Vicky began to pedal her bike, wheelbarrow and all, off toward the community center. She knew now what she'd been feeling when she woke up, that sense of foreboding, tension... It had come to a head when Morris had walked into Pierre's shop. It was all coming from Joja, from the town. Pierre had said it himself, he couldn't match their prices, he couldn't keep up with them, and Morris was actively attempting to steal his customers away... and she knew exactly why.
She'd seen it more than once when she worked at Joja, almost never directly, but she'd always seen the impact, the way her delivery routes changed. They moved in, set up a shop, and then slowly ground away all the competition once they were all that was left. Then once they had a solid foothold in the town, they'd move in and take everything over, one by one. Gus would lose his saloon, Harvey would lose his clinic, Pierre would lose his store. Until all that remained in the town was Joja and their various subsidiaries. It would happen to Pelican Town too... unless someone did something.
She was just one person, she didn't know what she could do, but she did know someone... or well, more accurately 'some things' that could help. She'd go to the Community Center and see if she couldn't get something out of the Junimos. She knew that they wanted her help, but she didn't really know what with... not yet. Maybe they could do something. The magic of this valley could turn things around... somehow. She didn't really know what else she could do, how else she could help. But she wasn't about to allow Joja to ruin the one place where she was really starting to feel like she fit in. She was happy here.
Victoria pulled up her bike to the side of the Community Center, glad that the rain had stopped. A glance up to the sky showed stars peeking through the clouds above, the rain had chased away the sun, and between her visit with Elliot and playing games with Abigail and everything else, most of the day had already disappeared. She supposed she should make it quick if she was going to get up early and plant like she'd wanted to do today. Hopefully, they'd have something for her, something she could work on.
When she pushed the door open and walked in, all she could think about was how... empty the place was. It just felt wrong. She began to walk around, hoping to see one of the squeaky little fuzzballs she was looking for, but none really showed themselves... Eventually, she found her way back into the room where she'd first seen the plaque on the ground, just because she didn't have any other ideas... only to realize that the plaque had changed. Just like the ones in the other rooms, this one now had a list of items desired on it. There was even one geared toward spring! Vicky pursed her lips and leaned in closer, reading the items they were looking for.
"Return to us items of spring and mineral wealth to you we will bring." Vicky pursed her lips slightly as she looked over the items they wanted. Horseradish, Daffodils, Leeks, Dandelions... weren't some of those weeds? She supposed she'd said that last bit out loud because Scellia gave a grumpy little huff and a puff of air against her ear from inside of her hood. "Okay, okay. There's more here..."
"Bring to us items of summer and the bridge will be less of a bummer. Bring to us items of fall and you will mine most of all. Bring to us items of winter and your pick will be a winner. Bring to us items of construction and your complications will see a reduction." Vicky let out a yelp as the plaque below her suddenly began to glow, she scrambled back away from it before golden light filled her vision and she felt herself falling backward... only to land, dreamlike, on her feet once again.
She blinked several times as she looked around herself, standing somewhere that seemed familiar... Then she realized that she was looking at the bridge on the east side of town that led to the old quarry. Right now it was destroyed, an earthquake or Joja or something had taken it out and it lay in ruins, but here in her, admittedly hazy, dream, she could see it standing strong and proud like it once had.
Bring us what we need and you will succeed.
Vicky blinked again and found herself back in the Community Center, laying on her back. She let out a quiet little 'woah' and looked up to find Scellia sitting on her chest, looking at her expectantly. "That was strange... I guess I should start bringing them what they want, huh?"
Scellia gave a single little nod, then slowly snaked her way back up into Vicky's hood again. The farmer pushed herself up onto her feet, somewhat wishing that the Junimo could tell her this stuff without knocking her around all the time(Which brought another puff from Scellia, apparently the dragon could read her mind), but she supposed there were worse ways to go about it. She went and checked the other plaques that she could see, but aside from items they wanted, some of which she still had on the farm, mostly crops she'd planted earlier in spring, she couldn't really see much of the rhymes... or maybe that first plaque was special, she wasn't sure. Still, she now had a goal, even if she wished she could have maybe run into a Junimo instead of getting a light show and a weird... dream thing.
She made her way back outside and climbed back onto her bike, starting on her way back home. She'd need to come back up here with some paper or something to make a list, write down everything the Junimo wanted, keep it somewhere in her house... it'd help with planning. The way back home was quiet, only her thoughts to keep her company... The days just really kept coming. She'd sort of settled in, gotten relaxed, maybe even forgotten about some of the magic stuff that'd happened since she arrived. Then Morris... She still clenched her hands around the handlebars of her bike when she thought about it.
The ride home gave her time to blow off a little steam, riding as fast as she could, and by the time she finally made it back she was in a much better mood. It was getting a little late, but with Scellia on her back and her bike pulled up onto her porch, she stepped through the door and into her kitchen to make her some dinner before she finally headed off to bed. She'd go see if she couldn't gather some of the things the Junimo wanted tomorrow... maybe she'd get lucky. She was curious to see just what would happen if she actually completed one of the little... well, she didn't know what to call them. Bundles, she supposed.
The next morning the sun rose bright and early, the skies clear after the storm and rain of the previous day, a fresh, rain-quenched smell to the earth. It hadn't rained hard enough to really leave massive puddles even the day before, so the ground, while wet, was definitely workable. Victoria spent most of the morning planting her new Strawberries, wanting to get them in the ground as soon as possible. Nothing else seemed to be ready to be pulled up, and she spent a little extra time clearing a bit more of the brush of the forest, always expanding the perimeter and workable ground that she had access to. Scellia was nowhere to be seen, even for breakfast, though Vicky assumed she had some kind of forest guardian business to attend to somewhere, so she wasn't particularly worried.
With her work done for the day, Vicky put her sun hat on top of her head and secured the strap so she wouldn't lose it if she decided to ride quickly, then took off toward the south on her bike... She figured the big open field to the south of her farm would be the best place to start looking. She looked up pictures of what she would be looking for on her phone so she at least had an idea of what to keep an eye out for... she imagined the leeks would be the most difficult since they seemed pretty small. Still, the land around here was rich and what she was looking for was probably easy to find... and for some reason, she had a feeling that she'd not have much trouble finding what she was looking for.
She met Leah, Willy, and Haley while she was riding around looking for what she needed, Haley seemed too engrossed in her camera to bother other than a quick hello, Willy was fishing so she didn't want to bother him too much and scare away the fish, but she did stop to say hello to Leah. Vicky pulled her bike over to find Leah standing near the river, sketching away on a little pad. Not wanting to simply stop right next to her and practically invite herself into the woman's personal space, she stepped off of her bike a few feet away and waved. "Hey, Leah. What're you up to?"
Leah glanced up with a bit of a surprised expression as if she wasn't expecting to be interrupted, but she smiled when she saw Vicky. They'd spoken a few times over the weeks when Vicky showed up for the Friday night festivities at the Saloon, and a few times out and about town besides. "Hello, Vicky! I'm... drawing, actually. Would you like to see?"
"Definitely!" Vicky stepped closer and tilted her head to look at the drawing pad that Leah presented. It was a sketch of the river and the lake of sorts in the middle of the large field, the islands and so on... and it was actually quite good. "Wow, Leah. This is great! You're really talented, you know that?"
The woman giggled quietly and shrugged, looking a bit bashful after Vicky's complement. "I guess I'm okay. I was going to turn it into a painting once I finished the sketch. Hang it up in my house to enjoy on rainy or winter days." She turned to Vicky and smiled once again. "What are you up to?"
Vicky paused for a moment, hesitating for a second... she figured 'looking for specific plants for some magical fuzzballs' probably wouldn't fly as an explanation, so she winged it. "I'm looking for some ingredients for a salad I want to make"- she was pretty sure you could use at least most of the stuff she needed in a salad- "And some flowers to decorate my house with."
Leah put her hand on her hip, turning more toward Vicky. "Really? What are you looking for? Specifically, anyway. I might know! I forage for stuff around here all the time, the land really provides for you if you know where to look."
Vicky smiled nice and bright at that. She knew she'd find what she needed somehow. "Well, I need some Leeks, some wild Horseradish, some Dandelions, and some Daffodils." She gave a little nod once she finished her list, hoping that Leah'd be able to help.
"Oh! Well, Leeks are almost always in the south of the lake." She pointed with the pencil she'd been using to draw with, out across the lake. "Horseradish might be in the west, though I always have luck with them near the bus stop. You might find some Daffodils in town, and Dandelions too. You might have luck with them up near the lake too, or maybe around the mountain. Where Robin and Demetrius' house is." She pointed around herself with her pencil, giving Vicky vague directions.
"Oh! How incredibly helpful of you, Leah. I had no idea you knew where to find all this stuff." Vicky began to get back up onto her bike, just to sit on the seat.
Leah laughed nervously and rubbed a hand against the back of her neck. "Oh, well, when you're an artist like me you don't often have a lot to live on... I make do with what I can find around here."
Vicky nodded then sat onto her bike's seat, getting ready to push off. "Well, I'll let you get back to your art then! I need to find that stuff if I want to have a salad ready for lunchtime."
"Of course!" Leah paused for a moment, then held out a hand. "Oh, and Vicky? Don't eat the Daffodils. They'll make you sick."
"Oh. I didn't actually know that before. Thanks for the heads up!" Vicky pushed off with one foot and began to head off toward the south of the lake, Leah nodding and waving after her as she went.
True to Leah's word, the south of the lake was practically lousy with Leeks, and she actually needed to stop off back home and unload some of them to make room in her basket. Some of them went in her fridge for food, she was actually planning on making a salad out of everything if she had enough after giving the Junimo what they wanted, but she kept a bit in her basket... she wasn't actually sure how much of this stuff they'd want. She didn't find any horseradish at the bus stop, but when she was heading into down she did actually find some, and she even found a Daffodil along the way... A few of them in fact. She collected a set to make a little flower box under her window, there were some bits of wood she thought she could turn into a box if she put a tarp or something in it to hold the soil...
A ride through town had her meeting Penny, Harvey, Maru, Jodi, and Evelyn, though other than a quick wave and a hi, she didn't stick around... she had places to be! She finally found Dandelions north of town, which was convenient since it was close to the Community Center, where she was going to end up at the end of this little trip anyway. She got a bunch of those too, both for eating and to add to her flower box, along with what she hoped was a good enough sample for the Junimo.
Her basket now almost completely full of various plants, she pedaled her way over to the Community Center and stopped just outside... interestingly, the door was open. She wondered who might be in a place like this. She picked her basket up off of her bike and headed on inside, carrying her little offerings at her side.
It wasn't hard to figure out who the 'intruder' was, as she found Lewis standing just inside, looking around the building with his hands in his pockets. He turned when she entered, and though he smiled when he saw Vicky, she could tell he was trying to figure out why she was carrying a basket of plants. "How goes your day, Vicky? Gathering up ingredients for a salad or something?"
Vicky smirked a bit then gave a nod, adjusting the basket on her hip. "Yeah! Just thought I'd stop by here and have a little look around. Make sure the old place was holding up, you know?"
Lewis shook his head and smiled... she didn't think he believed her, but maybe he didn't want to ask too many questions. He walked toward her and then past her, though he did stop and put a hand on her shoulder as he passed. "I'm really glad you're fitting in here, Vicky. Every week I hear something new about you. Some joke you told, some story about something you did... Pierre wouldn't stop talking about what you did for him yesterday."
Vicky blushed and brushed some of her hair out of her eyes, stammering out the beginnings of an apology. She hadn't wanted to yell and borderline assault one of the inhabitants of his town, but he stopped her by gently patting Vicky on the shoulder, and he held her gaze for a long moment. "It's okay, Vicky. I think you just did something that a lot of us have been wanting to do for a long time. Even if some of us can't..." He sighed and looked away, and Vicky could tell he was thinking about something. "Afford it. Literally or figuratively."
His hand squeezed her shoulder again, though it was warm and comforting, and then he pulled his hand away, heading off toward the door. "Whatever you're doing here, I'm sure it's worth it. Good luck, Vicky."
She turned to watch him curiously as he left... sometimes she wondered just how much Lewis knew about what was going on. She shrugged afterward, however, and headed deeper into the Community Center, toward the room where she'd found out the items they'd wanted to be gathered. When she arrived it looked much like she'd left it, the odd little plaque on the ground, the dust disturbed the same way. She half expected to see footprints that weren't hers, but it seemed like Lewis hadn't gone further than the main room.
Unsure of what to do, she knelt next to the plaque and began to place some of the items down onto it, Leeks first since she had the most of those- just in case she messed it up somehow. However, as soon as they were laid flat on the surface, she found that she couldn't pick them back up again. They just wouldn't move. Curious and a bit intrigued, she placed the other items down. Dandelions, Daffodils, and finally the horseradish.
When all four items touched the plaque, it glowed a bright, almost blinding gold, and when Vicky could finally see again they'd vanished- instead replaced by a small paper bag with fanciful tree and flower designs doodled on it like someone had drawn on it with crayons. Incredibly curious, she peeled the top open and peeked inside, finding little packets of seeds.
Return to us items of spring and mineral wealth to you we will bring.
Vicky jumped at the voice- She could definitely hear it that time, like a whisper on the quiet wind that blew around the old building. She looked around herself, trying to figure out where it'd come from... when a little Junimo, white-colored, appeared, carrying what looked like a gift-wrapped package. "What the f..." Vicky trailed off as it began to bounce off down the hall. She picked up her basket and her bag of seeds and began to follow it at a safe distance, wondering just what the heck it was doing.
It carried the little bundle all the way to the odd little hut in the main room, then vanished inside without a trace. Vicky even leaned down and stuck her head inside, but couldn't find anything of note. Slightly unnerved she pulled her head back out- only to find Scellia staring at her, inches away from her face. She yelped and fell back, the little dragon just tilting her head curiously as she stared at Vicky.
The farmer frowned and clutched her chest, picking up the bag of seeds she'd almost flung across the room in her fright. "One of these days you're going to give me a heart attack, you know that?"
The little dragon just smiled, looking smug... and more than a little pleased.
