Chapter 11: Nature's Bounty
Luna woke up with a headache at approximately one hour before sunrise. She had a strange dream where she was engulfed by a typhoon. Stupid dream... She yawned, I don't even remember anything else about it either...
"Good morning!" Uranus exclaimed.
"G'morning," Luna mumbled and rubbed her head, Damn headache...
"I found some abandoned chicken eggs today!" Uranus pulled one out of his cap, "But I could only bring back one."
"That's okay," Luna rubbed his tiny head and tried to smile, "I'm sure it will be delicious no matter what." Luna quickly dressed herself in a cotton shirt and capris.
"Yup!" He nodded and handed Luna the egg. She did not want to use more magic than she had too because she was going to be using plenty later on in the day, so Luna jumped down from the attic of the barn and shuffled through the hay.
"Where did you even find this egg?" Luna shouted to Uranus.
"In the forest." He responded with his own question, "What are you looking for?"
"A flat..." Luna hit something with her fingers, "Ah ha! Here it is!" She picked up a flat river stone.
"A flat ah ha?" Uranus was confused.
Luna laughed lightly and pinched his left cheek, "You're so silly, and I was looking for a stone." Luna walked outside of the barn and looked around for the well.
I know it's here somewhere. Luna squinted in the dark, and hoped that squinting would make her see better, and looked far out on the land. The hill that the barn sat on flattened out east of where the barn stood and then declined west of the barn. Luna could see the barren land for farming just thirty feet away from the barn and past the field she saw the destroyed well.
I really need to fix that. Luna relaxed her eyes and jogged towards the well. She ran through the field and with each step she realized that the land was dry, yet it was soft and had some fertile qualities to it. Odd... Luna thought as she reached the well. She gathered some of the stones and arranged them in a circle with three layers. The circle grew smaller and smaller with each layer so that Luna could place the stone on top of the pit.
"Whatcha doing?" Uranus peeked over Luna's shoulder.
"Cooking breakfast." Luna ignited the bottom of the circle and waited for the stone to heat up before she cracked the egg on the stone. Luna threw the eggshells in the flame and she watched the egg sizzle and pop over the heat.
"I like my eggs over medium." Uranus suggested, "And we need to save some for Pluto."
Luna facepalmed herself, "Oh my gosh! I completely forgot about him! How is he doing?"
"While you were looking for seeds last night, he woke up for a short time, and then he fell back to sleep." Uranus fluttered over to a stick on the ground and lifted it, "Here you go Luna, use this for the egg!"
She took stick and divided the egg into three equal sections, "That should be enough for all of us."
Once the egg was cooked to perfection, Luna carefully removed the hot stone off of the pit and returned to the farm after she doused the fire with a small amount of magic.
"This looks delicious!" Uranus licked his lips, "I'll go wake up Pluto!" Uranus flew off.
"Luna?" A shy voice spoke from behind Luna.
Luna turned and saw Cam. He hid behind one of the broken barn doors. "Good morning!" Luna remembered that she had asked Heath to gather people so they could farm. "Are you my only helper today?"
Cam shook his head, "Mama and Papa are outside already and Mr. Heath is there too, with Mrs. Dakota.
Five people, Luna counted, not too shabby. She rolled up her sleeves and patted Cam on his back, "We better get started then." When Luna felt Cam's back, she could still feel his fragile bones. I completely forgot how fragile he still is... Luna squinted and looked out at her small crowd of helpers, How fragile they all are... Their bodies appeared thinner in the rising sun.
"Where shall we start?" Angie asked.
Luna walked past her and lowered her gaze to the ground. She was looking for a soft patch in the dirt so they could begin to sow. Luna remembered and mumbled, "Crap.." she spoke up to the group, "Did anyone happen to bring any type of farming equipment?" Luna saw the group shake their head no. They had come empty handed, which Luna expected because she did not instruct Heath to bring farming equipment. Luna jogged, "Let me see if this barn has anything."
She jogged into the barn and looked all around. For anything that resembled a hoe, a sickle, or a watering can. The necessary equipment would be the hoe so that they can till the soil, a watering can would be nice, even though Luna would not mind watering the flowers with her magic, and the sickle would be useful later on if any weeds or tall grass sprouted from the seeds that she collected the previous night. Luna paid most of her attention to the walls.
"Drat..." Luna frowned and turned back around to the group, "Give me a minute, I need to create some equipment." She then grabbed a few pieces of hay that was on the ground and bundled it together. I need a hoe the most right now, and hopefully later, Roy can smith some equipment for them to use in the future. With the tool in mind, Luna closed her eyes and materialized what a gardening hoe looked like it her head. A wooden shaft to hold, and a metal blade to sow. Luna rhymed the spell and opened her eyes to see the results.
"You really are full of surprises, you know." Matt smiled and patted Luna's shoulder. Luna handed him the hoe and proceeded to make another one for Heath. Once the task was completed, they could officially begin gardening.
"Now," Luna explained once in the field, "To garden you need to..."
Angie laughed and said, "We know how to garden, dear. Our land wasn't always like this." Angie followed closely behind Matt and Cam behind Heath as they tilled the soil; and they would drop the seeds into the ground, cover them up with dirt, and move on to the next area.
"Well," Luna crossed her arms with a pleased smile, "That was easier than I thought."
"Luna..." Uranus sat on her shoulder with Pluto in his arms, "Pluto told me that Saturn should be here."
"What?" Luna gasped a little loudly. She quieted down, "What do you mean that he should be here?"
"Saturn is the sprite of agriculture," Uranus paused and leaned his ear by Pluto's mouth and listened to what baby had to say before he continued, "He is also the sprite of wealth and time."
Luna grasped her thumb and index finger around her chin and thought, "Nature's Bounty..."
"What?" Uranus confused.
"Nature's Bounty, " Luna explained, "Is the product of agriculture and with that product it takes time to grow and the result, if the product is sold, is wealth."
"So," Uranus thought, "We should wait until the product is grown?"
"We can," Luna shrugged, "but he might be in the fields now."
Pluto squirmed and cried in Uranus's arms, and Uranus asked over his cry, "Do you want us to look for him?"
Luna felt sorry for the green colored sprite, "If you don't mind. I'll keep an eye out as well."
"Just..." Uranus sighed,"Be careful, Saturn is kind of well," He was at a lost for words, "Old..."
"Don't worry about it," Luna said and watched Uranus fly off with Pluto.
Luna decided that it would be best to check the areas where the seeds have been planted. She whistled a tune and aimlessly kicked the dirt as if she was checking the seeds and not looking for a Harvest Sprite. There was no sprite in the first row, nor the second, nor the third. Geez, how many seeds did I give them? Luna thought a bit surprised on how many rows of seeds the group had planted.
"We're ready for the water, Luna." the same small voice from earlier tugged on Luna's sleeve.
"Of course!" Luna jumped, a bit startled by Cam's voice. She had forgotten for a short while that there were people with her in the field. Luna felt a strong pull on her wrists and feet. She felt as if she was not in control of her own body anymore. She asked, "Where should I start?"
"Over there, Luna." Cam pointed at the first row and Luna lost control.
What's going on?! Luna freaked out as her body acted on it's own. She did not even think or even have to mentally recite the water spell before spurts of water gushed out of her fingertips. She tried to redirect the fountain of water, but her hands were stuck on that first row.
"Don't you think that's a little much, Luna?" Cam questioned.
"Yeah..." Luna faked a laugh and watched her hands uncontrollably stop the water works, "Where now, Cam?"
"Row two, three, and four," Cam pointed in the direction and in the order that he wanted her to water, "Just try not to overwater them like you did the first row."
"Yeah, haha." Luna continued her fake laughter and smile, What the hell is going on with me?! Her body reacted without Luna thinking and quickly rushed over to the next three rows. It was not long until Cam yelled out to Luna, "You know you can stop now!"
Luna's hands stopped watering the flowers and she sighed with relief, Thank Goddess...
"Oi oi oi..." An older man coughed.
Not now... Luna whined internally because she knew that was the Harvest Sprite. She yelled back at Cam who was now joined with the adults, "That's everything for today! Thanks for helping!"
Heath jogged over to Dakota to help her off of the ground and the Matt, Angie, and Cam went on their merry way. Luna had forgotten that Dakota was there because she was quiet the whole time. Luna approached her, "How are you feeling, Dakota?"
"Pretty well," She smiled. The way Dakota smiled reminded Luna of her mother, "It's nice to be out today."
"The weather is goregous!" Heath added and breathed deeply.
"It is," Luna agreed and caught a glimpse of a yellow Harvest Sprite crawling up Dakota's leg, "Uh..." Luna stammered and reacted to the Harvest Sprite by slapping it away from Dakota's leg.
"What was that?" Dakota questioned.
"I thought I saw a spider," Luna shrugged, "I guess not, sorry about that."
"No, thank you," She squirmed uncomfortably, "I hate spiders!" Heath nodded a thanks as well and then they both headed back towards the village.
Once out of sight, Luna found the Harvest Sprite and pinched him by his wings, "You filthy little bastard..."
"Oi, you can see me?" The sprite asked.
"Yes, Saturn," Luna growled, "and I saw exactly what you were trying to do, you perverted old sprite."
"Oh!" Uranus fluttered back with Pluto, "You found Saturn!"
"Yeah..." She grumbled and flicked him back in the ground, "And I'm disgusted with this sprite already."
"Despite his tendencies," Uranus glared at the grounded sprite, "He's very knowledgeable."
"Wonderful." Luna rolled her eyes and turned towards the barn, "I think I am going to call my parents before we head into town."
"Why are we heading into town?" Uranus asked and floated down on Luna's shoulder.
"I want to see if my sword is done." She patted the sprite's head and entered the barn.
Yay! Chapter 11! So, what did you all think? Please leave a review for any comments or concerns! Also, thank you all again for being patient with us. School is our top priority and I would like to thank ScipioPB for reviewing even though she is co-writing this!