Rosie was the first person to wake on Furrowfield. The sky was deep rose to the east and ghosts could be heard in the distance retreating to wherever they spent the day light hours. She was excited to start their first full day of rebuilding the farm but knew no one else would be happy to wake this early. She looked over at the builder, she was wrapped in Malroth's jacket, and he was snuggled up against her, they looked adorable.
Rosie watered their seedlings and gathered kelp for breakfast. The builder may not like kelp, but until they had some crops it was all they had. Rosie decided to wake Perry for company, knowing he'd sleep all morning if left to his own devices. When she shook him he grumbled and pushed her away. He turned over continuing to sleep.
She leaned close and whispered "Perry, watch out, monsters!"
Perry sat up with a yelp and looked around franticly while Rosie laughed. "What the blimmin' 'eck Rosie? You 'bout to gimme a 'eart attack!"
"Well if you didn't sleep the day away. We've got a lot to do this morning."
Perry glanced at Caroline. "Dun't we gotta wait for 'er to get up?"
Rosie sat back, her grin slipping just a little "Oh. Right. I guess we do."
"Should we wake 'er?"
"No!" Malroth's voice was quiet but firm and he glared at them as he sat up. "She worked her ass off yesterday, let her sleep. If you two are going to keep making a racket you'd better take it outside!"
Malroth's blazing red eyes followed the young farmers as they left the room, followed by a grumbling Bonanzo, who'd also been awoken by their antics. Malroth retrieved his comb from his jacket pocket and began detangling his long black hair while thinking over the events of the past few days, and wondering why he couldn't remember anything before waking up on that beach. If he really wracked his brain he thought he remembered pulling someone out of the water. Come to think of it, it might have been Caroline. Was he the reason she'd survived that shipwreck?
He felt eyes on him and turned his head toward the builder. She was sitting up and her cheeks were red yet again, her eyes fixed on his chest and abs. She jumped a little when she realized he'd caught her looking and turned even redder. He tilted his head to the side, "Why do you keep turning red?"
She blinked and shook her head, bringing herself back to her senses. "Why am I wearing your jacket?"
"You looked cold last night so I let you borrow it." He replied taking it back.
"You didn't have to."
"I know I didn't. You were cold, I wasn't, it's not a big deal!" He replied rolling his eyes, irritated. "Next time I'll let you freeze if you want."
"No. I... Thanks, Malroth." She looked away, her face still red. He stared at her with his head cocked to the side like a confused puppy.
"So where is everyone else, already in the field? Why didn't anyone wake me?" She asked hurriedly fixing her pigtails before darting out the door. She stopped at the door and looked around. The others were eating kelp for breakfast. She turned her attention back to the fields and saw something shining where Rosie had tilled the day before. She picked it up and examined it closly, it was a small golden heart. She had no idea where it had come from.
While Caroline stood there examining hte heart Rosie came over and tilled a spot she'd missed the night before and another little golden heart popped clean out of her. Caroline held it up to the sunlight to look at it more closly even though it shone with its own light.
"Oh I'm so happy I could just pop!" Rosie exclaimed. "Speaking of which you seem pretty please with yourself, builder. Why are you waving your arms around?"
"Oh, I was just looking at this." Caroline replied bringing her hand down to eye level.
"Your hand?"
"No this thing I am holding. It just burst out of you. Can't you see it?"
"No. You said it popped out of me? I did feel like I was bursting with farming glee. Maybe some of it actually popped out of me..."
Malroth had exited the room shortly after Caroline with his jacket back on and his hair tied back. Caroline was planting seeds with Rosie, Bonanzo and Perry were watching her warily from a distance. Malroth placed himself directly between them and the girls then gave them a pointed glare, practically daring them to give the builder trouble.
"Malroth, come with me please!" The builder was suddenly beside him, tugging on his elbow. "I need to get something from the dock."
"Ok. What are we getting?"
"I saw some old barrels near there. I want to use them as rain barrels so we don't have to keep drinking that muck from the spring. It's fine for watering crops but it is not fit for drinking."
Malroth nodded then they got hit by an atomic loogie from a nearby slug. It really should not have picked a fight it could not win. Three slugs and a half dozen slimes later they returned to the farm with barrels, oil, and lots of scallywinkles.
Caroline built two bonfires and while the food was cooking she began to gather wooden floorboard blocks to add a roof to their tiny abode and even made a border around the edges to channel any and all rain that might fall on it into her barrels. Malroth leaned against a stray fence post and watched her work, humming to herself with a huge dopey smile on her face. He couldn't help but smile to as he watched, she just looked so happy and for some reason that made him happy.
When she pulled the scallywinkles and crispy kelp off the fire Bonanzo and Perry popped up to investigate the enticing aroma. They both looked famished. She asked them to join her, Malroth and Rosie, they had more than enough. Perry looked ready to accept but Bonanzo dragged him away from the "wretched girl".
Perry approached them alone half an hour later, glancing over his shoulder. "Um, Miss Caroline, do you got any of those scallywinkles left?" he asked meekly.
Starring him in the eye Maroth picked one up and took a big bite. "Nope."
"Malroth! Don't be so mean." Caroline chastised, trying hard and failing not to laugh. "Sure Perry, help yourself."
Malroth instead turned his attention to her and opened his mouth displaying its half-chewed contents to her.
"Oh that's charming." She stated rolling her eyes then smacking him playfully on the shoulder.
"So what's next?" Rosie wondered as she stood up wiping her hands on her handkerchief.
"Well I haven't figured out what to do about the soil, but I'll need plenty of flat space to make fields and houses. Why don't you focus on watering and weeding while I take out that hill. Malroth, you're on monster duty. Oh and if any do attack can you take notice of where they come from? I might be able to make a fence later with some of those posts scattered around." Rosie and Malroth both nodded and went about their tasks. Malroth took several breaks to check on the builder and even helped smash a few blocks, if he was good at anything it was smashing stuff. Leveling the hill took the rest of the day and most of the next even with Malroth's help. Bonanzo and Perry popped up from time to time to attempt to talk sense into Rosie. Each time Bonanzo would scowl at the builder, but fear of Malroth caused the man to stomp off without incident.
"Just look at that crop!" Rosie gushed enthusiastically as they surveyed their work before bed. "They'll be ready to harvest in the morning! I can't wait for a breakfast of fresh cabbage! I'm beat, see you two in the morning."
Caroline and Malroth both bid Rosie goodnight and ignored the other two when they snuck off to bed. A chill settled in as night fell. Caroline stirred the fire and held her hands out to it to warm them then rubbed her arms. Malroth took off his jacket and handed it to her "If you're cold you can borrow this again.
"What about you?" Caroline asked.
"I'm not cold, you are."
"You're too nice, Malroth." she informed him, but put the jacket on anyway. "Look, I really want to believe you're being nice because you really are a nice guy..."
"No I'm not."
"...but if you have altered motives it ain't happening, you're not 'getting with' me."
He cocked his head to the side, "What are you talking about? I'm already with you."
She stared at him for a moment. "Are you sirious?" He just continued to look are her as though he didn't understand what she was talking about. Could he really be this dense? She decided to change the subject.
"Hey Malroth, this is going to sound strange, but can you see these?" She asked reaching into her pocket and pulling out a handful of golden hearts.
"I was wondering about those. I'd seen you picking them up all over the place."
"Oh thank the Goddess, I thought I was going nuts. Neither Rosie or Perry can see them."
"So what are they?"
"No clue, but Rosie had a theory..."
Caroline woke early the next morning with a warmth wrapped around her and pressed against her back. She looked down and recognized the bronzed arm wrapped around her waist. His slow deep breathing told her he was fast asleep. Her mouth went dry, and her heart was racing, why on Earth was Malroth spooning her?! She was wearing his jacket, she supposed hed gotten cold. That had to be it, he had unconsciously snuggled up to her when the temperature dipped to low for him.
She tried to ease out from under his arm but in doing so woke him up.
"What's wrong?" He muttered wiping his eyes with one hand while the other wrapped around his club.
"Wrong?"
"Your pulse sped up. Did you have a bad dream or something?" She gaped how did he know her heart was pounding in double time? She looked away and he frowned. He wished she'd tell him what had spooked her. He sat up and began to fix his hair, seeming neither embarrassed nor surprised that he'd been holding her.
She quickly put her hair up and dashed out to the field where she found Rosie practically levitating with joy. "Look at our Cabbages!"
Malroth walked up beside her with his arms crossed as he surveyed the little field. "Well, I don't know much about cabbages, but they look OK to me." The cabbages were not huge, in fact they were a touch on the small side. They were beautiful however, well-formed and compact with beautiful green color.
"These cabbages look Gurt lush!" Perry exclaimed as he watched the girls harvest their crops "Did you and Rosie really grow these all by yourselves?"
"Did you see anyone else working our field?" Caroline asked him curtly.
"Maybe you really are a builder!" The young man replied in awe.
"All the more reason to shun her accursed presence!" Bonanzo spat practically dragging a reluctant Perry away.
"Why's beardy got such a grudge against builders, if anything is accursed it's that dead dog on his chin." Malroth grumbled, bristling at the contempt Bonanzo still showed the builder.
"I wouldn't say it's a grudge really, he's just being cautious." Rosie replied in a placating tone, she then explained the widespread belief that builders spread desolation and despair.
"Desolation and despair were already here when we showed up." Caroline reminded her. "But enough about that, let's have some breakfast."
While the three sat munching on crisp juicy cabbage leaves Rosie told Caroline the legend of the builder's bell. Caroline wiped her hands as she got up. "So, what you're telling me is this bell can be rung by a builder and has some kind of magic? That it 'wake's people up' to building?"
"That's what the legend say's" Rosie replied.
As she approached the bell the hearts in her pocket began to grow warm. They seemed to tingle, but it was not unpleasant, in fact it felt kind of nice. As she lifted her mallet, they grew warmer still and began to vibrate. As she swung the mallet down heat and light shot up her body through the mallet and exploded from the bell rippling out in all directions. As the energy swept over and through her her mind exploded with new ideas and she grabbed the book from her back and scribbled in it as fast as she could, she did not hear the residents of the farm shout out in amazement as the magic coursed through them as well. when done she flipped the book around so they could all see her new recipes. Beaming she placed her hands on her hips as Bonanzo and Perry pledged to assist her with the farm.
"Ok Caroline, we're all very impressed, you can stop posing now." Malroth grinned at her.
"Now that Bonanzo and Perry are on board we can really take rebuilding the farm to the next level."
"Right. Problem is a farm needs soil and seeds, and it looks like you're fresh out of both." Malroth reminded her.
"Yes, well... um... Any ideas, Caroline?"
"Ha! For a mob who hate builder's you lot seem lost without one! What's the story there anyway, what so bad about building? Let's get to the root of this!"
"Of course, the root!" Rosie replied snapping out of her ponderings. "Well, I guess it's more of a bulb actually, whatever it is it certainly isn't a cabbage, that can be the next thing we grow!" she then pulled a large blue plant bulb topped with tiny green leaves out of the pocket and handed it to Caroline. "I always suspected it was special, so I've kept it hidden all this time?"
"Huh? Hey check it out!" Malroth exclaimed pointing at a bean of bluish white light from the center of a hexagonal planter in the center of town.
"Hey, the planter is glowing!" Rosie exclaimed.
"You don't say." Malroth and Caroline quipped together casting each other a grin.
"I wonder if it's because a builder is holding the bulb. Go ahead and plant that bulb in the light, Caroline, let's see what happens."
Caroline did as Rosie asked anf the pillar of light flared up, once the light had faded a delicate sapling surrounded by a swirling aura stood in it's place.
"Oh fiddle sticks, we've really gone and done it now!" Rosie cried in fear "The Master of Destruction is sure to strike us down!"
"Master of Destruction, who the heck is that?"
"Someone who's never met you!" Caroline laughed, "If anyone is a master of destruction it's Malroth!"
Rosie blinked at them in surprise. "You've never heard of the master of destruction before? Does that mean you've never heard of the children of Hargon either? I see, you weren't just playing dumb, you really don't know about the evils of building!" She proceeded to explain the warped views of the cult that held the island in an iron fist.
Just then Perry ran up white faced "Rosie, Rosie, were in a 'ole 'eap of trouble 'ere! The Pastor's on 'is way over! 'E must've seen the light from the tree!"
A magus in white and green robes was storming across the field his face concealed behind a white and black mask, whether because of her experiences on the slave ship or because Malroth was with her she had no fear of him. The farmers, however, were petrified! She moved to place herself between him and them, Malroth noticed and copied her, they both brandished their weapons, ready to fight.
"What in the name of Hargon is going on here? Who planted this tree? Answer me, wretches! The magus boomed.
Caroline squared her shoulders and put her free hand on her hip. "I did. I'm building a farm!"
"What?! Building a far, you say? Heresy! How dare you sully my Island with the stain of creation!? you will pay dearly for this."
"I'm sorry!" Perry whimpered Perry over and over, but Rosie stood up "The fields and the cabbages were my idea, please don't punish Caroline just because she's a builder."
"A builder? This witless looking welp?" As he turned his attention from Rosie back to Caroline the swirling aura around the tree caught his eye. "Wait- this tree... could this really be?"
"Could it really be what? if You know something about it then spit it out!"
"Unless I am mistaken this is a young dietree- the sacred sentinel of Furrowfield forests, beneath whose sacred boughs this isle once flourished. Hhmm. Hear me my wayward Vassals, I have had a change of heart! I have seen the fruits of your labor and I have decided to forgive your sins." He turned to look again at the farmers.
"My superiors do not need to know of your arboreal indiscretion. I will keeo your secret, so long as you keeo growing this tree-"
The pastor proceeded to tell them what they needed to do to make the tree grow strong. They needed 15 cabbages, 50 sheeves of wheat and 50 squares of tilled soil.
OK readers, poll time. It's still a way away but when things do get spicy would everyone prefer I
A. leave something to the imagination and keep it rated T ?
or
B Up that rating and go for the smut?
I know which way I am leaning but would like some input.
and if you don't care either way you can still review anyway.