Solo Snow in the Storm

[Baeye]

Summer 82, 518AV

Baeye, unfortunately, is a heavy sleeper. If she wasn’t she would have been up all night listening to the storm tear through the city. Instead the woman awoke to a continuous rain, heavy thunder and a blood red fog. She was late.

Snow Apple trees are hardy by definition. If they weren’t there was no way them and their fruits could be harvested, let alone survive, during the cold of winter. However, it was still Summer. Yes, perhaps late summer, but still Summer and this meant the Snow trees were little requiring warmth and sun. The storm, especially one like this, already with the nearly season long fog coating the city and covering the sun, would put the trees at a huge risk. The lowered temperature of the entire season, as well as the cold water endlessly pouring could freeze out the young apple buds. The lighting and heavy winds had the possibility of physically injuring, or even knocking down the apple trees.

A storm like this during this time of year could prove fatal to many of the orchard trees. However a storm like this could also injury anyone venturing outside, and so it was not required that a farmhand report to work during these types of weather scenes. It was urged, for the safety of the orchard required many hands, but the Snow family was not about to forcibly put any human life in danger.

Baeye, though, knew exactly what was going on at the Snow house this morning, and she was sure early last night as the storm began. Every single member of that family would be out among the trees, frantically attempting to cover them with tarps and barrels to protect them from the winds and cold. Well, perhaps not Mariolla, being so old and frail. However, Baeye was positive her inaction was not of her own choice. She could practically see her younger family members forcibly restraining the old woman from going outside.

Yet, Baeye was young, eager, caring and most importantly, lived very close to the orchards. She knew if she did not show up to help that no one would hold it against her. In fact she was one of so many no one would probably even notice. But she cared for the trees and she knew if they lost a harvest the Snow Apple Orchard would be in peril, and she couldn’t let that happen.

[Baeye]

And so, bracing herself, she bundled up. She tucked her breeches into her boots, and laced them tight. Tucked a long sleeved blouse into her pants, bundled herself up in her coat, stuffed a scarf into her neck and around her face, holding it in place on her head with a tight cap. Then, with her hands in gloves her pushed against the door to her home, attempting to get out, the wind pushing against her. All her clothing , although would help with the rain and cold, was more for the wind. She had experienced mild frostbite before, and that time it had been much more because of the wind than the cold.

Thankfully, or else she would be staying inside her house during this storm, the Okomo Estates were rather close to the Snow Apple Orchards. Normally, it took her about ten minutes to walk to work, though today it would take her quite a bit longer while fighting against the wind and rain. Outside the rain was pounding, the sound of the wind whistling and hitting against walls and trees and ground was, however, much louder than the fall of rain. Her ears rang, even under the the fabric of her scarf and hat. Her eyes remained nearly entirely closed against the wind and water, and she was happy she had lived in the city her entire life and knew where to go almost instinctively.

It took her much longer than expected, and Baeye could almost begin to see a hint of sun through the dense and red fog that enveloped her. That light, though, would not penetrate much today and she was thankful that she could see even that tiny bit, to remind herself that the sun was, in fact, still there in the sky.

She came extremely close to running into an apple tree before she realized she had even made it to the orchard. She grabbed the tree, in support for a moment, smiling under her scarf, glad she survived that arduous walk. Her smile quickly faded into a frown, though, once the momentous task before her, really hit home. She attempted to make her way towards the Snow household, hoping the materials she needed for her work would be supplied there, or at least a person willing to point her in the right direction.

Her feet felt like weights in this weather, as if she was walking underwater, cemented to the muddy ground. She couldn’t hear the earth slopping around her boots, but she could feel them sink a few centimeters with each step. Her shoulders hunched against the wind that she was sure could knock her over and out in just a few seconds if the Gods so decided. Baeye kept her arms crossed and head down, shielding her eyes from the dry winds whipping at her.

Before long her boot hit wood, and she knew she had arrived at the farmhouse. A voice called out to her, “Hey Stranger! We’ve got tarps up here!” The voice was almost lost in the wind and there was no way, despite her familiarity with most of the Snow family members, she could recognize the voice. It did not matter at this point to her, nor to the man speaking as it was clear he did not recognize her either. She was simply grateful someone was around, and she was sure he was happy someone had shown up.

[Baeye]

She made her way up the few steps of the porch, onto the covered deck which held a bit of relief from the outside terror. The man that greeted her was bundled up just as much as she was, and so she could still not recognize him. It was possible she didn’t even know him at all though, so she did not dwell on it. He was right about the tarps, hundreds of them it seemed littered the porch, packs of them bounded by rough ropes for easy dragging. Many had already been used or claimed, as there were numerous blank spaces where she could tell others had previously been displayed.

The man suddenly patted her on the back hard, in greeting. She almost stumbled but caught herself before glancing over at him. “We need all the help we can get at this point mate.” He still shouted over the storm, but less so as the covered deck provided a bit of safety. “About half the orchard is protected now, but we need to step it up.” She nodded, understanding. The storm could rip through the orchard and the trees at any second. There were probably already casualties that could not be yet assessed because of the treacherous weather. She was almost sure she would see some on her way through the fields today.

“Just grab a pack and get going to the lower east end. We don’t have too many out there right now, they could use some help.” The man directed, Baeye was thankful someone was here to do exactly that.

“You got it boss” She replied, quick, and then went to scoop up a bundle of tarps. She moved to the closest one, a bit off from the stairs and closer to the wall of the Snow home. Reaching down to grab it her hand just touched it when she saw something move. Startled, she jumped back a bit, before peering in closer.

It was a little black mouse. The thing was hiding in the folds of the tarps it seemed to try and get away from the storm. Though all the noise and wind must be terrifying it. The little thing was shaking and quivering and it looked wet. It must have just made it out from the storm. Working in the orchard Baeye had seen mice nests around the trees. The mice themselves didn’t do too much harm in the fields, they were more of a worry when they got close to the home or the barns or fermentation sheds. That’s why the snow family had so many cats, to hunt them down.

This mouse must have lived in the fields. Baeye wouldn’t be surprised if the storm somehow ruined its home and it went running for shelter, making its way here. It would appear to be safe for now, as long as it did not find its way inside the Snow home, where she was sure the cats were waiting, bored and ready to pounce at first sight.

And so it was safe, for now. Though it would be in its best interest to move along away from the buildings as soon as the storm ended, or it would be found and killed rather quickly. Baeye felt a little bad for the thing, as obviously terrified as it was. But there wasn’t much she could do, and so she shooed it away to another tarp pile and went on her way to her assigned location, dragging the pack behind her by the rope.

[Baeye]

The weather only seemed to get worse as she walked. It seemed hours before she made it to her location, passing only a scarce few others through the fields. It seemed a lot of the threes had already been covered, though she was mainly walking through the fields closest to the home and therefore easiest to get to. They would have been covered first. As she got father and farther away less and less were covered and she began to see broken branches and she even saw one fallen tree. It was a younger one, it’s trunk probably not as stable as the older ones, its roots not as deep. It was sad, but there were bound to be some. She just hoped to lessen the impact. Her assigned location was on the edges of the fields, probably so they could make sure they covered the entire area. She thought she saw another worker on her way, but the fog, red now, which was strange, was too dense to be sure it was a person rather than a tree. She was glad, thought, that she wasn’t the only one who showed up.

Finally she reached the edge. Well, actually she passed the edge. It took her a good few feet to notice she has walked right through the tree fields and was not in open space. Luckily she caught herself soon enough to not get too lost in the fog.

She started with the first tree she could find. The job itself seemed simple, and for her, being much taller than most of her peers, was a bit easier for her. Basically she had a large amount of waterproof tarps with her, she simply needed to cover the bush of each tree and tie it around the trunk to protect the trees from the pelting rain and slicing wind as well as keep it a bit warmer than the outside, so hopefully the flowers wouldn't freeze and destroy the future crop.

Of course, though, the job was not as simple as it sounds. The weather and the fog made it difficult to see and maneuver. She would get it done, but it would take a while and it would certainly be miserable. But there was no time to gripe about it, she volunteered and she would finish this job.

Pulling a tarp from her pile, she was glad to see each tarp has rope attached the to corners so she could easily tie it tight to the trunk. The hard part was getting the tarp around the top of the tree. Throwing it wouldn’t work very well, since the wind would just push it back, but she would find a way.

She began with tying one corner to the trunk, and then a second, so half was structured. Taking the other two corners in one hand, she grabbed the trunk and hoisted herself up a bit, just enough to toss the ends to her other hand, on the other side of the tree. It took a couple of times since she needed to catch it before the wind did, but she succeeded. Separating the ends again, she made sure the tree was covered enough before tying the last two corners down.

One tree down, probably a hundred more to go.

[Baeye]

It was slow work, gruelling, difficult, cold and sometimes painful, work. She found herself regretting volunteering on numerous occasions, but always tried to talk herself down. She figured if she ever wanted to land an apprenticeship in the brewery making apple cider, this would definitely help her cause. That is, if her bosses actually knew she came. The man who directed her didn’t seem to recognize her, she didn’t even recognize him.

She attempted not to think about it. There was no point worrying, she would make it known, albeit in a nonchalant way that she was here today. After a while, despite all the hardships, her process got faster. She got used to the repetitive motions and actions and was able to complete many more trees within a lesser amount of time. It felt good, knowing she was able to help in a significant way.

She was curious, and worried, to see the aftermath of the storm. Today was the first day of it, though she knew it had the possibility of raging multiple days, especially with this weird fog drifting around. That was the reason the orchard workers were doing all of this, in case the storm managed to keep going. The hope was that this was some weird one day typhoon or something, or that if it was large enough, it would move away from the city, but you can never be too careful.

As her process got more robotic, she had more time to let her mind wander. She often found her thoughts going back to that poor little black mouse back at the home. She was sure it was gone by now, hopefully found a hiding spot for the storm. She didn’t like to think about the poor things prospects afterward though. Its fate was most certainly sealed if the thing stayed anywhere near the house, barn or other buildings on the Snow property. She knew firsthand that those cats patrolled the place extremely efficiently. They were fed at the home, but not often enough to rely on those feedings for their entire diet. The mice were not only a pest to be rid of, they were very often dinner for the furry animals prowling around.

Despite not being very animal conscious, she found herself feeling very bad and sad for the mouse. But, at this point, she knew there was nothing she could do to help it. What could she even have done before? It was on its own, and she hoped it survived.

[Baeye]

After what seemed like days in the storm, though it was surely only a solid five or six hours, Baeye found herself suddenly surrounded by already wrapped trees. Confused, for a moment, she soon realized she had completed her section, she was finished! Her muscles instantly relaxed, and she let out a large sigh of relief through her scarf, which, by the way, had been extremely annoying the entire time, undoing itself and hanging and whipping around.

Good thing she was done, too, her pile of tarps was almost bare, leaving her with a slack of rope. She headed up to the Snow main household, to return the extras, and hurry up and get home before the sun set, where she would have not chance of getting back in that complete darkness.

Once she found her way, she walked up the deck. All of the full piles of tarps were gone, replaced by a few lingering sheets under rocks to avoid getting blown away. She was not the first one done. However the man, or anyone for that matter, who ha directed her before, was nowhere to be found. The area itself seemed abandoned, at least for the day. Seeing this, she planned on quickly dropping off her pile, and heading on home. And she did just that. She placed her tarps nearest the wall, as she didn’t have a rock for them, and then turned her back to retreat back to her home in the city. The wind was still blowing, the rain still pelting, the storm in general, still going dangerously hard. Because of this she didn’t hear the door to the home open behind her, and barely heard a voice yell after her.

The voice, though, was surprisingly, barely heard by Baeye, due to its naturally quiet nature. The matriarch of the Snow family was a very old woman, with a quiet, though very stern and authoritative, voice. Turning around, Baeye say the old woman peeking out of the door, calling after her in the storm. Baeye was surprised the woman’s soft voice managed to carry and not be taken away by the wind and rain. When she turned around, the woman’s hand poked out of the door, and beckoned her inside. She could not say no, of course. And so she headed into the house of Snow.

[Baeye]

It was an entirely different atmosphere when she entered the home. Instantly it was warm, dry and smelled of home cooking. She shivered at the change, and sighed deeply. She was not aware of how tense and clenched her muscles were against the storm until she didn't need to protect herself from it anymore. She slowly began to undo all of her covers starting with her gloves and scarf. She didn’t want to make herself too comfortable, though, she was not sure what this invitation entailed, and she did not want to be here too long, soon the sun would start to set. Baeye did not want to walk home during the night, the storm would only get worse then.

“We cannot thank you enough for coming to our aid today. I believe I’ve seen you around the fields, please remind me of your name.” It was Mariolla Snow speaking, the old woman who beckoned Baeye in just a moment ago. Her voice was soft, sweet, but certainly held a bit of authority too it, hidden beneath her kindness.

Baeye smiled politely and held out her hand to the woman. “My name is Baeye, I work in the fields, tending to the trees. I care about the trees, and I knew your family would need all the help you could get during this storm.”

She continued before Mariolla spoke again, “I do not wish to keep much of your time, but thank you for your hospitality, I am enjoying a break against the wind and rain.”

The head Snow member nodded at her employee. “I understand. My family would no let me go outside today, which I understand they had a point, but the trees are my children too, it was difficult for me. But we had a number of employees come to our aid, and that comforted me. You may leave whenever you feel you need, but I have beef stew on the fire, if you wish to stay or take some home.”

Her offer of food was extremely kind. Baeye knew she would have time or energy to cook herself a hot meal when she arrived home. She could either go to bed hungry, or forge in her cabinets for leftover veggies or old bread. It did not sound nearly as appetizing as warm, meaty, stew.

She considered, for a moment, about taking the soup home. Baeye was very much worried about the sun. But, she also had to listen to her feet and legs, they were tired and could use quite a rest. She quickly decided on sitting by the fire and eating in the home, before swiftly heading home.

She graciously accepted a large, heaping bowl of soup. The Snow family was wealthy because of their orchard, and so she was not surprised, although very pleased, to see a stew brimming with meat and vegetables. Most her her homemade stews were mainly broth, with ingredients as a pleasant, but limited, surprise.

She did not allow herself too long to rest and relax, if she got too comfortable she may end up stuck here. And so she scarfed the stew down much faster than she would have liked. It was not long before she got up and was once again greeted by Mariolla who offered more. Baeye simply shook her head and showed herself out of the house with a few polite goodbyes, ready to take on the storm once more.

[Baeye]

The wind surprised her. She had gotten used to the warmth of the home and the change of atmosphere was shocking. She began stepping her way through the tarps that had been blown about the porch, only to be stopped once again by something moving in the corner of her eye.

She was frozen in disbelief when her eyes rested on the moving thing. It was a little black mouse, almost certainly the same mouse she had seen and felt for earlier in the morning. Taking a closer look at it she saw it was still soaking wet, shivering and shaking, probably from both fear and cold. The poor thing look miserable and its eyes were constantly darting back and forth, trying to find a way to escape the inescapable. She looked down on it, a frown on her face, for a moment, pitying the thing. But what was she to do? Either the storm would get it now, or the cats would get it later. It made her sad, but she wasn’t sure how to change it’s fate.

Unless, she thought, she gave it another choice. Of course, though, she couldn’t, trying to argue herself out of her thinking. But then again, why not? And with that, she decided. She took a few careful, slow steps towards the tiny animal. It froze in fear. As carefully as she could she bent down, extending her hands toward the animal, a bit out of the way of its direct line of sight, so it wouldn’t entirely see her coming. Yet the mouse did not move. Whether it was petrified in fear, or somehow knew she was trying to help, there was no way to know.

Once she was close enough, she quickened. Suddenly darting her hands around the mouse, pinning it quickly between the porch and her palms. Suddenly the little black mouse seemed to realize it may be in peril, and stuggled against the young womand hands, of course, to no avail.

Curling her fingers around its squishy little body, Baeye tried not to squeeze it to death, while also keeping a firm grasp as well as attempting to not get bitten by the thing. Quickly she wrapped the body in a bit of her scarf that she had yet to tuck into her coat, giving it s soft and warm spot by her chest.

She would keep a hand over it to make sure the animal didn’t get loose in her clothing and run rampant on her skin. Then she headed off the porch and back into the storm. The mouse in her blouse, well in her scarf, seemed to settle down rather quickly. Apparently either the warmth got to it, ot it seemed to understand Baeye was simply trying to help.

She wasn’t sure what she was planning on doing with the mouse. She could, perhaps, let it go in her garden, it was enclosed after all, though it may do some damage to her growing plants. She tried of think as she headed home, but the storm purged her thoughts of anything but swiftness and survival. Baeye would have to decide on her new pets home later.

[Baeye]

Summary

Clothing Bought

Long Sleeved, Medium Wool, Brown Blouse -1gm 2sm
Yarn Scarf -5sm
Leather Gloves -1gm
Leather Cap -4sm

Kina Spent

3gm, 1sm = 3 Kina, 1 Topaz Kina

Items Gained

A Wild Mouse

[Madeira Dusk]

Grades Awarded!

Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request!

Baeye

Skills

• Observation: 5xp
• Endurance: 2xp
• Planning: 1xp
• Agriculture: 2xp
• Socialization: 1xp
• Stealth: 1xp

Lores

• Lore of a storms effect on young Snow Apple trees
• Lore of determination
• Lore of proper protective clothing for a storm
• Lore of navigating through a storm
• Lore of the red fog
• Agriculture: shielding trees from a storm
• Mariolla Snow: matriarch of the Snow family
• Socialization: polite introduction
• Stealth: catching mice

Awards & Retribution
+Long Sleeved Wool Blouse: -1gm 2sm
+Yarn Scarf: -5sm
+Leather Gloves: -1gm
+Leather Cap: -4sm
+Wild Mouse: a little black mouse

Notes
Look at Baeye out in the storm, being a badass. And I didn't know she has such an empathetic heart for animals! I love her more with each thread.

Enjoy your grade! Let me know if you have any concerns.