WQ - Restoration of Astorea - Nurture Nature

Vina was very happy that the fight with Titanius was over and done with, and that they could get to work undoing the damage done and restore the area to a healthy state. Specifically she was quite eager to join in healing the land, as Titanius's corruption and destructive nature had resulted in a lot of flora and fauna being hurt or outright removed, so there was a lot of work to be done for nature lovers like Vina. She was aware that the people of Astorea also needed all the help they could get, but if they didn't make the land habitable first it would cause more trouble down the line.

Standing on a tall rock Vina surveyed the land of Western Astorea, azure eyes taking in the view while her tail idly swished from side to side behind her. As one might expect there really wasn't a lot left, with a large portion of the area being completely barren with cracks and tears in the ground, and what little life was left was crippled or even twisted, dried up and corrupted by Titanius's Dissonance. Even with the creature itself gone it was still leaving its mark. Well, Vina wasn't planning to let that happen.

Looking up she saw her friend Fjær circling high above her, keeping an eye out in case anything dangerous approached them. She didn't expect any trouble but on the other hand her hawk couldn't really do much to help restore the land, and he did a much better job up there with his sharp eyes than sitting on her shoulder looking pretty. Smiling the white Felis jumped down from the rock, landing on her feet before turning around towards her two friends who had agreed to come along on the job.

@Kaede Hoshi had the ability of foresight and premonition, which Vina figured would be useful. While she wasn't planning to ask Kaede where each and every seed should be planted it couldn't hurt to have someone along who would be able to inform them if there was either great misfortune to be avoided or great fortune to be steered towards. Aside from that Vina had also reasoned that the Yladian could benefit from being together with friends, doing something simple and peaceful which had little chance of getting out of hand. From what Kaede had told her the visions also tended to result in a headache, so out here where it was just the three of them and there shouldn't be a lot of things to get premonitions about her friend should be able to find some rest and enjoy herself.

@Blake Elgis was invited because while Vina was good with plants and the like Blake was the physical fighter, and while this kind of work greatly benefited from a druidess like Vina herself you also couldn't go wrong with someone suited for a great deal of manual labour. Also she found Blake very pleasant company, and she was pretty sure Kaede would also get along very well with the woman.

Smiling at both of her friends Vina spread her arms, trying to indicate the vast wasteland behind her as she addressed the other two, her tail now wagging with more enthusiasm while she tried to infect them with some of her enthusiasm and good mood.

So! While the higher ups keep each other busy talking about democracy and the like we can do something productive. Thankfully most of the people living in this area managed to evacuate once it became clear Titanius's reach was expanding, so the amount of casualities has been kept to a minimum. That said they'll be needing their homes back, but if there's no nature they won't survive very long and honestly it'd be unfair to tell them to endure this kind of lifeless field.

She wasn't really interested in the political side of the most recent developments, she was just glad she had nothing to do with it and could focus on something like this instead. Pointing at both her friends she continued, eventually pointing at herself.

The idea I had was this: we're all going to be planting seeds -I've got plenty of seeds on me- and I'll do my best to help them grow to be big and strong. Once there's a decent amount of flora in the area nature should take care of the rest. Blake, this is your opportunity to show off that toned body of yours~ Kaede, for the most part I'm hoping being out there will help avoid you getting overloaded with visions, since there's barely anything here aside from us. Although as an Yladian I think you'll look good with some plants and dirt around you~ Since I can only really focus on growing the plants once they're planted I'll be trying to keep everyone happy and healthy. This includes entertainment such as singing, dancing, and massages~ Oh, and since it's just the three of us here and we'll be doing a lot of earthy work you might want to consider removing any clothes you don't want to dirty~

Beaming at the both of them the foxlike woman waited for either of them to offer suggests or voice their approval or disapproval, showing them a handful of the many seeds she was carrying in her pouch to help regrow Western Astorea.

It'll be hard work, but I'll try my best to ensure every one of us will enjoy it~

 

_____Had Kaede’s week been going better this sort of activity would have been a good change of pace. But as the Yladain held her black grimoire in her hand, the blank pages flipping rapidly as she could only exhale and moved to the barren area with so much as a perverted comment or action. Book closing as she set it back on her belt and drew her crudely, yet deadly looking spear off her back. Arms pulling the weapon back before she stabbed the earth to make a hole for a seed and moved along.

”As fun as it would be to strip down fully just because you said that… I don’t think now is the time to be taking things so lightly my dear…”

_____Kaede moved once more, spear stabbing the earth, pulling it back up and moving to the next spot she saw growing something decently well. Kaede needed to find some things to help lighten her mood, that was a glaring issue on her mind since drinking and company of other woman just did not seem to fill that voided section of her life. With a light sigh she simply moved to keep working and trying her hardest to just not seem in the mood to be naughty. Not show that she was troubled or dealing with something annoying.

_____That was simply how Kaede was, fine helping another person but hated to show when she could use some help. Breaking the ground again the perverted yladian kept working as they had planned to do. Her mind elsewhere as she seemed to walk like a drone around the area.
@Vina Skysong | @Blake Elgis

 

Well, being dragged somewhere or into something by a female friend was not too uncommon for Blake, and this was no different. Well, at least this time it didn't seem to involve anything extremely lewd, at least. She couldn't deny that it was fun, but too much of a good thing is always bad. Plus, she needed to train more, and she couldn't do that while being a moaning mess! She was improving, but... These weird spots have been sprouting on her hands since the fight with Titanius, yet when she went to a Cleric, he assured her that it wasn't a recurring case of corruption. Although, her Arachna pet seemed to grow a bit happier whenever she mentioned it. Weeeird!

But this was no time to go around worrying about black spots! She needed to use her body to something else! In this case, it was carrying sacks of seeds towards @Vina Skysong and Kaede's location, and dealing with the ever so present corrupted beasts with a well-placed kick. After carrying about half a dozen sacks, she stopped before stretching and chuckling. "I suppose someone has to be the brawn of the group, aye. Who's the brain between the two of you, i wonder~?"

She teasingly asked them, before grabbing a bunch of seeds and planting them on the area that @Kaede Hoshi dug in with her spear, before covering them back with dirt and proceeding to the next hole. She didn't strip not because of shame or anything of the like, but mostly because she didn't mind getting dirty. She did take off her dress though, putting it very far away from the mess that they were going to make. That thing was precious and as a true englishwoman, she was going to keep it safe at all costs.

 

Seeing that Kaede wasn't being as cheerful as Vina had hoped the Felis hid her worry, as it wasn't very difficult to see that the seer was struggling with her situation. The fact that she'd turned down the offer of stripping and hadn't said anything perverted in return was already an indication that there was something on her mind, but the druidess couldn't force her friend to be carefree. She'd do her best to be supportive, but this kind of thing wasn't something you could brute force.

Well, given that I'm already wearing plants I don't really need to worry about getting them dirty. And if you'd rather keep your clothes on I don't mind, given that you both look great with or without clothing~

For a moment she stuck out her tongue in a playful manner before she also got to work, letting Kaede take the lead by using her foresight to figure out where to plant the seeds. She shot Blank a grateful look for carrying the sacks of seeds, the druidess herself grabbing small amounts of seeds as she followed the seer and helped Blank fill in the little holes prepared with the help of the spear. It was simple work, something belonging to the lower classes, but it was relaxing and the weather was nice, and together with the pleasant company Vina was quickly humming happily, ignoring the fact that her hair and tail were quickly becoming stained with small spots of dirt as her floor-length hair had plenty of opportunity to drag over the ground with her filling holes, and with her tail wagging behind her and swishing against the ground.

Upon hearing Blank's question which of them was the brain of the group Vina chuckled, then pointed at Kaede without hesitation.

The one telling us where to plant, obviously~ While I know a bit about how to take care of plants she's the one smart enough to take visions of the future and calculate them into easy to understand options. As for me...~ Since we're all beauties I'll have to be the heart, don't I?

With that question handily answered Vina kept working, in the meantime also thinking about what she could do to make things a bit easier for Kaede. The issue was that the seer's problem wasn't insignificant, and completely outside Vina's power to get rid of. Whatever plan she thought of would have to be based around distraction and putting the situation in a new light, and Vina wasn't lying when she said Kaede was the brains of the three of them. While Vina didn't consider herself stupid she didn't think she could magically pull out something that would make Kaede feel better about the situation that the Yladian wouldn't have thought of already.

So Kaede, what's it like to be an Yladian? I've heard a lot about them but you're the first one I've managed to befriend, so I'm curious how many of the rumours are true.

Putting some seeds in the ground and covering them with more soil Vina smiled at the Yladian, for now trying to see if some casual conversation would help Kaede forget the world and just focus on enjoying the here and now for a little bit. It was nice weather, there wasn't anything dangerous in the vicinity, and there wasn't anybody around to bother them. Vina was pretty hopeful for the idea that once Kaede stopped being stuck inside her own head she'd have an easier time relaxing here than under most other circumstances.
@Kaede Hoshi @Blake Elgis

 

"You will need to be more specific as to the rumors you would like to be disclosed. All I know is that my ears are, annoyingly sensitive and there can be days it is very hard to get out of bed, or off the floor depending on my spot a fell asleep."

_____Kaede spoke in a droned tone as she moved her spear to the earth again. The process was taking slightly longer then she herself felt was efficient time use so with a light click of her tongue she moved her spear to her back and yawned lightly. Left arm rolling slowly before she reached to the right and did the same. Bending to each side as she looked over her shoulder to the others.

"You might want to take a few steps back for this..."

_____Kaede seemed to slightly regain the life in her tone, mostly to show she was serious that the two would be wiser to back up slightly as she waved her hands to her chest, fist slamming together before her body began to flicker between seemingly human, to that of a night sky. Once it became stable Kaede moved her hands upward. Stars from her body shooting to her fingers before the shot into the sky.

_____Numbering in the least fifty before Kaede waved downward and the small pen tipped sized orbs began to rapidly rain down to the earth. Each one causing a small dust cloud as the exploded on impact, each roughly a dime sized hole in the wake of the dust clearing as Kaede drifted over the ground calling out more stars and dropping them to make the holes faster.

@Vina Skysong | @Blake Elgis

 

Blake watched in awe as stars or something very similar to them fell down into the soil in a show of lights and shiny stuff. It was quite pretty to watch, and Blake quite enjoyed sitting there for a moment and enjoying the spectacle. But... Kaede's whole attitude towards everything today was very weird. No lewd, no playfullness... THIS IS NOT KAEDE, THIS MUST BE A SPY! Ahem. She shrugged at this, figuring she wasn't the best one to try and bring joy to her. She barely knew her, after all. Still, she kept doing her job, planting seeds and covering them. Sometimes a star would fall on her, but she would shrug it off, even if it burned a bit.

She was going well and dandy, until a sharp pain struck her right arm, which made her have to muffle a scream of pain as she gritted her teeth and slowly lift up her sleeve while somewhat hiding it from @Vina Skysong and @Kaede Hoshi. Her pet Arachna slowly crawled from under her hair, stopping at her shoulder before yawning. She was somewhat cute at this size, but she still looked eeeeeeevil.

She then looked at Blake's arm, and just gave a light chuckle. The spots from before had started to harden and spread around her arm. It looked kinda cool, but it still hurt like hell. Nonetheless, she put her sleeve back in place, before waving to Vina. "I should be more careful with these holes, they're still really hot from the impact, eheh~"

 

It wasn't too surprising that it'd take a bit more than that to have Kaede snap out of her downcast mood, but Vina wasn't known for giving up easily so she kept at it, continuing the conversation and answering Kaede's request for elaboration on what rumours the white felis was exactly referring to.

The first rumour is actually about those ears, although I already knew about those~ That said I think we felis somewhat share your pain, although I have to say there's a lot of situations where I wouldn't consider it a burden at all~

The next part made her eyebrows rise, as she wasn't sure whether that was a racial trait or something belonging to Kaede personally.

So you're saying that yladians might have trouble with waking up? I haven't heard any rumour like that myself... anyway, some other rumours are that unlike the other races yladians universally have little to no body hair, or that you can survive on photosynthesis, or that you can talk to trees and have the trees talk back. And a bigger one is more folkloric, that all yladians are connected through this big tree.

The last one was a bit of a tricky one, since it had been suggested at by a lot of sources but it was very hard to actually verify. It had also been a source of argument between Vina and another player, or at least the potential consequences of such a link. As she talked Vina dutifully put the seeds in the provided holes, at least up until Kaede stopped making new holes and indicated for the two of them to back up, at which point the felis obediently took a couple of steps backwards and watched.

Seeing @Kaede Hoshi turn into something that looked as if it came from the wide expanse of space Vina's eyes widened and she looked on with awe and amazement, seeing the numerous tiny stars slam into the dirt to burn holes into it as Kaede made her way across the field to more quickly provide her and @Blake Elgis with the best locations to plant the seeds. Once there was a safe distance the white-tailed druidess returned to her own work, although since she couldn't turn into a manifestation of space she didn't go nearly as fast as Kaede, having to plant each seed with her own hands.

She was doing quite well, still humming as she left Kaede alone for now as the seer appeared to be busy making sure they'd be done faster, when she noticed Blake suddenly reacting as if struck, the druidess quickly halting her own work as she hastened over to check up on her friend. The stronger felis quickly reassured her that it was nothing important, but the druidess still frowned as she placed her hand on Blake's arm.

Maybe you should hang a bit further back then? You're already going faster than me but even with Kaede speeding up her work we aren't in a real hurry.

As she spoke she sent some healing energy into Blake's arm, trying to lessen the pain and quickly remove the wound so it wouldn't make work more problematic for her friend than it had to be. She did take notice of the spider, but it honestly looked adorable more than anything else (besides evil. It looked adorable and evil) so she paid it little mind for now as she was more concerned with Blake.

 

____Kaede would reply to the questions later, she was after all locked from speaking while in her cosmic form, the vast power that would try and covert her words into destructive magic was not something she felt like dealing with as she made sure the last holes appeared before she fell lightly to the ground and her cosmic form vanished entirely. Scratching the back of her neck she decided to reply to the questions now before her mind forgot them in a flood of other things.

"The rumor is not spread because it would be a very exposed weakness. Most times it's more to those with vast Atonement to magic... and getting out of bed is hard because... well for lack of better wording their very VERY sensitive to the lingering magic in the air and that within them. For my case, since I'm rather literally able to turn into pure magic energy at a moments notice I'm very much crippled by my own sensitivity."

Kaede yawned lightly, not so much worried for telling the two that every so often Kaede was very much easy pray to control, because she kept the rough timeline it happen removed before she moved to the next topic.

"Since I started playing I think I have only shaved my skin twice, and I have been playing since the game first started to spread, though mostly stayed offline since I had school back then... I've never tried to nude sunbathe so i can't exactly reply to that one without just being theory. Lastly, the folklore would be my father's thing... he has been around a LONG time and knows a lot about his own kind so that would be a topic to bounce with him..."

_____Kaede yawned once more as she rubbed her eyes lightly and her mind went back to dragging itself in the shadows. She did not feel up to staying around others, she just wanted to go home, sit in the dark of her room and cry until she had no more tears to shed. Looking back to the other two Kaede sighed lightly under her breath and waved a hand as she started walking away.

"Seems I tired myself out, and since all the holes are made there ain't much use for me here anymore so... I'm just go back home and lay down for a bit... See you two... when I see you I guess."

_____Without further struggle Kaede just walked away from them. If they wanted to catch up they could, or if they tried to drag her back to explain why she was so out of it now that it was clearly showing she would not struggle. But the clear fact hovered, Kaede suffered a great deal of pain recently and trying to cross into what it was no doubt thin ice for anyone, even girls Kaede spent a night with or more.
@Blake Elgis | @Vina Skysong

 

Blake just assured Vina that it was alright, her magic making her sigh in relaxment as her body relaxed, she even blushing a bit while it happened. Seems like it just felt that good, her tail making that a bit more clear as it wagged about happily. The spots on her arm, not visible due to the sleeve covering them, still remained. It would seem that they were much more than a simple infection. But Blake paid no mind to it, as her Arachna pet claimed her shoulder for herself as she got up and hugged @Vina Skysong briefly, chuckling.

She then noticed that @Kaede Hoshi was preparing to leave, and let out a sad purr. She really liked her company, even in this less than exciting state of hers. She had to do something. Picking herself up, she went quickly towards Kaede, before giving her the tighest hug of her life, lifting the Yladian of the ground with ease. "I wish to see ya soon too, you silly girl! Silly i say!"

She then put her back on the ground, her ears perked up and her tail wagging wildly as she waved goodbye to Kaede, a dumb smirk on her face of pure joy. She then went back to helping Vina, putting seeds in the star-holes and dealing with the corrupted abomination that happened to spawn every so often. It wasn't the most exciting job, but one has to do it, aye?

 

Noticing the happy reaction she got from @Blake Elgis as she healed her fellow felis Vina smiled, then when the brawler hugged her the druidess happily hugged her back, nuzzling into her neck while wrapping her tail around Blake's briefly before letting go again, giggling as she nodded.

If you say it's nothing I'll trust you, but don't hesitate to ask if there's anything, all right? Especially if you need me to check your body for anything else~

That last part was said with a wink before @Kaede Hoshi finished creating holes with her shower of stars, Vina turning around to look at the yladian as she descended back onto the ground and responded to the questions asked earlier. It was interesting to hear about the nature of the yladians, how they could be so attuned to the magic around them that it affected their body, although Vina thought it a bit bothersome if it could get so bad that it would make getting out of bed difficult.

Maybe I can try to make it a bit easier? I've been able to affect magic before using my music, so I might be able to find a way to lessen the burden. And hey, at least that means you've got enough magic talent that learning new spells should be easy, so it's not without its upsides.

When Kaede mentioned a father Vina first nodded in understanding, before a frown crossed her face followed by a look of puzzlement. The lack of hair was interesting to know, although according to Kaede it was less a complete absence and more a very slow growth. However...

Your father? Who is that?

Kaede was another player (at least, Vina was pretty sure the yladian was a fellow player), so how'd she get a father in the game? Was it some NPC who had adopted Kaede after seeing a young yladian out alone? Some kind of quest? She'd yet to see any classical type of quest in Terrasphere, but that didn't mean there weren't always special scenarios...

She'd have pushed a bit more, her curiosity almost threatening to take direct control of her tongue, but with Kaede announcing that she was leaving and looking quite tired and worn out she realized that would've been bad. She'd have liked to try and entertain Kaede and cheer her up a bit, but the seer didn't look like mindless fun was what she really needed right now. So instead Vina followed Blake's example and hugged Kaede, although in contrast to the brawler the druidess's hug was a lot softer and gentle, if no less intimate as Vina spoke softly.

Have a nice rest Kaede~ But you'll always have a use with us, as we both really enjoy your company. If you need anything just ask, okay?

With that said she let go and gave Kaede an affectionate and warm smile, waving as the yladian departed before turning back towards Blake and helping her finish planting all the seeds.

Once all the seeds were planted and Blake had gotten rid of any annoying monsters still wandering about Vina motioned for the other felis to stand back while she placed her hands together and closed her eyes, concentrating and focusing her magic before she began to sing, letting her magic spread throughout the air around her and the ground beneath her feet.

For thousand years a beast of chaos dominated these lands
No plants could grow no animals escape
Leaving nought but sand

But finally with blood and tears balance has been restored
With bravery and courage heroes fought
With magic and with sword

Now it is time for green to return and cover the lost earth
Peace has returned and death was averted
New life we will birth

So come forth and raise your heads towards the light of the warm sun
Do not fear darkness that already passed
A new age has begun

Weaving her magic with the music into the earth filled with new seeds it didn't take long before the first saplings began to show themselves, feeding on Vina's magic to grow at a strongly accelerated rate. The sooner these lands began filled with life once more the better. Once Vina stopped singing the saplings were about a foot tall, the druidess, overlooking her work before nodding and looking around at Blake.

I'll have to come back later to sing some more but this is a good start, right? I think we've done our job for now.

Walking past Blake she let her tail brush against the woman's leg, sliding across until the very tip curled around the limb for a second before finally letting go, the foxlike felis looking over her shoulder at her friend.

Shall we get something to eat? All that work makes me want to fill my belly afterwards~