[PRP] Planting Colors (Harvest & Duga Couleur)

[divena]

"This all looks quite fascinating," Duga praised, cheerfully as she looked over it all. "Are you certain it's alright to spare, though?" She had been saying something about winter, hadn't she?  

[Bardess Ookami]

"Yes, I would rather see someone eat and enjoy than see it spoil. I work year round so that there may yet be food, year round," she said simply with a warm smile. "And the two things that truly make food taste the best, is when hard work has gone into the growing, and when friendship shares in the eating."  

[divena]

"You really do enjoy your work, don't you?" Duga asked, warmly. She nibbled a bit on the spread in front of her. "And you seem to be very good at it! This is delicious!"  

[Bardess Ookami]

"Why thank you," she said, smiling as bright as the life giving sun. "And yes, I very much do enjoy my work, and my connection to the land. I find it rewarding in more ways than I could easily enumerate."  

[divena]

"How did you get into all of this?" Duga asked, curiously, sensing a story.  

[Bardess Ookami]

"I spent a lot of time near human farms as a foal. I would watch them work, and it looked fun, and then all winter they would have plenty to eat, and I'd have to find what I could in the snow. As I grew up...I made the connection. Somehow the odd work they were doing led to having food year round.

"So I started really watching, you know? Learning. One time I got caught, and it scared the life out of me... but it actually wasn't so bad, and I got to learn new skills, and when I finally was able to get away...."

She nodded to her harness plow.


"I was still rigged up to that, so I got to keep it."  

[divena]

Posting IM RP Logs:

Divena

"That's surprisingly resourceful," she said, with a smile, impressed that Harvest had managed to escape enslavement and even came out of it with more knowledge. Useful knowledge.

Bardess Ookami

“I wouldn’t want to do it again, it was terrifying, and my mouth still hurts but... I’m glad I leaned what I did. It’s been very useful, and helps me to keep a full belly, which is wonderful. And to fete my friends, which is also quite pleasant.”

Divena

"Any experience is a good one, so long as you learned something from it," Duga said, sagely.

Bardess Ookami

“And survived it,” she added.

Divena

"Well, yes, there is that, too," Duga admitted.

Bardess Ookami

She gave a small chuckle. “Are you enjoying?” she asked, nodding to the food.

Divena

“Oh yes!” Duga nodded. “It’s all quite delicious. Though I do have to ask… how do you keep it fresh all winter? Don’t apples and the like go bad after awhile? At least… I always thought they did.”

Bardess Ookami

“somethings do,” she nodded, agreeing. “I am always learning, always trying new things. One thing I learn is what can winter over on its own. Somethings, like the fruit, I have small ponds built for. More like small puddles. I fill them with water in autumn when it starts getting cold, and the pond, the water, the ground around it... everything freezes. That helps the food inside stay longer. The larger ponds are the ones I’ll be going after first, because they will stay accessible longest and thaw first, and the smaller ones keep me until the final thaws of spring. By then some of the early spring plants are in bloom, and there is always grass. I actually have my least variety in early summer, as unintuitive as that might seem.”

Divena

“I… suppose that makes sense,” Duga said, once again impressed by how much work went into the meal she was eating, and the amount of forethought this mare gave to each step of the process. “And you do this all by yourself?”

 

[divena]

IM RP Logs:

Bardess Ookami

“Sometimes travelers like you stop by and offer to help. Some stay for an afternoon, some for a day or two here and there. And there is Polly, of course,” she said nodding to the familiar who had fallen asleep, bored.

Divena

“Ah… yes… the bird,” Duga eyed the parrot curiously, then offered a small smile. “No offense, but he really doesn’t seem that helpful.”

Bardess Ookami

“He is. He’s just bad with strangers. He’s really quite pleasant once her gets comfortable with someone. Only took about... two years? Three?”

Divena

“Years?” she repeated, shaking her head. “You have far more patience than anyone else I have ever met.”

Bardess Ookami

“it comes with working the fields. You learn patience, and you get to watch that patience as it is rewarded, year after year.”

Divena

“Have you always been so dedicated? Or did you have a wild phase when you were younger?” Duga asked, finding the idea of this steady mare rebelling against… well… anything amusing.

Bardess Ookami

“I’m sure I wasn’t as a foal, foals tend to be a bit more wild and unfocused, however, I have no strong recollection either way. I have been this way, more or less, as long as I can recall.”

Divena

“Well… it’s very admirable,” Duga said, firmly. “At least, as long as you enjoy what you’re doing.”

Bardess Ookami

She nodded. “Which I do. And it’s fulfilling. And I don’t just mean our bellies,” she said with a grin.

Divena

She chuckled. “Well good. I don’t think I would be able to live as you do. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, especially as it seems to make you so happy, but… I can’t imagine being content in one place.”

Bardess Ookami

“Different people need different things. Just as different crops do. Some plants need more water, some less. I would not try to grow mushrooms in direct sun, nor would I try to grow hay in shade. If we all grew, moved, and thought the same, the world would become boring and bland rapidly.”

Divena

“And there would be no music,” Duga agreed with a small smile. “Just one continuous, irritating note.”

Bardess Ookami

She nodded, agreeing. “Exactly. It takes all sorts to make a proper melody. Or a proper meal.”

Divena

“Unfortunately, it only takes one sour note or bad ingredient to ruin both,” Duga murmured, more to herself. She shook her head slightly. “Ah, but that’s not good conversation. Sorry.”

Bardess Ookami

“Sometimes you can make it work, even with a sour taste.”

Divena

“Perhaps if you like sourness?”

Bardess Ookami

“IF you have a sour taste, couch it in sweet, then the sour and the sweet blend into something new that is neither, and is quite pleasant, if balanced correctly.”

Divena

"I think it would take quite a bit of skill to maintain that sort of balance."

Bardess Ookami

“Does not the best music also take quite a bit of skill to balancE?”

Divena

“Indeed it does,” she agreed with a smile. She looked over the remains of their meal. “And on that note, I think I should take my leave. Pun intended.”

Bardess Ookami

She chuckled. “Thank you for your company.”

Divena

"Thank you for the wonderful meal and stories."

Bardess Ookami

“Anytime you wish to return, please feel free.”

Fin.