• Solo • Harvest Dawn

[Rei'sari]

35th Vhalar, 718


Ari'sora cringed beneath her mother's disapproving glare. She had managed to anger her again, and that never boded well for her.

"You are going to spend totrial tending to the garden so I don't have to look at you. What can you tell me about gardens? I need to know that you aren't going to screw things up again like usual."

"Our garden is a vegetable garden." Ari'sora began dutifully.

"But there are many different kinds. Vegetable gardens, flower gardens, herb gardens, water gardens, seasonal gardens, themed gardens..."

Ari'sora blinked in confusion as the remnants of the dream she'd been having faded around her. It had been about gardens and gardening if her words as she'd transitioned from the dream into the waking world were any indication. And her mother had been in it, too. Her mother's hate filled eyes lingered in her mind's eye for several bits. Then she pushed it behind her as she remembered what trial it was. Excitement filled Ari'sora's heart, and lent speed to her movements as she got dressed, and prepared to face the trial.

You seem to be awfully excited this morning. Aren't you just going to work out on the farm like usual? Shadow asked curiously.

Ari'sora nodded. She still felt a thrill of joy whenever she heard "the voice in her head." They had learned that they could speak to each other this way a few trials after everything that had happened in the maze where they met. And while she liked annoying her sister by "talking to a dumb animal who can't understand you," it was good practice for them to speak this way so they didn't slip up when they were in public.

I am. But totrial is a festival...well, sort of. It's the first harvest of Vhalar. From what Teri told me yestertrial, people who live nearby will be waiting for the farmers as they make their way to the fields. These people are going to light the way for us with candles. They do it in Qylios's name, and it is said that doing so will protect the farmers, and give us courage. They will create the same path for us at dusk to lead us home.

And that was really all that Ari'sora needed to say. Festivals of any kind were very special to her. Having never been allowed to celebrate them when she was younger, she took a child like delight in them now. To a child, festivals were often magical wonders to be cherished. Ari'sora felt the same way, much to her sister's amusement and annoyance.

Shadow purred loudly, and rubbed herself up against Ari'sora's leg to show her approval, and understanding.

Well, I wish you luck then. But I think that that ray of sun coming through the window needs my attention, so I will leave you to it.

Ari'sora laughed as she watched her friend go curl up in the sun.

"I swear, you and that cat. If I didn't know better, I'd say that you loved it more than you love me."

Ari'sora turned to look at her sister who was standing in the doorway.

"I do." she said simply.

Ari'sora did love her sister. She really did. But it was complicated, and twisted up with wariness, and bitterness from everything that had happened between them in the past. Her love for Shadow was simple, honest, and very, very deep. Mi'zuri stared at her for a long trill. then she just shook her head, and sighed.

"Are you ready to go?"

Ari'sora nodded. They left the house, and met Teri at the end of their row of houses. Ari'sora was all but bouncing with excitement as she greeted her. Teri chuckled.

"Someone is looking forward to going to work totrial." she said with a smile.

When they reached the path that led to the farm, the citizens of Beacon were waiting for them, candles in hand. The tiny flames flickered in the cold wind that had sprung up on the thirty first, and had continued to linger for trials. To Ari'sora, it seemed as though the wind itself was ushering her on her way as it rustled through her feathers.

"May Qylios protect you as you work totrial. Did you know that she is the Immortal of Bonds, Leadership, Light, and Courage? I learned that is school yestertrial." a little girl called out to them as they passed by her.

Ari'sora grinned, and waved at the child before continuing on her way. She hadn't known that about Qylios, but her interest in Immortals in general had her taking note of what she had learned so she would remember it.

[Rei'sari]

"So what are we going to do totrial?" Ari'sora asked when they reached the fields.

"Harvest the crops, obviously...idiot." Mi'zuri grumbled as she rolled her eyes.

Ari'sora resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at her sister.

"Yes...but which crops? And how do we harvest them?" she asked patiently.

"I don't want to make a mistake because I don't know what I'm doing." she added.

She had had enough of making mistakes and disappointing people when she lived with Ren'zar.

"I thought that we would start by harvesting the corn." Teri said as she led the sisters over to a group of fields where corn was growing.

"Corn is usually to be harvested twenty trials after the silk you can see at the top first appears. When it is ready to be harvested, the silk will turn brown, but the husks will remain green. If the husks are starting to turn yellow and dry at the tips, and the silk is slimy, that means that the ear of corn is starting to go bad. It is still safe to eat, but it won't be as sweet and juicy as a ripe ear of corn would be."

Teri paused to see if the two sisters were listening. Ari'sora was paying close attention to her words, committing as much as she could to memory. Mi'zuri was half listening, but she looked bored, and impatient to get the work over with.

"When you find an ear of corn that you think is ripe, you should test it to be certain. Corn is ready to be picked once the ear has filled out completely. Feel the ear of corn. If it's rounded or blunt rather than pointed, the ears are ready to be picked. Every corn stalk will have an ear of corn growing at the top. Some of them will also have an ear growing down lower on the stalk, so you'll need to be certain to check for that. That's easy enough to do, right?"

Ari'sora and Mi'zuri both nodded.

"Harvesting the corn is pretty easy, too. All you have to do is grasp the ear firmly and pull down. Then you twist and pull. It will usually come off the stalk easily. You want to make sure to harvest only as much as you can eat in a trial for the first few trials. But you need to make sure you harvest the entire crop while it is in the milky stage. What that means for us is that we will only be harvesting this field of corn totrial rather than all of them. The people who live here can easily go through that much corn in a trial. We will also need to pull up the corn stalks immediately after the harvest. Simple, really. Are you ready to get started?"

The two sisters nodded again. They worked in silence for a while, but once Ari'sora got the hang of what she was doing, she started thinking while she worked. And that led to questions.

"In Saun, you told me that there were different kinds of tomatoes and cucumbers. Are there different kinds of corn, too?" Ari'sora wanted to know.

Teri nodded.

"There's the sweet corn that we're harvesting now. That's the kind that you usually eat as corn. Then there's dent corn, which is also called field corn. Dent corn has a little dent in each kernel; that's what gives it its name. This particular type of corn is often used for animal feed, but you can also make corn meal and corn syrup out of it. Flint corn is also known as calico corn because its kernels vary in color from red and orange to blue and purple. It is often used for decorations, but it can also dried and used to make corn meal, corn flour, hominy, polenta, and grits. Some types of flint corn have an especially hard shell. Those are often used to make popcorn. You also have flour corn which is used to make corn flour. Finally, you have waxy corn. We don't grow that here, though, so I don't really know what it is used for."

Teri had given Ari'sora a lot to think about, and try to memorize, so she worked in silence, trying to sort it all out in her head while they finished harvesting the field they were working in.

[Rei'sari]

"What are we going to harvest next?" Ari'sora asked eagerly when they finished harvesting the last ear of corn in their field.

"I thought we'd harvest some of the wheat. Wheat is a crop that can be grown all arc long. It is generally planted both in Ashan, and in Vhalar. When wheat is ripe, the plants themselves turn from green into a golden yellow. And the once soft, green, milky kernels become hard and golden red or amber. You should test the crop before harvesting it to make certain it is fully ripe. The seed heads will start to nod or bow on the stem when they are ready to harvest. The final test is to bite a kernel of wheat. It should crunch. If it's soft or chewy, leave it awhile longer to dry before harvesting it. When it is ready to be harvested, you can either snap off the seed heads by hand, or cut them off with pruners, a sickle, or a scythe. Since there are several wheat fields that need to be harvested, we can try each method to see which one you are most comfortable with."

Once Teri had explained the process, it was time to get to work. Ari'sora found that she liked picking the wheat by hand more than she liked using any kind of tool even if it did take longer to do it that way. She found something peaceful in the task. Mi'zuri preferred using anything that would help her complete the task faster. Teri insisted that they each at least try every method before picking one to work with. After overseeing them while they did this, she left to help someone else.

It didn't take long for Mi'zuri to challenge Ari'sora to see who could harvest a field faster. Mi'zuri won, of course since she had chosen to use a scythe to help her. When she finished her own field, she left in search of something more interesting to do. Ari'sora didn't mind. Being alone allowed her to work in peace at her own pace. And unlike her sister, she wanted to work until dusk so that she could see the festival to its end.

[Korva]

Rewards!

Name: Ari'sora

Knowledge:

Skill Knowledges
Agriculture: how to tell if corn is ripe
Agriculture: how to harvest corn
Agriculture: types of corn; sweet, dent, flint, flour, and waxy
Agriculture: how to tell if wheat is ripe
Agriculture: how to harvest wheat
Gardening: types of gardens

Non Skill Knowledges
Immortal: Qylios
Qylios: Immortal of Bonds, Leadership, Light, and Courage

Loot: NA
Injuries: NA
Renown: 5
Magic XP: NA

Points: 10

- - -

Comments: Shadow and Ari'sora are so cute! Its almost like they're sisters instead of her actual sister but the relationships are so well done, the ending was cute too! The idea of them having a contest offset the slightly tense atmosphere built with her blunt admittance of loving the cat more. I look forward to reading more of Ari'sora!

If you feel I've missed anything or if you have questions about your review, please don't hesitate to send me a quick PM or ping me in Discord. Thanks!

**Made by the magnificent Kes