Chapter 5 Animal Herding
Today was my third day in Phoenix Drop; which started off the same as it did yesterday. Once I was dad eaten breakfast and gotten dressed, I went outside looking for Aaron and Garroth.
After looking around the village for them, Aphmau found Aaron and Garroth.
"Aaron, Garroth", she called out as she ran up to them.
"Good morning, Ms Aphmau", Garroth greeted. "I'm glad that you're here. I've found something you can do to help around the village."
"Really", Aphmau asked. "What is it?"
"Brenden has finished building animal pens", Garroth revealed. "So Kiki is going to gather some animals today, and she asked me to ask you if you'd like to help her?"
"I'd be happy to help", Aphmau replied.
"Excellent", Garroth said. "Then please come with me, Ms Aphmau. I shall take you to Kiki."
"What are you gonna do today, Aaron", Aphmau asked him.
"Brenden and I need to figure out the best spot to build the guard tower", Aaron replied, before turning away from Aphmau. "Later."
"See you later, Aaron", Aphmau greeted him as he walked off, before turning to face Garroth. "Okay, Garroth! Take me to Kiki!"
After Garroth told me what I could do to help out the village, he led me to where Kiki was.
"Good morning, Kiki", Garroth greeted as him and Aphmau walked up to her.
"Good morning, Garroth", Kiki greeted. "And good morning to you as well, Aphmau."
"Good morning, Ms Aphmau and Mr Garroth", Leona greeted enthusiastically.
"Good morning, Leona", Aphmau greeted her. "Good morning, Kiki. Thank you so much for letting me help you!"
"Thank you for agreeing to help, Aphmau", Kiki said. "The extra pair of hands will come in handy."
"I'll leave you two to work", Garroth said. "I must meet up with Aaron and Brenden to discuss where the guard tower is going to be built. I shall see you two later."
"See you later, Garroth", Aphmau greeted him before he left.
"Mommy, Mommy", Leona said excitedly as she hopped in place. "Are we gonna get the animals now?"
"Yes we are, sweetie", Kiki replied, before looking up at Aphmau. "Are you ready to go, Aphmau?"
"I'm ready", Aphmau replied.
"I'm ready too! I'm ready too", Leona added enthusiastically.
"Then what are we waiting for", Kiki asked. "Let's go get some animal friends!"
I spent the day helping Kiki herd up some animals. We ended up with a couple of cows, chickens, sheep and pigs respectively.
"Did we manage to gather enough animals", Aphmau asked as her and Kiki were guiding a couple of pigs back to the pens.
"Yep, this should be enough", Kiki replied. "Thank you so much for helping me with this, Aphmau."
"You're welcome, Kiki", Aphmau said. "I'm glad that I was able to help."
"And thank you for helping Mommy out as well, sweetie", Kiki said as she turned to look behind her.
Leona had been riding on the back of one of the pigs we had been herding back to the pens. But, when Kiki looked behind her, she wasn't there anymore!
"Leona", Kiki asked as she looked around. "Leona?"
With this, Kiki began frantically looking around as she called out her daughter's name.
"Leona", she called out loudly. "Leona? Where are you, Leona?!"
"Where did she go", Aphmau asked, now very worried.
"She must have saw something and wondered off", Kiki replied, now very panicked. "I took my eyes off of her for just a moment! What if something's happened to her? Aphmau, we need to find her!"
While Leona was riding on the back of the pig her mother was luring back to the pens, she spotted a chicken. Suddenly, she got the idea to catch the chicken for her mother. So, forgetting to tell her first, she jumped off the pig and began chasing after the chicken.
After being chased for a bit, the chicken managed to get away from Leona.
"Hey! Come back, chicken!"
After Leona yelled this, she stopped running, looked around, and realized that her mother wasn't near her.
"Mommy", she called out as she looked around. "Mommy, where are you?!"
"Leona", someone suddenly said.
Leona turned around to face them, and was relieved that it wasn't a stranger.
"Mr Aaron", she exclaimed as she ran up to him.
"Leona, what are you doing here", Aaron asked as he keeled down to her level. "Where's your mommy?"
"I don't know", Leona replied as tears started forming in her eyes. "I saw a chicken, and I wanted to catch it for Mommy. So I tried to catch it, but I couldn't catch it. And now I don't know where Mommy is!"
"It's okay, Leona", Aaron said, trying to calm her down. "I'll help you find your mommy. Now, do you know what direction you came from?"
"No", Leona replied as she shook her head. "But…I can smell where she is!"
With this, Leona sniffed around.
"It smells like mommy over there", she said as she pointed in a certain direction.
"Then that's where we'll go", Aaron said, before holding out his hand. "Grab my hand, Leona."
"Okay", Leona said.
She then grabbed Aaron's hand, and the two started walking.
"Mr Aaron", Leona started, before pointing to her head. "You've got ears like me!"
"Huh", Aaron said in confusion as he grabbed onto his hood, which was covering his ears. "How did you know that?"
"I saw them when you were fighting those meanie monsters", Leona revealed.
"Oh", Aaron said, before pulling his hood over his ears even more. "I hope not too many people saw that."
"Mr Aaron, can I touch your ears", Leona asked.
"You wanna touch my ears", Aaron asked.
"Can I? Can I", Leona asked excitedly.
"Well…", Aaron started, unsure how to answer.
"Leona", someone suddenly called out.
"Mommy", Leona yelled, before running into her arms.
"Oh, Leona", Kiki said as she held her daughter tightly. "What have I told you about running off without telling me? Mommy was really worried, you know?"
"I'm sorry, Mommy", Leona apologized. "I saw a chicken, and watched to catch it for you!"
"Leona", Kiki said, before giving her daughter another hug. Then, she looked up at Aaron. "Thank you so much, Aaron."
"You're welcome, Kiki", Aaron said.
"Leona, say thank you to Mr Aaron", Kiki instructed her daughter.
"Thank you, Mr Aaron", Leona said.
Then, Aaron kneeled down besides her, and patted her head.
"You're welcome, Leona", he said.
Leona let out a giggle, before letting out a yawn.
"Are you sleepy, sweetie", Kiki asked her.
"It's going to get dark soon", Aaron pointed out. "We should head back to the village."
"Okay", Kiki said, before opening her arms. "Come on, honey. Let's go home."
With this, Leona tiredly walked into her mother's arms, and Kiki picked her up. As she walked away, Aphmau stared at them longingly.
For some reason, when I saw Kiki and Leona together, I had this feeling of sadness, and longing. As I was feeling this way, I looked at Aaron. I couldn't tell what his expression was, since his eyes were covered, but he was staring at Kiki and Leona too.
"Are you okay, Aaron", Aphmau asked him.
"Let's head back", was all Aaron said before he started walking away.
I could tell that Aaron was upset, but I didn't know why.