Debut Day
Violet woke at her usual time that morning, just as the golden rays of the sun spilled into the valley from beyond the mountains. She knew Shane would be busy getting the logistics for transportation to the concert in ZuZu City today, so the pastel-haired woman went ahead and watered her crops in her part-timer's absence. Violet then checked her kegs. The last batch of dark ale for Krobus had finished the day before and so the rookie brewer allowed the kegs to sit with a cleaning solution inside overnight to cleanse them of wort and the ale's flavor. She had a lot more wine to make for Krobus from the magically irradiated blueberries and the wine took much longer to prepare, so she was not about to leave a bunch of kegs laying around unused.
So now that the kegs marked for Krobus' use were properly cleansed, Violet filled the containers with the neon-purple berries and sealed them shut. The home brewer then swapped out some mead for another batch of fresh honey in a separate keg for her normal customers. She caught a whiff of honey, but the liquid smelled mainly of alcohol. After setting the jar of mead into her bin for sale, the farmer congratulated herself at a job well-done.
Now that she was finished with farm chores, Violet thought she should pay a visit to Hat Mouse at Talla's cart. However, when she arrived on the scene with a relatively empty pack just in case the tiny merchant happened to have several items on her wish list, Violet's assumptions were proven entirely false. Instead of a small, dapper rodent, the agrarian found herself face-to-face with a gigantic brown bear, whose upper half only just fit through the window of the wagon.
"H-Hello…" the wavy-haired woman stuttered in a voice slightly higher than normal, failing to completely hide her fear.
The furry creature's large nose sniffed noisily. "You smell..." he stuck his nose in her general direction. "Like honey," the bear decided after several more huffs.
It was a terrible idea to make mead today, the cultivator reflected internally as she fought her natural urge to panic at the sight of such a large predator. Violet nodded, her eyes still wide with disbelief that she was speaking to a brown bear. "I-I'm brewing some mead at my farm right now. I-I could bring you some if you'd like."
Shaking his head, the bear sighed forlornly. "No, you humans ruin the best food that way, storing it away for later until after it goes bad…" the fuzzy fanged mammal muttered under his breath - which is to say it was still clearly audible to Violet. "Why don't you all just eat whatever you like when it tastes best and sleep all winter like more sensible animals?"
Clearly this bear did not appreciate fermented food and drink like humans did, Violet realized. And she was not sure how long he was going to be filling in for Talla, or if he might be part of a rotation. Either way, the farmer decided it would be best to make a good first impression. "I do have some honey that I haven't used yet. Would that be better?"
"Yes, but…" The bear's dark, glassy eyes twinkled with optimistic intrigue. "Do you have any maple syrup?" the sweet-toothed ursus asked hopefully.
Nodding cautiously, the young woman flashed a friendly smile at the bear. "I'd have to go back home to get some, but -"
"Oh, yes!" the ferocious furball roared with excitement. He bounced on his haunches, causing Talla's cart to tip precariously on its wheels as the bear rocked back and forth as he expressed his mirth.
Violet stepped away from the mobile shop just in case the bear got too enthusiastic and risked felling the wooden structure on top of her. "Do you mind if I do my shopping first?" she inquired. "I want to check to see if you have anything I would like to buy."
The brown bear placed a paw over his snout, embarrassed for forgetting his assigned task. "Oh, right!" He turned his body and snatched a holey inventory list between the pads of his front paws. Violet accepted the list, wary of the claws that presumably tore the holes in the paper.
Scanning it with her sapphire orbs, Violet's eyebrows rose. "A rabbit's foot!" Robin had requested one ages ago, though the young woman could use the luck for a few plans of her own before gifting it to the carpenter. Even having it for the concert tonight might calm her nerves a bit. Luck was never a bad thing to have for a first live performance, right? She handed the payment to the fluffy mammal, who hung the string attached to her purchase from one of his claws. The rabbit's foot looked so dainty compared to the bear, Violet almost laughed.
"Thank you for your business, human lady," the bear said, tugging his lips back to grin as Violet dismissed herself to retrieve the jar of maple syrup from her house. "Don't forget the good stuff!" the bear bellowed after her.
While Talla and Thorn parted on slightly better terms than the lowest point in their business partnership, there was clearly no love lost between them. Harvey, however, did his best to express his appreciation to their guide extensively and credited the scorpion for their survival. To the doctor's surprise, Thorn offered him a parting gift. With an enormous claw, the jet-black creature gave the doctor a small vial. "It is my venom," Thorn clarified, their tail twitching toward Talla. "Feel free to use it should the water-breather become too troublesome." Harvey did not want to appear ungrateful, so he accepted the delicate container. However, he quickly squirreled it away in his bags so Talla would not take notice. The medic bowed his head respectfully before turning to join the syren, but Harvey silently hoped he would never find a use for the deadly liquid.
From there, Talla and Harvey traveled by barge along a narrow tributary that appeared to be formed by the rainwater that flowed down from the mountains and eventually widened to an impressively wide river from bank to bank. The simple boat was manned by locals with long poles to guide them safely down the current. At first, survival only seemed possible within throwing distance of the water source, but after a few days, the verdant plant life of a rainforest slowly came into existence. The vibrancy of the land was almost alien to Harvey after so long in the barren desert. Calls of brilliantly colored birds and the chirps of large insects were all around them and the sweet scent of nectar hung in the air like a woman's perfume. The river was canopied by the low-hanging branches of enormous trees and broad-leafed greenery. It was almost criminal how much water could be found here, yet the doctor was relieved they had finally made it to their destination.
It was as if the doctor's thoughts were written on his forehead and his travel companion swiftly curbed his expectations. "This is the first of many stops," Talla reminded Harvey as the crew of the barge began to push their vessel toward the shore. Despite her curt words, Harvey could tell that the demi-goddess was relieved to be well away from the arid climate of the desert. If given the opportunity, the medic suspected they might take a different route back to Pelican Town when the time came.
"Remember we are not here to stay, Doctor," the syren advised her employee as they approached the encampment. "You will treat as many as we can here before moving on to the next checkpoint." Her sea-blue stare caught Harvey's attention before darting away as quickly as a school of minnows. "We are already behind schedule as it is, but it would not do well for your patients to cut our time short because of it."
Harvey bowed his head to signal his understanding as he gathered his bags to prepare for their departure. If he had not been alerted to the existence of the encampment, the bespectacled man was sure he would have missed the camouflaged tents among the foliage. There were not as many people as the doctor anticipated, but as Talla mentioned, this was one of many stops. And if this encampment was closest to all the aid coming through, Harvey felt he could safely assume these people were in the least amount of danger.
Talla had bought a great number of medical supplies along the way, so the crew members of the barge took to immediately unloading the goods while a woman wearing a dark green uniform escorted Harvey to the "hospital tent" in which they had treated the injured as best they could. The people who needed his immediate care were those with infections from lesions that had not been cleaned properly before they were bandaged. They were not pretty wounds, but after lancing the puffy skin to extract the puss and redress the injuries proper care, the doctor was confident that they would live.
There was one man with a broken arm, but luckily the splint his fellow combatants had made was decent enough quality that the bone was on track to heal nicely. Several more were under supervision for suspected concussion and Harvey made his rounds to confirm whether the initial suspicions were true. It was during the last of these exams that a man came running into the camp, shouting wildly about his friend, and begging to help.
Harvey sprang to his feet, quickly excusing himself from the medical tent, and ran out to find the source of the panic. Several others had reached the man before him and had quickly hushed him for fear that whatever had injured his friend might be following him. From his uniform, it was obvious he was a Ferngill Republic soldier.
When the young man spotted Harvey, he urged the doctor toward him. His eyes were bloodshot and wild with adrenaline. It made the doctor marvel at the distance this man must have carried his companion to safety while on the run for his own life. "My friend was shot by the Gotorons, please help!"
The physician set down his leather medical bag beside him as he knelt on the damp earth to examine the mutilated man. He was covered in dirt and grime, so that his skin was almost completely coated, and his uniform was so stained with mud that Harvey would have never guessed a soldier's uniform lay beneath. But when the doctor reached for the man's wrist to feel his pulse, Harvey's heart sank as his fingers touched clammy skin.
"I'm afraid your friend is already dead," the medical professional informed the blond man solemnly. "But I'm sure his family will appreciate you carrying him all this way."
The warrior was younger than Harvey, but the man's face suddenly aged a decade. "No, no, no…" he whispered to himself, clearly unwilling to accept the terrible news.
It was then Harvey uncovered the gaping hole in the dead warrior's chest. An icy cool ran through his veins as he examined the wound. Something had gone clean through him, like a cookie cutter through rolled-out dough, so that a person could fit their fist through the dead man's corpse. It was unlike anything the doctor had ever seen before. What kind of weapons did the Gotorons possess that could inflict such deadly results?
As his first act as the new mayor of Pelican Town, Shane hired a mysterious contact of Violet's to repair the town bus. Strangely enough, she had already been paying installments toward fixing the bus for about a season, but still needed more gold to bridge the gap. It hurt to spend that much money from the town budget, which Lewis only surrendered under threat that Shane would insist the old man vacate the Mayoral Manor. However, the newly elected official figured it would be worth it to give the villagers more mobility if public transportation was readily available on a regular schedule.
Weirder still, Violet offered to replenish the funds "borrowed" from the town to complete the project, giving Shane reason to suspect the new farmer was trying to privatize the bus service and have the town pay a fee each season to keep it operational. After further conversation, that seemed far less likely than Violet being annoyingly generous as the newest resident of Pelican Town. Upon further inquiry, the new mayor learned that projects around town that were meant to be handled by former Mayor Lewis had been completed by Violet. He learned that Emily had hired her to clear the fallen tree that blocked the deeper sections of the woods in the Cindersap Forest and that she and Elliott repaired the small bridge between the eastern and western sides of the beach. Supposedly his landlord was trying to give back to the community, but if Violet was the one completing all of Mayor Lewis' town maintenance duties, what had the old man been doing this whole time?
Despite the oddities surrounding the situation, Shane got the money to Violet before nightfall the night previous, and the mysterious on-call all-hours mechanic pulled through. The bus was now fully functional, and Shane had to hire someone to drive the ancient monstrosity. He had someone in mind, but there were several townsfolk who quietly shared their concerns about Pam's drinking habits and how that might affect her ability to take on the job. Due to combined efforts of Gus, Emily, and himself, the new mayor wrote up a contract explicitly forbidding any alcohol on the clock and that must never report to work inebriated that cited several specific Ferngill Republic laws and the repercussions for breaking them. Either of those two situations would put her passengers at risk and thus void her contract of employment.
Pam did not appreciate being so called-out in writing, but after a fair bit of grumbling she confessed she understood why due to the nature of the job. The woman in the pink tracksuit scribbled her name on the dotted line and thrust the contract back into Shane's hands. "You can't take it back now, ya hear?" Pam exclaimed firmly. "I want a copy of that, too. Just in case."
Shane sighed, but bowed his head in acquiescence. "Yeah, sure, whatever," the young mayor assured his first new hire. "I'll drop it off once I've finished all my other errands for today." He offered out his hand, revealing a shiny enamel name tag with a simple logo of a pelican in flight. "I think this is yours…"
Shane did not expect Pam's eyes to well up like they did, but she snatched the pin away and turned on her heels toward home. "Best get cleaned up for my first shift, huh?" the woman chuckled under her breath.
"Be there around three so we can load the band equipment in time!" Shane shouted after her. Pam did not face him but grumbled in response. At least she seemed eager, in her own way. Even if he failed at everything else from now on as mayor, at least someone could vouch for the fact that he was trying to keep his promises. That much could not be said for many politicians nowadays, even the local ones. But maybe that was just his pessimism talking.
Word of the town-sponsored trip to ZuZu City to see Maru's brother and the rest of his band play spread quickly, though Alex had a feeling she would use it as an excuse to do something productive. No way was he about to let that happen. Maru already overworked herself and if he had to drag her out of that clinic kicking and screaming, so be it!
As he swung open the door, Alex scanned the main room in search of his target, but Maru was nowhere to be found in the front. The jock called out to her, and he heard a muffled response from somewhere in the back. Following the sound of her voice, the spiky-haired brunet discovered Maru in a supply closet, holding a pile of falling objects suspended above her head. "Help!" the woman pleaded, her arms shaking.
Alex leapt into action, quickly tagging in for Maru so she could lower her arms as he pushed the tangle of assorted objects back up with one arm and re-attached the fallen shelf board with the other. Once he was sure the supports were properly in place, Alex turned to Maru.
The nurse sat on the nearest box, wiping her brow, and smiling up at her friend with thanks. "You're a life-saver, Sirius," she panted, using her decided-upon nickname for him for the first time in weeks. "I just wanted to grab a few posters from the bottom," Maru explained. "I didn't think the whole shelf would come crashing down."
"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned for her well-being.
Maru bobbed her head in answer. "Yeah, my arms are just a little shaky from being in that position for so long," she assured him, raising an arm to demonstrate with a nervous chuckle. "But don't worry, once the blood flow regulates, I'll be just fine."
Alex's dark orbs regarded her skeptically and without a word, he scooped Maru us in his arms and carried her into the exam room, kicking the door open with his foot and setting her gently on the exam table. She let out a yelp of surprise, "What was that for?" the young woman queried as Alex leaned in close to inspect her.
"I'm just making sure you're not concussed," he reasoned, resting a hand on either side and changed his angle to stare at her face every so often. "Something could have fallen and hit your head and I couldn't see very well in that closet."
"Oh…" Maru blinked and removed her red-rimmed glasses to give Alex a better view. "Nothing hit me, but you're free to check until you're satisfied that I'm well," she assured her friend.
While her pupils were kind of wide, Alex could tell from her gaze that Maru was not concussed. Alex had watched several teammates' medical exams after taking heavy hits in a game and the signs did not show. He exhaled heavily and stood up, shaking his head. "I can't leave you anywhere, can I, Glasses?" Alex decided to return the favor with his nickname for her.
Maru grinned. "I don't find myself in that kind of trouble often, but I am glad you stopped by," she professed, hopping off the exam table. "I had been shouting for help for a while, hoping someone outside would hear me."
That did not make Alex feel better. He grabbed her by the hand and dragged her back to the closet. "Show me what you were trying to get," he ordered, releasing her from his grasp and pointing up toward the offending shelf. "I'll get it for you."
"Oh, just some posters to hang up here and there," Maru indicated the large stack of papers beneath an assortment of boxes full of vials, gloves, and swabs. Alex lifted the boxes and set them down on the floor before sliding the posters down carefully and handing them to Maru. Flipping through them, she nodded approvingly. "They're a little old, but the information is still good," she deliberated verbally, passing half the stack back to Alex.
As the athlete put everything else back on the shelf, Maru disappeared into the waiting room down the hall. Alex found her pulling a large roll of tape out of a drawer behind the front counter and held it up triumphantly. "Well, since you're here, you can use those muscular arms of yours to help me put these up on the wall," the auburn-haired girl suggested with a wink. Alex flushed, suddenly self-conscious. Was he imagining things, or was Maru being flirty with him?
The first few charts were not so bad. In fact, they were kind of cool to look at, Alex thought to himself. All the muscles and bones of the human body, lovingly drawn and labeled. He even posed a few questions about a couple of the more obscure ones, and as always, Maru answered him with a smile and a brief and easily followed description of its purpose. Alex was blown away with how much Maru packed away in that brain of hers - and how even despite all that, she did belittle him for not knowing the things she did.
The last few charts were a different story, however. Among them, the first one he could laugh off a bit, but even a drawing of a dick with all its parts labeled was still a dick. "Are you sure you want to hang these up in the waiting room?" the jock asked, avoiding direct eye contact with his companion. "They kind of seem a little inappropriate."
Maru finished taping the back of the poster and instructed Alex where to stick it on the wall. To his horror, the young man quickly realized that the next poster was the female equivalent. "There's nothing to be ashamed of in regard to our bodies," Maru replied, completely unphased by the intimate nature of the drawings. "And the more patients know about their bodies, its function, and the correct way to identify its parts promotes better health overall." She pointed to a weird sweeping tentacle-like shape on the ladies' chart. "For example, a fertilized egg in the fallopian tube is dangerous," her finger shifted toward the larger main section of the organ. "While the same phenomenon in the uterus could result in a viable pregnancy."
"O-Oh…" Truthfully, Alex had not paid much attention in sex ed while in school. He never expected a girl he had a crush on to end up giving him a lesson.
"There's a lot of false information that people get about the bodies of the opposite sex," the nurse continued. "Like that silly idea schoolboys get that girls don't defecate." Maru shook her head in dismay. "I'm not sure why it's such a persistent myth, but I don't want misinformation like that to continue to spread if I can help it." She passed Alex the poster and he slapped it onto the wall as quickly as possible.
Maru shielded her mouth with an open hand to hide her giggling. Alex recognized his friend noticed how flustered he was about the topic. "Sorry, Alex!" she apologized. "I didn't mean to start lecturing, I promise!"
"It's fine…" he lied, trying to focus on his original task now that they had placed all the posters on the wall. Alex was desperate to change the subject and get things back on track. "I came here to invite you to the concert in ZuZu City tonight with me." He stood up straight, puffing out his chest. "And I'm not taking any excuses from you. The whole town is pretty much going, so if you're going to try and make excuses about staying here in case of a medical emergency, you're better off going in case your brother passes out from stage fright or something."
His personal trainer laughed at the idea. "He really hates crowds," Maru admitted, "but Sam is his best friend, so he's putting himself out there. I'm proud of him!"
Alex did not think Maru and her brother were that close. They looked nothing alike. "So do you and…" he froze, trying to remember the goth kid's name, "your brother get along?"
"We used to when we were a bit younger - back then he probably felt obligated to keep me safe so he wouldn't get in trouble with mom and dad, but once we got older, we drifted apart." She beamed, catching Alex's eyes with her own. "But I think our relationship with Sebby has improved a lot this year. He even asks me about you once and a while."
"Why would he do that?" Alex hoped no one had spilled the beans. Shane would not have told anyone, right? But the jock knew from experience that rumors spread like wildfire in this tiny town. If even one person had loose lips…
But it was then that Alex saw the time. Shit, we're going to miss the bus! "Hey, it's time to close up shop for the day," he told Maru abruptly, "grab your stuff."
The young woman in scrubs tilted her head in confusion. "Why?"
Alex snatched the roll of tape and shoved it into a drawer. "We're going to your brother's concert, that's why," the brunet replied, closing the doors, and turning off lights wherever he found a switch. "Now get changed into your normal clothes, the bus is leaving in like ten minutes!"
Maru beamed at him. "I'll be quick!" she promised, disappearing into the back. True to her words, the local nurse returned to the waiting room promptly, with a small first-aid kit just in case. Typical, Alex thought with amusement. Though he was glad she had not objected to going to the concert with him.
Once they were outside, Alex was ready to make a run for it with Maru in tow, but her feet were planted to the ground, her warm eyes focused on the ground. "I've seen corrosion marks like that before…" she ruminated to herself, clearly forgetting that they were in a hurry.
Alex squatted down to inspect the cobblestones in question. There were a few with some weird holes in them, like little rain droplets had eaten through them somehow. "What could have caused it?" he wondered, his curiosity getting the better of him.
Maru frowned. "I'm not sure," she bent down to pry one of the more damaged cobblestones out of the pathway and Alex quickly filled it with dirt so no one would get hurt from the results hole. "But I intend to find out," the researcher declared, tucking the stone away in her bag. Maru stood dusting her hands on her overalls and turning westward. "Now let's catch that bus!" She did not have time to object before Alex lifted Maru and threw her on his back as he made a break for the bus stop. Maru let out an animated whoop, laughing as she held onto his shoulders tightly. Alex grinned, pressing onward in a race against the clock. Even if they missed the bus, the jock was enjoying himself.
Violet sat nervously on the edge of her seat at Haley's vanity. While the farmer was not one for letting other people give her makeovers - since that was Bex's domain - the pastel-haired woman could not help but reach out for some style tips for the concert. As much as Violet disliked the idea of being center stage, as the lead vocalist of their newly formed band, she knew she had to dress to impress, or the audience would just see Part-time Pantheon as another wannabe rock band.
"It's good you came to me for advice," Haley disclosed, giving Violet's attire a once-over with her large blue eyes. It was the same outfit she chose from Emily's clothing therapy event last season. Dark-wash jeans torn at the knees, a fitted leather jacket, and underneath Violet wore a deep V-neck tank top that matched her hair color. "That top is kind of cute," Haley conceded, "but I don't really get black leather personally," the blonde acknowledged, barely restraining her expression of disapproval as she appraised Violet's clothing. "But since you're mixing it with a 'spring' theme, I've got you covered when it comes to pulling this all together."
"I just didn't want to embarrass myself," Violet confessed sheepishly. "Normally Bex is the only one I trust to help me out with this kind of stuff, but she gave you her stamp of approval."
Haley smirked with satisfaction. "Of course, she did. I'm the only one qualified in this town by a long shot." The woman rolled out a length of cloth, revealing a collection of accessories so extensive Violet had only seen rivaled in a retail store. "So, let's try to coordinate a look here…" Haley selected a few items and held them up for Violet's approval. "I think more pastels would be a good idea," the lead vocalist agreed, taking a few thin stacking bracelets from Haley, and organizing them into a gradient of color that suited her taste.
Violet scanned her options for something to do with her hair. She wanted to wear it up because Sam warned she would get hot under the stage lights and the rookie singer knew that her boyfriend liked it when she wore her hair up high. Perhaps it was a bit selfish, but the only attention she cared to attract that evening was Sebastian's. Finally, the newbie singer found something that spoke to her. "How do you wear this butterfly?" Violet asked, choosing a replica of a butterfly with bright yellow wings and striking black markings around the edges and down its tapered wingtips.
Haley's blue eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh, that! I bought that one ages ago and ended up never wearing it because it blended in with my hair too much." Back when she lived in NuNu City, Violet herself had been blonde, but everyone in Pelican Town knew her as the woman with flower-hued hair. The curly-haired woman picked up the butterfly and twisted the "body" so that it separated into two bendy halves connected by string, so it did not completely fall apart. "There's a trick to it…" Once Haley fixed Violet's ponytail to show off the floral locks of hair, the taller woman threaded it through the center of the butterfly and began to twist its body back together, clamping over the accessory over the hair tie.
"There!" Haley announced, bringing a hand mirror forward so Violet could view the butterfly from the back as well. "What do you think?"
Some part of Violet was delighted that her hair was like a branch of wisteria with a graceful butterfly alighted among the petals. "It's so cute!" the woman squealed involuntarily. "I love it!" She whipped her hair around, making sure the faux flyer remained in place even when she moved around. Sure enough, the replica swallowtail stayed secure.
"The rest of your outfit should make sure the butterfly doesn't make you seem too cutesy," Haley mused aloud, plucking a few necklaces for Violet to try. One of them fell between her cleavage slightly.
"I think this draws attention a bit too low, though…" Violet went to take it off, but Haley stopped her.
"No way, farmer," Haley scolded her. "If you've got it, flaunt it." The self-proclaimed personal stylist gestured toward Violet. "Do you want to show off how hot you are or not?"
Violet balked at the question. "I - I have a boyfriend, Haley!" the pastel-haired woman objected with a stutter. "I'm not trying to attract anyone else."
"Just because you're in a relationship doesn't mean you stop trying to dress up." Haley crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to one foot. "Remind him how lucky he is to swap saliva with you."
The shorter woman blushed at the frank commentary. "That's not very nice, Haley. Sebastian -"
"Ugh!" the blonde groaned. "I just gave you a compliment and all your focusing on is your stupid boyfriend!" Haley huffed in annoyance as she pointed Violet's attention to the mirror on the vanity. "Can you seriously just see yourself for a second and tell me that Sebastian isn't going to go crazy seeing you look as awesome as you do?"
Violet's face tinged pink from embarrassment but obeyed. This was so different from her normal style, but it still felt true to herself. She felt both cute and a little sexy at the same time. In that case, nothing was too over-the-top, right? As the lead singer in a band, Violet grasped that she would have to step up the confidence.
The fashion-senseless woman sighed in defeat. "You win, Haley." Violet glanced down at her lap, twiddling her fingers nervously as she imagined Sebastian's reaction. He had never seen her dressed this way. "I just hope that he doesn't get too distracted and forgets how to play the synth," the debuting vocalist joked with a grin of her own.
"That's the spirit!" Haley praised the band member. She swiveled Violet's chair to face her. "Now, let's talk about makeup! I think a cat's eye would be best to complete the look..."
Author's Note: This chapter took ages because my kiddo got sick last weekend and it slowly spread to the rest of us. Her fever got scary high for a bit there and all she wanted was for me to hold her for comfort and of course I couldn't possibly deny such a sweet, pitiful request. UWU