Same Old Work, New Place (Job Solo)

by **Asha** on August 28th, 2012, 9:47 pm

Summer 40, 512

When Asha came back to her beloved city she had been unsure of how she would continue her gardening work outside of the Base Camp. Mogg had already seen to that of course and instructed her that she would be expected at Rak’keli’s Shrine to help tend to the plants sheltered there. So, only a few days after receiving her curt instructions and getting herself settled back into the city she went. It was still early in the morning, Syna’s rays had hardly pierced through the treetops when Asha stood on the Medical Petal facing the large hall of vines. She hadn’t ever really spent much time there and wasn’t sure what she should expect.

She padded a few steps further into the Shrine and stopped to look around and consider the place again. It didn’t look as bad as some of the places she had seen in the Spires but it certainly wasn’t looking too amazing. There were uprooted plants strewn about and the vine walls were patchy in a few spots. Only a bed of gardenias remained intact at the end. There was some evidence however that someone had been working at putting the place to rights. A few plants had made their way back into the ground and a small nest of pulled weeds lay in the center of the walking area.

Asha turned around a few times, looking for someone to receive instructions from. The Shrine appeared to be empty. Perhaps the caretaker slept a little later. She shrugged to herself and sighed. No matter. She had a job to do and could do it decently enough without too much supervision. Certainly someone would be along shortly.

Not sure where to start, she knelt down by the nearest herb bed to tackle its problems. Several plants in front of her were completely uprooted but others had merely had their roots exposed. Two very different situations. The group of plants immediately before her were only about a one or two feet tall and bright green. The stems were slender and every few inches an oval leaf protruded gently. The plants that had been uprooted were crowned with yellowing buds while the plants with exposed roots had begun to unfurl their buds to reveal flowers that reminded Asha of daisies.

She decided to tackle the plants with exposed roots first, as they were the easiest to handle and the least likely to die. Scooping up small handfuls of dirt with her black palms she straightened the plants so they were completely upright and then carefully sprinkled the dirt over the exposed roots. She patted the area down firmly to pack the dirt a bit and hopefully prevent the plants from falling over in the next strong breeze that made it through the vine walls. The repeated the procedure with all of the yellow flowered plants that were only a little tilted with exposed roots. Most of the yellow flowered plants in the area were like this and Asha quickly accomplished the task within half a bell.

by **Asha** on August 28th, 2012, 9:47 pm

With those taken care of she had time to concentrate on the completely uprooted plants. She would do the best she could for them but there was no guarantee that they would survive, especially since she had no way of knowing how long they had been uprooted. Where there was space among the flowering plants she dug small holes and gently placed an uprooted plant in each. Luckily there were only seven of the uprooted plants that she had to see to compared to the easily two dozen plants that had minor root exposure. She knew the Shrine supplied many important herbs to the clinics in the area and every plant counted. When she considered that it made her feel a little nervous and anxious. Every plant that she was unable to save meant a little less medicine available. The current disaster was fresh enough in her mind, she only had to look around or be conscious to see the evidence of it, that she felt concerned about the city’s medical supplies. You never knew what could happen.

Asha scooped up a large chunk of dirt in her hand and placed a plant into the hole her scooping had made. Holding the plant upright with one hand she sprinkled the dirt in her other hand around the plant until its roots were adequately covered. She used the tips of her fingers to press down on either side of the plant to ensure that it was firmly in the ground. That was the last of the uprooted plants. Asha leaned back on her heels to survey the work. It was only a small patch of the garden bed but it was something. The little patch of yellow flowers and buds seem bright compared to the deep green of the vine walls surrounding the place. The pop of color made Asha smile and lifted her heart a little. It was difficult to be serious around such yellow.

“That’s arnica.” A voice drifted from behind Asha. She furrowed her brow and twisted her kneeling body to look up at a friendly female Jamoura face. The questioning look in Asha’s face made the strange female smile. “My name is Kesha. You must be Asha. You’ve done good work with that arnica. I hope some of the uprooted plants take root again. There is a bowl of water near the gardenias that you can use to water them. The water should help chase the air out of the soil and pack it down more firmly around the roots.”

Asha nodded and stood shakily, a little stiff from a bell’s work kneeling. Kesha watched Asha as she went to retrieve a deep clay bowl next to the white flowers that had been indicated. Asha returned to Kesha and the arnica and knelt again to gently pour some water around the bases of the plants. As she did so, Kesha spoke.

“Arnica is an excellent plant for medicine you know. When I deliver it to the healers and herbalists they make a lovely pungent ointment out of it that helps takes inflammation out of sprains and muscle strains. It can even be useful for bruises. It’s little yellow flowers are quite beautiful as well.” Kesha softly intoned as Asha nodded and finished soaking the plants. There was still some water in the bowl so she set it carefully aside.

“I really like its flowers. Yellow is such a lovely color. When I was a little girl my father told me that the yellow flowers looked up at Syna and loved her so much they decided to be the same color as her. Now that I’m older I know that isn’t quite the case but it’s fun to think so anyway.” Asha said with a shy smile.

“That’s a very nice thought. Here, let’s go look at what can be done with the rest of this herb bed. With the two of us working we should be able to set it to rights by the end of the day.” Kesha suggested and Asha nodded easily. She liked the gentle woman and suspected she would enjoy working with her.

by **Cinna** on September 3rd, 2012, 8:23 pm

And the forest reveals....

I hope Asha likes working in the herb garden, Kesha will be a gentle teacher

Asha :

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