[PQ] Sheep shifting [seasonal event]

The sun had barely risen above the horizon when Maea stepped out of the front door, passed the Ludo lantern on the porch that marked her house as one in mourning and onto the yard, with a limping white sheperd by her side. Looking around, she nodded gratefully to those who had arrived and went straight to business, to spare herself any questions or condolences. Pale and wan, the girl looked about ready to collapse but held herself up with the stubbornness of any natural raised in these parts. There were things that needed to be done; she could cry again when it was over.

"Thank you for coming" she said simply. "The sheep disappeared sometime during Long Night, and I've found traces of them in the woodlands. There are fifty-two of them, twenty-five ewes, as many lambs and two rams. I need you to track them down, round them up and bring them back here, to be sorted into the pens. The rams will likely be tricky, they tend to go off on their own... If you find any dead ones, please bring them back anyway, to salvage what there is of meat, wool or pelts."

Taking a deep breath, Maea petted her only remaining dog and tried to think of anything else that needed to be said.

"Look out for the Magna Vermis near pools of water, and be careful with the plantlife... It's Flowerbirth and everything in the woods are a bit... restless. Don't take any unnecessary risks, please. And... I really appreciate your help. Truly."

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Maea needs help with Finding the rams, Herding sheep back Home, Sorting them into pens to count them, and taking care of any dead or injured animals. Watch out for worms and hungry flowers!

Posting order is in effect!

1. Peter
2. Adam
3. Lucas

Peter had been the first to stand before Maea, simply by virtue of having never left the peoperty. Since he hqdgratefully accepted her offer of a place to stay, he had felt indebted to her, and wanted to help however he could. Peter had never been the nurturing type, too out of touch with his own emotions to even barely begin to help someone else. So the only kind of help he could offer was work, and whatever scant company he amounted to. A distance was carefully maintained between him and the other who arrived, Peter shuffling over as soon as he felt someone got to close. While Maea gave her instructions, he glanced over as subtly as he could manage, wide blue eyes seeming to search for something. A beat the end of Maea’s words, and then Peter made a gesture like he was going to raise his hand and step forward before thinking better of both and shrinking back. He took a breath and looked back over at the strangers before asking his question. ”What kinds of... of things should we look for?” He had never had to track down sheep before, and wanted to have an idea of why to do, even if asking made him feel stupid. Peter Perfectly able to hold my own hand, But I still can’t kiss my own neck;

Adam had hung about the noticeboard, sat next to it as casually as possible as he waited for people to read out the notices to each other, discuss them. That way he could hear what was out there and available without having to do the dreaded: ask for reading help. After a couple of hours of people only discussing the Spire (boring) someone finally pointed out something interesting: sheep. With Coffee snaking about his shoulders he had walked up to the fields to help Maea, hoping to get a reputation for helping out so it could do good for him later (and he wanted to show off his cool new dragon friend). Walking in late, he saw Maea and Peter stood by and waved, rolling in beside Peter casually as if he'd always been there. "Hey. Came to help with the sheep...thing. Is it alright if this one stays with me?" He asked, reaching up a finger to stroke under Coffee's chin. A D A M Do you wanna dance? Do you wanna fight? Do you wanna get drunk and stay the night?

Lucas clever as the devil and twice as pretty It was a terrible idea for Lucas to be out in the daytime. It made him explode (and not in the good way) and it made him feel nauseated and feeble and above all that just grumpier than usual. But as he hurried home just after dawn, the hood of his coat drawn safely over his head to shield his face in shadow, he spotted sometime-friend Adam (he didn't actually know what their relationship was at this point but it wasn't negative, per say) with a fucking dragon. At least, it had to be something like that curling about his shoulders, the Ascended changing course to follow after the other man, about to open his mouth and ask what the hell the creature was when it appeared that he had stumbled upon a gathering of sorts. Lucas arched an eyebrow and wrinkled his nose - he certainly didn't feel like helping to find some damned sheep, but the talk of the odd plantlife had rallied his interest. "Go on then," he murmured with a nod, drawing up next to Adam and arching an eyebrow at Coffee. "That doesn't look like a horse," he remarked with a smirk.

She looked among the three men with some trepidation. Peter was fine, a bit timid still but at least she could count on him to listen to instructions.

"Peter, do you mind staying here to make sure the sheep end up in the right place once I bring them back? Rams to the left, ewes to the right and lambs in the center." He would find the right fence gates to be in a state of moderate disrepair, and a colony of small Magna Vermis guarding the puddle right in front of the left one. There were five of them, the largest measuring about four feet in length.

Now Adam, on the other hand... She was glad to see that he had made it through Long Night in one piece, even appeared to thrive if the dragon on his shoulders was any indication. Maea had to restrain herself from bounding over to examine the thing; she knew what it was of course, but could hardly believe her own bleary eyes anyway, because of the rarity of such creatures here. But, well... If her first encounter with the man was any indication, he was trouble ready to happen, and only the fact that he had showed up at all was speaking in hus favor at the moment.

"Thank you for coming, Adam. Your friend is more than welcome; perhaps you two might consider searching for the flock with me? We look for tracks, wool scraped off on trees, listen for bleating and hopefully we come across the flock in one piece. There are two stubborn rams that aren't likely to come along willingly... But for a man like yourself and a dragon, that should not be a problem, right?" Maea gave him a sweet smile; he would find that one of the rams har a penchant for headbutting and the other liked to chew on anything that seemed remotely edible. One at a time they were manageable, but together?

As for the third helper... Maea had no idea who he was. She considered him for a moment, but then simply shrugged; thathe har appeared meant be was free to work, and this needed to be done.

"Right... What is your name, sir? I suspect you've never handled sheep before either? Then, this might be rather unpleasant and I hate to ask, but if you could search for wounded or dead sheep and bring them back here, I would be grateful. Put injured animals in the sheep shed and any dead ones by the outhouse, and I'll see if anything can be salvaged."

He would find a few dead lambs, and one terrified ewe with blood in the fur that had been surrounded by huge, sharp-toothed...flowers. Mutated dandelions? They certainly looked more like lions at this point.

"Alright, unless there are any questions... let's get started!" Maea began to head off in the direction of the woodlands, hoping that this would go down more smoothly than she feared.

Peter was relieved to be given his task first. It meant that he could move away from the other two men and watch from what felt like a safer distance as they received their jobs. Adam was a surprise to see, from the short, vaguely difficult to remember meeting they’d had, he hasn’t exactly seemed like the most altruistic person. And it wasn’t any easier to trust him with whatever the big lizard on his shoulders was. The other man however, was a complete mystery. There was a number of things Peter could assume about him, just based on the way he looked, and none of them were charitable. He did seem to know Adam, though Peter wasn’t sure if that was a positive or a negative. The instructions he had been left with were simple enough. Sort sheep. It would be slow, at least until the other made some progress, so he was glad to see the sagging gates on one of the pens. Less glad to see the giant, writhing works in front of the opposite one, but they should be manageable, hopefully. The largest one of them was nearly as large as he was tall. The fence seemed the easier problem to start with. Peter would never admit to being the handiest person, but in a pinch he had always been able to figure things out. The hinge of the fence was broken, the metal twisted and pulled away from the wood. He could only assume it was caused by the force of the sheep pressing against it. The hinge seemed simple enough to replicate, his hands moving as if to pluck it out of the air when paused. If he made the hinge, he would still need tools to attach it, and the strength to use them. Maybe he could do that for Maea eventually, but not now, when he was alone trying to figure it out. An idea came to him after a few moments of staring at the fence, and a spook of wire appeared in his hands, thin enough to bend but sturdy enough that it would be difficult to break. After making a quick loop around the fence post, Peter wrapped it around the gate, going around and around the gate swung freely again. It wasn’t pretty, but it would certainly work, and hold up until it could be repaired properly. Now there was the issue of the worms. Maea had called them something specific, something he couldn’t remember at the moment. Peter stared at the them, enough distance between him and the puddle that he wouldn’t disturb them, and tried to figure out a plan. They seemed unwilling to leave the puddle, but maybe if he filled it in they would disperse on their own? It was worth trying. Peter went off to see if he could find a bucket, and some loose soil, keeping his eyes and ears open in case anyway came back. Peter Perfectly able to hold my own hand, But I still can’t kiss my own neck;

"He's a bit sick." Adam replied to Lucas with a shrug, glancing up at his dragon companion. Maea presented looking for sheep as if it were a challenge. Adam rolled his eyes and blew out an amused puff of air, holding out his arm for Coffee to walk down and pose with him. "Two rams aren't gonna be a fucking problem for me." After a slow push back of his hair and smile he set off looking for the offending sheep, having to raise his legs up almost comically high to dig his heels out of the muddy field (which ruined his sexy image a bit, but he was not deterred). A bit of wool caught in a tree was his first clue. Adam took it in his fingers and rubbed it between them, wondering why it was that some things, like this, where the same as home...but other things were totally different. But this wasn't the time for inter-dimensional theories, so he lifted up the wool for Coffee to smell then kept going the way that the dragon pointed him. Eventually he saw two rams before him, large with old, curled horns. One of them was for now, still, while the other chewed at grass. Approaching slowly, Coffee crawling about to hang off his hip, Adam reached out a hand to grab for the still ram. He still had to twist his legs oddly to pull them from the mud, but he managed to keep up a gradual, slow pace. --- (I assume you are controlling the rams, Chan? If not let me know and I'll edit in some ram action! :P) A D A M Do you wanna dance? Do you wanna fight? Do you wanna get drunk and stay the night?

"Yes, so I can see," Lucas drawled with a smirk, listening close to the pale woman and her instructions. "Lucas Copperhead," he supplied for his name, speaking from beneath the shade of his hood - which turned out to be a good thing, since the smirk only grew when he realised what his task would be. She was correct - he did not know, nor had he any interest in handling sheep, so dragging back the dead and injured suited him fine.

Tossing a lazy salute in Maea's direction, Lucas set off into the Woodlands to round up the flock. It proved remarkably easy given that dead lambs couldn't run off, and the Ascended might have even been whistling as he worked while he dumped the little woolly bodies where he'd been directed.

Then he found the ewe and the fucking dandelions that seemed to want to murder it. "Great," he quipped under his breath, "I don't have the legs to be Alice from Wonderland, here." Whatever. His shadows leapt out and snatched at the flowers, plucking and throwing them a short distance away, and hopefully giving Lucas time to wrestle the ewe to the sheep shed.

Maea focused on her own task once she got out into the woods. The going was slow as Frost still favored one paw, but the dogs sharp nose did enough work that they soon came upon a large flock of the wayward sheep. A brief count suggested there were about twelve animals all in all, ewes and lambs both, but no sign of the rams yet. Knowing she had plenty more to find, the girl set the dog to work with rounding up the hungry and bedraggled animals, and once the flock was under control she pressed on, hoping to find some more.

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Peter: The temporary fix on the gate holds, but when you try to fill in the puddle, the Magna Vermis become angry and start to encircle you. Be careful! They may be on the small side but a bite will hurt quite badly. The three largest ones are trying to surround you, will you be able to escape?

Adam: Oh dear! One of rams are spooked by the smell of Coffee and try to run away, while the other comes charging towards you with horns down, about to headbutt you in the stomach! The mud is quite deep, will you be alright?

Lucas: Wow! Your attack scatter the mutated flowers quite successfully, but while most of them scamper off, two huge specimen remain standing between you and the ewe. They appear dazed for the moment, but sharp fangs and serrated leaves could do considerable damage. What do you do?

Peter had thought he’d had the right idea, filling the puddle in, but all he seemed to do was enrage the worms. He had never seen anything exactly like the creatures, the ones he knew either much larger or much smaller, but they seeemed to be their own special kind of nasty. They approached him, sharp rings of teeth on display, and Peter backed up, unsure how to handle the situation. The worm he was most wary of was nearly as long as he was tall, and bold on top of it, approaching closer as he backed up. It would have to be the first one he dealt with, and quickly. A memory came to him suddenly, of snakes in his own world. He stepped forward, feinting to the left before moving to dodge the teeth, and reached out, grabbing the big worm just behind its jaws. It was possible Peter had bit off a little more than he could chew with this. The worm was stronger than he was, nearly dragging him down as he tried to pull it away from the others. Thinking fast, he threw the great worm to the ground, then created a long, sharp knife, and drove it through the worms head, pinning it to the ground. He could do the same for the other two that had approached him, losong a bit of his sleeve to the teeth of one. With the three biggest worms taken care of, Peter felt confident enough to return to his original plan, kicking away the smaller worms and filling the puddle with dry dirt to absorb all the water. Peter Perfectly able to hold my own hand, But I still can’t kiss my own neck;

Adam swore under his breath as one of the rams suddenly turned and ran, apparently spooked by something. That it could be the smell of his dragon didn't come to mind, Adam having grown quite used to the reptilian scent (with hint of burning) over the last few days. He watched it leave with a frown on his face, huffing a frustrated breath. How dare a sheep disobey him? A sheep? But before he could go chasing after it the world suddenly began to rush away as he was knocked backwards by large horns, pain exploding in his middle and winding him. Before he could even yell and swear about this development, he realised he was laying in deep, quickly sinking mud. His shoes were going to be ruined. Less importantly, he could die. Adam threw his arms up and looked to Coffee. "Oi, you lil shit. Come lift up daddy." Coffee was not a strong dragon, being still rather small, but he tried his best, clinging onto Adam's shirt sleeves and tugging. A D A M Do you wanna dance? Do you wanna fight? Do you wanna get drunk and stay the night?

His shadows worked quickly and thoroughly, and soon enough the lion-headed flowers were no more. Lucas allowed himself a smirk of victory... until he realised that his shadows had not been quite vigilant enough. He was stopped in his tracks by two particularly vicious looking specimens, blocking his way to the stupid woolly animal. Swearing under his breath, Lucas considered his options. He could employ his shadows again, but they seemed far too... sleek... subtle.

No, the flowers had pissed him off now, and they deserved good old blunt retaliation. And so, taking up a large fallen branch stripped of its leaves from Deepfrost, he swung it hard at the two flowers, hoping to knock them flying. "And stay fucked off," he growled.

It took her most of the day, but with the aid of her dog and the laws of attraction as the flock grew larger, she was able to round up all the sheep in the vicinity. It would have been faster with two dogs and more experienced helpers, but she was happy to find the fence gate mended and a pile of dead Magna waiting for her when she returned home.  

"Well done!" she called to Peter, "Let's just get these troubkemakers sorted, then we'll be done for the day." She was pleased; now it would be easy to count the sheep, and they had plenty of food for supper thanks to the worms.

It was rather a bit harder not to laugh when Adam finally came dragging, covered by mud from head to toe and with a ram meekly held by either horn. It seemed that the mud had helped cover up the smell of the young dragon, and once the horrible threat was gone and their foe had been properly banished, the two kings of the meadow finally decided it was time to go home.

"Why don't you come on inside, Adam, I'll draw you a bath and find some clean clothes? There's supper too if you would like, I owe you plenty for your help!"

More astonishing would be the tale of how Lucas had lobbed the heads off two giant plant lions before rescuing the injured ewe. Maea smiled appreciatively, but remained sceptical at the story. It seemed just a bit too unreal that the creatures had whithered and drifted off like dandelion seeds in the wind. But the sheep was returned and would be alright with some care, and for that Maea was grateful... even if the circumstances were suspect.

"You too, stay for dinner! Thank you so much, to all of you! I really appreciate this. Don't forget to let me know how you want to do with your fee; If you was the lamb I promised, let me know any time!"

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Thank you for bringing the sheep back home! The PQ has been completed, good job!