甲辰 002: 處暑 [Throughout September]

[singlemilletgrain]

♪ Ti o o beh lok ho
Ah gung nag gia di tau beh gut o ♪

1: Seeds [Early September]
In a conical hat and durable overalls, she checks her setup, knots the ropes attaching the plow one last time, and gives her docile oxen an affectionate pat between the horns.

"He Sheng. Xiao Man. Let's do a good job today."

As she guides her oxen through the underground fields of Vault, she gazes upwards at the jagged, rocky ceiling of the Vault settlement and briefly contemplates with a faint frown. There was no way that the plants in these fields were getting all the sunlight they needed to grow properly. But she had ideas. For now, she could just be thankful she wouldn't get too sweaty.

Supremely self-unconscious, it isn't long in the day before she is comfortable enough to start idly singing, her clear and vibrant voice ringing out through the vast fields even as she works.

♪ Gut ah gut gut ah gut
gut diu ji bui suan liu go ♪
♪ yi ya he to jin jia cu bi

2: Light [Mid September]
Some weirdos are on 50 foot tall scaffolding doing something to the ceiling of the Vault. Below, two oxen meander around in circles, occasionally lowing in faint concern. The plowed and sown fields are growing miraculously quickly. September was the wrong month to sow wheat altogether, and yet an acre of rapidly growing buds are sprouting up as far as the eye can see.

Currently, Shu is clinging to the roof of the cavern in an enormously precarious situation, her tail wrapped around the scaffolding to keep her secure as she drills something into the rock. A young man near her is holding some blueprints and a whole heap of strange looking materials.

"The real problem is the unpredictability. Our efforts will go to waste if the equipment is damaged by a stray blast. If only we could find a way to protect the above-ground harvesting system... Ah! Tch, I dropped it. Well, let's take a break. Thank you for your time today."

The man gives a curt nod before descending the ladder while Shu sits cross-legged on her giant scaffold in the middle of a field and muses.

3: Harvest [Late September]
There is no possible way this field could already be yielding dividends. And yet it is, and Shu is patiently, single-handedly cutting down her crops that reach higher than her head, still hum-singing her song. The oxen now are familiar sights around Vault as Shu takes a ride on one whenever she needs to get anywhere particularly distant with groceries or other deliveries. They don't help, but they are cute, which is emotional help. This matters significantly more.

Anyone who approaches will be met with a beckoning hand or a distant call, depending on how far away they are.

"Hello! You are the help I advertised for?"

Regardless of the answer, a burlap sack and a sickle are thrust into their hands, because it is clear Shu is not listening. "Start here with me, and I'll show you what to do."

Ti o o, o o... ♪

Comments

2

[achelord]

Ziel honestly wasn't paying Shu much mind, but he was running into a problem. One of Shu's oxen was looking at him. Ziel's horns had apparently made them clock him as a very small ox, and they were advancing on him with interest.

Oxen are...pretty big, it turns out. He'd never really appreciated that until they were right in his face.

"Big, and they smell." he mused, trying to figure out how to get past them.

[singlemilletgrain]

"...Are you playing with He Sheng?"

Hearing some unusual mooing sound, Shu rolls over from her position atop the scaffolding to call down to the man frolicking with her adorable cows.

"He likes scratches. Between the horns."

[achelord]

"Mainly trying to get past him." If they have horns they must be boys, right? Ziel doesn't know anything about livestock.

Lacking a better plan, Ziel reached out and tentatively scratched He Sheng between the horns, as requested. He couldn't help smirk just a little bit, as he also liked head scratches in more or less the same place.

[singlemilletgrain]

He Sheng responds with an enthusiastic bellow, lumbering closer to Ziel and lowering his head for more scratches. After a few moments, a large and wet tongue begins to gently lap against his arm.

"Ah. ...Getting past?"

Shu delicately considers how to convey the information that he has succeeded in doing the exact opposite, and He Sheng will now follow him around for the next half hour. But probably Ziel has already figured that out.

"Hold on. I will come down."

[achelord]

Ah, okay. This is what's happening now. Ziel is getting licked by an oversized cow. Just another chapter in the tale of woe that is his life.

"For once, I actually do have somewhere to be, so yes if possible."

He supposed he could just force his way past. He was probably strong enough. But he might hurt the ox in the process. Better to wait.

[singlemilletgrain]

The oversized cow looks up at him with beautiful, soft, plaintive, appealing brown eyes and licks him up and down his face again. If Ziel has a heart, he will fall in love and eschew all physical pleasures in the life except cow from hereon out.

Shu is slowly making her way down and is about halfway. Ladders are dangerous!

The cow now steps on Ziel's feet in an attempt to snuggle closer.

Like a million years later...

[achelord]

If Ziel was a normal human, he probably would have several broken bones in his foot right now. Even with the enhancements he'd gone through, that much weight abruptly coming down on his foot hurt like a bitch. Ziel started sweating while trying to pull his foot out, but it was stuck good.

Then the ox licked him.

"How do you get it to stop stepping on your foot?" he asked, in a strained voice.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link dutifully shows up, not too long after Shu calls him, with a soft "Hi."

And then he waits patiently for her to tell him what he can help with. Maybe she needs him to collect something for her?

[singlemilletgrain]

"You are so prompt."

The door opens and Shu ushers him in.

"Thank you for coming at my whims. What kind of tea is to your tastes?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link hums thoughtfully, as he steps inside.

"Haven't had tea much," he admits. Which meant he wasn't really all that familiar with all the kinds of varieties. "Maybe...your favourite?"

[singlemilletgrain]

"I will brew you something resembling si mao tea from my home."

Shu responds immediately, leading him to the kitchen.

"It is a dark fermented tea brewed in the mountains with a superbly mellow taste."

So saying, she gestures for Link to seat himself in the kitchen (he will notice she has a normal kitchen table now that she has returned the twelve-seat dining table she borrowed) and busies herself for a minute or two in the kitchen. She returns with a steaming teapot and a tray filled with little green cakes.

"Thank you again. I did not mean for you to rush over immediately, but I appreciate the gesture. I will get to the point. I would like you to teach me how to effectively use a shield."

[newmemorywhodis]

The small kitchen table is nice; Link sits at it dutifully, glancing around her kitchen as he waits. When she comes back with the tea and cakes, he doesn't hesitate to dig it.

At her request, however, he blinks in surprise. Of all the things he might have expected her request to be...that hadn't been on the list.

"You're a warrior?" he asks. Though the question feels like the wrong one to ask. Surely if she were a warrior, she'd already have been trained to use a shield?

[singlemilletgrain]

She smiles faintly, understanding that it does not quite mesh with her appearance or expressed interests.

“By profession, I am a farmer, but I am also a contractor with Rhodes Island, a pharmaceutical company. At least, that is their official facade. In practice, they operate to address global emergencies, nascent wars, and natural disasters. As a contractor, I am a Guardian.”

There is something about the way she emphasizes that word that seems to give it the force of the capital letter.

“I excel at protecting my allies and preventing enemy incursion into guarded territory. However… my abilities here are weakened. I have already made a gravely foolish mistake here. In order not to be a burden to the Corsairs, I need to learn the more customary methods of protection.”

She refills Link’s teacup and watches him eat, an activity that seems to give her more pleasure than actively participating herself.

“Please also be discreet about those details if you can. Combat is not my preference, but in my world, one must fight for the survival of those who cannot fight for themselves.”

1

[relentless_sentinel]

Nephenee might be stationed in Flotsam, but the Vault has become a second home of sorts, in terms of bases, both because some people she interacts with frequently are here, but also because this is where the fields are...

She misses the fields and working under the sun, running her fingers along the leaves and sheaves. But until she can figure out how to marry that and being in Flotsam, she feels a bit conflicted. At the very least, though, here she can sit and take in the smell and the feeling of the dirt in her hands and try to relax a little. So that's what she's doing, hidden among the corn stalks, in her own little world...when she hears a voice, clear and lovely, dance on the air. It sounds familiar, though the language and song certainly aren't. A straw hat pokes up amongst the maize as she peers around for the source, when she sees someone plowing in a field not too terribly far away. Is that...

"Miss Shu?" Curious, she wanders over, her long legs eating up the distance quickly even at a lope, before stopping at the edge of the field. Yep, that's a singing Shu and some oxen. Well, it'd be impolite to interrupt...so for now, she rocks on the balls of her feet to the beat of the song, long green hair swaying, not knowing the meaning but appreciating it all the same.

[singlemilletgrain]

♪ Ti o o, beh lok ho ♪

At times the melody wanders towards some variation or trill that Shu places on the notes, her song sweeping through the fields with the wind. Her steps and the movements of her oxen have begun to match the rhythm of the song subconsciously as well.

Shu finishes one row, then guides her oxen to round the corner and begin heading in the opposite direction.

" -- Oh! Hello, Nephenee. I like your hat."

This is clearly meant to be a joke as she is wearing something very similar. There is not a huge variety in conical straw hats.

[relentless_sentinel]

Seriously, Shu must be some sort of special lady, Nephenee figures. If she knew what a Disney Princess was, she'd compare the blonde to one. For the time being, any worries are forgotten...

But Shu's noticing her and the joke catch her off-guard, and a rare, warm laugh escapes the Sentinel, before she touches her own hat. "Ah like yours, too. Ah've never seen one that shape." There may not be a huge variety, but this is new and therefore neat. As are the oxen! She comes over to meet Shu and her bovine friends, and smiles brightly at them all, the farm girl in her coming out. "How are ya, an' who are these fine fellas?"

[singlemilletgrain]

"This is He Sheng and Xiao Man."

She will not mention that she named them after pupils of hers. It probably does not seem very flattering, even if Shu thinks it is.

"Say hello, little ones."

The oxen say hello by lumbering up to Nephenee and sticking their noses into the general region of her hands.

"And what are you doing in the fields today?"

[relentless_sentinel]

The oxen's friendliness clearly delights Nephenee, as a beaming smile spreads on her face. "Why howdy, He Sheng, Xiao Man. It's nice to meet ya both." Knowingly, she lets them sniff her, before she gently places her hands on their broad muzzles, and gives them affectionate scritches. Just like Clover and the cows back home!

There's a note of wistfulness in her features for a moment, before she answers Shu, still petting the beautiful creatures. "Oh, jus'...missin' the fields. Ah can't do a lot o'growin' on the ships...so sometimes Ah come here to do a lil' tendin' an' spendin' time in the crops. Sometimes, Ah kinda wish Ah'd been put with The Vault, but..." The last sentence is a little softer as she trails off. It's a tug of war between two sides, admittedly. But even then, she's quite happy loving on the big loveable critters in front of her.

[singlemilletgrain]

The cows, having received such a poor welcome from anyone else who has been in contact with them, are delighted to find someone receptive to their nuzzling. Nephenee will find herself in grave danger of becoming covered in cow slobber, though perhaps she doesn't mind that so much. He Sheng's tongue lolls out and extends almost perfectly vertically to lick at Nephenee's wrists.

"Oh -- of course. There are no farms in Flotsam, certainly."

It would be hard to imagine a farm floating in the middle of the ocean.

"But why don't you try to find housing here? I am sure there is room. We can search for something together if you like. And I know the fields would be much improved with more people tending to their needs."

3.

[spacetogrow]

Ilphyl is full of restless energy, so will take pretty much any job that sounds within their abilities. They haven't harvested most crops before, but they have seen it done.

"All right. I'm ready to learn. But I'd think the Vault would grow more mushrooms."

[singlemilletgrain]

“I am experimenting with technology to bring more sunlight underground. Oh - though of course, that is harmful to your eyes. I hope this level of illumination is not uncomfortable.”

Right now, the light is largely supplied through lamps and supplemental lighting though the scaffolding lying around suggests she is still trying to make improvements.

“There are mushroom farms, too, of course. Have you used a sickle before?”

[spacetogrow]

"I got some tinted glasses. It helps." They do need to track down actual magic to really make a difference, but at least it is not as painful. And the light is focused on the plants, which makes it safe to look.

"And, yes, I have used a sickle."

[singlemilletgrain]

"Excellent. Then let us begin. Crouch, grasp close to the bottom, pull the sickle to cut beneath your grasp close to the ground. Pull away from you so you don't risk harming yourself."

Shu demonstrates as she kneels and begins to work down the row.

"If you find this too laborious, I will procure a scythe. I simply haven't purchased one yet. And... I enjoy being up close to the ground like this."

[spacetogrow]

Ilphyl is at least comfortable with the 'do not cut towards your body', and is mostly going slow for the first few to get the motions down.

"No, this seems... meditative. You've done a very nice job."

[singlemilletgrain]

"You may find it hard on the knees if you are not accustomed to this stance at first. Take as many rests as you need to."

She doesn't want to give anyone arthritis.

"I've done a good job? Oh, but the seeds of life only need a little encouragement to flourish on their own. Light, water, nutrients, soil. I have done very little."