Closed There's Always Time For Trouble [Aidara, Johanne]

[Eilea]

43rd Summer 513 The Hydroponics Garden Early Morning - Dawn Eilea moved quickly, towards the underground garden when the Inarta people grew their food. While growing up in Avanthal, her mother had told her of the gardens when she was small. The stories were that everyone in Wind Reach was required to work in the Hydroponics Garden during their lifetime. As she walked, she continuously had to adjust the bag she had over her shoulder, back behind her, to stop from interfering with her movement. Whatever had possessed her to want to see the Hydroponics Garden, Eilea did not know. It was as if some mysterious force had been driving her to do a bunch of strange things during the Summer season. Once she arrived, she crawled down into the caverns with a smile on her lips. This was exciting to her, and she hadn't expected it to be. The Vantha wandered through the Gardens with a half smile on her face, absorbing the unfamiliar smells and colors. The whole place seemed to glow as if the sun was actually touching the plants, but that was impossible, considering that she was underground. She looked up, paying close attention to the mirrors on the ceiling. “Oh! That's brilliant!” She exclaimed in her native tongue before placing her hands on her hips and leaning back. The bag fell to her wrist, but she didn't move as she looked up, squinting at the cavern’s reflective ceilings. It was days like this when the things the Inarta came up with, completely and utterly amazed the young Vantha. She found herself wishing, quietly, that she was Inartan. Suddenly there was a bunch of movement. A few red heads walked right behind her. “Excuse me,” “Pardon me!” They said, as they seemed to be rushing towards some unknown emergency, it seemed. Eilea stumbled out of the way and watched as they moved down another aisle of crops. Curious, she followed... And found herself by herself. She turned around, hearing a strange noise. There was a dek, pouring something... It all happened so quickly, first she was wandering around, minding her own business, and then, without wanting, by any means, the poor Vantha found herself in the first pool ring: The Fertilizer Pools. Apparently she had accidentally slipped into one of the deks. And then she fell. Such luck!

[Johanne]

When Johanne heard of an underground garden, where luscious plants were grown with all the tender loving care that the Avora could afford them, she had grabbed her satchel and hurried quickly from the Commonrooms, where she had been lounging around, reluctant to wake up. If there was one thing she truly, truly missed from the mountaintop city of Lhavit, it was undoubtedly the flora: the beautiful trees that shone with calias, the jasao flowers that sprung up in between skyglass bridges and walls, the fadeong trees that swayed in the wind and tinted the skies all magnificent colours. Here, everything was stone and the echoes of Nari. There was nothing Johanne could touch and feel life within.

With her pens and instruments rattling around inside her leather satchel, Johanne hurried through the stone corridors, following the brief directions that the Chiet fellowman had given her. It was simple enough, simply following the stone corridors down and down in weaving patterns. Tentative questions to passing Inarta in halting Nari filled the gaps in her knowledge. Finally, she was there.

The high ceilings of the Hydroponic Gardens were covered with mirrors that made the cavern light, and full of air. Walking over the stone bridge in the gardens, Johanne looked around, a little disappointed. There was not the large and beautiful native flora of Lhavit. In fact, to Johanne, it was little more than a vegetable garden, though the architecture of the garden was truly impressive. A bitter smile on her face, Johanne followed the people over the gardens and the bridges, willing to at least look around.

Suddenly, behind her there was a commotion, a yelp and a splash. Turning quickly, her eyebrows raised, Johanne saw a woman standing waist-deep in what looked like a stream of manure. Her hair was dripping and on her face was a wry smile. And then something happened that hardly ever happened.

Johanne laughed, a deep hearty laugh, at the woman standing in shit.

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[Aidara]

Tucked away in a corner of the Gardens, Addy sat watching the plants grow. Quite literally, the young woman had nothing else to do with her day than sit and watch the leaves of the herbs before her twitch as one Inarta or another moved around the Gardens, disrupting the flow of air. Gentle stems bent and swayed and did nothing all that interesting, really, but Addy preferred to sit and watch to the alternative.

It was inventory day in the Infirmary.

Volunteering to run down and check if any of the plants they used in their medicines were ready, Addy had found the languid activity that resided within the Gardens to be soothing and exactly what she needed. Plus, these herbs could be ready at any moment and she would just pick them then and head back to the Infirmary to help Miquel and Keah.

But the air was warm and relatively still, a hushed sort of atmosphere that one only ever really found in libraries filling the space and lulling Addy into a doze, her head drooping once…. Twice… three times before coming to its final resting place on her arms. Hidden back in the corner with the leafy greens to somewhat obscure the fiery cap of hair, no one even knew she was there.

The sudden loud laughter was what woke Addy, sending the woman scrambling to her feet and hastily wiping at the drool that had started to dry on her cheek as wild eyes sought the source of the noise. She caught movement towards the center of the Gardens and, spurred by embarrassment and a bit of annoyance at having been woken, Addy stalked towards the noise.

Assuming Yasi had managed to sneak in and were playing amongst the boughs, Addy was shouting before she even rounded the corner to see what had actually transpired. “If you don’t get out of here right now….!” Little legs stuttered to a halt, back-peddling immediately upon seeing the two women, one of which was standing in the pool Addy herself had almost walked right into.

“Oh.” Was all that Addy was able to manage, glancing back and forth between the pair before she found her words; the anger had dwindled, to be replaced by simple confusion. “What…. Are you doing in there? Did you drop something?” The lack of redhair in either of the women hadn’t slipped past Addy. Thinking that perhaps they just simply didn’t know what was going on, She tried to say, as gently as possible, “You realize that’s fertilizer, right? The Bath house is on the other side of the city…”

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