Lily could hear the cheering all around her, a slow smile started to spread on her lips until she found Malroth in the crowd of people beneath the bell. His eyes were narrowed, and he was turning in a slow circle. "Mal?"
Malroth gave her a small wave, letting her know that everything was fine for now. "Lily!" Rosie came up next to the builder, giving her a little shake. "Look! More farmers!"
Lily turned to where Rosie was pointing, a surprised noise leaving her. "Huh, what brings you here?"
"We heard that bell ringing and we just had to come and look!" The one in front had her hands on her wide hips, she was tall and had the muscles of an ox. "The name's Cam. What's happening here? Is that a Deitree?"
"It is." The Pastor stepped forward, the butt of his staff clicking irritably against the ground. "We are-"
"Not to ruin your fun time, but we have a hoard of monsters coming this way." Malroth growled, his club in his hand and ready to go. "Lily, you have any swords you can hand out?"
"Huh?" Lily reached into her pouch, digging around for swords. She pulled an armload out and dropped them on the ground. "Those that want to fight, grab one and join Malroth and I." She picked up one of the swords as a group of monsters came up over the crest of the hills just beyond the farm. "Priest, take the ones that don't want to fight and hide in the barn."
"I will not-"
"You are still a Priest of Hargon. I won't ask you to fight against your comrades." Lily turned to the monsters, sword up and ready.
Malroth stood next to her, giving her a side eye and a smirk. "Look at you, being nice to the Priest."
"I still don't trust him all the way, but if the monsters find out that he's willingly helping us, he could die." Lily narrowed her eyes on the Bad Baboons and Devils that slowly made their way down. "If we can help it, I'd like for no one to die because of my building."
Bonanzo, Britney, Clayton and one of the new farmers came up next to Lily and Malroth, their swords at the ready. "If you start to take too many hits, retreat. Like Lily said, no one dies today." Malroth purred as he stepped into the field that loomed ahead of them.
"Miss Lily!" Perry ran up to her, Tiny tight in his arms. "Will you talk some sense into Tiny?"
Tiny was squirming, trying to free himself. "I have to ssstay with you, Lily! It'sss my sssworn-"
"Tiny. I have Malroth on this field with me, I know he'll help protect me. If I lose you, I don't know what I would do with myself. Please, do me a favor and keep the ones that aren't fighting safe." Lily turned and kissed the top of Tiny's head, smiling at him. "Please?"
Tiny seemed flustered for a moment before scrunching up in Perry's arms. "Fine. But only becaussse you sssaid pleassse. Twice."
Lily laughed and nodded to Perry who took off and followed the others into the barn. He ducked under the priest's arm and the small group watched as the others charged into the fray with the monsters. Rosie clung to Perry; her eyes wide as she watched Bonanzo dodge around a devil. "They know where we are now…"
"The Deitree and Lily striking the bell is what got their attention." The priest glanced back at Perry and Rosie, seeing that Tiny was glaring at him. "What is that look for small one? You think I called them here?"
"No. I know you didn't. But if we're getting the attention of a sssmaller group, then the big Lord of thisss isssland knowsss about the Deitree. He'll know of your betrayal sssoon enough." Tiny hissed as his tail wrapped around Perry's arm.
"And he'll know of yours."
"I am not hisss to punish."
Rosie and Perry looked between the two monsters, worried they might turn on each other. Though, they quieted down and watched the fighting. Clayton took a hit from a devil but was quickly back on his feet and returning the blow. Lily and Malroth ganged up on a baboon, ducking under and around each blow from the big hairy beast. Britney and the new farmer were back to back as they fought off two devils.
Lily turned when she heard a scream, seeing a devil had gone around them and gone for the barn. "Dammit. Malroth!"
Malroth turned when he heard his name called, a curse left him as he took off, sprinting by Lily and the baboon they had taken down. Rosie let out another scream and tried to hide behind the priest and Tiny. Malroth jumped up, slamming his club into the small beast and sending it flying in another direction. He looked towards Tiny, giving the small dracky a nod before going to get the devil before it could recover.
While Malroth took care of the devil, Lily teamed up with Clayton and finished off another baboon. She glanced at the farmer, seeing that while Malroth enjoyed dealing the blows, Clayton seemed to enjoy… taking the blows. "Clayton… are you…?"
Clayton gasped and jumped away from Lily, his eyes wide. "Am I what?!"
Lily pursed her lips and turned to the large skeletal warrior that slowly came over the ridge. "Nothing… let's just… finish this fight."
Clayton grabbed Lily's arm, yanking her out of the way of a blow from the skeleton. He let out a sharp noise when the sword sliced up his arm, he stumbled to one knee and held his arm. "The total lack of mercy! This will be a shameful defeat!"
Lily gawked at the pure look of desire on Clayton's face, his cheeks were red as he thought about the defeat he was about to be dealt. "Cl-Clayton! What the hell?! Get up!" She jumped up and blocked another blow from the skeleton that was aimed at Clayton with her own sword. "Are you insane!?"
Britney ran up to them, grabbing the back of Clayton's shirt. "I'll get him out of here, Lily!"
"Thank you." Lily hissed and dove back into the fray with Bonanzo and Malroth.
"You're insane, Clayton! Why would you just sit there like a roasted cabbage while that skeleton is about to knock your brains out?" Britney huffed as she lugged the dizzy farmer to the barn. "Rosie! Can you patch him up? He might faint…"
Rosie ran up, watching as Cam and the other farmer came over and hoisted Clayton to a makeshift bed. "What happened? I couldn't watch…"
"He took a blow that Lily was perfectly ready to block." Britney shook her head, frowning at Clayton who was now teary eyed and complaining about his bleeding arm. "Well, maybe-!" She gasped, hearing a cheering coming from behind her. She turned, whining when she saw Malroth and Lily high five. "I missed the takedown!"
"Man! I feel ten times stronger after defeating those monsters! I can feel the power flowing through my veins!" Malroth smirked at Lily, pausing for a moment when she let out a sigh and held her face in her hands. "Hey, you aren't as pumped up as me. I'm starting to get worried about you." He thought for a moment, before his eyes lit up. "I know! I'll just have to think up a trick I can teach you that even a weakling can use!"
Lily gave him a look, pouting at him. "Weakling?"
"How about this." Malroth grabbed her before she could protest, pulling her back against his chest. "Pull your arm back like this…" He grabbed her hand that held the sword, pulling it back behind them some while his other hand grasped her hip, pulling on it until she was matching the angle of his hips. "Loosen up, Lil."
Lily's face was bright red as Malroth moved her body to how he wanted her to stand. "I-I don't know what you mean!" She gasped when he used his foot to widen her stance, leaning into him more. "What are you-" Her whole body went numb when she felt his teeth clamp down on her shoulder. "M-Malroth!"
"Relax, or I'll bite you again!"
"I can't relax if you bite me!"
Malroth growled and pulled her arm that held the sword around, crossing it in front of her body. "Try swinging like this."
"Don't change the subject, Mal!" Lily suddenly felt cold when Malroth pulled away from her. "Wh-What now?!"
"Spin." Malroth stepped around in front of her, examining her stance. "You'll want to twist your shoulders and then your hips."
Lily's face was still red as she did as she was told, spinning as quick as she could get her body to twist. She pushed off her toes some, giving her a little jump with her spin.
"Hey! That was better than I expected. Not bad, not bad at all – even for you, Lily." Malroth gave her a wink as he reached out, messing up her hair.
"Even for me!" Lily gasped, whacking Malroth with the flat side of her sword. "Jerk!"
"Weirdo." Malroth laughed as he walked away from Lily. "Now, too bad you don't have a stronger weapon for me. When did you even make those swords?"
"One night when I couldn't sleep…" Lily pouted as she followed Malroth. Something in his stride changed, calling her attention back to him. "Mal?"
"You." Malroth growled when the priest came running up to check on them. "Call your friends to get rid of us?"
"I would never-"
"You just needed someone to get the Deitree back and growing so now you're finished with us." Malroth slammed the end of his club against the ground, narrowing his eyes on the priest.
"I don't think that's the case, Malroth!" Rosie ran up, putting herself between the priest and the angry being. "The pastor's been here with us the whole time. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't have passed a message to the monsters. Plus, he even said the Deitree has more growing to do. If that's the case, why would he want us dead?"
The priest let out a sigh and touched Rosie's shoulder. "Rosie… it's Rosie, right? Tell me, why are you so desperate to see Furrowfield Farm rebuilt?"
"Why? Well… it's just always been my dream, I suppose." Rosie frowned at the priest before turning a cruel look to Malroth. "Look, you guys fought hard today, and we've exhausted Lily. Can we leave this talk for tomorrow? I think we've all had enough excitement for one day. I'm ready to sleep under a warm blanket of cabbage leaves and call it a day."
Lily leaned into Malroth, frowning at the idea of a cabbage leaf blanket. "Remind me to make blankets tomorrow."
"Right…" Malroth leaned against Lily, an arm propped up on the smaller female's shoulder.
The sun hadn't come up yet, but Lily and Malroth were up and staring up at the Deitree as rain poured over them. Malroth tipped his head towards Lily some, waving an arm to the tree. "So, this Deitree thing… it's still got a way to go, right? I mean, it's come a long way already. When you first got it, it was nothing but a weed. Just goes to show how powerful your building skills are, Lil."
Lily looked to Malroth, surprised he said the word 'powerful' when talking about her. "Mal…"
"You know what I don't understand… these Children of Hargon. What's their deal?"
"I don't know, honestly. From what I knew, Hargon had already been defeated by the Scions of Erdrick, and… the Children disappeared into the night, never to be seen or heard from ever again." Lily put a finger to her chin, frowning some. "Back home, they're all gone. But I'm not really sure how to get back home. I saw Brownbeard's map and I didn't see Cantlin on there at all."
"There's something fishy going on here. I'm sure we'll find out more at some point. What really gets me is that everyone says that builder bring destruction and despair. But you do the opposite."
As the two talked, the priest was standing nearby, all but vibrating with annoyance. "You two!" He whirled around, thrusting his scepter at them. "What do you gain in waking so early if you only proceed to waste the day with idle chatter?! Do you not care about what needs to be done to return the Deitree to Her full strength?!"
Lily furrowed her brows, glaring at the priest. "You don't have to yell, jeez." She put a hand on her hip, waiting for the priest to begin his rant.
"Before we begin, builder, tell me – what are your thoughts about young Rosie?" He seemed to relax and held his scepter close as he talked about the young farmer. "Her cheery outlook and irrepressible optimism make it all but impossible for me to maintain my dark and brooding demeanor." He sighed, shaking his head. "For her sake, as much as my own, I ask you to tackle these next tasks."
"Let me be the first to apologize for the attacks we suffered yesterday. Just by me being here…" The priest hung his head as the others slowly emerged from their sleeping quarters.
A cry had the three turning to look at what may have caused it. "Lily!" Rosie was pointing to the sky while holding Tiny tight in one arm. "Look! The sky!"
"Is this…?" The priest gasped, the red orb on his mask shrank as the sky turned a brilliant pink.
"Hm?" Malroth gave a tilt of his head, getting Lily's attention in the direction he was looking. "Isn't that one of those whatchamacallits?"
"Spoilspores?!" Rosie cried out, jumping away from one that suddenly grew right next to her. "There's one over there too! And over there!"
Lily quickly turned, taking in the spoilspores that appeared on the farm. "Dammit! Priest! What is this?!"
"The Ill Wind blows over Furrowfield once more. It has been some time since it last cursed these lands. This accursed storm is the source of the spoilspores. It was by this wind that so much of the soil was ruined." The priest glanced over at Rosie, worry in his voice as he watched her.
"Now 'ang on a minute! D'you mean to say this stupid storm's going to much up all our 'ard work?!" Perry gasped as he came out and grabbed Rosie, trying his best to protect her from the spoilspores.
"B-B-but…" Rosie gasped, trying to hold back her tears. "Everything was going so well-"
"Not if I have any fucking say." Lily let out a growl that had even Malroth's attention peaked. She jumped down from the center of the farm where the Deitree grew, she reached down, scooping up as much slimy mud as she could before stomping over to the first spoilspore. "We've worked too damn hard and too damn long for Hargon to ruin it all with these stupid-"
The others watched as Lily quickly plugged up the holes of the spoilspores like she had done something like this before. Malroth couldn't hold back his laughter as the builder he had come to enjoy he company of cursed the entire time she plugged up the spoilspores. "I may have rubbed off on you too much."
"It's called a builders vocabulary. You just haven't seen me build enough to hear my knowledge." Lily came back to them once all the spoilspores were plugged. After a moment the first one withered and disappeared. She watched a few more pop up but she made quick work of plugging them up and watching the vile fruit wither and die off.
"Lily, the sky is going back to normal." Rosie ran over, hugging her friend. "Thank you so much!"
Tiny let out a squeak when he was squished between the two girls. "Anything for you, Rosie. You've worked hard on bringing the farm to its' highest potential. I didn't want to disappoint you."
"Lily… you are twice the builder I thought you might be. Thank you for showing me what life can really be. I wish to aid you in your quest to restore the Deitree to her former glory. I have the necessary knowledge. But in return, I wish to witness more of your building prowess."
"Ha! Can you believe this, Lily? This building shit is pretty popular. Even the pastor of the Children of Hargon is impressed!" Malroth laughed and mused Lily's hair, messing it up again. He smirked at the pastor as he playfully batted Lily's hands down when she went to fix her hair. "Alright, time to spill the beans, what other stuff do we need to do to help the Deitree?"
"Hm, fine. Fine. You'll need to find more crops, this island has them hidden throughout. You'll have to work with each other to find them." The pastor looked around at everyone, making sure they understood what they needed to do.
Malroth looked down at Lily when she shifted. "What's wrong, Lil? You got something to say?"
"Pastor. I think it's time you officially join our fellowship." Lily puffed her chest out and crossed her arms, watching him closely.
"What?!" The pastor flinched back, offended at such an idea. "Do you not know who I am?! I could never join forces with a despicable builder! I wash my hands of this whole sorry affair right here and now!"
"So much for a 'change of heart'." Malroth straightened up, his red eyes almost seeming to glow as he pulled his club out in challenge to the pastor who was now holding his scepter up.
The pastor put his hands up, laughing awkwardly. "I jest! I jest! I would be glad to join you!" He laughed more when everyone took a step back, surprised by his words. "If I am to become a member of your village, I should introduce myself more properly. My name is Al. You may call me Pastor Al."
It was later in the day when Rosie finally approached Lily and Malroth who were hard at work on the project Lily had originally been working on. "Hey, Lily?" Rosie gave a shy smile when Lily turned to her. "The people of Furrowfield used to hold a great big festival when they harvested their crops. I would like to do the same when we've finished growing the Deitree."
"A harvest festival? I have no idea what that is, but it sounds fun." Malroth shrugged as he slammed his club into the ground to clear it for Lily.
"A festival? I don't see why not!" Lily laughed as she dropped a block of wood in one of the holes Malroth created.
"Before we think about a festival, we should really find more seeds, though I'm not sure where to even begin…" Rosie sat crisscrossed on the ground in front of Lily's project build. "I guess you two could go around the island trying to find seeds, but that would take a while."
"Oi! What the hell?!" Malroth growled back at a small creature that ran up to him and started barking. "Shoo! Go on!"
Rosie and Lily turned their attention to Malroth, seeing a small dog dodging around him, barking at him and making him spin in circles. "Wait!" Rosie jumped up, a gleam in her eyes. "That's a Furrowfield Retriever! Lily! If you befriend that dog… they were used to hunt down seeds and other treasures in the past! We could use her to do that same thing!"
