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Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 7:58 am
 The morning air had a definite chill to it as Mahlar made his way out of the trees and into the grassy meadow. While he did indeed love fall for it's beautiful array of colors that occurred as the leaves changed, he didn't like the fact that it lead to the plants going into their hibernation-like state to make it through the winter. Fall meant that flowers were becoming less easy to find and soon there wouldn't be any for many months. He always loved flowers but he now had a greater appreciation for them since having met Xiao and learning about her profession of flower arranger. Now was their last chance to collect any flowers until spring returned. Mahlar had set off by himself today leaving Xiao to tend to some things back at her home. If he could find some really nice flowers for her then he would be happy but this late in the season any flower he found was a victory. Stepping out from the trees Mahlar was greeted by the warmth of the sun. Granted it wasn't overly warm yet, and the day likely wasn't going to get anywhere close to hot, but certainly he could feel a different between here and the shade of the forest. He took a deep breath of the cool air before setting out across the meadow. He kept his gaze moving, not wanting to miss any flowers that may be good to pick but also not wanting to actually walk all this land. There were still other things he needed to get done today but he wanted to set these morning hours aside for his mission. And that mission was trying to gather - or in his mind rescue - as many flowers as he could. He recently learned that he could hang the flowers upside down from tree branches to allow them to dry out. While these flowers would not make the best arrangements out there they could indeed be used in that and many other ways, it was a type of preservation of the plant. Luckily he had recently became friends with a raccoon who had no problem in helping his use it's dexterous hands to help him secure the flower stems to the branches. It would be good to have some flowers to work with in the fall and spring when fresh flowers were no longer an option. He also learned that certain herbs could be dried in the same manner, and some of those herbs were helpful to healers. So needless to say Mahlar was looking for a variety of plants today. This was only the beginning of the things he needed to do before winter began. It was a time of gathering and preparing but he knew he could get it done and of course he would also be helping Xiao get her things ready as well. Just the thought of that mare brought a smile to his lips. She was the light of his life. And so he was out here early looking for flowers for her as well as for her arrangements and for himself as well. Spotting a dash of color amid the sea of green that made up the meadow Mahlar hurried forward hoping it was a flower and that that flower was in good enough shape for him to bring back home.
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 6:48 am
As he got closer that spot of color turned out to be a small cluster of buttercups. He looked them over closely. Two were sadly starting to show signs of being affected by the cooling weather, but there were three more than were practically perfect. Still he wanted to make sure so he circled around them checking all sides of the flowers, including down the stems and was satisfied that they would indeed be good. Lowering his head Mahlar carefully used his teeth to clip each step in turn, tucking the flowers carefully into his long mane before gathering the next one. Eventually he would need to stop and deliver the flowers, but he had a bird friend who would be making trips back and forth for him for most of the day so that he wouldn't needed to run back to the hut each time he found a flower.
With the buttercups secured into his mane Mahlar once again scanned the meadow for signs of flowers. The grass was deep in some areas which would not only hide flowers from a distance but would also protect them from the cold night time temperatures. That meant he would need to cover every bit of this meadow to find all the flowers, a job he was happily willing to do. Not seeing anything immediate, Mahlar set off across the meadow again, keeping his gaze moving, looking for anything that stood out among the green grass.
He came upon a patch of clover. While the flowers were almost all a lost cause the plant itself had a few uses. Looking about Mahlar mentally logged where the clover was in the meadow. It was something he would come back for once his search for flowers was done. Clover is something he would likely find throughout the meadow so it was low on his priority list to pick immediately. Still on the off chance he might not find any more in such good condition he memorized the spot before moving on. He wished Xiao was out here with him, but she had her own things to attend to today, and there would be others trips in the future to gather these precious plants before it became too late. He wanted to bring back as much as he could to Xiao this day to show how well he could provide for her.
He spotted some white off to his left and adjusted his course to investigate. A smile came to his lips when he spotted the daisies. There easily had to be twenty of them. Mahlar began checking them over and collecting the good ones. Before too long he had a dozen of them gathered up. Knowing they would possibly get ruined if he carried them around all day he let out a sharp whistle. A few moments later his bird friend arrived. "Bring these to Xiao for me please." He held the bundle of daisies along with the three buttercups he had found earlier. The bird nodded and carefully took the flowers in it's beak before flying off. Mahlar watched the bird disappear before turning his attention back to the flowers. The remainder of the daisies would stay where they were as they were not in the best of shape. He was happy with how many flowers he had found already and the day was only just beginning.
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Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 4:51 pm
Mahlar spent another good hour or more wandering back and fourth through the meadow. He found several other patches of clover, but no flowers that were in good enough shape to bother saving. Some he may pick on his way home to bring back to Xiao as a gift, but they wouldn't be used in arrangements. With most of the meadow searched Mahlar moved into the trees. While most flowers tended to grow out in the meadows where they would get plenty of sunlight, there were quite a few than preferred the shade of the forest as their home. These flowers tended to be fairly hardy, since they had to compete with well established trees for nutrients and sunlight, as well as rain water. They also could be quite unique in looked, nothing to match the glowing flowers that grew in the cave near Xiao's home, but still very beautiful.
Now Mahlar would need to work extra to spot any flowers that were lingering here. Unlike the meadow which was open and easy to spot things for the most part, in the forest it took a lot more effort, as he would need to circle around the trees in an attempt to find plants nestled near the trunks. Some might balk at the idea of spending so much time, it would probably take him hours to do a small chunk of the forest, weaving in and out of the trees looking for a few flower, but Mahlar found it relaxing. He never knew what flowers he would find on any given trip out. He enjoyed it the most when Xiao was with him, because they would spend the time talking and getting to know each other even more, but there were times, like today, when he went out alone because Xiao had other things to do as well. He didn't mind so much, because in the end he would return to her and anything he brought back with him would bring a smile to her lips, and often a blush to her cheeks as well.
Circling around a tree Mahlar spotted broad leaves and focused his attention. He knew these leaves, and knew the flower that grew from the plant. It was...he stopped that thought upon spotting the flower, it was half eaten, that's what it was. He sighed slightly but couldn't fault whatever creature had decided to make that plant it's snack. It just mean he had to keep searching. But if there was one flower among these trees then there was bound to be more, and if he was lucky some of them wouldn't have bite marks on them. With that thought in mind he continued along, occasionally stopping and getting his barrings. It could be easy to get lost it forests if he wasn't paying attention, but even more so when he spend most of his time here zigging and zagging, as well as circling the trees, which was quite disorientating. He had to keep track of where he was so that he could get back to Xiao before night set in.
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Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 12:54 pm
Mahlar continued his search through the forest looking for flowers and a few herbs to scavenger before the cold set in and killed them off. So far the forest had yielded very little in salvageable plants. Though he was making a mental list of spots that should be good for flower harvesting come spring and summer. It was unfortunate that he wasn't able to find all that much, but then again this was only the first day of his search and Mahlar was certain that he would find many more in the coming days if he stuck with it and searched every possible area.
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Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 12:55 pm
He paused to pick a few daisies that he found in an open grove within the forest. They were small but in very good shape. Carefully tucking the flowers into his mane Mahlar did one final sweep of the grove before heading back through the forest. It was getting late and he wanted to get back before dark. Having made decent progress today Mahlar began to make his way through the trees once more, headed towards the meadow and eventually home. All told he had found just over two dozen flowers. Not a huge haul but good considering the area and how late in the year it was. He did keep his eyes open on the journey home. Sometimes flowers could be hidden from view but if a wind shifted the grasses just right, or an animal moved through they might uncover a flower that had earlier been missed.
Unfortunately he saw nothing else but a smile grew on his lips the closer he got to home. He was about to see Xiao again and was looking forward to hearing about her day and seeing how she liked the flowers he had found.
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2015 4:56 pm
Mahlar had made it about half way home when a speck of color not far to his left caught his attention. Though he wanted to go and see Xiao he just couldn't resist checking it out. She knew he would be gone most of the day looking for flowers so she wouldn't mind if he took this small detour. In fact, he was actually heading home much sooner than he had expected due to finding so little in this area. So, if this patch of color ended up being flowers in good condition then it would be worth his time and effort to check it out. Glancing around for a moment to see if there were any other Soquili in the area Mahlar altered his course so he would come up to whatever had caught his attention.
Please be flowers, he thought as he got closer. A huge smile crossed his lips when he saw that it was indeed flowers that he had spotted from a distance. Now he just had to hope they were in good enough condition to bring back with him. Stopping to get a closer look Mahlar first noticed that they were roses. Vibrantly red roses. That made him even happier. Roses were the flowers he most often kept in his mane, but he would use other flowers if he couldn't find roses. These ones seemed to be in excellent condition as well. There seemed to be quite the cluster of them. Now he just had to carefully harvest them. Being mindful of the thorns he knew were on the stems he carefully began to cut them away from the plant using his teeth. Setting the roses in a pile he continued to collect all the good ones.
A particularly large one among the bunch caught his attention. The others he and Xiao would likely use for arrangements, but his one he would give to Xiao as a gift. This one not only had a large flower but also much larger thorns. This time he took his time clipping the flower off the plant and while the thorns poked him in the lips it wasn't enough to draw blood. Carefully he picked up the roses and placed them in his mane for an easy way to carry them back to Xiao. This had been a worth while stop. However, before he hurried home he wanted to take a short look around. If there was one bunch of good flowers here then there was a chance that he might find a few more. There was still a few hours of good sunlight for him to work with and each day he waited to gather flowers meant he might miss the last of the season. The grass was fairly deep here so it would take some effort to hunt out any remaining flowers but Mahlar was willing to put in the time and effort to do a search.
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 12:41 pm
Wading through the tall grass was not the easiest thing to do. If he had been a full sized Soquili it would have been little work to travel across this meadow, but being the small size that he was he had to work for it. Not that he minded. He had been rewarded with a few very nice flowers to bring back to Xiao. All in all, the day had been very successful. He could only hope that the days ahead when he checked other areas were as fruitful as this one, if not more so.
The sun was dipping low on the horizon when Mahlar finally decided to bring his search for flowers to an end. Between the ones he had his bird friend bring back earlier, the ones in his mane and the last few that he carried by their stems in his mouth, Mahlar was certain that Xiao would be very pleased with his efforts. He had been worried when he set out that it might have been too late to find any flowers. But his persistence paid off and now he was bringing a bounty home.
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 1:01 pm
He was still quite a ways from home, thanks to him being distracted by that last meadow and going a bit too far into it. While he was feeling tired, knowing that he would see his beloved mare soon and that he could share these flowers with her and tell her all about his day made it worth it. Perhaps tomorrow Xiao would join him on the hunt. With two of them they would be able to collect more flowers. Of course, he would understand if she stayed behind. There was still plenty to do back at her hut and he wouldn't pull her away from that when he could do this by himself.
After walking for a long time, and with the sun nearly set, Mahlar caught sight of Xiao's small hut. He was back safe and sound. Not wanting to be gone another moment longer Mahlar burst into a trot, heading for the hut and his love.
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