Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rise surveyed his shop: a modest, balding patch of land, situated right at the edge of the saltmarshes, its boundaries drawn with an assortment of large, flat rocks. It was a bustling little sprawl now, littered with high, plentiful stacks of preserved foodstuffs - fruit, reptile, fish, bird, you name it - with his staff weaving in and out. Making his customary management rounds was his greatest pleasure because it reminded him how far he'd come, from being an aimless foal, to an ambitious young buck, to meeting his right-hand man Fell in a trap, his wonderfully capable hires, and the advancement of their methods with his beloved Moonfrost-Like-Ashes...Grey, he reminded himself, smiling as he stepped past her svelte form curled up behind a large rock, disgruntledly sleeping away from the ruckus of industry in preparation for her nocturnal research. .

Fell had a critical eye on the sunning fruits - he came by, affectionately nudging his shoulder as encouragement. The girls trotted in and out, mouths full of salted fish; "hhy Bosh!" Fade said through her teeth. Weep dutifully deposited her bunch and carried on efficiently.

Rise paused in his steps, estimating when their respective bird and fish suppliers, Vexed and Dark, might return. Always worth the wait, but the advertising push in the Games reduced their fowl stock and he anticipated more demand soon.

He joined Fell to stack fruit, and perked up when he saw new Kimeti in the distance. Customers!

Rise carefully sidestepped the stack, gazed at the doe and searched his mind - no, he didn't recall this lovely little lady, and her little footsteps seemed so intent. He did enjoy being on the front line, and his staff took over the processes so well, so the bossman smiled encouragingly and called, "hey there! Welcome to Rise & Co.'s!"

Snailshell flicks her tail, stopping the small hoard of pets from coming into the shop area. All but one, a small mongoose clinging to Mugwort's back, taking the time to rest and relax in the shade. The last member of the party, Sorrel, follows her mother and brother into the shop. Mugwort and Snailshell both carry vines with various animals tangled in them. Sorrel bears a turtle shell wrapped in huge leaves, stuffed full of herbs for flavorings.
Snailshell sets her kills down, out of the way while she waits for the current customer to be served. Sorrel and Mugwort follow her example, arranging the animals - consisting of a foxbun, mongoose, swan and several rabbits - to show them off. Sorrel perks up her chosen herbs, root bundles and dirt still attached to keep them fresh. This done the three sit and patiently await their turn.

Nodding curtly, Weep trotted over and cast a critical eye over the herbal offerings. After a moment of silent examination, her soft little voice finally pronounced, "That's a nice bunch, thank you very kindly - how much fish would you like?"
A brief pause as she flickered a glance at her careful stance. "And packed to go, I presume?"

She followed Rise for only a moment as he left to attend to his other customers, before her attention shifted completely to Weep. “I would like however much the herbs can get me.” Isn’t that how this worked? “If you please.” She offered the other doe a companionable smile and a nod; relaxing with each second that went by. Not that it meant she would stay a moment longer than necessary. “Do you have different types?”

Snailshell nods to Sorr and Mug, both looking eager to have a look. "Take your picks." She tells them, coming wasn't her idea and her kids were so excited about it she figured give them first choice.
"Thanks mom." Both Sorrel and Mugwort say, before whispering together to form a list. After several minutes Mug turns back to Rise. "We'd like some fish and salamanders..." Sorr barely gives him time to get that out before asking a question. "Are the fruits sweet or do you salt those too?" Sorr has an insatiable sweet tooth, and while salty sweet is good she prefers almost too sweet.

Moving smoothly over to the fish display, Only Dreaming lowered her nose to sniff at the goods. A small, pleased smile flickered across her face. They looked good; very good. So fresh. When offered she took a sample of the bass, chewing slowly as Weep spoke. She had never had fish from the sea before and was pleased by the full, salty taste that filled her mouth.

“I will take a mix.” She decided finally. Looking quietly amused, she made her choices. “Three swamp fish and a sea fish, if that will suffice. Now that I had tried it I can not leave the bass behind.”

Red had heard stories of the new shop from the big event he had declined to go to, just because he had better things to do than to show off for some does. Though he was regretting not meeting their new cousins, those they called the Acha. Oh well, more would come, he would meet one someday.

Anyway, this new food shop sounded like the perfect place for him, even if it was out of the way. Really out of the way. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he had very high hopes with this place.

It seemed others had gotten there first, though. Oh well, there weren't that many, and there were plenty of employees to help, it looked. And it looked like that one doe was leaving anyway. When she turned around, Red recognized her.

Only Dreaming!

He automatically took a step toward her, but he froze himself mid stride. She had left before he had awoken, and there was a reason for that. He turned away from her and back toward the shop, patiently waiting for an employee to approach him.

It was good to know she was ok, he was satisfied with that. Though he was unbearably curious to know if he had any children.