Finishing tying her wish to the tree decorated for the festival, Orah stepped back to look over the other ones and reach up to stroke the cat on her shoulders. Everyone seemed excited about the Starfest activities and the tree was very popular. She could see tons of little dangling bits of paper beside her own, all with a wish inside for something to help the community.
Orah hadn't paid much mind to the festival last year, too caught up with the thread of the Blight, but this year was different. There was a brightness to everything, a sense of joy, and for once, she wasn't alone for it. Her fingers scratched under Illyria's jaw as she considered which piece of paper, which wish, she wanted to take. Her own had been fairly simple, she hoped; 'Plant something somewhere that needs more life to it, and take care of it.' Though the city had done very well recovering from the dead spots the Blight had left behind, there were still some places that could use the help.
"What about this one?" Orah said as she reached up to a nearby fluttering piece of paper, her voice pitched low to her guardian. Pulling down the paper, she opened it for both of them to read.
Mrs. Grant can't take care of her yard any more. I wish someone would help her out. It included an address and Orah's eyebrows rose as she considered it. Lawncare wasn't really her area of expertise, but she knew plants and she knew how to find out what she didn't know. It made her curious why this woman couldn't take care of things, but it must have been something serious, for someone who knew her to see and want to find her help.
"Sound good?" She asked, glancing towards her shoulder.
The Wishing Tree (2) : Your wish is only said to come true if you grant the wish of someone else; when you write your wish, you must also take one off of the tree and do your best to grant it. What wish do you pull off, and how do you intend to ‘grant’ it? Do you work with someone else to grant this wish, or do you work alone? You may get approval from another player to use the wish their character hung up, but no names are attached so your character may not ever know who wrote it!
tefla
Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2023 3:26 am
Illyria's gaze had been laser-focused on the tied down pieces of paper that each contained a wish inside. Her first instinct would have to do her best to bat at the wishes with her paws but she was much too refined for that nowadays. Being in the company of others meant that even though it was totally a cat-like behaviour to do so, she had to behave herself lest she and Orah cause too much of a scene. Instead Illyria leaned into the gentle scratches that were applied to her jaw before she tilted her head to watch as Orah plucked a random piece of paper down from the tree.
There had been an explanation of what was expected when you left a wish in the tree and since Orah had tied one up it was only befitting that they remove one and try to grant what was wished for inside. As Orah opened the paper that they both could read it Illyria thought about what the wish asked for and she gently tucked her head nearer to Orah's ear before she quickly whispered to her friend, "I'm game. I can't help as a cat but I have the ability to be a non-feline human for a few hours. We could definitely get things accomplished in that time. And if we can't finish it all in one go, we could always finish the job the next day, right?"
Illyria was keen to find out what sort of help this Mrs Grant would need with her lawn. There was probably things that she'd need to understand first but she could always ask Orah.
Orah nodded as she tucked the paper into the pocket of her skirt, reaching up again after to smooth a hand down Illyria's side.
It wasn't actually terribly far to the address listed. Orah drove them both in her little car, the trunk loaded with anything she could think of that they might need. When they arrived outside, she realized why someone would go and put that wish on the three. The lawn was worse than just 'overgrown'. The grass was knee high and the flowerbeds out front, which must have once been sweet and cottagey, were choked with weeds. The picket fence had faded from what had probably been white to a weathered gray.
"Oof... this might be a big job." She said as she parked and got out, holding the door for her cat. "I want to go knock on the door and just see if its okay before we do the yard work. I don't want to get yelled at or anything."
With Illyria beside her, the young woman walked up the over grown path to the faded front door and knocked on it, waiting rather nervously for an answer. When it came, it was in the form of an old woman with a walker. Orah introduced herself and Illyria, showing her the slip of paper they'd gotten of the tree. The woman seemed taken aback by it, but after a while admitted that taking care of the lawn had just gotten to be too much for her, but that she had no money to hire anyone to do so. She didn't have family that lived in Destiny City to do it for her.
Orah did talk her around to letting them do the lawn for her and even asked if they could fix up the flower beds. When that was approved, she thanked her for her time and headed back to the car with disguised cat-girl in tow.
"Alright... she said she has an old lawn mower in the shed. We'll need to get some gas for it, some bags for the grass clippings and what not, and some flowers. Are you up for a run to the Home Depot?" Orah asked, feeling a growing sense of determination. They could do this, and it would make a huge difference in that lady's life.
tefla
Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2023 9:50 pm
At first Illyria hadn't been sure when she should activate her glamour in order to remain as incognito as could be. The best chance would have been before she and Orah had taken off in the direction of the address that had been provided on the wish. But even as they had gotten into Orah's car for the drive over had Illyria realized that a stop may not be in order. Inwardly she hoped that she'd not startle Orah too badly when the switch was made. Heck, the idea of causing an accident was not high on her list of things to experience. Instead of being silent about the whole thing Illyria warned Orah before she made the change.
Once that brief shock was over Illyria made sure that she was following the human custom of buckling herself into the seat that she occupied before making an alarm that would give her approximately a ten-minute warning for when her glamour time was set to expire. Once that was settled she eagerly looked forward to being able to avail herself to helping fulfil the wish that she and Orah and chosen. But once the car pulled up to the address that had been provided Illyria was suddenly very concerned about the task that lay in front of them. It looked extremely daunting. How were she and Orah ever going to get through this tangle of a jungle. Her eyes widened slowly before she relaxed. She was with Orah and that was all that mattered. They'd be able to get through this. As Orah made the introductions to Mrs Grant Illyria hung back, a little shy of interacting with the elderly lady. As Orah explained what had brought them here and what they wished to do in order to help Illyria felt a surge of pride flush through her body. The fact was, it felt really good to be able to help out this stranger. As she and Orah reconvened outside to go over what needed to be done there was a flash of uncertainty over a trip to a more public location but she was willing to do what needed to be done. Moving back to Orah's car she glanced around to the overgrown yard before nodding, "Let's do this then. Home depot and then back here to start taming this monster of a job."
If she'd been in her cat form she'd have been purring up a storm at the thought of taming something that looked so wild and indomitable but in her human form, there was still a little uncertainty over what she would be able to accomplish.
Orah had been startled to learn Illyria had a human disguise she could wear, but she'd also been very proud of her. Her cat was resourceful, duty-driven, and kind, all things Orah loved about her. It was a bonus that she was also quite pretty as a human.
It was fun to take her to the store and walk around with her, getting flowers from the garden section and some paper bags for lawn clippings. The old woman had mentioned that she had a push lawn mower, so they didn't need anything for that.
Once back at the old lady's house, Ida set their purchases aside and went to look for the lawn mower. Wading through the tall grass, she made it to the tiny shed in the back and had to muscle the door open, since it wanted to stick. In the dark and cobwebs inside, she found the ancient mower and pulled it out, bumping and rattling. It seemed in decent repair, even if it was old. As she prepared to tackle the grass, she gave Illyra a smile and nodded at the over grown flower beds.
"Do you think you could pull all the weeds out of those beds? There are some garden gloves in the back of my hair if you want to do it by hand, otherwise I think I saw a shovel in the shed. Grab a bag and you can throw them all into that once you pull them out." She said, leaning hard onto the handle of the mower to get it started. Rolling forward set the blades to turning and they bit into the grass, cutting it off at a more decent height... and leaving a pile of clippings behind.
tefla
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2023 7:09 pm
Winding throughout the various aisles of the store had been an interesting experience. Even as Orah had made all the necessary purchases had Illyria been a silent shadow to her friend, violet eyes never missing a single step taken. When everything had been bought and stored back into Orah's car did Illyria make a mental note of how much longer she could remain in this form before she sat back and enjoyed the simple feeling of knowing that what they were doing ... was helping out a senior citizen of the city they both loved.
When they arrived back at Mrs Grants did Illyria listen carefully to what Orah was explaining to her before she nodded once in agreement. She could definitely help out by pulling the weeds. "I can do that task easily enough Orah. It'd be my pleasure to do so."
Instructed as to where there were gloves to use did Illyria return from seeking them out before she grabbed a bag and walked over to one side of the flower bed before she sat on the edge and moved into a more comfortable position. Weeding wasn't that difficult but it was going to be a bit of a doozy if she were to be hunched over for any period of time. Grasping the first weed and giving it a gentle tug Illyria was pleased that there was hardly any resistance but knew that her luck wouldn't last. Throwing the pulled plant into the bag that she had grabbed did Illyria begin to repeat the process over and over. Some of the more larger weeds took some coaxing to release their hold on the soil but when that happened Illyria would just tug harder.
All in all - she was making steady progress on the issue at hand.
It felt like it took ages to finish mowing the lawn. With the heat, the sun and exercise, Orah felt sweat dampening the edges of her hair and running down the small of her back. It was done though, and she could look over the clipped lawn with satisfaction. Next was raking up the clippings and putting them into a bag. While she worked on that, Orah hummed softly to herself and then began to sing in a low voice.
It was a gentle song, something lilting and easy and memorable. Something she'd sung years and years ago, back when she'd been in choir in high school. It made the task a more pleasant thing and she was smiling as she did it, sneaking glances at where Illyria worked from time to time. It was nice to do something mundane like this with her. Something that wasn't for the war and let Ilyria stand on two feet instead of four. She felt like they didn't get to share that very often, save for when they were on Ida and her power signature didn't matter. But tending Ida was different than this.
Clippings bagged up, she stacked the bags by the end of the driveway, where the garbage collectors could get at them. She brought back the flowers they had bought and crouched down next to her friend, setting them in easy reach.
"How are the weeds going?" She asked, pushing her hair back with the back of her grass-stained hand.
tefla
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 2:04 am
After a period of steadily pulling out weeds Illyria could better understand why humans often complained about gardening chores, especially weeding. The muscles in her back screamed at her to rest but since Orah was still managing to keep on task then it only made it more important for her to keep up the work that she was doing. There had been a few tough pulls that had really tested her patience at the chore and there was even one that the young woman knew for a fact that she'd have to either get Orah's assistance with or the shovel that had been mentioned earlier on. Illyria had left that tough one alone. The flower bed was looking more and more like it was ready to actually receive flowers though and that made her beam with pride.
She had caught Orah's singing earlier and had appreciated that her friend could take the time to freely enjoy herself while doing yard work. Illyria's gaze took in the yard that was looking more and more like someone lovingly tended to it on a regular basis before she sighed. That one stubborn weed mocked her efforts and she grimaced before shaking her head. It wouldn't do her any good if she managed to pull the weed but hurt herself in the process.
As Orah finished up with her raking of the lawn clippings Illyria brushed back an errant few strands of hair with her gloved hands before she responded, "Not too badly. I'm having issues with that one weed there," and she waved her hand absently in the plant's direction, "but everything else that doesn't belong in the flower bed here has been evicted."
Illyria's could feel the sun beating down on her and she absently rubbed at the back of her neck to brush away a trickle of sweat before looking at Orah. Her gaze was level as she spoke softly, "I think I've got about only an hour left or so on this form before I lose the ability to hold it. If needed I might have to step away and then return as my cat self."
If the last weed could be pulled and the planting of flowers be a team effort, there was a chance that she wouldn't have to leave Orah at all.
There was a warm, proud feeling to see Illyria working so hard. She didn't have to, and here she was, using up her precious human time to do charity work with her at a task she might not have ever done before. She was a good person, and it made Orah happy to know she'd bonded to such a wonderful Mauvian. She was lucky, and she knew it.
"We'll work quickly then, so we can be done when your time is up." She said with a bright smile. She left her there to retrieve the shovel and helped dig up the stubborn weed. It was most likely a tiny sapling from one of the trees around the lot that had been missed a sprouted, but the sharp spade cut it off neatly at the roots.
The flowers they had chosen were a collection of hostas; shade loving, easy to care for, and perennial, they would hopefully do well in these beds. Orah hoped they would make the old lady smile, and give her lots of lovely flowers.
"I think..." She said softly as she bent over the dirt, helping Illyria to press some hostas into the hole they'd made and cover them with rich, black soil. "Once we're all done, I might call one of the local landscaping places and see if they might be okay stopping by once in a while to mow her lawn for free."
She dusted her hands before reaching for the next plastic pot, upending it into one hand to free the root ball and soil. "It would be a shame if it all just got over grown again, and it really wasn't that much work. Hopefully I can find a place that would be happy to do it for her. It would really help her out."
tefla
Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2023 3:05 am
The tall, sturdy weed that had been causing her a little bit of issues could not withstand the repeated onslaught of a shovel wielded by Orah and soon Illyria was moving to shove that peskiest of weeds into a bag with it's friends who had been tossed in there before with a wide grin. Her eyes lit at the multitude of flowers that Orah had brought out from their shopping excursion earlier and it was with a great deal of pride that she took a container from the pile before digging at the soil to create another hole in which this plant would find it's new home.
Gently, and with great care did Illyria remove the Hosta from it's container home and moved to place it reverently into the bed of soil before moving soil from around the depression in towards the center to cover the plant's root system so that nothing was left exposed to the elements that might affect how long it lasted.
Slowly at first, but getting a little faster as she moved forward, and so that they could work as a team more consistently did Illyria begin to dig into the soil in spaced intervals so that Orah would be able to follow behind and place each new plant they'd brought with them into the depressions before covering them up. Time was of the essence but she mostly needed to make sure that she was making the holes at the right depth and she sighed as she neared the end. It was Orah's suggestion of having someone come out to maintain the yard that had the Mauvian smiling a genuine smile, "even if such a company weren't able to do it for free, I'd be willing to find a way to help pay for whatever costs might be incurred in the hiring process. I sort of feel a sense of pride at being able to have helped with tidying up this lady's yard given that she's not able to work on it herself."
Orah dusted the dirt from her hands and smiled at her friend as they finished planting the last of the plants they'd brought. She reached out, impulsively, and wrapped an arm around her human shoulders, hugging her against her side.
"Thanks for helping me with this. I think we did a really good job." She said, feeling that same glow of pride for what they had accomplished. It was a lot, if only a little thing in the big scheme of things. They had made one person's life better, and that mattered. "We can't do this for everyone in the city, but we could at least do this for her. Now hopefully other people will step forward and help continue it."
Orah released her friend to start gathering up the tools and the garbage, stuffing it into a plastic bag as she went.
"Why don't we head home and get cleaned up? Then we can get some dinner and relax." She said cheerfully as she offered her hand down to Illyria.
tefla
want to wrap this?
Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2023 1:55 am
Illyria looked up from the last plant that had been put into the cleared up flower bed before Orah's warm hug had her smiling softly. They had done a really good deed here and she was sure that Mrs Grant would enjoy the hard work that had been put into restoring her yard to something that could be easily maintained going forward. Whether or not it was from others like herself and Orah that would come and put in the effort to neaten things up out of the goodness of their own hearts ... or a company that'd be willing to put in the time ... she knew that deep down inside, she and her bonded had made the important first step in proving that things could be done.
As Orah thanked her Illyria felt her cheeks warm a little before she shook her head, "I feel that it was only right to help out. I guess thank you for letting me come along to be able to lend a paw, er, hand. I thoroughly feel a sense of accomplishment in what we've done here: we've given back Mrs Grant her yard. Maybe it's not as it once was but we've created our own version of paradise for her."
Illyria glanced around at the shortened grass in the front lawn with the old fashioned lawnmower still sitting idle and then turned her gaze to the flower bed in which the pair had just spruced up magnificiently.
As Orah moved to gather up the tools and the garbage Illyria took the quiet moment to mentally write down a wish on a slip of paper that she'd taken from the table before she and Orah had left the Wishing Tree. If her wish had been expressed in words it would have been along the lines of, I wish that everyone could work together for the greater good ... but since it just remained a blank piece of paper she carefully willed the words that she wanted to write down before burying the biodegradable paper into a corner of the flower bed before dusting off her hands and waiting for Orah to return. Once she did Illyria accepted the offer of the outstretched hand and took it with a practiced gesture before brushing off her own clothes and smiling.
"I think that sounds like a swell idea."
As they left thought Illyria thought on the blank piece of paper before smiling softly, in her mind, the true wish went something along the lines of, I wish to be the best person I can be for those that I care about and protect. Please, find someone that you can aspire to do the same and your life will be rewarded by the bonds that will materialize.
Whimsical Blue
sure thing. I think this works as a fin post from me
