layer jacket, some gloves and a few sparse gardening tools.
(1) Spring Darky: 1
Matsu: 0 (1/5) / 0 (1/5)
A9qDTBah
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Mar 31, 2022 13:06:27 GMT -6
The season was right in the middle of that part of spring, where some things had begun to sprout, while darker corners of the streets and forests weren't entirely clear of snow yet. But, between the sunlight and the warmer temperatures, much of the earth looked to be soft enough to allow some early tilling (as well as anticipate the rains that would surely accompany the month to come, making everything more a muddy mess than any proper garden terrain).
She pushed her way through the gate with her hands full and her scarf high, still feeling the warm temperatures being just a little too cold for her. The garden met her with relative stillness, as most of the denizens were no doubt still drowsy, waiting for additional days to pass under sheer sunlight before they could properly 'wake up' from the low-energy mode they maintained throughout most of winter. Good, it meant she didn't have to disturb too many of them by running into them.
(2) Spring Darky: 2 Matsu: 0 (2/5) / 0 (2/5) W3ZKOZi1
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Mar 31, 2022 13:10:22 GMT -6
As much as she'd like to spend time with most of them, past mistakes and present predicaments meant that time was something of a scarce quantity. Largely there was a job to do that day, and while some distractions could still fit into the general 'idea' of a schedule, there was still a very hungry and very demanding kennel to return to, once all was said and done. The tat-lung and droid can only manage so much, before things get a little out of hand.
Setting down the tools against the shed wall, the sphinx paused to pull on a set of boots (something she didn't often do, really, but mud is mud and where there's melting snow, there's just that. Better a little discomfort now than having to dredge home with soaked feet caked in dirt) and a pair of gloves. Reaching for the first of the tools - a rake - the fingers fumbled a little and it slid along the sled wall before crashing into the paved stones.
(3) Spring Darky: 3 Matsu: 0 (3/5) / 0 (3/5) DulHmL0P
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Mar 31, 2022 13:18:00 GMT -6
The noise echoed throughout the garden, hollow and tinny as the rake gradually bounced to a stop, but by that point the mammalian had already squinted her eyes closed and followed it up with a sigh. Off to great start here.. But then, the garden had always been her weakest point, being the furthest of her actual nature.
What she hadn't expected was a sudden burst of movement to spring out from behind the shed, cross halfway across the paved path, before stopping dead still and staring at her, as if a veritable deer in the headlights. The 'deer' part was only partially correct, as the creature did have horns, though those and its 'hooves' or 'claws' were very much more closer to branches and wood, than keratin and bone. The leafy fluff around the neck puffed out in a brief moment of alarm, as it arched its back, realizing its been noticed.
(4) Spring Darky: 4 Matsu: 0 (4/5) / 0 (4/5) XVsdRLE0
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