- Shifting Seasons Event -
Pruning Pumpkins
{Morrigan & Mara}

.:+:.

This place was always so, so quiet when she came... Uncharacteristically quiet, when compared with Mara's own plot of land full of graves, and trees and winding paths through the rows. This place was so quiet and so empty it was borderline eerie- but it was exactly that quiet and emptiness that she was seeking now.

Fall and the days surrounding the end of the October month always brought with it and increase in the humans tramping through her graveyard, and then Halloween night was about ten times worse than that. It had been hard work continually chasing off the unwanted trespassers and instilling fright in any that dared to walk among the graves late at night- and she was diligent with it, and persistent- but it was tiring still and she needed a break from constantly looking for new souls to scare. So now she was wanting for the eerie silence of Morrigan's Boundary and the lack of humans (or really any living thing at all) just for a bit of respite.

When she got there it was quiet as always, the sun sinking slowly into the distant horizon and the shadows deepening among the trees and the overgrown trails and tombstones. There was little stirring in the fallen leaves and brittle vines woven among the stones, not even mice- what little she heard was born of the slight breeze winding slowly through the trees.

Mara picked her way through the leaf-ridden paths and winding routes through the graves, sticking to the shadows where she could and on the lookout the whole way through. She was looking for any glimpse of the esk who called this place home, a black-furred tail from the corner of her eye, or the scrape of claws over gravel..... Or even the sensation of dark eyes on her back from somewhere unseen.

But several minutes of walking in solitude through the immensity of the cemetery didn't earn her any sign of Morrigan at all. There was no hint of her in the front half near the gates, nor was she wandering along the walls or overgrown sections in the far corners. There wasn't even any faint paw prints dug into the damp earth in any of the normal routes Mara knew Morrigan to take.... And as she headed deeper inside, she still saw no sign or Morrigan out and about as she was used to.

Mara paused at a fork in the rows, debating for half a moment if she would head in toward the furthest portions of the land or veer away from the defined paths and down toward the portion Morrigan had settled her 'den' in. She had never known Morrigan to stay near the makeshift 'den' unless it was particularly terrible weather, and today certainly did not fit the bill.... But trying to find her in the labyrinth that was this place wasn't all that appealing, lest she get lost.

Her tail twitched behind her a little haughtily, before turning left and trudging off the more defined paths and into the thick of the overgrowth and reach of the surrounding woods.

As she grew closer to the 'den' and the surrounding pumpkin patch growing wild there, the more noise there seemed to be in this usually noiseless place. There were creatures darting in and out of the piles of leaves, and over and under crumbling headstones halfway buried in earth and moldy vegetation. And in the trees birds were hopping from limb to limb, chittering and squawking and bursting in.... Anticipation...?

Mara cast them a cautious look and moved a bit quicker, trotting over the obstacles in the way and moving from shadow to shadow where possible.

She climbed the last rise before the land sloped down a bit, the gravestones here all toppled over and more piles of mishapen stone than anything- and everything covered in a thick blanket of thick green vines, and bright orange pumpkins scattered everywhere.

And there amongst the wild patch of pumpkins and greenery was Morrigan gently rolling a pumpkin out of the patch and toward the edge... With a band of crows fluttering back and forth around her constantly, and making no small amount of noise.

Mara paused at the top of the little rise, her head tilting one way and then another as she watched Morrigan leave the pumpkin at the edge of the clearing among a stack of others that had already been pulled aside- and her approaching it caused the crows lurking around the stack to flutter away with a round of new calls and squawks.

Morrigan's movement stalled for a moment with her paw resting atop the pumpkin to still it's movement, her head tilting slightly and instantly alert- very aware of some other set of eyes knowing her back that hadn't been there but a few moments before, and almost just as instantly aware of who it was. She cast a glance over her shoulder, her dark eyes catching Mara's in the harsh light of the waning sun, and for a second or two they just regarded each other silently... before Morrigan dipped her head slightly in greeting and then quickly returned to what she was doing, and without a single word or anything else.

Mara's tail tip twitched irritably at the swift (and yet fairly characteristic) short half-greeting from the other esk, before she shook herself out a bit and picked her way down the remainder of the slope and stopped in the shadow of a lopsided headstone resting there. She took a seat, her tail curling over her paws and silent as she watched Morrigan pad slowly into the thick vines and start meddling with the stem of another pumpkin. She seemed to be trying to snap it off from the drying vines it was attached to, though for what reason Mara hadn't any real clue.... Why would she be messing with them?

Mara watched in utter quiet for a few minutes as Morrigan stayed focused on her task, aware of the smaller esk's eyes but not at all bothered by it..... Though she could tell Mara was questioning what she was doing, albeit silently, but she let it be. She found it easier to let other things ask questions in their own time.... And prior experience with Mara in particular had proven it Morrigan need only a little patience before the question was voices directly.

(Morrigan had also come to learn that guessing Mara's questions before they were spoken aloud (even if she guessed correctly) only irritated Mara, and quite a bit. It was more worth the wait, if only to avoid sparking the smaller esk's somewhat short temper flaring should Morrigan press her.)

So Morrigan waited, and kept on with what she was doing, slow and deliberate as she detached the stem of the pumpkin from the rest of the plant, and worked to untangle it completely so she could move it- and like the one before, she rolled it to the edge and stacked it with the rest, and then returned to start detaching another. And with every movement the crows fluttered back and forth, dancing at the edges of her working space and staring intently with their dark and beast eyes, cawing and calling out to each other, and in impatience too. They were waiting for Morrigan to finish and leave the pumpkins alone indefinitely, so they may start in on enjoying the pumpkins for a meal- and the crows were not the only animals sitting by, watching and hopeful of the feast the pumpkins would provide for them. There were mice and squirrels, and other birds and rabbits too... And perhaps even a fox lingering at the farthest edges- but it was the crows that were the most noisy of the lot, and the ones growing impatient and pushy the fastest.

Morrigan paid them little mind, even with all their calls and the dancing around they were doing- she even still said nothing when a few grew bolder and were coming in closer, or picking at the pumpkins she had yet to work on, or had already stacked. She wouldn't say anything, but she did settle her dark eyes on the creatures for a few moments longer than what would be normal, intense and somewhat unsettling. Some of the crows took the hint, but not all- many were still stubborn and persistent, but she let it be, and stayed quiet..... Though perhaps internally she felt some semblance of annoyance begin to flicker in her core, small, and simmering- but certainly there, where usually she didn't feel anything like anger at all.

Still she just let them be, and ignored them

Morrigan repeated her process of pulling pumpkins and stacking them at the edge nearly three times more before Mara's selective silence ran it's course, and the smaller esk finally voiced the obvious, and very pressing question nagging at her mind.

"What are you doing?" Mara asked flatly, and Morrigan drew up in her detangling of the vines, her dark eyes trailing sideways toward Mara.

"Removing the pumpkins." Morrigan answered simply, and Mara's tail twitched again at the short answer- she should have known by now that she need be specific when asking Morrigan anything, because she wasn't likely to earn the answer she wanted if she failed to.... Because yes, clearly she was removing the pumpkins.

"Why?" Mara asked next, and quickly too after realizing her mistake in wording it. Morrigan tilted her head to the pumpkin she was nearest,

"They are getting to be overripe, and they'll soon be rotting." Morrigan replied evenly, "I am moving them from the area before they do, and placing them in a clearing nearby to live out the rest of their time. The other animals will eat what they can before they degrade too far."

".... And why are you moving them?" Mara asked slowly, and Morrigan paused, her head tilting slightly, "Why not just let them stay here and rot instead? Why go to all the trouble of moving them?" Mara elaborated, and Morrigan looked away a moment, quiet.

".... It would get quite messy." She said at length, "And quite crowded... The animals would not care where the food is, of course, but it is easier if they do not congregate here. There is more space in the clearing, they can spread out better, and divide the food too." She explained quietly, shaking herself out resuming pulling at the tendrils and vines with her claws, and leaving the explanation at that. Mara paused, her face pulling just slightly in question and confusion too with the reply.... It seemed somewhat out of character for Morrigan, if she were being honest.

She'd never known Morrigan to meddle with anything at all, not the plants, nor the animals, or even the crumbling graves. She let everything be and had made a point of never interfering in anything at all. 'All things have their time and fate will do as it will, and I will not meddle in it' was something Morrigan had said several times before now, so to see her doing something so.... Well, meddling- was a surprise.

And for what? Because it would be 'messy' and 'crowded'?

Mara cast a glance passed Morrigan and over toward the clump of a few headstones that have tumbled on top of one another and created a small alcove inside the field of pumpkins- Morrigan's 'den', in the loosest sense of the word.

Was the tending of the pumpkins and attempt at keeping her living space clean and tidy? Morrigan didn't really spend much time here, as far as Mara was aware- but perhaps she frequented it enough to warren keeping it up?

Or was it something different that had the old esk doing something so out of character? Something a bit more complicated than simply keeping this area neat and healthy?

Mara did not ask about it, not then- but Morrigan could tell she wanted to, and that she doubted the answer she had given- because there was a bit more to it. But Morrigan would not voice it unless she was prompted directly, as she saw no need to- the answer she has given was truthful, if incomplete.

Doing this kept the rot from overlaying the base of the plants and suffocating them, and moving them to another space ensured the animals could spread out and not clump so much. They would not trade to much on the leaves and vines and damage them, and they could divy up the food over a larger area and enjoy it to the fullest without stepping on each others toes.

But Morrigan also did this to give all the surrounding creatures one last good take of food before fall ended and winter came. She remembered well from her old life how hard food could be to find once the chill set in, and in this one small way she might bring a bit of relief and enjoyment before things grew too harsh. It was the one way she allowed herself to meddle in the natural order of things.

Mara resigned herself to silence again as Morrigan continued on, both of them content in the quiet.... mostly content in Mara's case, anyway.

She stayed in the shadows watching for quiet a long time, before restlessness overtook her the more the sun kept sinking in the sky, and she began to wander through the patch herself. She did so mostly aimlessly and wary of the crows fluttering overhead, and Morrigan among the drying stalks.... And every once in awhile when she was sure Morrigan was not aware, she would break the stems off some of the smaller pumpkins or pull some of the vines away herself. Small things, inconsequential even.... They had to be, as not to be too noticeable of her meddling too.

Morrigan noticed it of course, she always did. But she kept it to herself and continued to work in that (mostly) content quiet between the two of them- discounting the growing noise and number of the crows.

Mara's patience and ability to ignore the dark and feathered creatures did not quite match up with Morrigan's own, and quickly her irritation with the birds grew to a fine point- one that rivaled that of the emotions she felt when humans trampled through her own Boundary. She grew increasingly more unhappy with them darting around and pecking at the pumpkins Morrigan was working with, and the suffocating feel of them hovering and flying overhead on a constant loop- but it was the noise that was the worst part, and she could not take it any more.

It wasn't long at all before Mara was dating back and forth, swiping at the birds and chasing them off where they dared to land. The crows squawked and fluttered madly to get away from her, their voices rising in agitation as they bunched together and watched her warily for any openings she might leave and they could swoop back in. She did not give them any ground, she was quick and practiced from all the times she had chased away the unwanted humans at her own Boundary. She gave them no time to land and stay grounded, she hopped between the vines and the pumpkins with grace and agility, reaching up high into the air and warding them off as they tried to drop down. And even once they began to back off all the way and there only remained a few of the crows that would even try and bunch in on Morrigan again, Mara was persistent in her duties as something of a makeshift scarecrow, and was quick to correct the rogues.

Morrigan paused only three times in her work once Mara set in on the crows- once in the very start of the smaller esk taking a stand against them. She did so out of intrigue, and watched for a few moments but little more before starting back in- though she did keep an eye on Mara nonetheless.

And the second pause came when Mara was darting around swiping at the diving crows by bouncing between tombstones and pumpkins and the like for higher ground. One crow dropped down directly over Morrigan's head and did so a bit too close for Mara's liking- she was quick to go after it, but did so by pushing off into the air from the pumpkin's on Morrigan's back for extra height. Mara was above her and into the air in seconds time, and so quickly Morrigan hadn't a chance to really do anything or react at all- but she did pause, and look Mara's way in surprise- but the other esk was much too absorbed in her own 'work' to notice it at all.

The third and final pause occurred just as the sun dipped below the horizon, and Mara's darting about came to a quick and quite abrupt halt.

A crow broke free from the masses waiting in the trees nearby and tried to break Mara's perimeter, and like all the rest she was quick to counter it's movement. She wove through the vines quick as lightning and leapt toward a pumpkin for an extra boost- but the pumpkin gave way underneath her as soon as her weight fell on it. It's seemingly firm skin was slick and mushy under her paws, and it's walls caved in immediately, breaking apart with a terrible wet, creaking sound- and she was plunged down into a center full of muck and slime and halfway rotted guts.

Mara lost all sight of the world for a few seconds, the filth clinging to her fur in heavy clumps. She instinctively tried to claw her way out of the pumpkin, but the muck slid under her paws like ice and she couldn't get a foothold or gather enough balance to even drag herself out.

The crows perched in the trees were cawing and squawking all in an awful, and not at all pleasant cacophony of noise that was much too like laughing- and the sound of it turner Mara's mood all the more sour than it was now with being dropped into the sludge filled pumpkin. She struggled to pull herself out even more, willing the muck to let her free so she may go and shut the birds up again and give them a piece of her mind- but doing so was futile and she only ended up slipping further and being drugged even more into the disgusting goo.

Needless to say she was fuming at this point and thoroughly displeased- but her annoyance sparked just a tad further when she became aware of Morrigan peering down at her, and Mara could just imagine how amused the larger esk must be at the sight.

Just like the stupid crows

But Morrigan seemed as stoic as ever, and even Mara's imagining of the amusement fell slightly short- though her agitation didn't wane at all even still.

Morrigan inched forward and pulled the lingering walls of the pumpkin apart, letting a large portion of the slime dribble out at her feet. Morrigan's head lowered to be level with Mara's, her black fur sticky with yellow-brown and sticking all on end. Mara bristled ad Morrigan caught her eyes, still stewing and not at all happy and not looking to be patronized or whatever else.

"Come on." Morrigan murmured coolly, nudging her nose underneath Mara and uncaring of the filth she was digging her muzzle into. Mara stiffened under the contact and instinctively pulled away, but Morrigan persisted. She nuzzled her muzzle further into the slime and more underneath the smaller esk, before hoisting Mara up onto her feet with ease. Mara's tail lashed behind her in agitation, not exactly wanting the help at that very moment, though she relented to allow the larger esk to help her out of the center of the rotted pumpkin regardless.

Once Mara was on her feet again Morrigan backed away, her muzzle slick with the putrid guts and shriveled seeds now too- though she didn't mind it at all. She allowed Mara a moment or two to collect herself and try and shake of the bulk of the slime, and turned her attention up toward the still chortling crows among the tree branches.

Mara was much to busy trying to rid he fur of the rot to notice what happened- but suddenly the crows laughter cut off abruptly, and many of them took off quickly into the air and left entirely... almost frightened in a way.

But Morrigan had done nothing, at least not that Mara had noticed or felt- but for the birds?

All Morrigan need to was settle a single, piercing stare on the lot of them. A look so intense they felt themselves squirm, and then quickly felt the need to escape the old esk's gaze entirely- and they took off into the air with little a thought to the food they had been waiting on so impatiently beforehand.

Morrigan glanced slowly back down toward Mara, oblivious to the confusion in the smaller esk for the sudden retreat of the crows. Morrigan tilted her head to the side a bit, calm and neutral as ever again, and with not a hint of any intense stare she had given the birds.

"It seems you won't need to worry over them any longer."

.:+:.

Art to Me- I made it