Fantasy The Near-Forgotten House and the Abandoned Village

[Thanny]

All of this talk of tasting vines gave Anisa a start so strong that she nearly jumped out of her chair.

"No! Er, no. Thank you, but I do not think it wise to resort to that," exclaimed the newcomer in fear as she attempted to gather herself. "I have never heard of an edible vine, or, if edible, palatable, but I would welcome the idea of help with removing the vines! We will have a neat and orderly stairwell tonight, and will for a while as soon as I cut off the vines outside if there are any."

Anisa was excited to start upon the work, but first things came first.

"Anyways, Emily? Thank you very much for the meal. You cook fish very well! I never got the hang of it, usually burning the tar out of it and leaving a stink of charcoaled fish few can find satisfying."

 

[Clairikins]

Emily smiles, "I've been taking care of people for as long as I remember; making meals out of anything I can find, cleaning blood stains and ash, ...other deeds." She begins cleaning up the dishes, taking them into the kitchen to be cleaned. "I don't mind; as long as other people get the food, I'll make a meal out of it."
The kitchen doesn't have any running water, but she does have a bucket of water, using that to do the washing in a very thought-out manner.

 

[Thanny]

Anisa smiled as she listened right up to cleaning the blood stains and "other deeds," which made her look at Emily curiously and take a step back subconsciously. Surely she did not mean what Anisa thought she meant. Maybe it was as simple as cleanup after a tavern brawl or a washing out blood from clothes after a scratch or so. Her spirits lifted once more.

"My uncle was lucky for your help, then," she responded, smiling amiably. "Just as I am, I suppose. I will try to get a head-start on those vines. Race you with those dishes."

And with that she bounded off toward where the pruning shears were, perfectly willing to make anything and everything a game or contest. She likely had no chance of winning, but she set to work on removing these horrible woody vines as tightly to the wall as she was able. With the right tools, she hopefully could do it in record time.

 

[Clairikins]

Emily finishes washing the dishes in good time, setting them to dry and walking back to watch Anisa at work. She's not one for such... /physical/ labour, so she just stands around and watches as the human does her work before walking out to check on Sundrop.
Eventually Emily comes back inside, standing with her arms behind her back to watch Anisa back at work.

 

[Thanny]

Anisa had finished half of the removal by the time Emily came by, her hands feeling the strain of the energy she put into cutting the vines. All about her were snaking vines that definitely was better rid of than kept in place, and she hoped that they would not spring out again growing at a magical rate like what she sensed was the case from Sundrop's and Emily's conversation beforehand. Emily did not seem to know what to do or how to do it, perhaps more accustomed to homestyle chores than anything forceful. Even still, perhaps she can help with pulling some ropes of vines outside, or even winding them up amd chucking them out the window for later disposal.

"Could you be a dear and toss coils of vines out the window over there please, Emily?" she voiced when she saw the girl again, already winding a few coils.

The wall was cleared for the most part, just a few stragglers in need of a good clipping. Some had even weaved themselves along the stairs and would need to be clipped. Naughty things, Anisa chided mentally.

 

[Clairikins]

Emily gets to work with disposing the vines, tossing them outside for Sundrop to deal with.
"You're really doing a lot to the vines." Emily comments. "More than we could ever do- are humans magical?" How would she know either way? she's only dealt with one.
There's some noise coming from outside, and Emily pops out to check on it, coming back in to continue with the vine disposal. "At this rate, we might get to sleep in a proper bed soon~"

 

[Thanny]

Emily's comment about humans being magical made Anisa turn around and grin.

"Far from it, actually. Well, usually, as we do have magicians of a more sleight-of-hand variety. I think it is more the tool than the person."

She had to admit that it was a lot of work accomplished in a short amount of time, but that speed left her spent. Anisa felt out of breath and a little sore, to be honest, but the others did a great job doing things and she pushed herself on, wanting to play a part in it.

"Are there more beds? I would hope so if there used to be a number of people here . . . unless they lived in the town or outskirts and just came to work here. That makes sense too, I think." She pondered for a brief moment before continuing to poke at the vines. "What did you do before ending up here? I hope you don't mind my prying."

 

[Clairikins]

"Hmm. I think some people used to live in the town- it was a lot like this when I came here too, so I don't really know. And um..." Emily is nervous about answering that last question, unsure of how she should phrase it to keep the woman from running away or focusing too much on her. "I was in... service. Underground, away from humans."
It's not really a lie, but it does leave some of the finer points out- she doesn't really want to dwell on it herself, so it's best for her to change the subject. "Do you think you can fix this house?" Emily hopes so; it would be nice to see this house back to its glory.

 

[Thanny]

"Oh! I see!" Anisa replied, nodding her head in only partial understanding. "So you were a servant for a while before this. No wonder you are so amazing at cooking and cleaning and more besides! I hope you were treated well there. As for the house, hmm . . . it's a fixer-upper, no mistake about that. Sadly no house can be easily fixed up without raw materials. Typically that means money, unless there is a forest nearby. Even that is a lot of work for us girls, as"--she huffed a little sigh--"I am not exactly the best at physical labour. Sundrop is probably better for that and I don't want to put that on her. This is an odd question, but perhaps you know of a good way to get money faster than farming around these parts? I can't live off of savings forever."

 

[Clairikins]

"Money? Um..." Emily's never had to deal with money before. "Um... I wouldn't know. I think Sundrop deals with all of that, maybe ask her? But there is a forest off in that direction-" she points to the north (the town is to the east). "...I'm sure you can find someone who can help with cutting them down and sawing them and stuff. Oh! I know just the elf! ...okay, well, she's not here anymore, but she was great at that sort of thing while she was. I just wish I knew where she went off to."

Of course, Emily disregards the mentions of her past servitude; it's not a nice memory.

 

[Thanny]

Anisa nodded, pondering over what to do for income while waiting for the food to grow. She can probably make profit off of the farming, but it is mostly for self-sustaining for now. Three people can be difficult to grow food for, depending on the circumstances of the spring and summer. However, Emily pointed out that Sundrop probably had ideas for obtaining money. That sounded good to her.

There was also the forest, which brought a new shine to Anisa's eyes. Lumber would be very helpful for making changes to the house, and an elf that knows her way around wood would be very helpful. If only there was some way to contact her. Perhaps there was a way to do so if they were able to make contact with others.

"This would be very helpful! Thanks, Emily," she replied with a winning smile. "I should talk with Sundrop again, but maybe after all of this is done."

She started tugging out the last remnants of the vines, a tougher time than she expected from the entwining tendrils that snaked beneath some of the floorboards. She did what she could, then used the pruning shears to snip off the small wisps of plant matter that did not give. The wall was soon cleaned off as well.

"Well, this will do it for the vines for now," she stated, wiping the light sheen of sweat off of her brow. "The outside still needs to be clipped, but this was half the project. Thanks for your help again. This saved me a good amount of lifting. I'll help out with dinner tonight to make up for it, if you'd like."

 

[Clairikins]

"Dinner is already ready." Emily comments- Anisa has been working for hours by now, and Emily has had some free time to start cooking dinner. The smell of the vines has overridden the scent of cooking fish. Emily walks up the stairs to see the upper floor- even more vines up here, and from the sight of the visible rooms there are a number of boxes stored in them as well.
"We don't need a proper bed tonight; you don't have to push yourself." Emily doesn't want to see the new girl hurt herself, of course.

Emily sits down on the stairs near Anisa. "Do you want to go lay down until dinner, miss?"

 

[Thanny]

Anisa found herself shocked by Emily's statement that dinner was already made, or if not made in the making. She looked at the sunlight filtering through the window and realised that she was right. Time passed by in what felt like a few breaths, but looking at her handiwork she had to accept that it indeed was hours. She looked down at her hands, shocked, then followed Emily as they ascended the stairs.

"Lay down?" she repeated, almost parrotlike as if she had forgotten what the words had meant. Then she jolted, understanding. Perhaps she really was tired. "Yes, that might be a good idea," she confessed sheepishly, looking down at her pruning shears and palms covered with the green tarnish of plant matter and sap. She had forgotten to put on her gloves, not that it probably mattered much. "Is the master bedroom further up the stairs or on the first or second floor? I think I'll lie down there if possible.

"Also," she continued, "I don't know how big it is, but if you want to sleep in a bed you and Sundrop are welcome to stay in there, in the master bedroom, I mean. I can sleep on a couch or somewhere else until we can clear some rooms for you both."

 

[Clairikins]

(Oops, I meant to respond yesterday.)
"The master bedroom is just over there, but there's still more work to be done until it can be used, I fear." There are still vines along the way, and the room appears to be loaded with supplies. "But we still have our room downstairs we can use. Hey, there's no need to rush; we've gotten used to it being like this."
Emily gets up and saunters back downstairs. "Go ahead and get cleaned up or nap or wherever; dinner will be ready soon."

 

[Thanny]

((No problem at all; I am just happy to hear back. =) ))

Her attention drawn to where Emily was mentioning, Anisa felt a little disappointed that there was still so much to do. She had hoped that the vines merely stayed only in that area, but they seemed to infiltrate the house in many areas. On the plus side, the bedroom seemed packed with a number of things that seemed useful, perhaps even homemaking. Maybe restocking the house into something of grandeur would not be so bad after all.

Feeling a wave of lethargy overcome her, she smiled over to Emily and brought to voice, "Sure, thank you. I'll see if I can rest because, dang, those vines did a number on me."

The best Anisa could think of was washing up, the vines' sap becoming sticky and covering the pruning shears with its glue-like consistency. Going downstairs and splashing just enough water from the bucket she had seen to coat her hands and tool, she rinsed the tool as best as she could, placed the shears outside somewhere safe to dry, and migrated to a shaded spot in the garden to watch the road, cupping her knees with her palms. She wondered of Sundrop, and how her progress was going. The young woman was built of sturdy stuff and was attractive to the eye to boot. How she obtained both could only be considered impressive and marvelous.

 

[Clairikins]

Emily walks off to deal with her cooking as Anisa walks out.

Eventually, Sundrop comes around the house to visit. She's wearing a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun off her face, and she hands a peach to the woman. "It's hard work, being out here, but it's worth it in the end." She takes a seat next to her, looking out in the distance. "Even if you're not just here to stay safe from... well, you know." She sighs.
After about a minute of looking out at the view, Sundrop speaks up again, "Good work on the stairs; don't know how you did it, but good job. Clear out a few rooms and maybe someone else will want to come by."

 

[Thanny]

Sundrop's appearance snapped Anisa out of her wistful state, a sleepy smile blossoming on her countenance. It seemed as if Sundrop kept her from falling asleep within a few moments, which was welcome to the newcomer. She sat a little more upright and happily accepted the peach, marvelling at its lovely appearance. She did not know there was a peach tree here!

Once Sundrop spoke, she questioned whether or not she should speak up too, looking idly down at the fruit trapped within her fingers, then up either toward Sundrop or the road. This place indeed seemed worth the effort, but she underestimated just how much work needed to be done. Perhaps if she could clear the entire house of plants, it would be better to shuffle things around. Who knew how organised things were initially, or if they needed to be arranged better. Or perhaps she thought too much on what to do when there was no need to do so, extra work not needed.

What her companion said next made sense, though: clearing a few rooms would help promote people coming to stay if they find anyone. That was a good next step out of everything, though she did wonder about the state of the garden. Shouldn't that take priority in her mind? Who knows how many fish the water Emily fishes at could supply?

"That is a good idea," she admitted to Sundrop finally, tossing her a smile again. "The sooner we get the older workers back, the better chance we have for making a comeback for this place, and a better chance they will avoid being caught by these wolves in sheep's clothing." She hooked the arm holding the peach over one of her legs lazily as her eyes glazed over thoughtfully. "Sun, does this town have a newspaper? Should we make an article of how we are renovating this place? It might make things easier if we had some publicity, right?"

 

[Clairikins]

"I... wouldn't know about that. I don't really go to town." Sundrop admits, moving to lie on her back on the grass. "Next time we go into town we can ask someone- or we can just get out word of mouth about it ...if you don't mind other humans hearing and showing up around here; teenagers just love to go out and check on places they shouldn't be allowed to go, same with drunk folk in general." She has a bit of personal experience with the latter, having spent time around rowdy adults back when she was a soldier.
"According to Emily, people just sort of showed up when things started to happen; maybe that'll happen again. I mean, we have a whole town right here that needs to be fixed up, we just need to get started."

 

[Thanny]

Anisa looked down at Sundrop, even if her eyes still seemed unfocused some of the time. She had not thought about the drawbacks of getting the name of the farm out there, and if her own youth was to teach her something it was that others could do the same as she did.

"Then perhaps our best chance is by continuing our work without worry of bothering with the press. Word-of-mouth would be enough."

She sighed melancholily, as this was tougher than she had imagined, but it also was the simplest and perhaps best approach if they did not want to attract unwarranted eyes from people that might divulge the secrets of the workers here. It was her secret too, and the thought of that resurrected her smile. Bit by bit, things will come into play, or so she hoped.

"How went the work on the garden? Would it take much more? I will take the next moment to work on that."

She brought the fuzzy fruit close to her upper lip and took in its delightful scent. The smell was intoxicating.

 

[Clairikins]

"The vines are still covering most of it, but I still can't get rid of them without more growing in; I guess it's some sort of curse to having a green thumb. But yea. Today or tomorrow would be great to clear off more space, then we can work on growing more crops." Sundrop sighs. "And even more space if you plan for us to support more people."

 

[Thanny]

"In such a case," said Anisa as she stretched out, feeling very much refreshed after taking a pause, "I'll help out after supper if there's enough daylight left. "If we can knife through the plants first and then the ground we would have a better time. If only we had a tractor with a plow or rake attachment, though. That would make things so much simpler." Her eyes lit up brightly and curiously as she looked over to Sundrop. "Do we? If there were many people on the farm beforehand, maybe there is machinery?"

 

[Clairikins]

Sundrop waves a hand dismissively. "Anything of the sort is rusted beyond all repair by now; if anyone else could get rid of the vines, we would've. I guess we'll see by morning if the vines come back or not... but it looks promising at least. I'd love to see this house back in its full glory..." Sundrop sighs, looking out at the view. "What do you think you'll do if you get this place up and running again? Stay as our resident human? ...leave cause you don't want to be seen as a freak, or arrested for harbouring us?"

 

[Thanny]

"Pfft, and leave you guys to your own devices to break up again? Not a chance!" Anisa answered with a grin before realising that the comment may have been out of turn and heaving out a breath. "I don't know about 'resident human,' but I, well . . . after seeing how everything is, I want to see this not only get up and running, but prosper. My uncle has been a kind and caring soul, and you both have been so great to me that I desire to see this through, to the bitter end if life allows me. But I don't know what will happen. I might be called away because of a sick family member. I might love and have to leave to keep this place secret . . . or have to break up because I want to keep this place secret."

She fell silent for a brief time before looking up toward her companion, smiling to keep herself from frowning.

"But that's part of life and we must live in the present, yeah? For now, my goal is to stay with you gals, if you'll let me."

 

[Clairikins]

"Well, it's your house, apparently." Sundrop doesn't have much to say, just looking out and trying to imagine the future- she's heard of the people who used to live here, even if she only got to meet them briefly. "I guess... the hardest things to get used to are the free time and how different non-humans are from humans. And not being able to have modern conveniences, but that's not too bad."

People like Emily and Sundrop need to go through extra hoops in their day to day life: Emily has her extended hearing range and a general 'skittish' nature of catfolk that she's gotten used to by now. Sundrop has to deal with people seeing her- sending men into a trance is bad enough as it is, but her military days showed just what might happen to a pretty girl alone in a room with men- although she was able to get out and give her commanding officer an earful for all of that.

"If you want to bathe, there's a lake nearby. We have a few towels in our bedroom, just... it might not be a good idea to go alone unless you're used to woodland creatures; they're not used to seeing people."

 

[Thanny]

"Yeah . . . I guess I do," Anisa replied, smiling for true this time. "Having this much free time should not bother me too much. I like exploring, and with good company exploring gets much more interesting."

She was very happy about the situation, feeling a refreshing wave of pleasure at the thought that these two were not going to oust her. She liked both of their companionships, and their uniqueness to boot. The comment about the lake made her curious and skeptical, however. Not go alone? Were the woods and lake dangerous? Either way she had her reservations on going with a person. She had never bathed with another person within sight distance before, and she dreaded the idea.

"I . . . think I will be able to manage out there," she answered, looking away to keep herself from appearing abashed. It probably only made it more apparent, however. "Which direction is it in? Is it, er . . . in that copse of trees there?" She pointed in her guessed direction, not really knowing her topography. "I'll be quick and be back before supper!"