Sept 2022 RP Prompt
The heat of summer has finally broken, and the cooler winds of autumn are finally rolling in, much to the relief of some. What was once green and lush has become a brilliant of tapestry of burning oranges and reds as trees and plant-life begin to prepare for the inevitable arrival of winter. Still, there's plenty of time before the bitter cold! Some crops thrive during this period of cooler weather, larders to stock, and homes to reinforce to keep out the chill of the night. The more nomadic sorts may be considering scouting out a good place to hunker down once the snows finally arrive.
What is your 'taur doing now that fall is here? Are they busy harvesting or otherwise preparing? Are they simply enjoying the change in season? The cooler temperatures do make hot food and drinks that much more delectable, after all...
What is your 'taur doing now that fall is here? Are they busy harvesting or otherwise preparing? Are they simply enjoying the change in season? The cooler temperatures do make hot food and drinks that much more delectable, after all...
The morning sun rose over the distant trees, casting light through the window where a young centauress was finishing up breakfast. The apples were quite sweet this year. Finishing a slice, Zarya pondered whether she should try putting up some preserves for winter. If the crop kept up as well as it had been so far, perhaps she would have extra to barter with at the market. She did so enjoy the fresh baked bread she'd been able to treat herself to after taking the summer harvests to sell. Well, in any case, there was work to do and daylight not to waste!
She cleared away the remains of breakfast and exited her simple shelter. It wasn't much, something to keep her safe and comfortable enough at night, but she supposed when the crops slowed down a bit and as winter crept up, she would likely want to make a few improvements since this seemed to be where she was settling in for good. Her nearby 'neighbor' just down the riverbank, Savarna, had been kind enough to offer help if Zarya had wanted it with perhaps expanding and decorating her small...well, it was barely more than a simple lean-to if she were honest, she thought to herself. She had initially been more concerned with getting crops established and discovering whether this land would be fertile enough for her agricultural plans than worrying about making a fancy home for herself. She had placed her comfort behind her work, justifying this with the mindset that if the land were no good, she wouldn't be staying anyway, so why waste time building a complicated living structure? Fortunately, the lands were indeed quite fertile, and the river provided a convenient source of water for irrigation (and other purposes), so she was eager to stay and set down her own roots! Unfortunately, this meant that she probably would need to seek out some help in making sure she had a more stable and robust home for herself before the winter cold arrived.
Take it one day at a time, Zarya.
She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the crisp, clear autumn air. Speaking of her neighbor... She glanced downstream, noting no signs of activity around Savarna's home. Likely she had already gone out for the day, down the river to the where it met the sea to go beach-combing for the day's treasures brought in by the tides. With a smile, Zarya grabbed her tools and turned in the opposite direction, trotting a short distance upstream to her fields and small 'orchard'. In reality, it was little more yet than a few apple trees that had already been here, but she had been cultivating the area around them and taking care of them since settling here. In time, she would plant other trees and expand.
The trees would need little today other than checking for more ripe apples to harvest, so she turned her attention first to the row of crops she had sowed in the field. The carrots were coming along nicely, perhaps she could go ahead and pick a couple of the largest ones today. She moved along the rows slowly, pausing every few steps to kneel and check the soil moisture. Sometimes, she would dig at a troublesome weed before pulling it free. "I'll have no one leeching good nutrients from my little ones," she scolded, shaking the offending weeds before tossing them clear of her field with a chuckle at herself. She had heard that speaking to plants was supposed to be good for them, but she wasn't sure that being mean to weeds necessarily had the opposite effect.
The potatoes would need some more time before any would be ready to harvest. Zarya took a bit more time in checking on her radishes. She had never tried to grow them before, so this was definitely a new learning experience. She just so loved the crisp bite of a good radish in one's salad; hopefully they would do as well here under her hands as they had back home. So far so good, at least as far as she could tell. The butter lettuce was also looking well. She made note of a few heads that could use some shaping up before finishing her weeding rounds.
By now, the sun had risen high into the sky. Though the morning air had been crisp with a touch of chill, now the combination of the sun beating down from above and the hard work of weeding and working the soil had Zarya feeling just a bit warmer than was comfortable. She stood and stretched her muscles, cramped from so much up and down crouching and doing minute work. She took a swift trot down to the river's edge before wading into the shallows. The cool waters swirled around her hooves pleasantly and she reached down towards the waters with a practiced gesture. A tendril of water rose, answering her call as she shaped it with intense focus into a liquid sash, draped over her shoulders. Leaving it there for a moment, she reached up with both hands to gather up her long locks of hair, sweeping them up and away from her neck, while twisting them with a practiced motion into a series of loops Then, Zarya took the watery sash in hand to secure her new updo, leaving the ends to drape over the back of her neck to keep herself cool.
Refreshed, the centauress made her way back up the riverbank to get back to work. She still had a couple of things she wanted to look over, checking the soil dampness and ensuring that her irrigation system was still supplying enough water to the crops in the field. The trenches she dug diverted a small amount of water from the river inland to help feed her fields and the growing orchard. Satisfied that everything seemed to be working properly, she retrieved her harvest basket from the end of the field. A couple of the larger carrots were dug up and added, as well as a few leaves of butter lettuce from several of the heads that needed shaping. Then she returned to the apple trees, reaching into the lower limbs to gently pluck the ripe fruits and add them to her basket. Not a large harvest just yet, at least from the ground crops, but those would be ready soon enough, and the apples were still producing in a steady supply. A proud smile grew on her face as she looked down at her basket of goods. No, it wasn't much yet, but she was doing this all on her own. Pride and a sense of accomplishment blossomed in her chest as she made her way back to her shelter.
As a thought occurred to her, Zarya passed her own shelter and continued downstream to Savarna's home. She left a couple of apples at the door; a small thank you for the lovely trinket that her friend had gifted her that now graced her front foreleg. Savarna made just lovely accessories from the shells and such she found along the beach.
When Zarya returned to her own home, she could feel fatigue beginning to weigh on her. Field work was hard enough, but using her magic on top of that (though it had also made the last few tasks a bit more pleasant) had her energy waning. Time for a bit of lunch and perhaps a nap, she thought with amusement. After taking the basket in and setting it down, she stepped back outside briefly to release her watery sash. She unbound her hair and held the 'sash' over a small bed of wildflowers near her shelter door. "Drink up, little friends," she cooed, relaxing her concentration and will to release the water from her control. Slowly, the water returned to its liquid state, dripping like a miniature rain shower over the flowers and soaking into the soil. She shook the remaining droplets from her hand, then returned to her home. That nap was sounding very good about now.
*****
[FIN]
[FIN]