It wasn't that the foliage was fighting back, necessarily. It didn't move on its own or do anything out of the ordinary for green, thriving branches and vines. But, child of Halo that he was, Tal's experience lay in chopping a tree down at its trunk. Trying to trim living branches was, it turned out, a lot harder than it sounded and the courier found himself whacking down leaves without making much progress on the branches that hung over his head. His temper got the better of him and he tried to grab a branch to hold it still while he whacked it with his axe--
And finally managed to chop through it successfully! --right before the branch fell on his head. "Fucking gods damn stupid fucking trees," he snarled under his breath, rubbing the new bump on his head and stuffing the branch with a great deal of unnecessary violence into his Bag of Holding.
Deimos had greater luck than the rest of them. Two magics at once could be a tricky business, but the General had plenty of practice in his own powers, allowing him to manage the separate tasks simultaneously. Not with any particular flair, but the bushes were soon corralled back into order, and the ripe berries were deposited safely in baskets for distribution before LongNight. The way to the fruit trees was now clear, with apples, pears, plums, oranges, and other fruits filling boughs both high and low. Some were clearly ripe while others weren't; it was up to Deimos to decide how best to proceed with the harvest.
Sah's luck wasn't any better than Tal's, unfortunately. The second vegetable he uprooted seemed a bit light; indeed, it was missing most of its meat. Something had been burrowing beneath the rows and nibbling at the vegetables from beneath. There weren't very many untouched ones worth harvesting, and there would be even less if he didn't find the culprit before it struck again...
Cordelia should have had an easier time of things. And yet... those damn dice fate was not so kind. She could only find half of the labels, and those were badly faded and practically illegible. Here, too, was evidence of sabotage from some intruder who had no business in the greenhouse, though the signs were a bit different; many of the herbs had leaves that had been nipped and torn, and the raised beds in the boxes were scratched up, adding to the disarray. She might have felt the pressure of a pair of beady eyes watching her from beneath a nearby bush before it rustled and they disappeared back into the shadows deeper within the verdant tangle.
Round 2!
Deimos is making good progress and has reached the fruit trees; keep up that harvesting~
Sah and Delia have vermin to hunt!
Tal has hopefully learned an important lesson about where to cut overhanging branches now and can continue his trimming~
And finally managed to chop through it successfully! --right before the branch fell on his head. "Fucking gods damn stupid fucking trees," he snarled under his breath, rubbing the new bump on his head and stuffing the branch with a great deal of unnecessary violence into his Bag of Holding.
Deimos had greater luck than the rest of them. Two magics at once could be a tricky business, but the General had plenty of practice in his own powers, allowing him to manage the separate tasks simultaneously. Not with any particular flair, but the bushes were soon corralled back into order, and the ripe berries were deposited safely in baskets for distribution before LongNight. The way to the fruit trees was now clear, with apples, pears, plums, oranges, and other fruits filling boughs both high and low. Some were clearly ripe while others weren't; it was up to Deimos to decide how best to proceed with the harvest.
Sah's luck wasn't any better than Tal's, unfortunately. The second vegetable he uprooted seemed a bit light; indeed, it was missing most of its meat. Something had been burrowing beneath the rows and nibbling at the vegetables from beneath. There weren't very many untouched ones worth harvesting, and there would be even less if he didn't find the culprit before it struck again...
Cordelia should have had an easier time of things. And yet... those damn dice fate was not so kind. She could only find half of the labels, and those were badly faded and practically illegible. Here, too, was evidence of sabotage from some intruder who had no business in the greenhouse, though the signs were a bit different; many of the herbs had leaves that had been nipped and torn, and the raised beds in the boxes were scratched up, adding to the disarray. She might have felt the pressure of a pair of beady eyes watching her from beneath a nearby bush before it rustled and they disappeared back into the shadows deeper within the verdant tangle.
Round 2!
Deimos is making good progress and has reached the fruit trees; keep up that harvesting~
Sah and Delia have vermin to hunt!
Tal has hopefully learned an important lesson about where to cut overhanging branches now and can continue his trimming~
